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"The campus bookstore, a seeming anachronism in the digital age, will soon become history at the University of Massachusetts.

Starting next fall, students at the flagship Amherst campus will buy almost all textbooks from Amazon.com. The online retail giant has struck a deal with UMass to replace an on-campus “textbook annex” run by Follett Corp. with a smaller Amazon distribution center.

UMass officials hope the arrangement will save students money.

“We really recognize that textbooks and course materials are a major expense for students, and those have continued to go up over time,” said Ed Blaguszewski, UMass spokesman. “This is about convenience and saving money for students.”

Amazon told UMass that it could save students an average of 31 percent, or $380 annually, compared with prices at the old store.

The Amazon system will offer students access to digital textbooks and, for old-fashioned ink-and-paper texts, free one-day delivery to addresses on campus and apartments in nearby towns.

Students can also pick up texts, ordered online, at an Amazon-staffed storefront in the campus center that’s set to open in June.

The Amazon system will also be integrated into the school’s course-selection software, letting students see exactly which books they need to buy for each class they are registered to take.

Under terms of the five-year deal, the online retailer will pay UMass Amherst a 2.5 percent commission on most sales to students through the school’s dedicated Amazon storefront. The company has agreed to pay at least $375,000, $465,000, and $610,000 in the first three years, respectively.

This isn’t Amazon’s first foray onto campus. In 2013, the company launched its first textbook partnership with the University of California Davis, followed by Purdue University in 2014.

The company said it is negotiating similar contracts with a number of other universities and colleges.

“Many schools are feeling pressure to control the cost of education, and textbooks contribute to that,” said Ripley MacDonald, Amazon’s director of student programs. “Many are also seeing revenues in their bookstores flat at best, or even going backward, so they’re looking at ways to stem that trend. We’re trying to reinvent the bookstore experience.”

Blaguszewski said Amazon was chosen over five other companies bidding to replace the textbook annex because of its low prices and familiar interface.

“Clearly, they’re renowned for their ability to manage technology and deliver prompt customer service,” he said. “We think it’s a great match.”

Amazon said it bid for the UMass contract because of the school’s large student body, proximity to existing Amazon distribution centers, and the relative lack of nearby retailers.

Follett will continue to operate the university store, which also sells mugs, hoodies, and other UMass-branded tchotchkes.",The ubiquitous online retailer has struck a deal with UMass to replace an on-campus “textbook annex” run by Illinois-based Follett Corp. with a smaller Amazon distribution center. UMass officials hope the arrangement will save students money.
"07/07/2015 AT 11:55 AM EDT

When his 18-month-old granddaughter's stroller rolled from the platform onto the train tracks at Wentworthville Station in Sydney, Australia, on Sunday morning, this grandfather knew he had to act fast.

, the grandfather jumped after the baby girl onto the tracks to save her, very narrowly missing an incoming freight train that zipped by soon after he hoisted himself back up unto the platform,

The girl, who fell onto the tracks as her family purchased train tickets, suffered swelling to the forehead and cuts to her knees, police confirmed, though the hero granddad avoided any injuries.

""[It was] heroic. He's run down the tracks to the end of the platform,"" Inspector Paul Reynolds

. ""Baby [was] very lucky, grandfather just as lucky.""","Soon after the man saved his 18-month-old granddaughter from the track, a freight train whizzed by"
"A Lebanese official says Beirut airport authorities have foiled one of the country’s largest drug smuggling attempts, seizing two tonnes of the amphetamine fenethylline before they were loaded on to the private plane of a Saudi prince.

The official said the prince and four others had been detained on Monday. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to give official statements.

The manufacture of fenethylline pills thrives in Lebanon and war-torn Syria, which have become a gateway for the drug to the Middle East and particularly the Gulf.

In a 2014 report, the United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime says the amphetamine market is on the rise in the Middle East, with Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Syria accounting for more than 55% of amphetamines seized worldwide.",Prince and four others detained after fenethylline pills were confiscated before they were loaded on to private jet in Beirut
"MADRID—Support is collapsing for Europe’s mainstream leftist parties, long a pillar of the establishment in countries across the continent.

A voter revolt against Italy’s leader marks the latest setback in a downward slide that began before recession hit Europe in 2008 and has accelerated since. Voters are chafing at austerity measures that center-left governments adopted to manage debt crises. Many who once supported Socialists and...","Support is collapsing across the continent for Europe’s mainstream leftist parties, with Italian voters’ rebuke of Prime Minister Matteo Renzi on Sunday just the latest instance."
"Israeli police arrested a man Wednesday who they suspect hacked into Madonna’s computer late last year and leaked demo versions of songs from her upcoming Rebel Heart album.

A month-long investigation from the cybercrime wing of Israel’s Lahav 433, an FBI-like organization, led authorities to arrest a 39-year-old, according to The Hollywood Reporter. A statement from Lahav 433 said it worked closely with the FBI and that the suspect allegedly “broke into the personal computers of several international artists over the past few months and stole” unreleased music that he then traded for money. Police put a gag order on the alleged hacker’s name, though local media in Israel have begun identifying the man as a former reality show contest from one of Israel’s singing competition programs.

Madonna, who in December rushed to release six songs from the album on iTunes in the wake of the leak, called the theft “a form of terrorism.”

Similarly, Björk announced Tuesday that she would suddenly release her new album, Vulnicura, on iTunes after the record leaked over the weekend, two months ahead of schedule.","The singer called the theft ""a form of terrorism"""
"Paz de la Huerta is attempting a comeback after recovering from a near-death accident — but she’s still up to her old antics.

The “Boardwalk Empire” star, no stranger to odd behavior, vented her frustrations with Hollywood to a crowd at club No. 8 on Wednesday, saying, “Some people f— Harvey Weinstein and they get a Golden Globe.”

Paz spoke to Confidenti@l at the Meatpacking District hotspot about why she’s been off for the past year. She told us she was hit by a truck while shooting a film in Toronto and “shouldn’t be alive” now.

“I’ve been off the radar because I’ve been fighting for my life,” she said at art group The Committee’s event to celebrate her new photo book, “The Birds Didn’t Die Over the Winter.”

The kooky actress explained that a stunt gone horribly wrong landed her in the hospital. “The truck was being driven by a stunt driver and he was going 80 miles an hour when he hit me,” she said.

“There is no reason why I should be alive today. My tail bone was broken. A lot of things were broken due to that accident.”

Since the freak mishap, she says she has been back in the hospital for more than 20 surgeries. But Paz says fighting for her life has lifted her to a higher spiritual place. While recovering physically, she also was nursing a broken heart, having gone through a bad breakup with Stone Temple Pilots front man Scott Weiland.

Her book, out this week, was shot by photographer Alexandra Carr and was inspired by the end of that relationship.

“I was in a toxic relationship with a musician. We were together almost two years,” she said.

She and Weiland dated from 2008 to 2009. “I had just come out of a destructive insane relationship. This toxic human being who came into my life said he was encouraging my work and then he would hide my scripts,” she said

Paz said she was in a “really dark place” until she met Carr. “I was heartbroken. I was confused. And then I met Alexandra.”

Paz has thrown herself back into her work. She has four films under way, including her directorial debut, and is keen to publish a book of “thousands” of paintings she did as a form of therapy while in the hospital.

“I wouldn’t call myself an actress. I would call myself an emoter,” she said. Tell Harvey Weinstein that.

“After Earth” co-writer Gary Whitta dishes about what it was like to visit Will Smith’s family compound in Los Angeles before filming with him and his son Jaden. “All the story development meetings were at Will’s house. He likes to work where he’s comfortable,” Whitta said at the Mercedes-Benz-hosted premiere at the Ziegfeld Theatre.

As for the food chez Smith, Whitta said it’s a “very different lifestyle.” “I sit in my pajamas at my desk all day writing, so being part of the Will Smith universe is almost like being on a different planet.

“Will has his own chef,” Whitta said. “Our first meeting was a breakfast meeting. I didn’t want to ask for anything too ostentatious. I just asked for scrambled eggs, and man, those eggs ... I don’t know where they came from, but they were the best scrambled eggs I’ve ever had in my life. If I ever get rich, the first thing I’m going to do is hire a private chef.”

“Jersey Shore” star Vinny Guadagnino talked to Confidenti@l about his former co-star Snooki’s recent confrontation with Gov. Chris Christie about the gov’s hatred of the show. “I was standing right there when it happened,” he said. “She said, ‘How come you don’t like me?’ He doesn’t like ‘Jersey Shore,’ but we’re not from Jersey. We’re from New York, so I don’t know why he would hate us so much.”

PHOTOS: SNOOKI'S HOT POST-BABY BODY

Jim Carrey is set to publish his first children’s book, “How Roland Rolls,” with Perseus Distribution. The book, out in September, will be sold in the U.S. and in Carrey’s native Canada. The funnyman will appear at Book Expo America and sign autographs for fans in the Perseus Distribution booth Friday afternoon at the Javits Center in New York.

One person is upset Bill Hader has retired from “Saturday Night Live.” Without giving away his address, we’ll say the star’s Chelsea-area doorman has nothing but wonderful things to say about the genius impressionist. “He told some people in the building that Bill would give him ‘SNL’ tickets for him and his family once in a while,” says our source. “He’s known to be the sweetest, most down-to-Earth guy.”

A HIGH DEGREE OF OPRAH

Oprah Winfrey and Boston Mayor Thomas Menino received honorary degrees from Harvard University Thursday. Winfrey was there in person to receive an honorary doctor of laws degree, sparking tweets by students who recalled stories of studio audiences that got shopping trips. The grads joked that they might find something under their seats, too.

PHOTOS: 25 YEARS OF OPRAH WINFREY'S STYLE

At least one of the “Real Housewives of New York” has a sense of humor about the cast’s season-six salaries. At the NewYork.com launch party at midtown club Arena, Aviva Drescher told Confidenti@l, “Did I try to get more money? That’s like asking me if I went to India, went to go buy jewelry, and if I asked them to lower the price for the bracelets.” She sarcastically added, “No, I asked for the same price as last year.”

Jeremy Piven tried to go incognito in a Panama hat, full beard and oversized black-and-white French sailor shirt on Formula One boss Flavio Briatore's 207-foot yacht Force Blue in the South of France recently. Briatore, who’s dated Heidi Klum, had over 100 sexy gals on the yacht and Piven tried chatting many of them up. He also talked to Sanctuary Hotel owner Hank Freid, who told Piven that everyone on his staff calls him “Ari.”

PHOTOS: HEIDI KLUM HANGS UP HER 'ANGEL' WINGS

Marc Jacobs’ new boyfriend may be using him for the fame. Porn star Michael Lucas is telling pals that porn star Harry Louis — who once worked for Lucas — left his partner of two years for Jacobs and is now working his time in the spotlight. “He is now running his own chocolate company, which is fully funded by Jacobs, and boasting pictures of his new-found ‘friendship’ with celebrities,” Lucas says. You know what they say ... bake it till you make it.",Paz de la Huerta is attempting a comeback after recovering from a near-death accident — but she’s still up to her old antics.
"By Douglas Robson, Special for USA TODAY

, who sat supine on a sofa for the

final in 2009, picked up where he left off two years ago by collecting his second title Sunday.

Top-ranked Nadal dominated big-hitting Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic 6-4, 7-5, 6-4 in just 2 hours, 13 minutes to reinforce his current status as the No. 1 player in the game. It was Nadal's eighth major and second in a row after winning Roland Garros.

After the final point was secured, Nadal collapsed on his back on the turf at the baseline and covered his face with his hands. After congratulating Berdych, Nadal leaped out of his chair and did a front somersault on the grass, rising to his feet with both fists clenched.

Just 24, Nadal joins some elite company. He is now tied with Andre Agassi, Jimmy Connors, Ivan Lendl, Fred Perry and Ken Rosewall in Grand Slam titles.

""It was probably one of the toughest moments in my career,"" Nadal said after accepting the winner's trophy Sunday from the Duke of Kent. ""A win here was always my dream. I did it two years ago.""

Nadal has now won 14 consecutive matches at the All England Club and ""defended"" the title he won in his last appearance here two years ago.

""It was amazing for me after a difficult year last year that I can be here,"" he said.

A year ago, Nadal could not defend his All-England Club crown due to tendinitis in his knees. Instead, he watched the final between Roger Federer and Andy Roddick from his couch back in Mallorca.

Since returning to clay in mid-April, the Spaniard has been on a tear, going 31-1 and regaining the top ranking from Federer. He is 8-2 in major finals overall and 5-0 in his last five.

It's the second time Nadal has won the French Open and Wimbledon back-to-back.

Nadal posed with the trophy in the clubhouse next to the green board with his name already etched as the 2010 winner. He cradled the trophy under his left arm as he signed autographs outside the members' entrance, where hundreds of fans gathered to see him.

Nadal is the first Spanish man to win Wimbledon twice. Manolo Santana took the title in 1966.

""For the Spanish players for the last 40 years it was very difficult to play here,"" Nadal said. ""We are doing better right now. We are very satisfied for that.""

Berdych was playing in his first Grand Slam final and was the first Czech to reach the Wimbledon final since Ivan Lendl in 1987. He had beaten top-seeded Federer and No. 3 Novak Djokovic en route to the final, but couldn't find a way to take out the second-seeded Nadal as well.

Nadal won all the big points against the 24-year-old Czech, who failed to convert any of his four break points.

""He was strong,"" Berdych said. ""I think the biggest difference between us was that when he got a chance, he just took it. He gave me one (break point) in the second set, one in the third set, and none of them I can bring to my side and just make a break. That just shows how strong he is.""

Later Sunday, Berdych pulled out of the Czech Republic's Davis Cup quarterfinal against Chile, which starts July 9, citing an abdominal muscle injury. He did not mention any injury during his post-match Wimbledon news conference and showed no sign of injury during the match.

It was typical grass-court Wimbledon tennis, with play dominated by serves and only a few break points here and there making the difference. Nadal lost only 24 points on serve.

Nadal played his usual grinding baseline game featuring whippet forehands. Yet it wasn't a vintage performance from Nadal, who had 21 unforced errors compared to 17 for Berdych. Nadal had 29 winners, two more than the Czech.

Nadal broke twice in the first set, dropping only four points in his own four service games. Nadal won five games in a row from 3-2 down in the first set to go up 1-0 in the second.

Berdych's chances may have evaporated in the first game of the second set, when he failed to convert on three break points. In a game that lasted about 10 minutes, Nadal overcame two double faults and four forehand errors.

Berdych will rue his chance on the second break point, when Nadal hit a relatively weak approach shot and the Czech had plenty of time to line up a forehand passing shot but slapped the ball into the net.

Nadal broke Berdych at love in the 12th game to go up two sets to love. Nadal saved another break point at 1-1 in the third set, then broke Berdych again in the last game to close out the match.

Serena Williams won her fourth women's title Saturday, beating Vera Zvonareva 6-3, 6-2 in a one-sided encounter. The men's final was also a disappointment following thrillers in the last three years — two classics between Federer and Nadal and last year's 16-14 fifth set victory by Federer over Andy Roddick.

This year's tournament will be remembered particularly for a first-round match — the record-setting 11 hour, 5-minute marathon between John Isner and Nicolas Mahut that stretched over three days and ended with Isner winning 70-68 in the fifth set.

Also notable: For the time since 1995, the tournament was completely rain-free. The Centre Court roof — unveiled last year — was used mainly as a sun shade.

You share in the USA TODAY community, so please keep your comments smart and civil. Don't attack other readers personally, and keep your language decent. Use the ""Report Abuse"" button to make a difference.","Rafael Nadal continued his climb up the Grand Slam ladder Sunday with another Wimbledon title, his second. The top-ranked Spaniard cruised past first-time finalist Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic 6-3, 7-5, 6-4."
"Two 1957 films by Peter Sellers, long thought to be lost, have been found by the building manager of the now-defunct Park Lane Films in London. The master prints of “Dearth of a Salesman” and “Insomnia is Good,” were in 21 film cans that the manager, Robert Farrow, salvaged from a trash can outside the building when the studios were cleared before to refurbishment in 1996.

“I took them home, put them in a cupboard and pretty much forgot about them,” Mr. Farrow, said in a statement. When he cleared out his cupboards recently he looked inside the tins and discovered the two 30-minute films, co-written by Sellers, who died in 1980, and the Canadian author Mordecai Richler. It is unclear whether the films were intended for television or cinema.

“They’re kind of a pastiche of the public information films at the time,” said Paul Cotgrove, from The White Bus, which runs the Southend Film Festival in Essex, told the BBC. “They’re not riotous comedy, they’re just good fun to look at.” The films will be shown at the Southend festival on May 1 next year.","Two 30-minute films by Peter Sellers, from 1957, are found in London."
"A group of 19 immigrant children became American citizens Friday during a unique swearing in ceremony at the Museum of Food and Drink in Brooklyn.

“America is lucky to have you. Not only are you becoming American, you are shaping what this country is,” said museum director Peter Kim.

The children, who ranged in age from 5 to 17, took their naturalization oath in the main gallery space at the Williamsburg institution, where the current exhibit focuses on Chinese food.

The freshly minted Americans hail from 14 different countries, including Algeria, Ivory Coast, Ukraine, Kyrgyzstan, Greece, and Thailand.

Immigration waiver could help reunite same-sex couple

Nohemie Jean-Pierre, 13, from Haiti, said the museum provided a fitting atmosphere for the ceremony.

She said the diversity of cultures, and food, is one of her favorite thing about living in Flatbush with her family.

“I’d say the food, because there’s different cultures, and you get to try all different things.”

Judge Denny Chin presided over the ceremony.

4 years of asylum good enough to naturalize as U.S. citizen

“This is a very special day for me as well,” Chin said.

The Princeton and Fordham Law grad became a citizen in 1965, at age 11, after emigrating Hong Kong.",A group of 19 immigrant children became American citizens during a unique swearing in ceremony at the Museum of Food and Drink.
"CARNEGIE HALL is the principal New York home for visiting orchestras, and has heard most of the best. This season, there is a slightly smaller proportion of premier national and international ensembles, and a larger proportion of orchestras from more exotic spots. An example is the Zagreb Philharmonic Orchestra, which ended its first American tour there Monday night.

The Zagreb group dates back to 1919, and counts now as Yugoslavia's most important orchestra. Its music director in the 1970's was Lovro von Matacic, who turned over the position last year to Pavle Despalj. Mr. Despalj had spent a decade before his appointment as head of the Florida Symphony in Orlando.

Monday's concert was a delightful one. The Zagreb Philharmonic is not about to challenge Berlin, Cleveland, Chicago or whatever your own criterion for excellence may be. But this is still an ensemble full of skill and personality.

Perhaps its most striking attribute was a refusal to play loudly, and that was especially notable in Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 5, the only real orchestral showpiece on the program. Unlike too many American orchestras, which for all their superior virtuosity blast through this music in a vulgar and heartless way, the Zagreb performance seemed almost Schubertian. This was a charming, folkish, intimately shaped performance. Some of the more rousing climaxes did lack impact. But the compensations were audible everywhere.

The concert began with a Chorale for Strings (1967) by Stanko Horvat. This eight-minute piece might have seemed imitative of the coloristic experiments of the Poles in the 1960's. But Mr. Horvat brought a welcome delicacy and subtlety to his elaboration and commentary on Gregorian chant. The dissonant elements were introduced as hushed intimation rather than as an assault, and the result was gratifying.

The rest of the program consisted of two concertos, Bach's in D minor for two violins (BWV 1043) and Haydn's in D for cello (Op. 101). The soloists for the Bach, Augustin Detic and Branko Kosir, share the orchestra's first-violin desk, and they played admirably: not, again, the absolute acme of virtuosity, but with a sweet authority and nicely contrasting, complementary tonal characteristics.

The Haydn cellist was the conductor's brother, Valter Despalj, who studied at the Moscow Conservatory and with Leonard Rose at the Juilliard School. He had a few awkward moments in the upper positions, but otherwise comported himself with the same sensitivity and intelligence evidenced by the orchestra itself.","CARNEGIE HALL is the principal New York home for visiting orchestras, and has heard most of the best. This season, there is a slightly smaller proportion of premier national and international ensembles, and a larger proportion of orchestras from more exotic spots. An example is the Zagreb Philharmonic Orchestra, which ended its first American tour there Monday night."
"BIRMINGHAM, Ala.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Regions Bank on Thursday announced that Kate Randall Danella has joined the company and will serve as Wealth Strategy and Effectiveness Executive for Regions Wealth Management.

This Smart News Release features multimedia. View the full release here: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20150827005106/en/

Kate Randall Danella, Regions Wealth Management (Photo: Business Wire)

In this role, Danella will oversee the development and implementation of business strategies across Regions’ Wealth Management Group.

Regions Wealth Management provides banking, investment, trust and insurance services through four divisions: Regions Private Wealth Management, Regions Institutional Services, Regions Investment Services and Regions Insurance.

“Kate brings a unique and impressive level of experience, including strategic planning, client services, business development and operational analysis, all of which will help us continue to build on our momentum,” said Bill Ritter, head of Regions Wealth Management. “She will work with the Regions Wealth Management business groups to make the most of partnerships across the bank to address the needs of our clients and communities. The depth of Kate’s expertise and her passion for excellence directly complement our vision for continued growth.”

Prior to joining Regions, Danella served as vice president for Capital Group Companies in Los Angeles. During her career at Capital Group, she was a senior sales and service manager for Capital’s institutional business, senior marketing leader for the global marketing organization, and strategy and business leader for the American Funds mutual fund business. Most recently, Kate was responsible for developing and executing strategic business plans for Capital’s North American businesses. She joined Capital Group in 2002 and served in sales, service, marketing and management roles in Los Angeles, San Francisco and New York.

“Regions Wealth Management is known within the industry for its consultative approach to helping clients identify and tailor solutions designed to meet their individual needs,” Danella said. “I look forward to working with all of our business groups to find areas where we can further our partnerships to reach more clients and deepen existing relationships. By strategically aligning our resources, we can help more clients successfully navigate the evolving landscape surrounding investments and insurance while meeting their individual, long-term goals.”

A native of Tuscaloosa, Ala., Danella earned a Master of Business Administration degree from Harvard Business School. She also holds degrees from the University of Cambridge as well as Vanderbilt University.

With $85.5 billion in assets under administration, Regions Wealth Management has experienced strong growth, increasing households, assets under supervision and revenues in 2014. Regions established the Wealth Management Group in June 2011, integrating its Trust, Private Banking, Asset Management and Insurance units within a single group.

Regions Financial Corporation (NYSE:RF), with $122 billion in assets, is a member of the S&P 500 Index and is one of the nation’s largest full-service providers of consumer and commercial banking, wealth management, mortgage, and insurance products and services. Regions serves customers in 16 states across the South, Midwest and Texas, and through its subsidiary, Regions Bank, operates approximately 1,630 banking offices and 2,000 ATMs. Additional information about Regions and its full line of products and services can be found at www.regions.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20150827005106/en/

Regions BankJeremy King, 205-264-4551www.regionsbanknews.comFollow Regions News on Twitter: @RegionsNews","BIRMINGHAM, Ala.---- Regions Bank on Thursday announced that Kate Randall Danella has joined the company and will serve as Wealth Strategy and Effectiveness Executive for Regions Wealth Management. In this role, Danella will oversee the development and implementation of business strategies across Regions’ Wealth Management Group. Regions Wealth Management..."
"Market confidence worldwide took a hit this week. And in Europe, while fears over sovereign debt were temporarily eased by the European Central Bank's decision to buy Italian and Spanish bonds, there is growing concern not only of more bailouts but also of possible bank failures. Who will pay for all of this?

As the situation in Greece shows, a huge part of the cost of more bailouts will fall on the wealthier European countries, especially Germany. But paying for the mistakes of profligate countries -- and their early retirement policies -- can't possibly sit well with the hard-working Germans. And yet, the German taxpayers haven't risen in protest.

How much will the Germans have to pay? What effect might the bailouts have on their lives?",Europe binged on debt. Now Germany is stuck with the tab.
"We get CEASE & DESIST letters from studios every other week, and generally comply with 99% of them within 24 hours (except for Kat Dennings' lawyer, who was a total asshole!!!). I wonder if they even gave her the chance to remove them? Typical FOX ""let's go

Dennings stars in Daydream Nation, a film that will be playing at the Whistler Film Festival that runs Dec. 1 - 5. Thursday's WestCoast Life has the scoop on all the events. Please share your photographs of the latest B.C. snowfall Santa Claus parades across

however the earning a higher salary part could be a point of contention between the couple."" And his ideal girl? Kate Winslet or Kat Dennings. Men can handle a more successful counterpart Disagrees Sonali Sapra (23), MBA student, ""I disagree with the survey

Dennings stars in Daydream Nation, a film that will be playing at the Whistler Film Festival that runs Dec. 1 - 5. Thursday's WestCoast Life has the scoop on all the events. Please share your photographs of the latest B.C. snowfall Santa Claus parades across

Dennings stars in Daydream Nation, a film that will be playing at the Whistler Film Festival that runs Dec. 1 - 5. Thursday's WestCoast Life has the scoop on all the events. Police were negotiating late Tuesday with a suspect... Sign up to receive e-mail

10/20/2009 10:34 AM By Kelley L. Carter, USA TODAY

The dish: Katie Holmes chats about daughter Suri's favorite musical; Julie Andrews loves The Rock; Diane Kruger signs on to new film.","Collection of all USATODAY.com coverage of Kat Dennings., including articles, videos, photos, and quotes."
"Dr. Carlo Rosen, a doctor originally from Manhattan, is an emergency room physician at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, which was inundated patients following the bombings at the Boston Marathon's finish line Monday. The hospital treated 24 patients in all, more than half of the number of beds in the ER.

When the ambulances began arriving at Boston’s Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center on the worst Patriot’s Day the city had ever known, Dr. Carlo Rosen was on the front lines, ready to receive.

The emergency room was met with a deluge of wounded innocents Monday, their bodies bloodied and broken. Rosen and a dozen trauma surgeons and doctors specializing in emergency medicine were shocked at the conditions of the patients suddenly in their care.

“These were combat injuries you see in a combat zone, not the typical injuries you see in an urban emergency department,” said Rosen, 47, who was raised on the Upper West Side and trained at Columbia University and at Bellevue Hospital.

RELATED: POLICE NARROW IN ON TWO SUSPECTS IN BOSTON MARATHON BOMBINGS

While the terror strike at the Boston Marathon made the surgeons feel like they were operating in a field aid station during a military battle, they were well prepared, their skills honed in treating countless patients with penetrating gunshot or stab wounds, or limbs mangled or split in car wrecks or falls, Rosen said.

They set to work under tremendous duress, applying life-saving measures to remove shrapnel — mostly metal pellets and nail fragments — from patients’ lower extremities.

Rosen, a doctor of emergency medicine, said he treated six patients himself from the time the wounded began arriving, during the 3 o’clock hour, until he went home at midnight. He credited the staff’s smooth handling of chaos to practice drills Boston emergency responders have continually undertaken following 9/11.

RELATED: SYMBOL OF BOSTON TRAGEDY REVEALED

“It’s something that we dread, but we have trained for,” Rosen said. “The toughest part was the large number of patients who came in all at once. It is probably the biggest onslaught of trauma patients to the emergency department at one time.”

Doctors and nurses at Beth Israel Deaconess cleared the 46-bed emergency room, sending previously treated patients to hospital rooms to make ready for those who were wounded when twin bombs rocked the area near the marathon’s finish line.

The ER received 24 patients in total. Seven of them, critically injured, went straight to the operating room, including two whose legs were severed by the blasts, leaving behind little more than burned skin attached to bloody stumps.

RELATED: HUNDREDS GATHER FOR VIGIL ON BOSTON COMMON

Others were treated for broken bones and pieces of shrapnel that, in some cases, punctured blood vessels in the legs. Still others needed oxygen and specific medicine to stabilize low blood pressure as doctors searched for internal injuries not visible to the eye.

Most of the injured were in their 20s and 30s, athletic, healthy and in the prime of their lives, Rosen said.

In all, authorities reported three dead and more than 170 injured and treated at a host of Boston-area hospitals. More than a dozen remained in critical condition Tuesday.

RELATED: BOMB SQUAD AT 'INDEFINITELY CLOSED' JFK LIBRARY

On a day of misery, patients at least benefitted from the fact Boston is home to several top hospitals, all near to the blast scene.

Tufts Medical center treated 19 patients. Seeking forensic clues to the bombs' design and construction, law enforcement instructed doctors to save all foreign material removed from wounds, and place them in specimen jars marked with each patients’ name.

One of the most bizarre objects removed was the metal “handle” or pull tab of a zipper, embedded in a woman’s ankle joint, said Dr. William Mackey, chief surgeon at Tufts.

RELATED: FATHER OF MAN WHO LOST BOTH LEGS DISCOVERED SON’S FATE AFTER SEEING HORRIFIC PHOTO: REPORT

Mackey said the worst injuries were “open fractures, significant nerve, muscle and vascular injuries,” mostly to the lower extremities, owing to the trajectory of the explosions.

It was an eery scene at all of the area hospitals, with rifle-carrying National Guard soldiers in army fatigues patrolling the perimeters and hallways, all part of the post-strike lockdown.

Nicholas Yanni, 32, who suffered a pierced eardrum, was wearing a hospital gown, an IV attached to his hand, as he spoke to reporters.

RELATED: CANO CONNECTS FOR 'CAROLINE' & JACKIE IN 4-2 WIN

He said he and his wife, Leann, were cheering on a friend as she crossed the race’s finish line, and were standing roughly 10 feet from where one of the two bombs, a deadly variety of improvised explosive device, was planted. Husband and wife both survived, and are now sharing a hospital room at Tufts.

“I looked over at my wife, her lower leg was bleeding and I saw bone,” Yanni recalled of the first moments of shock that followed the twin concussions. “I started freaking out.”

Rosen remembered how his mother, who lives in Manhattan, sent him a worried text Monday night. He said he was back at the hospital at 10 a.m. Tuesday, tired but eager to continue caring for the patients.

“It was tough getting to sleep,” he recalled. “I think most of our patients will have a good prognosis.”","When the ambulances began arriving at Boston’s Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center on the worst Patriot’s Day the city had ever known, Dr. Carlo Rosen was on the front lines, ready to receive. He tells the Daily News about the pressure-packed hours of urgent care that followed."
"The uproar over President-elect Obama's controversial selections of religious leaders for his inaugural events is just one of the problems already besetting our next president. But I believe there is power in the problems and religious leaders have a role to play in unleashing that power.

To some, the invitation to evangelical pastor Rick Warren plants a symbol of exclusivity and intolerance smack in the middle of an inauguration that millions have looked forward to as an historic moment of unprecedented inclusivity; to others, inviting the first openly gay Episcopal bishop, Gene Robinson, to give an invocation at the Lincoln Memorial affronts their sensibilities. To still others, the pick of pastors seems like small potatoes in the face of the nation's plummeting stock market and soaring unemployment. Passage of California's Proposition 8 is the problem that weighs heaviest on the hearts of others denied the right and dignity of sanctifying their loving, lifelong marital commitments as heterosexual couples can. Bloodshed in Iraq, Afghanistan, and now in Gaza and Israel is the most pressing crisis to many. To others, it's the melting polar ice cap that threatens the globe.

Though we have a trillion-dollar deficit in our nation, I know first-hand from a lifetime in the ministry that there is more than a trillion dollars worth of caring, commitment, and courage in American hearts today. How do I know? As the pastor of Riverside Church in New York on the morning of September 11, 2001, I witnessed how in the worst of times we discovered the best in ourselves and in each other. Our city and our entire nation were united in grief as dishwashers and stockbrokers and sons and daughters and mothers and fathers alike perished. And we were united in determination as we moved mountains of cement and steel, donated blood and blankets, searched for survivors and perpetrators, and bravely embarked on rebuilding broken lives, battered hopes, and blasted buildings. There was a new feeling of unity and community and power as we stood together, strong at the broken places.

President-elect Obama clearly is wrestling with that challenge of how to bring out the best in our nation in these difficult times, and it is a question that likewise has the attention of our nation's religious leaders. What do we say to our nation to inspire us to find the power in the problems? Just yesterday, Pastor Rick Warren asked me for counsel after being invited to preach the Martin Luther King Day sermon in Dr. King's home church in Atlanta. As the first white pastor invited by the famed Ebenezer Baptist Church to deliver this sermon, Pastor Warren recognizes the need to build bridges and connections with Black pastors; as the first Black pastor of the famed Riverside Church, I understand the challenging dynamics of building authentic community.

I'm sure that Bishop Gene Robinson is also praying and pondering: what words can I offer to our nation today that will heal, inspire, and live up to the need and potential of this moment? The Reverend Sharon Watkins, the first woman asked to preach at the inaugural prayer service at Washington National Cathedral, is surely mulling over the same question. As I have prepared to preach and pray at five different events over Martin Luther King Day weekend and the inauguration, I've asked myself as well: What can we say that will help unleash the resources within us to heal our nation?

James Weldon Johnson's lyrics for the Black National Anthem ""Lift Every Voice and Sing"" remind us that especially in times of trouble--every voice is needed. Not just the voices of the Black or the White, the rich or the poor, the gay or the straight, the conservative or the liberal, the Christian or the Jew, the elder or the youth, but every voice is needed. There is a song of harmony and liberty that we are called to sing in these times that recalls the problems of the dark past that we've come through by faith and God's grace and that keeps our gaze fixed on the rising sun of a new day begun. At this moment in history, on the eve of the inauguration of our nation's first African American president and just days from the Feb. 1 beginning of Black History Month, it is time to recognize that Black History is Our American History Together. Even as we look back at the history that has already been written, we stand on the brink of writing a powerful and positive next chapter together.

Sure, we've got problems. But we've come through worse. Slavery didn't stop us. Segregation didn't stop us. And whatever has been thrown at us in these days won't stop us. There is power in the problems, if we know that God's people are in it and every voice is needed; that God's purpose is in it--to reflect the Beloved Community Dr. King described; and God's promise is in it--that our best days are to come. The Rev. Dr. James Alexander Forbes, Jr., is senior minister emeritus of The Riverside Church is founder and president of the Healing of the Nations Foundation.",A conversation on religion with Jon Meacham and Sally Quinn.  Visit http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/guestvoices/
"In an excellent show of gentle dog discipline, Twitter user Ben Taylor showed his roommates' dog that actions have consequences.

In this case, the action was peeing all over Taylor's bed.

The consequence was having to stay home while another dog enjoys a leisurely outdoor walk.

But if this video causes you extreme emotional pain, don't lose hope just yet.

don't worry, i felt bad and went back and walked both of them. still mad at him though

— ben taylor (@coolknifeguy) December 21, 2016",Poor lil guy.
"People don’t take hurricanes as seriously if they have a feminine name and the consequences are deadly, finds a new groundbreaking study.

Female-named storms have historically killed more because people neither consider them as risky nor take the same precautions, the study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences concludes.

Researchers at the University of Illinois and Arizona State University examined six decades of hurricane death rates according to gender, spanning 1950 and 2012. Of the 47 most damaging hurricanes, the female-named hurricanes produced an average of 45 deaths compared to 23 deaths in male-named storms, or almost double the number of fatalities. (The study excluded Katrina and Audrey, outlier storms that would skew the model).

The difference in death rates between genders was even more pronounced when comparing strongly masculine names versus strongly feminine ones.

“[Our] model suggests that changing a severe hurricane’s name from Charley … to Eloise … could nearly triple its death toll,” the study says.

Sharon Shavitt, study co-author and professor of marketing at the University of Illinois, says the results imply an “implicit sexism”; that is, we make decisions about storms based on the gender of their name without even knowing it.

“When under the radar, that’s when it [the sexism] has the potential to influence our judgments,” Shavitt said.

To test the hypothesis the gender of the storm names impacts people’s judgments about a storm, the researchers set up 6 experiments presenting a series of questions to between 100 to 346 people. The sexism showed up again.

Respondents predicted male hurricanes to be more intense the female hurricanes in one exercise. In another exercise, the hurricane sex affected how respondents said they would prepare for a hurricane.

“People imagining a ‘female’ hurricane were not as willing to seek shelter,” Shavitt said. “The stereotypes that underlie these judgments are subtle and not necessarily hostile toward women – they may involve viewing women as warmer and less aggressive than men.”

Hurricanes have been named since 1950. Originally, only female names were used; male names were introduced into the mix in 1979.

LINK: The reasoning for hurricane names and their history (keep suggestions to yourself).

Given the implications of this work, the study authors’ suggest the meteorological community re-consider the merits of the storm naming practice.

“Although using human names for hurricanes has been thought by meteorologists to enhance the clarity and recall of storm information, this practice also taps into well-developed and widely held gender stereotypes, with unanticipated and potentially deadly consequences,” the study says. “For policymakers, these findings suggest the value of considering a new system for hurricane naming to reduce the influence of biases on hurricane risk assessments and to motivate optimal preparedness.”

The National Hurricane Center, while declining to specifically comment on the results of this study, emphasized the people should focus on storm hazards, irrespective of their names.

“Whether the name is Sam or Samantha, the deadly impacts of the hurricane – wind, storm surge and inland flooding – must be taken seriously by everyone in the path of the storm in order to protect lives,” said Dennis Feltgen, National Hurricane Center spokesperson. ”This includes heeding evacuation orders.”

Bill Read, a former director of the National Hurricane Center from 2008-2012, isn’t convinced the gender of the storm name is as big a factor in storm fatalities as the study purports.

“While necessary to eke out the gender difference, it leaves me with the need to know is this factor significant, or is it very minor in the mix of all other societal and event driven responses,” Read said.

Other voices within the meteorological community believe the study is important but stopped short of recommending an overhaul of the naming system.

“I am not ready to change the naming system based on one study, but it may be one more indicator that thinking exclusively about physical science is not enough in 2014 and beyond to save lives,” said Marshall Shepherd, past president of the American Meteorological Society.

Gina Eosco, a researcher at Cornell University’s risk communication group, emphasized the storm name is just one of many non-weather factors that behavioral scientists need to better understand in understanding how people make decisions when dangerous storms threaten.

“The focus on the gendered names is one factor in the hurricane communication process, but social science research shows that evacuation rates are influenced by many non-weather factors such as positive versus negative prior evacuation experiences, having children, owning pets, whether a first responder knocked on your door to tell you to evacuate, perceived safety of the structure of your home,” Eosco said. “None of these very important variables were factored into this study.”

Julie Demuth, a scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research who studies societal aspects of weather information, echoed Eosco’s call for more research into the social and behavioral aspects of decisions people make in the face of a storm.

“My hope is that this paper helps continue the dialogue about and support for research on people’s hurricanes risk perceptions and responses and the implications for hurricane risk communication,” Demuth said.

Update, 1:30 p.m. Tuesday: Please see my follow-up post: Disbelief, shock and skepticism: Hurricane gender study faces blowback","People don't take hurricanes as seriously if they have a feminine name and the consequences are deadly, finds a new groundbreaking study."
"Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker came to the nation’s capital Friday to attack Washington’s culture, dismiss its wisdom and call for removing its power, offering new clarity on his strategic approach for earning the chance to live downtown by winning the 2016 presidential election.

“Washington is kind of this top-down, government knows best,” Walker said to an audience of about a half-dozen supporters and more than 50 members of the media who gathered just a block from the White House. “It’s a tired, old approach that hasn’t worked in the past and I don’t think will work in the future. What I see in the states and for the people outside of Washington is a craving for something new, something fresh.”

Walker, who is deep into preparations for an all-but-certain bid for the Oval Office, called for a “transfer of power” from Washington, D.C. to the states. He called the city “68 square miles surrounded by reality,” with six of the 10 richest counties in America, according to the median income. “We need to transfer power, power from our nation’s capital here in Washington back to the cities and states in this country, where the people, where the hardworking people in this country can actually hold their government accountable,” he said.

“That’s what Our American Revival is really about: Transferring that power from Washington back to the people,” he said, referencing the name of his new 527 organization that is laying the groundwork for his presidential bid.

It was not the first time that Walker positioned himself as a Washington outsider, a strategy that he hopes will give him an advantage over other prospective candidates like Senators Rand Paul, Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio, who work weekdays in the city. But it was his most muscular expression to date of his role, ready to take on and slay the sacred cows of the beltway power networks. Walker’s tour comes on the heels of a well-received speech in Iowa before Republican activists last weekend, and just days after announcing his new 527 organization.

He also took time to criticize President Obama’s State of the Union speech. “That sounded like a person who wants to grow the economy here in Washington,” he said. “I think the rest of America wants to grow the economy in cities and towns all across this great nation.” He also quoted Ronald Reagan’s admonition that The federal government did not create the states, the states created the federal government,”

His true guides, he continued, were the nation’s founding fathers, whom he said he always looked up to as a child. “I was a little geeky,” he said. “I actually thought of our founders almost as super heroes. Bigger than life.

Walker was introduced by Republican financier Fred Malek, a former Green Beret and aide to Presidents Richard Nixon and George H.W. Bush, who effusively praised the presidential contender. “I can’t think of anybody I’d rather be in that foxhole with our in that firefight than Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker,” he said, calling him a “terrific leader.”

Asked by Malek about tackling the threat of the Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS), Walker remained vague. “To me it’s not a matter of if there’s another attempted threat,” he said. “I’d do everything in my power to make sure families in this country would sleep safe.” He added that he would “take the threat to them.”",A rising Republican star carves out a role as the beltway outsider
"John A. Williams, a writer whose exploration of black identity, notably in the 1967 novel “The Man Who Cried I Am,” established him as one of the bright lights in what he liked to call “the second Harlem Renaissance,” and who caused a furor with an unflattering biography of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., died on Friday in a veterans’ home in Paramus, N.J. He was 89.

The cause was complications of Alzheimer’s disease, his son Dennis said.

Mr. Williams, whom the critic James L. de Jongh called “arguably the finest Afro-American novelist of his generation,” excelled in describing the inner lives of characters struggling to make sense of their experiences, their personal relationships and their place in a hostile society. His manifest gifts, however, earned him at best a twilight kind of fame — a reputation for being chronically underrated.

“Night Song,” his second novel, published in 1961, caught the attention of critics with its compelling picture of the jazz world of Greenwich Village and the retrospective ruminations of its hero, a dying saxophonist. “He gets close enough to the good novel about jazz that has never yet been written to make one hope he may write a good novel about something,” the British magazine The Spectator said in its review.

That novel was “The Man Who Cried I Am,” a look at 30 years of American history through the eyes of a dying black American writer living in Europe who reflects on his life and on his troubled marriage to a Dutch woman. Eliot Fremont-Smith, in his review for The New York Times, called it “a compelling novel, gracefully written, angry but acute, committed but controlled, obviously timely, but deserving of attention for far more than that.”

In “The King God Didn’t Save: Reflections on the Life and Death of Martin Luther King Jr.” (1970), Mr. Williams argued that Dr. King, suffering from hubris, was essentially a dupe, bought off with small concessions by the white power structure and blocked from effecting meaningful change.

“He did not understand that it had armed him with feather dusters,” Mr. Williams wrote. “He was a black man and therefore always was and always would be naked of power, for he was slow, indeed unable, to perceive the manipulation of white power, and in the end white power killed him.”

The negative portrayal, so soon after his assassination, dismayed many of Dr. King’s supporters.

By the late 1960s, Mr. Williams had earned a dual reputation, as a scathing critic of endemic racism in the United States and as a writer who, despite the constant comparisons to Ralph Ellison and James Baldwin, had been denied the credit due his talent.

“John Williams has so far been luckless,” John Leonard wrote in The Times in 1967. “That peculiar mechanism which transforms writers into celebrities, and their books into preferred stock, just hasn’t worked for him.”

Over time, some of the fire abated — “I’m still angry, but you can’t just be angry all the time,” Mr. Williams told Publishers Weekly in 1976 — but his reputation as a supremely talented but undervalued writer remained unchanged.

John Alfred Williams was born on Dec. 5, 1925, in Jackson, Miss., and grew up in Syracuse. He left high school to find work, and in 1943 joined the Navy, serving as a medical corpsman in the Pacific.

After the war, he completed high school and enrolled at Syracuse University, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in English in 1950. Unable to break into journalism, he spent time as a foundry worker, a supermarket vegetable clerk and a case worker for the Onondaga County welfare department. He moved to New York City in 1955, working sporadically as publicity director for a vanity press and as director of information for the American Committee on Africa, an organization founded to support African liberation movements.

In 1958, he became the European correspondent for both Ebony and Jet magazines. In the mid-1960s, he reported for Newsweek from Africa and the Middle East and from Europe for Holiday magazine.

“Night Song” plunged Mr. Williams into a literary tempest when the American Academy of Arts and Letters, impressed by the book, unanimously recommended him for a fellowship at the American Academy in Rome. In an unprecedented decision, the Rome academy rejected the selection, offering no explanation. Mr. Williams said he believed himself to be the victim of a false rumor that he was about to marry a white woman. He was offered a $2,000 grant instead, which he rejected.

A prolific writer, Mr. Williams published in a variety of genres. He wrote a travel book, “This Is My Country Too” (1965); a biography of Richard Wright and a picture history of Africa, both for young-adult readers; and, with his son Dennis, the biography “If I Stop I’ll Die: The Comedy and Tragedy of Richard Pryor” (1991).

In the early 1970s, he was an editor of the periodic anthology Amistad, devoted to critical writing on black history and culture.

His novels include “Sissie” (1963), which narrates the life of a Southern domestic worker as seen through the eyes of her two estranged children, and “Sons of Darkness, Sons of Light” (1969), a thriller about a civil rights activist who turns to murder after losing faith in nonviolence.

Mr. Williams confounded critics with “The Junior Bachelor Society” (1976), an unexpectedly heartwarming story about a group of middle-aged black men who return to their hometown to honor their football coach and mentor. It was made into a mini-series, “The Sophisticated Gents,” which was broadcast on NBC in 1981. His own favorite was “!Click Song” (1982), a screed against the publishing industry and the travails that await black writers.

Mr. Williams taught at several colleges and universities, most recently Rutgers in Newark from 1979 until his retirement in 1994. He lived in Teaneck, N.J.

In addition to his son Dennis, Mr. Williams, whose first marriage ended in divorce, is survived by his wife, Lorrain; two other sons, Adam and Gregory; a sister, Helen Musick; four grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.

Mr. Williams never much cared for the comparisons to Ellison and Baldwin. The tendency to group black writers together, he theorized in an essay for Saturday Review in 1963, was a way to ensure that only one at a time could become successful. He regarded his peers as E. L. Doctorow, John Updike and Norman Mailer.

“I do have faith in myself and my abilities to write,” he told The Washington Post in 1976. “I believe very much in what I have to say. I’m too old to start wavering now.”

An earlier version of this obituary misstated the subject of a biography by Mr. Williams. He was Richard Wright, not James Wright.","Mr. Williams, who was often compared to Ralph Ellison and James Baldwin, was the author of “The Man Who Cried I Am” and an unflattering biography of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr."
"That's the story of graduates today.

But $100,000? Or more. Any debt counselor will tell you that's insane.

It's a choke-hold on young people starting their lives -- It means putting off getting married, having children, and buying that first home.

The number is so staggering that it's hard to come to terms with it. Maybe that's why one graduate was a little cavalier about it when talking about it with CNNMoney. Here's how he views his debt and the story of two other young graduates, also with a lot of student loans.

William Bowles (pictured above), 27 years old.

Bowles is back in school getting a graduate degree despite having had $50,000 of debt after an undergraduate degree. That means he's taking on more debt even as he's putting other big life decisions on hold. His life goals are to start a family, have kids and buy a home.

""That seems pretty far off right now with student loan debts staring me in the eyes,"" Bowles said.

But he's optimistic that a graduate degree from Columbia University, where he is enrolled currently, will help him pay off $50,000 in the next three years. How?

Bowles muses he could also work for a nonprofit or the government, where he has a chance of his loans being forgiven after 10 years.

Related: Loan forgiveness? The student loan hack you don't know about

Rhea Shannon (pictured above), 26 years old.

During her senior year in college, Shannon's father passed away while on active duty in Afghanistan.

""He was the one that cosigned on one of my loans, and he told me it would be okay, that we would pay if off,"" Shannon said.

Now Shannon is not only heart broken, but has to constantly deal with calls from her creditors.

Shannon works as a production assistant at a television channel. Her payment on her student loan is $350 a month, which is about half of her weekly paycheck. She said she regularly misses payments and dodges calls from creditors.

If she could do it over again, Shannon said she wouldn't take out so much money.

""I probably would have taken one or 2 loans, and then I would have hustled. I would have picked up groceries in college, I would have babysat everybody, because they guarantee you a degree, but they don't guarantee you a job, and they still want their money.""

Related: 5 biggest student loan mistakes

Ashley Salvagin (pictured above), 25 years old.

Salvagin dreamed about being an actress, and even studied to be one. But she has put aside her dreams, and has taken on two jobs -- as an executive assistant at an advertising agency and at a nonprofit doing events -- to pay off her debt load.

She's managed to lighten it a little -- Salvagin graduated with $95,000 of debt.

Each month, she tries to pay more than the $800 minimum, but sometimes that's all she can manage.

""I've never missed a payment. But, it's a pretty heavy burden,"" Salvagin said.

Besides her dream career, she has put on hold everything that she really wants to do.

""I love to travel, so the second I'm done paying off all this debt, I have some big plans,"" she said. ""But, in the meantime, I have to focus on it.""

Related: Rent vs. buy vs. live with mom and dad

Millennials: What's your most pressing money question? Ask Christine Romans your question here, or on Twitter or Facebook using #askchristine and @cnnmoney. Christine Romans is CNN Chief Business Correspondent and author of Smart is the New Rich: Money Guide for Millennials.

CNNMoney (New York) March 25, 2015: 1:53 PM ET",Student loans are a choke-hold on young people starting their lives
"The absence of ground beef at lunch last week — at Brighton High and 43 other public schools here — could be explained by a peek into the freezer, where 21 boxes of ground beef products sat, cordoned off from the rest of the meat by a clinical-looking cover of white paper reading “Do not use.”

This is the frozen mass at the center of growing public concern, stoked by news coverage and social media outrage, over so-called pink slime, the low-cost blend of ammonia-treated bits of cow. It turns out that it constitutes some of the ground beef distributed by the United States Department of Agriculture through its school lunch program, and that it can be found in at least some grocery store beef, though chains including Kroger, Safeway and Stop & Shop have said they will not sell beef that contains it.

This year, McDonald’s and other fast-food restaurants also said they would stop using the substance, a filler formally known as lean finely textured beef, in their meat products. And on March 15, as an outcry resulted in hundreds of thousands of people signing online petitions, the Agriculture Department announced that next year it would offer schools a ground beef option that does not contain pink slime. Many school districts said they were planning to sign on.

The Miami-Dade school district, one of the nation’s largest, has already said it would opt for pink-slime-free beef, even though it expected it to cost more (exactly how much remained uncertain). State officials in South Carolina said they would procure only the pink-slime-free ground beef once it became available.

But for some school districts — with administrators fielding phone calls from concerned parents and fretting about past food scares — next fall is not soon enough. The Boston school district, among others, has taken the step of purging all ground beef from its menus. Other districts, like the New York City schools, have begun phasing out ground beef containing the additive from their lunchrooms.

Michael Peck, the director of food and nutrition services for the Boston schools, said the district had decided to hold and isolate its entire inventory of ground beef, leaving over 70,000 pounds of beef — worth about $500,000, Mr. Peck estimated — confined to a warehouse until the district knows more about what is in it.

“It’s another example of the alteration of our food supply,” said Mr. Peck, who is concerned about the use of ammonia hydroxide gas to kill bacteria in the product. “Have we created another unknown safety risk?”

The district will put the meat back into circulation if it finds that it is free of the filler, but like many districts, it is frustrated by the difficulty of determining what does and does not contain lean finely textured beef, which does not have to be listed as an ingredient.

“It does speak to the U.S.D.A.’s ability to trace,” Mr. Peck said. He added that the ground beef would be donated or thrown out if the district found that it contained pink slime.

Rick MacDonald, the assistant director for business affairs at the University of New Hampshire, was working last week to phase in ground beef without “pink slime” for the university’s dining halls, but he said that he and his vendors had trouble finding some filler-free products. His goal, he said, was to have all beef with pink slime gone this week.

“The hamburger patties — we’re trying to find a brand that doesn’t have it,” Mr. MacDonald said. “But the problem is, this stuff is so prevalent.”

In Portsmouth, N.H., it was the memory of an E. coli scare over spinach that led Deborah Riso, the district’s nutrition director, to decide she would take no chances.

“You just pull it because you don’t know,” Ms. Riso said from her office, where she was expunging ground beef from the April school menu. “I had a hamburger bar, so I’m going to do a hot roast beef sandwich. I had a beef or chicken burrito — I’m going to go with the chicken and rice burrito,” Ms. Riso said. “You can still make a nice product without beef.”

Marge Feinberg, a spokeswoman for the New York City Department of Education, said the city’s schools were already in the process of procuring meat without the pink slime, responding to calls from parents.

“They saw the news media, and they were concerned that this was, kind of, throwaway portions,” Ms. Feinberg said. “We’re depleting our inventory, we’re phasing it out.”

Still, lean finely textured beef remains approved by the Agriculture Department. The schools’ exodus is grounded less in science than in instinctive revulsion, said Donald W. Schaffner, director of the Center of Advanced Food Technology at Rutgers University.

“I don’t see that there is a scientific or health benefit from the point of microbiology or even toxicology,” Dr. Schaffner said of the rush to pull the beef from school menus. “The reason why it’s resonated with people is not so much that it’s unsafe, but the idea that we’re putting ammonia in our food is unpalatable to people.”

Even if removing pink slime quells the queasiness of some parents and school officials, it does not mean much to Fernando Castro, 14, who stood outside Brighton High School on Tuesday, waiting to leave school with some friends.

“I don’t eat school lunch anyway,” he said. “It looks weird.”","News of the ammonia-treated additive, formally called lean finely textured beef, set off a reaction by schools and an announcement by the Agriculture Department."
"Density Isn’t Destiny One of the most common answers in recent decades has been population density: There are simply too many people in places like India, or so goes the conventional wisdom. But Hong Kong is densely populated, too: nearly 6,000 people per square kilometer, compared with India’s 287 people per square kilometer. (Even New Jersey has a population density over three times that of India, and despite all the jokes about New Jersey, few would call it unlivable.) And yet despite some recent woes caused by the Asian currency crisis, Hong Kong is a fast-paced society with a per capita income almost as high as that of the United States.

Nothing to Lose But Their Chains One factor that really does make a difference, according to experts at think tanks such as Freedom House, the Heritage Foundation and Canada’s Fraser Institute, is economic freedom — the absence of government regulations. Hong Kong and the United States, they point out, are among the freest nations in the world; countries like India, Syria and North Korea are among the most highly regulated. India does have a free press and a democratic government (elevating its ranking on the less economics-oriented Freedom House survey). But its thicket of business regulations and bureaucratic restrictions is so dense — and wealth so difficult to create there — that Indians endure a standard of living as low as that of communist countries. Hong Kong, on the other hand, has few regulations, low taxes and an entrepreneurial culture. Perched on a barren rock on the Chinese coast, Hong Kong’s citizens enjoy all of the perks of other advanced, affluent societies. In the ABCNEWS Special Report, Is America Number One? John Stossel examines Hong Kong’s freedoms and India’s bureaucracy — and asks how America compares to both.

The Open Door Stossel also examines another key indicator of national success: openness to new ideas. “If you had landed on this planet in the year 1400, and you had to send back a report ‘What will be the society that dominates the world?’ it definitely would’ve been China,” says Tom Palmer of the free-market Cato Institute. By A.D. 1400, the Chinese had already invented gunpowder, the compass, the clock, real paper and printing. However, just as Europe was entering an age of exploration, China cut itself off from outside influences. “They burned all of the ships that had been traveling around the world,” Palmer says. “They wanted to make sure they weren’t contaminated by outsiders. They didn’t want all that change that an open, dynamic society brings about.” China closeted itself, while Europe explored. Eventually, Stossel argues, China stagnated as Europe grew wealthy and powerful.

Free Thinkers Thrive Stossel also discovers one tangible result of a country’s greater openness: an influx of immigrants, often the bearers of the new ideas that enrich a culture. Italy invented pizza, for instance, but it was Italian-Americans who popularized it by adding diverse toppings. Rock ’n’ roll is derived from the music of Ireland and Africa. Scientists and entrepreneurs often come here to work on ideas that found a less receptive audience back in their countries of origin. As French expatriate businesswoman Martine Kempf tells Stossel: “I designed and built a voice-recognition system to help disabled people control electric functions in cars,” but French red tape made distribution of the product impossible. A move to Silicon Valley changed all that, and within in a year Kempf was distributing her voice-activated cars in nine countries. Her hometown back in France is so proud, “they named a street after me, Rue Martine Kempf,” she says. “But I still don’t want to go back.” France’s loss is America’s gain, a pattern repeated every time people flee a stifling environment for a more open one.",What accounts for some nations’ inventiveness and prosperity?  Many believe freedom is the critical factor.
"Tesla Motors Inc. ’s top-of-the-line electric car can be delivered in just 20 days, far shorter than the waiting time on the luxury auto maker’s less expensive designs, suggesting it has shifted production to the $105,000 and up sedan to boost revenue.

The Palo Alto, Calif., auto maker launched the dual-motor P85D late last year at a price designed to increase its average transaction prices and potentially bring the money-losing company closer to steady profitability. The company missed its reduced fourth quarter delivery goal by about 300 units.

Tesla’s online ordering tool this week shows the Model S P85D is available for delivery in late March, while the $71,000 and up single-electric motor Model S is first available in May.

A spokeswoman said the company has prioritized deliveries of the P85D. The short wait time—in the past year deliveries have been as long as three months—raises concerns about the strength of demand for Tesla’s pricey cars. It is expected to offer its next model, a sport-utility vehicle called the Model X, in the third quarter.

This week, Tesla confirmed it is trimming staff in China amid weaker-than-expected demand there. China is expected to account for up to a third of the company’s global volume, Chief Executive Elon Musk has said.

The company’s fourth quarter securities filing shows strong continued interest in its cars despite low gasoline prices. Wall Street analysts believe there is pent-up demand for Model S sedans. Last month, it said the order backlog included 10,000 deposits for its Model S and 20,000 for the Model X.

Shares are off 14% since the start of the year. The stock closed off 33 cents at $190.55 in Nasdaq trading on Thursday.

Investors hungry for details about the company’s progress toward meeting its 2015 delivery goals aren’t likely to be sated soon. Unlike most auto makers, Tesla doesn’t release its unit sales on a monthly basis, doesn’t disclose inventory of unsold cars available for sale and doesn’t disclose unit sales by geographic region.

Tesla has forecast it will sell 55,000 cars globally in 2015, rising to 500,000 in 2020 and more than 2 million by 2025. Hitting the accelerator on sales and revenue is critical this year because it has drastically increased spending and Mr. Musk sees demands on capital investment growing in coming years.

One of the biggest question marks facing the company relates to inventory. Credit Suisse auto analyst Dan Galves on Monday estimated inventory of unsold vehicles was 1,000 vehicles at Dec. 31. CVC Research, a financial company, pegs the year-end inventory at 3,000 vehicles.

Whatever the level of unsold inventory, the company traditionally has followed a build-to-order model. Last month, Tesla said in a regulatory filing it change how it refers to finished goods. Once only including cars in transit to customers, the term was broadened to include cars available for immediate sale.

Barclays auto analyst Brian Johnson called that move “a departure from the past—indicating that Tesla production is not as much a build-to-order model as it has been historically.”

The P85D represents a potential boost for the company. Lauded for handling that rivals Porsche or Ferrari sports cars, it has an “insane” button that engages two motors to achieve up to 691 horsepower. Production glitches and other factors slowed initial sales of the model, denting fourth quarter results.

Tracking Tesla’s sales progress has been challenging, since the company reports deliveries globally and gives those numbers every three months. General Motors Co. , Volkswagen AG ., Toyota Motor Corp. and other auto makers break out sales for most geographic markets on a monthly basis.

That paucity of sales data leads to wild variations in sales estimates for the electric car maker. WardsAuto.Com, for instance, estimates Tesla’s U.S. sales of 997 in February. That number is 17% lower than the 1,200 deliveries estimated by Autodata Corp. For the year, Wards estimates Tesla U.S. sales at 1,793, while Autodata is at 2,200.

Write to Mike Ramsey at michael.ramsey@wsj.com","Tesla Motors can deliver its top-of-the-line Model S in just 20 days, far shorter than less expensive models, aiming to quickly boost revenue after falling below sales and revenue targets in its last quarter."
"There's one particularly troubling tidbit to be found amid Canada's surprisingly strong third-quarter growth: residential investment hit the skids.

The annualized 5.5 percent decline in this category was its worst quarterly showing since 2010, notes Macquarie Capital Markets Analyst David Doyle, who views the details of the report as ""growing evidence that 2016 will be the year of 'peak housing' for Canada.""

The prime culprit for this downturn in residential investment, according to the economist, was a subcategory that serves as a proxy for real estate commissions, which had been more than three standard deviations above its long-term average as a share of GDP — right around where the similar U.S. category was sitting eleven years ago.

The most important market news of the day. Get our markets daily newsletter. Business Your guide to the most important business stories of the day, every day. You will now receive the Business newsletter Politics The latest political news, analysis, charts, and dispatches from the campaign trail. You will now receive the Politics newsletter Technology Insights into what you'll be paying for, downloading and plugging in tomorrow and 10 years from now. You will now receive the Technology newsletter Pursuits What to eat, drink, wear and drive – in real life and your dreams. You will now receive the Pursuits newsletter Game Plan The school, work and life hacks you need to get ahead. You will now receive the Game Plan newsletter The run-up in residential investment as a whole in years past, and this segment in particular, bears eerie resemblance to what transpired south of the border in the 2000s, Doyle observes. If history repeats itself, moving past this peak in real estate commissions won't necessarily be a harbinger of imminent doom, but rather an early warning sign that a key driver of economic growth has been tapped out — which could foster more widespread weakness further down the road. Ahead of the U.S. housing bust, the downturn in brokers' commissions and other ownership transfer costs started in the fourth quarter of 2005, well before the beginning of the financial crisis.

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Doyle attributes a portion of the drop-off in this segment to the foreign buyers' tax in British Columbia, but warns of further softness in the future tied to the federal government's macroprudential tightening and corresponding rise in mortgage rates.

If Canadian housing is in the early stages of rolling over, the normalization process would see it shrink significantly more as a share of total output, as it currently stands more than one standard deviation above its historical norm. As such, the analyst sees real estate serving as ""a significant headwind for 2017 and beyond"" for Canada's economy.

The implications of weakness in in the housing complex? A softer loonie, says Doyle.

""Peak housing in Canada should manifest itself in financial markets via divergent monetary policy and diverging sovereign yields,"" the economist writes. He calls for the greenback to strengthen to 1.45 against the Canadian dollar by the end of 2017.",Real estate commissions tanked in the third quarter.
"The emergence of digital native media outlets and continued growth in online video has not yet drastically changed the face of the U.S. news media.

Nearly one third of U.S. adults, including nearly half of people aged 18-49, watch online news video, according to the 2014 State of the News Media study from the Pew Research Center.

The rise in popularity of online video news coincides with the headcount growth around digital news ventures, which have added almost 5,000 full-time jobs in the last few years as newspapers have continued to cut back on employees.

Though those changes portend a new era digital news, they shouldn't be overblown, said Amy Mitchell, director of journalism research at Pew.

""You see build up. You see momentum. You see energy, but there's still these lingering challenges that exist,"" she told Mashable.

The media broadly still relies on advertising, with audience-generated revenue, such as subscriptions. Outside investment is growing, but at a rate that does not appear to mark a significant change in the market.

Digital ad revenue has yet to catch up to other areas like the TV market — a fact that online publishers may have to accept.

""For the first several years of transition of news to the web in general, people were saying the revenue just has to catch up...if we go there the revenue model will emerge,"" Mitchell said. ""It still hasn't been figured out, and it's challenging.""

The report from Pew, which is an exhaustive look at U.S. news media, also highlighted struggles from cable news outlets that have been trying to retain audiences. The big three cable news channels — CNN, Fox News and MSNBC — suffered a combined media viewership drop of 11% to levels not seen since 2007. MSNBC was the hardest hit, losing almost a quarter of its prime-time audience.

Image: Pew Research Center/Nielsen Media

While cable news struggled, local television news experienced a resurgence, adding viewers for the first time in five years. The local TV industry has experienced a significant upheaval, according to the study, with almost 300 stations changing owners in 2013.

Local television stations have become a popular target for media companies seeking to diversify holdings and gain exposure to a 2014 political election cycle that is expected to feature heavy spending on local ads.

Have something to add to this story? Share it in the comments.",The emergence of digital native media outlets and continued growth in online video has not yet drastically changed the face of the U.S. news media.
"As she rose from her chair at the Calvin Klein fashion show in Midtown Manhattan the other week, Jessica Chastain was all but engulfed by an onrush of journalists and celebrity groupies imploring the lanky, flame-haired actress for a word, a glance, a nanosecond of her time.

Stefano Tonchi, the editor of W, embraced her showily as cameras clicked and whirred. Tim Blanks, the editor at large for Style.com, thrust a microphone in her face, pleading for an interview, before a pair of overzealous handlers leapt onto the catwalk to spirit her away.

Yes, Ms. Chastain can Hoover that kind of attention. One of Hollywood’s most avidly courted actresses, she is bait these days for the style set as well, having shone in recent months as fashion’s favorite clothes hanger. Reporters’ in-boxes are cluttered with bulletins announcing that she wore Roland Mouret to the Bafta Awards, appeared in Alexander McQueen on the SAG red carpet, and in Dior at the Writers Guild Awards. Before long we’ll be reading she was turned out in Dolce & Gabbana for the opening of a Sicilian breadbox.

Twice nominated for an Oscar (she is a front-runner on Sunday for best actress for her role in “Zero Dark Thirty”) and an increasingly high-profile presence on the red carpet, Ms. Chastain has become a paparazzi favorite, yet not one who projects the worldly glamour of a Cate Blanchett or Julianne Moore.

But that may change as she takes the next step in her branding as an international star, flaunting her paper-pale skin and monumental cheekbones as the so-called global ambassador for Manifesto, the new fragrance from Yves Saint Laurent, in an advertising campaign that will make its debut in March.

That collaboration “seemed like an incredible fit,” Ms. Chastain, in her mid 30s, said by telephone the other day from her suite at the fabled Chateau Marmont on Sunset Boulevard. Properly cued by her publicists, she professed an abiding reverence for the couture house and its founder. “I wish I could have met Monsieur Saint Laurent,” she said, promptly reeling off highlights of his career, applauding his daring in sending Catherine Deneuve onto the catwalk at his final couture show in 2002 dressed in a tuxedo. “So audacious,” Ms. Chastain said breathlessly.

A multiyear fragrance or cosmetics contract, customarily reserved for megacelebrities like Beyoncé, can be worth millions, of course. But money is not the only draw. In recent years, such relationships have become a rite of passage for a young actress, an essential part of her star-making portfolio.

They confer cachet, said Jenny B. Fine, the editor of WWD Beauty, a trade publication. Ms. Chastain, she pointed out, is treading a path well worn by Julia Roberts, the “face” of Lancôme; Charlize Theron, who has a similar role at Dior; and Keira Knightley, who vamps suggestively in an advertisement for Chanel Coco Mademoiselle.

“When an up-and-coming actress signs with such an iconic name, it becomes part of her brand,” Ms. Fine said. “It’s a win-win for both parties.”

The timing of the Saint Laurent campaign, which arrives in the wake of the Oscars, could not be more propitious. Ms. Chastain posed for the print advertisements early last year, and she completed the television commercial shot by Nicolas Winding Refn, who directed the movie “Drive,” in June. But all this was serendipity, claimed Stephan Bezy, the international general manager for Yves Saint Laurent Beauté. “When we met Jessica, we didn’t know that she would be nominated for an Academy Award,” he said. “We didn’t even know when the film would be released.”

He took on faith that Ms. Chastain would perfectly embody the company’s new jasmine-laced fragrance. Her beauty, he said, is “seductive, glamorous and sometimes even a little bit dangerous.”","Jessica Chastain takes the next step in her branding as an international star, becoming the so-called global ambassador for Manifesto, the new fragrance from Yves Saint Laurent."
"A member of the Iraqi military sits on a tank in Fallujah after forces retook the embattled city from Islamic State on Sunday. Haidar Mohammed Ali/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images …

People sort ballots on Sunday in Saint-Herblain, France, after a referendum was held regarding the Nantes Atlantique airport. Logic Venance/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images …

British singer Ellie Goulding performs during the Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts at Worthy Farm in Pilton, England, on Sunday. Andrew Cowie/European Pressphoto Agency …

Workers retrieved a re-entry module from the Long March-7 carrier rocket after the module landed in Badain Jaran Desert in northern China on Sunday, China’s state-run Xinhua news agency reported. Ju Zhenhua/Xinhua/Associated Press …

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and New York State Gov. Andrew Cuomo, left, greet people while marching in the 46th annual New York City gay pride parade on Sunday. Peter Foley/European Pressphoto Agency …

Turkish police fire rubber bullets to disperse demonstrators who gathered in Istanbul on Sunday to mark gay pride week. The governor’s office had banned the annual gay pride parade earlier this month. Ozan Kose/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images …

Tyler Clary competes in a preliminary heat for the Men's 400-meter individual medley during the 2016 U.S. Olympic trials in Omaha, Neb., on Sunday. Al Bello/Getty Images …

Muddy boots hang to dry on day five of the Glastonbury Festival in England on Sunday. Andy Buchanan/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images …

People wash before attending prayers during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan at a mosque in the old section of Kabul on Sunday. Wakil Kohsar/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images …

A man recovers at a shelter in Pretoria West, South Africa, on Sunday after being attacked in the township of Atteridgeville during a flare-up of political unrest in which several foreign-owned shops were looted. Marco Longari/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images …

The Kelso Creek subdivision in the mountainous Lake Isabella community, some 30 miles northeast of Bakersfield, Calif., is seen on Saturday in the aftermath of a wildfire. Frederic J. Brown/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images …

Riot police enter the Stadium Municipal during the UEFA Euro 2016 soccer match between Hungary and Belgium in Toulouse, France, on Sunday. Ariel Schalit/Associated Press …

A man in Madrid prepares his ballot for voting in Spain’s national elections on Sunday. Daniel Ochoa de Olza/Associated Press …

Photos of the Day: June 26","WSJ Photos of the Day: Gay pride parades are held around the world, revelers enjoy the Glastonbury Festival, Olympic trials continue, and more."
"Most experts agree that it will take years, or even decades, to reform the criminal justice system in Indonesia, which is ranked as one of the world’s most corrupt countries by Transparency International, a Berlin-based anticorruption organization. The 32-year rule of President Suharto, which ended just a decade ago, left behind law enforcement agencies that perpetuate graft, the experts say.

Kuntoro Mangkusubroto, the leader of a new presidential task force to reform the justice system, said Indonesia’s criminal justice system was fertile ground for middlemen representing moneyed clients.

“We want to have a system that is fair for everybody, not dependent on whether he or she has power or money,” Mr. Mangkusubroto said in an interview, adding that cleaning up the current system would take years.

Last month, wiretapped conversations revealed a plot by a prominent businessman, along with police officials and prosecutors, to fabricate a case against officials at the Corruption Eradication Commission, the nation’s chief anticorruption agency. The people heard in the wiretaps spoke of bribing key officials by handing out cash through a network of middlemen.

What shocked most Indonesians was not the brazenness of the speakers but the fact that the practices mentioned in the wiretaps seemed routine. By contrast, Indonesians without money have seemed increasingly at the mercy of a legal system that metes out severe punishment for seemingly harmless offenses.

“There is no normative standard of punishment in this country,” said Adnan Buyung Nasution, 75, one of Indonesia’s most prominent lawyers. “The punishment is very heavy in some cases, very light in others. That’s why people are disgusted at the justice system.”

The investigation, prosecution and judgment of a particular case follow rules dictated less by the law than by the free market of the middlemen. “It depends on how much money you have,” said Mr. Nasution, who recently led a presidential advisory group that recommended far-reaching changes in the country’s law enforcement agencies.

He added: “Each stage — the police, the attorney general’s office, the courts — has its markuses. But there are markuses that are so dominant, they can arrange everything in one package.”

In dealing with the police, the markuses — who are typically relatives of police officials, lawyers, journalists or anyone with contacts in law enforcement agencies — bribe police officials on behalf of a client in trouble with the law. With money, they persuade the police to change evidence or drop a case, according to watchdog groups, police officials and lawyers.

Because the money is usually distributed to the officer’s supervisors, police officers with a good nose for potentially lucrative cases tend to rise quickly in the force, said Neta Pane, executive director of Indonesia Police Watch, a private group.

Mr. Pane said that police officers had a strong incentive to engage in corrupt practices from the very beginning of their careers. To get into the national police force, applicants must pay bribes, which here in the capital range from $6,000 to $9,000, he said. Typically, the applicants are in a hurry to repay the sum, which they have borrowed and cannot repay on a low-ranking officer’s monthly salary of $100.

“The system requires corruption to survive,” Mr. Pane said.

Aryanto Sutadi, 58, a retired official who ran the national police’s legal division until last month, estimated that 25 percent of police officers bent the law to earn extra income. But Mr. Sutadi estimated that 90 percent of police officers accepted some form of “gifts.”

“If someone is satisfied with the service he has received and gives gifts to show his gratitude, that is not considered bad,” Mr. Sutadi said.

Accepting gifts is an illegal, though commonly accepted, practice among police officers, prosecutors and judges. In fact, many people draw an ethical line between those who actively seek bribes and those who passively accept gifts. Markuses also hand out gifts on behalf of a client or a lawyer.

“That’s our culture,” said Otto C. Kaligis, a prominent lawyer whose office walls are adorned with photographs of him standing next to Suharto and President Obama. “Then it’s O.K. No problem if the clients, as a sign of gratitude, are willing to give.”

But Mr. Kaligis said a lawyer unwilling to give gifts to judges would not win many cases. “When, for instance, as a lawyer you open a law firm and then you lose 40 percent, then you are not marketable,” he said.

So far, attempts to reform or monitor the police, prosecutors and judges have been largely cosmetic, experts say.

Created in 2005 to oversee the nation’s judges, the Judicial Commission recently moved into a gleaming, six-story building with the capacity to house a staff far larger than the commission’s 200 employees. Inside, the commission’s posters display mafia-like judges wielding guns and holding stacks of money. The posters urge people to report corrupt judges, saying, “Don’t let them kill justice.”

Since its founding, the commission has received 6,555 complaints about judges, said Busyro Muqoddas, the commission’s chairman, adding that Indonesia had 6,900 judges. But with limited powers of investigation and no authority to summon judges for interrogation, the commission has been able to recommend sanctions against only 39 judges suspected of corruption.

Indonesia’s Supreme Court, which oversees the conduct of all the nation’s courts, has mostly ignored the commission’s recommendations, choosing instead to protect colleagues, Mr. Muqoddas said.

Of the 39 judges suspected of corruption, only 2 have been fired, for accepting bribes.

A bill to strengthen the commission’s powers sits in the Parliament, Mr. Muqoddas said, but he added that he held little hope for its passage. Parliament, ranked as the country’s most corrupt institution by Transparency International, recently announced a list of 55 priority bills it planned to take up next year.

“We weren’t on the list,” Mr. Muqoddas said.

A version of this article appears in print on December 20, 2009, on Page A12 of the New York edition with the headline: In Indonesia, Middlemen Mold Outcome of Justice. Order Reprints| Today's Paper|Subscribe","Indonesia’s network of corrupt law enforcement officials and middlemen has gained national attention, prompting calls for reform of the broken judicial system."
"Tuesday, November 4th 2008, 4:00 AM

Oprah is working O-vertime to get out the vote for her guy Barack.

Sen. Obama and the talk queen hooked up on a morning conference call Monday to strategize with prominent African-Americans, including Sean (Diddy) Combs, Donna Brazile, House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn and the Rev. Joseph Lowery.

Obama talked about being on the cusp of history and what it would say to the world to see his daughters play on the South Lawn of the White House, according to one participant. Oprah told everybody on the line they could make America ""truly one nation indivisible,"" Politico.com reports.

Oprah, who's due to be with Obama Tuesday night in Chicago, is said to be devoting her entire show Wednesday to the election and, assuming things go according to plan, hosting a party Wednesday night.

Jay-Z and Beyoncé are also keeping their eyes on the prize. The star couple was stunned over the weekend to learn about the suicide of their friend Shakir Stewart, who signed Beyoncé early on and later replaced Jay as head of the Def Jam label. All the same, they joined Diddy, Mary J. Blige and Russell Simmons at Obama rallies in Florida on Sunday and yesterday in Pennsylvania and Ohio.

""We have to do it for our children. We have to do it for the people that died for us to have the right to vote,"" said Diddy.

Here in New York, Sarah Jessica Parker, Matthew Broderick, Edie Falco, Lisa Loeb and John McEnroe are among the Obama supporters who've been getting out the vote at phone banks at Touch, 583 Park and Guastavino's, among other venues.

Writer Dominick Dunne, who's been battling bladder cancer at New York Hospital, asked his doctors to postpone his surgery so he could vote today for Obama. ""This is a momentous time in American history,"" said Nick, 82. ""And I'm not going to miss it.""

And pretty Amy Flynn at Disrespectacles optical shop on West Broadway turned down the morning shows that did stories on demand for Sarah Palin's Kawasaki eyeglasses. ""Actually, women have been asking me not to give them anything rimless that looks like her style,"" Flynn says. ""What they are asking for are Tina Fey glasses - the kind she wears in real life.""","Barack Obama and Oprah Winfrey hooked up on a morning conference call Monday to strategize with prominent African-Americans, including Sean (Diddy) Combs, Donna azile, House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn and the Rev. Joseph Lowery."
"'Teen Mom' Star Pathetic Excuses For DUI

just admitted to drinking and driving before she was busted for DUI last week ... but she's convinced she's done NOTHING wrong.

The 21-year-old called in to TMZ Live moments ago with a litany of ridiculous excuses for getting behind the wheel under the influence last week ... you won't believe how delusional she is.

TMZ broke the story ... Abraham was arrested in Nebraska on St. Patrick's Day night -- after blowing a .147 on a breathalyzer, nearly twice the legal limit.

And don't forget those crazy

back in January ... drinking from the bottle and kissing chicks ... she knows how to get down.

Get TMZ Breaking News alerts to your inbox","""Teen Mom"" star Farrah Abraham just admitted to drinking and driving before she was busted for  DUI last week ... but she's convinced she's done…"
"IF you want to see how quickly you can ruin a great credit score, just skip a mortgage payment.

Lenders use credit scores to measure how you handle debt. The number you’ll see most often is your FICO score. It runs from 300 to 850. The major credit reporting bureaus developed a rival, VantageScore, with scores from 501 to 990.

Missed mortgage payments, serious loan delinquencies, loan modifications, short sales, foreclosures and bankruptcies all drag down credit scores. Because a mortgage is such a big slice of anyone’s credit profile, it carries more weight than other loans. Both FICO and VantageScore have studied and quantified those impacts.

They reached similar conclusions: for people with near-perfect records, a single mortgage payment that’s 30 days late reduces a credit score enough to hurt. For anyone, a short sale — selling a home for less than the amount owed — can be almost as destructive as a foreclosure.

In contrast, a loan modification — when the lender approves new loan terms — can have a “very, very minimal” effect, said Sarah Davies, the senior vice president for analytics at VantageScore. In some cases, the borrower’s score might drop 10 or 15 points.

With a loan modification, said Joanne Gaskin, the director of global scoring solutions at FICO, “the consumer does not have to go delinquent to get assistance.”

Modification horror stories abound; some borrowers have been told they can’t be helped unless they’ve already missed payments. That doesn’t have to be the case, said Josh Zinner, the co-director of the Neighborhood Economic Development Advocacy Project, a New York City nonprofit company active in foreclosure prevention.

The government-backed Home Affordable Modification Program, known as HAMP, specifically permits modifications for borrowers who can document hardship like a job loss, Mr. Zinner said. “What we advise people in New York to do” he said, “is reach out to a nonprofit loan counselor or to Legal Services in order to get a modification with a servicer.”

It’s not a perfect solution — HAMP has been criticized for not helping enough borrowers. There are plenty of paperwork hassles, and points in the process where credit scores are in peril.

Still, because of “some really profound consequences” to bad credit, modification is worth pursuing, he said. Employers increasingly check credit. Housing options may be limited. “Virtually all landlords look at credit,” he said, adding that getting a mortgage can be difficult. Car loan and credit card costs jump.

In a study last month, FICO looked at how choices would affect three hypothetical mortgage holders: One with a spotless 780 score; another with a good 720, who may have missed a couple of credit card payments three years ago; a third with a not-great, not-toxic 680, who has sometimes fallen seriously behind on credit cards or a car loan. (Most lenders consider poor credit about 650 and below, Ms. Gaskin said.)

¶30 days late: The gold-plated 780 drops to 670-690, the middling 720 becomes 630-650, and 680 is now 600-620. Effects are most significant for the strongest borrower. “A continued progression is going to have less and less impact on a score,” Ms. Gaskin said.

¶90 days late: This is seriously delinquent, and brings the onetime best borrower down to 650-670, the midlevel one to 610-630, and the weakest to 600-620.

¶Short sale, deed in lieu of foreclosure, or settlement, assuming the balance has been wiped out: The result is just a bit less serious. The 780 score deteriorates to 655-675; 720 to 605-625; 680 to 610-630.

¶Foreclosure, or short sale with a deficiency balance owed: For either, 780 is 620-640; 720 is 570-590; and 680 is 575-595.

At a certain point it might seem as if there was not much difference between bad and worse, but remember that the lower the score, the longer it takes to climb back.","Missed mortgage payments, serious loan delinquencies, loan modifications, short sales, foreclosures and bankruptcies all drag down scores."
"A decade ago, Canggu was just a black-sand beach with one food shack, rice paddies as far as the eye could see and a fantastic reef break for intermediate surfers wanting to take their skill to the next level. The wave is unchanged, though a little more crowded in peak season and there’s now a vibrant cafe scene and some hip places to stay, though it’s kept a laid-back, wellness-crowd vibe with none of the brashness of Kuta or swankiness of Seminyak. The Shady Shack is a great new spot for juices, low-alcohol coolers and tasty vegan food. Canteen Café, where vintage surf and skateboards adorn the walls, does excellent coffee and brunch. The Chillhouse (doubles from €110 B&B) also offers surf lessons from €49, including board hire and a ratio of one coach to two guests. Yoga classes cost €9.

If Newquay is the loud, beating heart of the UK surf scene, Sennen Cove is its more peaceful and reflective soul. It takes another hour to get there, almost as far as Land’s End, but it’s worth every minute. The waves are some of the most consistent in the country, with a beach break that works left and right and will suit most abilities, but is far less crowded than many Cornish surf spots. The location feels wild and unspoiled with clear ocean, rolling grassy hills and craggy cliffs. The Sennen Surfing Centre offers lessons from £30, and board and wetsuit can be hired on the beach from £14. Yurt accommodation costs £19pp a night at Whitesands Lodge just inland from the beach. Ben Tunnicliffe’s Sennen Cove family-friendly restaurant is worth a visit for fresh, unfussy seasonal cooking, or a guest ale with a view of the waves at its wooden outdoor bar, the Surf Den.

Thanks to recent advances in wetsuit technology, surfing in the icy waters off Norway is not just possible but wholly enjoyable. There are zero crowds and the beaches are wild and rugged – in natural amphitheatres with steep majestic mountains all around. The cliffs also protect the waves from the wind and the swell is remarkably consistent, with breaks to suit all levels. Lapoint Surf Camps runs packages in the fishing village of Hoddevik for beginner and intermediate surfers, including accommodation for seven nights, small-group lessons, board and wetsuit hire and use of the house kitchen from €577.

California may be the obvious capital of surfing in the US, but Hawaii, where the sport originated, is its spiritual home. Waikiki, the beachfront neighbourhood of Honolulu, is a great place to learn to surf, as the water is warm, the waves roll in gently and the rides are long, so when you do stand up you really get to enjoy it. With its high-rise backdrop, Waikiki is often dismissed as a tourist trap but it’s now finding fresh favour among visitors wanting a tropical beach holiday with some urban benefits, such as good food and decent coffee. Affordable hotels aren’t easy to come by but Maile Sky Court has doubles from $105. Star Beachboys runs group surf lessons for $40pp.

In the south-west corner of the Algarve, Lagos is well-placed to pick up swells from every direction; it has breaks for all levels of surfer within easy reach. The town beach, Meia Praia, is a good beginner’s wave, while Zavial, 20 minutes’ drive west, is a world-class point break for experienced surfers. The attractive old fishing town boasts great sea-themed restaurants such as Escondidinho (Rua do Cemitério 38) and The Blue Door (Rua dos Ferreiros 17), but a big part of the Lagos sell has always been that it is a good place to party. Mellow Loco, run by pro surfers Marlon and Melvin Lipke, is the wildest spot, and Stevie Ray’s has popular live funk and soul nights. Health-conscious surfers will love new juice and salad bar Bora, healthy breakfast gem Fresca and the health store and restaurant Mar D’Estorias.The oldest surf camp provider in town, Surf Experience, is introducing a Girl Fitness Surf Week () by sports coach and surfer Sophie Everard from 24 September-1 October. It costs £800 and includes meals, surfing, yoga, trail running, mountain biking, outdoor fitness classes, accommodation and transfers from Faro airport; flights are not included. Lagos Surf Rentals rents boards from €15 a day.

A growing band of travellers are converging on the small fishing village of El Paredón, which offers Guatemala’s most consistent surf at a beach break that never gets crowded and can accommodate most levels of surfer, depending on the tide. Turtles nest on the black sand beach, and mangrove forests grow all around. At Paredón Surf House private surf lessons cost about £12, board hire starts at £10 a day, and dorm beds £8 a night. The surf house supports a social enterprise, La Choza Chula, which has built a secondary school and library in the village, and provides English lessons for children.

When the swell is pumping, Hossegor’s pounding beach breaks are not for the faint-hearted, but experienced and strong intermediates revel in some of the best waves in the world, and some of the warmest sea temperatures in the Atlantic. La Sud, at the southern end, is a calmer, more sheltered spot for beginners and improvers. With world-class waves come world-class surfers, and as a result there’s no shortage of relaxed places to hang out and party. Lou Cabana on the naturist Plage des Culs Nus has a tasty daily menu and great music and vibes at sunset. Meg’s Café is the place for coffee and Tante Jeanne the ultimate ice-cream spot. Collective Soul is good for vintage furniture, art and clothes. Local surf shaper Chipiron makes custom boards, offers surf lessons from €38 a day and rents good quality boards from €10. The rental cost is taken off the price for anyone who later buys a board. Hostel h2O Holidays does B&B from €30pp.

From a wave-riding point of view, Mozambique is relatively unexplored, yet much of its 2,500km coastline is surfable, with tropical blue waters washing on to palm-fronted white sandy beaches. Tofo, on the Ponta da Barra peninsula, is a pretty beach town with a central market that sells bright sarongs as well as fruit, veg and fish. Small, clean waves are protected by a headland and a reef, so it’s a good place for learners and improvers, though more advanced surfers won’t have to travel far to find challenging reef breaks, and the world-class, right-hand point breaks at nearby Tofinho beach. Errant Surf offers seven nights in a shared house from £78pp, surf lessons from £12 and board hire from £13 a day.

On the coast of Cantabria, amid the meadows, dunes, forests, cliffs and beaches of the Oyambre natural park, sits the estuarine village of San Vicente de la Barquera. Merón is its main beach, with great conditions for learning and more difficult peaks for more advanced surfers. San Vicente has many excellent seafood restaurants, such as Boga-Boga, which has been running for 50 years and has a great nautical-themed interior, but the region is also famed for its ham, wine and cheeses. Nácar, an offshoot of the Michelin-starred Annua, does tasty and reasonably priced tapas. Dream Surf Camp offers a week’s accommodation plus full board and surf kit in both normal and glamping tents from €229pp. Ten hours’ lessons costs €95. Yoga, mountain biking and massages are available, and there’s an on site bar with musical instruments to borrow.

Lush tropical jungle meets eminently ridable waves for all levels in this former fishing village turned artsy surf town just 40 minutes north of Puerto Vallarta on Mexico’s central Pacific coast. Colourful cafes and bars, and galleries peddling local Huichol tribal art, are plentiful and street food vendors sell original takes on the taco. Lunazul is a family-run surf school, where lessons start at $40pp including equipment, and they’re so confident of their teaching that anyone who doesn’t stand up on their first lesson doesn’t pay. Lunazul also rents high- quality shortboards, longboards and softboards for beginners, and runs trips to nearby secret spots. Petit Hotel Hafa is a colourful boutique hotel two blocks back from the beach, with doubles available from $50.","From Mozambique to Mexico, via Cornwall, here are great places to ride waves, find a bed close to the beach and eat drink and party after a day on the water"
"IN its 2,700-year history, the port city of Palermo has undergone three golden ages: the Carthaginians, Arabs and Normans all found glory along its rugged shores. And now, after decades of post-War neglect and mafia corruption, the often overlooked Sicilian capital is poised for a fourth — or at least a well-deserved comeback. Crumbling roads are being repaved, landmarks scrubbed clean and a newfound pride can be felt. But the essential charms of this mysterious and intoxicating city thankfully remain intact. There are still seductive old neighborhoods, a delightful patchwork of architecture (what’s the word for Arab-Norman-Spanish-Baroque?), and a belching chaotic mess known as Palermo traffic.

4 p.m. 1) BREAD AND CIRCUS

The ancient city is studded with vibrant and raucous outdoor markets. Mix with residents shopping for weekend essentials in the Ballarò, the city’s oldest Arab-style open market in the decrepit yet atmospheric Albergheria quarter. Join the crowds at either end (enter through Piazza Ballarò or Piazza del Carmine) and browse stalls with all types of fish still twitching on trays of ice, alongside crates of squash as long as didgeridoos and capers the size of grapes. If the vendors who perform like carnival barkers aren’t entertainment enough, grab a piping-hot panelle, a street-food fritter made of chickpeas (about 5 euros, or $8 at $1.62 to the euro).

5:30 p.m. 2) DIVINE ARCHITECTURE

It wouldn’t be a trip to Italy without a dip into a magnificent church. Make a 10-or-so-minute walk north to Piazza Bellini in the old city’s center and ascend the steps to a pair of famed houses of worship. The Church of San Cataldo (Piazza Bellini 2), a rather nondescript diminutive chapel, is best appreciated from the outside, where one can take in its three Saracen cardinal-red domes. But a few steps away is the Church of Santa Maria Dell’Ammiraglio, a k a La Mortarana, which offers a quintessential blend of Arab-Norman architecture, including an impressive campanile that dates back to 1143. Gorgeous, well-maintained mosaics and frescoes abound; no wonder the space is booked solid for weddings.

8 p.m. 3) MODERN CLASSIC

If you’re hankering for a sophisticated take on classic Sicilian fare, head over to Bellotero (Via Castriota 3; 39-091-582-158), a 10-table restaurant in Palermo’s new town that draws a nightly crowd of discerning and lively locals. Settle into a delectable meal of spaghetti with stone bass, sea urchin and lemon zest (12 euros) or lamb with oven-roasted pistachios and a vegetable caponata (12 euros). Top it all off with a glass of regional Marsala (try the Donna Franca from the Florio vineyards; 5 euros).

11 p.m. 4) BAR CRAWL

For a city with such an audible heartbeat, Palermo is surprisingly lackluster when it comes to memorable night life. All of the young crowd seem to have received the same text message, as drones of them meet up regularly at the bars lining Via Ruggero Settimo, Via Principe Belmonte and Via Isidoro la Lumia. Wade through the revelry that spills out into the streets or make your way to the more grown-up Bar Malù (Via Enrico Albanese 21; 39-347-820-0870). This duplex lounge with outdoor seating attracts an upscale bunch that flirts to D.J.-spun tunes and sips special cocktails like the Robertino, a nightcap of gin, Angostura bitters and Aperol (5 euros).

9:30 a.m. 5) MORNING MARKETING

Forget that espresso. Get a rush by diving into the city’s most frenzied market, the souk-like La Vucciria (between Corso Vittorio Emanuele and Piazza San Domenico). A dizzying maze of narrow streets is filled with food stalls and illuminated with thousands of tiny lights. Slink into Bread Forreria (Via Bonacorso, 29), an adorable old-fashioned bakery, for homemade fettine zuccherate, its signature bread with sesame, raisin or anis toasted to perfection (10 euros a kilogram).

11 a.m. 6) RICH IN BAROQUE

Immerse yourself in Palermo’s spectacular Baroque architecture and art in the historic Loggia district. A single pass (5 euros, at any of the sites) gets you into the area’s five architectural treasures, including the Oratorio del Rosario del San Domenico (Via dei Bambiani), a 16th-century chapel with a Van Dyck altarpiece, a Novelli frescoed ceiling and many adorable cherubs. Grab a walking map (in front of any of the sites) and hit the other four, making sure to ponder the faces of the 15 statues representing the Virtues and the Mysteries in the resplendent rococo Oratorio del Rosario di Santa Citta (Via Valverde 3). They belonged to the socialites of the day.

1:30 p.m. 7) SWEET STOP

In a city where gelato in a sliced brioche is a legitimate meal option, get the real deal at Pasticceria Alba (Piazza Don Bosco 7/c-d, off Via della Libertà; 39-091-309-016; www.baralba.it), a half-century-old institution with an endless takeout menu and ancient staff. Order a scoop of pistachio bronte (2 euros), take your ice-cream burger outside and watch residents of all ages swing by for their midday delight.

4 p.m. 8) DEAD MAN WALK

File under “It Has to Be Seen to Be Believed.” Take the No. 327 bus to the city’s western outskirts for the exceedingly popular but no less creepy Catacombe dei Cappuccini (Piazza Cappuccini, 1; 39-091-212-117). The chilly passageways of this underground tomb are filled with more than 8,000 corpses — fully dressed men, women and children with frozen facial expressions — that were preserved through all sorts of science from the 16th century until 1920. More surreal than scary, this is a momento mori on a tremendous scale.

6:30 p.m. 9) SUNSET DRINKS

Pull up a chair on the terrace bar at the Villa Igiea (Salita Balmonte 43; 39-091-631-2111; www.hotelvillaigieapalermo.com), a luxury hotel on the slopes of the charming Monte Pellegrino. This Art Nouveau grande dame is nestled among gardens and courtyards that offer indelible 180-degree views of the Bay of Palermo. Sip a glass of crisp and fruity Donnafugata white (10 euros) while sampling the wide range of tempting snacks at the Bar des Arcades.

8:30 p.m. 10) SEASIDE SUPPER

For a nice break from all the seafood in the city, try Bye Bye Blues (Via del Garofalo 23; 39-091-684-1415; www.byebyeblues.it), an award-winning restaurant in the beachy Mondello neighborhood. Incredibly fresh ingredients conspire to create delicious plates like an appetizer of country cheeses served with walnuts and marmalade (13 euros). Follow it up with a delicious serving of pasta alla Norma, an island classic of rigatoni, tomato, ricotta and fried eggplant (12 euros). Pair it with a yummy 2004 Cerasuolo di Vittoria (22 euros), one of the 350 wines on hand.

10:30 p.m. 11) A DIGESTIVE STROLL

For dessert, grab a pezzo duro — frozen candylike gelato cones (2.5 euros) — at the sleek Caflisch cafe (Viale di Regina Margherita di Savoia, 2/b; 39-091-684-0444). From there, head to the nearby waterfront and enjoy a leisurely stroll, or passeggiata, along the crystal-clear Tyrrhenian. Take in legions of cabanas on white sand before fleeing the honky-tonk mix of bars, arcades and souvenir stands at the other end.

11 a.m. 12) JESUS ON THE MOUNT

There’s a saying in Palermo that goes something like: “He who visits Palermo without visiting Monreale arrives as a donkey and leaves an ass.” O.K., so it’s not going on a T-shirt anytime soon, but that cramped and bustling hill town a few miles west of the city center is well worth a bus ride (No. 389). Beat a path to the 12th-century Duomo (Piazza Gugliemo il Buono) for what might be the most jaw-dropping display of Greek and Byzantine mosaic work anywhere. There are 200 intricately carved columns in the adjoining cloisters, and the 65-foot-high mosaic of Jesus glows like the sun over the central apse. The golden age of Palermo, it seems, never really ended.

From July through October, Eurofly (www.euroflyusa.com) flies direct to Palermo from J.F.K. in New York twice a week. A recent online search found very limited availability in August, with fares from $1,447. Other carriers offered connecting service through Milan or Rome, with fares for early August starting at $1,604 on Delta and Alitalia.

The 30-minute taxi to downtown Palermo runs about 40 euros, about $65 at $1.62 to the euro. But for 5.30 euros, buses run every half hour (www.prestiaecomande.it).

Palermo’s many majestic hotels include the Excelsior Palace (Via Marchese Ugo, 3; 39-091- 790-9001; www.excelsiorpalermo.it). Just renovated, the lovely 19th-century building has 122 elegant rooms, a new restaurant and a diligent concierge. Standard double rates begin at 216 euros, but look for specials online.

For a more contemporary spin, check out the cosmopolitan Plaza Opera Hotel (Via Nicolò Gallo 2; 39-091-381-9026; www.hotelplazaopera.com/it) or the boutique Hotel Ucciardhome (Via Enrico Albanese 34/36; 39-348-426; www.hotelucciardhome.com). Their modern doubles start at 230 and 170 euros respectively.

Prefer something older? Check into the Palazza Conte Federico (Via dei Biscottari 4; 39-091-651-1881; www.contefederico.com), a torch-lit, antiques-laden castle from the 1100s that is still owned, run and inhabited by aristocracy. In fact, the Count and Countess Federico will toast and assist you upon arrival. Rates range from 150 to 400 euros.","After decades of postwar neglect, the Sicilian capital is poised for a comeback. Crumbling roads are being repaved, landmarks scrubbed clean and a newfound pride can be felt."
"Bobby Brown was in ""great spirits"" Friday as he prepared to make his first public appearance since the start of daughter Bobbi Kristina's coma crisis three months ago, his wife told the Daily News.

The New Edition singer, who's been keeping a vigil at Bobbi Kristina's bedside in Georgia, flew to Los Angeles to sing on stage Saturday night after giving a cooking demonstration in a vendor booth at the Kinfolks Soul Food Festival, sources confirmed.

""We'll be there. We're excited. He's good. He's in great spirits,"" wife Alicia Etheredge said when reached by phone Friday.

Etheredge confirmed the situation with Bobbi Kristina was stable enough to allow for the travel.

""Yes,"" she said when asked if Bobbi Kristina was hanging in there as she continues to fight for her life.

Brown, 46, has been in relative seclusion since his only daughter with ex-wife Whitney Houston was found facedown and unresponsive in a bathtub on Jan. 31.

Bobbi Kristina, 22, was treated at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta before her family moved her to an undisclosed rehabilitation center for continued monitoring of her medically induced coma.

""She's the same,"" grandmother Cissy Houston told WBLS-FM in New York on March 25. ""We've moved her now to a place for rehabilitation. But you know, there's still not a great deal of hope. We're praying.""

A source for the Kinfolks Soul Food Festival said Brown had a longstanding relationship with the event and was honoring his commitment.

""He's a professional and he's coming through, and we should give him respect for that,"" event spokeswoman Kimi Rhochelle told The News.

""He still has to make a living. It's like any of us going to work when he have difficulties in our lives. You still have to put on a brave face and do what you do. He'll be getting in front of people, but he'll still be feeling what he's feeling.""

She said Brown was expected to give a cooking demonstration with his personal line of Bobby Brown BBQ seasonings and sauces in the early evening Saturday.

His musical performance was set for around 10 p.m., Rhochelle said, adding that the lineup also included Ed DeBarge, Salt 'N' Pepa and Stephanie Mills.

A video promoting the event was posted on YouTube.com earlier this week and included a recorded message from Brown — though it was unclear when he taped it.

""I'm real excited to be at the Soul Food Festival Saturday. Y'all know where it is,"" he says in the generic voiceover animated with photos of the festival and his products. ""I will be performing, and I will be displaying some of my talented skills as far as on the grill and all my seasonings and BBQs. So come on out. I got a special gift for you.""

The R&B star asked for privacy shortly after his daughter's medical emergency, but his spokesman issued a statement that was critical of Bobbi Kristina's live-in boyfriend Nick Gordon.

Gordon was at the couple's Georgia home when Bobbi Kristina lost consciousness, but it was another friend who found her and called 911.

Local police have said they are investigating the matter for possible criminal behavior.

Gordon was banished from the hospital and entered a downward spiral fueled by alcohol and Xanax that landed him in an intervention with his mom and TV's Dr. Phil.

Gordon entered rehab in early March and now is about a third of the way through his intensive 90-day program, a source close to Gordon told The News on Friday.

""Nick is great. He's doing absolutely fabulous. He was a little hesitant about his treatment at first, but now he's all about his wellbeing. He's in a really great place,"" the source said.

The source previously told The News that Gordon was in a ""life or death situation"" when his worried mom called for the intervention.

""It's my prayer that once he's pulled himself back together and gets out, there can be a conversation with Bobby Brown about seeing Bobbi Kristina. At that point, there should be nothing stopping that,"" the source said.",The New Edition singer flew to Los Angeles to sing on stage Saturday night at the Kinfolks Soul Food Festival.
"Maybe Drew Faust ought to run for president. She’s the head of Harvard University and just delivered at West Point a speech praising the military that once would have been unthinkable from Ivy League leadership.

And just when we need it most — facing a gathering war while locked in a presidential campaign in which our candidates are slinging insults at each other (and their wives) or hawking socialism and military retreat.

The press didn’t give her speech much coverage. But if you’re seeking grounds for optimism that America will eventually find the leadership it needs, it isn’t to be missed.

Faust offers a paean to the importance of history and literature and to the value of a liberal-arts education. And she makes a formal tribute to America’s military that is surprisingly personal and moving.

Which is no small thing, given that Faust comes from a campus that not so long ago was seething with rage against the Vietnam War. It got so bad back then that Harvard ended its ROTC program, refusing to train our officers.

What a blot on Harvard’s name — all the more so because the university has a long, patriotic history. More of its alumni have been awarded the Medal of Honor than any school save West Point and Annapolis.

Not that Harvard was alone in banning ROTC. Several top universities shrank from the war against the Communist conquest that cast Indochina’s millions into a dark night of re-education camps, dictatorship and genocide.

Instead they left the fighting to draftees without Ivy League pedigrees and college deferments. When America won the Cold War anyhow, our elite universities were shorn of a portion of glory.

In 2011, Faust made Harvard the first Ivy League school to lift its ban on ROTC. Others quickly followed, citing the end of “don’t ask, don’t tell,” which had kept many gays out of the military.

It’s no coincidence that Faust seized the lead. It turns out that she’s the great-granddaughter of a West Point graduate, Lawrence Davis Tyson, who appeared in arms against Geronimo.

Faust clearly nurses a profound admiration for her famous forebear, whose brigade in World War I, she reminded the cadets, took terrible casualties in breaching the Hindenburg Line. Tyson ended up in the US Senate.

“A supreme honor” is the phrase Faust used last week to describe what it meant to her to stand on West Point’s hallowed ground.

She talked about the “importance of language to leadership.” She didn’t attack candidates by name, nor even refer to the primary campaign that has shocked so many with its raucous tone. She did praise Ulysses S. Grant, who, she said, devoured novels at West Point.

Faust also picked up on Sen. Marco Rubio’s suggestion that we need “more welders and fewer philosophers.” In recent years, Faust said, US students have been taking the hint, with the proportion of bachelor’s degrees in humanities plummeting.

What caught her attention is that West Point has been moving in the opposite direction. It has, she said, “transformed its curriculum into a general liberal-arts education.”

That means, she said, that West Point is “graduating leaders with broad-based knowledge.” History, literature, philosophy, she suggested, “enable leaders to compel and to connect with others.”

Faust quoted General of the Army Omar Bradley on the importance of imagination and Gen. George Patton on the importance of history. She talked about Winston Churchill’s fantastic appetite for history, philosophy, economics and religion.

Then Faust spoke of how, in 2008, she met with five Harvard seniors who had worked around the absence of ROTC and were about to be commissioned as officers. “I wish that there were more of you,” she told them.

The Gallup poll, Faust said, discovered that “the military is the last institution in which Americans have high confidence. Not organized religion, not government, not newspapers, not banks — you. You and all you represent.”

“We need you,” she said, “now more than ever.”

What a courageous coda at a time of global jihad. And from a generation in which the so-called best and the brightest turned against a war they had tried to lead — a generation now passing from power. What a gracious bow by Harvard to the institution that stood with the fight.",Maybe Drew Faust ought to run for president. She’s the head of Harvard University and just delivered at West Point a speech praising the military that once would have been unthinkable from Ivy Leag…
"It's two legal cases down and three to go before Australia's biggest coal mine, slated for Queensland's Galilee Basin, can start says the Queensland Resources Council.

A Federal Court on Monday dismissed a challenge by conservationists to stop the project.

The Federal Court threw out an Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF) case against Adani's $21 billion Carmichael mine from going ahead on the grounds the approval of the mine was inconsistent with Australia's obligation to protect the Great Barrier Reef from the emissions of coal.

Queensland Resources Council chief executive Michael Roche said the judge's ruling was an ""an inevitable result"".

He said the ACF was trying to make Australians responsible for the emissions of coal generated in other countries.

""What the ACF wanted the federal court to agree to was the equivalent to saying Saudi Arabia needs to take responsibility for the emissions of Australian motorists using their oil - that was their case,"" Mr Roche told reporters after the decision was handed down.

""We now have two court cases resolved in favour of the Adani Carmichael coal project in recent weeks, but there are three more to go.

""So we have three more cases creating jobs for lawyers, but not creating jobs for regional Queenslanders.""

The ACF said it would not stop fighting to prevent the coal mine from ever operating.

ACF CEO Kelly O'Shanassy said in a statement that Australians would be shocked that the biggest ever coal mine was approved despite the Great Barrier Reef this year suffering the worst coral bleaching on record as ""a direct result of global warming"".

""If the Carmichael mine proceeds, its coal will create 4.7 billion tonnes of climate pollution over the proposed life of the mine, wiping out Australia's efforts to reduce pollution and contributing to more frequent and severe bleaching events on the reef,"" she said.

""Australia's environment laws are broken if they cannot account for the impacts of global warming on the reef, one of our country's most loved national treasures.""

The Australian Marine Conservation Society's Great Barrier Reef campaign director Imogen Zethoven said the federal government will be to blame if the reef dies.

""Regardless of any legal decision, we have a moral responsibility to do everything possible to protect the reef and the communities who rely on it.""",Conservationists say a Federal Court decision on a challenge to Adani's Carmichael coal mine could strengthen environmental considerations in Australian law.
"Just past noon on a Friday in June, a Union Pacific freight train carrying oil jumped the tracks in a small town in Oregon, not far from a school filled with children, and exploded in flames that burned for 14 hours.

Bad tracks were cited as the cause, but federal regulators said a better braking system on the train — based on newer technology — would have contained the disaster. The railroad industry newsletter said the notion that the brake system would have made a difference was “horse manure.”

It was another skirmish in a battle over safety standards that often pits federal regulators against an industry. And while such fights are not uncommon, federal officials say this is one that keeps them awake at nights because of the high stakes — what if the next oil train crash happens in a major metropolitan area?

[Deadline for train safety technology undercut by industry lobbying]

Regulators have mandated a new electronically controlled braking system that would prevent — or lessen the severity of — crashes like the one in Oregon. The railroad industry calls the requirement a classic example of regulatory overreach. Lawmakers responded to the industry complaints by requiring a pair of new studies that could delay the regulation set to take effect in 2021.

One congressional requirement, for example, stipulates that a train be wrecked to see how many of its cars derail and leak their flammable contents.

“It was deliberate and intentional by the railroad industry to try to make this study as expensive as possible,” said John Risch, who spent 30 years as a BNSF Railway engineer before becoming a rail union lobbyist in Washington. “It’s completely unreasonable. You wouldn’t see that in maritime, you wouldn’t see that in aviation; they do this stuff computer-simulated, without causing this chaotic crash that’s going to cost all kinds of money.”

The railroad industry counters that the new regulation would force it to spend billions of dollars on a braking system that research has not conclusively proven to be more effective than what they are already using.

With the Trump administration taking office in January amid promises to roll back regulations, the railroads hope Congress will hear their concerns.

Included in a post-election message to the Senate from Edward R. Hamberger, president of the Association of American Railroads, was a plea for “stopping unfounded regulatory efforts.”

There have been 19 derailments of trains loaded with flammable liquid — oil or ethanol — in the past six years. Those wrecks have caused 3,272 evacuations, spilled almost 2.8 million gallons and cost an estimated $45 million. A remarkable percentage of those derailments happened in small towns — Plevna, Mont. (population 162), Tiskilwa, Ill. (829), Arcadia, Ohio (590), and Alma, Wis. (781).

Federal officials are increasingly concerned that one of the long trains rolling out of the Bakken oil fields, underlying parts of Montana, North Dakota, Saskatchewan and Manitoba, will explode in a major city. Oil trains snake through cities such as Seattle, Chicago and Philadelphia on their way to coastal refineries. Chicago officials deemed the risk serious enough that the city did a detailed evaluation of the impact should a train explode in various neighborhoods.

Railroads say they have taken every prudent step possible to prevent disasters such as the Lac-Mégantic, Quebec, explosion in 2013 that killed 47 townspeople. They say it is expensive overkill to require electronically controlled pneumatic (ECP) braking systems on trains carrying explosive cargo.

The railroads estimate it would cost more than $3 billion to install electronic braking on the required number of engines and cars, and to educate workers to use them.

The Federal Railroad Administration says it would cost a still-hefty fraction of that: $493 million.

From that simple difference — albeit almost $2.6 billion — the divergence of opinion and calculations between FRA and the railroads spirals rapidly out of control.

The FRA estimates 2,500 locomotives would need to be equipped at a cost of $49,000 each. The railroads say 20,000 locomotives — 83 percent of those they operate — would need ECP, at a cost of $88,000 each. The FRA says 60,000 tank cars need the electronic brakes; the railroads say it is 133,000.

How many railroad workers would need training? The FRA says more than 51,000, the railroads, 78,000.

Even more emphatic is the difference in opinions.

“These are not grain trains, these are hazmat trains,” FRA Administrator Sarah E. Feinberg said. “We specifically require the better braking systems on these trains because in the event of an incident, fewer cars will derail and fewer cars will puncture, which means you’re less likely to have a fire that will endanger lives.

“The science is there, the data is there,” Feinberg said. “Their argument is, despite that data, [they] don’t want to spend the money on it.”

Risch, the former BNSF engineer who has operated trains with ECP brakes, calls them “the foundation of safety in the future of the railroad industry. When a train crew overlooks something, ECP brakes can save the day.”

“ECP braking technology will not result in fewer accidents, does not provide significant safety benefits and, after 15 years of limited rail use, has yet to meet service reliability standards,” said Justin E. Jacobs, a spokesman for Union Pacific, the country’s largest railroad.

At BNSF, the second-largest, spokesman Mike Trevino has a similar view. “The contention has been that electronic brakes are better, safer, more efficient,” he said. “The challenge is that railroads have been unable to prove that out, to demonstrate that there are those benefits.”

Ed Greenberg, spokesman for the American Association of Railroads, a trade group, said, “The ECP brake signaling system has been found to break down more often, while not providing significant safety benefits.”

Conventional brake systems on freight trains use air pressure that moves from one car to the next — from the engine to the last car — to engage the brakes and slow the train. On a train of 100 or more cars — and many oil trains are that length or longer — it takes 7 to 8 seconds until the last car’s brakes begin to engage. The cars farther back keep pushing against those in front of them as they await the signal to brake. If tank cars have less than a full load of liquid, the sloshing as the train slows adds to their momentum.

With ECP braking, the brakes begin to engage on every car almost the instant the engineer presses a button.

“Trains are like giant Slinkies,” said a railroad analyst who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he works in the industry. “When you have that back of the train running into the front of the train, they can actually push cars out, cause a derailment and cause a hell of a mess.”

When the brakes are applied electronically to each car at the same time, he said, that takes “the energy out of the train quicker, so when a train does derail there is less energy that has to be absorbed by crushing tank cars.”

That push from the rear in the Mosier, Ore., wreck may explain why a coupler pierced through another tank car, causing the leak that sparked the fire, he said.

Before the federal mandate last year to require electronically triggered brakes, some railroads were moving in that direction anyway.

When Norfolk Southern put the first ECP-equipped train into service nine years ago, it said in a statement that “ECP brakes have the potential to reduce stopping distances by 60 percent.”

When freight giant BNSF followed suit six months later, one of its customers applauded, saying, “The use of ECP brakes will provide potential for improved safety.”

But once the rule — developed by the FRA and the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration — was issued 18 months ago, the railroads were less agreeable to the expensive investment.

They already were under pressure to fulfill another federal mandate that followed a California railroad disaster. In 2008, a head-on collision between a freight train and a commuter train in Chatsworth, a Los Angeles suburb, killed 25 people and injured 135. Congress ordered that trains be equipped with an automatic braking system that would have prevented the crash.

Railroads said they had already pumped $6.5 billion into that automatic system last year, when they begged Congress to extend a looming deadline until 2018. The lawmakers came to the rescue, just as they did for the industry again last year on the issue of ECP brakes.

Three key congressional leaders are among the top 10 recipients of campaign contributions from the railroad industry, which has spent upward of $60 million on campaign contributions since 1990. According to federal data compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics, House Transportation Committee Chairman Bill Shuster (R-Pa.) has received $566,479, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has received $449,615, and John Thune (R-S.D.), chairman of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, has received $353,885 from the railroads.

Congress appended the requirement for the pair of ECP tests to the mammoth five-year transportation bill. One version of the bill would have entrusted the testing to a committee made up primarily of the railroads, but others involved in the talks insisted that the work be done by contractors free of conflicts of interest.

“The original study was going to be tainted by the industry, and the House [transportation] committee fixed up the bill to make it more fair,” Risch recalled.

The first report requested by Congress came from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) last month. The GAO questioned federal estimates of the cost benefits of ECP brakes. The report also said that limited data shared by railroads with the FRA “hampered its efforts to estimate . . . their potential benefits.”

A second round of testing that Congress asked for — including full-scale experiments to see how tank cars derail and get punctured — is underway by the Transportation Research Board at the National Academy of Sciences.

In the midst of all that testing, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) concluded in two studies that ECP brakes allow trains to stop in significantly less distance and effectively relieve the energy caused when tank cars crash into one another.

In Mosier, (population 433), they say the wind blows at 30 mph from March to October, but on Friday, June 3, the wind took a holiday. The train carrying Bakken crude from North Dakota to a refinery in Tacoma, Wash., derailed and exploded at lunchtime. No one was killed or injured, but schools and some residents were evacuated.

Fire Chief Jim Appleton told KGW television that on a typical windy day, the school and the town would have been at risk.

“I have a high degree of confidence that the school building would have been at a minimum affected, if not completely incinerated,” he said.","After 19 derailments, debate is roiling over controlling tank cars filled with oil and ethanol."
"SANTIAGO, Chile — In broad terms, there are two strains of government in Latin America: the new populism, exemplified by Venezuela or Argentina, and the pro-market model long represented by Brazil, Chile, Colombia and Peru. Will Chile pull back from this paradigm if the Socialist former president, Michelle Bachelet, wins the presidential election as expected on Sunday?

Not necessarily. When Ms. Bachelet was president, from 2006 to 2010, she focused on health care and social welfare programs for the elderly and medical care for pensioners. But she was broadly popular and represented a center-left coalition that had held power for two decades and had not undermined free-market capitalism. (She could not run for re-election because Chile’s constitution forbids presidents from serving consecutive terms.)

In 2010, Chileans elected Sebastián Piñera, a conservative businessman and economist and advocate of free markets. Now it is he who cannot run for re-election, and polls show Ms. Bachelet on the verge of a crushing victory over Mr. Piñera’s preferred successor, Evelyn Matthei.

If Ms. Bachelet wins, the reasons will be likely to have more to do with character, trustworthiness and historical memory than with economic ideology.

Let me relate a story from 30 years ago. I was lying on a sunny Pacific beach, having just swum in water so cold that it felt like an electric shock. The people in the water laughed or flailed. Some women stepped into the water gracefully; others dived right into the waves.

That day, I saw someone running toward the sea on short, sturdy legs. When he hit the water he continued like a robot, as if there were no waves or cold. And when the water was deep enough, he simply went under.

“Who is that guy?” I asked my friend.

At the time, Mr. Piñera was an economics professor and banker, who had begun to amass a fortune introducing credit cards to Chile. The determination he showed that day revealed part of the secret behind his ascent to power: sheer strength of will.

Sadly, determination and empathy are not the same. Mr. Piñera’s economic record — fiscal responsibility, private investment, stable growth, low inflation, new jobs, cheap imports — has been excellent. As promised, he has governed like a brilliant C.E.O. But his shareholders — the voters — are not satisfied. He has the instincts of a technocrat and makes decisions based on polls. He thinks fast, perhaps too fast. He is shrewd, perhaps too shrewd. He is not universally trusted.

One example of Mr. Piñera’s seeming callousness: In 2011, students of mine at the University of Chile were leaving for a demonstration. They felt that the rich were running the government — “The foxes are in the henhouse,” one woman told me — with no counterbalance to protect regular people.

The students were protesting the rapid expansion of private universities, which were promoted as a way to increase college access. But poor quality and financial abuses at these profit-making schools — including the bankruptcy of one of them, Universidad del Mar — soured students and parents on them.

Another factor harming Mr. Piñera’s legacy is memory. This year was the 40th anniversary of the coup that toppled the democratically elected president Salvador Allende and ushered in the brutal military dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet.

What’s striking is that the presidential contenders, Ms. Bachelet and Ms. Matthei, are both daughters of air force generals who were friends. Ms. Bachelet’s father, after the 1973 coup, was tortured and died of a heart attack. Ms. Bachelet and her mother were briefly imprisoned at Villa Grimaldi, a notorious secret prison. Ms. Matthei’s father was part of the Pinochet junta, an association that has not helped her. An economist and a senator with a strong personality, she has it in her to be Chile’s “Iron Lady,” if only Chileans were in the mood. But when she criticized Ms. Bachelet for including Communists (who praise Cuba and Venezuela) in her coalition and predicted that Ms. Bachelet’s policies would hurt Chile’s chances of joining the club of developed nations, voters didn’t respond. Perhaps they cared more about the concentration of wealth.

(The difference in the two women’s personalities was evident recently when Don Francisco, a popular television entertainer, invited Ms. Matthei to play the piano and Ms. Bachelet to dance with him. Ms. Matthei, a gifted musician, didn’t miss a note, but she played the Beatles’ “Let It Be” as if it were Bartok. Ms. Bachelet, meanwhile, danced effortlessly and charmingly.)

If she wins on Sunday, Ms. Bachelet’s biggest problem will be high and divergent expectations. She ended her first term on a wave of popularity, having weathered the worst effects of the global financial crisis while providing additional support for Chile’s poor. But her coalition is deeply divided over education, tax policy and constitutional reform, and she risks alienating the middle class if she moves too far to the left.

Her best course would be one of moderation: a few, but significant, steps to strengthen the welfare state, but without compromising economic growth. She has the charisma and the reputation for trustworthiness to allow her to muddle through.

As for the political right, it must break more decisively with the Pinochet legacy and abandon its adherence to the notion that economics explains everything about human behavior. That is not what Chileans believe. As Hamlet said, “There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.”

Arturo Fontaine is a novelist, poet and essayist and a professor of philosophy at the University of Chile. His most recent book is “La Vida Doble: A Novel.”","In the presidential election, Chileans look set to pick trustworthiness and character over economic ideology."
"Toronto fans turned out for Jewish Heritage day featuring the Sacramento Kings' Israel-born Omri Casspi.

LOS ANGELES—Salih Eroglu prepared carefully for the Los Angeles Clippers' big day-after-Christmas basketball game.

The 33-year-old gathered Turkish baklava pastries, sparkling ""evil eye"" pendants and sunflower seed snack packs. He ordered 1,000 red ""Turkiye"" baseball caps and 1,000 T-shirts emblazoned with images of Hedo Turkoglu, Istanbul-born forward of the visiting team, the Phoenix Suns.

On hand, too, were Turkish dancing girls, a Turkish pop star to sing ""The Star-Spangled Banner"" and raffle stubs for an airline ticket to Istanbul. In short, Mr. Eroglu had everything for a successful Turkish heritage event—an occasion meant to boost attendance for the Clippers, one of the National Basketball Association's worst-drawing teams.

""We were really, really ready,"" says Mr. Eroglu, an engineer who organizes the annual Turkish event.

Across the NBA, teams with losing records like the L.A. Clippers are turning to events like Turkish Heritage night to fill seats. WSJ's Joel Millman reports.

Except for one thing. Just before the event, Phoenix sent the Turkish fans' favorite Sun—the 31-year-old Mr. Turkoglu—to the Orlando Magic. The move left hundreds of ticket holders without a countryman to root for.

It's that time of year in the NBA: the deep winter slog when teams with losing records search far and wide for gimmicks to fill seats. That's why many teams are drumming up ""Heritage"" events, meant to court even the smallest émigré enclaves to NBA courts, and provide just a tad of buzz—and a souvenir trinket or two—to pump up attendance.

The Toronto Raptors have Filipino Night set for early next month, arriving on the heels of Serbian, Jewish and Chinese nights in January.

The Minnesota Timberwolves are hosting both an Israeli Heritage and a Jewish Heritage event, with a Canadian Heritage Night teed up for late January and a German Heritage night for March.

The Golden State Warriors' Latino Night is on Jan. 28, after the team held events saluting fans from Iran and China.

Heritage events became popular in the U.S. about a decade ago, when the NBA began signing more talent from overseas. Currently, there are 86 foreign-born players in the NBA.

Pitching ethnicity is an easy win for clubs that don't typically draw big crowds. With 41 games on a team's home schedule, most won't sell out. Weak opposing teams can further dash hopes for a strong turnout. But by focusing on visiting ethnic players, heritage events can generate interest, raising the odds of higher ticket sales. With the right plans—such as special foods and autograph signings with the star player—some teams say they can fill as many as 2,000 additional seats.

But heritage events can be tricky. Many NBA rosters aren't intact long enough to justify an ethnic night based on a particular athlete—thus, for example, creating Turkish events without a Turkish player.

Still, many teams continue with their heritage proceedings even without the ethnic player slated to showcase the event. ""1,300 tickets, and counting,"" exulted Toronto Raptors' media director Jim LaBumbard in anticipation of a Jan. 14 Serbian event arranged to show off Raptors player Peja Stojakovic. This, despite Mr. Stojakovic's absence from the roster since late November due to a knee injury.

The biggest heritage star this season is 6-foot-9 Omri Casspi, Israel's lone NBA representative, who plays small forward for the Sacramento Kings. Despite having one of the NBA's worst records, the Kings are a touring sensation this year, packing arenas with Jewish fans eager to greet the lanky Israeli.

""I meet a lot of kids who get tickets to a Kings game as a bar mitzvah present,"" says the 22-year-old Mr. Casspi, who adds he's also fielded several offers of marriage as he tours NBA arenas.

This month, Mr. Casspi's Kings lured Jewish fans in Toronto, Washington, Boston and Atlanta. Fans at the Washington Wizards game got Wizards yarmulkes in conjunction with Mr. Casspi's appearance last week. Organizers at the Atlanta and Boston games provided kosher foods at concession stands.

While a pre- or post-game opportunity to meet with players like Mr. Casspi drives ticket sales, there's no guarantee that players will oblige. ""He's done more than his share,"" says Troy Hanson, the Kings' spokesman. ""We just had to say no to some teams.""

Some NBA teams have found a safer bet is to showcase others, such as ethnic coaches and retired players—thus eliminating any risk of a celebrity no-show. Raymond Townsend, who last played in the NBA in 1981, has been making a comeback of sorts hosting Filipino Heritage events across the NBA.

""When I played, people thought I was just one of the lighter-skinned NBA players with an Afro. No one knew I was Filipino,"" says the 55-year-old former Indiana Pacers guard, son of an African-American father and a mother born in Batangas, Philippines.

Two seasons ago, Mr. Townsend returned to NBA courts as a packager of Filipino Heritage events, starting with the Golden State Warriors and the Clippers in California.

""Who knew there were 300,000 Filipinos in Los Angeles? I sure didn't,"" says Carl Lahr, the Clippers' vice president for marketing.

Mr. Eroglu began organizing the Clippers' Turkish events in 2003 while running the Turkish students association at the University of Southern California. ""We've tried to do Turkish Night at Lakers games, but it's so hard to get seats together,"" he says of the city's more successful team and current NBA champion.

Back then, Mr. Eroglu says, he might sell 50 tickets to a Clippers game. Nowadays, Turkish events routinely bring over a thousand fans, even when the star player can't be there. Indeed, December's Turkey Day was only the second sell-out the Clippers enjoyed all season.

At that event, the Clippers didn't offer ticket refunds after learning Mr. Turkoglu wouldn't be attending. Instead, the team let every Turkish fan who bought a ticket to the Suns game return free on Dec. 29. The Clippers' opponent that night: The Utah Jazz, which also features a Turk, Mehmet Okur.

Mr. Okur was injured during the game, but did manage to wave to Turkish fans before leaving the arena.","NBA teams are drumming up Heritage events, meant to court even the smallest émigré enclaves to the courts, and provide just a tad of buzz—and a souvenir trinket or two—to pump up attendance."
"Ups and downs of Miley Cyrus' 'Bangerz' tour

Ups and downs of Miley Cyrus' 'Bangerz' tour

Ups and downs of Miley Cyrus' 'Bangerz' tour

Ups and downs of Miley Cyrus' 'Bangerz' tour

Ups and downs of Miley Cyrus' 'Bangerz' tour

Ups and downs of Miley Cyrus' 'Bangerz' tour

Ups and downs of Miley Cyrus' 'Bangerz' tour

Editor's note: Ruben Navarrette is a CNN contributor, Daily Beast columnist and a nationally syndicated columnist with the Washington Post Writers Group. Follow him on Twitter: @rubennavarrette. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author.

(CNN) -- What's Spanish for ""twerk?""

Mexican officials are in no hurry to find out. This is one U.S. import our southern neighbor wants nothing to do with.

Ditto for Miley Cyrus, the controversial singer known less for her music than for her over-sexualized on-stage spectacles intended to get attention and shock the senses.

Cyrus accomplished both on the Diez y Seis de Septiembre -- better known, on this side of the border, as September 16th.

North of the Rio Grande, that day is like any other, as insignificant as the Fourth of July is in Canada. However, in Mexico, the day is awfully important. It's Independence Day. And since Mexicans are a proud people who put a high value on respect, it's probably not a good idea for Americans -- or anyone else for that matter -- to go to Mexico on Mexican Independence Day and show disrespect to, oh, the Mexican flag.

That's what Cyrus and fellow performers did last week during a concert in the northern city of Monterrey in a stunt that gives new meaning to the phrase ""ugly Americans.""

As Cyrus ""twerked"" onstage, while wearing -- yes, you read this right -- a giant prosthetic butt, her backup singers whipped her with rolled up pieces of cloth that turned out to be miniature Mexican flags. It was a trifecta of bad judgment -- the wrong thing to do, the wrong country to do it in, and all of it happening on the wrong day.

Before you could say international incident, outraged Mexican state legislators asked the federal government to fine the pop star for desecrating the Mexican flag. Under a law that prohibits abuse of ""national emblems, the flag and the national anthem,"" such a transgression can normally earn someone a $1,270 fine as well as, in some cases, a couple of days in jail. The legislators are asking that Cyrus get locked up for 36 hours. Mexican authorities are investigating.

There are those in this country who will claim that the singer is being singled out because she is an American. But actually, in this case, equal treatment would call out for some sort of punishment. It's a good time to send a message.

In 2008, Mexican pop star Paulina Rubio was fined $4,000 for appearing in a Spanish magazine, clutching a Mexican flag wrapped around her naked body.

What the 21-year-old Cyrus and her crew did was tasteless and thoughtless. And whether or not Mexican officials decide to formally charge her with desecrating the Mexican flag, she ought to apologize -- in person, and on Mexican soil.

Having said that, Mexican officials need to be careful not to overplay their hand and protest too much, lest they turn legitimate concerns about professional decorum in the entertainment industry into dinner theater.

The initial response was not encouraging.

Speaking to CNN, Mexican State Rep. Francisco Treviño said this: ""I am truly offended and annoyed by the fact that a foreign artist feels like she can come here and make fun of and mock our national flag on Independence Day, September 16th.""

Seriously? Trevino can't really believe that the stunt was intended as a direct assault on the Mexican flag. An assault on decency and good manners, maybe. Does he think this was some sort of political statement? He is probably giving Cyrus and her backup dancers too much credit. Finally, is this really an attempt to mock the flag? The dancers used it as a prop, but the idea was clearly to draw attention to Cyrus -- not the flag.

As a Mexican-American, I realize that, in Mexico, my grandfather's homeland, the second-most popular sport -- after soccer -- is American bashing. And Cyrus played right into the hands of our neighbors by giving them a weapon to wield against us. But Mexicans don't always have to play that game. Let's hope that they treat this for what it is -- an isolated incident by an immature and attention starved pop singer. Nothing more.

The U.S.-Mexico relationship is strong. It has suffered through war, conquest, revolution, migration, xenophobia, gun running, drugs, protectionism, Manifest Destiny, income disparity and more. It can suffer fools.

Read CNNOpinion's new Flipboard magazine.

Follow us on Twitter @CNNOpinion.","Ruben Navarrette says making rude use of Mexican flag on Mexican independence day in a concert in Mexico was tasteless, but not an international incident."
"VICE PRESIDENT Cheney is aggressively pursuing an initiative that may be unprecedented for an elected official of the executive branch: He is proposing that Congress legally authorize human rights abuses by Americans. ""Cruel, inhuman and degrading"" treatment of prisoners is banned by an international treaty negotiated by the Reagan administration and ratified by the United States. The State Department annually issues a report criticizing other governments for violating it. Now Mr. Cheney is asking Congress to approve legal language that would allow the CIA to commit such abuses against foreign prisoners it is holding abroad. In other words, this vice president has become an open advocate of torture.

His position is not just some abstract defense of presidential power. The CIA is holding an unknown number of prisoners in secret detention centers abroad. In violation of the Geneva Conventions, it has refused to register those detainees with the International Red Cross or to allow visits by its inspectors. Its prisoners have ""disappeared,"" like the victims of some dictatorships. The Justice Department and the White House are known to have approved harsh interrogation techniques for some of these people, including ""waterboarding,"" or simulated drowning; mock execution; and the deliberate withholding of pain medication. CIA personnel have been implicated in the deaths during interrogation of at least four Afghan and Iraqi detainees. Official investigations have indicated that some aberrant practices by Army personnel in Iraq originated with the CIA. Yet no CIA personnel have been held accountable for this record, and there has never been a public report on the agency's performance.

It's not surprising that Mr. Cheney would be at the forefront of an attempt to ratify and legalize this shameful record. The vice president has been a prime mover behind the Bush administration's decision to violate the Geneva Conventions and the U.N. Convention Against Torture and to break with decades of past practice by the U.S. military. These decisions at the top have led to hundreds of documented cases of abuse, torture and homicide in Iraq and Afghanistan. Mr. Cheney's counsel, David S. Addington, was reportedly one of the principal authors of a legal memo justifying the torture of suspects. This summer Mr. Cheney told several Republican senators that President Bush would veto the annual defense spending bill if it contained language prohibiting the use of cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment by any U.S. personnel.

The senators ignored Mr. Cheney's threats, and the amendment, sponsored by Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), passed this month by a vote of 90 to 9. So now Mr. Cheney is trying to persuade members of a House-Senate conference committee to adopt language that would not just nullify the McCain amendment but would formally adopt cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment as a legal instrument of U.S. policy. The Senate's earlier vote suggests that it will not allow such a betrayal of American values. As for Mr. Cheney: He will be remembered as the vice president who campaigned for torture.","Vice President Cheney has become an open advocate of torture. Congress should reject his proposal and instead prohibit cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment of prisoners."
"An emotional and invigorating Hall of Fame weekend came to a grinding halt on Sunday night when the Packers-Colts game was canceled because of poor field conditions.

One day after Brett Favre led the eight-member class of 2016 into the hall, its president, David Baker, announced the cancellation after discussing problems with the turf with both teams. He said it was a safety issue and that all fans would be fully refunded for ticket purchases, which will cost the hall several million dollars.

Related: NFL-funded youth program cited incorrect data in safety claims

“This is a hard decision, but we know it is the right decision,” Baker said. “In some respects a hard decision because of the impact it has. This is an important game to the people in Canton.”

The NFL and NFL Players Association said in a statement: “We are very disappointed for our fans, but player safety is our primary concern, and as a result, we could not play an NFL game on this field tonight.”

Baker noted that the field was new and had been approved when inspected after its first installation. But paint congealed at midfield and in the end zone, hardening those areas. Workers used a variety of equipment to smooth the artificial surface. Rubber pellets used in the turf came loose and were scattered in several spots and needed to be removed as well.

“We know a lot of you came a long way,” Baker told the crowd, which booed when his name was announced. “Here at the Pro Football Hall of Fame, we have the greatest respect for players and for player safety. As a result of some painting on the field today, some questions arose.”

Team physicians also were consulted.

“We thought we would be able to remediate it by delaying the game for as much as an hour,” Baker added. “But in the end, if it’s remotely close to unsafe, we conferred with the league, we think the best thing to do is respect the safety of the players. It’s the only thing to do.

“I can tell you, I had a son who played in this league. If it happened with him on the field, I would have wanted someone to make the same decision.”

This was not the first cancellation of an NFL exhibition game. The Hall of Fame contest was not played in 2011 because of the lockout but it was the most high-profile pre-season match to be called off.

In 2001, a new artificial surface at Philadelphia’s Veterans Stadium was deemed too dangerous for the Eagles to play the Ravens.

Both teams walked on to the field at 8pm, moments before the game would have kicked off, and the players saluted the crowd. When the hall’s class of 2016 was introduced the stands remained relatively full. But then many fans departed the stadium even though the half-time show featuring Lee Greenwood was held.

The Colts coach, Chuck Pagano, said he was disappointed but understood the cancellation. He was looking to “find out about a lot of these young players”.

The Packers coach, Mike McCarthy, saluted the many Packers fans who came to Canton to see Favre inducted into the hall.

“We really were looking forward to performing tonight,” McCarthy said. “You get tired of practicing against yourself and you get to play a real game.”

Many of the thousands of Packers fans in Canton returned on Sunday to Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium. They sat watching highlights of Favre’s speech and of Friday night’s concert featuring Tim McGraw before they were told about the game’s cancellation.

Also inducted were Tony Dungy, Marvin Harrison, Orlando Pace, Kevin Greene, Ken Stabler, Dick Stanfel and Ed DeBartolo Jr.",Paint markings cause hardening of new field’s playing surface and NFL Hall of Fame promises full refunds to fans at cost of millions of dollars
"Yahoo Screen is no more. The troubled tech giant has killed its highly-hyped and high-spending video division less than four years after its launch.

The Yahoo division joins Xbox Entertainment Studios on the growing pile of ambitious video divisions trying to compete with television and failing.

Yahoo’s video concern, which boasted more than 1,000 hours of programming and a partnership with MTV and Comedy Central parent company Viacom when it first went live in September 2013, had trouble attracting an audience and ultimately became more famous for its failures than its successes.

The main company is undergoing a complex “reverse-spin” uncoupling from its richest asset, a stake in Chinese e-commerce platform Alibaba – a move CEO Marissa Mayer announced the day before she gave birth to twin girls.

Yahoo Screen was one of the company’s big swings during the push to create more outlets for digital video advertising a few years ago. “At Yahoo, we’re constantly reviewing and iterating on our products as we strive to create the best user experience,” a spokeswoman told the Guardian.

“With that in mind, video content from Yahoo as well as our partners has been transitioned from Yahoo Screen to our Digital Magazine properties so users can discover complementary content in one place.” The news was first reported by Variety.

The enterprise will probably be best remembered for picking up NBC’s critically beloved, commercially dicey sitcom Community for one more season after NBC dropped the show and just hours before the actors’ contracts were set to expire.

The move may have been great for the show’s fans, but it didn’t budge Yahoo Screen’s bottom line. Part of that may be due to Yahoo’s laser focus on its own portal – the content aspired to compete with television but was almost entirely browser-bound, minus a few buggy apps (one on the Xbox, one on the Apple TV, and one on Chromecast).

The company took a $42m impairment charge on the value of its video assets in the third quarter of 2015, and CFO Ken Goldman singled out Community and the other two series Yahoo had picked up when pressed by analysts to explain himself. “We’re not saying we’re not going to do these at all in the future, but what we are saying is in three cases at least, it didn’t work the way we had hoped it to work,” Goldman told investors.

At its heart, Yahoo Screen was always driven by the need to create more places for video ads to live, and like abortive video divisions at competitors including Microsoft, the group was neither able to out-YouTube YouTube nor eat into traditional TV networks’ audiences.

At the time, ad sales executives in the TV world characterized the shift to digital video as more annoying than threatening – big spenders now had a place they could threaten to take their money if they didn’t want to increase their investment in a traditional network that year, but few actually shifted their cash over to TV-ish projects online.

When then CEO Ross Levinsohn, who spearheaded the project, unveiled Yahoo Screen in 2012, he was enthusiastic about its potential. “I enjoy watching cats on skateboards chasing laser pointers as much as anybody,” he scoffed. “We’re shooting a little higher than that here.”",Tech company’s video division fades to black after struggling to draw viewers away from the likes of YouTube and traditional TV networks
"WASHINGTON (CNN) -- For Lilly Ledbetter, it was a day of vindication over a decade in the making.

President Obama stands with Lilly Ledbetter shortly before he signed the bill bearing her name Thursday.

More than 10 years after first filing a gender discrimination claim with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the beaming retired grandmother from Alabama stood in the East Room of the White House, watching the president of the United States sign a landmark piece of pay-equity legislation bearing her name.

""I cannot begin to describe how honored and humbled I feel today,"" Ledbetter said Thursday. ""When I filed my claim ... never, never did I imagine the path that it would lead me down.""

Under the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Restoration Act, victims of pay-based discrimination will now have the right to file a complaint to the government within 180 days of their most recent paycheck, as opposed to within 180 days of their first unfair paycheck.

The law's supporters argue the change was necessary because, under the old standard, an employer merely needed to hide unfair pay practices for a few months before being able to continue them, without penalty, forever.

Ledbetter's contribution to the long struggle for women's rights and equal pay did not come easily. It took three presidential campaigns, years of arguing and persuasion in the halls of Congress, and seemingly endless rounds of litigation.

It also took the help of a stranger.

""I did not learn of the pay discrimination until late in my career,"" Ledbetter, a former employee with Goodyear Tire and Rubber, said during an interview with CNN. ""Someone left me an anonymous note in my mailbox at work showing my pay versus three males. And we four were doing the exact same job.""

Ledbetter retired after 19 years working for Goodyear in Gadsden, Alabama. She filed a complaint with the EEOC in March 1998, alleging that men in her plant doing similar work were paid 15 to 40 percent more.

The records backed her up. Ledbetter proved that she was being paid $6,000 less than men doing the same work, including those who were the lowest paid in their job duties.

Ultimately, both the EEOC and a jury ruled in her favor. Ledbetter was awarded $360,000 in back pay.

Ledbetter's fight, however, was just beginning.

A federal appeals court later threw out her claim, limiting her lawsuit to discrimination that may have happened in the six months prior to her initial complaint with the EEOC. A three-judge panel also dismissed the pay discrimination allegations during that 180-day window.

Ledbetter's case increasingly gained the attention of politicians and the public as it climbed the legal ladder. By the time the Supreme Court weighed in with a ruling in 2007, the case was a political football. Most Democrats used it to rail against sexual discrimination; many Republicans warned the case could harm employers.

In a narrowly divided 5-4 ruling, the high court sided with Goodyear, concluding that Ledbetter had only a federally mandated 180-day window in which to make her initial claim.

Such a ""filing deadline protects employers from the burden of defending claims arising from employment decisions long past,"" concluded Justice Samuel Alito.

In strongly worded dissent, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg accused her conservative colleagues of being ""indifferent"" to victims of pay discrimination.

If women sued only when the pay disparity became steady and large enough to enable them to mount a winnable case, they would be cut off at the court's threshold for suing too late, Ginsburg argued.

Her legal options cut off, Ledbetter turned to Capitol Hill. Democrats pushed for legislation -- bearing Ledbetter's name -- to overturn the Supreme Court's ruling and change the 180-day window. They made little headway with the Bush White House.

During the 2008 campaign, the Ledbetter Act proved to be a significant point of contention between then-Sen. Barack Obama and Republican nominee Sen. John McCain. Obama emphasized what he called the plan's benefits to working women, while McCain criticized it as a boon for trial lawyers.

When Obama won the presidency, congressional Democrats put a reversal of the high court's ruling near the top of their agenda.

On Thursday, that piece of the agenda was completed. The Ledbetter Act was the first bill signed into law by Obama.

""It is fitting that with the very first bill I sign ... we are upholding one of this nation's first principles: that we are all created equal and each deserve a chance to pursue our own version of happiness,"" Obama said at the bill's signing ceremony.

""If we stay focused, as Lilly did -- and keep standing for what's right, as Lilly did -- we will close that pay gap and ensure that our daughters have the same rights, the same chances, and the same freedom to pursue their dreams as our sons.""

First lady Michelle Obama also made clear her support of the new law and Ledbetter personally.

""Anyone who meets Lilly can't help but be impressed by her commitment,"" the first lady said at a reception shortly after her husband signed the bill into law. ""She knew unfairness when she saw it and was willing to do something about it because it was the right thing to do, plain and simple.""

For Ledbetter, the signing was emotional.

""To watch (the president) sign a bill that bears my name -- the bill that will help women and others fight pay discrimination in the workplace -- is truly overwhelming,"" Ledbetter said while standing next to the first lady.

""Goodyear will never have to pay me what it cheated me out of. In fact, I will never see a cent from my case. But with the president's signature today, I have an even richer reward. I know that my daughter and granddaughters ... will have a better deal. That's what makes this fight worth fighting.""

With this win, Ledbetter concluded to a rousing ovation, ""we will make a big difference in the real world.""

All About Lilly Ledbetter • Barack Obama","For Lilly Ledbetter, it was a day of vindication over a decade in the making."
"About two months ago, Sean covered here at Mashable the news that an organization named Merlin has become the fifth biggest record label, behind giants like EMI, Warner and Sony. Given that the age of giant labels is dying, it’s odd that 12,000 indie labels (those best poised to be nimble and adaptable to the ever-changing landscape of the modern music business) would sign on to create what is essentially a model of the Old Media record label concept. From Sean’s May coverage:

You may remember that we first discussed Merlin all the way back in January 2007, so this success has been a long time in the making for the international rights holder. For those who may not remember what exactly it is the company aims to do, it’s a fairly easy idea: Merlin sees a strength in a centralized, concentrated voice for independent record labels when it comes to negotiating for rights.

Merlin sends us a bit of news today that comes hot on the heels of an announcement from Last.FM to their member artists (a program I have participated in the past), announcing that they’ll now be awarding royalties to qualifying independent artists on Last.FM. Shortly after Paul posted on this news, Merlin alerted us that they “have for the last few months been negotiating with Last.fm regarding a non exclusive blanket licence and a settlement agreement on behalf of Merlin members” and that these negotiations “have stalled.”

They also accuse Last.FM of having profited off the backs of independent artists illegally up until this point, and that they show no signs of willingness to make restitution for this past sin.

We contacted a representative of Last.FM for comment, but the fact that they appeared to have been blindsided by this accusation as well as the fact that it was around 11 PM London time was probably the culprit behind the gruff declaration of “no comment” for this post (though the representative added that start of business tomorrow, they’ll examine the issue and likely have some sort of statement in response).

Quite honestly, I’m baffled as to why any indie artist would sign on with a group like Merlin. They appear to have all the trappings of an Old Media label, replete with grubby pawed lawyers, executives and board members all more than willing to claim their chunk of the cash earned by hard working artists. Meanwhile, systems like Last.FM and the Apple store already have mechanisms in place to accept and sell music for and from independent artists.

If I had to guess (and given the lack of independent comment at the moment, I may have to), I’d guess this is the reason talks broke down - Last.fm didn’t see a need to deal with Yet Another Intermediary Record Label, and openly invited all the artists to deal directly with them (and ultimately bring home more of their royalty monies in the process).","Merlin, the indie record label, is trying to get money out of Last.FM by extorting them via the press."
"In response to graffiti artist Banksy's

Gaza tourist video, the territory's parkour team show us what real life is like there and their dreams beyond the border. To the sounds of Palestine's biggest female hip-hop artist, Shadia Mansour, join Abdallah AlQassab and the rest of the free-running team as they flip, somersault and leap their way round the ruined city","In response to graffiti artist Banksy's Make this the Year YOU Discover a New Destination Gaza tourist video, the territory's parkour team show us what real life is like in the ruined city"
"Toronto’s mayor is believed to have a tumour in his abdomen, says the president of the Humber River Hospital, Rueben Devlin

Toronto’s mayor, Rob Ford, has been admitted to a hospital and is believed to have a tumour in his abdomen, health officials said Wednesday.

Rueben Devlin from Humber regional hospital said Ford had been complaining of abdominal pains and that an examination has resulted in a working diagnosis of a tumour.

He said Ford had been suffering from stomach pains for at least three months and they had worsened in the last 24 hours.

“It became unbearable for him,” he said.

Ford, 45, became an international celebrity last year after he acknowledged using crack in a “drunken stupor” following months of denials. The mayor returned to work in June after a rehab stint for drug and alcohol abuse and is running for re-election on 27 October.

Devlin said they needed to determine what type of tumour it was by doing a biopsy. He said he could not say how long Ford would be in the hospital.

Devlin said the CT scan was “very definitive for the tumour” but a “definitive diagnosis” is still to come.

The Toronto Sun reported that Ford was hospitalised in 2009 for a tumour on his appendix, leading to its removal, along with part of his colon. The mayor’s father died of colon cancer in 2006.

Doug Ford, the mayor’s brother and campaign manager, said Rob was in good spirits but sidestepped questions about the mayoral race, saying he would speak about the campaign on Thursday.

Although campaigning has been underway for months, the official deadline for candidates to sign up is Friday. That leaves time for Doug Ford, a city councillor, to step in for his brother, a possibility some have long speculated about.

Doug deflected a question about Rob’s previous health issues but said the mayor had complained of stomach pain while the pair had breakfast together.

“He said his stomach was bothering him. He went to the doctor’s and the doctor sent him over to Humber,” Doug Ford said.

Dennis Morris, Ford’s lawyer and a family friend, said he spoke to the mayor on Tuesday and he didn’t mention any abdominal pain. Ford appeared well during a debate on Tuesday night.

The mayor has steadfastly refused to step down since reports emerged of a video of him smoking crack.

Olivia Chow, who is running to replace Ford, tweeted that her thoughts and hopes were with Ford and his family for good news in the days ahead. John Tory, considered the frontrunner in the race, wished Ford a speedy recovery.

“My thoughts are with Mayor Ford, Renata, their children and the entire Ford family this evening,” Tory said in a statement.",Controversial Canadian politician who admitted smoking crack is believed to have a tumour on his abdomen
"Michael Bublé's son, who is currently undergoing treatment for liver cancer, will get to spend the holidays with his family in Los Angeles.

The Mirror and local newspapers in Argentina (where Bublé's wife is from) report that Noah is well enough to go home for Christmas, but that the family will stay in California instead of Bublé's home in Vancouver, Canada.

Bublé and wife Luisana Lopilato in November made public that 3-year-old Noah had been diagnosed with cancer.

""Luisana and I have put our careers on hold in order to devote all our time and attention to helping Noah get well,"" Bublé said in an official statement on his Facebook page.","Though still undergoing treatment, Noah is well enough to spend some time at home."
"What better way to celebrate #WorldAnimalDay than with an amazing animal rescue from the other side of the world.

SPCA Singapore shared a video to their Facebook page of a kitten in desperate need of help. The tiny tabby cat managed to sneak out the window of his owner’s 12th story apartment and get stuck on the ledge below.

Thankfully, the blanket wasn’t put to use. An SPCA rescuer equipped with an animal catcher’s pole, which featured a GoPro camera, was able to lower the loop out the window, snag the cat and carefully bring the pet inside.

Thanks to the pole’s special accessory, we can watch the entire rescue. The above clip has the tension of a heist movie, the happy ending of a rom com and stars one very concerned kitten. Basically, it’s the blockbuster you’ve been waiting for — unless you’re afraid of heights.

After this nail-biter of a rescue, the rattled but unharmed kitten was reunited with his owner, who was advised to add mesh to their windows to prevent further vertigo-inducing incidents.

This article originally appeared on People.com",It has the tension of a heist movie
"Photo: Scott Strazzante, The Chronicle

Nathan Brougher and Andrea Bustard enjoy the late afternoon sun while seated on a park bench along Lake Merritt in Oakland, Calif. on Wednesday, September 10, 2014.

Nathan Brougher and Andrea Bustard enjoy the late afternoon sun while seated on a park bench along Lake Merritt in Oakland, Calif. on Wednesday, September 10, 2014.

A gondola from Gondola Servizio glides along on Lake Merritt near the Lake Chalet Seafood Bar & Grill on the western side of the lake.

A gondola from Gondola Servizio glides along on Lake Merritt near the Lake Chalet Seafood Bar & Grill on the western side of the lake.

Dhanyale Dunbar, center, helps to lead a Lake Merritt Fit Camp session on the shore of the lake in Oakland, Calif., on Wednesday, September 10, 2014. Oakland is booming, and nowhere is that more apparent than the Lake Merritt area. Young people are out in expensive running gear, or drinking fancy micro-beers by the shore. Families bring their kids to play by the shore. Once a grimy place you didn't go after dark, the lake is now beginning to represent everything that is changing

Dhanyale Dunbar, center, helps to lead a Lake Merritt Fit Camp session on the shore of the lake in Oakland, Calif., on Wednesday, September 10, 2014. Oakland is booming, and nowhere is that more apparent than

Antonia Mejia Gomez cleans a garage door before painting it at a 42-unit apartment complex on Newton Avenue in Oakland, Calif., on Wednesday, September 10, 2014. The owners plan to put the complex up for sale next week for $7.45 Million. Oakland is booming, and nowhere is that more apparent than the Lake Merritt area. Young people are out in expensive running gear, or drinking fancy micro-beers by the shore. Families bring their kids to play by the shore. Once a grimy place you didn't go after dark, the lake is now beginning to represent everything that is changing

Antonia Mejia Gomez cleans a garage door before painting it at a 42-unit apartment complex on Newton Avenue in Oakland, Calif., on Wednesday, September 10, 2014. The owners plan to put the complex up for sale

Two couples walk along a path on the shore of Lake Merritt in Oakland, Calif. on Wednesday, September 10, 2014.

Two couples walk along a path on the shore of Lake Merritt in Oakland, Calif. on Wednesday, September 10, 2014.

Link (center) and Xavier join their owners for play time at Lake Merritt in Oakland, Calif. on Wednesday, September 10, 2014.

Link (center) and Xavier join their owners for play time at Lake Merritt in Oakland, Calif. on Wednesday, September 10, 2014.

Sidebar Restaurant on Grand Avenue in the Lake Merritt neighborhood Oakland, Calif. on Wednesday, September 10, 2014.

Sidebar Restaurant on Grand Avenue in the Lake Merritt neighborhood Oakland, Calif. on Wednesday, September 10, 2014.

Activity along Lake Merritt in Oakland, Calif. on Wednesday, September 10, 2014.

Activity along Lake Merritt in Oakland, Calif. on Wednesday, September 10, 2014.

Dana Perls and Will Grant enjoy Barlago Italian Kitchen's outdoor patio across Grand Avenue from Lake Merritt in Oakland, Calif. on Wednesday, September 10, 2014.

Dana Perls and Will Grant enjoy Barlago Italian Kitchen's outdoor patio across Grand Avenue from Lake Merritt in Oakland, Calif. on Wednesday, September 10, 2014.

A pair of mothers bring their children to the Lake Merritt Pergola in Oakland, Calif. on Wednesday, September 10, 2014.

A pair of mothers bring their children to the Lake Merritt Pergola in Oakland, Calif. on Wednesday, September 10, 2014.

A jogger and walker travel in opposite directions on the path along Lake Merritt in Oakland, Calif., on Wednesday, September 10, 2014. Oakland is booming, and nowhere is that more apparent than the Lake Merritt area. Young people are out in expensive running gear, or drinking fancy micro-beers by the shore. Families bring their kids to play by the shore. Once a grimy place you didn't go after dark, the lake is now beginning to represent everything that is changing

A jogger and walker travel in opposite directions on the path along Lake Merritt in Oakland, Calif., on Wednesday, September 10, 2014. Oakland is booming, and nowhere is that more apparent than the Lake Merritt

Worker, Antonio Mejia Gomez, walks by an umbrella on a pool deck of a 42-unit that will be up for sale in the next week in Oakland, Calif., on Wednesday, September 10, 2014. The complex is being sold by Collier's International and the owner is asking $7.45 Million. Oakland is booming, and nowhere is that more apparent than the Lake Merritt area. Young people are out in expensive running gear, or drinking fancy micro-beers by the shore. Families bring their kids to play by the shore. Once a grimy place you didn't go after dark, the lake is now beginning to represent everything that is changing

Worker, Antonio Mejia Gomez, walks by an umbrella on a pool deck of a 42-unit that will be up for sale in the next week in Oakland, Calif., on Wednesday, September 10, 2014. The complex is being sold by

Deepiz Shrestha reaches for his daughter Devanshi Shrestha's, 4, hand as they look out over Lake Merritt in Oakland, Calif., on Wednesday, September 10, 2014. Oakland is booming, and nowhere is that more apparent than the Lake Merritt area. Young people are out in expensive running gear, or drinking fancy micro-beers by the shore. Families bring their kids to play by the shore. Once a grimy place you didn't go after dark, the lake is now beginning to represent everything that is changing

Deepiz Shrestha reaches for his daughter Devanshi Shrestha's, 4, hand as they look out over Lake Merritt in Oakland, Calif., on Wednesday, September 10, 2014. Oakland is booming, and nowhere is that more

Residents leave the 42-unit apartment at Newton Avenue in Oakland, Calif., on Wednesday, September 10, 2014. Owners of the complex plan to list the complex for sale next week for $7.45 Million. Oakland is booming, and nowhere is that more apparent than the Lake Merritt area. Young people are out in expensive running gear, or drinking fancy micro-beers by the shore. Families bring their kids to play by the shore. Once a grimy place you didn't go after dark, the lake is now beginning to represent everything that is changing

Residents leave the 42-unit apartment at Newton Avenue in Oakland, Calif., on Wednesday, September 10, 2014. Owners of the complex plan to list the complex for sale next week for $7.45 Million. Oakland is

A gondola from Gondola Servizio and an 8 person shell from the Lake Merritt Rowing Club share the water on Lake Merritt in Oakland, Calif. on Wednesday, September 10, 2014.

A gondola from Gondola Servizio and an 8 person shell from the Lake Merritt Rowing Club share the water on Lake Merritt in Oakland, Calif. on Wednesday, September 10, 2014.

Brandon M. Gerardo looks around a recently-remodeled apartment unit for rent in a building he represents for Collier's International in Oakland, Calif., on Wednesday, September 10, 2014. The 42-unit complex will be up for sale in the following week for $7.45 Million. Oakland is booming, and nowhere is that more apparent than the Lake Merritt area. Young people are out in expensive running gear, or drinking fancy micro-beers by the shore. Families bring their kids to play by the shore. Once a grimy place you didn't go after dark, the lake is now beginning to represent everything that is changing

Brandon M. Gerardo looks around a recently-remodeled apartment unit for rent in a building he represents for Collier's International in Oakland, Calif., on Wednesday, September 10, 2014. The 42-unit complex

The Lake Merritt Pergola in Oakland, Calif. on Wednesday, September 10, 2014.

The Lake Merritt Pergola in Oakland, Calif. on Wednesday, September 10, 2014.

Brandon M. Gerardo looks out the door of an apartment unit for rent in a building he represents for Collier's International in Oakland, Calif., on Wednesday, September 10, 2014. The 42-unit complex will be up for sale in the following week for $7.45 Million. Oakland is booming, and nowhere is that more apparent than the Lake Merritt area. Young people are out in expensive running gear, or drinking fancy micro-beers by the shore. Families bring their kids to play by the shore. Once a grimy place you didn't go after dark, the lake is now beginning to represent everything that is changing

Brandon M. Gerardo looks out the door of an apartment unit for rent in a building he represents for Collier's International in Oakland, Calif., on Wednesday, September 10, 2014. The 42-unit complex will be up

Dana Perls and Will Grant enjoy Barlago Italian Kitchen's outdoor patio across Grand Avenue from Lake Merritt in Oakland, Calif. on Wednesday, September 10, 2014.

Dana Perls and Will Grant enjoy Barlago Italian Kitchen's outdoor patio across Grand Avenue from Lake Merritt in Oakland, Calif. on Wednesday, September 10, 2014.

The Lake Merritt Pergola in Oakland, Calif. on Wednesday, September 10, 2014.

The Lake Merritt Pergola in Oakland, Calif. on Wednesday, September 10, 2014.

Malia Wollan runs with her son Oscar Wollan-Tittmann, 5 mos, in his stroller around Lake Merritt in Oakland, Calif., on Tuesday, September 9, 2014. Oakland is booming, and nowhere is that more apparent than Lake Merritt. Young people are out in expensive running gear, or drinking fancy micro-beers by the shore. Families bring their kids to play by the shore. Once a grimy place you didn't go after dark, the lake is now beginning to represent everything that is changing

Malia Wollan runs with her son Oscar Wollan-Tittmann, 5 mos, in his stroller around Lake Merritt in Oakland, Calif., on Tuesday, September 9, 2014. Oakland is booming, and nowhere is that more apparent than

A jogger runs on the path around Lake Merritt in Oakland, Calif., on Tuesday, September 9, 2014. Oakland is booming, and nowhere is that more apparent than Lake Merritt. Young people are out in expensive running gear, or drinking fancy micro-beers by the shore. Families bring their kids to play by the shore. Once a grimy place you didn't go after dark, the lake is now beginning to represent everything that is changing

A jogger runs on the path around Lake Merritt in Oakland, Calif., on Tuesday, September 9, 2014. Oakland is booming, and nowhere is that more apparent than Lake Merritt. Young people are out in expensive

Clockwise from left, Ehrin Davis, Amanda (no last name given), Kealan Cronin, Andrea Acuna and Natalie Coriaty enjoy a picnic near Children's Fairyland at Lake Merritt in Oakland, Calif., on Tuesday, September 9, 2014. Oakland is booming, and nowhere is that more apparent than Lake Merritt. Young people are out in expensive running gear, or drinking fancy micro-beers by the shore. Families bring their kids to play by the shore. Once a grimy place you didn't go after dark, the lake is now beginning to represent everything that is changing

Clockwise from left, Ehrin Davis, Amanda (no last name given), Kealan Cronin, Andrea Acuna and Natalie Coriaty enjoy a picnic near Children's Fairyland at Lake Merritt in Oakland, Calif., on Tuesday, September

Joggers and pedestrians are seen reflected in the water as they move around Lake Merritt in Oakland, Calif., on Tuesday, September 9, 2014. Oakland is booming, and nowhere is that more apparent than Lake Merritt. Young people are out in expensive running gear, or drinking fancy micro-beers by the shore. Families bring their kids to play by the shore. Once a grimy place you didn't go after dark, the lake is now beginning to represent everything that is changing

Joggers and pedestrians are seen reflected in the water as they move around Lake Merritt in Oakland, Calif., on Tuesday, September 9, 2014. Oakland is booming, and nowhere is that more apparent than Lake

Oakland's Lake Merritt drawing new residents, pushing up rents

Juan Padilla has sold ice pops from a cart he pushes around Oakland's Lake Merritt for years. He's never seen the lake like this.

""Lots of people, lots of popsicles,"" he said during a recent golden evening at the lake. Joggers with white earbuds and spandex sprinted by while young women sipped wine from paper cups on a blanket near a pile of bicycles. A man stopped to buy two popsicles, handing a crisp $20 to Padilla.

""Everyone is here now,"" said Padilla, a Fruitvale neighborhood resident who said he earned almost twice as much this summer as he did last year selling treats at the lake.

The boom around Lake Merritt is due both to the city's multimillion-dollar cleanup of the 155-acre lake and an influx of San Francisco refugees.

""In the last 18 to 24 months we've seen an influx of 20- to 35-year-olds who are moving from San Francisco because they are getting pushed out because their rents are too high,"" said Brandon Geraldo, a vice president at the real estate company Colliers International who specializes in Oakland's rental market. ""Lake Merritt is really the driver for them.""

Oakland invested nearly $200 million since 2002 into rehabilitating the lake, once a stinky, swamp pond filled with trash, bacteria and sewage. The lake is cleaner than it has been in decades and a project to connect Lake Merritt to the bay should finish early next year.

Lights twinkle around the edge of the lake at dusk, and the fog that often blankets much of San Francisco in the summer rarely reaches into Oakland. Large, elegant apartments surround the lake, and young couples and families picnic and play on its shores in greater numbers than anyone can remember.

Every few weeks, a new restaurant or bar opens along Lakeshore or Grand avenues. Crime is down. Rents are up. Way up.

The average rent around Lake Merritt has risen 53 percent since 2011 to $2,398 - a larger increase than in any other neighborhood in the city, according to real estate data. The average rent in San Francisco, in comparison, is $3,229.

The changes are welcome by some longtime Oaklanders, but upsetting to others.

""This is bigger and beyond what anyone expected and it just keeps growing,"" said Tora Rocha, a city parks supervisor who oversees Lake Merritt. ""The energy level is like nothing I have ever seen and I have been here 34 years.""

But some longtime residents in rent-controlled units said they're feeling increasingly pressured by landlords to move out and make room for younger, more affluent tenants.

In the past three years, more than 200 restaurants have opened in Oakland, according to city data.

""As you start to have higher income, more affluent people come into a particular neighborhood, they're going to have certain amenities that they want - restaurants, coffee shops,"" said Malo Hutson, an assistant professor of city and regional planning at UC Berkeley who has studied gentrification in Oakland.

Crime has also fallen around the lake, said Oakland Police Capt. Rick Orozco, who oversees the Lake Merritt area.

""It used to be on weekends and even calm nights I used to get complaints about loitering and drug sales,"" Orozco said. ""Now, in the last few months, I get calls about loud music and barbecues. It is a great problem.""

Robberies in Orozco's police district, which extends into the Fruitvale neighborhood, have fallen by 35 percent since this time last year and shootings have dropped by 32 percent.

Jen Butler, 32, who moved with her husband from San Francisco to an apartment in the Adams Point neighborhood near the lake earlier this year, said she was drawn to Lake Merritt because it offered something she couldn't find in other parts of the city.

""This is like my front yard, this is so cool,"" she said as she sat on a bench near the shore of the lake. ""San Francisco was fun but it got expensive. It wasn't like this there.""

The changes are spreading to the east side of the lake, Geraldo said, which, until recently, was more commonly associated with seedy motels, sex workers and garbage.

""East Lake, it has really transitioned over the last three years,"" Geraldo said. ""Investors are hot and heavy to acquire property there because you're getting spillover from Adams Point.""

But that worries Robbie Clark, an organizer with Causa Justa, an Oakland housing advocacy group, who grew up in Oakland and had to move out of the East Lake area after eight years because he couldn't find affordable apartments.

""You see a lot of things around the lake that are catering to folks that are coming in and not so much to the existing or long-term residents,"" said Clark, 33. ""Those profits come at the expense of existing and long-term residents.""

Clark said that while he doesn't track evictions or unfair rent increases around Lake Merritt, he was aware of at least three buildings in the area where new owners are trying to squeeze out long-term tenants so they can raise rents.

""It puts a lot of pressure on that area,"" Clark said.

Councilwoman Pat Kernighan, whose district includes much of Lake Merritt, said that while she was concerned about rising rents, she recognized that Lake Merritt was booming.

""I love their energy and ability to support our local businesses,"" Kernighan said. ""But the increased demand for a finite supply of apartments is driving up rents for everyone. That doesn't mean we should discourage people from coming to Oakland, but rather that we need to build more housing.""

Will Kane is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: wkane@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @WillKane","Joggers with white earbuds and spandex sprinted by while young women sipped wine from paper cups on a blanket near a pile of bicycles.  ""In the last 18 to 24 months we've seen an influx of 20- to 35-year-olds who are moving from San Francisco because they are getting pushed out because their rents are too high,"" said Brandon Geraldo, a vice president at the real estate company Colliers International who specializes in Oakland's rental market.  Lights twinkle around the edge of the lake at dusk, and the fog that often blankets much of San Francisco in the summer rarely reaches into Oakland.  Large, elegant apartments surround the lake, and young couples and families picnic and play on its shores in greater numbers than anyone can remember.  [...] some longtime residents in rent-controlled units said they're feeling increasingly pressured by landlords to move out and make room for younger, more affluent tenants.  The changes are spreading to the east side of the lake, Geraldo said, which, until recently, was more commonly associated with seedy motels, sex workers and garbage.  Downside of the boomBut that worries Robbie Clark, an organizer with Causa Justa, an Oakland housing advocacy group, who grew up in Oakland and had to move out of the East Lake area after eight years because he couldn't find affordable apartments.  Clark said that while he doesn't track evictions or unfair rent increases around Lake Merritt, he was aware of at least three buildings in the area where new owners are trying to squeeze out long-term tenants so they can raise rents."
"Tax expenditures come in many forms, and hardly anyone defends the practice broadly. Various interests avidly defend their particular benefits, though. A sampling:

Brian Wynne, president, Electric Drive Transportation Association, on the tax credit for electric cars:

Electric drive vehicles, which replace oil with electricity, are essential to solving U.S. oil dependence and the economic, security and environmental threats it creates.

As is true of emerging technologies, plug-in cars are currently more expensive than conventional cars. As a targeted and limited-term incentive, the plug-in electric drive vehicle credit helps consumers purchase these revolutionary cars while manufacturers build the economies of scale to bring prices down. By 2012, some 15 different electric vehicles will be available.

Today, the U.S. imports 57% of its oil, costing some $1 billion a day. Vehicles fueled by electricity boost our own economy. And by using power from the existing grid, plug-ins can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by one-third.

In the wake of the Gulf of Mexico drilling disaster, $4 gas and memories of the oil embargo, it is obvious that investing in consumer choice and clean electric drive cars is both wise and essential.

Vicki Cox Golder, president, National Association of Realtors, on the mortgage deduction: Many Americans have built their futures through homeownership, and to a certain extent, the U.S. tax code has helped them do that.

The tax deductibility of interest paid on mortgages is both a powerful incentive for homeownership and one of the simplest provisions in the tax code. The capital gains exclusion helps people build wealth through homeownership at the point of sale when their primary home has appreciated in value.

People usually don't buy homes because of these benefits. They buy homes to satisfy social, family and personal goals. The mortgage interest deduction and capital gains exclusion do, however, facilitate homeownership, which in turn sustains communities and the nation's economy. Changing these tax code provisions would considerably erode the value of homes, effectively closing the door on the American dream for many who strive to attain it.

Janice Tolley Walters, communications manager, National Corn Growers Association, on ethanol: Extending ethanol tax incentives makes sense in today's economy. The U.S. ethanol industry supports nearly 400,000 domestic jobs and in the past year, ethanol added more than $50 billion to the national economy.

These are just two examples why the National Corn Growers Association urges Congress to extend the Volumetric Ethanol Excise Tax Credit, which is set to expire in December. If the tax credit expires, over 100,000 jobs could be lost. Our country needs to continue to invest in a homegrown alternative fuel industry and to encourage automakers to build more flex-fuel vehicles.

These incentives are especially important to farmer-owned ethanol facilities, and the rural businesses and communities that rely on them. Corn farmers throughout this country are continuing to meet the need for food, feed and fuel, but Congress must do its part to encourage investment in the future of ethanol.

Diana Aviv, president, Independent Sector, which represents non-profits and foundations, on charitable deductions:

America has a tradition of voluntarily coming together to help improve lives and advance the common good. Charities and foundations are created and sustained by people who devote their time and resources to solving problems and enriching their communities with the help of charitable donations.

Our government wisely encouraged giving by incentivizing donations with tax deductions. In other countries where there is no such incentive, the amount of chartable giving drops radically. The tax code should be used to advance the good in society. In these difficult economic times, it is even more essential that our government preserve vital incentives for all of us to support programs and organizations that improve our lives.

You share in the USA TODAY community, so please keep your comments smart and civil. Don't attack other readers personally, and keep your language decent. Use the ""Report Abuse"" button to make a difference.","Keep the tax credit for electric cars, mortgage deduction, ethanol and charitable deductions."
"Before you go, we thought you'd like these...

Voters across the nation have begun to cast their ballots in the 2016 presidential election.

Students atBenjamin Franklin Elementary School already think they have a pretty good handle on who the winner will be.

That's because for the past 48 years, they have correctly predicted the winner of every presidential election, CBS News reported.

The first election they correctly predicted was one year after the school opened, when Richard Nixon secured the presidency in 1969.

The Yorktown Heights, New York school spends months teaching students about the candidates' positions, and last week, they went into their mock voting booths to cast their votes.

This year, the students chose Hillary Clinton with 52% of votes compared to 43% for Donald Trump.

""We have minority groups, students that speak English as a second language, white collar, blue collar,"" Principal Patricia Moore told CBS News. ""It could be representative of the nation,"" she continued.

By the end of the day Tuesday, we'll know if students have pushed their streak to nine correctly predicted presidential elections.

RELATED: The presidential candidates with babies

The presidential candidates with babies

The presidential candidates with babies

BALDWIN, IA - AUGUST 26: Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton greets guests during a campaign event at Tabor Home Vineyards and Winery on August 26, 2015 in Baldwin, Iowa. A recent poll has Clinton leading all other Democratic contenders in Iowa by about 30 percentage points. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)

MOBILE, AL- AUGUST 21: Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump greets supporters after his rally at Ladd-Peebles Stadium on August 21, 2015 in Mobile, Alabama. The Trump campaign moved tonight's rally to a larger stadium to accommodate demand. (Photo by Mark Wallheiser/Getty Images)

TAMPA, FL - NOVEMBER 05: Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump kisses a baby during a campaign rally in the Special Events Center on the Florida State Fairgrounds November 5, 2016 in Tampa, Florida. Trump and his opponent, Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, are campaigning in key battleground states that each must win to take the White House. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton holds a baby during a rally at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, October 23, 2016, in Charlotte, North Carolina. / AFP / Robyn BECK (Photo credit should read ROBYN BECK/AFP/Getty Images)

PORTSMOUTH, NH - FEBRUARY 04: Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump holds a baby the end of a rally at Great Bay Community College on February 4, 2016 in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. New Hampshire's primary is next Tuesday, February 9, 2016. (Photo by Andrew Burton/Getty Images)

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton is handed a baby as she greets people in the audience at a Pennsylvania Democratic Party voter registration event at West Philadelphia High School in Philadelphia,Tuesday, Aug. 16, 2016. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

FOR STORY MOVING SUNADY NOV 6TH 0600EDT/1100GMTRepublican presidential nominee Donald Trump holds babies at a campaign rally in Colorado Springs, Colorado, U.S., July 29, 2016. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri/File Photo

U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton is greeted by a supporter with a baby during a campaign stop on the street in the Bronx borough of New York, April 7, 2016. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump signs the hand of unofficial ""Trump Baby"" Curtis Ray Jeffrey, 19-months-old, as he walks the rope line following speaking at a campaign rally, Thursday, February 11, 2016, at the Baton Rouge River Center. (AP Photo/Hilary Scheinuk)

U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton holds a baby after a campaign event in Charleston, West Virginia, United States, May 3, 2016. REUTERS/Jim Young

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump holds a baby during a campaign rally in Fayetteville, N.C., Wednesday, March 9, 2016. (AP Photo/Gerry Broome)

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton greets a baby outside an early voting center in West Miami, Fla.,Saturday, Nov. 5, 2016. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

NOW WATCH: TONY ROBBINS: What you need to do in your 20s to be more successful in your 30s

SEE ALSO: Here's who 'insiders' say Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton would choose for secretary of education",Students at Benjamin Franklin Elementary School already think they have a pretty good handle on who the winner of the 2016 presidential election will be.
"Highly touted acquisitions often disappoint investors. They just usually take more than a month and change to do so.

In late April, AbbVie announced it was paying $5.8 billion for Stemcentrx and its lead lung-cancer drug Rova-T. It was a big payout for a hard-to-evaluate private company. Underwhelming drug-trial data revealed at a cancer conference this weekend -- just days after the deal closed -- make it look like AbbVie might have overpaid. The company's shares were down as much as 4.8 percent on Monday.

AbbVie's $5.8 billion deal for private Stemcentrx looks less appealing after new data was presented on its lead drug.

Intraday times are displayed in ET.

Rova-T is still a promising drug in a deadly and difficult-to-treat form of lung cancer. It stopped tumor growth in 68 percent of patients with small cell lung cancer; tumors shrank in 18 percent of patients. Its effects were even more pronounced in the subset of patients the drug targets.

But the median patient in that subset only survived a month longer than they would be expected to on the current standard therapy. Making that result even more underwhelming, a trial by Bristol-Myers Squibb for a combination of two immune-boosting cancer drugs added a median of about three extra months of life by the same metric, according to data released this weekend.

Survival data from Rova-T disappoints in comparison to data from a combination of two Bristol-Myers Squibb drugs.

1 mg/kg Opdivo, 3 mg/kg Yervoy.

These are small, early trials, which make it tough to draw rock-solid conclusions. But these do not look like results worth nearly $6 billion. And AbbVie owes as much as $4 billion in extra payments if the drugs it has acquired hit certain regulatory and sales milestones.

Lowered expectations in treating lung cancer do not bode well for AbbVie's sales projections for Rova-T. The company projects peak annual sales could reach $5 billion, primarily based on the drug being approved to treat later stages of lung cancer, among other cancers. It believes the drug could top $5 billion in peak sales if approved to treat newly diagnosed lung cancer.

AbbVie risks creating an unwanted reputation as a serial M&A wastrel. The company is splashing cash in order to make up for the eventual decline of its blockbuster arthritis drug Humira, which accounted for 61 percent of its sales last year.

Analysts accused it of overpaying last spring for Pharmacyclics and its blood-cancer drug Imbruvica. That drug produced $754 million in sales last year for AbbVie, after splitting total sales with Johnson & Johnson; analysts expect $1.7 billion in sales going to AbbVie in 2016. But the company paid $21 billion for Pharmacyclics. To reach the $7 billion in peak revenue AbbVie wants for Imbruvica, overall sales of the drug may need to get as high as $12 billion. That's aggressive, requiring the drug to be successful in a variety of diseases. Competition from a potentially more effective drug secured by AstraZeneca looms.

In a June 3 presentation for investors highlighting its drug pipeline, AbbVie said it expects $25 to $30 billion in peak revenue from its current roster of late-stage assets. This weekend's news on Rova-T -- which the company expects to be the second-largest seller of those assets -- makes the great AbbVie tower of revenue look a little wobbly:

If AbbVie weren't spending aggressively, then investors would be griping about its failure to plan for the future. Just ask Gilead. But the company needs to be better about getting its money's worth.

This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of Bloomberg LP and its owners.

To contact the author of this story: Max Nisen in New York at mnisen@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Mark Gongloff at mgongloff1@bloomberg.net",New data suggest it paid too much for another drug.
"For Christine Quayle, finding child care for her son, Brian, was no easy task.

Diagnosed with hydrocephalus at birth, Brian had fluid around his brain. When he was 3 weeks old, a shunt was inserted to direct the fluid to his abdomen. Later, he was diagnosed with spastic quadriplegic cerebral palsy with dystonia, a brain injury that happened before he was born. Brian isn't paralyzed, but his movements are uncoordinated, with involuntary twisting.

Today, at 5, he uses a wheelchair, has frequent seizures, uses a stomach tube to ingest some food and medications, and uses a communication device operated by a head switch.

""We had a sitter for 10 months who I had to train for a few weeks,"" says Quayle, 37. ""Things like how to transfer Brian into a wheelchair, or how to communicate with him. There are so many things you have to train somebody to do.""

Be clear about your expectations: Know what you want, says Lynette Fraga of Care.com. “Do you want your sitter to have specific training, experiences or credentials? Are you willing to train your sitter on medical or behavior needs your child has?” Experience in special ed is a plus, says Jennifer Aldrich of Specialneedssitter.com. “This could mean the sitter works as a teacher, an aide or a nanny.” Do research. Look up a sitter’s name online to see what comes up. “You can learn a lot about character through a simple Facebook check,” Aldrich says. Get references. Contact past employers to determine exactly how the candidate worked best with children with similar needs, providers say. Ask open-ended questions. Let sitters demonstrate how they would handle a situation with your child, Aldrich says. Willingness to learn is key to finding a great sitter for a special needs child, said Aldrich. Don’t settle. “Find someone who works well with your child,” says special needs sitter Samantha McLeod.

But when that sitter had a family emergency, she couldn't keep the job. Quayle turned to Specialized Sitters, a Colorado agency that matches families with child care professionals who have the training and experience to work with kids with special needs. Owner Joseph Ban introduced Quayle to Samantha McLeod, who had just relocated to the Denver area after working for two years in Mississippi as a teacher for children with severe cognitive and physical disabilities.

The difference was immediate. ""Samantha just had it,"" says Quayle. ""She was able to come in with very little training and take over. We've never had that.""

Quayle, who works part-time as a registered nurse, says she feels comfortable leaving her son in McLeod's care, either during the week when she works or at night when she and her husband, Ed, want some alone time. ""She could just jump in, and it was like any other kid where you show the sitter where the diapers are, and it's like, 'See you later.' We've gone on dates, and that's really nice.""

A growing number of children are being diagnosed with autism, attention deficit disorder and other developmental or physical disorders, and it can be a challenge for parents to find a babysitter to watch kids whose needs are beyond the norm.

But several agencies now offer babysitters who have the appropriate expertise. Denver's SpecializedSitters.com joins Massachusetts-based Special NeedsSitter.com and the special-needs division of national caregiving service Care.com in offering parents some options.

Specialized Sitters' Ban, 34, started the company after he and his wife, Nancy, 33, had trouble finding a qualified caregiver for their daughter, now 3½, who has sensory integration disorder, or problems with how the brain processes messages from the senses.

""My wife said, 'I wonder what families do with severe or moderate needs.' ""

They reached out to special-ed teachers, paraprofessionals, and others and began the company earlier this year. Ban says they conduct extensive background checks, and he meets personally with each sitter to confirm that the person is qualified to work with special-needs children.

""Families would find people who said they had experience, and they would be vastly under-experienced,"" Ban says.

SpecialNeedsSitter.com also has roots in the special-ed field. Founder Jennifer Aldrich, 28, became a senior special-education teacher after caring for two brothers, one with cerebral palsy, the other with pervasive developmental disorder, years before.

Families would contact her seeking care, and she took to making announcements before her education classes at college to find qualified sitters. She launched the company last year and now has about 800 sitters, mainly in Massachusetts.

The smaller agencies work in the shadow of national website Care.com, which offers special-needs sitters along with care for elders, pets and children without special needs.

""Special-needs sitters have the opportunity to develop extraordinary relationships with amazing children and their families,"" vice president Lynette Fraga says.

""Ultimately, it is the quality of the relationships, based on shared trust and understanding, that will lead to a successful care situation.""

Care.com, a private company that launched in 2007, helps connect families with caregivers and is the largest and fastest-growing online service of its kind in the USA, says spokeswoman Meredith Robertson.

Based in Waltham, Mass., the site has more than 1 million care providers registered with the service and an average of 6 million people seeking care use the site each month.

Ultimately, it's the relationship that is the foundation for a great experience. Brian Quayle's sitter, McLeod, understands that. At 24, she has worked as a special-education teacher with severely disabled children for two years in Mississippi and worked at a camp for handicapped adults as a teen.

""That's where I fell in love, working with this population,"" she says. ""These families and these kids deserve just as much love and attention as regular kids do.

""You can't do it alone. The parents need me, I need them, and the kid needs both of us.""","For Christine Quayle, finding child care for son Brian was no easy task. But more and more agencies are easing the daily grind for families."
"Anderson, an analyst, and our guest from the j.p. stern's school of business. He specializes in corporate strategy. What does it take for mcdonald's to get its mojo back echo mcdonald's has been struggling with how to communicate with the new generation in a lot of ways -- it is a millennial problem? It is a millennial problem in a lot of ways. They have been spinning their wheels. That has created its own set of problems because they have been very inefficient. But the reality is millennial's do not value mcdonald's products like previous generations do and they do not have the same relationship with the brand. That is extraordinary. But did they ever? Sure they did. Not with millennial's, but young people, no question. Absolutely. But mcdonald's is geared toward low income white males, right? Mcdonald's has been targeting children for generations. My own two children, mcdonald's is one of the top rants that they like. They still go for the happy meal. They still go for the happy meal, but once they turn into between's and teens, i think the relationship -- into tweens and teen, i think the relationship gets broken. If you go back to the basis of cleanliness, efficiency, and speed -- on those mcdonald's can come back. If you look at the menu. -- at the menu, in the 1950's, mcdonald's only had nine menu items. Now they have close to 50. i think that is why there are problems with execution and restaurants. Is mcdonald's trying to do too much, please steal while many people? I think they are. They need to decide if they are going to play to their core, or are they going to play to this new generation with new products? They have been trying to do both, and firms tend to struggle when they try to do two different things at the same time. Do they expand and grow or focus on their core? Why are we hating so much on mcdonald's for being so bad at this when they have good things about them. 25% of their revenue comes from breakfast. They own that market. They're working on customization. That is a good thing for consumers. She mentioned breakfast. In the wake of the tim hortons merger this morning, it will be vital that mcdonald's continue its a game in the breakfast space. Tim hortons, the chain itself, you will probably see a lot more units in the u.s. so it will be important for mcdonald's to keep up its competitive advantage in this space. Should mcdonald's take a page from the big oil playbook? They figured out a few years ago it does not make sense really to be in an alternative energy or renewables play. Do what you are good at. Natural grass -- natural gas extraction. That is what we do. Burgers are going to be here for a long time. We are good at it. Why don't we stick to that? Can i just say for a moment how erik was able to correlate oil and burgers? We have really reached a point where they have the choice between adjusting to adapting to new needs and wants, or bringing consumers to what they are good at. To the extent they can bring to simmer's to the core, that is a great business plan. If they are looking long-term, it is time to look at other options other than expanding in the mcdonald's footprint. Maybe it will be fast casual with mcdonald's word folio is a better option. What does that wind up looking like? I think mcdonald's is top of mind. Off the bat, we see the trends affecting them other -- more than other players. But mcdonald's has so much history and success based on a branding relationship with its consumers. The changing relationships with netflix and streaming video and things like that have interrupted the ability of big random names to build brand reputations, especially -- big brand names to build brand reputations, especially with millennial's. do they need to take a page from five guys? Five guys may be too much of a competitor. Look at fast casual in the same space. Look at aaa five years ago. It makes sense. I understand why aaa did not want to -- chipotle did not want to maintain that relationship. What do you think? Is fast casual the way to go? I am not sure that i agree with that statement. One of the reasons i think they got out of that business was to return to the core in the early 2000's, and that is what you saw a return to same restaurant sales growth by the mid-2000's. we want to see chipotle. Mcdonald's is not going to have that growth. They are not going to be chipotle. So, what will consumers be satisfied with in the quick service space? You want to see strong growth, along with strong same restaurant sales growth. That has to come with a more aggressive or a rethinking of their market strategy. Does that mean get out of the u.s.? certainly if we are looking at growth from a mcdonald's perspective, the best options will be outside the u.s. given the challenges with the younger generations where we have quickly reached over situation with -- oversaturation with mcdonald's in the u.s. -- i think if we are looking at the idea that mcdonald's is entering a mature phase as a company in some ways, that is a harvesting period to some extent. We should be looking at operational effectiveness, returned to the core. Gross maybe does not become the number one priority, especially in the u.s. market. People talk about how good burger king is with operational efficiency. Are they that much better than mcdonald's episode but they have certainly made improvements under three g capital's leadership. It gives them an additional tests. Mcdonald's has catching up to do in that regard. But everyone has the same problem. Where do you grow organically? You can only rely on your product so much. Everyone has the same issue as to who do you go out to. What products do you show? Spending is not what it was coming out of a few years to cover it, so it is really a market share battle. It may be too early to throw the baby out with the bathwater, but at what point do people start pointing fingers at the ceo? I would point to two things. If they continue to try new things and continue to have to scrap them, new products, new marketing strategy, whatever it is, if they continue to have to scrap them, that is a clear sign of a leadership problem. If there is a return to the existing business, but they are unable to amp up the profitability in that environment and show that they are doing it unsuccessfully. One of the things i wonder about mcdonald's is why do people not reward them more -- fc has this problem, right? Why do they not reward mcdonald's more for the ""good"" things it has try to do. People say -- i am not sure if it is true -- mcdonald's has better quality ingredients. I put salads on the menu. They try to be healthy. They get nothing out of it. The ceo don thompson said that salads do not get much more than 3% of total sales. My question goes back to the issue of menu bloat. If they can go back to the menu items that have worked well for them in the past. Also, the more menu items you have, the longer it takes to make, and it is called fast casual. It is not take 10 minutes and get your food. That is part of the issue. And they did name a new usa president, right? They did. -- they did. And that is returning back to the core. The revolving door is already starting to spend underneath thompson. My question -- he has only been ceo since the middle of 2012. it is perhaps a little bit early. Eventually those questions will start dogging the ceo. Absolutely. A real pleasure to talk. Thank you so much. And of course steve -- and of course, steve anderson.

This text has been automatically generated. It may not be 100% accurate.",NYU Sterns School of Business Professor J.P. Eggers and Miller Tabak & Co. Analyst Stephen Anderson discuss their outlook for McDonald’s on “Market Makers.” (Source: Bloomberg)
"Dark Chocolate and Pomegranate Bark: Tom Faglon makes homemade gifts for the holidays. His gift to Melissa Clark: a dark chocolate and pomegranate bark with just a hint of ginger and sea salt.

Chocolate bark is the workhorse of homemade holiday gifts: easy, crowd-pleasing, expected.

But you’ve never seen chocolate bark like Tom Faglon’s chocolate bark. Instead of nuts, or dried fruit, or chopped-up peppermint candy canes, he scatters fresh pomegranate seeds over the surface, where they glisten like rubies. Chewy bits of candied ginger are hidden inside the bittersweet chocolate, lying in wait to surprise you with their spiciness. Then, to make things even more interesting, Mr. Faglon strews the top with crunchy sea salt.

His bark is as sweet and juicy as a box of chocolate-covered cherries, but a lot more sophisticated.

Even better for the busiest time of the year, a pound of it takes less than 10 active minutes to make.

I came across Mr. Faglon’s recipe as I was poring over the nearly 150 messages that Dining section readers sent to us with their favorite sweet homemade holiday gifts. Recipes came in from all over the world. There was an unusual anise-oat crescent cookie from Rome. A recipe for chocolate-dipped, marzipan-covered apricots was sent from Paris. From closer to home, Brooklyn, came a farmers’-market-inspired fruit compote.

So I put on my apron and got to work, testing my way through a dozen of the offerings. My methodology for choosing what to test operated on a gut level. If my mouth started to water as I read the recipe, I printed it out.

There were plenty of variations on chocolate bark, but none as intriguing as Mr. Faglon’s.

Mr. Faglon, a retired phone company employee living in Somerset, N.J., and his wife, Diane, blog about food, antique collecting and the adventures of their 10 cats. He started making chocolate bark many years ago, using dried cherries, almonds, pistachios and the like.

He came up with this wonderful innovation a few weeks ago when he was trying to think up something new to do with chocolate bark, and he happened to have a container of pomegranate seeds in need of a home. (I can relate to this method of recipe developing.)

The only downside to Mr. Faglon’s recipe is that because the pomegranate seeds contain a lot of moisture, the bark isn’t something you want to keep around for very long. It will start to weep after a day or so. This said, it’s easy enough to make in the morning and give out that afternoon. And it will still taste good days later even if it starts to look a little tear-stained.

A more stable homemade sweet that is just as tasty, if not quite as strikingly pretty, is the spiced pecan praline recipe sent in by Elizabeth Choinski of Oxford, Miss.

Living in the South, Ms. Choinski has seen plenty of pralines in her time, flavored with the likes of chocolate and coffee. But she had never come upon pralines imbued with the classic spice flavors of the holidays. So she made her own, mixing cloves and cinnamon into the pot.

“I thought it would be a good combination,” she wrote in her email. “I was wrong; it’s a great combination.” The pralines are superb: aromatic, creamy as they melt in your mouth, then crunchy from the nuts.

I wouldn’t be able to attest to their keeping qualities if I hadn’t stashed a few away in the back of the cupboard and promptly forgotten about them. Three weeks later, on a sugar-craving tear, I unearthed and devoured them, still just as good as when I first made them. They are also very sturdy, and would do well mailed across the country. Both are excellent qualities in a homemade gift.

Some of my favorite sweet holiday gifts come in liquid form. We got several recipes for homemade vanilla extract. But because they all needed a minimum of two to three months to mature, I didn’t have time to test them properly.

Instead, I chose to make a cranberry cordial submitted by Corey Balazowich of North Canton, Ohio, that required only two weeks of steeping. Scarlet-hued, with just enough sugar to offset the tartness of the berries, this vodka-based spirit was a resounding success. It’s also a good place to use up cranberries left over from Thanksgiving.

Your friends will be thrilled to receive any of these homemade holiday gifts. I know mine will be, too. And we all have you, our readers, to thank.","Chocolate bark with pomegranate bite, spiced pralines and a cranberry cordial are among the offerings of sweet homemade holiday gifts from Dining section readers."
"Europe is finally showing interest in playing hardball with Vladimir Putin.

According to a report from Reuters, leaders from the European Union met Tuesday to discuss stepping up sanctions against Russia in retaliation for Putin’s support of rebel groups in eastern Ukraine and for his refusal to fully cooperate with an international investigation into the shooting down of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 last week.

While E.U. leaders did agree to widen the list of individuals and companies that would face sanctions, they could not come to agreement on a broader set of sanctions, like blocking Russian access to European capital markets and technology. In addition, France has so far refused to renege on a $1.62 billion deal to build and deliver warships to Russia, defying British and American wishes.

But it’s not entirely surprising that the E.U. has failed to step up to the plate with tougher sanctions. Unlike the United States, the European Union has deep economic ties to Russia, and taking steps to block Russian access to capital markets could have destabilizing effects on the European economy, which is itself still muddling through a banking crisis that has left the bloc with slow growth and high unemployment.

As Carl Weinberg, chief economist at High Frequency Economics, wrote in a note to clients Tuesday morning:

“If Russia has already been excluded from global capital markets, and if imports of energy-related capital goods and all defense-related transactions have been scratched, Russia loses nothing incremental from walking away from servicing its $720 billion worth of foreign debt. Most of those bonds are held by Western European banks and investment funds. Russia could induce pain well beyond what it is experiencing from these sanctions by simply withholding debt service payments for 120 days, after which most institutions would have to write down the loans.”

With European banks already in bad shape, and the E.U. economy just barely growing as it is, it’s no surprise that European leaders are having a hard time declaring full-on economic warfare against Russia, even if they are fed up with Putin’s behavior.",All-out economic war with Russia could destabilize the E.U.
"The ECB estimates that a 10 percent depreciation in the value of the euro gives annual gross domestic product (GDP) in the euro zone a roughly 0.4 percent boost and raises inflation by 0.6 percent.

Read MoreAnother week, another euro drubbing...

That's good news for a region that has suffered lackluster growth for years and been at risk of deflation in recent months.

UBS last week lifted its 2015 euro zone GDP growth forecasts to 1.6 percent from 1.2 percent.

Meanwhile, data on Tuesday showed consumer prices in the euro area rose 0.6 percent on the month and fell 0.3 percent on the year in February—a decline less sharp than the 0.6 percent year-on-year fall seen in January.

Still, economists say there are some important caveats to consider when assessing the soft euro's impact.

For one, the benefits of the weak currency are unlikely to be felt throughout the 19-member euro zone, including uncompetitive, smaller countries such as Greece that need economic growth to help tackle their debt mountains.

""One thing I would say about this move in the euro is that it really favors those in Europe that really need it the least – Germany and France,"" Stephen Roach, a senior fellow at Yale University and a prominent economist, told CNBC last week. ""They've accounted for over 45 percent of all exports over the past five years. The so called PIGS – Portugal, Ireland, Greece and Spain - they are less than half of that.""","There's little doubt a sharp fall in the single currency could lift the euro zone growth outlook, but the impact is far from clear cut, analysts say."
"After more than a year of review, the federal government has finally released its ""meaningful use"" guidelines for electronic medical records. For the health care field this is particularly meaningful because it's the first step taken toward adding the kinds of consistency and efficiency through IT that most corporations take for granted.

Electronic records can eliminate duplication in testing, bring together complete medical histories, disclose adverse drug interactions, reduce errors in patient care, add transparency into a system that has been largely closed to review, and set forth best practices for treating illnesses. The meaningful use regulations allow hospitals and physicians to recoup their IT investments toward this end, at once both modernizing an antiquated health care system and helping to reduce the overhead associated with medical care.

All of this makes sense on paper. The whole purpose of IT is to improve efficiency and make information more readily available to those who are qualified to receive it. But it's also about to set off a debate that will likely last years, if not decades, about the trade-offs between efficiency and patient care, patients' rights and what constitutes adequate care. This is the kind of debate that hasn't taken place outside of groups like the American Hospital Association and the American Medical Association; it's now wide open for public review.

The players in this debate will include lawyers, health care providers, insurance companies, chief information officers, chief medical information officers, chief security officers, technology companies, drug companies, lobbyists and government and private oversight agencies and committees. They will define the types of records that need to be kept, how that information is used and by whom, how it should be stored and new ways to utilize that information for improving treatment and identifying trends.

What's not readily apparent, though, is the effect this will have on the rest of the technology world. Throughout the history of IT there has never been a national debate on how technology gets applied to problems. Decisions typically have been made based upon the needs of a particular company and the capabilities of technology producers to meet those needs. One size doesn't fit all, and best practices often are closely guarded secrets.

To be sure, these best practices can be a competitive advantage or disadvantage, depending upon both short-term and long-term outcomes and how effectively technology is applied. Some companies have scored big with technology. Others have not. Witness the widespread use of commodity Intel ( IN TC - news - people )-based servers in the 1990s, which created massive integration headaches and caused energy use to spike unnecessarily. Those problems are only now being addressed through virtualization and outsourcing into clouds.

While the meaningful use rules are vague about the exact technology, over time they're going to become very clear about the processes involved in standardizing records so that when a patient visits one hospital the records can be transferred from another hospital or doctor's office. This will foster debate about technology practices that have never been out in the open, including the costs of this technology, acceptable times for implementation, upgrade schedules, as well as what works best with what and for what purpose.

In the end, meaningful use will foster meaningful debate, and that debate will reach well beyond the medical field to expose some other closely guarded secrets.

Ed Sperling is the editor of several technology trade publications and has covered technology for more than 20 years. Contact him at esperlin@yahoo.com.

Choosing Whether To Go Open Source

The Other Side Of The Smartphone War",How the rules about electronic medical records will change our perceptions about all information technology.
"Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey sees its newest coverage plan as a potentially transformative product, just what the health-care system needs to reward successful medical treatment and keep costs down by moving away from the traditional fee-for-service model.

But the Omnia Health Plan, along with its payment model, has triggered three lawsuits, five hearings in Trenton, a dozen bills proposed by legislators and a costly...","Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey sees its newest coverage plan as a potentially transformative product, but the Omnia Health Plan, along with its payment model, has triggered a dozen bills proposed by legislators and a costly public-relations war."
"Donald Trump has made it clear by now that he wants to build a big, beautiful wall along our southern border-- and he wants Mexico to pay for it.

In Baja California, Mexico, Cerveza Cucapá figures generosity is a two-way street. The craft brewery set its sights on something much smaller and much more affordable — a beer festival near the end of this month, possibly in Mexico City — and they want Trump to pay for it.

But the likelihood of the Republican presidential nominee shelling out for a south of the border fiesta is slim-- so the brewers sought out an unusual source of funding to back their party: his supporters.

Cucapá brewed up a batch of blue t-shirts emblazoned with a picture of the presidential candidate, smiling and with his thumbs up, with the words “I Support Donald” beneath it, reports Vice.

Earlier this month, Cucapá dispatched a group of street vendors to hawk the shirts in upscale Southern California areas like Venice Beach, Hollywood Boulevard and Huntington Beach, and, predictably, the shirts were a hit. Trump fans out in the hot California sun plunked down cold cash for them and the brewery took a video of the action as it unfolded.

But the shirts weren't your average pro-Trump apparel. Not until later did buyers discover that the shirts were heat-sensitive. After a little time in the sun, a large red clown nose appears on Trump’s face, and “I Support” is crossed out, to be replaced with the words El Que Lo Lea at the bottom.

Translated literally, that means, “Whoever reads this is Donald.” But Mexicans and Mexican-Americans know that El Que Lo Lea is an “in joke” that refers to the Mexican saying, “Whoever reads this is an a—hole!”

The company posted the video of its exploits on Facebook and it's been viewed over 9.8 million times with 200,000 shares.

Cucapá founder Mario García told Vice the idea came about “after that infamous clip where [Trump] said, ‘Mexico will pay for the wall, they just don’t know it yet.’

“So we decided, ‘Well, Donald Trump is gonna pay for our beers, even though he doesn’t know it yet.’”

“¡Donald nos va a pagar las cheves en un fiestononón!” he said. “Donald is going to pay for the beers at our huge party!”

The brewery owners have not disclosed how much money they made from the t-shirts but a party is planned on Oct. 20.",Trump supporters will be paying for an all-out fiesta south of the border.
"Forever 21 has pulled a controversial t-shirt after getting a huge backlash from consumers who called the gear ""shameful"" and ""rapey.""

The graphic tee featured a slogan that seemingly referred to sexual consent: ""Don't Say Maybe If You Want To Say No."" The Internet response was overwhelmingly negative, with Twitter users accusing Forever 21 of cracking jokes at the expense of rape victims.

A rep for Forever 21 tells TMZ it took immediate action to yank the shirt once the feedback came pouring in, and added ... ""We sincerely apologize to anyone who was offended by the product.""","Forever 21 has pulled a controversial t-shirt after getting a huge backlash from consumers who called the gear ""shameful"" and ""rapey."" The graphic…"
"This transcript has been automatically generated and may not be 100% accurate.

you know what we do ... in the room the liquid ... when the tears that that doll ... we know that ... think about it did did did did you get older ... Rio was due to ... lifestyle ... the Google team ... Kansas City Royals ... demeanor that seventeen in twelve innings in twenty fifteen World series on Sunday and the are ... the maps lead to nothing going into the ninth inning but the Royals rallied to tie and eventually take the series four games to one ... to do that they had to go to match a snap Harvey and seems poised to deliver one of the great World Series performances of all time ... the tool that did you even though those enough to ... beat East Timor nice I want to scheme a one man in the U N lenient ... I see many in the Diocese a grueling GTAT Kinney said ... what does he ... you know in the worst way ... obviously and eleven heart even when my ... but ... and ... you know I love my players ... I trust him ... being solicited ... going a mile ... I don't think I couldn't stop the relentless violence were chasing their first World series win since nineteen eighty five ... these to the student is getting teary ... two great shooting mostly from an increase ... and in the U S McCain ... recently about ... a wall ... when we go ... after that it is to ... why else capture selling our press was named World series MVP ... up next for the two teams the Mets and Ryles open next season with tear injury games at Kansas City ...",The Kansas City Royals beat the New York Mets 7-2 in 12 innings to win the 2015 World Series on Sunday in New York. Photo: AP.
"09/07/2016 AT 10:00 AM EDT

Nearly 40 years ago, Colleen Stan made a fateful decision.

On May 19, 1977, she got into a car with Cameron and Janice Hooker, a seemingly nice young couple with a baby, while hitchhiking to a friend's birthday party from her Eugene, Oregon home.

She never made it to that party.

About 30 minutes after she got into their car, Cameron pulled off onto a dirt road, held a knife to her throat and threatened to kill her. He bound her, gagged her and placed a homemade wooden box over her head.

""I thought I was going to die,"" Stan, now 59, and living in northern California, tells PEOPLE in an exclusive interview in this week's issue, on newsstands Friday.

Instead, over the next seven years, she found herself living a nightmare some would say was worse than death. The Hookers took her to their home in Red Bluff, California, and imprisoned her in a box underneath their waterbed for 23 out of 24 hours a day. She was brought out only to be beaten, raped and tortured.

Patrick Dempsey on the cover of PEOPLE

That first night in captivity was one of the most difficult, she says. She was chained up inside a crate-like box in a sitting position (he later built her one that was more like a coffin).

Later, Cameron told her he was a member of a group called ""The Company,"" which would hunt her down and kill her if she escaped, and made her sign a slave contract from the group.

Stan escaped in August 1984 with the help of Janice, who later testified against Cameron in court in exchange for immunity. Cameron was found guilty of kidnapping and sexual assault and sentenced to 104 years in prison.

Addison Timlin plays Stan in the Lifetime movie ""Girl in the Box""

Darren Goldstein / DSG Photo

This Saturday, at 8 p.m. ET, Lifetime will air a movie about Stan's ordeal titled

She says she kept her sanity while in the box by focusing on all her happy memories of her family and friends.

""I learned I could go anywhere in my mind,"" she says. ""You just remove yourself from the real situation going on and you go somewhere else. You go somewhere pleasant, around people you love. Whatever makes you happy.""

Today, Stan is married for the fourth time and raising her grandson, who turns 2 at the end of September. Despite all that she's been through, Stan says she has had a wonderful life since her escape and is grateful to be alive.

""Your life is just kinda in limbo when you're in captivity, and once you get that freedom back and you have that choice again, it's just like the gates open,"" she says. ""And you just run for it.""",Colleen Stan opens up to PEOPLE about her ordeal and story of survival – and the new Lifetime movie about her life
"In Romania, politics and art go hand in hand. So much so that there has been a running joke among artists that you can't have a gallery opening without an appearance from Adrian Nastase - the country's former prime minister, unexpectedly removed from office in the elections a fortnight ago. His apparent devotion to the contemporary arts scene was sharply satirised last year, when Vlad Nanca opened his own flat as a temporary gallery: Nanca leafed through the phonebook, found a few Adrian Nastases, and invited one at random. (He went, too.) But for some of the country's leading young artists, this relationship with Nastase's government became significantly more uncomfortable when the new Romanian Museum of Contemporary Art was opened in the same building as the parliament.

Their problem isn't just with the gallery's neighbours, but with the building itself. The new museum has been installed in the House of the People, previously the Palace of the People, the unfinished monolith that Ceausescu began constructing in the 1970s as a symbol of everything of which he was capable as dictator.

The building is monstrous, a megalomaniacal blend of baroque, neo-Gothic and modernism, sprawling over the middle of Bucharest. Its cruel facade is lined with row upon row of windows: Romanians call them ""the big eye of Ceausescu"". The critic Ami Barik, meanwhile, describes the Palace as ""architectural pornography ... meant to exhibit the organs of power in colossal erection"". Twenty per cent of the city, including some of its oldest churches, was torn down to make way for it. Workers died in near-forced labour conditions; others are said to have been killed to protect its secrets. No wonder Bucharest's inhabitants view the House/Palace with a respect tinged with bitterness.

When Ceausescu was deposed, 15 years ago this month, in one of eastern Europe's strangest and bloodiest revolutions, there was talk of turning the Palace into a giant casino. The decision to turn it into an art gallery instead has kicked off a spat of back-biting and accusations that may not have been seen on Romania's arts scene since artists had to queue up for Ceausescu's personal patronage.

There are many who hope that the presence of the museum might help to soften perceptions of the building. It has certainly helped it architecturally, even though it takes up only about 4% of the space. A gleaming, glass, wood and white concrete exhibition space has been cut into the once-kitsch wing where the Ceausescus used to have their private apartments.

Inside, too, it makes a positive stab at redemption. There's no permanent collection on show yet, but there are two exhibitions that chart the strange quantum leap that Romania and Romanian art have made in the past 30 years: a retrospective of work by the 1970s avant-gardists Horea Bernea and Paul Neagu, and the self-examinatory, Romanian Artists Love Ceausescu's Palace?! - a show dedicated to a love/hate relationship with the building that houses it.

RALCP?! isn't intended as an overview of contemporary art, but it does make an interesting introduction to the video, installation and photography work happening in the country. More importantly, it presents a fascinating picture of the art world's various views of the Palace. In Iosif Kiraly's Indirect, the building is a picture postcard from the revolution - a ""tamed"" monster. In Calin Dan's Sample City, it is the background to a Sisyphian urban fairy tale, holding pride of place in a Kafkaesque labyrinth. Daniel Gontz's Trans is a fantasy aid to the building's secret interiors, the spaces the public still can't access. And in Gorzo's Are Jailed Sheep Zebras? - a tribute to the ongoing violence of the Romanian imagination - it is the setting for an urban/rural Transylvanian nightmare. If one thing links all of these works, it is an acknowledgement that the building is there to stay, and to be lived with.

Mihai Oroveanu, museum director, has said he hopes its presence in the House will help ""purge"" the building. For some, this is already happening. ""The place is full of bad memories,"" says Gita Bratescu, the grande dame of Romanian art. ""But putting the museum into such an inhuman space has been a positive thing. This art has humour, and it helps.""

For exhibition curator Ruxandra Balaci, the building is a ""challenge - huge, ironic, grotesque, everything!"" She is sensitive to feelings about its history, but argues that perceptions of it are changing. ""The younger generation is disposed to forget the past,"" she says, ""to look to the future.""

And yet there are plenty of young, successful Romanian artists who think the installation of the museum in the Palace has turned contemporary art into a government poodle. Among the most vociferous are Dan and Lia Perjovschi. For them, the museum marks a return to the bad old days when the cultural police controlled the arts. ""It's a symbol of the past,"" says Lia Perjovschi. ""How can it be a symbol of the future?""

The duo are unhappy that, with a whole city to choose from, the House was the only building the Ministry of Culture would consider for the project. This, they argue, has meant other gallery spaces dotted around the more bohemian Calea Vitoria area closing down. The sole focus for contemporary art now, they say, is the Parliament building. ""What is that saying? The government has hijacked contemporary art.""

The line from the museum is that the House was the only site the government could afford. But Vlad Nanca agrees with the Perjovschis that this doesn't make the building any more appropriate, or less irredeemable. ""I'm not against the museum,"" he says. 'There are positive things that have come out of it. But exorcism? No, there is nothing you can do to this building to make it all right.""

In all the sniping, one man strikes a conciliatory note. Iosif Kiraly - artist, teacher and mentor to many of the younger generation of artists - agrees the House is ""not the best place"" for the museum. But, he argues, ""it's better to put art there than many other things. I had a problem when they put Parliament there. But this is a way of parasiting the building. It's not what Ceausescu would have wanted for it - and that's important.""",Tyrant Ceausescu's former palace is now home to a gallery - and Romanians are furious.  James Paul reports.
"By Ben Leach Published: 8:08PM BST 18 Apr 2010

Rebecca and Magdalena Stenfors take advantage of the warm weather at Kew Gardens Photo: Frantzesco Kangaris

A man rests while visiting Kew Gardens Photo: Frantzesco Kangaris

Thousands of Britons enjoyed one of the hottest days of the year so far on Sunday as temperatures reached 66F (19C).

The south will experience a ten-day heatwave with temperatures reaching 5-6C warmer than normal for mid-April.

The coming weekend is forecast to be even hotter with the good weather expected to continue well into the following week.

The Met Office said they expected daytime temperatures to remain well above average for this time of year.

Forecaster John Hammond said: “We should see mainly dry and sunny weather throughout next week.""

“Daytime temperatures should be around 59F (15C) or 61F (16C) on average next week but we are expecting chilly evenings – dropping down to 35F (2C) or 37 (3C) in some areas.”

Jonathan Powell, of Positive Weather Solutions, said that by next weekend temperatures will be even hotter.

“We are expecting a dry and sunny week. Temperatures will be in the mid-teens but by the weekend, we will probably see the warmest temperatures so far. They could well breach 68F (20C) by Saturday.

“The good weather should continue in the following week with a decent run of about 10 days for the South.”

Sunday brought temperatures of 66F (19C) in Northolt, Middlesex and thousands of sun-seekers headed for the beaches of the south coast.

Some had their plans to holiday abroad ruined by the Icelandic volcanic eruption.

Amy Watson, 34, of Bournemouth, was visiting the beach with her husband Joe and daughters Alexa, four, and Georgia, two.

She said: 'We were supposed to be heading off for a few days in the sun in Lanzarote this week, but we weren't able to fly because of the ash.

'We were really disappointed initially, but actually it has turned out to be a really lovely weekend and I'm glad we stayed.

'The weather has been beautiful and we've had two brilliant days enjoying ourselves on the beach.”","Britain will experience a spring heatwave with temperatures forecast to rise 
  to 68F (20C) by the weekend."
"The man arrested in connection with the seemingly random killing of a woman who was out for a stroll with her father along the San Francisco waterfront is an illegal immigrant who previously had been deported five times, federal immigration officials say.

Further, Immigration and Customs Enforcement says San Francisco had him in their custody earlier this year but failed to notify ICE when he was released.

""DHS records indicate ICE lodged an immigration detainer on the subject at that time, requesting notification prior to his release so ICE officers could make arrangements to take custody. The detainer was not honored,"" ICE said in a statement Friday afternoon.

Kathryn Steinle was killed Wednesday evening at Pier 14 -- one of the busiest tourist destinations in the city.

Police said Thursday they arrested Francisco Sanchez in the shooting an hour after it occurred.

On Friday, ICE revealed their records indicate the individual has been previously deported five times, most recently in 2009, and is from Mexico.

""His criminal history includes seven prior felony convictions, four involving narcotics charges,"" ICE said in a statement.

ICE briefly had him in their custody in March after he had served his latest sentence for ""felony re-entry,"" but turned him over to San Francisco Sheriff's Department on an outstanding drug warrant. At this time, ICE issued the detainer -- effectively asking that he be turned back over to ICE when San Francisco was finished with him.

But ICE was not notified. The incident is sure to renew criticism of San Francisco's sanctuary city policies.

""Here's a jurisdiction that's not even honoring our detainer for someone who clearly is an egregious offender,"" an ICE official told FoxNews.com.

ICE has since lodged another immigration detainer against the individual, though it's unclear whether San Francisco will cooperate.

An attorney for the San Francisco Sheriff's Department told the Associated Press it had no authority to honor the prior immigration hold when it released the suspect.

Freya Horne said Friday that federal detention orders are not a ""legal basis"" to hold someone, so Francisco Sanchez was released April 15.

Police Sgt. Michael Andraychak earlier said witnesses snapped photos of Sanchez immediately after Wednesday's shooting and the images helped police make the arrest.

Liz Sullivan told the San Francisco Chronicle that her 32-year-old daughter turned to her father after she was shot and said she didn't feel well before collapsing.

""She just kept saying, 'Dad, help me, help me,'"" Sullivan said. Her father reportedly tried to do CPR before she was rushed to the hospital.

The immigration detainer issued against the suspect earlier this year would have initiated the process of removing him from the U.S. once again.

""ICE places detainers on aliens arrested on criminal charges to ensure dangerous criminals are not released from prisons or jails into our communities,"" ICE said in the statement. ""The agency remains committed to working collaboratively with its law enforcement partners to ensure the public's safety.""

The tragedy also surfaced late Friday in the 2016 presidential race. GOP candidate Donald Trump, who has been under fire for controversial remarks describing some Mexican illegal immigrants ‎as criminals, said in a statement that the ""senseless and totally preventable act of violence committed by an illegal immigrant is yet another example of why we must secure our border immediately.""

FoxNews.com's Adam Shaw and The Associated Press contributed to this report.","The man arrested in connection with the seemingly random killing of a woman who was out for a stroll with her father along the San Francisco waterfront is an illegal immigrant who previously had been deported five times, federal immigration officials say."
"Batus Inc., the American arm of B.A.T. Industries of London, said yesterday that it had reached an agreement with the staff of the Federal Trade Commission that settles the agency's investigation of Batus's continuing acquisition of Marshall Field & Company. The action was seen as clearing the way for Batus to acquire the Chicagobased retail chain.

Batus said that the agreement was for settlement purposes only and did not represent any admission on its part that the takeover would violate antitrust laws.

The agreement, however, requires that Batus divest itself of some of its stores in the Milwaukee area, where Field also operates. It also precludes Batus from generally acquiring any equity interest or assets of another department, general merchandise or furniture store in the Milwaukee area for 10 years without prior F.T.C. approval.

However, the F.T.C. took no restrictive action on the Field or Batus operations in the Chicago area, where Field has its largest division and Batus operates two Saks Fifth Avenue stores.

In another development, Batus, which is engaged in a tender offer for Field stock of $30 a share for the common and $54 a share for the preferred, said that it intends to buy all of the Field shares tendered before the expiration date Monday at 6 P.M. Through the end of business yestereday, Batus said that it has been tendered 8.25 million common shares of Field's 10.8 million common shares outstanding and 633,000 preferred shares of 717,000 preferred shares outstanding.

In the Milwaukee area, Batus operates several Gimbels Brothers department stores and several Kohl's department stores, but which group would be involved in the divestiture was not detailed in the agreement and Batus would not comment on it late yesterday afternoon.

The Batus statement, however, said that the agreement called for Batus to divest itself of Milwaukee-area department stores of not less than 200,000 square feet and to reduce its sales volume in that area by not less than $20 million ''as measured by fiscal 1981 sales.''

The agreement is subject to full commission approval after being placed on the public record for 60 days for public comment.","Batus Inc., the American arm of B.A.T. Industries of London, said yesterday that it had reached an agreement with the staff of the Federal Trade Commission that settles the agency's investigation of Batus's continuing acquisition of Marshall Field & Company. The action was seen as clearing the way for Batus to acquire the Chicagobased retail chain.   Batus said that the agreement was for settlement purposes only and did not represent any admission on its part that the takeover would violate antitrust laws."
"Creigh Deeds, with son Gus, was released from the hospital Friday. Police believe Gus, who shot himself dead after stabbing his father, had mental health issues.

Virginia state Sen. Creigh Deeds was released from the hospital Friday, four days after the politician was repeatedly stabbed on Tuesday by his 24-year-old son Gus, who then shot himself dead.

""I am alive so must live. Some wounds won't heal. Your prayers and your friendship are important to me,"" he tweeted in a sorrowful message to supporters after he left the hospital, breaking his silence for the first time since the tragedy.

Deeds was released Friday morning from the University of Virginia Medical Center in Charlottesville.

Police say the father and son had an altercation on Tuesday morning, when they believe Gus stabbed his father multiple times in the head and chest.

Gus died from what appeared to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound, and investigators were “leaning towards it being an attempted murder/suicide,” Virginia State Police spokeswoman Corinne Geller said.

The 55-year-old Deeds and his son Gus, one of four children from his first marriage, were the only people at Deeds’ farm in Western Virginia on Tuesday when the attack occurred.

RELATED: VIRGINIA STATE SEN. CREIGH DEEDS LISTED IN GOOD CONDITION

Though police are still investigating the assault, they believe Deeds had mental health issues.

Local media reports indicate that an emergency custody order was issued for Gus Deeds, but he was released because mental health workers could not find him a psychiatric bed.

The director of the inspector general program for behavioral health in Virginia has opened an investigation into the matter.

Gus Deeds had been an on-again, off-again student at the College of William & Mary studying music since 2007, but he withdrew in October.

“He seemed to be really happy in the music department and that’s the only side of him I ever saw,” Brian Hulse, an associate professor of music theory and composition at the college, told the Associated Press.

“He was extremely unique in the most positive sense,” Hulse added.

RELATED: VIRGINIA STATE SEN. CREIGH DEEDS STABBED BY SON: REPORT

Deeds, a Democrat, previously ran for attorney general of Virginia in 2005 and governor of Virginia in 2009.

He has served as a Virginia state senator since 2001.

""The outpouring of support from throughout the Commonwealth and across the United States has been overwhelmingly kind and comforting,"" his state Senate office said in a release.

""Please keep Senator Deeds and his family in your thoughts and prayers. During this difficult time, we thank you for your continued respect for the family’s privacy.""

On a mobile device? Watch the video here","Virginia state Sen. Creigh Deeds was released from the hospital Friday, four days after the local politician was repeatedly stabbed on Tuesday by his 24-year-old son Gus, who then shot himself dead."
"Turkish police have fired teargas and water cannon at hundreds of stone-throwing May Day protesters in Istanbul, after they defied a ban and tried to march on Taksim Square.

Europe’s biggest city was under a security lockdown on Friday, as thousands of police manned barricades and closed streets to halt demonstrations at Taksim, a traditional rallying ground for leftists that saw weeks of unrest in 2013.

Related: Femen activists disrupt May Day speech by Marine Le Pen

Riot police unleashed water cannon and chased protesters down side streets in the nearby Beşiktaş neighbourhood, where they fired canisters of teargas, according to a Reuters reporter at the scene.

Police said that nearly 140 people had been detained, although activists said the number was nearly double that. By the afternoon most of the protests had been broken up and demonstrators drifted away.

Citing security concerns, much of Istanbul’s public transport had been shut down and police helicopters circled over the city. Tens of thousands also gathered to march in the capital, Ankara, where the mood was more festive, with dancing and singing.

Critics say President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his government have become more authoritarian in the buildup to elections in June. “People want to express their problems but the government doesn’t want those problems to be heard ahead of elections,” opposition politician Mahmut Tanal told Reuters.

The normally busy Istiklal shopping avenue leading to Taksim was deserted, with shops closed and metal barricades blocking side streets. Police helicopters circled overhead.

Taksim, a usually bustling square lined with cafes and hotels, was filled with police buses, ambulances and satellite broadcast trucks. A pair of tourists emerged from a hotel to find the area sealed off as they nervously made their way around police lines.

Related: Workers rally on May Day around the world – in pictures

The government had said Taksim would be open only to those who came peacefully and not for “illegal demonstrations”. “I wish May 1 to be celebrated in a festive mood without provocations,” Erdoğan said. Opposition parties and unions called on the government to lift the ban.

Erdoğan has previously dismissed protesters as “riff-raff” and terrorists, outraged by the unrest in 2013 that brought unwanted international attention and posed the biggest challenge to his AK party since it came to power in 2002.

He is aiming for a massive victory for the party in the forthcoming parliamentary polls, which would allow it to change the constitution and give him broad presidential powers.

The 2013 Taksim protests began as a peaceful demonstration against plans to redevelop Gezi Park, a leafy corner of the square. After a police crackdown, the demonstration spiralled into weeks of nationwide protests against Erdoğan’s rule.

The May Day demonstrations are the first large-scale protests since the government passed a security bill this year giving police expanded powers to crack down on protesters.",Riot police use water cannon and teargas to push back activists from Taksim Square during first major protests since government passed security bill
"Numerically significant dates have become something of a phenomenon in the wedding world. Not only are they easy to remember for anniversaries, but many couples believe such patterns are lucky.

That's why fellow Vegas venues the Luxor and Excalibur are also peddling special ""Lucky in Love"" wedding packages this weekend, for $399 apiece. Caesars Palace is offering a chapel ceremony with two buffet lunches for $1,213.14, and MGM Grand Hotel & Casino touts a ""Numerology Package"" for $1,400 that includes limo service and custom wedding favors.

Paul said he began to notice an uptick in wedding demand a few years ago, on July 7th, 2007. Since then, his chapel has experienced jumps in business on dates like 1-3-13 and 11-12-13.

""It's a numbers thing,"" says Paul, clad in a black sequined jumpsuit and gold-rimmed aviators. ""I mean we don't question it…as long as the check clears - next!""

Nevada's Clark County, where Las Vegas is located, has experienced a spike in marriage licenses heading into other ""numerically significant dates,"" with the busiest block of time being July 4-7, 2007.

""This will be the last of these numerically interesting days for us, and so we expect the Marriage License Bureau will be very busy December 10th, 11th, 12th and 13th,"" said Clark County Clerk Diana Alba in a statement. The clerk's office is encouraging couples to pre-apply for licenses online, to cut down what's expected to belong wait times.

Read MoreBuffett can also pick 'em in Vegas

The phenomenon extends beyond the so-called ""Marriage Capital of the World."" XO Group's TheKnot.com says nationally, Saturday's lucky date is five times more popular than any other Saturday this month.

The wedding planning hub adds that, according to the 21,000 couples registered on its site for the 13th, the largest number of weddings will occur throughout the Florida, Texas and California.

Based on its own internal registry, David's Bridal says more than 11,000 brides walking down the aisle on Saturday. The privately-held wedding apparel retailer says that since one in three brides wears one of its dresses, over 33,000 couples are getting hitched.

That is nearly 8,000 more than the last sequential date, 11-12-13, which fell on a Tuesday. According to its ""What's On Brides' Minds"" survey, 43 percent of brides did or will claim ""novelty"" dates for their big day.

Small businesses are getting a boost too. In New York City, DJ company Scratch Weddings is reportedly experienced a 300 percent jump in requests for his services this Saturday compared to a year ago, according to the New York Post.

On the West Coast, Studio City, Calif.-based Gary's Tux Shop has rented out 20 more tuxedos this weekend than the prior one. It usually only sees this kind of business is during prom season, and the May to August summer wedding season.

To make the most of the 24-hour window, Graceland Wedding's Paul says he's starting ceremonies at midnight, officiating for two hours and then starting back up for breakfast. He'll then officiate four weddings each hour.

""This year we're busier because this is the last one,"" he said. ""There is no next year, there's no 13-14-15. So this is kind of like the last of those number things if you want to look at it that way.""

It almost gives new meaning to Elvis' famous song, ""Now or Never.""","Saturday is the last numerically sequential date in the calendar for nearly two decades, sending wedding demand soaring."
"A small-time Sydney drug dealer who tasked a kindergarten-aged relative with accepting cash payments for heroin has been sentenced to a minimum of just over two years behind bars.

Penrith District Court on Tuesday heard how the man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was living with his mother and uncle in a public housing unit in inner-city Woolloomooloo when he was nabbed in a police sting.

The 36-year-old pleaded guilty last year to a charge of supplying prohibited drugs on an ongoing basis and was sentenced on Tuesday to three years and nine months, with a non-parole period of 27 months.

Acting Judge Norman Delaney said undercover police lined up five heroin deals with the offender over five days in December 2014.

In three of the five transactions, the man sent out a five-year-old relative to accept cash for the drugs.

The boy turned over the cash to the offender, who would then complete the deal by handing over small balloons containing heroin at a nearby pub.

""There is no suggestion that the young boy had anything whatsoever to do with actually touching, handling or possessing any drug,"" Acting Judge Delaney said.

""It is reprehensible that the offender asked a young person living with him to go down and collect the money from the police officer but fortunately he was not exposed to any other aspect of the deal.""

The judge said the offender had form in dealing drugs but stressed that he was a street-level pusher who sold heroin to feed his own addiction, and that he ""can be rehabilitated if he desires to be rehabilitated"".

With time served, the man will be eligible for release as early as March next year.",A Sydney man caught selling heroin to feed his own addiction has been sentenced to up to three years and nine months behind bars.
"Mahoney did not directly address the alleged affair during a news conference but issued a statement taking ""full responsibility for my actions and the pain I have caused my wife Terry and my daughter Bailey.""

""No marriage is perfect,"" Mahoney said, ""but our private life is our private life.""

He said he never misused campaign funds and was confident he would be cleared of wrongdoing.

""I have not violated my oath of office, nor have I violated any laws,"" Mahoney said in the statement. He did not answer questions.

The statement came one day after ABC News reported that Mahoney, 52, had an affair with an aide while campaigning for Congress and then paid her $121,000 to keep her quiet and avoid a sexual harassment lawsuit. After the report, Mahoney called for an investigation into his conduct by the House ethics committee. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) also called for an inquiry.

The FBI has begun reaching out to lawyers involved in the matter, said a high-level Democratic operative who has been involved with Mahoney's campaign. The person declined to be identified because of the FBI's involvement.

Late Tuesday, a person close to Mahoney's campaign told the Associated Press that the congressman had an affair with a high-ranking county official in his Florida district after being elected to Washington.

That relationship took place, the person said, as Mahoney was lobbying the Federal Emergency Management Agency to reimburse Martin County $3.4 million for damage caused by hurricanes in 2004. FEMA approved the money late last year.

Mahoney's congressional staff members declined to comment on the new allegation but noted that the congressman lobbies for FEMA funding throughout his district.

Two years ago, Mahoney, campaigning on a promise to return morals and family values to Washington, was elected to his seat after Republican Mark Foley resigned from Congress. Foley had sent lurid Internet messages to male teenagers who had worked as congressional pages; he was cleared of criminal wrongdoing by state and federal authorities.

Republicans seized on Mahoney's troubles. The seat is considered to be one of the more competitive House races, and Mahoney had a tough challenge in a district that has traditionally leaned slightly Republican. He faces former Army officer Tom Rooney, a lawyer whose family owns the Pittsburgh Steelers.

""We're pleased that an ethics investigation has been called for, but quite frankly, we're not going to know the answers in three weeks unless Congressman Mahoney literally sits down . . . and answers some questions,"" said Rep. Tom Cole of Oklahoma, the chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee.","Latest news on the US federal government.  Information and analysis of federal legislation, government contracts and regulations.  Search for government job openings, career information and federal employee benefits news."
"SKIERS in baggy pants and shimmering bibs were slingshotting up the near-vertical walls of the halfpipe at Copper Mountain during this winter’s U.S. Freeskiing Open. High above the lip of the pipe, their skis whirled like old-fashioned eggbeaters.

Kevin Moloney for The New York Times

Tim Herbert, of New Zealand, hits a jump at Woodward.

With Boys Noize and Lil Wayne cranking on the loudspeakers and the Colorado crowd cheering, they threw aerial tricks like off-axis spinning double-back flips and switch 1080s — three 360-degree spins with backward takeoffs. My 5-year-old, Aidan, watched with wide eyes. His assessment: “Totally awesome!”

It would stand to reason that the best way to learn gravity-defying halfpipe moves would be in the halfpipe. But many skiers and riders hone their aerial skills on water ramps, trampolines and diving boards. Since the 1970s, skiers have been bouncing on backyard tramps and launching off ramps into lakes, even piles of hay, to work on their aerial maneuvers.

Off-snow gymnastic-based programs today are increasingly being used by local skiers and riders, as well as freestyle teams from Sugarloaf to Vail. And dedicated facilities are cropping up to train snow-sliders bent on going airborne.

The most comprehensive to date is the brand-new Woodward at Copper, which sits at the base of the ski area, about 75 miles west of Denver. The 20,000-square-foot barnlike facility is filled with artificial ski ramps, foam pits, trampolines, skate bowls and skate ramps. Not coincidentally, its grand opening was celebrated the weekend of the Freeskiing Open. After spinning 540s and 720s in the competition, Jess Cumming headed to the Barn, as it’s known, to bounce on the tramps and work on a 900.

“Woodward is going to be a huge benefit to training,” said Ms. Cumming, who lives in nearby Edwards. “From the pro level all the way to beginners, it’s going to help grow the sport.”

Aside from the fun of rolling around a skate bowl like a marble in a sink, the main goal of the facility is to teach aerial awareness — to weekenders and professionals alike — in a safe and controlled environment. “The consequences are not as severe if you lose control in a spinning trick and come down on your head in here,” said Phoebe Mills, the Barn’s program manager. She punctuated her point with a double flip into the foam pit. Ms. Mills is a former Olympic gymnast, snowboard coach, and coach at the original Woodward facility.

In 1970, Ed Isabelle, a former Penn State gymnast, converted a Woodward, Pa., dairy farm into a gymnastic camp. Today there are three Woodward centers nationwide that cater to action sports like BMX and skateboarding as well as gymnastics and cheerleading. The new camp at Copper is the first Woodward dedicated to skiers and snowboarders.

The showpiece of Copper’s new facility is the Big Air jump: a 35-foot-high, 43-degree ramp that descends to three different-sized jumps. Wearing skis or snowboards, campers slide down a white scrub-brush-like surface called Snowflex and launch into an enormous pile of blue foam blocks. In all, 23,000 foam cubes fill three foam pits.

Nearby is a more gradually pitched slope called the Jib Run, where snow-sliders can practice the slippery business of sliding on rails, boxes and logs. Coaches will lay padding around the features to make landings softer.

In winter, Copper will offer one-day programs for $199, which will include lift ticket, lunch and an evening session. In summer, the weeklong overnight camps will start at $1,399.

Coaches, including a former Cirque du Soleil performer, will run campers through a progression that starts with tumbling on a spring floor. Next they will bounce on one of six trampolines, eventually launching from tramp into foam pit. Two smaller ramps that empty into the main foam pit serve as steppingstones to the Big Air. There’s a five-foot ramp for skateboards or in-line skates and an eight-foot Snowflex-covered ramp called the Cliff Drop.

Because many of the Barn’s features were built from scratch, designers relied on a certain amount of ingenuity. To determine the necessary speeds for catching air — and thus the pitch of the Big Air in-run — skiers and riders in the halfpipe were clocked with a radar gun.

“We’re making this up as we go, to some degree,” Ms. Mills said. On the tramps, snowboarders will either jump in bare feet or on foam boards with strap bindings. “For skiers, we’ll probably grab some small skis, screw on some bindings, and duct-tape the edges,” she added.

John Smart, who owns Momentum Ski Camps in Whistler, British Columbia, said, “There’s nothing better than a tramp to teach people to go upside down.”","Woodward at Copper Mountain gives snow-sliders the chance to go airborne by training on artificial ski ramps, foam pits and skate bowls."
"A 100-metre sprint can last just 10 seconds. A javelin throw is also finished within a minute. And though the 50-kilometre race walk might seem long when compared to other long-distance events, these moments represent a sliver of what happens in the life of Canada's top track and field athletes competing in the IAAF World Championships in Beijing, China.

There's a lot that happens

Here are 13 things you didn't know about the lives of our Canadian track and field athletes.

1. As a Canadian track athlete, you may need to defend your decision not to pursue a more traditional sport.

My face when the espn lady asked me why I decided to run instead of playing hockey..... #canadianproblems pic.twitter.com/fQZPo9Npgm

2. Once you're on Team Canada, popping bottles takes on a different meaning.

How we pop bottles. Haha #glass #Evian #nonalcoholic #healthy #boring #nationalteam #waiversigned pic.twitter.com/V0lDKs0lZP

3. Protein is a necessity. It also fights back.

4. Travelling comes with its own trials, and you need to adjust to different cultures.

I don't think there are any traffic rules in China. Everyone just does what they want. pic.twitter.com/hjH6bVAL8a

5. Some planes just aren't built for an athlete's frame.

It's kinda sad that @SAS doesn't accommodate those over 6 feet. #soreneck pic.twitter.com/Ez5lLXIVoO

6. As a track athlete, you may occasionally see yourself on the side of the subway.

Patrollin the #subway #ttc @Toronto #parapanam #panamgames @TO2015 #olympian #paralympian #racing #canada #athlete pic.twitter.com/ihOWfHp3FX

7. Sometimes, the biggest competition is with yourself. Personal records are a big deal.

This week in track and field pic.twitter.com/mDXkCZvSjo

8. Battle scars can happen on and off the track.

9. As a track athlete, you want to conserve your energy, which means taking any mode of transportation that isn't your feet.

The swag champ @ALLORN0THIN ridin to practice lol pic.twitter.com/jaMJue4j6Q

10. Track athletes reach a whole new level of multi-tasking.

When foam rolling before training, I become a rollercoaster ride for Isabella. #mommyproblems #minitrainingpartner pic.twitter.com/raspFrYZ7g

11. When it comes to blisters, the struggle is real.

You know it's a solid block of training when your blisters have blisters #notforthefaintofheart pic.twitter.com/f1PwwwkSJO

12. Sometimes office life can carry over into your personal life...

Every time I hear a knock at my door in the morning, I think it's doping control... #itwasonlyfedex #whydidhebangsohard

13. You also wear weird leg sweaters (also commonly known as compression or recovery boots).

“@Cupcakedujour: Post #Modo8k chicken & waffles @scandilicious1 with @LJM5252 & her @RecoveryPump #winnersgetwaffles pic.twitter.com/SBWYT4gn8U”

For coverage of the IAAF world championships in Beijing, follow @CBCOlympics. You can find the broadcasting schedule here.",Twitter lets us in on the realities of a track and field athlete's life on days they're not competing.
"A victim of the Orlando gay nightclub massacre captured the moments the first gunshots rang out in a Snapchat video before she was shot dead.

Amanda Alvear, 25, was at the Pulse nightclub dancing to Latin music with friends when gunman Omar Mateen killed her and 49 others in the worst mass shooting in US history.

Amanda Alvear, 25, was at the club with friends. (Facebook)

She documented her entire evening in a series of videos but her final post ends with chilling footage that was posted online by a friend.

The video starts with Ms Alvear and her friend raising their glasses and dancing.

Later she is facing the camera as a burst of gunfire cuts through the loud music.

(From top left) Edward Sotomayor Jr, Luis Omar Ocasio-Capo, Juan Ramon Guerrero, Luis S. Vielma (From bottom left) Eric Ortiz-Rivera, Stanley Almodovar, Kimberly Morris, Peter Ommy Gonzalez-Cruz.

Finally she clutches her face and looks at the camera with fear and confusion in her eyes and utters the words ""shooting"".

The videos were first shared to Facebook by a user named Stichs Nbc, identified by Buzzfeed as Mykol Marte.

""Found out thru (sic) Snapchat my friend Amanda Alvear was there at Pulse last night,"" he wrote alongside the video.

""Tried calling and texting and still haven't gotten a reply.""

Ms Alvear was among the first group of victims named after the tragedy.

Before Ms Alvear's death was confirmed, her brother, Brian Alvear, said the last he heard was that she was hiding in a bathroom as the gunman shot at patrons indiscriminately.

Family and friends of victims trapped in the nightclub have waited anxiously to find out whether their loved ones are among the 50 people killed and 53 wounded.

Overnight, the FBI and other law enforcement authorities were poring over evidence that could explain the motives for the rampage, a massacre that President Barack Obama denounced as an act of terror and hate.

Mateen, 29, a New York-born Florida resident and US citizen who was the son of Afghan immigrants, was shot and killed by police who stormed the club with armoured cars after a three-hour siege.

Mateen had called emergency services during the shooting and pledged allegiance to the leader of the militant Islamic State group, officials said.

His father said on Sunday his son was not radicalised, but indicated Mateen had strong anti-gay feelings. His ex-wife described him as mentally unstable and violent toward her.

Islamic State reiterated overnight a claim of responsibility for the attack.

""One of the Caliphate's soldiers in America carried out a security invasion where he was able to enter a crusader gathering at a nightclub for homosexuals in Orlando, Florida ... where he killed and injured more than a hundred of them before he was killed,"" the group said in a broadcast on its Albayan Radio.

Although the group claimed responsibility, this did not necessarily mean it directed the attack: there was nothing in the claim indicating coordination between the gunman and Islamic State before the rampage.

The attack reignited the debate over how best to confront violent Islamist militancy, a top issue in the November 8 presidential election campaign.

Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton and her Republican rival Donald Trump were both expected to address the issue on Monday.

'This guy was pretty screwed up

The shooting began just after 2am on Sunday at the crowded Pulse nightclub in the heart of Orlando, about 25km northeast of the Walt Disney World Resort.

Some 350 patrons were attending a Latin music event at the club, a well-known gay nightspot in the city, and survivors described scenes of carnage and pandemonium as the shooter took hostages inside a bathroom.

Nearly 24 hours after the rampage ended, authorities had publicly named only 21 of the victims, half of whom were in their 20s.

Family and friends waited for news outside a centre in Orlando where authorities were gathering details about people still missing.

Despite Mateen's 911 call expressing support for Islamic State, US officials said on Sunday they had no conclusive evidence of any direct connection with foreign extremists.

""So far as we know at this time, his first direct contact was a pledge of bayat (loyalty) he made during the massacre,"" said a US counterterrorism official.

""This guy appears to have been pretty screwed up without any help from anybody.""

Authorities said Mateen had been twice questioned by FBI agents in 2013 and 2014 after making comments to co-workers about supporting militant groups, but neither interview led to evidence of criminal activity.

Ronald Hopper, the FBI's assistant special agent in charge on the case, said Mateen was questioned in 2014 about his contacts with Moner Mohammad Abu-Salha, a US citizen who also had lived in Florida and became a suicide bomber in Syria that year.

Mateen's former wife, Sitora Yusufiy, said he was emotionally and mentally disturbed, yet aspired to be a police officer.

Yusufiy told reporters near Boulder, Colorado, that she had been beaten by Mateen during outbursts of temper in which he would ""express hatred towards everything"".

But his father Mir Siddique, who saw Mateen on Saturday afternoon, said he saw nothing out of the ordinary.

""Everything was normal,"" Siddique told ABC News, saying his son was not radicalised.

""He was just a regular person who went to work, coming back and take care of his wife and his kids,"" he said. ""If he was alive, I would ask him one question: why?""

In an interview with NBC news, the father described an incident in downtown Miami in which his son saw two men kissing in front of his wife and child and became very angry.

Mateen and his family regularly attended a Florida mosque.

On Sunday night, federal agents combed through Mateen's apartment in the Atlantic coast town of Fort Pierce, about 190km southeast of Orlando, as numerous evidence vans sat parked outside.",A victim of the Orlando gay nightclub massacre captured the moments the first gunshots rang out in a Snapchat video before she was shot dead.
"It’s a safe bet that advisers to Hillary Clinton spend more time than they would like batting away the suggestion that their candidate must be hiding something. This is what Joel Benenson, Clinton’s chief campaign strategist, had to do on CNN one morning in late August, when the anchor Chris Cuomo confronted him with questions about Clinton’s meetings with donors to the Clinton Foundation, in the years when she was secretary of state. The subtext was whether Clinton had been forthcoming enough about the influence of her private connections on her exercise of official power. Benenson, like any good surrogate, tried to change the subject. “Let’s talk about Donald Trump,” he said. “The man who said, ‘I will release my tax returns if I run for president.’ Who knows what we’ll find if he releases those tax returns? I think if you want to be hammering somebody in this race day in and day out about disclosure,” he added, it should be Trump.

Political campaigning is, on one level, the business of transforming the private into the public, and many candidates in American history have accused their rivals of shirking this responsibility — of failing to disclose enough even as they have closely guarded their own secrets. Still, there is something particularly striking about the resolute nondisclosures of Clinton and Trump, two of the most thoroughly known quantities in American public life. Trump is an unscripted and relentless media presence even as he refuses to make the most standard disclosure for a presidential candidate (those tax returns). Clinton, conversely, has opened her finances for inspection but hasn’t held a news conference in nine months and has gone to unusual lengths to protect her privacy while holding public office (that email server).

It’s not clear that the voters will pick the candidate they see as more open. But the argument matters, because a degree of disclosure is fundamental to governance in this country, and it’s possible — if not historically inevitable — that a secretive campaign will give way to a secretive presidency. Clinton and Trump, in different ways, are questioning the basic assumption of transparency and perhaps undermining it.

Until the middle of the 20th century, the finances and personal lives of presidential candidates were typically treated as their own business. Then came Richard Nixon. Selected as Dwight Eisenhower’s vice-presidential nominee in 1952, he was dogged by headlines about a “Secret Rich Men’s Trust Fund” created to pay for his travel and other campaign-­related expenses. Eisenhower asked Nixon to make a public accounting of all the money. Nixon gave a speech in which he argued that the fund allowed him to run for office as a man of modest means. His family had received one gift, he allowed: a dog his daughter named Checkers.

It was a brilliant bit of deflection. But Nixon, of course, turned out to be a less-than-ideal advertisement for allowing politicians to write the rules for self-disclosure. After Watergate, it seemed dangerous and foolish to let them set their own boundaries. These new expectations fed Jimmy Carter’s open-book campaign four years later. Carter was the first winning candidate to release his full tax returns during the campaign; in office, he proposed and signed a law mandating financial disclosure for high officials in the executive branch, members of Congress and federal judges.

But if the mid-1970s was a high-water mark for disclosure in American politics, since then the norms for what presidential candidates should disclose, and how much the press should pry, have become unsettled again. Were reporters doing their job or going too far when they staked out Gary Hart’s townhouse in 1987, following rumors that he was having an affair? What about the appointment of a special prosecutor to dig into Bill Clinton’s various infidelities, among other things?

There’s no consensus answer to those questions. And tellingly, the legal mandate for disclosure has also eroded. The last few election cycles have been awash in money from undisclosed donors. And the 1970s ethos that the public has a right to know how its government is functioning has given way to classifying more documents to hide them from view.",And what exactly are we looking for?
"Lindsay Lohan Alleged Hit-and-Run Case No One is Cooperating

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... both

and the man who claims she struck him while she was driving her Porsche last week are refusing to cooperate with police.

We're told Lindsay and the alleged victim --

) -- have both refused to sit down with the detectives for an interview. Important to note ... neither has an obligation to sit for an interview, but it's unlikely cops will even refer the matter to prosecutors if the alleged victim is uncooperative.

But it gets way more interesting ... Sources tell us an investigator from an insurance company contacted Lindsay's lawyer and said they were investigating the alleged victim for 6 - 8 cases of insurance fraud -- allegedly staging car accidents and filing phony claims.

And the plot thickens ... although the insurance investigator told Lindsay's lawyer he believed the person accusing Lindsay of hit-and-run was the same person they were investigating ... sources at the insurance company tell us the alleged fraudster's first name is Amr -- not Thaer, and the last name is different as well.

We do not know if Thaer -- a former soldier in Iraq -- used such an alias.

But we do know that Thaer has hired famed lawyer

, who has already made a settlement demand to Lindsay. We contacted Geragos about the allegations and he said his guy was not involved in insurance fraud, but when we called back regarding the alias Geragos did not pick up.

And the final twist -- Lindsay is in court next week for her final probation progress hearing. If the hit-and-run case goes haywire on her, it could jeopardize her freedom.

We could not reach Lindsay's lawyer,",Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... both Lindsay Lohan and the man who claims she struck him while she was driving her Porsche last week are refusing to…
"UNITED NATIONS (AP) — North Korea is warning that its military forces will respond if the U.N. Security Council questions or condemns the country over the sinking of a South Korean navy ship — an act it vehemently denies.

North Korea's U.N. Ambassador Sin Son Ho told a news conference Tuesday there is ""a touch-and-go situation that war may break out at any time"" because of South Korean accusations that the North torpedoed the ship and killed 46 sailors.

Sin accused South Korea and the United States of cooking up the accusation against the North and demanded that a military investigation team from Pyongyang be permitted to go to the site of the sinking, which the South has refused to allow.",UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.N. Security Council is expressing grave concern at the impact of the sinking of a South Korean ship on peace and stability on the Korean peninsula.        ...
"Shock news from across the Channel: French women do get fat, they have brattish, fussy-eater children, chipped nails, they sometimes sleep on their own wearing big cotton knickers and they do mind if their husband is enjoying cinq-à-sept trysts with his mistress.

President François Hollande's affair – alleged – with an actor and betrayal – alleged – of his ""official"" partner, Valerie Trierweiler, has revived some hoary old stereotypes concerning the French female.

Until now, les françaises were seen as effortlessly stylish, enviably slim and usually able to treat their partner's dalliances with impressive sang-froid (though not in the case of Trierweiler), and have been the subject of a host of self-help books aimed at their less fortunate sisters in other countries.

French Women Don't Get Fat and this year's follow-up, French Women Don't Get Facelifts, are just two examples of the genre that has proved extremely popular around the world.

In a recent article debunking the whole ""French women are perfect"" myth, daily newspaper Le Figaro wrote: ""We could maintain the mystery, feed the myth; but French women are known for being frank, they don't mince their words, so it's time to re-establish a few truths. It could be called: 'The Truth about French Women written by a French woman who is far from perfect and very much representative of her kind'. ""

The Observer decided to give a helping hand to that project with a series of short interviews. And our preliminary conclusion? French women have the same problems, hopes and desires as the rest of us.

Faiza Allalou, 38: a saleswoman in a women's clothes store in Paris; married with two children, aged 10 and five""Keeping in shape is a struggle. I've been on diets, and was on the high-protein Dukan diet and lost weight, so I'm careful what I eat. I smoke, as I find it helps in coping with stress. I come to work on a Vélib bike to keep in shape – I don't have the time or money to go to the gym. Because of my work I have to be presentable, so I spend what I need to. But cosmetics cost money, and we're being squeezed like lemons. Prices are going up and we're paying more taxes. As for raising my children, I'm fairly firm with them. I make sure they do their homework and get enough sleep. My five-year-old is in bed at 8.30pm every night and the other one half an hour later.""

Veronique Lambert, 52: a tax inspector in Lyon; divorced with three children: twin daughters, 21, and one son, 16""When I was younger, I bought into being a kind of superwoman, having perfect children and a toned body, but now I'm more relaxed about my image. I don't spend much on makeup or read women's magazines. I'm full of energy, so sport is a necessity for me, not a social thing: I go running, I go to the gym and I dance. I'm doing west coast swing and rock 'n' roll. How did I bring up my children? As a working single mother, it wasn't easy. Children need to know who's in charge. I learned that communication is important, particularly with girls.""

Francine Desnos, 50: a regional union rep from Angers in the Loire Valley; lives with her partner and has a daughter, 28, and son, 25""Is it effortless to be a French woman? I exercise by going ballroom dancing with my partner, because we enjoy it, and sometimes go to the swimming pool. I don't go on diets. I'm careful about my appearance, and set aside a budget for makeup. I'm lucky because we have two salaries coming in, but we need to be careful. I know lots of people who are afraid of the future, and worry about having enough money to get by. Both my children are grown and have jobs, but I was strict: I believe that you have to set boundaries.""

Estelle Le Roux, 37 (above): a saleswoman in Brest, Brittany; separated, one son, 13""What do I think about the idealised British view of the French woman? Here's my answer: the book I'm reading is called The Perfect Woman is a Silly Cow (La Femme Parfaite Est Une Connasse). I spend quite a lot on cosmetics and creams, but I don't diet. I took up jogging about 10 years ago to keep fit. I'm a strict mother. My son looks after himself until I get home at about 7pm. He's been trained to make the beds and do the washing up. I couldn't afford to have help. My ex-husband and I share custody but as a woman raising a child on my own, I'm always anxious about losing my job.""",Anne Penketh and Kim Willsher: French women defy their chic stereotypes in face of Francois Hollande's alleged affair
"WASHINGTON -- Donald Trump's ""Make America Great Again"" hats tout they are ""Made in USA."" Not necessarily always the case, an Associated Press review found.

The iconic, baseball-style hats are indeed stitched together at a small factory in the Los Angeles area. But at least one of the hats in a small sample tested by AP and an outside expert did not contain the specific type of American-made fabric the hats' manufacturer insists his factory always uses to make each one.

The true origin of the fabric in that hat remains a mystery -- whether U.S.- or foreign-made and by whom -- and a striking example of how difficult and murky it can be to verify something is actually ""Made in USA."" The Republican presidential candidate has made it a cornerstone of his campaign that U.S. companies and individuals should aim for that standard to bring back American jobs, even if it means paying more.

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump signs a hat for a supporter after a campaign rally on April 11, 2016 in Albany, New York.

Eduardo Munoz Alvarez, Getty Images

Informed of the AP's findings, Trump said any misrepresentation would be unacceptable. ""I pay a good price for that hat. If it's not made in the USA, we'll bring a lawsuit.""

The AP review included a microscopic analysis of five hats bought from Trump's campaign website, which showed the fabric in one was of a different type than that made by the supplier the manufacturer told the AP provides all his hat fabric.

In addition to the fabric analysis, two of the manufacturer's employees, including a top sales agent, said the hats' fabric, bills and stiffeners were imported.

The factory's owner, Brian Kennedy of Cali-Fame of Los Angeles Inc., said the two employees were wrong, but he refused to explain the fabric discrepancy. Federal law requires that items labeled ""Made in USA"" be made from materials ""all or virtually all"" from the United States.

""I'm not using imported materials,"" Kennedy told the AP. ""We're playing by the rules.""

On a broad level, the tale of Trump's hats shows the challenge of revitalizing U.S. manufacturing, which has been ravaged by cheap competition from overseas. Trump has accused Asian countries of unfairly manipulating their currencies to boost exports.

Labor costs in Asia are so low that hats or other clothing can cost less than half the price of products made in the United States. Asian fabric prices are also lower, though less dramatically. While Trump has tried to get Made in USA hats for his campaign, knockoffs of those hats, clearly made in China, do a brisk business for other vendors. And Trump's private companies and the clothing line run by his daughter, Ivanka, routinely sell clothes and other products made in China and other Asian countries.

Trump has warned Ford Motor Co. that he would place a 35 percent tax on cars sent to the U.S. from a planned plant in Mexico, and he has pledged to ""get Apple to start building their damn computers and things in this country.""

""All it takes is a commitment to winning and making 'Made in America' a badge of honor like it used to be,"" Trump wrote last year.

But the Trump campaign's experience shows how difficult it can be to be utterly certain of a product's provenance. Trump told the AP that his staff had visited Cali-Fame's factory and reviewed paperwork guaranteeing the hats qualified for Made in the USA labeling. ""It was very important to us that these hats be made in the USA,"" he said.

The fabric tells a complicated tale.

Kennedy, the factory owner, provided the AP with a copy of a certificate dated March 24, 2016. It shows the purchase of 1,488 yards of U.S.-origin, red polyester-cotton blended fabric, called Saxtwill, from Carr Textile Corp. of Fenton, Missouri. Kennedy later provided copies of three other certificates from Carr Textile, dated September 2015, for components of black and white hats of U.S. origin.

Kennedy declined to comment further after the AP told him that a microscopic analysis of the fabric in a red cap the AP purchased directly from Trump's campaign website did not match the red Saxtwill material that the AP obtained directly from Carr Textile. He said providing any further detail would reveal proprietary information.

To do the microscopic analysis, the AP obtained samples directly from Carr of the same red polyester-cotton blended fabric that Kennedy said was in the hats: one type imported and one U.S.-made. The AP asked Deborah Young, a professor of textiles and clothing at the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising in Los Angeles, to compare two Trump hats that the AP had purchased from the campaign website with the fabric samples. The AP did not identify the fabric samples to prevent bias.

Her conclusion: The material in one Trump hat was inconsistent with either Carr sample. The pattern of the weave was noticeably different, later confirmed by the AP using a school-grade microscope: All Carr-made Saxtwill fabric is a 2/1 weave; the other Trump hat was a 3/1 pattern weave.

""I am completely confident of this outcome,"" Young said. ""There's no way this hat was made out of either (Carr) sample.""

The analysis was not able to determine where the fabric in that hat actually came from.

Young said the other ""Make America Great Again"" hat that the AP had also purchased from Trump's campaign could have come from either the U.S.-made Carr fabric, from Carr's cheaper imported fabric, or from an entirely different source.

After receiving Young's opinion, the AP bought an additional three hats from the Trump campaign for review. Those were also compatible with either Carr's Saxtwill or the cheaper fabric that Carr imports.

In addition to the fabric analysis, two of Cali-Fame's employees, Andy Meade and Angela Olague, told the AP and a product distributor, separately, that the hats were made from imported fabric and other components.

The AP asked Kevin O'Brien, the president of Ethix Ventures Inc. of Boston, a distributor specializing in U.S.-produced, sweatshop-free merchandise, to call Meade, Cali-Fame's top sales agent, on the AP's behalf to ask about the company' hat prices and the origin of the hats' materials. The AP asked O'Brien to call so that the company's employees would respond as they would to a regular industry customer.

""It's domestic made of imported,"" Meade said.

An AP reporter separately called Olague in the company's sales department to ask which materials were imported, disclosing that he worked for The Associated Press when asked.

The hats ""are made in the USA, but all the materials are not,"" Olague told the AP of the company's Made in America product line. Pressed further, she said the factory could hypothetically produce hats from American-made fabric -- but only if the customer supplied domestic fabric with the same specifications of the material Cali-Fame used.

Meade and Olague declined subsequently to speak to the AP. Kennedy, the factory owner, said the two employees had their facts wrong.

Closely policing all U.S.-made claims would take considerable bureaucracy and expense.

The Federal Trade Commission considers a product made in the U.S. only when ""all or virtually all"" the product is U.S.-made. It defines that as cases where ""all significant parts and processing that go into the product are of U.S. origin.""

The FTC generally requires Made-in-USA labeled products to be assembled or ""substantially transformed"" in the U.S. and to contain ""negligible"" foreign content.

Under the FTC rules, if a hat were made from imported fabrics, the maker could comply with the law by using a different, more qualified label, such as ""Made of U.S. and imported fabric"" or ""Made in U.S. of imported fabric.""

The FTC can punish violators in an administrative process that prohibits unfair or deceptive practices. The agency can and sometimes does investigate such cases when it receives a formal complaint.

Through a spokeswoman, the FTC declined to comment on Trump's hats specifically, referring the AP to its guidelines requiring all significant components to be domestically made.

State law also regulates Made in USA claims. Under California law, 95 percent of a ""Made in the USA"" product's value must come from U.S. sources unless key components are unavailable domestically. Foreign fabric is often in greater supply, but domestic fabric is available.

Ironically, even as the Trump campaign strives to provide Made in USA hats, unofficial knock-offs of Trump hats, made in China and not endorsed by Trump's campaign, are widely available.

Trump's campaign sells its hats for $25 to $30 each on its website. It was unclear how many it has sold, but the campaign has paid Cali-Fame nearly $1.5 million for hats through the end of last month. The knockoffs, sometimes worn by Trump supporters at his rallies, can be had for as little as $6 on Amazon.com.

Trump acknowledged there appeared to be a demand for the cheaper, foreign hats. He said he was unsure whether supporters buying those hats ever checked the tags. ""I don't know if they know,"" he said.

Trump said his organization has been writing letters trying to force the knockoff makers to stop.

""Maybe we'll end up suing companies,"" he said. ""Who knows where they are?""

© 2016 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.",The ubiquitous red head gear is assembled in an LA-area factory but an analysis of the fabric tells a more complicated tale
"Greek yogurt maker Chobani is considering replacing Chief Executive Hamdi Ulukaya with its President and Chief Operating Officer Kevin Burns, the New York Post reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

One of the primary reasons for the removal of Ulukaya, founded the company, is a product recall in 2013 that led to negative EBITDA of $87 million in the fourth quarter, the paper reported, citing internal documents it reviewed.

The recall was a result of bad design and layout incorporated during the construction of the company's $450 million Idaho factory, and due to lack of training for workers, the Post reported.

Read MoreGo Greek! Disney, Chobani aim for the kids market

Ulukaya, who built the factory, kept a lot of his key executives in the dark as they continued to spend freely amid mounting losses and increasing chaos at the factory, the report said.

Private-equity firm TPG invested $750 million in the New Berlin, New York-based company last year to save it from the cash crunch arising as a result of the problems at Idaho.

TPG declined to comment. Chobani could not be reached for comment outside regular business hours.","The Greek yogurt maker is considering replacing CEO with its president and COO, the New York Post reported, citing people familiar with the matter."
"Apple wants to push consumers further into a wireless world. Its tactics: Eliminate the standard headphone jack in its newest iPhones and market new ""AirPods'' - tiny wireless earbuds that the company claims greatly improve on standard Bluetooth technology.

But that strategy has some risks.

Start with the AirPods themselves. These are a pair of earbuds, each with an inch or so of protruding plastic, and nothing else - no wires to hold them together, no dangling cords. If they live up to Apple's claims, they're a technological marvel, tiny and expensive. And, perhaps, also easily dislodged or misplaced.

Analysts at IHS Technology say that Apple used a smooth-surfaced design that doesn't conform to the shape of the ear, and note the risk of the AirPods falling out while running or cycling. As Bob O'Donnell, a veteran consumer tech analyst at Technalysis Research, puts it: ""You start losing those things at $US160 a pair, you're going to go crazy.''

Apple senior vice president Philip Schiller made it clear on Wednesday that the company sees a future where its sleek gadgets are no longer encumbered by cords at all. ""It makes no sense to tether ourselves with cables to our mobile devices,'' he said during the company's annual product event.

Eliminating the standard analog jack freed up some space inside the new iPhones, allowing Apple to increase the battery size and add another speaker as it redesigned the interior of the device. Despite some earlier rumours, Apple didn't use the extra space to make the iPhone 7 or 7 Plus any slimmer than last year's models, the 6S and 6S Plus.

Apple did make an effort to improve on standard Bluetooth technology, which can be unreliable and obstinate when used to ""pair'' wireless headsets with phones or other devices. The new AirPods are based on Bluetooth standards. But in addition to special sensors, a microphone and noise cancelling technology, they have a processor chip designed by Apple, combined with software that Apple says will make it simple to sync them with an iPhone, Apple Watch and other Apple gadgets.

The result allows a ""seamless connection between you and your devices,'' said Apple chief design officer Jony Ive in a promotional video. ""We're just at the beginning of a truly wireless future we've been working towards for many years.''

The new ""AirPods'' will work with Bluetooth-enabled devices made by Apple's rivals, but they won't have the ease-of-pairing that comes with Apple's software. Schiller didn't mention rival devices during his presentation, nor did he even use the word ""Bluetooth.''

Analysts say Apple clearly wants to promote its own brand of wireless listening gear, including new headphones from its own ""Beats'' division, since the market for such accessories is growing at a time when sales of iPhones - and other smartphones - are slowing.

Some early reviewers are already captivated by the AirPod. ""They fixed Bluetooth headsets,'' said tech analyst Patrick Moorhead, of Moor Insights & Strategy, after trying a pair. ""I think Apple has a real winner here.''

But mobile tech analyst Carolina Milanesi of the Creative Strategies firm thinks Apple has a bigger goal in mind -to make it easier for consumers to use one set of wireless earpieces with a variety of Apple's products.

""It's not just about your iPhone anymore,'' she said. ""It's about getting consumers thinking more about that ecosystem of Apple products - and how they all play nicely together.''

It's an expensive ecosystem: Buying a new iPhone 7, Apple Watch and a set of AirPods will cost over $US1000 ($A1300).

Apple is hoping its new iPhone and an updated Apple Watch, known as Series 2, will help reverse a recent decline in sales. While the company sold nearly 92 million iPhones in the first six months of this year, that's about 15 per cent fewer than the same period last year. Industry analysts say the iPhone 6S and 6S Plus, which Apple introduced last year, didn't offer many compelling new features over the previous year's models.

With the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus, Apple may face a similar challenge.

O'Donnell, considers the changes from last year's iPhones ""modest'' overall. A new dual-lens camera in the iPhone 7 Plus may be impressive, he said, but it's only available in the larger and more expensive phone, limiting its appeal.

Other smartphone makers are also having trouble dazzling consumers with new advances. But Forrester Research analyst Julie Ask believes consumers will appreciate the faster chip and other improvements once they try the new iPhones. And she's not worried about any backlash over elimination of the hardware jack.

""Apple has a very long history of removing features we all thought were necessary, and then convincing us that we didn't need them,'' said Ask, noting that Apple paved the way in phasing out the use of floppy discs and optical drives in computers. ``Three months later, it will be, `Why did we ever have that?'''","Apple is trying to push consumers into a wireless world, but the strategy has some risks."
"The presenting duo returning to the ITV show after the summer break

THEY were only back on air a few minutes before Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield got into a fit of giggles on This Morning.

The presenting duo have just returned to the small screen from their summer break and started laughing as they welcomed a new puppy into the fold.

The duo explained that their resident dog Clover has gone off the train as a guide dog and so they've replaced her with another ""dog with a purpose"".

Holly couldn't contain her excitement as Phillip brought the adorable Labradoodle on set.

The pup looked like she was trying to wriggle out of Phillip's arms at one point and Holly went to fetch a toy but Phillip managed to settle her by scratching her ears.

Holly then explained that the beautiful puppy didn't have a name and viewers had to submit ideas of what to call her.

She said: ""It must begin with the letter 'L'. Have two syllables, and not sound like any commands.""

The blonde beauty then tried to come up with some ideas and suggested the names ""Lovely"" and ""Licky"" before Phil interjected: ""Can you imagine shouting Licky across the park?!""

Viewers took to Twitter in their droves to suggest names for the gorgeous pup with Luna winning out in the end.

Holly said: ""I love the name Luna, it's lovely and she's the colour of the moon.""

Meanwhile, This Morning viewers were delighted to see the pair back on screen after their summer break.

Holly stunned in a beautiful navy dress and Phillip was matching in a light blue shirt.

One viewer wrote: ""It's so good to have Holly and Phillip back on #ThisMorning. Nothing better than these two in the mornings!""

Another added: ""#This Morning just isn't the same without Holly and Phil, so good to have them back!""

Someone else wrote: ""Normal service has resumed!""

I don't think anyone will understand how happy it makes me to see Phillip and Holly back! I hate it when they're on holiday! #ThisMorning

— Miss Rebeckii???????? (@RebeckiiPowell) September 5, 2016

As the pair got back to their day job, they explained to viewers how they ended up wearing matching heart tshirts a la Taylor Swift and Tom Hiddleston while frolicking in the sea.

The TV hosts poked fun at the celebrity couple by wearing special customised tops emblazoned with each others' initials.

Phillip explained: ""Our editor Martin gave us a present before we left, he gave us these tshirts and said: 'See if there's anything you can do with these'.

""And of course we did, it was a little nod to Taylor Swift and Tom Hiddleston.""

Meanwhile, Holly kept fans updated on her son Chester's potty training.

She explained: ""Chester, who turns two at the end of this month, one day decided he was done with the nappies.

""He kept pulling the tabs off, so I decided to potty train him and he's done it, the boy has done it.

""We are a nappy free zone apart from at night. He takes after his mother, he's very quick.""

Got a story? email digishowbiz@the-sun.co.uk or call us direct on 02077824220",THEY were only back on air a few minutes before Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield got into a fit of giggles on This Morning. The presenting duo have just returned to the small screen from thei…
"The State Department is conducting three separate investigations of the shooting, and on Monday the F.B.I. said it was sending a team to Baghdad to compile evidence for possible criminal prosecution.

Neither the State Department nor Blackwater would comment on Monday about the 15-page report, but both said their representatives would address it on Tuesday in testimony before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, whose Democratic staff produced the document. Based on 437 internal Blackwater incident reports as well as internal State Department correspondence, the report said Blackwater’s use of force was “frequent and extensive, resulting in significant casualties and property damage.”

Among those scheduled to testify Tuesday are Erik Prince, a press-shy former Navy Seal who founded Blackwater a decade ago, and several top State Department officials.

The committee report places a significant share of the blame for Blackwater’s record in Iraq on the State Department, which has paid Blackwater more than $832 million for security services in Iraq and elsewhere, under a diplomatic security contract it shares with two other companies, DynCorp International and Triple Canopy.

Blackwater has reported more shootings than the other two companies combined, but it also currently has twice as many employees in Iraq as the other two companies combined.

In the case of the Christmas Eve killing, the report says that an official of the United States Embassy in Iraq suggested paying the slain bodyguard’s family $250,000, but a lower-ranking official said that such a high payment “could cause incidents with people trying to get killed by our guys to financially guarantee their family’s future.” Blackwater ultimately paid the dead man’s family $15,000.

In another fatal shooting cited by the committee, an unidentified State Department official in Baghdad urged Blackwater to pay the victim’s family $5,000. The official wrote, “I hope we can put this unfortunate matter behind us quickly.”

The committee report also cited three other shootings in which Blackwater officials filed misleading reports or otherwise tried to cover up the shootings.

Since mid-2006, Blackwater has been responsible for guarding American diplomats in and around Baghdad, while DynCorp has been responsible for the northern part of the country and Triple Canopy for the south.

State Department officials said last week that Blackwater had run more than 1,800 escort convoys for American diplomats and other senior civilians this year and its employees had discharged their weapons 57 times. Blackwater was involved in 195 instances of gunfire from 2005 until early September, a rate of 1.4 shootings a week, the report says. In 163 of those cases, Blackwater gunmen fired first.

The report also says Blackwater gunmen engaged in offensive operations alongside uniformed American military personnel in violation of their State Department contract, which states that Blackwater guards are to use their weapons only for defensive purposes.

It notes that Blackwater’s contract authorizes its employees to use lethal force only to prevent “imminent and grave danger” to themselves or to the people they are paid to protect. “In practice, however,” the report says, “the vast majority of Blackwater weapons discharges are pre-emptive, with Blackwater forces firing first at a vehicle or suspicious individual prior to receiving any fire.”

The report cites two instances in which Blackwater gunmen engaged in tactical military operations. One was a firefight in Najaf in 2004 during which Blackwater employees set up a machine gun alongside American and Spanish forces. Later that year, a Blackwater helicopter helped an American military squad secure a mosque from which sniper fire had been detected.

Blackwater has dismissed 122 of its employees over the past three years for misuse of weapons, drug or alcohol abuse, lewd conduct or violent behavior, according to the report. It has also terminated workers for insubordination, failure to report incidents or lying about them, and publicly embarrassing the company. One employee was dismissed for showing signs of post-traumatic stress disorder.

The Senate on Monday gave final approval, 92 to 3, to a defense policy bill that included the establishment of an independent commission to investigate private contractors operating in Iraq and Afghanistan. The bill, which must be reconciled with a House version, faces a veto threat because it includes an expansion of federal hate-crimes laws.

James Risen, David Stout and David M. Herszenhorn contributed reporting.

A version of this article appears in print on , on Page A1 of the New York edition with the headline: REPORT SAYS FIRM TRIED COVER-UPS AFTER SHOOTINGS. Order Reprints| Today's Paper|Subscribe","Employees of Blackwater USA have engaged in nearly 200 shootings in Iraq since 2005, according to a new report from Congress."
"Today's column: Larry David and 'Curb Your Enthusiasm,' kicking it up a notch for TV Guide run

Shales, The Washington Post's chief television critic for 30 years, is the author of several books, including ""On the Air,"" ""Legends"" and ""Live From New York."" His column, ""Shales on TV,"" appears in the paper every Tuesday.

washingtonpost.com: Tom is being delayed due to technical problems. Hopefully he will join us soon. Please stand by.

Tom Shales: Hello, 13 minutes late, coming to you from either the Guatemalan Sink Hole or the surface of the sun, I am not sure which... I was supposed to be using a new Mac but guess what, the new Mac turns out to be a complete piece of crap. Everything you want to do requires seventy-two additional steps. I hate it, I loathe it, I despise it. I won't even go see Justin Long's lousy movies any more. Onward, and yes, I AM CRANKY!!!!!!!!!

Arlington, Va.: I find both Curb and Seinfeld extremely cringe-worthy in many of their episodes. I suppose it all comes from the David-Seinfeld motto of ""No learning,"" as the characters keep digging themselves into holes of their own making. One Seinfeld episode that reflected some strange priorities was the one where Jerry accidentally drops his girlfriend's toothbrush in the toilet, doesn't tell her, but no longer likes her when she innocently uses it. Blaming other people is part of the game.

Tom Shales: Yes, I see exactly what you mean and every now and then, I watch a Seinfeld rerun, even a favorite one, and I think, ""Aw-oh, the tipping point! I can't find this funny any more. George is too big a selfish imbecile, Jerry is too mean, Elaine is too self-obsessed, Kramer is too pathetic an idiot --"" Of course they are all selfish to a hideous extreme which was part of the premise of the show, so I really can't complain about it -- but is there a central meanness at its core? And its corps?

Herndon, Va.: Mr. S: Larry David has perfected being obnoxious and funny. There are so many great episodes from ""CYE,"" but my favorite bit is his fight with the handicapped/disabled/crippled man about use of the handicapped stall in the men's room. An absolute classic.

Tom Shales: A great one, yes. I loved the whole season in which he played host to a poverty-stricken family victimized by the New Orleans floods, Hurricane Bush, and the mom was played by the great wonderful electrifying Vivica A. Fox whose first name I have probably mangled. Staff?! Staff?! Research department?!?! I think they are out dangling their tootsies in a fountain........

Anonymous: I like dry humor. I love satire. But I've never liked ""Curb"" or ""The Office."" In both cases I got the impression the writers, and actors, were saying, ""We are so clever! And funny!"" Maybe it's because I'm no fan of Ron Howard (absolutely loathed ""Beautiful Mind"").

Tom Shales: Whoa, I am getting lost in these comparisons. Hard to imagine Ron Howard and ""dry humor"" in the same sentence because of course he appeared for years on ""Happy Days,"" not exactly the driest sitcom in the world - more of a soggy boggy mess. But I know what you mean about dry comedy, it is becoming absolutely the prevailing standard. I think commercials have done much to popularize it; they don't have room for punch lines so they threw them out; the humor is very flippant and a big smug -- well this is a very large subject. Too large for such a hot day maybe. Did I mention the Mac is a mess???

Obviously the quality and success of Seinfeld was dependent on several people, not just Jerry and Larry but the other Larry (Charles) and the excellence of the cast itself.

But looking at the two principals and their post-Seinfeld efforts, I'm inclined to believe that Larry David was a much greater reason for its success than the eponymous Seinfeld.

Curb is a work of genius and that Bee Movie and the Marriage Ref is more like a piece of ""dung.""

Tom Shales: Good point(s). Episodes of Seinfeld with a Larry David writing credit - and his name alone, not teamed with anyone else - tend to be the best, I think. He won an Emmy for ""The Contest,"" the famous or infamous episode about the four friends joining in a bet to see which of them can resist temptation the longest. That's about all the explaining it needs or can get here. At his best, David comes up with some fairly brilliant insights into human character - through characters that often seem all-too-human. Oh and perhaps like me you are awed by the supporting cast of Seinfeld and of Curb -- not that regulars but the actors who come in for one episode and just blow you away -- I wish I could remember his name but if you go way way back in Seinfeld history, the actor who played the doctrinaire library detective (tracking down overdue book borrowers) was just sensationally funny..........and so on through all seven or eight seasons.

No ""Enthusiasm"": I just don't like cringe-comedy anymore, even though I loved ""Seinfeld"" in its era. Maybe we're all a little less full of ourselves these days?

Tom Shales: Do the times shape the comedy or does the comedy shape the times or is it a little bit of each? Probably a little bit of each. Well not probably - obviously.

I am enthralled: by BRAVO's new commercial for its network. It has an array of its reality show stars partying to a tune (""Kissed It"" by artist Macy Gray, as I found out) that is absolutely riveting. Has another network ever done such a commercial for its brand v. discrete shows? I can't think of one. Way cool commercial. It's got me thinking BRAVO in more ways than one. What do you think about the insidious(!) trend this might presage?

Tom Shales: You were enthralled, I am impressed -- but with your take on the promos, not the promos themselves since, I confess, I haven't seen them yet. I will make it a point to watch Bravo, painful as that may be, in search of these innovative promos. If there as good as you say, it seems inevitable that nearly everyone else will be imitating them, and soon. If you have just joined us, ladies and gentlemen, my apologies for being late and let me tell you about my experience with a new Mac -- oh, no time right now. Maybe later......

Arlington, Va.: Over the years you have gifted me hundreds and hundreds of hours, I could have used to watch lousy TV shows, but I did not, because I learned early on that when you said a show was no good, it definitely was no good. You were always right.

Your response to my next question, if you choose to answer it, may be ""a gift"" to my wallet: Is subscription to HBO and whatever else comes in that package worth the $$$? I had it for a while, years ago, when I first got cable TV, but I cancelled it because in those days HBO never had anything I wanted to watch. However, things change. I felt a bit left out reading your review this morning.

Tom Shales: First, thank you for the extremely kind comment. I honestly can't imagine that I am that consistent or reliable - what critic could be? I admired and adored Pauline Kael, she was so much fun to read, but a quarter of the time I thought she was absolutely batty -- as when she championed that goofy Bertolucci thing with Marlon ""butterfingers"" Brando - what WAS the title -- oh yeah LAST TANGO IN PARIS. But her review was great reading. Anyway, what you said from there in good old Arlington has given me chills and boy did I need 'em today, heh heh. And I really do think HBO is worth the money - for ""Curb"" and ""Entourage"" and that bloody vampire mess, and for the documentaries on Monday nights (or whenever) which are 8 times out of 10 very well done - absorbing, disturbing, or both. I think TV would have a harder time justifying itself without HBO in the mix. Oh boy are you gonna be mad at me if you take my advice and then hate HBO. By the way -- when it comes to my advice, generally speaking, my advice is, don't take my advice.......

Original Ludditte speaking: Once you get knack for Mac, you will looooooove it. It took me a while, but now that I got it, I'll never go back to PC again.

Tom Shales: Thank you for the encouragement. This is what i thought would happen. Even unpacking the thing is sort of inspiring, as opposed to the junkiness of PC's. The Mac box does have lovely graphics and all that, it's a beautiful piece of industrial design - but then that cute keyboard, for starters, is a dainty little nuisance, it seems to me, not impressive or very ergonomic, though I suppose a large gaggle of scientific wizards spent hundreds of hours putting it together -- well the bottom line is that even if I love the Mac, there'll still be AOL to contend with....thanks!

Chattanooga, Tenn.: Maybe you should make a video where you treat your computer the way it deserves to be treated and send it in to Tosh.0.

Tom Shales: Tosh dot what? This isn't a naughty joke of some kind, is it? I am proud of having destroyed a computer or two in my time. It's the only revenge possible against these monstrous machines.

Bethesda, Md.: I've never read anything about Larry David's local connections. I heard that he received his bachelors degree in history from U of MD College Park. Any story there? Is he a local boy? If not, how did he end up a Terp?

Tom Shales: Yes he did go to the University of Maryland. I'm not sure if he graduated since he has a history of bailing on things. It doesn't seem like the esteemed academicians of the U of M take much pride in Mr. David, though they certainly should. As far as journalism goes, it's a good school to avoid, but David wasn't there to learn journalism....

Germantown, Md.: You mentioned getting tired of Seinfeld episodes (reaching the tipping point regarding the characters' foibles). I wonder how much of that is because you can now watch a show every day (at least once) as opposed to once a week.

Tom Shales: Yes, they were of course designed to be watched once a week. Now I sometimes think, Did I really make a Seinfeld episode one of the absolute highlights of any given week's existence? Hey, I can remember when NBC's Thursday night, virtually the whole thing, was absolute stay-at-home material. Of course -- that got to be a tradition, one which, in the current climate, is pretty well kaput, and has been I guess since Seinfeld tippy-toed off into the wings.......Remember LA Law? That was a smart, spiffy show, just part of the NBC Thursday -- and of course E.R. which hung in there for, what, 14 years or so? (just a guess, don't get mad if I'm wrong)......

Seinfeld vs. CYE: I loved Seinfeld but could never get into CYE and I'm totally sure why. Maybe the stuff Seinfeld covered is more relatable to my own life. Seinfeld never really did topics that I could never find funny under any circumstance? (i.e., child abuse) Or maybe it's just how the show was presented. Seinfeld's opening standup introduction to every show put me into a comedy mood? I don't know, but something about Seinfeld felt lighter to me. CYE is more on the darker side.

Tom Shales: Yes, CYE is more on the darker side but I'm not clear on whether that makes you like it or hate it - oh, I see, somewhere in between. There are times when the situations become too outlandish and strain credulity (or maybe stain it rather than strain it). Like the episode in which an NBC executive risked angering Larry and losing out on a planned Seinfeld reunion (which would huge in the ratings, whatever you may think of Seinfeld) by giving Larry atrocious seats at a Lakers Game. Silly - not plausible.

Your MAC: I am blessed by my parents with a name that is also identified by the initials ""MAC."" I have had great fun (as have my friends) with this over the past few years and collect ""MAC"" references for a future scrapbook that has famous(!) people referencing MAC. Keep it up. In this chat alone, I have probably filled several pages.

Tom Shales: I will think of you when the mac WORKS, not when it fails miserably. When it fails miserably, I will think of myself and the 1200 bucks I flushed merrily away.

Reston, Va.: My issue with shows like Curb and Seinfeld is that they use the characterizations as an excuse to be mean. Doesn't matter who they offend, because the characters are ""supposed to be offensive"". It's just a lazy excuse for bad writing.

Tom Shales: Maybe it's as you say. I don't know if it's really bad writing though or lazy writing either, because it isn't easy to do. If it were easy to do, everybody would try to do it. Seinfeld wasn't all THAT imitated, I think because that kind of writing is hard to master. Maybe it boils down to a few tricks as so much sitcom writing seems to - but I think there's more to it, and that it takes a certain kind of unusual talent to concoct those stories and that dialogue........

Great Falls, Va.: My question is not in line with the comments you have received nor with your column this morning. What I would like to know is why was there almost a total lack of coverage this Memorial Day weekend of the Korean War? That war began 60 years ago and has never ended. The fighting lasted about 3 years with over 30,000 KIA compared to, say the 5,000 lost so far in Iraq and Afghanistan or the 50,000 lost in Vietnam. Once again the mad man in the capital of North Korea is rattling the saber and taking lives.

Just what is it with TV that producers, etc., ignore the ungoing hostilities in Korea?

Tom Shales: A good question to which I regret I do not have a satisfactory answer. What was Korea officially characterized as -- a ""police action"" or something like that? Perhaps because, as with Vietnam later, there was no feeling of victory once it reached its uneasy conclusion (arguably no conclusion at all). But on a day set aside to remember those who died in service to their country, there's no excuse, as you say, for ignoring what happened in Korea....

D.C.: Is there a backstory on you and the UMCP Journalism School.

You're among friends, Tom. I bailed from the Journalism School there as a freshman and went over to the English Department. Never regretted it.

Tom Shales: A backstory? Some nut at the Journalism School edited a loathsome little magazine there years ago, a magazine supposedly about good journalism yet itself a pathetically poor excuse for it. There were some unpleasantries that gave me the impression the Journalism Department was run by a sorry lot - but I'm sure all that has changed by now. This was somewhere between the Pleistocene as Messozoic, ages, or is it Plasticene and Mezzo-soprano? As you can tell, it's all a trifle cloudy....

Chattanooga, Tenn.: Tosh.0 is a program on Comedy Central where comedian Daniel Tosh cracks wise over the funniest/most brutal video clips his staff can find on the Internets (it's not a truck, it's a series of tubes). He's another one who pushes the envelope toward mean sometimes, but he's not afraid to include himself as part of the joke, and I never fail to find his show entertaining.

Tom Shales: Thanks Chattanooga. I think you may be our first Chattanoogan. Pardon me boy, is that -- oh Lord, you've heard that more than enough times, I'm sure. Now I forgot your question -- oh it was an ANSWER, about Tosh. I will search him out. Thank you!

College Park, Md.: Yes, Larry David did receive his degree from here. But what I don't understand is why they don't celebrate the fact. I like Jim Henson, but David gives the place such an artistic edge that's hard to ignore. Can you imagine him delivering a commencement address? That would be priceless.

Tom Shales: How right you are - though he may not be willing to do it. Conan O'Brien's commencement speech at Harvard a couple of years ago is really a masterpiece of that genre. Google it if you can........

Philip Baker Hall: Mr. Bookman, the Seinfeld library detective.

Tom Shales: And another answer, much appreciated. Philip Baker Hall, very versatile, just great in the role of the library gumshoe......

Pauline Kael: Nice to see Ms. Kael (RIP) referenced here in your chat. While she and I differed mightily on a number of films, I never underestimated her intelligence or integrity when it came to reviewing. I read you because I feel the same. Think you are waaaay off the mark sometimes; but, by golly, I respect your opinion. End of lovefest for film critics. Resume chat.

Tom Shales: Oh come on, we can chat any time. Let's resume the lovefest for critics. Hello? Hello? Anybody there? Okay, resume chat then! And thanks for the note re Ms Kael.

UHF: My one problem with Seinfeld is that I thought Jerry was the least talented actor of the ensemble. It always seemed like he was saying his lines knowing they were jokes and smiling inappropriately, as opposed to the rest of the cast, who were really superb actors.

Tom Shales: And yet I kind of got a kick out of that -- those shots of Seinfeld where you can see him fighting valiantly to keep from laughing at Michael Richards. Or you can tell that this is maybe the 6th or 7th or 20th take or something and that all the preceding takes were ruined by Seinfeld laughing. He was never an actor, no, but did it really matter?

Baltimore, Md.: The uniqueness that was ""Seinfeld"": What I thought was so gutsy about that show (and gutsy for NBC for sticking with it after the first year) was that none of the characters were totally sympathetic. The sitcom formula had long been predicated on the sensible guy (or couple) around whom all the dizziness occurred. Mary Tyler Moore and the first Newhart show were prime examples. ""Seinfeld"" dared to give us a quartet of characters (quintet, if you count Wayne Knight's Newman) who all had very serious shortcomings.

For the poster who thinks ""The Office"" is too ""dry"" -- for heaven's sake, never watch the original with Ricky Gervais. Its ability to create uncomfortable, cringe-worthy moments makes ""Seinfeld"" look like ""Full House.""

Tom Shales: Yes, The Office did lose much of its punch on the trip over from the UK, don't you think? (Of course you do, you just said so, sorry). Even so, the Americanized office has served up a fairly healthy bounty of those cringe inducers you appreciate. And what you say about Seinfeld rings true; the best things about it were the rules it broke. So it's foolish of me to complain that the characters were such bastards -- and yet I still feel there were times when they crossed over into utter contemptuousness - and should have been shot by a character visiting from a cop show....

Standing the test of time....: Seinfeld no longer holds -- especially the last few seasons. Have never been able to stomach CYE. Meh.

And while I love your writing (Stuever's got nothing on you), in our house, we don't necessarily use you as a barometer for good and bad. Just more for how you might eviscerate a network for subjecting us to such drivel.

P.S. -- Arlington -- Save the $$ on HBO. Eventually that stuff is available via Netflix.

Tom Shales: Hmmm. I guess that's pretty good advice on HBO, even though mine was precisely the opposite. It seems more convenient to me, whatever, to have HBO there whenever you want (or need) it rather than to go off exploring in search of individual programs.

Early Seinfeld Chronicles: I thought that the early version of the Seinfeld show was much better than the later. Early Jerry was more of a commentator on his friends, less of a jerk himself.

Tom Shales: I find the VERY earliest episodes unwatchable -- I like the show once it went to the multi-story-line format, following two or three plotlines at a time. Elaine being kept awake by a dog, Jerry dating a girl with ""man hands,"" Cosmo Kramer trying to entertain mystified Japanese tourists - these were not all from the same episode but they could have been. Sometimes I marvel that three or four of my favorite arcs ARE in the same episode. An embarrassment of riches.

Seinfeld's Library Cop: That was the great Philip Baker Hall as Lt. Bookman. (Pun intended.)

Tom Shales: Thanks to you, too - I don't think it hurts to repeat the name......

Centreville, Va.: Seriously, you can't use a MAC? I was using mine 5 minutes after I had it out of the box. What extra steps are you talking about?

Tom Shales: Well I can't get to AOL for one thing. It refuses to download it and advises me to go looking for an ""administrator"" IN MY OWN HOUSE?!?! And since I use it mostly for word processing AKA WRITING, I keep stumbling on steps and measures and -- oh I don't know. I do know that at exactly 11:59 a.m. when I need it most, it completely plotzed. No AOL within sight and instead of that infernal blinking hourglass, I got an infernal blinking color wheel, just sitting there on the screen LAUGHING IN MY FACE! (then again, that IS the usual reaction.......)

Herndon, Va.: Mr. S: No mention of Korea over Memorial Day? Well, my dad was in WWII and Korea, I'm a Vietnam vet, and I agree Korea seems to fall through the cracks on occasion. The solution? No doubt if Hanks and Spielberg do an HBO series on the Korean War, it will get the attention it deserves. If that sounds cynical, it's because I am.

Tom Shales: Good point. They need a miniseries. Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg seem to have appointed themselves Arbiters of Which Wars Matter......

Dry Humor vs. Funny: Dry humor makes critics love those NBC comedies like The Office and 30 Rock, yet no one else watches them. Yet traditional sitcoms like Big Bang Theory are funny and popular (IMO). So dry humor only appeals to certain segments of the public. I agree with the smugness factor.

Tom Shales: There you go, another issue settled! Thanks to the erudite and generous chatters of the Tuesday Noon Society, formerly the Wednesday Afternoon Fine Arts League.

Curb in syndication: Tom... there is nothing --NOTHING-- more unfunny to me than the Toned Down Cuss Word Replacement (e.g., your cited ""dung"" in Suzie's tirade in ""The Doll"" episode of CURB).

Why don't they just BLEEP the words? Comedically it's much funnier.

Tom Shales: They did do a lot of bleeping but the beep that covers the bleep I find hugely annoying at least if meted out in excess, as it is on MTV all the time - and on shows they produce themselves, the dopes. I'd rather have silence but then you see moving lips on the screen and people think their cable system is having another outage. Censoring is ALWAYS bad yet often the most reasonable option....

Alexandria, Va.: I don't believe I have ever, in my whole life, seen a single episode of ""Seinfeld"" all the way through. I have, however, probably seen most parts of most episodes, many times over. Have I lost something, or were they in fact intended to be viewed that way (which is why they are ideal daily re-run fodder, as video Muzak to be played on TV in those off-hours when you aren't really watching TV).

Tom Shales: Television programs have become more and more modular, so that you need only watch parts of shows -- perhaps the shows are insidiously designed this way (?) or perhaps it just seems they are. In other words, this is not one of those weighty issues were will solve in one session.

Evolution: I only saw the first two seasons of ""Curb..."" because we stopped getting HBO after that, so I'm curious to know if the show, in your opinion, has stayed at the same comedic level, or gotten -- say -- more or less sophisticated, or if maybe it's running out of ideas (like I thought Seinfeld was in its last year or two...). Thanks.

Tom Shales: It varies, like most things. David himself said he didn't think the first season was very good and that subsequent seasons featured shows that were more ""dense"" and had more going on. I think the season in which Larry was duped by Mel Brooks into taking over a major role in ""The Producers"" on Broadway was very cleverly conceived and consistently funny throughout. And that's only one example. I really think it's improved but last season made me restless and if he had decided NOT to continue, I would not have been bereft. Just a trifle irked.

Curbing Ron: I thought Howard narrated ""Curb"" and had ties to its production.

Tom Shales: Are you joshing? Ron Howard? Must be someone with a similar name? Must there is NO Narrator on the show. I wonder where we've gone wrong in this discussion, because we can't be talking about the same thing .. In fact, I will retire now to my own private Guatemalan Sink Hole in an effort to sort this out. Oh and as little as I enjoy Sink Holes, I do hope this one turns out to have been real and not another PhotoShop trick (no one has been reported seriously injured as a result). Thanks, drive safely, be kind to each other and please come back! .........

Editor's Note: washingtonpost.com moderators retain editorial control over Discussions and choose the most relevant questions for guests and hosts; guests and hosts can decline to answer questions. washingtonpost.com is not responsible for any content posted by third parties.","Post Style columnist and Pulitzer Prize winner Tom Shales discusses television, its cultural impact and his columns."
"ATLANTA TIM MAZZETTI is a party-loving soccer player from Brazil and an inspiration to every bartender who ever filled a martini glass so it bulged. For two and a half seasons, he has been kicking footballs crosswise for the Atlanta Falcons, and twice in that span the team has been in the National Football League playoffs.

Far and away the leading scorer on the team, he is one of the main reasons the Falcons were playing the Dallas Cowboys yesterday for the half-championshipof the National Conference.

Going into the team's second postseason tournament, Mazzetti stood second among the league's place-kickers during the season with 46 extra points in 49 chances and 19 field goals in 27 attempts for 103 points. Lynn Cain, a running back, and Junior Miller, a pass-catching tight end, were next for the Falcons with 54 each.

After half a season as a newly minted demigod and one autumn on the edge of despair, the only professional barkeep in professional football came back this year to make good his escape from Smokey Joe's bar on the University of Pennsylvania campus in Philadelphia. In the Brotherhood of the White Apron, this is deemed a proper reward for geniality, a steady pouring hand and giving good measure.

It is also a deserved dividend on the patience of Leeman Bennett, the Atlanta coach, who clung to his faith in Mazzetti when it looked as though Tim had lost his touch irretrievably.

It is a fact of life, not easily explained, that place-kickers can suddenly and mysteriously lose distance, accuracy and the gift of concentration. Inevitably, they also lose their jobs.

It's something like a golfer whose nerve control falters, his short game loses its edge and he gets the yips on the green. A golfer, though, plays for himself. When the kicker sets his sights on the goal posts, the fortunes of the whole team may depend on him alone.

''Kickers don't have to run fast,'' a man said to Pat Summerall, who did the kicking for the New York Giants before radio-television hired his pear-shaped tones. ''He doesn't take hard hits. Why should he lose it?''

''The legs lose strength as he grows older,'' Pat said. ''Before I retired, I knew I'd lost 4 or 5 yards on kickoffs . But mostly it's mental, I think. Concentration slips, he starts going bad and worries about it, and then it all comes apart.''

Mazzetti knows what happened to him in 1979, or thinks he does. At first, he said, he got the blame for Atlanta defeats, and being made the scapegoat upset him. He couldn't keep his mind on the job. Then,after the Falcons' final game of 1979, in which he kicked a field goal and 4 extra points, he came up with a different explanation.

''Somebody made a casual remark, 'You sure line up close to the ball,''' he said, ''so I checked the films. I was setting up six inches too close to the ball. On my approach, I'd stop instead of swinging through. It destroyed my rhythm.''

The Falcons plucked Mazzetti out of Smokey Joe's in mid-October 1978. A native of Greenwich, Conn., he had grown up in Brazil, where his father was in the import-export business. Like all healthy young Brazilians, he played soccer. Returning to the United States to attend the Wharton School of Commerce at Penn, he played varsity soccer and did some kicking on the football squad.

No pro team drafted him but the New England Patrtiots gave him a physical examination and turned him down because he had a hernia. Then he flunked trials with the Philadelphia Eagles, Dallas and the New Orleans Saints. Broke, he took a job tending bar in Joe's, an undergraduate hangout. He also served briefly as a bouncer, though at 6 feet and 175 pounds, he isn't big for that job. He is affable and cooperative, and he thrives on the tavern atmosphere. He was making $50 a night when the Falcons, desperate for a kicker, telephoned.

His first attempt was blocked but he made good on two subsequent kicks in that first game, and from that point he rode a skyrocket. The Falcons put on a nine-game winning streak and in five of those games the winning points started with a sideswipe from Mazzetti's foot.

Sponsors ran at him with offers for commercials and endorsements. He painted his kicking shoe and made a footprint on paper for a woman who wanted it for a birthday gift. In one game he kicked five field goals to beat the Los Angeles Rams, 15-7. Qualifying for the playoffs as a wild card, the Falcons beat the Eagles in the first round, 14-13. They lost to Dallas in the next round by a touchdown.

Illustrations: Photo of Lynn Cain","Red Smith Bartender's Comeback   ATLANTA TIM MAZZETTI is a party-loving soccer player from Brazil and an inspiration to every bartender who ever filled a martini glass so it bulged. For two and a half seasons, he has been kicking footballs crosswise for the Atlanta Falcons, and twice in that span the team has been in the National Football League playoffs.   Far and away the leading scorer on the team, he is one of the main reasons the Falcons were playing the Dallas Cowboys yesterday for the half-championshipof the National Conference.   Going into the team's second postseason tournament, Mazzetti stood second among the league's place-kickers during the season with 46 extra points in 49 chances and 19 field goals in 27 attempts for 103 points. Lynn Cain, a running back, and Junior Miller, a pass-catching tight end, were next for the Falcons with 54 each."
"NEW YORK (AP) — Maybe men had it right all along: It doesn't take long to satisfy a woman in bed. A survey of sex therapists concluded the optimal amount of time for sexual intercourse was 3 to 13 minutes. The findings, to be published in the May issue of the Journal of Sexual Medicine, strike at the notion that endurance is the key to a great sex life.

If that sounds like good news to you, don't cheer too loudly. The time does not count foreplay, and the therapists did rate sexual intercourse that lasts from 1 to 2 minutes as ""too short.""

Researcher Eric Corty said he hoped to ease the minds of those who believe that ""more of something good is better, and if you really want to satisfy your partner, you should last forever.""

The questions were not gender-specific, said Corty (who, it must be noted, is male). But he said prior research has shown that both men and women want foreplay and sexual intercourse to last longer.

Dr. Irwin Goldstein, editor of the Journal of Sexual Medicine, cited a four-week study of 1,500 couples in 2005 that found the median time for sexual intercourse was 7.3 minutes. (Women were armed with stopwatches.)

It's difficult for both older men and young men to make sexual intercourse last much longer, said Marianne Brandon, a clinical psychologist and director of Wellminds Wellbodies in Annapolis, Md.

""There are so many myths in our culture of what other people are doing sexually,"" Brandon said. ""Most people's sex lives are not as exciting as other people think they are.""

Fifty members of the Society for Sex Therapy and Research in the U.S. and Canada were surveyed by Corty, an associate professor of psychology at Penn State Erie, The Behrend College, and student Jenay Guardiani. Thirty-four members, or 68%, responded, although some said the optimal time depended on the couple.

Corty said he hoped to give an idea of what therapists find to be normal and satisfactory among the couples they see.

""People who read this will say, 'I last five minutes or my partner lasts 8 minutes,' and say, 'That's OK,'"" he said. ""They will relax a little bit.""

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Conversation guidelines: USA TODAY welcomes your thoughts, stories and information related to this article. Please stay on topic and be respectful of others. Keep the conversation appropriate for interested readers across the map.","Maybe men had it right all along: It doesn't take long to satisfy a woman in bed. A survey of sex therapists concluded the optimal amount of time for sexual intercourse was 3 to 13 minutes. The findings, to be published in the May issue of the..."
"Deepening income inequality across the U.S. is dividing the housing market into winners and losers among renters and owners, the middle class and wealthy, and racial groups.

An annual report from Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies, the State of the Nation’s Housing, reveals that even while the housing market begins to recover and regain solid footing, large parts of the country are being left behind.

The number of American households spending more than 30% of their incomes on rent — a number that economists consider sustainable — ticked up to nearly 40 million in 2014.  That is particularly concerning because that number had been trending down for three years, suggesting the rental affordability crisis persists despite recent income growth. Middle-income families are increasingly losing ground, facing housing affordability challenges that were once largely limited to the poor. In the 10 highest-cost housing markets, half of renters earning $45,000 to $75,000 a year in 2014 paid at least one-third of their incomes in rent.

One reason middle-income renters are struggling to find an affordable apartment: Developers are catering to a growing number of affluent renters. While newer rentals have always commanded higher prices than older units, the premium for new apartments has risen sharply, the Harvard report finds. The median asking rent for new apartments built in 2015 was $1,381 per month, more than 70% higher than the overall median rent. The rent premium for new studio apartments was even more stark, at 90% above the overall price for a studio.

“It is just astounding how universal it seems to be” that the majority of new rental apartments in cities across the country are at the high end, said Chris Herbert, managing director of the Joint Center for Housing Studies.

The report also finds that the number of families living in poor neighborhoods has more than doubled since 2000, to nearly 14 million. AÂ quarter of poor blacks live in poor neighborhoods and 18% of poor Hispanics, compared to just 6% of poor whites.

Last year marked the largest single-year jump — 1.4 million — in new renter households. That is good news for developers, who are planning to build the most new apartments in three decades. But it is also a sign that even as the housing market recovers, many households are still renting rather than buying due to the lack of availability of mortgages, challenges saving for a down payment and a shortage of affordable starter homes.

Income growth is picking up, especially among young adults, which could bode well for their ability to save for a down payment and afford a house. Overall, the real median income for all workers rose 1% in 2014, the third year of increases. Young adults ages 25 to 34 saw an even bigger jump of 2.3% and 4.1% for workers ages 35 to 44. Nonetheless, incomes for young adults remain 9% to 18% below previous peaks.

The share of 25– to 34-year-olds living in their parents’ homes rose to about 22% in 2014 from 17% in 2008, according to U.S. Census data. In the 25 most expensive metro areas, such as New York, Los Angeles, Philadelphia and Fresno, California, the share of young adults who are the head of a household is 10 percentage points lower than in the most affordable metros.

Rising U.S. Rents Squeeze the Middle Class

No Relief in Sight for Minimum Wage Renters

Rents are Booming, But for How Long?

More Young Adults Living with Parents Than a Romantic Partner

The U.S. Homeownership Rate Fell Again, Nearing a 48-Year Low","Deepening income inequality across the U.S. is dividing the housing market into winners and losers among renters and owners, the middle class and wealthy, and racial groups. An annual report from Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies reveals that even while the housing market begins to recover and regain solid footing, large parts of the country are being left behind."
"Farris Barakat, center, remains on his knees after prayer during a funeral service for his brother Deah Shaddy Barakat, Thursday, Feb. 12, 2015, in Raleigh, N.C. Deah Shaddy Barakat, his wife Yusor Mohammad Abu-Salha, and her sister Razan Mohammad Abu-Salha were killed Tuesday at a condominium in Chapel Hill, N.C. Craig Stephen Hicks was charged with three counts of first-degree murder. (AP Photo/The News & Observer, Corey Lowenstein) (The Associated Press)

Women mourn near the graves of Deah Shaddy Barakat, Yusor Mohammad Abu-Salha and Razan Mohammad Abu-Salh, Thursday, Feb. 12, 2015, in Wendell, N.C. Craig Stephen Hicks was charged with three counts of first-degree murder for their deaths near the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill campus Tuesday. (AP Photo/The News & Observer, Chuck Liddy) (The Associated Press)

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – Saudi Arabia on Sunday condemned the killing in North Carolina of three American Muslim college students as a ""heinous terrorist"" act, and called for an end to incitement against Muslims.

The statement carried by the official Saudi Press Agency also condemned as a ""terrorist"" act the recent attacks that killed two people in Denmark, one at a panel discussion that included an artist who caricatured the Prophet Muhammad and the other outside a synagogue.

In neighboring Qatar, several thousand people held a march Sunday in the capital Doha in solidarity with the families of the North Carolina victims. The marchers appealed for protection against hate crimes for the tens of thousands of young Arabs studying in the United States on scholarships funded by the energy-rich governments of the Gulf.

Deah Barakat, 23; his wife, Yusor Abu-Salha, 21; and her sister, Razan Abu-Salha, 19, were killed on Tuesday by their neighbor Craig Hicks, 46, an avowed atheist who was a vocal critic of all religions. Family members say all three were shot in the head at the newlywed couple's home, though police aren't saying exactly how the three victims died.

The victims' relatives are pressing for hate-crime charges against Hicks, and the FBI is now involved and investigating possible motives. Local police initially said a parking dispute sparked the murders and the U.S. attorney for the region described it as ""an isolated incident.""

However, the day after the attack, the pre-eminent institute of Islamic learning in the Sunni Muslim world, al-Azhar, described the murders as a ""cowardly terrorist act.""

Al-Azhar, which is based in Cairo, said it was deeply concerned that the killings appeared to have been prompted by ""racism and Islamophobia.""

Similarly, the 57-nation Organization of Islamic Cooperation, the world's largest bloc of Muslim countries, said the murders heightened international concerns about ""rising anti-Muslim sentiments and Islamophobic acts"" in the United States.","Saudi Arabia on Sunday condemned the killing in North Carolina of three American Muslim college students as a heinous terrorist act, and called for an end to incitement against Muslims.  ..."
"We are driving down to Durham, NC on Sat. morning and heading to Emerald Isle, NC on Sunday afternoon for a week's vacation. It looks like we'll get to the beach after the storm has hit. What are the chances we'll have bad weather driving down on Saturday morning?

OK, I know this is silly at a time when people are worried about losing power or worse, but...what will the weather feel like by Sunday afternoon? Still warm and sticky, or will it be more blustery cool?

My birthday is Saturday and I wanted to invite people over to my apartment in Dupont. Is this a hunker down hurricane or a lots of rain/annoying hurricane?

Hi! Submitting early so hope you can answer. I am packing up my apartment Saturday morning/early afternoon and early Sunday driving up to NYC. What's the speed of the storm after Saturday night? At 7:30 am, am I chasing and driving into it up the East Coast? Thanks!

I have a flight scheduled to leave early Sunday morning (8 am) from Dulles to Providence. What are the odds that this will take off as scheduled? Should I anticipate a few hours delay or cancellation? Also, we have an outdoor party planned on the Cape for Sunday evening. Would it make sense to move it to Monday?

Hi there - My kayak is tied to a wooden kayak rack about 5 feat above ground on the western side of Assawoman Bay in Selbyville, DE (just across the Bay from Ocean City, MD). Should I be planning to drive there tomorrow and bring the boat home? How much wind and storm surge is likely to cross the dunes and enter the bay?

Hi there! I have a flight tomorrow morning out of DCA and then a flight into DCA (from Chicago) on Sunday night. It will be very challenging for me professionally if my flight gets canceled and I can't get in for another day or two. What do you think the likelihood is of flights being canceled on Sunday night? Thanks!!

I know forecasts will probably change dramatically over the next few days. That being said, what's your best estimate of when different cities along the East Coast are going to feel the effects of the storm? I'm supposed to drive from Lancaster to Philadelphia very late Saturday night (leaving around 11 pm or midnight) and am wondering if it'll be unsafe to drive by then or if the bad storms will hold off until Sunday morning.

I'm leaving out of DCA for a trip to Seattle at 7:55 am on Saturday morning. What are the chances that it will be affected by the hurricane?

What is the prediction for max and sustained wind speeds in the DC metro area? And when are they predicted to occur?

All the news reports about the potential impact of Hurricane Irene on area beaches only talk about the beaches on the Delmarva peninsula. What about Virginia Beach? The track forecasts show Irene passing much closer to Virginia Beach than to the ones further north, so it will obviously get hit harder, but how much harder (potentially)? Also, any word on possible evacuations in the Virginia Beach/Norfolk area?

The hurricane looks like its getting worse as of now but should it get weaker as it heads towards NY? Will there be major damage in NY? Will RI get hit badly specifically Providence County? How prepared do we really need to be?

Whenever a hurricane makes landfall, instead of retiring the name, we rename it for a famous villain in history? My first thought was picking the name of a serial killer, but that may be too macabre...

I live in southcentral Pennsylvania, right on the Maryland border. If the storm continues on it's expected route, what should I expect from the storm and how should I prepare?

How far in to NC do you think the this hurricane will come?

Hi Greg, With the storm growing and becoming more ominous, my gut is telling me to get as far out of town as possible. But I feel a little silly running away like Chicken Little. Would you say that we in DC are likely to be safe if sheltered in place and prepared? Thanks!

I live in Moyock Nc and my husband feels like I should evacuate myself and our children. I feel as though he is way over reacting. Moyock is about 45 minutes to an hour from the Outer banks. What are your thoughts?

Many college students are returning to area schools this weekend. Do you have any tips or recommendations for a safe, if not dry, move-in day?

When will the ruling be made that triggers the airlines' willingness to change flights into North Caroline without charging change fees?

Approximately when is the highest surge expected? Last report said 8 on Sunday. I have a boat in Edgewater MD and wonder when I need to go and make sure lines are tied properly.

What causes such a large storm to change course. For example, currently heading in a north westerly direction to become north easterly?

Is it safe to be in a basement during the hurricane?

Irene bears some striking similarities to the 1821 Norfolk and Long Island Hurricane (as well as others such as Hurricane Carol (1954) and Gloria (1985). Do you see potential in this to gain and maintain major intensity up the coast similar to the 1821 hurricane (estimated to be at Cat 3-4 when striking NJ)?

If you had a trip planned to the South Jersey shore this weekend, would you still go or skip it?

I live in Salisbury. Weather forecasts mention the beaches and the cities, but we're often left out. I don't have to worry about storm surge, obviously, but from the looks of things, I need to make some serious preparations. Realizing that storm tracks shift and are generally difficult to predict, can you give me any idea of what we should prepare for in parts of Delmarva areas which are *not* the beach?

How far in advance are evacuation orders usually issued?

My top floor (4th floor) apartment has floor to ceiling windows. I was wondered if I should be worried about them, and what I should do with the furniture and electronics in the rooms that have these windows.

I live in a basement apartment on Capitol Hill- - never flooded to my knowledge, with an effective drain in front of the door. How worried should I be about flooding?

Could you talk a little bit about why there's so much uncertainty in the modeling, even just a few days out? Is there something specific about the way hurricanes behave that causes the uncertainty?

What is expected for the Chesapeake Bay, specifically Deale to Annapolis in terms of storm surge (how many feet) and how high will the wind be overnight Saturday into Sunday? Thanks. Many boaters along the shore are holding their breaths.

Perhaps a question to lob to both Dr. Gridlock and the CWG: I have to drive from DC to NYC in the next 48 hours. What should one expect with regard to traffic on I-95 over the next few days? (And, yes, I do have to make this trip & have to make it in a car.)

My family live in Newport News and Hampton Virginia just the other side of the Norfolk tunnel. What kind of impact is expected there?

Is Irene moving unusually slowly? Does slow movement make it more dangerous than a faster moving storm?

What is your likely (and worst case) wind speed prediction for the DC area?

How is the saturation/rain today going to effect likelihood of trees falling? Anything we can do to help protect our trees? How likely do you think widespread power outages will be?

Where is the best place to be on the East Coast (the least threatened) on Saturday night?

What are the chances of the hurricane changing directions?

Will the cold front passing through virginia Thursday have any influence on pushing irene away from the coast...perhaps pushing it more to the east?

Can this hurricane spark tornados in the area?

LAST QUESTION: How will Irene compare to Hurricane Isabelle in 2003? We were without power for over a week then, and if it is likely to cause more damage, that would be helpful to know. I understand that the path of the hurricane can change, but a best guess would be great.",Capital Weather Gang's Jason Samenow discusses the massive heat wave hitting the DC area.
"Several women who have accused Bill Cosby of sexual assault are outraged that a new national museum celebrating black history will recognize the actor’s work without mentioning the dozens of allegations against him.

The small exhibit at the National Museum of African American History and Culture will showcase only his accomplishments, including a few objects that recognize Cosby’s work in the entertainment industry, when it opens on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. in September, the New York Times reports.

At least three women who have accused Cosby of assault told the Times they didn’t think he should be celebrated by the museum.“If they just speak about the contributions, there will be this enormous presence that is not talked about,” Patricia Leary Steuer, one of Cosby’s accusers, told the newspaper Saturday.

The museum said in a statement posted to Twitter that the exhibit did not focus on Cosby, but that he was just one of many figures being featured:

Cosby has denied the allegations against him.",Accusers angry at the National Museum of African American History and Culture
"It is not always so peaceful here in Israel’s only real resort town, located at a strategic juncture of Israel, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Egypt.

Loud booms rocked the night sky above Eilat two weeks ago as the Israeli military used its Iron Dome missile-defense system to safeguard the city, intercepting a rocket that had been fired from Sinai. The small airport here closed for two hours because of terror alerts originating from Sinai, where Egyptian forces are battling Islamic militants. In northern Sinai, near the border with Gaza and Israel, militants killed 25 Egyptian police officers in an attack last week on their minibuses.

But there was no sense of menace here recently, only crowds of vacationers, mostly Israelis, who flock here every year at the height of the summer season.

“If there had been another rocket, we would have considered canceling,” said Sagit Winter, 37, who was staying with her husband and children at the Princess hotel near the border with Egypt, even though her mother suggested she not go.

Eilat is “one of the symbols of summer,” she said.

The visitors mostly lazed under beach umbrellas in the 106-degree afternoon heat. Campers packed a strip of sand a few yards from the Taba border crossing. Children jumped off a jetty into the refreshing water, unfazed by the looming presence of a steely gray Navy patrol boat. Across the road a soldier guarded a steep path leading to a new border fence that Israel is hurrying to complete, with forces here on high alert for more rocket attacks or infiltrations.

Yet Israelis said they had come here to switch off, by now inured to possible dangers and displaying the kind of stoicism that Israeli leaders praise as “national resilience.” Others would call it a numbness.

“A rocket fell by our house in Rishon LeZion,” said Anat Cohen, 34, a vacationer who works at a high-tech company, referring to a rocket fired by Palestinians from Gaza during an Israeli offensive there last November. “So what, should we not go away anywhere?” she said, as she posed for a family photograph on the deck of the boat with her husband and three children.

“We thought about it, there’s no reason to deny it, but we are here anyway,” said Ori Harel, 27, a software developer from Kfar Saba, north of Tel Aviv. “If you rule out every place that has had rockets,” he said, “you’d end up staying at home.”

Many visitors said they were not following the news because they were in holiday mode.

“You come here to get away from the usual pressures,” said Roei Nehemia, 39, from Jerusalem, adding that he trusted in the Israeli military and in God for protection.

Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz, the chief of the Israeli military, was also vacationing in Eilat with his family but had to rush back to Tel Aviv for consultations after several rockets fired from Lebanon hit northern Israel last week.

The economy of Eilat, which has about 60,000 permanent residents, is highly dependent on tourism. When the hotels are full the city’s population nearly doubles, according to city officials. The other main source of income is a commercial port mainly used for trading with the Far East, which together with the naval base takes up a chunk of the resort’s limited coastline and is something of an eyesore.

In a survey on internal tourism commissioned by Israel’s Ministry of Tourism in 2012, many Israelis complained that Eilat was hot, crowded and expensive. But it was also the first holiday destination that came to mind for many of those surveyed, who said it was far enough away to almost give the feeling of being abroad. According to the ministry’s statistics, almost three-quarters of Israel’s population of eight million have taken at least one vacation in Israel per year.

About 90 percent of the summer influx to Eilat is Israeli, according to city officials. Foreign tourists tend to visit more in the winter; the city is trying to encourage more of them with a series of music festivals planned for the winter months.

During a recent visit to Eilat, Israel’s tourism minister, Uzi Landau, said his staff would continue to promote Eilat internationally.

But any planning seems somewhat precarious.

Against the background of the domestic turmoil in Egypt, Brig. Gen. Yoav Mordechai, the chief military spokesman, said that the threats along Israel’s southern border were increasing and that elite Israeli forces were operating in the area. There have been several rocket attacks against the resort in recent months and years. So far those that have struck have landed harmlessly in open areas in and around the city, though in 2010 a rocket likely aimed at Eilat slammed into the adjacent Jordanian resort of Aqaba, killing a taxi driver.

Two years ago, eight Israelis were killed and more than 30 were wounded near Eilat when gunmen opened fire on Israeli vehicles carrying soldiers and civilians traveling along Route 12, which runs along the Egyptian border. Now, other than the Israeli military camps and Egyptian positions dotting the striking desert landscape, Route 12 seems almost deserted.

After this month’s rocket interception, which caused only momentary panic in the resort, two international artists canceled their participation in Eilat’s annual Red Sea Jazz Festival that took place over the last few days. At a news conference, the festival’s artistic director, Dubi Lenz, called one of them “chicken.”

Tzigi Proper of the Eilat Hotel Association said there had been “two or three” cancellations after the rocket was intercepted here. But she said that Eilat was almost fully booked for Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year that falls in early September, with hotel occupancy at 98 percent.

On Eilat’s North Beach, lined by luxury hotels, some French tourists were soaking up the sun.

“You know the risks before you come here,” said Sara Sitruk, 23, who works in marketing in Paris and was sporting a bright orange bikini. “I have been coming here every summer for the last 10 years. We try to have an Israeli mentality.”","Vacationers continue to flock to Israel’s only real resort town on the Red Sea, even with regional tensions rising."
"NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Big banks are having trouble restarting the foreclosure process after this fall's ""robo-signing"" scandal, and the once booming market for foreclosed homes has been hit hard as a result.

According to ForeclosureRadar, the number of properties coming to auction in hard-hit western states -- Arizona, California and Nevada -- has dropped more than 30%.

In San Diego, according to broker Scott Cheng of Cheng Realty, who puts investors together with foreclosed properties, the number of auctions scheduled has fallen from 500 a day, to 300. ""That part of my business has dried up,"" Cheng said. ""A lot of my investors have stopped looking.""

Cheng used to be able to find about three or four suitable homes a month for investors looking for a bargain. Now, he hasn't done one of these deals since August.

""The ones who are really upset are the investors, who buy on the courthouse steps,"" said Kevin Berman, a broker with Bankers Realty Services in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. ""There used to be sometimes 700 sales a day. Now there are like, seven.""

In September, several banks -- including Ally, Bank of America, and JPMorgan Chase -- acknowledged problems with their foreclosure procedures. Employees had been signing as many as several hundred documents a day in which they sometimes attested to facts that they had no personal knowledge of, calling into question the legitimacy of the foreclosures. (See ""I was a Robo-signer"")

The banks initiated foreclosure moratoriums, promised a full review of all cases, and to resume foreclosures quickly. But the review process has been slow-going.

Investors had been doing brisk business, buying distressed properties on the cheap, sprucing them up and flipping them. But now they are being far more cautious.

""Their concern is that homeowners will be more aggressive in fighting foreclosures even after the auction sale,"" said Sean O'Toole, CEO of ForeclosureRadar.

For vulture investors, speed is essential -- they do not want to tie up investments for months while attorneys argue.

They are also worried about being able to unload the property. Berman represented one investor who had purchased at auction, fixed the home up and went to contract with a buyer, who then backed out of the $240,000 deal. ""His attorney told him he could find out the foreclosure wasn't done right,"" said Berman.

Pressure on the market for distressed properties could last if delinquent borrowers are less likely to give up on their homes, according to Duane LeGate, CEO of Georgia-based House Buyer Network.

Troubled borrowers go to LeGate for help selling their homes in short sales, in which they sell for less than the price of their mortgage. LeGate says his business dropped more than 30% the week after news of the robo-signing scandal broke, and has stayed down since. His theory: homeowners think the bank will have a tough time kicking them out in this environment, and that they can live for free for a while. He says he's got two friends who intend to do just that.

""After that, they'll just take their medicine,"" said LeGate. In the meantime, they can pay off other debts and build up nest-eggs.

O'Toole believes the legal issues involved in robo-signing will ultimately be settled in favor of the banks.

""The fear that has been created in based more in hype than in law,"" he said.

Whether the hype is to blame or not, the last thing the weak housing market needed was to shake the confidence of already nervous consumers.","The robo-signing scandal has prevented some repossessed homes from coming back onto the market, but it also may have emboldened some homeowners toward default."
"His name is Oscar López Rivera, a 72-year-old Puerto Rican who on May 29 marked 34 years in U.S. federal prisons, 13 of them in solitary confinement. His crime? Fighting for independence for his homeland.

A growing number of people of every political persuasion and many different nationalities believe it is high time for him to be freed — and are actively seeking his release.

On May 30, López Rivera’s only daughter, Clarisa López Ramos, 44, joined thousands of New Yorkers who, under the banner “One voice for Oscar,” marched through the streets of Harlem demanding his release.

“Oscar long ago paid his debt to society. He is not a terrorist and he didn’t harm anyone. After 34 years, it is long past the time to release Oscar and allow him to return to his home, his family and community,” said Rep. Nydia Velázquez (D-N.Y.), who addressed the marchers.

Rep. José Serrano (D-N.Y.), City Council Speaker Melissa Mark Viverito, and state Sen. Adriano Espaillat (D-Manhattan) also raised their voices to ask for López Rivera’s freedom.

A Vietnam veteran who earned a Bronze Star for his bravery, López Rivera lived most of his life in Chicago, where he was a housing activist and established the first Latino cultural center.

He was not accused of harming any person, only of “seditious conspiracy” — the same shapeless and gelatinous charge foisted on Nelson Mandela — related to his connection to FALN, a Puerto Rican nationalist group. He was not charged with participating in any of the bombings attributed to the FALN in the 1970s and 1980s.

“Oscar López is an obvious example of a political prisoner in the United States. If the President wanted to pardon him today, he can do it,” said López Rivera’s attorney, Jan Susler, in a recent interview with CNN. “He has been punished for his bravery. He’s serving a 70-year sentence but he never killed anybody. There is no blood on his hands.”

Yes, hard as it may be to believe, one of the oldest political prisoners in the world is not in China, Russia, Syria, Iran or Venezuela, but in a prison in Indiana, an injustice that President Obama can begin to right by freeing him.

Puerto Ricans of all ideologies, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, world leaders, who include five Nobel laureates, and even the governor of Puerto Rico have asked Obama to grant clemency to López Rivera.",A growing number of people of every political persuasion believe it is high time for the 72-year-old to be freed.
"Sara Moonves, Fashion Editor “The Balenciaga boots are my all time favorite. I got them so many years ago and still wear them every winter,” says Moonves. “They are incredibly warm and although they look impossible to walk in, they are actually quite comfortable. It’s freezing this week and I’m always cold, so I pile up on shearling!” Moonves is also wearing: Givenchy coat, J. Crew T-shirt, Balenciaga skirt, motorcycle bag and boots.

Chelsea Zalopany, Fashion Writer “I live in jeans and fashion week is no exception,” says Zalopany. “I love these skinny cropped ones by Resin denim. It makes life so much easier since all I have to do is change my sweater (Jonathan Simkhai) and coat (Balenciaga motorcycle) to fit my mood. And, it’s guaranteed to be comfy and a bit chic.”",Moonves incorporates pieces by Givenchy and J. Crew Park while Zalopany pairs Jonathan Simkhai with Balenciaga in their fashion week wardrobe.
"Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. on Thursday said it would cut up to 1,000 jobs this year as sluggish economic conditions weigh on some of its key freight volumes.

CP Chief Executive Hunter Harrison announced the job cuts following the release of fourth-quarter results that missed analyst expectations on a slump in revenue related partly to lower...","Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. on Thursday reported a fourth-quarter profit that missed analyst expectations and said it would cut up to 1,000 jobs this year."
"The storm’s assault on North Carolina extended into Sunday, and the governor said at least seven people had been killed in the state.

“I wouldn’t assume that there aren’t people clinging for life right now in houses that are underwater that we have yet to reach, especially in lower-populated areas,” Gov. Pat McCrory told reporters in Raleigh, the state capital. “That’s what my major concern is.”

Gov. Pat McCrory of North Carolina urged caution as Hurricane Matthew continued to hit the northeastern part of the state.

Heavy rain was still pounding parts of the state as the governor spoke, and Mr. McCrory said floodwaters could rush through North Carolina for days. The fallout, he said, “is going to be a prolonged event.”

“This is still an extremely dangerous situation,” Mr. McCrory said. “And I cannot stress it more especially in the areas of Rocky Mount, Kinston, Greenville, Goldsboro and other eastern towns, cities. We’re going to have major issues with rivers and flooding.”

Mr. McCrory said 58 boat crews had rescued nearly 900 people by Sunday morning.

More than 4,000 people were in shelters on Sunday, Mr. McCrory said, and about 760,000 homes and businesses were without electricity. Parts of Interstate 40 and Interstate 95 were shut down. — ALAN BLINDER

The storm lashed South Carolina’s Lowcountry with rain and sent the sea surging upward. It turned roads into rivers and ripped trees from the inundated ground before making landfall north of Charleston. More than 430,000 people around the state had been left without power as of late Saturday.

Gov. Nikki Haley of South Carolina said on Sunday that she had lifted evacuation orders for four counties, including Charleston.

But residents in four other counties — Beaufort, Georgetown, Horry and Jasper — were still urged to stay away.

“We had a lot of rain, for many hours,” said Capt. Bob Bromage, the public information officer for the Sheriff’s Department in Beaufort County, southwest of Charleston. “We had flooding, we may have had some surge that we’re not aware of yet, we have downed trees, we have reports of downed trees on houses already.”

Hurricane Matthew made landfall on Saturday morning about 30 miles northeast of Charleston, S.C., as a Category 1 storm with winds of 75 miles per hour. It was pushing toward North Carolina.

Looks like water is flowing down Market St., into Charleston. High tide is not 'til the afternoon, so this is likely storm surge. pic.twitter.com/9UK9GJ24Nf

— JESS BIDGOOD, in Charleston

The American Red Cross has published a list of safety tips for homeowners returning to property damaged in hurricanes.

Once cleanup begins, taking photographs of damaged or destroyed property before it is discarded provides a record for use in making insurance claims, says Ann Carrns, who writes the Your Money Adviser consumer finance column for The Times.

Gov. Rick Scott of Florida said on Saturday that the state had suffered “unbelievable amounts of beach erosion,” as well as damaged roads, flooding and felled trees.

But Mr. Scott, who flew along the coastline to survey storm damage, said the storm’s consequences could have been far worse.

“The first thing we can say is we are all blessed that Matthew stayed off our coast,” he said. “I worried the whole time that even though the track was off our coast, that it would turn in and have a direct hit at some point.”

State and local officials said they were trying to expedite recovery.

“We’re going to ride each other hard,” said Lenny Curry, the mayor of Jacksonville. “We’re going to ride our utilities, we’re going to ride all of our workers to get this community back together as quickly and as safely as possible.

Still, Mayor Charlie Latham of Jacksonville Beach asked for patience.

“We’re working diligently, and to be honest with you, we’re doing our very best just to get people home and provide safe access,” Mr. Latham said. — ALAN BLINDER, in Orlando

Surveying more damage from #HurricaneMatthew at Jacksonville Beach. @NYTNational @nytvideo pic.twitter.com/HYg7Q5XQi2

In Haiti, the Bahamas and Florida, the storm left behind stories of disaster and of disaster narrowly averted. Here are some of them »

John Schwartz, a New York Times reporter who covers climate change and the environment, is answering reader questions about the storm. He rode out his first hurricane, Carla, in his hometown, Galveston, Tex., at age 4. He has covered the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, as well as other storms for The Times.

Ask your hurricane questions here.

Why do weather agencies and the news media keep getting the forecasts so wrong and overstate the severity of hurricanes? Is this some kind of insurance liability issue, where they are afraid of getting sued if they don’t paint a ‘doomsday’ picture? — Jim

The conservative approach isn’t about liability, Jim, it’s about saving lives. The storm track that Matthew has followed has been well within the range of possibilities that the National Hurricane Center has been talking about all along. This is still a dangerous storm, and just because some stretches of the Florida coast have not been hit as catastrophically as was possible, that does not mean the rest of Florida or Georgia or South Carolina are in the clear.

Marshall Shepherd, the director of Atmospheric Sciences Program, University of Georgia, has been fiercely defending the warnings on Twitter, and I’ll let him do the talking here:

Go back and look at virtually every @NHC_Atlantic discussion for past 3 days. Were very clear about paralleling coast scenario w/#Matthew

With ridiculous complaining I am seeing, some seem disappointed there isn't tragic loss of life/apocalypitc. I am thankful #Matthew #notover

the smoke alarm worked and I got my family out of the house safely...That stupid, overhyped alarm #WhatMatthewComplainingSoundsLike

Chris W. Landsea, science and operations officer for the National Hurricane Center, said that while the storm has weakened somewhat, it is now spread over a larger area, and “a larger hurricane can cause more storm surge,” and a larger wind field; the wind damage, in other words, can be felt over a larger area. So a slightly weaker but larger storm is “kind of a wash, as far as impacts,” he said.",North Carolina’s governor said the death toll from the storm had reached eight in a state still saturated from heavy rains in September.
"Last summer at Normandy music festival Beauregard, Florence Welch, frontwoman of Florence + the Machine, took to the mic between songs and recognised two teenagers in the crowd. “She spoke to us between the lyrics, asking what we were doing in France,” said Leah Moloney, “[Then she] told the crowd we were special guests and got us up on stage.” What makes the scene particularly unusual is that the musician and the fans had already met, having got to know each other online through a shared love of literature. Welch announced to the crowd that the girls ran her online book club, waving a sign with the words Between Two Books on it.

These days, it is not unusual for a book club to be hosted on social media – or led by a celebrity. Emma Watson has just kicked off her feminist club Our Shared Shelf on Amazon-owned Goodreads, while Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg had a go at a year-long one on his own social network – with mixed results. Oprah Winfrey’s own became “2.0” in 2012, with a new focus on social media.

But the likelihood of a fan’s tweet getting through the online clutter and not only reach, but convince a rock star to take on her own idea are small, at best. When a 14-year-old Moloney tweeted at Welch in 2012, she never expected a book club – and relationship – to form; but Between Two Books now counts more than 26,000 followers on Instagram.

In July 2012, Welch tweeted a picture of herself in front of Portland’s independent bookshop Powell’s, with the caption ”Booksbooksbooksbooks”. “I always looked up to her and knew she was very literary … I thought it would be cool if she had a proper book club,” says Moloney. “I responded to her tweet and said we should start a book club, where fans read books on her recommendation.”

“I wasn’t entirely serious, and knew it was a far-fetched idea. She was very elusive and not even that active on social media,” said Moloney, who started the project with friends Abbie Whitehead and Heather Hale. To her surprise, Welch took her up on it, messaging her and offering to help. Within a week, the star was promoting the club at a gig in Indianapolis, flaunting the book on stage in the city where, coincidentally, the first club choice – Opposed Positions by Gwendoline Riley – was set. She announced the name – Flow’s Book Club, or Between Two Books. “I don’t understand the internet, so I could get that a bit confused,” joked Welch.

Three-and-a-half years later, the book club lives on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. Welch and fans have read 18 books together, ranging from John Kennedy Toole’s A Confederacy of Dunces to Patti Smith’s memoir Just Kids, and have taken part in projects like a bookmark design competition judged by the musician. “So shall we do this poetry thing, then?” asked Welch on a post inviting followers to read young LA poet Mira Gonzalez alongside Ted Hughes. “Honored to be the current subject of @betweentwobooks … Maybe I should join the club once it’s a book I haven’t already read:) Hello kids!” Instagrammed Lena Dunham when her memoir was the book of choice.

“It’s all very fluid and organic collaboration,” said Moloney, adding that this arrangement matches Welch’s own personality. Despite the size of the project now, it lacks a specific structure and remains fan-run, adapting to the star’s erratic schedule. Everyone posts when they are available, and Welch’s involvement ranges from posting pictures of what she’s reading to hosting charity fundraisers or interviewing Donna Tartt (taking readers’ questions).

Moloney, who is in frequent communication with Welch and posts on her behalf from Dublin, where she is a student, has become aware of the power of the club in promoting literature. “[Welch] has always been so into it. It’s a really lovely thing for me too – I’ve always been into reading. When I was eight or nine, reading was not something you would admit to. It wasn’t seen as cool. This is so good because we can use her name to promote reading. I definitely think that reading has become a more ‘hip’ thing to do lately.”

Reflecting on the last few hectic years, Moloney, now 19, highlights how Between Two Books has affected readers’ lives. After the France gig, she “wanted to give something back” to Welch and asked book clubbers to write what the club had done for them. “Many got back to me saying that they were in a bad place, and knowing Florence was reading the same book as them made them feel more connected. I have felt that too about reading with someone else – knowing that someone else has read the same exact lines can really help.”

For now, it’s time to read Haruki Murakami’s The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, on the recommendation of fellow musicians the Maccabees – as well as Patti Smith.","A teenager’s fantasy to read whatever Florence + the Machine recommended has become an online group with more than 25,000 Instagram followers – in collaboration with the star herself"
"Former Formula One driver Mark Webber will return to Britain later this week after crashing in Sao Paulo during the final race of the World Endurance Championship season.

""Mark spent the night in a local hospital in Sao Paulo where he underwent further checks,"" a statement on his website said.

""He sustained bruising and concussion in the accident he suffered in Sunday's six-hour race.""

The Australian was quoted as saying: ""I'm quite sore this morning and am pretty bruised and have got a stinking headache.

""I've got no recollection of the accident or how it happened - the team is looking into the details to find out more.

""Thanks to the medical team at the track and here at the hospital who did a great job and are looking after me very well.""

On the last lap of the race in Brazil, the 38-year-old Webber's Porsche crashed into a concrete barrier after a collision with the Ferrari of Matteo Cressoni, who was not seriously hurt.

Webber skidded into the pit lane and the rear of his car caught fire.

He was able to wave to the crowd as he was carried into an ambulance.

Do you have any news photos or videos?","Mark Webber says he has no recollection of the fiery accident which put him hospital overnight, leaving him with bruising and concussion."
"Russia has bolstered its ties with Cuba and Venezuela in the past year. High-ranking Russian officials, including President Dmitri A. Medvedev, have made visits to Cuba, and Moscow hosted Raúl Castro, the Cuban president, in January. The two governments signed a series of bilateral agreements, though there was little mention of military plans.

Russia’s bomber fleet has been a favored piece in geopolitical gamesmanship with the United States. In August 2007, Vladimir V. Putin, then the president, punctuated the military’s growing assertiveness by reinstituting long-range patrols by nuclear-capable bombers over the world’s oceans. And Venezuela, with an eye toward rankling the United States, hosted two Russian strategic bombers last year and also conducted joint naval exercises with Russia.

At the time, top United States military officials played down the joint efforts, with Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, saying that Russia and Venezuela had the right to work together “if they see fit.”

A version of this article appears in print on , on Page A12 of the New York edition with the headline: Russia Is Weighing 2 Latin Bases, General Says. Order Reprints| Today's Paper|Subscribe",A top official in Russia’s Air Force said the government was considering whether to base strategic bombers out of Cuban territory or on a Venezuelan island.
"Q. My women’s group gave a women’s leadership forum event. We hosted approximately 12 panel speakers. At the conclusion of each panel discussion, we gave each presenter a token thank-you gift to acknowledge their participation.

Subsequent to the event, one organizer asked if we sent follow-up thank-you notes to the panelists. The president responded by saying we gave thank-you gifts.

Please advise on protocol for this type of situation. Is it proper etiquette to send an additional thank-you note to each speaker for their participation?

A. First, the issue of a gift. Really it’s very nice of you to give a gift, especially if the speakers were also compensated for their participation. If they were participating without compensation, the gift becomes a more important gesture to acknowledge their effort on your organization’s behalf.

Now, the thank-you note. Because your organization gave each speaker a gift and, in the process, acknowledged its appreciation for their contribution in front of the audience, your organization has fulfilled any obligation it had to send a thank-you note.

That said, what is really important about a thank-you note is not the idea of obligation, but rather that of opportunity. The president’s perspective is one of “Do I have to do it?” rather than one of “I want to do it.”

The “have to” is a vestige of an attitude about thank-you notes that implies they are an obligation and a dreaded task. The “want to” evolves out of a desire to reach out and touch people and build relationships. It’s not that the speakers will be miffed that they didn’t receive a note. But a thank-you note is one more way to encourage them to want to be involved with your organization in the future.

Essentially, there is no downside to sending a thank-you note. There is potentially much to be gained. The recipients will not think, “Why did they send me a note?” Rather, they will appreciate the kindness your note conveys.

So think opportunity rather than obligation, and send the thank-you notes.","Q. My women’s group gave a women’s leadership forum event. We hosted approximately 12 panel speakers. At the conclusion of each panel discussion, we gave each presenter a token thank-you gift to acknowledge their participation. Subsequent to the event, one organizer of the event asked if we sent follow-up thank-you notes to the panelists. The president responded by saying we gave thank-you gifts. Please advise on etiquette protocol for this type of situation. Is it proper etiquette to send an additional thank-you note to each speaker for their participation? A. First, the issue of a gift. Really it’s very nice of you. If they were participating without compensation, the gift becomes a more important gesture to acknowledge their effort on your organization’s behalf"
"A Florida man was arrested on Thursday for participating in a bribery scheme aimed at supporting an illegal bitcoin exchange operated by his son and owned by an Israeli behind a series of hacking attacks on organizations such as J.P. Morgan Chase jpm .

Michael Murgio, who serves on a school board in Palm Beach County, was charged in an indictment filed in federal court in Manhattan for participating in a scheme to pay bribes to let the bitcoin exchange’s operators gain control of a credit union.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation arrested Murgio, 65, in Palm Beach on Thursday morning, a spokeswoman for Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said. His lawyer did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The indictment added Murgio as a defendant in a case against three other individuals including his son Anthony Murgio, who prosecutors say operated the unlicensed bitcoin exchange, Coin.mx, and was involved in the bribe scheme.

Prosecutors have said that Coin.mx was owned by Gery Shalon, an Israeli accused of orchestrating a massive hacking scheme with another Israeli, Ziv Orenstein, and an American, Joshua Samuel Aaron.

Prosecutors contend Shalon, Orenstein, and Aaron ran a criminal enterprise that hacked into a dozen companies’ networks, stealing the personal information of more than 100 million people.

In the case of JPMorgan, prosecutors said records belonging to more than 83 million customers had been stolen.

While the Murgios are not accused of engaging in the hacking offenses, prosecutors said they committed crimes with their co-defendants, Florida resident Yuri Lebedev and New Jersey pastor Trevon Gross, related to the unlicensed operation of Coin.mx.

Prosecutors said beginning in 2013, Anthony Murgio operated Coin.mx, which exchanged millions of dollars of the virtual currency bitcoin for customers, while Lebedev supervised computer programming functions for the exchange.

To evade scrutiny of Coin.mx, the Murgios and Lebedev in 2014 acquired control of Helping Other People Excel Federal Credit Union of Jackson, New Jersey, by paying $150,000 in bribes to Trevon Gross, a pastor who was its chairman, the indictment said.

Anthony Murgio, Lebedev and Gross have previously pled not guilty to the charges against them. They are scheduled to face trial on Oct. 31.

Extradition proceedings in Israel against Shalon and Orenstein remain pending. Aaron remains at large and was believed by the FBI, as of November when he was indicted, to be in Eastern Europe.",There's also a connection to a Credit Union in New Jersey.
"(CNN) -- They represent a sliver of the electorate yet could still hold the key to the Oval Office.

In a contest that's already the most expensive in history, we set out to meet the men and women whose choices are so highly prized: the undecided voters.

They represent six key groups in the key swing states where their votes matter most:

A millennial in New Hampshire. A Catholic in Ohio. A long-term unemployed man in Nevada. A Latino in Florida. A single woman in Virginia. An evangelical in Iowa.

Compare The Undecided: Artifacts that reveal identity

We introduced you to them through deeply drawn profiles accompanied by photographic portraits, videos and data visualizations that illuminate the nexus between real life and politics -- the emotional terrain that determines how these ordinary Americans could decide the election.

With less than a day left before the election, we caught up with them to see if they've made up their minds -- and how they came to their decision. Three told whom they're voting for, two wouldn't say and one -- well, she's still undecided.

The Millennial: Imagining he's the candidate

The last few months have been especially busy for Tyler York. He's worked 60 hours a week between his three jobs, and he welcomed two nephews into his already big, bustling family.

But the 25-year-old spent a lot of time thinking about the election, too, trying to decide how to decide. He watched the debates and talked to supporters of President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney, but he wasn't satisfied with anybody's answers.

Tyler York: ""I don't need to be reassured of my own opinion. ... Self-reflection is the most important part (in deciding).""

""People my age, people generations older ... I've realized that they don't truly know why they're voting for their guy,"" he said. "" 'You should vote for me because the other guy's bad' isn't really educating anybody on the issues.""

A colleague suggested this: Imagine you are the candidate. What are the issues most important to you? What is your stance? And which of the real-life candidates lines up best? Not perfectly, but best?

Read York's story: 'What's going on? Am I really happy?'

He spent hours researching the candidates' ideas on foreign policy, a subject he's passionate about after traveling overseas and making friends among the large refugee community around Manchester, New Hampshire.

He read up on energy and the environment, which sparked his interest after teaching a sustainability class at a private school. He was stunned by how little information he found about education; there's a lot of talk about its importance, but no vision from candidates, he thinks. And he studied their stances on women's health, gender pay disparities and same-sex marriage.

York, the undecided millennial, became York, the decided voter -- but he doesn't want to say who he'll support. Sifting through so many out-of-context attacks and meme-making one-liners made him wish for clearer facts, not more noisy opinions.

He still identifies as an independent and can't imagine himself volunteering for a campaign or cause in the future. The moment you do, he said, you stop listening to other sides' points of view, or everyone thinks you do. Obama and Romney are often pretty similar, he thinks. York's not so sure the divisions in politics and parties are real. It's just that loud arguments and snappy comebacks get attention.

That doesn't mean it's easy for any candidate to bring people together, he said.

""If it was a legitimate difference or true barrier, it would be one thing,"" York said. ""But because it's manufactured, it feels like 'I'm not supposed to agree with you.' ""

York said he'll spend the days before the election talking to trusted friends and family members whose votes are going the opposite way. He's not sure they could change his mind, but he wants to listen.

""I want to know why they feel so strongly in that direction,"" he said. ""I hope to hear an eloquent argument of why they feel that way.

""I don't need to be reassured of my own opinion. It takes a lot more than watching news or reading articles (to make the decision.) Self-reflection is the most important part.""

He's making decisions for himself, too. By this time next year, he still expects to be working all three of his part-time jobs. He's enjoying them, so why stop? He doesn't think he'll still be living above his parents' garage, though. He plans to have a stable income for more than a year by then, and he'll have saved for a healthy down payment on a place of his own -- if he decides to buy.

But he's still not sure he wants to make the commitment.

The Catholic: Looking for the truth

Mary Roberts usually waits until she's attended rallies for both political parties to make up her mind about how she'll vote. Living in the battleground state of Ohio, she has a greater chance of doing that than most Americans -- except for this year.

Mary Roberts: ""I always like when people start a sentence with, 'I'm going to tell you the truth.' I really start to listen then.""

That's because someone recently hit her car, and it was totaled. Now she attends physical therapy and needs a cane, which has left the normally active 67-year-old feeling frustrated. It's also slowed her decision-making process.

""I tried to go to (Ohio State University) one day since both candidates were having rallies there,"" Roberts says. ""But I couldn't get close enough to comfortably walk. I'm so disappointed.""

Which means, just days from this year's election, she still hasn't made up her mind.

""I'm close, real close,"" she says.

Instead, she must rely on the information that comes to her.

Read Roberts' story: She acts in faith. Who deserves hers?

""Let me count,"" Roberts says, as she flips through her stack of mail. ""I've got seven different political mailers just today.""

She doesn't mind the mail, nor does she mind the calls -- except when there are so many they fill up her voice mail and her family can't leave a message.

""And I'd love to watch a game show without the 50 political ads,"" she says. ""My sister complains she feels neglected living in Georgia. But the ads are so negative, I tell her she's lucky.""

Roberts reads several newspapers to follow the campaign. She watched the debates closely.

""I think President Obama made a stand, finally with that second one, and I'm so glad. He sounded kind of tuned out before,"" she says. ""Romney sounds wishy-washy saying one thing to one group and then one thing to another. I can't figure out some of the promises he made.""

Romney's disparaging comments about the poor at an earlier campaign event disturbed her.

""What kind of ignoramus thinks people want government help? Sometimes they just need it,"" Roberts says. ""My family isn't in that 47% now, but growing up we needed help. What would we have done without it?""

She's still concerned, though, about the president's effectiveness.

""You know, I'd hoped he'd make the economy better, and I do think he is sincere,"" Roberts says. ""I think he has tried to be honest with the public, but I am still not sure if he can pull us out of this mess.""

Several people in her Columbus circle have hoped to bring her around. Many parishioners at her church read about Roberts on CNN. One day, they surrounded her.

""I was coming out of Mass and a man who saw my story talked to me about why I should vote for President Obama,"" Roberts says. ""Soon a crowd gathered and people kept saying things like, 'I know you have heard this and that, but don't believe it. Now I'm going to tell you the truth about him.'

""I always like when people start a sentence with, 'I'm going to tell you the truth.' I really start to listen then. But there wasn't any Romney supporter there. I would have liked the truth about him, too.""

For now, Roberts will keep an open mind.

She already has Election Day plans. She and a neighbor like to be there right when the polls open and then go to breakfast. She signed up to be a poll watcher, too. Later she and her family will watch the returns at a sports bar.

""I like the multiple TVs and can get some wings.""

Even if she hasn't quite made up her mind, for Roberts -- who grew up secretly encouraging African-Americans in the Deep South to register to vote during the height of segregation -- Election Day is still something to celebrate.

The Long-Term Unemployed: Casting an enthusiastic ballot

Joe Stoltz tuned in to the presidential debates listening keenly for specifics on how to improve the economy from both Obama and Romney.

Joe Stoltz: ""That third debate sunk it all the way in for me -- since I am in school and Obama was focused on education.""

But in the end, it was an exchange over something that happened thousands of miles away that helped turn Stoltz from undecided voter to one who felt secure in his choice.

In their second verbal tangle, Romney went after Obama by claiming that the president did not refer to the U.S. Consulate attack in the Libyan city of Benghazi as an act of terror and that the following day, he was back on the campaign trail.

Obama came back strong, Stoltz says.

""The suggestion that anybody in my team, whether the secretary of state, our U.N. ambassador, anybody on my team would play politics or mislead when we've lost four of our own, governor, is offensive,"" Obama responded.

""That's not what we do. That's not what I do as president. That's not what I do as commander in chief.""

It was the first time in the campaign that Stoltz saw fire in Obama.

""He was forceful,"" Stoltz says. ""He looked right at Romney and was to the point.""

Read Stoltz's story: He started over. Who'll restart America?

Stoltz voted for Obama in 2008 because he offered hope and change.

But after four years of economic gloom that left Stoltz, a flooring business owner in Reno, Nevada, without any jobs, he wants a leader. He liked that Romney brings business experience to the table, but in the end he felt Obama was the national leader he could trust.

He also liked how Obama addressed the importance of education -- even in the third debate which focused on foreign policy -- in answering a question about America's role in the world.

That was an issue high on Stoltz's list of priorities; he just started college with the help of a federal grant.

""That third debate sunk it all the way in for me -- since I am in school and Obama was focused on education,"" Stoltz says.

There was one other factor that helped sell Stoltz on Obama: Bill Clinton.

Stoltz, a big Clinton fan, loved that the former president was stumping for Obama. America did so well under Clinton, and if he thinks Obama's the one who will get the nation back on track, then that's worth something.

""He was just so passionate about it,"" Stoltz says of Clinton.

So after months of indecision, Stoltz drove up to Truckee Meadows Community College, where he enrolled this fall to get his own life back on track, and before his keyboarding class, he cast his ballot. Enthusiastically.

The Latino Voter: Watching the debates sealed the deal

For weeks, Maria Lopez Reeves had been leaning toward voting for Romney.

Maria Lopez Reeves: ""Eyes and facial expressions tell a lot. You can tell when someone's acting.""

His family values and his convention speech nearly swayed her.

In July, the lifelong Democrat ""liked"" the Republican nominee's page on Facebook. In August, she told CNN she felt Obama hadn't delivered on his 2008 campaign promises. She said she was ""listening very attentively"" to what Romney had to say.

But she remained undecided. In September, she heard Romney say words that stuck in her mind all the way to the voting booth.

""There are 47% of the people ... who are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe that government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you name it,"" Romney said.

""My job,"" he continued, ""is not to worry about those people. I'll never convince them that they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives.""

He made the comments at a private fund-raiser in Boca Raton, Florida.

Reeves saw them spelled out in the closed captioning on her TV screen 180 miles away. In the living room of her rental house in Kissimmee, Florida, she watched a nightly newscast report on the now-infamous leaked video.

""When I saw him, behind closed doors, it was a private conversation,"" Reeves says. ""The true him was there.""

And what she saw made her cringe.

""I did not like being part of the 47%. That's an insult to so many people out there,"" says Reeves, who relies on government disability benefits to make ends meet. ""People like me, Hispanics on disability, Social Security, retired people, military people, all kinds of people. We pay taxes on merchandise, property taxes on cars. We contribute just as much as anybody else does. We don't get that many breaks.""

Despite her reservations about Obama, Romney didn't seem to be looking out for her best interests, she says.

Read Reeves' story: Can this Latino voter find a home?

Watching the debates sealed the deal.

She listened to what Obama and Romney said and also paid close attention to how they said it.

A decade ago, Reeves' eardrums burst, leaving her legally deaf. At first, she relied on reading lips to understand what people said. Now, a cochlear implant helps her hear, but she still pays close attention to body language.

""Eyes and facial expressions tell a lot,"" she says. ""You can tell when someone's acting.""

To Reeves, Obama seemed sincere.

""I looked at Mitt and it's like he was a statue up there, a puppet going through a speech that was made for him,"" she says. ""He just didn't seem real to me, he really didn't.""

Last week, on the way home from a doctor's appointment, Reeves stopped by a library in Celebration, Florida, to cast her ballot during early voting.

She no longer had any doubts about which candidate she supported, or which candidate would support her.

""It's too scary,"" she says, ""too risky, letting someone like Romney take over.""

Reeves says she voted for Obama.

The Single Woman: Staying true to her word

Unmarried women make up one of America's fastest-growing demographics. They account for a quarter of the voting population, and a disproportionate number of them live in Alexandria, Virginia -- a city in one of the highly coveted swing states.

Laura Palmer: ""I hope there will be tremendous effort to reach across the aisle. I hope they make an effort to work together.""

For all these reasons, Alexandria's unmarried and undecided Laura Palmer, 36, became a clamored-for commodity this election season.

But the former lawyer, who served in 2008 as a political appointee to the Bush administration, has made it her mission to rise above conflict, focus on positivity and be true to herself. Now a licensed hypnotherapist and practitioner of energy medicine, she believes it's time for the country's leaders to do the same.

She stayed mum about whom she voted for in 2008 and vowed she wouldn't divulge her decision this year. She's staying true to her word; not even her closest friends will know who's earned her ballot.

""I don't think it matters,"" says Palmer, who made her choice after the debates. ""I don't mean that my vote doesn't matter. Every vote counts.""

Read Palmer's story: Searching for a 'centered' candidate

But in her view, there's nothing that can be accomplished in discussing such a personal choice. While the passions of a heated political season may have driven people apart, she'd rather focus on the future and what might be possible -- not just for the president, no matter who wins, but for those taking office in Congress.

""I hope whoever stays in power or moves into power, however it plays out, I hope there will be tremendous effort to reach across the aisle,"" she said. ""I hope they make an effort to work together. It's the only way our country can move forward in a meaningful way.""

The Evangelical: Finding his decision in the Bible

Rob Seyler, a Bible school teacher who typically votes Republican, was wary of backing a Mormon for president.

Rob Seyler: ""In essence, I am choosing between two non-Christians.""

Seyler had thought about staying home on Election Day but says studying the Bible suggested that was a bad idea.

""God would not support his people taking a passive role in a nation's government,"" he said by e-mail from just outside Des Moines, Iowa. ""In fact, Hosea 8:4 shows that God was at times displeased with Israel's choices for leadership -- which shows me that he holds his people responsible for electing proper leaders.""

Seyler is still wary of giving a Mormon such a prominent perch. But he thinks Romney, a lifelong member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, will ""move our country in a direction that God would favor.""

Read Seyler's story: Radical for Jesus, dubious of Romney

That's especially true when it comes to opposing abortion and same-sex marriage, two issues at the top of Seyler's list of political causes. Though the teacher caused a stir at his Baptist high school by painting Obama's silhouette onto his classroom wall, Seyler is disappointed the president hasn't done more to stop abortion and that he personally came out for legalized same-sex marriage.

Romney once supported abortion rights and gay rights but has become rigorously anti-abortion and anti-gay marriage in the last decade.

Seyler watched the first presidential debate and was impressed by Romney's performance. But the teacher's decision to vote for the Republican nominee was more a result of ""contemplation, study and prayer."" Seyler says the process made him realize that Obama talks like a Christian but that his take on issues such as abortion and marriage run counter to Seyler's read on the Bible.

""Ultimately, I think talk is cheap,"" Seyler says, before citing Scripture again. ""James and 1 John say that faith should be evidenced by action. And his actions do not clearly demonstrate a legitimate Christian faith.""

""In essence,"" Seyler wound up reasoning, ""I am choosing between two non-Christians.""

Seyler also recognizes the limits of his choice. America's strength is more about the nation's moral and spiritual state, he says, over which the commander in chief has only so much sway. That gives him hope for the country's ability to move forward after a deeply divided election.

""Ultimately, no politician will ever truly solve our problems, he says. ""While we elect and support men to lead our country, we must realize that these politicians are only stewards of the world God has created and is sovereign over.""

CNN's Jamie Gumbrecht, Jen Christensen, Moni Basu, Catherine E. Shoichet, Jessica Ravitz and Dan Gilgoff contributed to this report.",They represent a sliver of the electorate yet could still hold the key to the Oval Office.
"ARTIST’S NOTE: Each year, an influential figure delivers a lecture on the social policy and powers of the arts, as presented by Americans for the Arts. And last week, one of the most influential figures of my own TV/media-steeped childhood (and that of countless other viewers) delivered the organization’s Nancy Hanks Lecture at the Kennedy Center. Here are some of the most moving themes and moments from that event.

AS HIS NAME hangs in the air, the 92-year-old TV legend ambles out to an ovation. Almost as one, we rise.

Mister Norman Lear, that master at mining human behavior for the humor of truth. He smiles. Almost as one, we applaud louder.

As any good showman knows, the audience is susceptible to subtle cues. So when he steps into the adoring spotlight, this creator of so many trailblazing TV shows (including “All in the Family” and its spinoffs “Maude” and “The Jeffersons”) jokes that there’s a little extra juice to all our standing applause.

Almost as one, we laugh. He’s on to us, and our emotional buttons (“nonagenarian status” among them), as he has been for decades.

Lear is eager to illustrate the social power of the arts, here in this packed house at the Kennedy Center Concert Hall, where he is delivering the Nancy Hanks lecture, as presented by Americans for the Arts. And for all this talk of art, there’s a vital reveal: Norman Lear, Hollywood groundbreaker and TV Academy Hall of Famer, never considered himself an artist. Yet the showman holds one key plot twist.

But first: Our protagonist cuts to his back-story…

Lear tells the audience how, when he was about 9, his dad went to prison, and a fellow within the family’s circle called young Norman “the man of the house now.” The boy saw this remark for what it was: laughably absurd.

Now, on this night in Washington, Norman does not speak as “a wise old man,” from on high. He is merely observer, he says, albeit a keen one. And this is what he sees:

The man who has been branded a “Hollywood liberal” says he honestly considers himself a “bleeding-heart conservative.” This World War II hero flashes a fierce passion for Eisenhower, his ol’ five-star general who led them to victory. And Lear wonders from the Kennedy stage why more people don’t appreciate the prescience of the president who came before. Why don’t more people today like and heed the words of Ike?

Ike, the two-term ’50s president who, Lear emphasizes, warned of the rise of the “military-industrial-congressional complex.”

Lear fears for the symptoms of Eisenhower’s farewell-address caveat come true. He believes we’ve lost our way: sociopolitically, economically, judicially, technologically, spiritually — and artistically.

Lear sees a culture that has grown “numbers-driven” and “spiritually sterile.” He sees a “coarsening of the culture” that leads and lures us “away from the Arts.”

Lear sees aspects of government and religion functioning as warring tribes. Yet the truest hope for unity, he says, rests with the arts — even as Ike’s governmental complex-come-true guts funding for the arts.

Arts opens doors, Lear says — and technology, particularly the Internet, “has increased the power of the arts exponentially.”

Lear can’t think of a time when our culture has drifted so far from the arts, becoming “so estranged from this essential part of itself.”

Every day, we are ever less citizens, he says, and ever more consumers.

As we tune in to our cell towers, do we tune out the sacred? Has our art become more about consumption than connection? Even as arts funding dries up like one of Lear’s favored Havana leaves in the noonday sun?

And the belly, of course, is an apt symbol for humanity’s deeper appetite.

With our heads lowered and buried into our technology, do we become blind to a higher order and awareness?

(In the 1970s, Lear brought to air a run of such socially conscious shows as “All in the Family,” “Maude,” “Good Times,” “Sanford and Son,” “The Jeffersons,” even “One Day at a Time.” Were Lear and his co-producers editorializing, as they were accused? “We — writers, producers, directors and actors — were simply mirroring life in our time as we saw it,” he says.)

Yet despite this epic run, Lear was too near to the shows to fully appreciate their social impact.

When the Oscar- and Grammy-winning artist Common introduced Lear on this night, he — as a child of the ’70s — cited the impact that a particular episode of “The Jeffersons” once had on him.

And Common was among a handful of hip-hop artists who recently paid tribute to Lear at a Television Academy event in California. Tonight, Lear reflects on how the tears of sweetness from that love-in event had a secondary effect: They also opened his eyes.

On that evening, the hip-hop performers shared their stories of how Lear’s shows had enriched and illuminated their lives, and that emotion spread, as the effect of connective art can, to the audience. Lear was led to the trough of his own Artistry. And this time, after decades of resistance, he drank.

Minutes after his talk, I seek out and sit with Mr. Lear. I urge him to further illuminate the depth of his lecture’s last reveal. For he, naturally, had set up his climactic plot twist so deftly.

In a largely sobering tone, Lear’s lecture had delved into not only the state of arts in America, but also about the state of the world — and why, in 2015, we so desperately need the arts. Amid his grim messages, I was curious: Is he optimistic about the world, and the role of art to help elevate that world?

As we talk about arts and politics of the past, Norman Lear is hopeful about the arts of the future — because he is hopeful about the human need for connection. Arts is a form of spiritual connective tissue, and all artistic disciplines, he says, are “those things to cause us to see and hear as One.”

Art, in other words, is all in the human family.

After our talk, as he and I rise, Norman Lear warmly lets me know he has enjoyed this harmonic vibe between artists. Because talking about the arts is a form of connection that can have true impact. But he also lets me know this conversation needs to be fanned like a flame.

[Note: My special thanks to the Americans for the Arts.]","An Arts Talk Illustrated: TV legend Norman Lear (""All in the Family,"" ""The Jeffersons"") delivers a moving Kennedy Center lecture on power of art."
"Obama, who enjoys a double-digit lead among female voters, recently said that “women are not some monolithic bloc. Women are not an interest group. . . . Women are over half this country and its workforce.” That is as true today as it was when Democratic pollster Anna Greenberg told me the same thing in 2007.

2. Female voters favor female candidates.

Women consistently say they’d prefer to vote for a woman. But once in the voting booth, they don’t automatically favor female candidates.

In The Washington Post in 2008, feminist writer Linda Hirshman scolded women for failing to support Hillary Rodham Clinton over Obama: “Even though this is also a year with the first major female presidential candidate, women are split every way they can be. They’re the only voting bloc not voting their bloc. For the Clinton campaign, this is devastating.”

And it was instructive. By the end of the primaries, Obama had won younger women’s votes, while Clinton had captured women over 65 and barely won a majority of women.

In fact, women are insulted by appeals that suggest they automatically favor female candidates, which is part of the reason Clinton didn’t play the gender card too overtly through much of the campaign. Younger women in particular find this “hammer, meet nail” approach offensive. That’s why you rarely hear female candidates in either party making that pitch.

3. Women vote based on “women’s issues,” such as abortion rights and contraception.

A recent poll of voters in swing states showed that women’s top priorities are health care, gas prices, unemployment and the deficit — in that order — with “government policies toward contraception” coming in last. (Women are, however, much more likely than men to rate government policy on birth control as important — 55 percent to 35 percent in the same USA Today-Gallup poll.)

Even on abortion rights, women are nearly as divided as the country as a whole, which broke 49 percent to 45 percent in favor of abortion rights in Gallup polling last year. And though 50 percent of women identify as pro-choice and 44 percent as pro-life, age and party affiliation are far better predictors than gender of views on abortion.

Among Democratic women, the perception that Republicans are waging a “war on women” has undeniably boosted enthusiasm and raised money. But how women feel about access to contraceptives also seems to have more to do with party affiliation than gender, according to a Kaiser Family Foundation survey released last month. And fewer than 1 percent of respondents mentioned women’s health or birth control as top election-year issues.

4. A candidate’s wife can deliver women’s votes.

This idea seems to have taken hold in a whole new way this year, with many pundits — and at times, even Romney himself — arguing that Ann Romney holds the key to his efforts to win over female voters.

When asked recently how he intends to close the gender gap, Mitt Romney even said he wished his wife were there to answer: “She says that she’s out there going across the country and talking with women, and what they’re talking about is the debt that we’re leaving the next generation and the failure of this economy to put people back to work. She says she talks to women who are concerned about the jobs their kids are going to get, and they wonder whether their future is going to be prosperous and bright as has been our lives.”

Yet there is no evidence that women have ever favored the candidate whose spouse they like best; if that were the case, John Edwards would have fared a lot better in 2004 and 2008. After all, Hillary Clinton wasn’t as well-liked back in 1992, but that didn’t seem to hurt Bill Clinton.

While it’s true that women tune in to campaigns later than men, women turn out to vote in greater numbers — and have done so for decades. Since 1980, the proportion of women who vote has topped the proportion of men who do. And it was higher than ever in 2008, with 65.7 percent of eligible women voting, compared with 61.5 percent of men.

In interviews with female voters across the political spectrum, I hear two things over and over: One is how turned off they are by the name-calling, negative ads and intense partisanship of the political process, and the other is how much they’d like to be more involved in civic life. That women so reliably show up to vote despite all their reservations is testament to that hope. And it’s why we’ll be hearing a lot more about the “war on women” and the war over women’s votes between now and November.

Melinda Henneberger covers national politics for The Washington Post and anchors the “She the People” blog.

Ann Romney doesn’t speak for women in the workforce

How the Catholic Church almost accepted birth control

Friend us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.",From ‘women’s issues’ to candidates’ wives.
"SEOUL—North Korea’s launch of a long-range rocket triggered international condemnation and prompted Washington and Seoul to formalize talks over deploying an advanced missile shield to South Korea, a move China strongly opposes.

The United Nations Security Council, after an urgent meeting Sunday, said the weekend rocket launch was a threat to world security and a clear violation of U.N. resolutions banning North Korea from developing...","The U.N. Security Council said North Korea’s latest rocket launch was a threat to world security, and that members were consulting on a resolution that would impose tougher and more robust sanctions on Pyongyang."
"The pressure is on the FBI.

And not just about signals that might have been missed regarding Omar Mateen, the shooter who mowed down scores of patrons at an Orlando nightclub after declaring his allegiance to ISIS. What about the FBI investigation into Hillary Clinton’s private e-mail server? After Orlando, does it remain an FBI priority?

Donald Trump needs to make sure it is. Forced off script by the massacre, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee ditched a promised speech on “Crooked Hillary” and instead delivered one on terrorism, immigration, and guns. It didn’t go well. His shallow, divisive remarks fired up President Obama and disturbed leaders of the Republican Party.

Trump’s braying for a ban on all Muslim immigrants also allowed Clinton to work the welcome turf of policy and issues like “common-sense” gun control. If only the debate could stay there.

According to a national Bloomberg poll, Clinton leads Trump by 12 points. An earlier NBC tracking poll gave her a 7-point lead, with growing support from men and white voters.

The contrast between how the presidential candidates reacted to the Orlando shootings was stark.

In Hillary they trust? Trump can’t have that. He’s working hard to pivot back to his assault on Clinton’s character. If he loses the trust issue to his opponent, he loses a lot.

Appearing Tuesday night on Fox News with host Sean Hannity, Trump called upon Clinton to return money he said she accepted from countries that oppress women. “Here’s a woman that takes all of this money from these countries and then she says she loves women,” Trump told Hannity. “They actually throw gays off buildings and she’s taking money, and I’m calling for her to give back all of the money she’s taken from these countries.”

As Trump refocuses his message on Clinton’s ethics, the massacre in Orlando has overshadowed what might have been banner news a week ago. On Tuesday, The Washington Post reported that US District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan ordered the deposition of a former State Department staffer who helped set up Clinton’s private e-mail server “to go forward and to be videotaped.” The judge denied a request by lawyers for IT specialist Bryan Pagliano to bar the recording of the deposition before lawyers representing the conservative legal advocacy group Judicial Watch. Pagliano has been granted limited immunity by federal prosecutors, the Post reported last March. His lawyers — backed up by Justice Department lawyers — asked to disclose details of the immunity agreement in a sealed filing open only to the judge.

In granting that request, Sullivan stated that the “privacy interests at stake are high because the government’s criminal investigation” is ongoing and confidential — with his language confirming a label Clinton has tried to duck.

But now the criminal probe of a presumptive presidential nominee plays out against the still unfolding story of mass murder committed by a man once scrutizined by the FBI. Agents launched two separate investigations of the shooter, but concluded there wasn’t enough evidence to back up concerns about alleged terrorist connections. Now the FBI is trying to piece together the path from its initial findings to Mateen’s rampage, which killed 49 and wounded several dozen more.

After Orlando, some argue that the FBI lacks adequate resources to pursue active investigations and monitor the more than 40,000 people already on the agency’s terror “watch list.” Meanwhile, in March, the Post reported that FBI Director James Comey told an unnamed member of Congress that 147 agents were working on the Clinton probe. The Post subsequently corrected the number of assigned FBI personnel in that case to “fewer than 50.” That’s still a lot.

Partisans still care about Clinton’s e-mail trail. But after Orlando, the country may care more about a terrorist’s trail.","After Orlando, does Hillary Clinton’s e-mail problem remain an FBI priority?"
"WASHINGTON—Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) announced a preliminary agreement on a six-year highway bill with “three years of guaranteed funding” for the Highway Trust Fund, the latest development in a fast-moving debate over the federal government’s share of spending on road, bridge and mass-transit programs.

But the agreement, reached with Sen. Barbara Boxer (D., Calif.), ran into early problems Tuesday when Senate Democrats said they couldn’t support a bill that they had not had a chance to read. The...",Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says agreement on a six-year bill would include three years of guaranteed funding for the Highway Trust Fund. But there may be problems.
"A mysterious disease that is turning sea stars to goo has taken off along the Oregon coast, with up to half or more of the creatures being infected in just the last few weeks, scientists say.

Until now, Oregon was the one state along the U.S. West Coast essentially spared from the disease. In April, researchers estimated less than 1 percent or so of the purple ochre sea stars (Pisaster ochraceus) living within 10 sites along Oregon's intertidal zones which provide an easily accessible place to monitor sea stars were affected by the wasting disease. By mid-May that percentage had gone up slightly, and then after that it seemed to skyrocket.

""The percentages we saw last week, they were as high as 40 to 60 percent of the population that's showing signs of wasting,"" said Bruce Menge, a marine biologist at Oregon State University, who is studying the wasting disease in Oregon. [See Images of the Purple Ochre Sea Stars]

- Bruce Menge, marine biologist at Oregon State University

Turning sea stars to goo Sea star wasting syndrome causes a sea star's body to disintegrate, ultimately leading to death.

The disease tends to progress from no outward signs to behavior changes in which the sea stars cross their arms and seem to collapse on themselves. Then white lesions appear on the surface of the sea star's body that turn into holes; those lesions are typically followed by the disintegration of skin around the lesion and the loss of a limb or several limbs, and in extreme cases the animal's entire body is affected by the syndrome. Some of the creatures physically tear their bodies apart in the process, scientists say.

""We've seen a number of cases where all that's left is a puddle of their skeletal parts and a bunch of bacteria eating away at the tissue,"" Menge told Live Science. ""It's a pretty gruesome thing to see.""

The current outbreak of sea star wasting syndrome was first reported in June 2013 along the coast of Washington by researchers from Olympic National Park. Since that report, die-offs have been documented everywhere from California to Alaska and even along the East Coast from Maine through New Jersey.

""Wasting has been known for a long time, but usually it's very localized to a single site or single region,"" Menge said. When that's the case, as it was last August just north of Vancouver, British Columbia, the chances for recovery are high since the plankton, or floating forms, of the sea stars from healthy, nearby populations can recolonize those areas that were hit.

""The thing that is worrisome now is that it's happening pretty much all along the West Coast, even up into Alaska,"" Menge said.

In this widespread outbreak, Oregon seemed to be a lucky outlier. ""We were hoping that for some weird reason we were going to miss out on it. We were optimistic,"" Menge said. ""It finally did hit, and we really have no idea what the pathogen is, what the mode of transmission is. ""

Mystery disease The cause of the wasting disease is unknown, though scientists working on the mystery are testing whether an underlying virus or bacteria is to blame, along with some environmental stress, such as water temperature or salt content, making the organisms more vulnerable to it.

""We are finding correlations between certain microorganisms and viruses present in the lesions,"" Gary Wessel, of Brown University in Rhode Island, told Live Science in an email. ""We are now testing whether these organisms are causative (by infecting healthy animals and seeing if they replicate the wasting phenotype) or just associated.""

Wessel added that his lab is also looking into the impacts of environmental stressors.

""In our challenge experiments to test infectivity, we are stressing the animals with salt conditions and temperature to determine if this environmental stress makes them more susceptible,"" Wessel said.

Since sea stars can act as keystone predators, meaning their predatory activities shape an ecosystem, their loss could have far-reaching impacts, the researchers say. By eating mussels on the low shores in Oregon, sea stars keep those populations in check so the bivalves don't explode in numbers, at the expense of other organisms. Menge said it's too early to say whether the sea stars' mussel-munching could be compensated by whelks in the area.

In addition to leaving a void in a finely tuned ecosystem, the loss of sea stars would also disrupt a seeming iconic shoreline organism.

""The aesthetics of the rocky shore are going to be quite a bit less,"" Menge said. ""They are charismatic beasts.""","A mysterious disease that is turning sea stars to goo has taken off along the Oregon coast, with up to half or more of the creatures being infected in just the last few weeks, scientists say"
"It's a long season. Heck, it was a long month in college football.

The whole of college football seems to be working through some sort of bipolar thing. Who are these guys? The level of ineptitude of most teams is exceeded only by their ability to accomplish the spectacular. And vice-versa.

And so it was with the three biggest games of the final weekend in September, which seemed to be a fine time to toast and speak in reverent tones about Penn State, California and Miami. These undefeated clubs were ready to vault to the tippity-top and join the ranks of national championship short-listers.

But then they got clobbered.

Significantly, they got whipped by teams that had proved to be terribly flawed. But the good Hawkeyes, the good Ducks, the good Hokies all showed up on the same day — much better than any Iowa, Oregon, or Virginia Tech teams had previously looked this season. Maybe they were saving their A games for the day we were ready to write them off. Or something.

This month we've seen quite a few blindside upsets of teams overlooking unheralded opponents. Rather, these were critical games in conference (and national) races. And in each case, the Top 10 team could not stand in and hit for the whole game.

But Iowa gave a black eye to Penn State's White Out, outhitting and outplaying the fifth-ranked Nittany Lions in every phase of the game (21-10), and turning their budding Heisman Trophy candidate (Daryll Clark) into just another helplessly harassed quarterback.

And Oregon made Cal's Jahvid Best look like the fourth-best runner in the game, much less America — and the other three were Ducks rolling to a 42-3 rout of the sixth-ranked Bears. What's more, Jeremiah Masoli suddenly returned to being the quarterback who led Oregon to its 10-win season last year, rather than the scatter-armed, tentative thrower of 2009.

And Virginia Tech simply took apart ninth-ranked Miami, 31-7. The erstwhile one-dimensional Hokies got big passes from Tyrod Taylor early, and otherwise pounded the Hurricanes on both sides of the ball and shutting down QB Jacory Harris.

So, suddenly, the Hawkeyes, the Ducks, and the Hokies have to be recategorized as the teams with the greatest potential in the Big Ten, Pac-10, and ACC.

But, to maintain the theme of this season, these three are just as likely to fumble away their newfound status. Oregon is liable to not show up against lowly Washington State (and with the looks of new Cougar freshman QB Jeff Tuel, the Ducks better not go to sleep on that one), Iowa will find a way to lose (or lose momentum) against Arkansas State, and Virginia Tech could manage to fall to Duke (yes, even Duke!).

Saturday's results, along with the Thursday night egg-laying by fourth-ranked Ole Miss, means that 10 different Top 10 teams lost games in September — at least two per week, capped by this fell-flat-on-their-face foursome.

So, as we move into October — still two weeks before the first BCS rankings are figured — only 10 teams in the AP Top 25 are undefeated. And of those 10, three of them are named Boise, TCU, and Houston, which do not have the pedigree or conference deemed by the computers and human voters to be considered for the BCS national championship.

Alabama, Texas, and, Florida, for what it's worth, are the only teams that have managed to look like they deserve to be ranked in the top five.

Before folks get carried away, remember this: BCS rules state that only one team from the non-BCS conferences must be invited to one of the five BCS games (Rose, Fiesta, Sugar, Orange, and BCS championship game). So, even if more than one of them run the table, only one would get a BCS invitation.

A question getting ready to nag voters: How high should Boise State, TCU, and Houston be ranked ... now and in future weeks? And go ahead and add Cincinnati to that list. Should they rise to the top of the polls simply through attrition?

Pac-10 leader Stanford is doing its business with all phases. They did a nice job of bottling up Washington QB Jake Locker, turned Toby Gerhart loose for 200 yards rushing, and helped Chris Owusu do his thing when he scored for the third time this season on a kickoff return.

For what it's worth, the NCAA record for most kickoff returns for TDs in a season is five, set by Tulsa's Ashlan Davis in 2004. The record book doesn't say if a player has previously returned the opening kickoff for a score in back-to-back games, as Owusu has.

It was a tough week for Heisman Trophy candidates, with Ole Miss quarterback Jevan Snead, Cal's Best, Penn State's Clark, and Miami's Harris biting the dust hard. Not as hard as Tim Tebow bit it, though, with his apparent concussion.

On the other end of the spectrum, though, there was Texas' Colt McCoy having a big performance (28-for-35, 286 yards, 3 TDs), and the gutsy Jimmy Clausen bringing Notre Dame back against Purdue, despite his toe injury.

If you didn't see a replay of the Indiana completion that was ruled an interception that ended the Hoosiers-Michigan game, you didn't see the profanity-laced nutout unleashed by IU coach Bill Lynch. It was the kind of snap job not witnessed by IU fans since the General's departure.

And for good reason: It was clearly a simultaneous catch (which by rule goes to the offensive player) in which defender Donovan Warren wrestled the ball away from receiver Damarlo Belcher after the players were on the ground. It was the kind of thing that has been happening to Indiana for generations. And amazingly, Michigan is 4-0.

Notre Dame completed its Big Ten record at 2-1, and now it starts its Pac-10 part of the schedule. The Irish take on three Pac-10 teams in October — facing Washington at home this week, and following a bye, USC and Washington State. Then, at the end of the year, it's a trip to Stanford.

This is perhaps the least compelling set of games of any Saturday remaining of the season. Sure, there are many important games as league races begin to heat up, but some of last week's results served to undermine the significance of this week's games.",Week 4 review: Are there any good teams?
"Flight Lieutenant Hooper, who turned 89 the same day, paid tribute to the tens of thousands of his comrades who lost their lives during the bomber campaign.

""I'm not an emotional person like that, so I'm not going to break down and cry....but it's quite an honour of course.

""You had 125,000 aircrew who went into Bomber Command from the beginning of the war and 56,000 were killed. That's half of them. Not captured or injured or prisoners; actually kllied,"" said the former Lancaster pilot.","Flight Lieutenant Harry Hooper is surprised with the presentation of his   long-awaited Bomber Command clasp, on his 89th birthday, at the war memorial   in London's Hyde Park."
"There can be no doubt now: The U.S. economy is struggling, inequality is on the rise and too many Americans feel uncertain about their future.

On the campaign trail, I have met many of these men and women, who sit at the kitchen table each week, straining to stretch their dollars from shrinking paychecks. Families who can’t save for retirement with near-zero interest rates. Young parents who are being crushed by their student debt....","In The Wall Journal, Republican presidential hopeful Carly Fiorina writes: Hillary Clinton says the economy is better off with Democrats in the White House. Is that so?"
"Kathy Johnson/The Courier-News, via Associated Press

Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey at a town-hall-style meeting in Bridgewater on Tuesday.

But his moves on same-sex marriage have also highlighted the considerable political skills that have made him one of the Republican Party’s rising stars.

Democrats in the State Legislature, who are pushing a bill to legalize same-sex marriage, were hoping to force Mr. Christie to take a position, believing that if he vetoed such a measure, as he has threatened in the past, he would define himself as out of step with a public that increasingly favors it.

But on Monday, the day before a big hearing on the legislation, Mr. Christie nominated an openly gay man to the state’s highest court, prompting a valentine from New Jersey’s most prominent gay-rights advocate that stunned even some of the governor’s friends for its effusiveness.

Democratic hopes rose: Did this signal that Mr. Christie, an enforcer when it comes to party discipline, would free Republicans to support the bill? But just as Democrats were identifying Republican supporters, Mr. Christie’s office sent word of another surprise on Tuesday: The governor announced that he believed same-sex marriage should be put before voters in November. Republicans whom Democrats had been counting on quickly backed him.

To a public suspicious of government, Mr. Christie might come across as reasonable — why let 121 people in the Legislature decide? — rather than retrograde.

And by affirming that he opposed same-sex marriage and would veto the Democrats’ legislation, he avoided alienating the conservative voters who are the key to the hopes of any Republican with national ambition. Putting the issue on the ballot could even help burnish Mr. Christie’s image among national Republicans; same-sex marriage ballot initiatives have tended to bring out a swell of conservative voters to defeat them, which could help a Republican presidential nominee even in a blue state like New Jersey.

In two years in office, Mr. Christie has promoted his reputation as the big, blunt-talking guy — he insisted this week that he was no “ballerina” in changing positions on marriage, or anything else. But he has managed to dance very carefully to get what he wants, disarming his critics or leaving them sputtering as they try to figure out his next move.

He has made alliances with the state’s Democratic power bosses and appealed to the fiscal conservatism and impatience with teachers’ unions among crucial Democrats to get the Democratic-controlled Legislature to go along with a property tax cap, limits on collective bargaining and changes to state employees’ health and pension benefits.

In his State of the State address last week, a smiling Mr. Christie wore a purple tie, neither blue nor red, and speaking of shared sacrifice and “we.”

He offered something for everyone: a 10 percent income tax cut that would benefit mostly the rich, but also a restoration of the earned income tax credit for the poor. Democrats took the message: If they wanted the credit, which they do (the governor had previously vetoed their efforts to restore it), they would have to pass the cut, which they don’t.

Democrats tried to argue that the tax cuts would mean less money for schools. Mr. Christie had by then moved on to a black church in one of the state’s poorest cities, contending to an approving crowd that his proposals would help its children escape dismal schools and bad teachers.

On criminal justice, he is proposing tougher bail laws, but also drug treatment instead of jail time for nonviolent criminals. That idea has many fans among evangelicals and conservatives across the country. But liberals like it, too — the Democratic leader of the State Assembly, Sheila Y. Oliver of Essex County, led the ovation when the governor proposed it last week.

And when Mr. Christie cannot get what he wants from the Legislature, he appeals to the public, painting himself as the only grown-up in the State House. As he asked a group of citizens at a town-hall-style meeting captured on one of the YouTube videos that his office distributes to promote his agenda: “Now seriously, who the hell disagrees with that?”

That is how he is playing his proposal for a ballot initiative.

A Roman Catholic, Mr. Christie has long been very clear about opposing same-sex marriage. He supports civil unions, which New Jersey allows, but many gay couples say those have failed to ensure equal rights.",His moves on same-sex marriage highlighted the considerable political skills that have made Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey one of the Republican Party’s rising stars.
"A little-known family who became one of the richest in Britain have been accused of making excessive profits in an aid project, by building what their critics call ""bridges to nowhere"".

A Guardian investigation has discovered that steel bridges costing more than £400m have been sold to the Philippines by the Mabey family, all secured with UK government-backed loans and grants. But many of the crossings, which were supposed to open up the flood-prone jungle terrain, have no roads to go with them.

The British construction company, Mabey & Johnson, owned by the Mabey family, has been handed virtually all the supply contracts for the bridges, despite being more expensive than its competitors. Accusations of corruption and overcharging are now being made in the Philippines. Mabey denies any impropriety, saying the allegations are made by rivals or are politically motivated.

Four hours' drive north of Manila lies the hamlet of San Roque, where poor rice farmers spread their harvest on the ground to dry, and water buffalo are a common sight in the swampy fields.

Here the new British-made, two-lane highway bridge has been thrown across an irrigation channel. But there is no highway. On one side is a narrow dirt track leading to the village road. On the far side there is nothing but a field.

""You see, it's just a bridge to nowhere,"" says Ricky Ileto, who is on the staff of opposition senator ""Ping"" Lacson. Mr Lacson's aides have inspected more than 200 bridges, many in remote jungle districts, and allege they have found at least 44 which lead to dead ends, span dried-up streams, merely provide a pathway for water-buffalo, or are otherwise unsuitable.

""We are squandering the foreign loan,"" says Mr Lacson, a former police chief who ran unsuccessfully against Gloria Arroyo in last year's presidential election. His team have complained to the Philippines ombudsman, a presidential appointee.

On August 9, they also wrote to the British ambassador in Manila, Peter Beckingham, calling for the programme to be suspended because of the ""indiscriminate installation"" of bridges and ""our country's worsening debt"". But they never received a response. According to documents released to the Guardian under the Freedom of Information Act, the firm's chairman, David Mabey, visited the ambassador on August 18.

The embassy commercial officer's note says: ""The Mabey team were in no doubt that the allegations of graft ... brought by members of the opposition, were part of an ongoing campaign to discredit President Arroyo ... M&J were vigorous in their assurances that they have acted above board ... Neither the ambassador nor I have any reason to doubt Mabey's assurances ... It was up to the local authorities to construct approach roads.""

On August 30, David Mabey got the UK government's signature on a further £90m loan guarantee, to provide bridges and flyovers on credit. This was the sixth successive big contract M&J had been handed by the Philippine president's office - in each case without competitive bidding.

The Guardian has established that Mabey is charging substantially more than its rivals. Its steel superstructures cost about £4,800 a metre, according to Philippines highways department internal figures. Records show an Austrian firm, Waagner-Biro, gained one small contract from the Philippines highways department to supply comparable superstructures for only £3,138. A UK consortium, Balfour-Cleveland, is quoting £2,899.

When Whitehall's export credits guarantee department signed off the latest Mabey loan, an official note to the trade minister Ian Pearson warned on September 8 that anti-corruption groups ""will seek to argue that ECGD is acting irresponsibly ... and claim this demonstrates ECGD does not take bribery and corruption seriously"". Susan Hawley, of the anti-corruption campaign group Corner House, said yesterday: ""Given these allegations, it is extraordinary that ECGD have decided to give further support to Mabey & Johnson.""

The company denies all wrongdoing. In June David Mabey published a code of ethics, saying Mabey had ""a policy not to offer, give or accept bribes"".

In a statement, Mabey & Johnson said: ""We fully reject any suggestion of impropriety regarding our work in the Philippines."" The company's bridges provided access to markets, goods and services to thousands living in poor rural communities. ""Local political envy and sniping ... is very likely to have been the motive behind these allegations ... We have never said our bridges are the cheapest, but they do represent, we believe, the best value for money in terms of design, supply, delivery and speed of installation."" Mabey & Johnson had no knowledge of any approaches for payments, it said.

Analysis of M&J's accounts show that the Philippine contracts have returned an exceptionally high rate of profit and turned the Mabey family into Britain's 141st richest. They have the former Conservative trade minister John Redwood on their payroll as an investment adviser, and donate to the Conservative party.

In Manila, the company is even better connected politically. Mabey would not name its agent, to whom it has passed millions of pounds in commission. However, he is a businessman, Teodorico Haresco, who is close to President Arroyo.

Mr Haresco told the Guardian he had never ""attempted to exert any improper influences"". The president's bridge programme was rigorously evaluated at a variety of levels in government.

The Philippines is a group of islands north of Indonesia, where 14 million people are estimated to live on less than $1 a day. Eight million Filipinos work abroad as nurses, nannies and servants.

One third of the annual budget goes on interest payments on foreign loans.

The Philippines scores badly on the campaign group Transparency International's annual corruption index, at No 117 out of 168 countries. The former president Ferdinand Marcos was estimated to have looted $20bn (£11.3bn) from state revenues. The country has now turned into a developing world goldmine for the Mabeys.

David Mabey, 43, lives in a mansion, Lane End House, outside Maidenhead. He succeeded his 89-year-old father, Bevil, in a relatively small business that originally bought up army surplus Bailey bridges after the second world war.

By last year, he and his relatives had shot up to No 141 in newspaper rich lists, with an estimated wealth of £310m.

Analysis of the company's accounts shows that the dramatic leap in fortunes has come largely from its Philippine contracts, worth £429m and all funded by UK-backed loans. In the last five years it has booked £137m in trading profits, whereas 10 years ago, it was making less than £3m a year. Mabey & Johnson's operating profit margins have tripled to more than 30%.

· Read the documents here","A little-known family who became one of the richest in Britain have been accused of making excessive profits in an aid project, by building what their critics call 'bridges to nowhere'."
"A medical study to be released today suggests that high doses of a best-selling drug used to treat anemia in dialysis and cancer patients may increase the risk of heart problems and deaths.

Almost a million Americans a year receive prescriptions for the drug, known as epoetin, or darbepoetin, a closely related drug also used in anemia treatment. Worldwide, sales of the two drugs — sold under the brand names Epogen, Procrit and Aranesp — topped $9 billion last year for Amgen and Johnson & Johnson, their makers.

Researchers for the study, to be published in The New England Journal of Medicine, divided anemic patients with kidney disease into two groups. One group received epoetin with a goal of almost fully correcting their anemia, a lack of red blood cells associated with fatigue and shortness of breath.

The others were allowed to remain more anemic and generally received less epoetin. Patients in the first group were 34 percent more likely to die or suffer heart problems than those in the second.

Dr. Ajay Singh, an associate professor at Harvard Medical School and the study’s lead author, said the results were surprising and should encourage doctors to treat anemia less aggressively.

The study tested anemia in kidney patients who did not yet need dialysis, a mechanical blood-filtering technique used to keep alive patients whose kidneys have almost entirely failed. But its findings should apply to patients on dialysis as well, Dr. Singh said.

The findings reinforce mounting concerns that kidney patients may be receiving too much epoetin, in part because dialysis clinics make bigger profits for providing larger doses. Studies show that the clinics make little, if any, profit on the actual dialysis services they provide for Medicare patients, who are the vast majority of patients.

The amount of epoetin received by the typical American dialysis patient has nearly tripled since the early 1990s. The average patient now gets epoetin doses similar to those given to the first group in Dr. Singh’s study. Death rates for dialysis patients are higher in the United States than in Europe, where doses are comparable to the second group’s, although doctors say other factors may also explain the difference. About 22 percent of American patients die every year, compared with about 15 percent in Europe.

Dr. Singh said his study, with a second trial with similar results also to be published today in The New England Journal, did not necessarily prove that epoetin use was harmful.

But the studies show that the anemia of many patients is being overcorrected and that doctors should aim for lower levels of red blood cells in their patients, he said. The simplest way to do that would be to give patients less epoetin.

Susan Cruzan, a spokeswoman for the Food and Drug Administration, said the agency was aware of the study results and would evaluate the data. She noted that Epogen’s label already offered advice for doctors. The F.D.A., she said, will release a more complete advisory today.

Amgen, which sells epoetin under the brand name Epogen and darbepoetin under the name Aranesp, said its drugs had been a boon for people with anemia and are properly used in the vast majority of patients. In fact, anemia may be undertreated in cancer and kidney patients, scientists at Amgen argue.

Amgen said it was committed to the safety of its drugs and was conducting a clinical trial to study Aranesp in 4,000 kidney patients. But some scientists say that trial will not settle the most crucial issue about epoetin and darbepoetin: whether the drugs are routinely overused.

In the first nine months of 2006, Amgen sold $4.9 billion of Aranesp and Epogen, accounting for almost half its revenue. Sales of the two drugs rose almost 15 percent compared with the period in 2005.

Johnson & Johnson, which sells epoetin under the brand names Procrit in the United States and Eprex everywhere else, reported sales of $2.4 billion in the first nine months of 2006, down slightly from 2005.

Epoetin, a naturally occurring protein produced mainly in the kidneys, stimulates bone marrow cells to produce hemoglobin, the main component of red blood cells. Darbepoetin, which was introduced in 2001, is a version of epoetin that has been slightly modified so that it does not need to be given as frequently. Both drugs are given via injection.

Since epoetin was approved in 1989, it has become a standard treatment for more than 90 percent of dialysis patients in the United States, and it is increasingly used for patients with earlier-stage kidney disease. The drug is also widely used for cancer patients, who often suffer from anemia as a side effect of chemotherapy. Some cancers can also cause anemia on their own.

Many kidney and cancer doctors and patients say epoetin has greatly improved the lives of people receiving dialysis or chemotherapy. Severe anemia can be debilitating, leaving patients unable to work, walk for over a few minutes or even think clearly, as well as increasing their risk of infection and heart disease.

Before epoetin, blood transfusions were the only effective treatment for anemia. But transfusions carry a risk of infection and can eventually prevent patients from receiving transplants. For most patients, epoetin appeared a safe alternative.

“The drug in and of itself has really advanced care for patients, so that they’re able to go back to do the things that they previously couldn’t,” said Kris Robinson, the executive director of the American Association of Kidney Patients and a kidney transplant recipient. “It makes a huge difference.”",A new study suggests that high doses of a best-selling drug used to treat anemia in dialysis and cancer patients may increase the risk of heart problems.
"All’s well that ends well!

On Sunday’s season finale of Rob & Chyna, Rob Kardashian and Blac Chyna finally confronted all of their issues — and took that much-discussed paternity test to prove he is the father of their child, for once and for all.

The episode picked up where last week’s left off, with Rob sitting down with his mother Kris Jenner to discuss his recent disappearance after an explosive fight with Chyna.

“You have a responsibility,” said Kris, 60. “You can’t just blame everything on her every time something goes wrong.”

But Rob, 28, was quick to reassure her everything was fine.

“Everyone in my family is dramatic,” said Rob. “I get that they all just want to help, but I feel like everybody is pointing out my flaws. I just need some peace and quiet here and there.”

Meanwhile, Chyna, 29, was still reeling from the fight — and the fact that Rob still hadn’t reached out to her.

“I’ve done everything that you possibly could do,” she told her friend Paige, explaining that she even offered to go to therapy with him. “I don’t even know if I want to stay with Rob. I don’t know if I want to do this no more with him. … For some reason, he’s just been so resistant. At some point, there’s only so much I can do as a person.”

While Paige urged her to keep trying, Chyna said she felt like at this point, both she and Rob would have to change everything about themselves to make it work.

“At this rate, Rob ain’t changing and I don’t have time,” she said wearily.

RELATED VIDEO: Rob Kardashian and Blac Chyna Open Up About Family Feuds and Missing Kim’s Wedding

Chyna decided to get some advice from Rob’s sister Kim Kardashian West, who came to Chyna’s Paper magazine cover shoot to show her support. The two women were previously close, and Chyna explained they were working on “rebuilding” their friendship.

“If my boyfriend stopped talking to me for five days when I was pregnant, I would be pissed,” said Kim, 35, before offering to invite Rob over to her house with Chyna so the three of them could sit down and talk about their issues.

The sit-down also happened to be the first time Chyna and Rob were seeing each other in seven days.

“You’re a man, you have a kid if on the way, man up,” Kim told Rob. “If Kanye [West] did that to me …”

Kim then told her brother he really needed to step it up for his daughter.

“When the baby comes, you’re going to have a responsibility,” she said. “I pray to God that the second this baby comes, you’re happy.”

Rob reassured her that he would be, and that he was hopeful about the future.

“I think the baby is going to bring [Chyna and I] together in a really good way,” he said.

The conversation seemed to go well, and Kim decided the three should continue meeting once a week or so.

And it wasn’t just Kim trying to help guide the couple: Scott Disick, 33, also took the time to sit down with Rob and urged him to see a therapist — something Rob had resisted for a long time.

“I’m just trying to understand what’s really going on,” said Disick. “Do you realize how many people you’re hurting?”

“I can’t even like, explain to you,” replied Rob. “I’m completely fine. I’m enjoying myself. There’s a reason I continuously block every one of you guys. I’m trying to get my mind right for the baby and that’s it. That’s my only worry.”

Finally, after some back-and-forth, Rob decided that seeing a therapist might not be such a bad idea, and he went over to Chyna’s house to let her know.

“I think, you know, seeing somebody to talk to or whatever — I mean, it’s not going to hurt to just try it out,” he told her. “I personally don’t really agree with the whole thing, but I’m more than willing to try it out if it’s going to benefit you and I.”

The session ended up going far better than Rob expected, and he opened up about some of the issues he was having with his fiancée.

“[Chyna and I] moved very fast,” he told the therapist. “We were great in the beginning and now we’re at a place where we’re always at each other’s throats … but we both love each other.”

Rob said he took issue with the fact that Chyna seemed to be fine with the possibility of the relationship not working out, which is why he felt he was distancing himself.

“I genuinely love her, so I feel like I get more sensitive when we talk about certain things,” he said. “I just want her to be supportive of what I’m doing.”

The therapist told Rob he and Chyna need to learn to accept each other for who they are, and that they need to be as open and honest with each other every single day. Rob agreed, and decided to go talk to Chyna about what he had learned.

“Chyna’s not the easiest person to talk to,” he confessed. “But we have to figure out a way to better the communication.”

RELATED VIDEO: Rob Kardashian and Blac Chyna Can’t Wait for You to See ‘The Real Us’

Sitting down with Chyna, he admitted the session wasn’t as terrible as he thought it would be.

“It was obviously mainly just about you and me, how I usually hold onto things a lot longer than you do,” he said. “We just don’t communicate well with each other.”

Rob told Chyna he was upset he missed out on some major moments of her pregnancy: “This is my first time doing this, so that’s why I wanted to be a part of certain things,” he said.

Chyna agreed to work on things.

“I do put up a guard and that’s just me, but I’ll try to be more sensitive and more loving towards you and more supportive,” she promised.

Despite all the positive steps Rob and Chyna were taking, there was still one thing in particular that was making Chyna uneasy — the fact that because Rob had wiped his social media accounts clean after the fight (and unfollowed Chyna), tabloid rumors were circulating that she had allegedly cheated on him.

“A part of me wants to take a paternity test,” Chyna said. “I know it’s Rob’s child. I’ve only been with Rob since we started dating. It’s just to shut down the rumors on Internet.”

Chyna went to Kim with the idea, and Kim agreed to help secretly try to obtain some DNA from Rob’s house.

“The fact that Kim is down for the whole paternity test is just legend,” said Chyna.

Unfortunately, Rob ended up being home and quickly realized something was up after Chyna dropped a toothbrush she had stolen from his bathroom.

“You guys don’t come to my house like this, y’all are being weirdos,” she said. “I know y’all are up to something stupid. What are y’all doing?”

“Basically, she wants to just get a paternity test just for you to see if you really are the father,” said Kim. “She just wanted you to be comfortable with it.”

Rob said he was totally fine with that, and he and Chyna arranged for nurses to come to Chyna’s house to administer the test.

Meanwhile, Rob decided to make up to his family for his recent disappearance and asked Jenner to set up a family dinner at home. Jenner was thrilled at the request, largely because Rob, who was previously living a majorly reclusive lifestyle, hadn’t attended a family dinner in years.

“I want to let everyone know how much I appreciate them and I recognize that I need to handle myself a little bit differently and not just disappear,” said Rob.

In addition to Jenner and Chyna, Rob’s sisters Kim, Kourtney and Khloé Kardashian all showed up for the meal, as well as Disick and Jenner’s boyfriend Corey Gamble.

“I don’t think we’ve all had dinner together for like, three years,” said Rob. “I tend to shut a lot of you guys out when I can’t handle something or I don’t want to deal with something.”

Rob vowed to make a conscious effort to fit in important family time every week, or at least once a month.

“When I look across the table I see someone who looks happy,” said Kris. “I hope that this is an ongoing scenario. … We love you Rob, and we miss you so much. We hope that we can do this all the time.”

Things were looking up for Rob and Chyna, and the episode concluded on a particularly high note: with the results of the paternity test, which concluded that Rob is indeed the father.

“Robert Kardashian, you are the father!” said Chyna, laughing.

“I’m super relieved that this is done,” she added. “This baby is super, super, super blessed to have a daddy like Rob. I’m hoping this is going to bring me and Rob together.”

As for where Rob sees the couple in five years from now?

“I see just way more kids and a new house that we’re comfortable in that’s our house, our space that we can build a family in,” said Rob, reaching over to plant a kiss on Chyna. “And just being happy with you.”

Catch the rest of Rob’s family when Keeping Up with the Kardashians season 12 returns Sunday at 9 p.m. ET on E!",Chyna decides to do the test to shut down tabloid rumors that she allegedly cheated on Kardashian
"-- Palin, September 6, 2008, after becoming Sen. John McCain's 2008 running mate

""Frank Bailey just donated four boxes of brownie mix for the visiting football team's quick peek at the mansion Friday night. I will bake them myself ... so, no more controversy, it's clear the state isn't paying for the students' treat.""

-- Palin, September 13, 2007, on complaints that she was favoring another high school team over Juneau's.

""Talis - pls have one of your folks draft a short letter to Exxon 'encouraging' them pay the $500mil ... we need to be on the record as telling them to pay up, end this thing, end this misery. Then we're doing a presser on it.""

-- Palin to Attorney General Talis Colberg, July 1, 2008, on remaining Exxon Valdez oil-spill settlement

""Thanks! Can u believe they haven't agreed to end this thing?""

-- Palin, in a follow-up message

""Come on - it's Exxon!""

-- Spokeswoman Sharon Leighow, responding

Why the heck would they choose to GROW an already bloated budget, esp going into reelections?

-- Palin on an attempt to override her veto of a spending bill, June 6, 2008

""Constituents like community / district projects!

-- Palin aide Kelly Goode, responding

""Wonder how the Bitney replacement mention already got into the Ear. Sheeeesh -- I can trust people in this business as far as I can throw them ... another lesson for me that nothing is considered confidential to some folks, so fewer and fewer people should be brought in to 'think out loud' re: admin business.""

-- Palin, August 26, 2007, referring to an item about staff changes in an Anchorage Daily News column","Some highlights from the 24,000 pages of e-mails from Sarah Palin's governorship, released Friday by Alaska state officials:.""Pls make sure we're getting state business announcements out to the"
"Image by Getty Images North America via @daylife

President Obama has proposed spending another $450 billion to create jobs, but there are companies that want to do exactly that and need neither subsidies nor encouragement: the oil and gas companies. They are ready, willing and able to hire more workers—if only the White House would let them.

The president has spent more than two and a half years and trillions of dollars trying to reduce the unemployment rate, which seems stuck around 9.0 percent—and the administration’s budget director recently said he thinks it will stay there through 2012.

So far the president has put all of his energy-industry cards in creating “green jobs,” while doing his best to strangle the oil and gas industry. As Wall Street Journal editorial page editor Paul Gigot commented on Fox News Sunday, the Obama policy is “the idea that you can politically allocate capital, you can have government-direct investment, and you can create jobs, you can create wealth. And the fact is, it can’t. We discovered that. There are $39 billion worth of these Energy Department loans in addition to Solyndra [the now defunct green energy company that received a $527 million taxpayer-funded loan from the Obama administration]. How many jobs have they created by one measure? Four thousand. I think that’s $10 million a job …”

Folks, this is policy and fiscal madness. Oil and gas companies directly employ more than 2 million Americans, from blue-collar workers to well-trained scientists and engineers.

In addition, the industry supports millions of manufacturing, construction, mining and other indirect jobs—about 9 million of them in all. To the extent the industry is allowed to drill here, it creates and keeps jobs here. If oil and gas companies were allowed to explore in more domestic areas currently off limits, it would create an estimated 1 million more jobs—and those jobs wouldn’t cost the taxpayers a dime. Indeed, those companies would be paying millions of dollars in taxes.

But it’s that “drilling here” part that is such a problem for this president and his environmentalist backers. After the BP oil spill, the administration put a moratorium on an already anemic record of approving deep-water drilling permits. Some oil companies sued in federal court and won, with the judge ordering the feds to start approving drilling permits.

Interior Secretary Kenneth Salazar then imposed another moratorium, which he pulled before a federal judge ruled against him a second time. Of course, the administration has other ways to limit drilling: regulators who drag their feet.

However, within the past few weeks Salazar has indicated an openness to approve new drilling. Who knows why the newfound cooperation; maybe there’s an election coming up or something. Or maybe it’s just posturing.

Salazar traveled to Alaska on August 8, explaining that the Obama administration supported more drilling in the state, potentially including offshore in the Arctic, but only under strict guidelines.

In addition, the State Department recently announced its approval of the Keystone XL pipeline, a $7 billion project that would pump Canadian tar-sand oil across the plains, through Texas and down to the Houston area where several refineries can handle the heavy crude. Officials estimate that building the pipeline would create 20,000 jobs immediately, and another 100,000 indirectly. But more government approvals are needed before construction can begin.",Why does President Obama waste taxpayer money subsidizing
"Kenneth Branagh narrates a sequence from the film.

Poor Cinderella — she still can’t catch a break. In the 1950 Disney animated musical, her friendly neighborhood mice know the score and give it song: “Night and day, it’s Cinderelly! ‘Make the fire, fix-a breakfast, wash the dishes, do the mopping, and the sweeping and the dusting.’ They always keep her hopping!” In Disney’s latest version, directed by Kenneth Branagh, the mice stick to squeaking and look about as real as most computer-generated rodents. And, fascinatingly, much remains the same, including a fairy tale that opens with clear skies but soon plays the poor-little-girl blues before you-know-who comes along. “Maleficent” and its revisionism are so last year.

Why Cinderella, why now? If you’re the Walt Disney Company the answer can only be: Why not? She may not be a princess (yet!) and the story may have been told innumerable times, but there’s gold in those glass slippers no matter how many miles they have on them. The cinema pioneer Georges Méliès told her story in 1899, perhaps for the first time on screen, and she recently popped up in Disney’s live-action adaptation of Stephen Sondheim’s “Into the Woods.” Disney has further helped stoke the demand for this new movie with two direct-to-video sequels to its 1950 film, “Cinderella II: Dreams Do Come True” (2002) and “Cinderella III: A Twist in Time” (2007).

The Times critic Manohla Dargis reviews “Cinderella.”

And here she is again, pretty as a picture, with flowing blond hair, a flashing smile, a fabulous gown — a bewitchingly blue number from the costume wizard Sandy Powell — and that go-good-girl triumphalism. First, though, here’s the once upon a time: “Cinderella” opens in an indeterminate past with long frocks, horse-drawn carriages and no cellphones, in one of those lavish soundstage countries. (The movie was partly shot in the Pinewood Studios in Britain.) There, 10-year-old Ella (Eloise Webb) safely nests in a pocket paradise alongside her homemaker mother (Hayley Atwell) and merchant father (Ben Chaplin), a small menagerie and a clutch of smiling servants. This being a fairy tale, heaven soon gives way to woe so the story can get down to business.

Bruno Bettelheim claimed that “Cinderella” was the most popular fairy tale, so pardon my spoiler: Ella’s mother dies after some discreet coughing, time passes and Lily James takes over the role of the older Ella. A regular on the television series “Downton Abbey,” Ms. James effortlessly holds the big screen, less because of her beauty than the life that both animates and demystifies that beauty, making it seem less other (even a touch aspirational) and her character feel approachable and likable. It’s smart casting because that likability and the smiles it solicits help take the edge off Cinderella’s victimization and because the minute Ella’s father brings home a new wife, Ms. James becomes a wee planet in the orbit of a very bright star known as Cate Blanchett — the Stepmother, of course.

In traditional iteration after iteration, the story of Cinderella is also that of mothers — dead, cruel and magical — who loom over this quintessential dutiful daughter far more than any man. One mother abandons Cinderella, leading the way for a second mother to torment her, who in turn opens the door for a third mother to come to the rescue with a wave of her wand. The prince may eventually find and marry Cinderella, but it’s a mother who truly saves her. It’s a strange matriarchal world, after all, if one still rived with complexities. Here, the screenwriter Chris Weitz adds some dimensionality to the standard conception of the Stepmother (as she’s only known), mostly by referencing the dire prospects for a widow with two children and no income of her own.

Less genuinely wicked than seriously mercenary, this Stepmother can’t help but steal the show. Ms. Blanchett takes some of the credit (or blame), as does the visual design for the character which, from her soignée updos to a leopard-skin dressing gown, suggests a 1940s femme fatale. There certainly is a touch of Joan Crawford’s Mildred Pierce to the Stepmother and her sob-worthy back story (as well as her blood-red lipstick and power shoulders). And when Ms. Blanchett’s pale face emerges from behind a hat, the entrance evokes the likes of Jane Greer “coming out of the sun” in the noir “Out of the Past” so she can destroy Robert Mitchum. Even so, the Stepmother isn’t really evil — she just proves, from her smoky eyes to her enviable green frocks, that bad always sizzles more than good.

Ms. Blanchett, eyes widening and narrowing, and teeth all but gnashing, plays the role at full Cruella de Vil tilt. It’s a divertingly oversize, near-vaudevillian performance ornamented with frozen looks, boogieing brows and rubber-band-like mouth contortions. Mr. Branagh’s ascension into big-budget studio directing largely remains a mystery, and there’s little in “Cinderella” beyond its faces and gowns that captures the eye or the imagination. His one interesting directorial choice is to fold in different performance styles, which tend to fall into exaggerated, almost-burlesque mode or a more familiar naturalistic expressiveness. This suggests that, at least in the case of the Stepmother (if not her nitwit daughters), cruelty sometimes may be more a mask than a question of being.

You know the rest, bibbidi-bobbidi-boo and all that jazz. Helena Bonham Carter toddles in as the Fairy Godmother and Richard Madden (“Game of Thrones”) gallops in as the Prince. Mildly charming and orthodontically dazzling, the Prince first sees Ella taking a very unmaidenly bareback horse ride, a scene that conveys that she remains free despite the home-front misery. Try as the filmmakers might to obscure her victimization, there’s no getting around that this Cinderella has to do time as the classic persecuted woman even if the Disney imperative means that she must also dust herself off, go to the ball and waltz into a happy ending. As tabloids, reality television, countless novels and sometimes the movies suggest, you cannot keep a good woman down, even if it’s fun trying.

“Cinderella” is rated PG (Parental guidance suggested). A mother dies and animals and vegetables are bewitched.

Directed by Kenneth Branagh; written by Chris Weitz; director of photography, Haris Zambarloukos; edited by Martin Walsh; music by Patrick Doyle; production design by Dante Ferretti; costumes by Sandy Powell; produced by Simon Kinberg, Allison Shearmur and David Barron; released by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. Running time: 1 hour 45 minutes.

WITH: Cate Blanchett (Stepmother), Lily James (Ella), Richard Madden (Prince), Stellan Skarsgard (Grand Duke), Holliday Grainger (Anastasia), Sophie McShera (Drisella), Derek Jacobi (King), Helena Bonham Carter (Fairy Godmother), Nonso Anozie (Captain), Ben Chaplin (Ella’s Father) and Hayley Atwell (Ella’s Mother).

A version of this review appears in print on March 13, 2015, on page C1 of the New York edition with the headline: Disney Polishes Its Glass Slippers. Order Reprints| Today's Paper|Subscribe","Much of the fairy tale remains the same in the latest version, but the writer does add some dimensionality to the standard conception of the stepmother."
"The insider trading charges against Anthony Chiasson, a co-founder of Level Global Investors, and Todd Newman, a former portfolio manager at Diamondback Capital Management, has put the two defendants at odds and may end up with one implicating the other as part of a defense strategy.

The government has accused the two men of receiving inside information through a “circle of friends” who exchanged information about technology companies. Mr. Chiasson is charged with reaping the largest profits for his hedge fund — about $57 million — by shorting Dell shares before a negative earnings announcement in August 2008. Mr. Newman is also accused of trading in Dell at the same time, but in much smaller amounts.

The information was passed around among a group of analysts who have pleaded guilty and agreed to cooperate in the case. Unlike other recent insider trading cases, however, the government does not have wiretaps or other consensual recordings to show how the tips made their way to Mr. Chiasson and Mr. Newman. Thus, the case will ride on whether analysts who worked for the two defendants are believable witnesses for the prosecution.

One quirk in the case is that there is no direct connection between Mr. Chiasson and Mr. Newman, although they are charged with being members of the same conspiracy. They worked at different firms, and the information reached them by different paths. Neither has much incentive to cooperate by putting up a united front.

For the case against Mr. Chiasson, the indictment accuses him of receiving the inside information from Spyridon Adondakis, an analyst at Level Global who pleaded guilty to passing inside information.

According to recent filings in the case, one way Mr. Chiasson’s lawyers plan to attack Mr. Adondakis’s credibility is by showing that he rarely shared confidential information with Mr. Chiasson. To that end, the defense plans to introduce nearly 1,000 e-mails sent by the analysts containing corporate information in which Mr. Chiasson was rarely listed as a recipient on the chain of messages.

Defense lawyers are likely to argue that Mr. Adondakis is someone who is an admitted criminal who never shared inside information with his boss. It was only after being caught did he offer up a prominent hedge fund manager in the hope of getting a significant reduction in his sentence.

The problem for Mr. Newman is that a few hundred of those e-mails included him as a recipient. Many were sent by an analyst at Diamondback who has also pleaded guilty to being Mr. Newman’s source of inside information.

To the extent the e-mails show Mr. Adondakis and others engaged in wrongdoing, they implicate Mr. Newman in the same criminal conduct. He could suffer some rather significant collateral damage if Mr. Chiasson argues that the e-mails are evidence of violations of the federal securities laws by Mr. Adondakis and his cohorts. The e-mails might hurt Mr. Newman’s case, but that is of little concern to Mr. Chiasson because it has become a situation of “every man for himself.”

To avoid this problem, Mr. Newman has asked a United States District Court judge, Richard J. Sullivan, to sever his case so that he is tried separately from Mr. Chiasson, or to bar his co-defendant from using the e-mails as part of his defense. Mr. Newman argues that the e-mails would not be admitted as evidence if he had a separate trial, and that they are potentially prejudicial to his case if the jury misuses them despite any instruction the judge might give to consider them only with regard to the charges against Mr. Chiasson.

Mr. Chiasson naturally opposes the proposal to preclude his lawyers from introducing the e-mails because they can support his position that Mr. Adondakis did not tip him by keeping secret any inside information he received.

Federal prosecutors have told the court they are sitting this one out by not taking a position in support of either defendant.

This is not the first time the defendants sought separate trials. In the summer, they asked Judge Sullivan to sever their cases because they were not part of a single conspiracy as alleged in the indictment but instead there were multiple agreements, sometimes called “hub and spoke” conspiracies. If they were not part of the same agreement, then it would be improper to try them together.

Judge Sullivan denied their motions without explanation, although the likely reason is that there is enough overlap in the evidence that a jury could find a single conspiracy and therefore it would be more efficient to conduct a joint trial.

With the trial scheduled to begin on Oct. 29, this latest motion presents a significant challenge. At this late date, ordering separate trials could mean substantial inconvenience for the government because prosecutors will have to reorganize their case to concentrate on only one defendant after preparing for a joint trial.

The court would face the prospect of two trials about the same basic set of facts, with some of the cooperating witnesses testifying twice about the same inside information. Any inconsistencies in their testimony will be fodder for cross-examination in the second case, potentially giving the defendant who is tried later an unfair advantage.

Keeping the defendants together for trial, however, means Judge Sullivan will have to figure out whether to admit the e-mail evidence that goes to the heart of Mr. Chiasson’s defense that he did not trade on inside information, or to keep it out to prevent the evidence from harming Mr. Newman’s case. If he does not grant Mr. Newman’s severance motion and the defendants are convicted, then one will have a significant issue to argue in an appeal.

US v Newman Opposition to Severance

US v Newman and Chiasson Indictment

This post has been revised to reflect the following correction:

This article has been updated to indicate that Todd Newman, a portfolio manager at Diamondback Capital Management, is no longer with the firm.","The insider trading charges against Anthony Chiasson, a co-founder of Level Global Investors, and Todd Newman, a former portfolio manager at Diamondback Capital Management, may end up with one implicating the other as part of a defense strategy."
"China’s in the news this morning for economic growth that’s not as bad as investors expected. But one of the most interesting features of my recent trip to Hong Kong and Singapore — not in the news today — was the incredible economic power of outflowing Chinese capital.

Capital flowed out of Hong Kong in anticipation of its handover to mainland China. But much of that capital returned when it became clear that the worst case scenario was not imminent — returning prices there near their all-time high. Last month, Singapore made it harder for foreigners to invest in its real estate market and one insider told me he thinks that law will cut real estate prices there 30%.

Why are wealthy Chinese so eager to get their money out of the country? It’s not hard to see — after all, thanks to the Internet, those wealthy Chinese know what’s going on in the rest of the world. For example, they know that Russian billionaires who run afoul of the government can lose everything overnight and end up in a cold prison cell.

Those wealthy Chinese also know that there are other countries — such as Canada and the U.S. – where members of their extended families can enjoy much greater political freedom and protection from the threat of a government takeover of their holdings.

And in China, that threat appears to worry the wealthy. According to NPR’s Morning Edition, Illinois is offering wealthy Chinese a green card in exchange for making a $500,000 investment in the U.S. I think this is a really clever way to make both parties better off — the U.S. gets capital to boost our economy and the wealthy Chinese get a safer place to park their money.

As one such wealthy Chinese told Morning Edition, working with the government is the key to getting rich in China. And if a wealthy investor has a falling out with the government, there’s a good chance that investor could lose his wealth and his freedom.

And as I pointed out in December, the Chinese government has no qualms about going into competition with a private company that’s achieved success. Such a move may have cost Goldman Sachs (GS) its $120 million investment in a nylon ingredient company there, Cathay Industrial Biotech.

But such intellectual property (IP) based investments do not appeal to Chinese investors. Above all, they value real estate as the best place to park their money. In China, parents want to buy homes for their children — and if they can afford it — their grandchildren as well.

But the Chinese investors are frustrated by the legal system there which does not allow them to own land. Instead, the Chinese government leases the land to its citizens and lets them purchase the property. And the threat of losing the lease on the land jeopardizes the investment.

Morning Edition interviewed a financial advisor to the wealthy in China, a Mr. Yang, who pointed out the perceived advantages of the U.S. for Chinese investors. In the U.S., investors can own the land and the home and can pass them onto their children.",Image via Wikipedia China's in the news this morning for economic growth that's not as bad as investors expected. But one of the most interesting features of my recent trip to Hong Kong and Singapore -- not in the news today -- was the incredible economic power of outflowing Chinese capital. Capital flowed out of [...]
"Quickly summarize what you do:

I am seeking positive narratives for Africa by connecting Africans, giving them visibility via a wonderful platform called Africa Gathering.

Do you have a website / blog?

www.mariemejamme.comWebsite you can't live without?

Hero or person who inspires you?

Nelson Mandela, Gandhi, Mother Teresa, Deborah Meaden

What is the purpose of the Africa Gathering? How is it encouraging others to make a positive impact?

We founded Africa Gathering to allow people to come and share their ideas about Africa. We wanted people to connect, share ideas, and learn from one another.

We see Africa differently so having this amazing platform gives every body interested in Africa to come and share their ideas under our historical palaver tree.

How important is access to information? Are societies with instant access to the Internet guilty of taking that for granted?

Accessing to information is extremely crucial; it's like drinking water every day in my view. Having access to both continents myself, I feel very privileged. I think in the West people indeed take quick and instant access to information for granted. We have noticed that in Africa for example demand to have access to information has increased. The African middle class is looking to connect with the rest of the world quickly, even the in the villages.

What is your take on the power of the mobile phone to improve people's lives? Can mobile revolutionise political engagement in Africa?

The mobile phone is becoming less of a luxury in Africa. People from remote villages of African people have now mobile phones to communicate and distribute information. Trough SMS they are getting information to change their communities, engage politically and make a difference. We have Internet in cities, SMS in villages, and software developers waiting to make something amazing.

What are the next steps being made to push development in Africa? How have the problems in Africa changed over the last 20 years?

This is an interesting question. Development is being redefined and re-invented in Africa. In the last 5 years I noticed that NGO are engaging better with communities, restructuring their position, learning from their mistakes and communicating what they are doing via the web. Social Media is playing a great role on international development for example. African problems are indeed changing due to the fact that African themselves are playing their roles by engaging, collaborating with their governments. They are also telling their own stories via blogs, forums etc..

What advice do you have to those wanting to promote transparency, better governance and make a difference through technology?

My advice for them is to engage with change makers across the continent. Africa is a progressive continent as you know; we have more CEOs, entrepreneurs, software developers, bloggers than ever. People are getting more connected, looking to engage via diverse routes. I think in order to promote transparency, governance in Africa our ways of engaging needs to change. We need to structure ourselves in order to avoid wasting time. People need to understand what good governance can do to change their lives. Transparency is talked about in Africa every day, but leaders in government are not educated enough to understand this. We need to show them or teach them. I know that The Tony Blair foundation is addressing this by talking to leaders in Rwanda, Sierra Leone for example. The Gates Foundation is giving grants to organisation so they can create educational platforms like the Guardian Global Development site and Allafrica.com.And finally, what can we expect from you at Activate?

I hope to share with people ideas that will make them see Africa differently, I also hope that I will be able to convinced them that engagement is key in the next 10 years either by investing, learning, from the people on the ground or simply by collaborating with people whom may have not got the financial resources, but have the passion to make a difference. We need more actions!","Mariéme gives advice to those wanting to promote transparency, better governance and make a difference through technology"
"Lindsay Lohan has suffered from asthma since childhood.

Lindsay Lohan is making a speedy recovery one day after being rushed to the hospital for what her mom says was a case of asthma.

""She's feeling better,"" Dina Lohan told the Daily News on Tuesday.

On Monday, Dina told the News her daughter's latest health problems were caused by a powdery substance - pollen.

""Lindsay had not been feeling well all last week following a week of high pollen counts in New York,"" she said. ""She has had bronchial asthma ever since she was little.""

Millions of people have seasonal allergies to pollen, a fine, powdery substance produced by plants, according to the Mayo Clinic. That allergic reaction is a common trigger for asthma.

Though asthma victims sometimes don't realize they are having an ongoing attack, confusing it with bronchitis or other respiratory ailments, by Sunday the 26-year-old's mother had put her foot down, claims a friend of the ""Liz & Dick"" star.

EARLIER: LINDSAY LOHAN RUSHED TO THE HOSPITAL

""Dina brought Lindsay to the hospital emergency room herself,"" the friend told The News.

""She's at Dina's home now, resting,"" the source added.

""Her mother is keeping a close eye on her. She's safe.""

Pollen counts in the city were rated at their highest levels by Weather.com in the days leading up to Lindsay's attack.

SEE IT: LINDSAY LOHAN'S COMEBACK VEHICLE 'LIZ & DICK' DEBUTS WITH FIRST TRAILER

Lindsay has suffered from asthma since she was a child.

In 1996, she was hospitalized on Martha's Vineyard during the filming of ""Parent Trap"" because of an asthmatic reaction to horses, to which she is allergic.

Her father said Monday Lohan’s asthma problems were once nearly life-threatening.

LOHAN TO SUE COOK WHO CLAIMS SHE WAS DRUNK DRIVING: REPORT

“She’s fine, but she had a bad case of asthma as a kid, so she has to take these things seriously,” Michael Lohan told the Daily News. “When she was a kid, we almost lost her a couple of times because of the asthma.”

The starlet’s health problems come amid more turbulent times for the actress.

She was charged last week with leaving the scene of the accident after allegedly bumping a man with her Porsche in Chelsea, though she has maintained she was not under the influence and is reportedly considering suing the “victim” for claiming she reeked of alcohol.","Lindsay Lohan’s mother says the starlet's latest health problems were caused by a powdery substance - pollen. ""Lindsay had not been feeling well all last week following a week of high pollen counts in New York,"" Dina Lohan told The Daily News. ""She has had bronchial asthma ever since she was little."""
"Donald Trump continued to push the contentious issue of Ted Cruz’s presidential eligibility on Friday, threatening that he has legal standing to sue Cruz for not being a “natural born citizen.”

“If @TedCruz doesn’t clean up his act, stop cheating, & doing negative ads, I have standing to sue him for not being a natural born citizen,” Trump posted on Twitter.

Does Trump really have grounds to sue Cruz? According to some legal experts, the answer is yes, but they’re divided on how a court would handle such a claim. The real estate mogul has previously raised questions about whether Cruz’s Canadian birth disqualifies him from being considered a natural born citizen, warning that Democrats might file a lawsuit to dispute Cruz’s presidential eligibility. Some voters have already filed suits against Cruz, but experts tend to agree that a suit filed by a rival candidate, such as Trump, would hold more weight.

“For standing, you have to have injury, and his injury would be that he could quite possibly lose votes that would go to Cruz that might’ve gone to him,” said Mary Brigid McManamon, a constitutional law professor at Delaware Law School. She said a voter’s claim is less significant because their injury is the same as that of everyone in the state.

Harvard law professor Laurence Tribe said Trump’s standing is plausible but not legally guaranteed.

“Its plausibility gets greater the closer we get to the point where it’s clear that Cruz himself (and not Cruz together with Bush, Kasich, Rubio, and perhaps others) is the real obstacle to Trump’s nomination and thus a clear source of concrete injury to Trump’s prospects for the Republican presidential nomination,” Tribe said in an email.

Both McManamon and Tribe have argued that Cruz is not a natural born citizen based on a strict interpretation of the Constitution and is, therefore, not eligible to be president. McManamon said Trump should win a suit if he chooses to bring one, but she’s cautious about predicting what a court would do.

“It would be interesting to see if a court would actually take it,” she said. “They really don’t want to be in the middle of a political hot potato.”

Jonathan Adler, a constitutional law professor at Case Western Reserve University, is skeptical that a court would touch the issue at all. He said Trump would likely file a suit in one state to try to get Cruz excluded from that state’s ballot.

“Whether or not he would have standing would ultimately depend on that state’s rules,” Adler said. “There are some courts who might say this is really a question for voters to determine.”

Adler, who has argued that Cruz is a natural born citizen, said he doesn’t see any basis for a claim brought in federal court, but he thinks Trump could argue injury at the state level.

“Trump has at least a more plausible claim of injury because he can claim that he lost votes because of one erroneous decision on ballot eligibility,” Adler said, adding that he doesn’t expect a suit would get very far.

“I happen to think that the best arguments on the merits support Cruz’s eligibility, but even apart from that, I just don’t see courts intervening on this sort of thing,” Adler said, noting that Trump would be fighting an uphill battle. “I mean, he’s done crazier things, so we’ll see.”",But they're divided on how a court would handle it
"A law adopting statewide high school exams for graduation took effect in Pennsylvania on Saturday, with the goal of ensuring that students leaving high school are prepared for college and the workplace. But critics say the requirement has been so watered down that it is unlikely to have major impact.

Matt Biers-Ariel helped prepare his students at Winters High School in California for the state's high school exit exam.

The situation in Pennsylvania mirrors what has happened in many of the 26 states that have adopted high school exit exams. As deadlines approached for schools to start making passage of the exams a requirement for graduation, and practice tests indicated that large numbers of students would fail, many states softened standards, delayed the requirement or added alternative paths to a diploma.

People who have studied the exams, which affect two-thirds of the nation’s public school students, say they often fall short of officials’ ambitious goals.

“The real pattern in states has been that the standards are lowered so much that the exams end up not benefiting students who pass them while still hurting the students who fail them,” said John Robert Warren, an expert on exit exams and a professor of sociology at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities.

“The exams are just challenging enough to reduce the graduation rate,” Professor Warren added, “but not challenging enough to have measurable consequences for how much students learn or for how prepared they are for life after high school.”

In 2008, state officials in Alabama, Arizona and Washington delayed the start of the exit exam requirement and lowered standards after seeing that many students, including a disproportionate number of minorities, would fail the tests.

Many states have faced lawsuits over the proposed requirements amid accusations that the tests are unfair to students with disabilities, non-native speakers of English and students attending schools with fewer educational resources.

These concerns have been bolstered by recent studies that indicate that the exams lead to increased dropout rates by one or two percentage points.

But proponents say that with the decline in manufacturing and the growth of the information economy, higher educational standards are needed to reinforce the value of a high school diploma. The exams, they argue, give school districts better incentives to succeed and ensure that no one will graduate without documented skills in specific subjects.

“Momentum is definitely still moving in favor of states’ adopting these exit exams,” said John F. Jennings, the president of the Center on Education Policy, which publishes annual reports on high school exit exams.

Mr. Jennings added that this momentum was likely to grow next month when the National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers, which represents state school superintendents, are to release a common core of state standards in English-language arts and mathematics for kindergarten through Grade 12. Federal officials have set aside $350 million for states to create tests that correspond to the new national standards, and Mr. Jennings said there was a good chance that states would consider adopting these new tests for their exit exams.

Despite criticism of exit exams, some experts say that schools have benefited from them. Surveys indicate that teachers say the tests have brought clearer guidelines on curriculum, which they find helpful. And after the exam grades begin to count, students often start taking them more seriously, which causes passage rates to increase, Mr. Jennings said.

Gerald L. Zahorchak, the secretary of education in Pennsylvania, is a strong advocate for the state’s new tests, which will be phased in over the next five years.

“I want more than anything to be able to say with confidence that every Pennsylvania student who receives a diploma is ready for the real world,” Dr. Zahorchak said.

He added that in 2007-8, more than 20,000 public high school graduates who enrolled in a public higher education institution required some form of remedial help, with a total cost to taxpayers, students and parents in excess of $26 million.

Nonetheless, responding to fervent opposition from legislators, teachers unions and advocates for parents who feared a loss of local control, Pennsylvania opted in October to allow school districts to substitute their own versions of the exit exams, with state approval, and to give students who fail multiple times alternative paths to graduation.

The rules in Pennsylvania require students to pass at least four courses, with the end-of-course exams counting for a third of the course grade. If students fail an exam or a section of an exam, they will have two chances to retake it. If they cannot pass after that, they have the option of doing a subject-specific project that is approved by district officials.","On the way to creating a statewide exit test for graduation, many states have softened standards, delayed the requirement or added alternative paths to a high school diploma."
"Many mass circulation magazines that already have regional editions have instituted demographic editions. Some of these are designed to attract advertisers wishing to reach the higher-income, bettereducated crowd, either in society generally or in business particularly.

In other words, the audience already being reached by such publications as The New Yorker, Scientific American and Forbes.

Among the ways those three are fighting back is by challenging the audience claims of the demographic editions. That is, they are insisting that the Audit Bureau of Circulations require that publishers statements include separate data on demo editions.

The ABC board has been resisting, so the three publications ran a couponed ad last December in Advertising Age intended to solicit the attitudes of agency people on the issue. An independent auditor reported that 75 of the 76 responding executives called for such a publishers statement. The finding was transmitted by telegram to all members of the ABC board, who meet this week in San Juan. Having noted the count of respondents, the wire asks, ''What else constitutes substantial support for such audits?''

ABC publisher's statements let advertisers know about the quality of a magazine's circulation, where it comes from and how it was obtained. This is very important in judging the kind of audience advertisers are paying to reach.","Many mass circulation magazines that already have regional editions have instituted demographic editions. Some of these are designed to attract advertisers wishing to reach the higher-income, bettereducated crowd, either in society generally or in business particularly."
"A police cruiser was left running with the keys inside Friday morning when it was stolen by a man who crashed it into a Starbucks, a light pole and another car on La Brea Avenue, officials said.

The 25-year-old man was in critical condition after losing at least one leg. Officials had originally said he lost both legs, but later said they weren't sure if it was one or two.

The incident began about 4 a.m. when Los Angeles Police Department officers responded to a robbery at the Motor Inn Motel in the 3000 block of South La Brea Avenue, where an unidentified man jumped into the unattended cruiser and drove off, said Sgt. Jon Pinto of the LAPD's Southwest division.

The suspect sped north on La Brea, where he ultimately crashed into a light pole, another car and a Starbucks at San Vicente Boulevard, totalling the cruiser. He was taken to a hospital and lost at least one leg, Pinto said. No other injuries were reported.Barricades were set up about a block in each direction of the accident, police said.""We train our officers to always keep their vehicles secure because of the weapons and the equipment we have inside,"" Pinto said. ""Sometimes, there are exigent circumstances, where it might be unsecured for a short period of time because we want to enter an emergency situation.""

Deputy U.S. marshal indicted in off-duty fatal shooting

Video of LAPD body-slamming woman disturbing, chief says

More cases of hantavirus at Yosemite; some camp cabins closed

Follow Melissa Leu on Twitter and Google+.

Photo: Los Angeles police investigate at the scene after a man stole a police car and smashed into a Starbucks on La Brea Avenue in Los Angeles. Credit: Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times","A police cruiser was left running with the keys inside Wednesday morning when it was stolen by a man who crashed it into a Starbucks, a light pole and another car on La Brea Avenue, police said."
"Sarah Reid of Canada starts a run during the women's skeleton at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics at Sliding Center Sanki, Feb. 14, 2014, in Sochi, Russia.

Canada's John Fairbairn leaves after competing in the men's skeleton at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics, Feb. 14, 2014, at the Sanki Sliding Center in Sochi, Russia.

Leide Preidulena of Latvia completes a run during the women's skeleton final at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics at Sliding Center Sanki, Feb. 14, 2014, in Sochi, Russia.

Noelle Pikus-Pace of the United States competes a run during the women's skeleton at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics at Sliding Center Sanki, Feb. 14, 2014, in Sochi, Russia.

Eric Neilson of Canada reacts after competing a run during the men's skeleton at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics at Sliding Center Sanki, Feb. 14, 2014, in Sochi, Russia.

Marion Thees of Germany finishes a run during the women's skeleton at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics at Sliding Center Sanki, Feb. 14, 2014, in Sochi, Russia.

Ben Sandford of New Zealand competes a run during the men's skeleton at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics at Sliding Center Sanki, Feb. 14, 2014, in Sochi, Russia.

Alexandros Kefalas of Greece competes a run during the men's skeleton at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics at Sliding Center Sanki, Feb. 14, 2014, in Sochi, Russia.

Ander Mirambell of Spain starts a run during the men's skeleton at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics at Sliding Center Sanki, Feb. 14, 2014, in Sochi, Russia.

Sean Greenwood of Ireland competes a run during the men's skeleton at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics at Sliding Center Sanki, Feb. 14, 2014, in Sochi, Russia.

John Daly of the United States competes a run during the men's skeleton at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics at Sliding Center Sanki, Feb. 14, 2014, in Sochi, Russia.

Matthias Guggenberger of Austria competes a run during the men's skeleton heats at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics at Sliding Center Sanki, Feb. 14, 2014, in Sochi, Russia.

Mellisa Hollingsworth of Canada makes a run during the women's skeleton at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics at Sliding Center Sanki, Feb. 13, 2014, in Sochi, Russia.

Janine Flock of Austria makes a run during the women's skeleton at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics at Sliding Center Sanki, Feb. 13, 2014, in Sochi, Russia.

Lucy Chaffer of Australia reacts as she finishes a run during the women's skeleton at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics at Sliding Center Sanki, Feb. 13, 2014, in Sochi, Russia.",Olympians wear wacky helmets down the skeleton course.
"President Xi Jinping might become one of the most consequential leaders in Chinese history. In a rare concentration of power, Xi is the country’s military chief, president, and the leader of the Chinese Communist Party. When Parliament elected Xi in 2012, he won 99.87% of the vote—only four out of 3,000 members voted against him.

But Mao Zedong, the “father” of the People’s Republic of China, and Deng Xiaoping, the architect of the country’s capitalist economy, still overshadow Xi. His legacy remains uncertain as China’s recent economic turmoil and the Tianjin explosions reveal potential problems for his governance.

Watch the video above to learn about China’s leaders through history.",He is one of the most powerful leaders in modern Chinese history
"Percy Sledge’s first and best-known song - a No 1 in the US and Canada, and top 5 in the UK in two decades - might have proved an albatross for a lesser talent. But it was to his credit – and testament to the strength of his debut – that he managed to parlay a successful career beyond that single and not get dwarfed by the enormous shadow that it cast.

The first few moments are all about the organ, the heartbeat bass line and the churchy, gospel feel of the chords. As intros go, it’s as striking as anything in 60s pop – so striking, in fact, that Procol Harum were inspired by it in the creation of their own signature anthem, A Whiter Shade Of Pale. Sledge acknowledged the impact of his song on the progress of prog rock when he covered A Whiter Shade himself. The only wonder was that it didn’t cause a Blurred Lines/Marvin Gaye-style legal meltdown at the time.

Sledge’s second single - and second-biggest hit, reaching No 17 in the US - also pleaded, “Take me to church”. But it was a prime slice of secular yearning as much as it was steeped in the gospel, a quintessential example of original R&B, all fervour and grit, the antithesis of the shiny hi-tech dance music made under that soubriquet today. The singer was only 24 at the time of this performance but he seemed much older, and even in this song of devotion there is a subtextual sadness that suggests he suspects his ardour will not be reciprocated. Possibly why here, and on many of his songs, Sledge sounds on the verge of tears.

On his third hit (No 20 in the US) he does cry, or at least he admits that he will in the lyrics, because he’s just seen his girl with his back-stabbing best friend. Co-written by Dan Penn (whose songs include The Dark End of the Street and The Letter), it is tailor-made for Sledge, bleeding dolour from every vocal sob, doomed never to have his love requited in this “cold, cold world” where he feels “like I’m dyin’”. Penn may not have known, but Sledge’s girlfriend ditched him in real life to become a model after he was laid off from a construction job in late 1965, ahead of his recording career, but even if he had no idea, his song perfectly suited Sledge, the King of Pain.

His fifth single (which just scraped the American top 50) was another heartfelt ballad, this one featuring on the soundtrack to Tom Cruise movie The Color of Money – Sledge had an “afterlife” in the 80s thanks to Levi jeans, who used When a Man Loves a Woman in an ad campaign. This one had the hymnal quality of most of his best work, albeit with a hint of light as he meets a woman “out of nowhere”, and this time the relationship doesn’t seem illusory, destined to fail or fated to not happen at all.

It is a suitable case for forensic scrutiny: which occurs more frequently in the pop canon, male or female betrayal? Certainly in Sledge’s oeuvre, it is usually the woman doing the man wrong. This one replicates the descending chord sequence of When a Man and revisits the tragically faithless scenario of It Tears Me Up. Here, the woman of his dreams becomes his wife only to find her with another man after the wedding, and all because he didn’t heed his mother’s warning: “she was bad”. Sledge sang the blues in his songs, and in doing so turned them into classics of southern soul. Recorded at the burgeoning Muscle Shoals studio in Alabama, released on Atlantic records, they remain piquant peaks of unbridled passion and searing sorrow.","We all know When A Man Loves A Woman, but there was more to the southern soul singer with the searing voice, who has died aged 73"
"The reason for the press conference was to announce that he had raised at least $5.6 million for vets, but Trump spent almost a full hour directing his invective at the press corps at Trump Tower in New York.

At one point, he was asked if this is how he planned to conduct himself if he won the White House and Trump said you better believe it.

""You think I'm gonna change? I'm not gonna change,"" Trump said.

The news conference comes four months after Trump first announced he had raised $6 million -- including $1 million of his own money -- for veterans causes during a fundraiser he hosted instead of attending a GOP primary debate in January in Iowa.

Trump repeatedly blasted the media for the way it has covered his fundrasing for vets.

""All of the money has been paid out,"" Trump said. ""The press should be ashamed of themselves, and on behalf of the veterans, the press should be ashamed of themselves.""

""There are so many people who are so thankful for what we did,"" Trump said, adding that the final figure could top $6 million once all the donations are in.

""I'm totally accountable, but I didn't want to have credit for it,"" he added.

Trump listed the vets groups -- there were more than 40 -- that he said had received money and the amounts that had been given to each. He said there were no administrative costs deducted from the donations.

Trump revised that figure recently to $5.5 million following months of questions from reporters struggling to track the funds and dodging on the exact amount from the Trump campaign.

Trump himself disbursed his $1 million pledge last week to the Marine Corps-Law Enforcement Foundation, a charity that helps support the families of fallen Marines and law enforcement officers to which Trump's foundation has previously donated.

Amid reporters' questions, Trump and his campaign have repeatedly offered conflicting accounts of how much money was raised and declined multiple requests to provide a full accounting. The campaign has insisted it was working on disbursing the funds, but said it was waiting on some donors to make good on their pledges and also needed to properly vet the charities in the running to receive the funds.

""Why should I give you records?"" Trump told The Washington Post in an interview earlier this month. ""I don't have to give you records.""

As reporters' inquiries dogged Trump, the billionaire has lashed out at the media, accusing them of twisting what should be a positive story.

Three veterans groups earlier Tuesday confirmed donations from the Trump Foundation. The Bob Woodruff Foundation and the Boston Wounded Vets Run each confirmed donations of $75,000 apiece. The Racing For Heroes Foundation also received what the group's president described as a ""large"" donation.

Hillary Clinton's campaign on Tuesday morning fired off a statement tweaking Trump over his accounting of the donations amid a multi-pronged push to counter Trump's news conference.","Donald Trump went on a sustained frontal assault against the media Tuesday, repeatedly calling out reporters as sleazy and dishonest."
"04/30/2015 AT 08:30 PM EDT

is racing to find a cure for Sanfilippo Syndrome.

star will wake up in darkness and begin a

through Bear Mountain, New York, on behalf of

, a non-profit formed by one of

's crew members whose child was diagnosed with Sanfilippo.

Miller's goal is to raise funds and awareness for the ultra rare disease, which can cause brain damage, bone deformities and organ failure, and often dramatically shortens the lives of children – many of whom don't live beyond their teenage years.

""There's not enough being done for these kids right now,"" Miller, 42, tells PEOPLE.

So he runs with an incredibly powerful motivator: ""They're little kids, and they're families, and what's more important than that?""

Happily for Miller, his hobby also happens to be heroic: ""I'm lucky to be able to do this,"" he says. ""I love running. What I'm trying to do in a small way is try and eke what benefit I can out of a small thing.""

He notes, ""This is the way we often find ourselves helping people out – [the opportunity is] right there in front of you, and you say, 'I can do this right now, this is how I can contribute in my own way.' ""

An avid runner and sports enthusiast, Miller completed several marathons before escalating his training to tackle a 50-mile ultramarathon in 2013 because he was ""really interested in what humans are capable of and what I was capable of – pushing, testing myself.""

Miller, who has also finished multiple 100-miles races for Jonah's Just Begun, says mental commitment is his secret weapon as a runner. ""You decide that you're going to finish. Once you've done that, there's nothing really that can stop you. ... Once you're at the start line, really, it's over.""

nearly $200,000 for this race alone, Miller is most proud of the personal side of his efforts: ""One impact is the families just realizing that somebody's listening. It can mean a great deal to the families who are coping with this. It's a devastatingly bleak situation to find yourself in where there's no cure for your child, their life expectancy is short and there seems to be nothing happening.""

By running and speaking to Congress, he hopes ""to fuel the fire of that research and keep money coming in.""

After he finishes one marathon this weekend, Miller has a little more ground to cover professionally as

heads toward its season 3 finish line on May 14.

He offered this tease for Sherlock Holmes: ""The biggest challenge [is that] he faces someone from his past whom he really dislikes who has a grip on him. His dark past rears its ugly head, and he has to really face that head-on in order to help a friend of his. He's faced with some difficult personal choices.""

airs Thursdays (10 p.m. ET) on CBS. Donations for Jonah's Just Begun can be made",The actor readies for an ultramarathon to help cure Sanfilippo Syndrome and teases the Elementary finale
"I didn’t realise it until after he died – for whatever reason, I’d just never done the mental arithmetic – but Leonard Nimoy is responsible for the single most transformative moment of my life. In a very tangible way, Leonard Nimoy saved me.

Of course, I have all the standard emotional attachments to the man as an actor and cultural icon: I grew up on Star Trek reruns and the ensuing films (when you’re done here, please sign my Change.org petition to get my fiance to wear Spock’s Voyage Home wizard bathrobe at our wedding); I used to watch The Ballad of Bilbo Baggins about 7,000 times every weekend, before I had to quit smoking pot because I convinced myself that I could “walk backwards through time”; and, in all seriousness, as a human being who believes in things – in love and humanity and the thrill of consciousness – it’s impossible not to be awestruck at the existence of such a principled, kind, talented, ravenously curious polymath.

Related: The Full Body Project by Leonard Nimoy – in pictures

But it’s one particular area of Nimoy’s art and activism that, for me, transcended appreciation and actually changed my life, and I’m surprised by how few people in my circle know about it. In 2007, Nimoy published a collection of photographs he titled The Full Body Project. The photos are in black and white, and they feature a group of women laughing, smiling, embracing, gazing fearlessly into the camera. In one, they sway indolently like the Three Graces; in another they recreate Herb Ritts’s iconic pile of supermodels. The women are naked, and the women are fat.

When Nimoy’s photos took their first brief viral trip around the internet, I clicked, I skimmed, I shrugged, I clicked away.

I couldn’t stop looking. It was the first time in my life – I realise in retrospect – that I’d seen bodies like mine honoured instead of lampooned, presented with dignity instead of scorn, displayed as objects of beauty instead of as punchlines. It feels bizarre to put myself back in that headspace now (and even more bizarre to register just how recent it was), but looking at Nimoy’s photographs was my very first exposure to the concept that my body was just as deserving of autonomy and respect as any thin body. Not only that, but my bigness is powerful.

Up until that point, I conceived of myself as an unfinished thing – a life suspended until I could fix what was wrong with me. It’s how fat people are conditioned to feel: you’re not a person, you’re a before picture. You have no present and no future; you’re trapped for ever in a shameful past. As a woman, the shame is compounded, because women have an aesthetic duty, too.

Nimoy described the shoot in his artist statement:

I asked them to be proud, which was a condition they took to easily, quite naturally. Having completed the compositions that were initially planned, I then asked them to play some music that they had brought with them, and they quickly responded to the rhythms, dancing in a free-form circular movement in the space ... In these pictures, these women are proudly wearing their own skin. They respect themselves and I hope that my images convey that to others

Unsurprisingly, friends of mine who have shared Nimoy’s Full Body Project on social media in the wake of his death have found their accounts suspended and their content deleted. It’s a testament to how necessary and radical Nimoy’s statement “I asked them to be proud” really is – how can we expect fat people to be proud when the mere existence of our bodies is classified as an obscenity? How can you even begin to see us as human beings if our physical presence in the world is offensive? (Meanwhile, I’ve reported violently racist and misogynist Facebook groups, graphic photos of mutilated corpses, and trolls calling for my rape and death, and been told that it’s all well within Facebook’s terms of service. It’s telling, I think, that even dead women are preferable to fat women.)

Related: Zachary Quinto: Leonard Nimoy was like a father to me

Though he was decades behind the pioneers of fat acceptance (and a straight white male saviour is always fraught), for me, Nimoy’s Full Body Project was the first piece of media that told me I had any intrinsic value. Denying people access to value is an incredibly insidious form of emotional violence, one that our culture wields aggressively and liberally to keep marginalised groups small and quiet. Everything in my life – my career, my relationships, my health, my bank account, my sleep schedule, my wardrobe – has got better since I began fighting that paradigm. I live long, and I prosper. Thank you, Leonard.",The late actor’s Full Body Project was bold and radical. It was the first time I’d seen women like me presented as objects of beauty instead of punchlines
"Odds are Greece and its international creditors will strike some sort of deal to avoid default before a deadline looming at the end of June.

The bigger question is whether Greece will emerge from a new bailout any better able to grow, and thus support its debts, than it did from prior deals.

Alone among the countries at the center of the...","Capital Account: Chief economics commentator Greg Ip looks at why Greece, even if it avoids default at the end of June, is likely to continue struggling."
"updated 10:08 AM EDT, Mon July 1, 2013

Pretoria, South Africa (CNN) -- The former wife of Nelson Mandela visited him Sunday in the hospital where the ailing anti-apartheid icon is clinging to life, the South African Press Association reported.

Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, who was married to the former South African president from 1958 to 1996, described what it's like to see her former husband of 38 years struggle to live in an exclusive interview with UK network ITV News.

""It is extremely painful to see him going through what he's going through now. But it's God's wish,"" Winnie Mandela told ITV.

Nelson Mandela, 94, remains in critical but stable condition at a Pretoria hospital where he has been battling a recurring lung infection since June 8.

Opinion: In an African slum, talking to Mandela

Crowds gather to support Mandela

Crowds gather to support Mandela

Crowds gather to support Mandela

Crowds gather to support Mandela

Crowds gather to support Mandela

Crowds gather to support Mandela

Crowds gather to support Mandela

Crowds gather to support Mandela

Crowds gather to support Mandela

Crowds gather to support Mandela

Crowds gather to support Mandela

Crowds gather to support Mandela

Crowds gather to support Mandela

Crowds gather to support Mandela

Crowds gather to support Mandela

Crowds gather to support Mandela

His condition worsened last week with family members saying his health was ""delicate"" and ""anything is imminent."" But daughter Zindzi Mandela told ITV between hospital visits that her father is alert and recognizes when a new person enters his hospital room.

""The one time he did speak was to tell my mom to sit down ... because she was standing at the edge of his bed,"" she said, laughing.

As his condition has deteriorated, South Africans have gathered outside the hospital, praying, lighting candles and leaving notes for the man they refer to as ""tata,"" the Xhosa word for father. Those tributes continued Sunday as a Salvation Army band played hymns near the hospital and well-wishers gathered to be close to their beloved Madiba.

Winnie Mandela shot down any suggestion that the family was discussing whether to end life support.

""It was nonsense to suggest we needed to take a decision to pull the tubes,"" she told ITV.

Obama challenges students to follow Mandela legacy

Mandela became an international figure while enduring 27 years in prison for fighting against apartheid, the country's system of racial segregation. He was elected the nation's first black president in 1994, four years after he was freed. Even as he has faded from the spotlight, he remains popular and is considered a hero of democracy worldwide.

The front page of South Africa's Sunday Times earlier this month carried the headline ""It's time to let him go,"" quoting a longtime friend of the former president as saying the time may have come for South Africans to say goodbye.

""Once the family releases him, the people of South Africa will follow. We will say thank you, God, you have given us this man, and we will release him too,"" friend Andrew Mlangeni told the paper.

But Zindzi Mandela told ITV that what happens now is out of the family's hands.

""When people say the family must let go, and we say let go of what? In fact he is deciding what's happening with himself. It's between him and his maker. It's not to do with us whatsoever,"" she said.

CNN's Faith Karimi and Samira Said contributed to this report.

Part of complete coverage on

updated 6:28 AM EDT, Wed June 26, 2013

Messages outside a Pretoria hospital describe the fear and resignation felt by many that Mandela may not be with them much longer.

updated 11:09 AM EDT, Thu June 13, 2013

CNN's Christiane Amanpour looks at how not just South Africans keep a close eye on Nelson Mandela's condition.

updated 9:48 PM EDT, Wed June 26, 2013

Browse through intimate images of Nelson Mandela, including the earliest known photograph believed to be taken in 1938.

updated 11:22 AM EDT, Mon June 24, 2013

While the world calls him Mandela, the man considered to be the founder of South Africa's democracy is known by a number of other names.

updated 9:55 AM EDT, Sun June 30, 2013

Mandela was incarcerated at maximum-security Robben Island Prison. Look through photos of where the former leader spent 18 years.

updated 2:43 PM EDT, Tue June 18, 2013

Nadia Bilchik: Mandela's profound lack of bitterness after 27 years of prison informed his life.

updated 1:54 PM EDT, Thu June 27, 2013

Visitors to South Africa can retrace many of Mandela's most significant moments, among them his release from prison 23 years ago.

updated 8:03 AM EDT, Tue April 30, 2013

Errol Barnett visits Nelson Mandela's home town to find out how his upbringing helped shape the future of a nation.

updated 12:08 PM EST, Thu November 8, 2012

When South Africans open their wallets, they will be greeted by images of a smiling Nelson Mandela in various denominations.

updated 12:45 PM EDT, Wed July 18, 2012

To mark Nelson Mandela's 94th birthday on July 18, 2012, we asked what the former South African president means to you.

updated 8:39 AM EST, Fri January 11, 2013

South African singer Lebo M. on being handpicked to work on ""The Lion King.""

updated 5:46 PM EDT, Tue July 17, 2012

CNN's Robyn Curnow talks to former President Bill Clinton about his memories and friendship with Nelson Mandela.

updated 1:28 PM EDT, Mon July 16, 2012

An inside look at ""The Mandela Portrait,"" a musical arrangement in tribute to Nelson Mandela's legacy.",The former wife of Nelson Mandela visited him Sunday in the hospital where the ailing 94-year-old anti-apartheid icon is clinging to life.
"The troubled California gunman who killed six people last spring had plotted his murderous rampage for more than a year and practiced by stabbing pillows, according to a new sheriff’s department report.

Elliot Rodger, a misogynistic 22-year-old virgin, killed a half-dozen people and wounded 14 others before fatally shooting himself in the head in Isla Vista, Calif.

Rodger, the son of a Hollywood filmmaker, twice canceled his murderous plans, according to the report.

But on May 23, 2014, he went through with the heinous act, writing in his journal: “This is it. In one hour I will have my revenge on this cruel world. I HATE YOU ALLLL! DIE.”

The Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office released a 64-page report Thursday summarizing the results of its investigation into Rodger’s killing spree.

The loner had spent hours poring over Internet searches for ways to kill with a knife.

He stabbed to death his first three victims, one of them 94 times, using two long fixed-blade weapons, including a nearly 9-inch boar hunting knife.

The bloody ambush left roommates James Hong and Weihan “David” Wang, both 20, and a visiting friend, George Chen, 19, dead.

According to the report, stab and slash marks on a fitted sheet and several pillows suggest Rodger rehearsed his actions and he searched online for “quiet silent kill with a knife.”

In a preface to the report, Sheriff Bill Brown wrote that Rodger “clearly suffered from significant mental illness that ultimately resulted in homicidal and suicidal rage.”

The disturbed man was armed with three legally purchased handguns and more than 400 rounds of ammunition when he raced through Isla Vista and gunned down two women outside a sorority and then killed a sixth person.

The spree followed a video posted by Rodger, where he warned that he would slaughter those with a good life — especially women who shunned him, leaving him a 22-year-old virgin, authorities said.

He also left a 137-page manifesto in which he detailed his life — and his disappointments with his family and women.

The families of Hong, Wang and Chen have criticized the sheriff’s office for not telling them how the killings were carried out, and said they are angered by public health and legal systems that they said value the rights of the mentally ill, including Rodger, over those who may become their victims.

“It’s Chinese New Year today and that is the most important day in the Chinese calendar,” said attorney Todd Becker. “All of our clients are of Chinese descent and it’s really an inappropriate day for this information to be released by the sheriff’s department.”

Becker said the families, upon learning of the impending release, had asked sheriff’s officials to delay for the holiday.

But the shooter’s father, Peter Rodger, said in a statement he has “nothing but respect” for how investigators did their jobs and treated his family after the release of the report.

Santa Barbara County sheriff’s deputies also came under fire for not searching Rodger’s apartment for weapons during a welfare check weeks earlier when his parents became concerned about his postings on YouTube.

The incident led to California enacting the nation’s first law allowing family members to ask a judge to remove firearms from a relative who appears to pose a threat.

Lawmakers also bolstered firearm safety and added rules for ammunition sales.

ON A MOBILE DEVICE? CLICK HERE TO WATCH VIDEO.","Elliot Rodger, the California gunman who killed six people, spent more than a year planning the attack, police said."
"When Council Brandon was in fifth grade, she found herself cornered into a bathroom stall by the ‘mean girls’ of her school, who told her she wasn’t pretty and needed a makeover.

Council, 14, who lives in Hartford, Conn., said the torment didn’t stop - and she ended up skipping to sixth grade in hopes the older kids would be nicer.

“I wasn’t afraid to show my knowledge in school, and I was not afraid to grow as a learner – they weren’t used to that,” Council said of her middle school peers. “Also, I was the only (Caucasian) person in my grade, so I wasn’t interested in the same music they were, or the same pop culture they were used to.”

Council’s experiences are not unique, which is why she decided to become involved in – and co-host – the radio show “Bullied: Teen Stories From Generation PRX.”

The show was created by Generation PRX and produced by WNPR, Connecticut Public Radio. A grant from the Motorola Mobility Foundation helped with funding.

Jake Shapiro, CEO of PRX, an online distribution marketplace for public radio programs, said when he saw the topic of bullying emerging into the media, he knew his organization was in a position to make sure these young people’s voices were heard.

Generation PRX is an initiative of the company aimed at connecting youth radio with radio programs. The initiative has tackled important issues affecting young adults all over the country, such as immigration and high school dropouts.

“Bullied” is being featured on several different radio stations across the country, and it can be found streaming online here at www.prx.org

A nationally conducted study found that approximately 30 percent of students are involved in bullying - as either the bully, the victim or both.

However, bullying often goes unreported, said Jennifer Hartstein, a child and adolescent psychologist with a private practice in New York City.

Hartstein, who is not involved in the radio show, said in the past, bullying typically occurred at school – but with today’s technology, bullying has expanded to social networks and YouTube, so students don’t feel safe in their own homes.

“Bullying occurs in a much more public forum now, promoting the conversation,” Hartstein said. “Unfortunately, people think that it is a ‘rite of passage’ of childhood.”

Bullying has lead to a few highly-publicized cases of tragedy. Phoebe Prince, a 15-year-old high school student from Massachusetts, committed suicide in January 2010 after enduring verbal attacks from several of her classmates. Eden Wormer, a 14-year-old student from Vancouver, Wash., killed herself Wednesday after relentless bullying.

Council, along with her co-host, 17-year-old Peython Echelson-Russell, worked with producers to evaluate dozens of story pitches sent from teens around the country, writing the scripts, interviewing experts and telling stories.

“I think what’s exciting about it is that it gives the young people a direct channel for expression around this critical topic, as opposed to being mediated through adults,” Shapiro said. “We think it’s important in the mix to have a direct channel and voice – it’s very powerful when done through audio in storytelling.”

One of the show’s vignettes was produced by Iris SanGiovanni, a 17-year-old junior at South Portland High School in Portland, Maine.

Iris, who regularly participates in Blunt Youth Radio, came up with the idea of “Psychology of a Bully” because she wondered how a bully was different from a ‘normal’ person.

“At any point in our lives, we’ve all been a bully – so what sets us apart from someone who does this habitually?” Iris wondered.

Iris admitted when she was younger, she was cruel to a boy in elementary school – for no real reason – and that got her thinking: Why did she do that to him? What made her stop? She wanted to answer those questions.

Iris interviewed Cynthia Erdley, a professor of psychology at the University of Maine at Orono, who said bullies often act out to elevate their social status.

Erdley also said a bully’s behavior is often reinforced – especially because bystanders don’t say or do anything to stop the bad behavior.

“It can even be ignoring what the bully is doing and letting it happen – that gives the bully power,” Erdley said.

Iris also spoke to Alice, a former bully from Casco Bay High School in Maine, whose last name has been withheld for privacy reasons.

In the vignette, Alice speaks of kicking a girl out of her clique and then pulling the girl’s pants down around her ankles in front of everyone.

Alice explains she did this because as a newcomer to America, she had felt targeted, and she also didn’t have the happiest home.

“Many of the outcomes of the victims are similar to those of bullies,” Erdley said. “Bullies are not happy people; they have lower self-esteem.”

Other vignettes in the show include an interview with a ninth-grader whose classmates repeatedly called him “Osama,” a Swedish teenager who talked about her bullying issues, and an Alaskan middle schooler who looked at whether anti-bullying initiatives in schools actually work.

Hartstein said she believes bullies do have the ability to change their behavior “in meaningful ways.”

“The first step, as with all things, is being aware of the behavior, learning why you engage in it and deciding to change it,” she said. “Everyone can learn to do this, including children and teens. It’s important to get them to start examining their behaviors and learning how to be kinder and more compassionate. The earlier we can work on this, the better it will be down the road.”",Teens from across the country are speaking up and confronting bullying on a radio show called “Bullied: Teen Stories From Generation PRX”
"The Capitol dome, the nation’s grandest symbol of federal authority, has been dinged by years of inclement weather, and its exterior is in need of repair.

The dome has 1,300 known cracks and breaks. Water that has seeped in over the years has caused rusting on the ornamentation and staining on the interior of the Rotunda, just feet below the fresco “The Apotheosis of Washington,” which is painted on the Rotunda’s canopy.

Like most of what the federal government is on the hook to fix — highways, bridges and airports — the dome is imperiled both by tough economic times and by a politically polarized Congress. While Senate appropriators have voted to repair the dome, which has not undergone major renovations for 50 years, their House counterparts say there is not money right now. In that way, the dome is a metaphor for the nation’s decaying infrastructure.

“The dome needs comprehensive rehabilitation,” said Stephen T. Ayers, the architect of the Capitol, whose office oversees the building’s physical state. “It’s a public safety issue.”

The skirt of the dome — the section around the base of the original sandstone foundation — was fixed up recently at a cost of about $20 million, but an additional $61 million is needed to repair and restore the rest of the structure’s exterior.

The Senate Appropriations Committee voted just before Congress left for its August recess to provide the money.

“I support funding the Capitol dome,” said Senator John Hoeven, Republican of North Dakota, who voted against an appropriations bill because it did not include money for the dome. (The money was included moments later in an amendment, which passed with Mr. Hoeven’s vote.)

The appropriators in the Republican-controlled House are starting with a smaller overall budget for the 2013 fiscal year than the Democratic-controlled Senate, and they want to finance much of the government’s operations at lower levels.

Senate leaders have decided that it would be too difficult to reconcile the two appropriations bills, as is normally done, until after the election.

That means Congress will have to pass a short-term spending bill — the sort that set off the fight that almost shut down the government last year — and it most likely will not include more money for repairs.

“This is not a ‘bridge to nowhere’ we’re talking about here,” said Senator Charles E. Schumer of New York, the leader of the Senate Rules Committee, which oversees the architect’s office. “This is basic upkeep to the United States Capitol building. There is a time and place to debate spending levels and the proper role of the federal government, but when your house has a leaky roof, you pay to fix the roof.”

The history of the dome has been marked by cost overruns and construction problems.

The Capitol’s first dome, made of copper-covered wood, was completed in 1824 but by the 1850s was deemed too small. It was also seen as a fire hazard in a place where oil lamps, British attacks and other events had caused blazes. A cast-iron replacement was envisioned, and lawmakers, thrilled with the idea, appropriated $100,000 to begin construction, with the acquiescence of President Franklin Pierce.

Construction on the cast-iron dome began in 1856 and progressed through various architects, disputes over the design and the Civil War, when the project was continued in part by workers who were afraid that the military would take the metals and repurpose them for war use, said Donald A. Ritchie, the Senate historian.

The Statue of Freedom, which sits triumphantly atop the nine million pounds of ironwork that makes up the dome, was completed in December 1863, topping the project. The interior was finished in 1866, its famous fresco revealed. Total cost: $1,047,291, or more than $15 million in today’s dollars.

The dome was completely restored in 1960 during the construction of the Capitol’s East Front extension. Weather remains its biggest enemy: precipitation pelts the exterior, and the statue endures the occasional strike of lightning. At least 100 pieces of the dome have fallen off or been removed, including a 40-pound cast-iron decorative acorn.

Viewed from a (sort of scary) balcony between the fresco above and a frieze depicting American history that lines the Rotunda’s interior, tourists with iPhones and fanny packs can be seen lingering in awe hundreds of feet below, unaware of the water damage and chipping paint above.

“When you have those conditions on the outside,” said Mr. Ayers, the Capitol’s architect, “it really accelerates deterioration on the inside,” including possible damage to the fresco, which is painted on plaster.

In other words, just as it is best to fix a bathroom leak before it causes damage to the rest of the house, the dome repairs could prove much more expensive over time.

The project will involve taking apart many pieces of the dome, one at a time, and then putting them back together once repaired, much like a puzzle, Mr. Ayers said.

In many ways, the process reflects the history of the Capitol and the nation, said Mr. Ritchie, the historian. “The Capitol building is an interesting conglomeration,” he said. “It is a whole series of buildings put together at different times, and in that way it is a nice reflection of American democracy, which was put together piecemeal from a lot of different materials. It reflects one motto of our nation, ‘E pluribus unum,’ Latin for ‘Out of many, one.’ ”

It is a project, however, that may be delayed until the country’s fiscal condition improves.

“The Capitol is a wonderful story of the history of our nation,” Mr. Ritchie said. “And as a result it is preserved very carefully to maintain the story, not to mention to keep it from leaking into the Rotunda.”","The Capitol dome needs a comprehensive rehabilitation, but the House has declined to appropriate the $61 million required for repairs."
"Ali Dizaei has been jailed for four years Photo: PA

With Commander Ali Dizaei’s conviction for perverting the course of justice and misconduct in public office today, the Met has finally rid itself of its single most destructive officer. Many Met chiefs – and many anti-racism campaigners with impeccable records – believe that at least some of what was described over the last few years as the Met’s “race problem” was in fact an “Ali Dizaei” problem.

Dizaei, they say, used his office in the Met’s Black Police Association (BPA) to shield himself from the consequences of his own criminality. Any investigation of him was denounced as racist – and he also wound up other black officers, including the former assistant commissioner Tarique Ghaffur, to press sometimes over-egged grievances so he would not be alone in the firing line.

The Met does, I think, still have a real problem with race. There has been a remarkable lack of black officers promoted to senior roles, a number of troubling discrimination cases and settlements, a tendency for black recruits to leave sooner than whites. Black Londoners are significantly less satisfied with the Met’s service than whites.

But black officers have been badly served by the BPA, and by their most senior standard-bearers, such as Ghaffur and Dizaei. There’s increasing evidence that many realise this – the association’s founding chairman, David Michael, for instance, has denounced the way that the BPA’s decisionmaking became dominated by a small group around Dizaei.

Some commentators are claiming that there will be “big reverberations” from this conviction. There won’t be. After Dizaei’s arrest, the BPA called for black Londoners to boycott recruitment for the Met – a call that went almost entirely ignored. That showed how much clout Dizaei and the race-mongers really have.","[caption id=""attachment_100025452"" align=""alignnone"" width=""460"" caption=""Ali Dizaei has been jailed for four years Photo: PA""][/caption] With Commander Ali Dizaei's conviction for perverting the course of justice and misconduct in public office today, the Met has finally rid itself of its single most destructive officer."
"What causes bank stocks like Wells Fargo WELLS FARGO & COMPANY WFC 0.98% to trade for significantly higher valuations than bank stocks like Bank of America BANK OF AMERICA CORP. BAC 1.62% ?

The easy answer is that because Wells Fargo has a long history of shrewder management and higher profitability than Bank of America, it seems reasonable to expect the former to earn more money than the latter, and to thus produce a higher shareholder return going forward.

While this answer captures the essence of why some banks trade at valuations that are twice or three times the valuation of other banks, this explanation is too general. A more precise answer is that different things drive bank stock valuations at different times.

This is a point that Richard Bove of Rafferty Capital Markets discussed in a recent note to clients. His breakdown is excellent and well worth sharing with the broader investing world.

A brief primer on book value The difference between a bank’s assets and liabilities is its equity, or book value. This is the amount of money that, theoretically speaking, would be left over to distribute to shareholders after a bank sells its assets and pays its liabilities.

Importantly, however, this is not what a bank is “worth” on the public markets. This estimate comes instead from a bank’s market capitalization, which is its current share price multiplied by the number of outstanding shares.

As you can see in the table below, there can be large differences between banks’ market capitalizations and their book values. Wells Fargo’s market capitalization exceeds its book value by $107 billion, or 57%. Alternatively, Bank of America’s market capitalization is $65 billion, or 26%, less than its stated book value.

What drives these differences? The answer is that investors aren’t looking simply at a bank’s current book value; they’re projecting it into the future. A bank expected to grow its book value at a fast pace will trade for a higher valuation than a bank expected to boost book value at a slow pace, or perhaps even see its book value decline.

What drives book value? The key to the entire analysis is to determine which factors have the biggest impact on the expansion or contraction of a bank’s book value. And it’s here where Bove’s analysis is so insightful.

Bove argues that the most important factors impacting a bank’s book value are a moving target, alternating between three options:

If you think about where we are right now, this all starts to make sense. As credit losses from the financial crisis have bottomed out, most bank analysts and commentators (me included) have shifted to talking about the impact of higher interest rates on banks’ book values and bottom lines. When I’ve been interviewed of late, this is always one of, if not the, principal questions I’m asked.

The lesson for bank investors is accordingly twofold. First, you have to be flexible in your analysis to account for the evolving impact of credit losses, interest rates, and earnings on bank valuations. And second, you need to have a rough idea of where we’re at in the credit and interest rate cycles, as that will tell you where to focus your energy and analysis.","""The techniques used for valuing bank stocks tend to be a moving target,"" explains bank analyst Richard Bove."
"Updated JUN 07, 2014 3:04p ET

MEMPHIS, Tennessee -- Grizzlies forward James Johnson has been arrested for alleged domestic assault and accused of hitting and choking his wife at their home.

Johnson was booked into the Shelby County Jail at 4:35 a.m. Saturday and was still there Saturday afternoon.

WMC-TV cited a police affidavit that Johnson and his wife had just returned home when Johnson allegedly hit his wife in the face with an open hand before choking her. Johnson left and returned when police arrived and was arrested. The Memphis Police Department did not immediately return several messages from The Associated Press.

The Grizzlies released a statement saying they are gathering information and had no further comment.

Johnson is scheduled to appear in court Monday. The 16th pick overall in 2009, Memphis signed him from the D-League in December.",Grizzlies forward James Johnson has been arrested for domestic assault and accused of hitting and choking his wife at their home.
"In this era of social media, where we are all super-connected, the most ingenious do-good movements can begin with a tiny idea.

Make ’em viral and they will spread.

It happened with “The Last Text,” the riveting video that AT&T ATT produced to coax people like you and me not to text and drive. The 10-minute film, which I wrote about on Postcards last month, has drawn more than two million views. And no doubt, it has saved lives.

I love the notion of building a big movement from a small idea. I discovered another example last evening, at a dinner hosted by Desiree Gruber, whose stock and trade is building big from small. (Her New York-based marketing firm, Full Picture, came up with the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show to buff that client’s brand image and created Project Runway to elevate another client, model Heidi Klum, who co-produces the TV hit with Gruber.) Last night Gruber was in full philanthropic mode, “marketing” Caryl Stern, the U.S. CEO of UNICEF, whom I sat across from at dinner. UNICEF has built many programs from simple ideas to save young lives. This week: During World Water Week, UNICEF is urging restaurant patrons to donate a dollar for each glass of tap water that typically comes free.

The nationwide campaign is called the Tap Project. (“When you take water, give water.”) Ever since an ad man named David Droga of Droga5 dreamed it up for UNICEF in 2007, it has helped raise $2.5 million to supply safe drinking water to children around the world.

This year’s twist taps celebrities like Taylor Swift, Robin Williams, Selena Gomez and Rihanna. They’ve bottled tap water at home and poured it into fancy bottles. The “Celebrity Tap Packs” help raise more funds for the most needy children worldwide.

And how great is the need? Of the 22,000 children who die every day, 4,100 would not if they had safe water, Stern told us.

This past week, Stern has had some very late nights, trying to help Japan, where contaminated water is just one of a million needs. Japan happens to be the world’s No. 1 donor to UNICEF, Stern told me. Despite that generosity, UNICEF’s efforts to persuade people to give to the Japan relief fund has been very difficult. “There’s an impression that Japan doesn’t need our dollars,” she explained, adding that she’s spending a lot of time assuring skeptics that UNICEF is not taking money from children in Africa to aid children in Japan.

All the money that UNICEF takes in for Japan will go to Japan, Stern says. Though $2.5 million to date pales to the donations that flowed in last year to help victims of the earthquake in Haiti.

What to do? Well, you can help. You can give to UNICEF’s Japan fund.

Or get creative. Think up a campaign that could help bring in donations for thousands of Japanese kids who have, in an epic moment, become orphans — and for many more kids who lost their homes and their schools. You can send your idea by posting a comment below.

Remember, a big movement begins with a small idea. Make it viral.","by Patricia Sellers In this era of social media, where we are all super-connected, the most ingenious do-good movements can begin with a tiny idea. Make 'em viral and they will spread. It happened with ""The Last Text,"" the riveting video that AT&T produced to coax people like you and me not to text and…"
"Monday, December 3rd 2007, 4:00 AM

Fall Out Boy front man Pete Wentz is laughing off the New York Post's claim that he filed a cease-and-desist order against metal band Neurosonic. The downmarket tab claimed Wentz was livid because the upstart rockers mock his girlfriend, Ashlee Simpson, in their song ""So Many People."" Wentz tells us: ""I've never filed a cease-and-desist in my life. I would never ... try to censor someone. ... The truth is I have never heard of this band or this song."" Wentz, who speaks his mind on FriendsOrEnemies.com, adds: ""Besides, we don't really waste our time talking about things that happened three years ago.""

Private concierge Jay Galvin was out jewelry-shopping for rapper Eve the other day when he ran into a whole lot of trouble. The 27-year-old go-getter, who counts Jermaine Dupri and Gabrielle Union among his pals, says he was crossing Union Square when a taxi driver nearly ran him over. ""I got in the guy's face, and he ended up swinging at me, so I swung back,"" he said. Galvin claims that the cabbie ripped $70,000 worth of bling from his neck. But cops still busted Galvin for assault, menacing and criminal possession of a weapon, police sources tell The News' Alison Genda. Galvin, who broke his hand in the fight, calls the cabbie's account ""so ridiculous, it's laughable.""

Publishing powerhouses keep coming back to Beacon on W. 56th St. - and now we know why. Chef Waldy Malouf sent out an ambrosia of strawberries to Endeavor superagent Richard Abate that was off the menu and out of this world, spytasters say.

It was almost ""bye, bye, bye"" for Lance Bass Thursday night at Pink Elephant as the doorgirl failed to part the velvet ropes. ""What color bracelet do you have?"" she barked. ""Step aside!"" The former boy-bander waited politely until someone recognized him and escorted him in.

No wonder Sutton Foster has the energy to sing herself inside out in ""Young Frankenstein"" on Broadway - twice on matinee days. After Max and Zach Williams and a throng of other young teens waited at the stage door for the cantilevered cutie, star Roger Bart gave siggies and explained that Foster was napping between shows. ""Monster"" Shuler Hensley made up for it by posing with each and every kid.

With Sean Evans and Shallon Lester. Edited by Lance D. Debler.",Fall Out Boy front man Pete Wentz is laughing off the New York Post's claim that he filed a cease-and-desist order against metal band Neurosonic.
"NEW YORK -- Arizona Diamondbacks starter Patrick Corbin found things a little more difficult in his second start after returning from 2014 Tommy John surgery.

Corbin pitched into the sixth inning, allowing four runs and four hits as the Diamondbacks lost to the New York Mets, 4-2 on Saturday.

Corbin (1-1) was outstanding for four innings, allowing only a first-inning single to Michael Cuddyer, while striking out five, including four straight. However, he ran into trouble in the fifth.

Lucas Duda hit a 2-0 pitch over the center-field wall for the Mets' first run of the game. Corbin walked Eric Campbell and then served up a first-pitch home run to opposing starter Matt Harvey. It was Harvey's first career home run.

""Just trying to throw a strike and get ahead and he put a good swing on it and it's unfortunate that it went out,"" Corbin said. ""More times than not, he swings and misses or gets out on it. Just some tough luck there.""

Left fielder David Peralta thought a fan might have interfered with the ball, prompting a crew chief review. After a delay of 1 minute, 49 seconds, the home run stood.

""I thought it wasn't a homer because I saw the fan reaching to get the ball,"" Peralta said.

Ruben Tejada homered leading off the sixth inning to end Corbin's day. The three homers allowed were a career-high.

Despite the final stat line, manager Chip Hale was pleased with Corbin's overall effort.

""He was so good early and that's a really good sign,"" Hale said. ""That's what we talk about, coming back from Tommy John. He pitched beautifully early and that's something we'll build on.""

After All-Star A.J. Pollock walked to lead off the game, Peralta hit Harvey's first pitch into the stands for his eighth home run. The Diamondbacks would only muster three more hits the rest of the game.

""We got the 2-0 lead on a nice home run by David and (Harvey) really went to his off-speed stuff, kind of like Noah Syndergaard used a lot of off-speed changeup, curveball and an occasional high fastball (on Friday)l,"" Hale said. ""We have to make the adjustment. That's what a good offense does and we usually are.""

Despite having the highest-scoring offense in the National League, the Mets' duo of Harvey and Syndergaard have kept the Diamondbacks offense at bay, allowing only nine hits and striking out 22 in their combined 15 innings of work.

""They're good,"" Hale added. ""There's a reason why these guys are two of the best young pitchers in baseball.""

""Hopefully we'll keep having good at-bats and find ways to score more runs,"" said Diamondbacks slugger Paul Goldschmidt, who is 0-7 with four strikeouts over the first two games of the series. ""If you want to win games, you probably got to score more than two runs.""

Corbin, a native of Cicero, New York, pitched in front of family members for the first time in nearly two years and will look to build on this start as he continues his recovery.

""I felt pretty good overall with everything and just happy that I'm coming out healthy again,"" he said. ""Just wish I could have done a little better.""

Jeurys Familia got the last three outs for his 26th save in 28 chances.

Mets: 2B Daniel Murphy and OF Curtis Granderson, both left-handed batters, were held out of the lineup in a pre-planned move by manager Terry Collins, with the lefty-throwing Cordbin on the mound. ""Curtis Granderson has played, I think, in every single game,"" Collins said. ""He needs a day off and the same with Murph. Murph needs a day off and this guy can be really tough. We've got them if we need them, but we planned going into these three days to try and get some guys some rest."" Granderson struck out as a pinch-hitter in the seventh.

Diamondbacks: Manager Chip Hale said that his starting rotation, after the upcoming All-Star break, would be set up to give Chase Anderson as much rest as possible. According to Hale, Robbie Ray would get the start in the team's first game following the break, against San Francisco and would be followed by Jeremy Hellickson, Corbin, Rubby De La Rosa and finally, Anderson.

Mets LHP Jonathon Niese (4-8, 3.58 ERA) matches up with Diamondbacks RHP Rubby De La Rosa (6-4, 4.89 ERA) in the first half finale for both teams.",Matt Harvey pitching seven strong innings and hit his first career home run to lead the New York Mets to a 4-2 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks.
"The cost of employer-provided health insurance rose 6.1 percent this year, the smallest jump since 1999 but still well above the increase in wages and consumer prices, according to an annual survey released yesterday by the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation.

The average annual premium for family coverage amounts to $12,106 in 2007, of which $3,281 is paid by the worker. (The employer picks up the rest.) That is up from $11,480 last year, of which the worker paid $2,973, according to the survey of nearly 2,000 employers.

The $12,106 average cost of family coverage this year is roughly equivalent to a year's salary for a full-time worker earning the minimum wage, which is $12,168.

""Health insurance is becoming increasingly unaffordable for more and more Americans, and for many businesses,"" said Drew E. Altman, president of the foundation. ""It's the public anxiety about that which is propelling this issue back to the forefront in our country today.""

In Kaiser's survey, 75 percent of respondents said they were ""very worried"" or ""somewhat worried"" about the increasing cost of health coverage. That figure was more than the percentages of those who were worried about not being able to pay their rent or mortgage (44 percent), being the victim of a violent crime (49 percent) or losing their job (34 percent).

The latest census figures, released last month, show a continuing decline in employer-provided health coverage as business leaders complain that spiraling health-care costs are threatening their competitiveness, forcing companies to shift costs to workers or considering dropping the benefit altogether.

The percentage of people covered by employer-based health insurance fell to 59.7 percent in 2006, down from 60.2 percent in 2005. It was 64.2 percent in 2000.

About 177 million people had employer-based coverage last year, census figures show. That is 2 million fewer than at the turn of the century, even though the overall population has been increasing.

""We are witnessing a slow but certain long-term erosion of our employer-based system,"" said Jon R. Gabel, an author of the Kaiser study and a Washington-based senior fellow at the nonprofit National Opinion Research Center.

The number of Americans without health insurance rose to a record high of 47 million in 2006, an uptick that Census Bureau officials attributed largely to continuing declines in employer-sponsored coverage.

Still, the Kaiser survey found that the cost of coverage grew more slowly in 2007 than in recent years. The 6.1 percent increase in the average premium continued a four-year trend of slower cost growth since the peak growth of 13.9 percent in 2003. Average premiums had grown at least 7.7 percent annually since 1999.

The recent trend of slower cost growth is ""very significant,"" said Karen Ignagni, president of America's Health Insurance Plans, the industry trade group. She credited insurers' efforts to curb costs and promote health through disease-management programs and increased use of generic drugs. ""I think we are seeing the effects of that,"" she said.","The cost of employer-provided health insurance rose 6.1 percent this year, the smallest jump since 1999 but still well above the increase in wages and consumer prices, according to an annual survey released yesterday by the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation."
"The price cuts Apple AAPL announced Monday on the MacBook and iPhone lines are “significant” and surprisingly aggressive, writes Piper Jaffray’s Gene Munster in a note to clients issued after the WWDC keynote was over.

Historically, he writes, a 50% cut in iPhone pricing has increased demand twofold.

He’s referring to the last year’s cut to $199 from $399. That price reduction was actually accompanied by a tripling of global unit sales (from 4.7 million to 15 million), but some of those sales were in overseas markets. U.S. sales in that period, he estimates, increased twofold.

The MacBook price cuts were more modest — between 5% and 15% — but make Munster “increasingly confident” in his near-term Mac estimates (2.2 million Macs in the third fiscal quarter; 2.4 million in fourth quarter, which ends in September).

The pricing on OS X Snow Leopard was even more aggressive; it’s scheduled to ship in September for $29 (for current Leopard users), as opposed to the typical $129 operating system upgrade.

Munster says he’s not worried about the impact on Apple’s bottom line, however. He notes that when Leopard shipped in 2007, the Mac user base was about 23 million. Today Apple announced that its user base has grown to 75 million active OS X users.

Munster, having predicted that Jobs would return to Apple by the end of June and not before, claims he is not surprised that the CEO was a no-show Monday.

Apple’s World Wide Developers Conference runs until Friday.","The price cuts Apple announced Monday on the MacBook and iPhone lines are ""significant"" and surprisingly aggressive, writes Piper Jaffray's Gene Munster in a note to clients issued after the WWDC keynote was over. Historically, he writes, a 50% cut in iPhone pricing has increased demand twofold. He's referring to the last year's cut to…"
"To the left (in the foreground) is Michael Jackson, and in the background is Marlon Jackson. (John McDonnell/The Washington Post) Saturday afternoon, two years ago, I walked out of a movie theater on sunny afternoon in Chicago and got a text message from a friend: “Michael Jackson died.” I thought it was the start to a joke. Michael Jackson had been a star before I was born and — despite his personal struggles, his questionable behavior to children, his personal life spirals — managed to stay a star all my life.

The world was emptier without his talent, but it was the end to a difficult and challenging life. In memory of his death, here’s a remembrance of Michael Jackson full of life — before the surgeries, before the masks, before the court cases and tabloid troubles. Written by the Post’s Jacqueline Trescott on June 11, 1979, here’s Michael Jackson, a 20-year-old man on the verge of breaking out from his family’s shadow:

Michael Jackson, now 20, an elongated version of the cute, spindly youngster who finger popped into teen hearts 10 years ago, knows what he wants for the next 10.

“To do everything I feel I should do,” says Jackson, his trademark airy pitch unchanged. His dark eyes are direct, making no excuses for that goal. “Really, more music, films, everything. I want to go all the way.” His smile grows into grin, testing the boundaries of a crescent fact that, up close, is small and sand papery. His answers are the quick, flippant retorts of any 20-year-old, their tone mixed with the blase worldliness of someone who has spent half his life in the limelight.

Dressed in brown slacks and print shirt with a gray cavalry hat perched on a wayward afro, Jackson leans back onto the bedpost. His brother, Marlon, 22, one of the original five who started out as the Jackson Five in 1969 and renamed themselves the Jacksons three year ago, joins the conversation. Three hours before the group will bring 20,000-plus fans to their feet, on a night when a reported 5,000 were turned away, Michael and Marlon are totally relaxed. In fact, they are cutting up like the Smothers Brothers.

“What! There aren't any girls downstairs,” mocks Marlon, camouflaged behind sunglasses and a worn cream-colored jogging suit. From the corner, one of the managers announces that the lobby of the Sheraton Lanham Motor Inn was packed earlier in the day.

“Well I guess they'd expect us to be at the Regency, or the ‘Gate,” says Michael (who is given to abbreviations: ‘Gate for Watergate Hotel, ‘tics for politics, ‘Town for Motown Records, their first label).

Ten years ago, the Jacksons were all terribly green, painfully shy, leaving all the declarations to their father, Joseph Jackson. What they offered to the music scene were five blemishfree faces, heart-throbbing in their close-cut hair, chino pants and matching sports jackets. Out of Gary, Ind., they marketed bubble-gum soul, which brought them adulation and riches. But, even then, when they spoke, they were coy: their sound, explained one back then, “is a secret; too many people might find out and start doing it.”

Now, with their youth no longer a salable part of the act (Randy, the youngest, is 16), the Jacksons have to compete with established male acts like the O'Jays and Commodores. “We have to strive to set trends, instead of following them,” says Michael. They are succeeding. Their latest album, “Destiny” is certified platinum and has birthed two top 10 singles.

Yet 10 years has produced some changes. Chinos have been replaced by coordinated gold lame stitched into a medieval-futuristic combination. The screams have cultivated layers, from those whose years are marked by Jacksons' pin-ups and from a younger generation that can't be called bubble-gum, though that's its age and beat. In personnel, there have been alterations - one brother, Randy, substituting for another, Jermaine, who remained with Motown when the rest switched to CBS Epic Records.

But what has remained constant is the dominance of Michael Jackson. His career has gone further, expanding to movies with the role of the Scarecrow in “The Wiz,” and joining the gossip mystique, escorting Tatum O'Neal. On stage Michael's dancing is an impeccable sample of disco and acrobatics, stylishly flamboyant and patterned. The packaging has killed the spontaneity but, nevertheless, three women were carried over the rails in dead faints during Michael's solos Saturday night.

“In Charlotte, it was a little unreal because they carried the girls out in stretchers across the stage,” says Michael. That was Friday night, and a day later, he sounded slightly stunned. Marlon explains that they never get used to the screams, and Michael elaborates, “it honestly feels fresh each time.”

In the hotel room the two brothers are explaining what tours are like, insisting the Jackson public camaraderie carries over to travel and record sessions. In the fourth week of the two-month tour that ended over the weekend, the Jacksons switched from airplanes to a caravan of station wagons and mobile homes. “I prefer the bus. Flying is fine in good weather,” says Michael, who watches movies during the long drives and then rushes out to catch the zoo in each major city. “Hey he feels at home, looking at his relatives,” says Marlon.

“Well, that means you, right? Sure I like you,” says Michael.

Looking back, the Jacksons agree that the response they triggered in fans was the most fulfilling aspect of the last decade. “The fact that we have sold 60 million records and brought joy to so many people. I like that for the happiness, not for the money,” says Michael. “And playing for the Queen of England, twice; what an honor. I had a fantasy of kings and queens and there she was in her magic box, with her crown and jewels.” Marlon interrupts. “It's everyone we have touched, and selling out certain places, like the Astrodome and breaking the Beatles record in Liverpool.”

Success has brought certain luxuries. Marlon is buying a house in the San Fernando Valley, equipped with a tennis court, so he can live his fantasy of being a tennis pro. Waiting for Michael at the family's sprawling compound in Encino, Calif., are several movie offers.

“First there's the movie of ‘Chorus Line,’ but I haven't seen the script yet. Then someone is doing a script on the Bill Robinson story, then a movie about summer stock, about what people do to make it, the pain of success,” says Michael. Is he attracted to stories of struggle because his career has been free of scars? Michael immediately responds yes. Marion again interrupts. “In the early days, before we went national, we did the seven shows a night, traveling in a Volkswagen. That wasn't fun.” Corrects Michael, “It hasn't been bad, but we didn't come out of the blue.”

But what about the internal jealousies, the rifts that must come? “We like one another and think alike, so there are few problems. And we tell this one,” Marlon says, looking at Michael, whose attention has been caught by the television, “We tell him the most important thing is the last name.” Michael scowls. And Marlon amends, “I was only kidding.”","In memory of his death, here’s a remembrance of Michael Jackson before the surgeries, before the masks, before the court cases and tabloid troubles."
"Donald Trump Jr. slammed critics who accused him of plagiarizing his GOP convention speech Tuesday night, calling the accusations “ridiculous.”

“Of course I work with a professional speechwriter who does these things on some things,” Trump told TIME as he left the Westin Hotel bar Tuesday night. “And I’m new to politics, I’ve never done that. I’m going to go with someone who knows what they’re doing. And I worked with Frank Buckley on it, it’s as simple as that.”

Buckley, a law professor at George Mason University, confirmed that he had indeed written the speech. The Daily Show first pointed out the similarities between Trump Jr.’s speech and a May article in the American Conservative entitled “Trump vs. the New Class.” Because he had written both the article and the speech, Buckley said, “it’s not an issue.”

Trump Jr. agrees. “A lot of it’s my own words because I’m talking about my father and my family,” he added.

The allegations come just a day after it was revealed that large portions of Melania Trump’s speech appear to have been lifted or adapted from Michelle Obama’s 2008 convention speech.

But Trump Jr. says there’s nothing to see here. “People are trying to find a story where it doesn’t exist,” he said. “They have an agenda, they’ve made up their mind, it’s as simple as that.”",He says he worked with a professional speechwriter.
"This was the year when the news became a headache to liberals everywhere, revealing that we had consistently backed the wrong horse, and great fears and tensions were being felt that led people to vote for politics of division. In the weeks after Donald Trump’s election as president of the United States, we have seen a strengthening of reactionary politics, with demagogues and fascists feeling empowered by the decisions that have gone their way. We have also seen a certain element of the leftwing seek to blame itself for having alienated ordinary folk. This last sentiment is visible in several films that came out in 2016: works with ostensibly right-on politics that nevertheless betrayed a queasiness towards the modern world, towards minorities and women; films in which a fear of a new world order is palpable.

Luca Guadagnino set the tone towards the start of the year, when this apparently juicy psychological thriller lurched into a wrong-headed and iffy discussion of the refugee crisis. In the film, a singer and her boyfriend (Tilda Swinton and Matthias Schoenaerts) welcome her flamboyant ex (Ralph Fiennes) and his young daughter (Dakota Johnson); the sexual tension flares between these rich, beautiful people holidaying off the coast of – wait for it – Sicily. The film revels in the glamour of its characters and in their easy beauty, unironically projecting them as stars wherever they go (witness a karaoke scene in which a whole village flocks to see Fiennes showboat in a tiny bar). So, when catastrophe strikes and one of the main characters seeks to blame it on the refugee population, it doesn’t ring as Guadagnino satirising his characters’ vanity so much as shoehorning in a deeply serious and difficult issue to confect some gravitas. No refugees are named, they are only briefly alluded to, and the disastrous events of the last two years are used as a mere narrative crutch. It’s a move that betrays an uneasy sense that film should be addressing the political topics of the day, but in a film that has no idea with what language to do so.

A similar helplessness inhabits the hapless Absolutely Fabulous film, which seemed to quake with an almost adorable – were it not so totally misguided – sense that it needed to say something about the “trans question”. The film didn’t, in fact, need to talk about it, and what it had to say was foolish when it wasn’t outright hateful. The most egregiously offensive moment came when a character was revealed as being coerced into transitioning, prompting a staggering moment when he is interrogated about when it is going to be cut off. From there, the film rampages wildly through questions of gender, making Patsy drag up and having her tasered when a flight attendant mistakes her for a trans man. The film traduced not only Patsy and Eddie’s discombobulation about the modern world (which is what the audience was there to lap up), but an almost seething misunderstanding of contemporary gender politics on the part of its creators.

If A Bigger Splash and Absolutely Fabulous hinged on very particular phobias, the new Bridget Jones movie was hilariously prone to fear and confusion about just about everything. Internet dating? A terrifying romance-free vortex of cynical narcissism. Sex? An act between a man and a woman, with the purpose of making a baby. The Bridget Jones movies have always had a conservative bent (essentially being Jane Austen adaptations set in a white version of modern London), but the new film goes a little further, with a bizarre scene in which Bridget flees an amniocentesis needle, thereby refusing to check her foetus for chromosomal abnormalities. To each woman her choice, but the film makes a big hoopla of mining discomfort and laughs out of this routine procedure, with the clear message being that it is unnatural. The whole film takes against science in general, mocking the modern world’s attraction to technology – and Bridget eventually finds out the identity of the father of the baby the old-fashioned way, by falling in love with him.

Part of the reason Bridget felt so antiquated and fusty is that films this year were looking back to a romanticised past – the 1990s and the Regency – to justify the idea of “the one” and the true romance of marriage. A few films this year put on similarly rose-tinted glasses to consider the olden days, chief among them Paterson, which harked back to a mythical era of American poetry. Its ex-military hero, with his supportive housebound wife giving him free rein to incarnate the true writer’s authentic calling, writes Wallace Stevens-style poetry in the year 2016 and lives without a mobile phone. Jim Jarmusch’s unease at a fast, connected world is telling, and finds its resolution in its consideration of Paterson’s titular hero, who stands as a true male, a zen man of letters, a sort of John Clare of New Jersey.

This is the biggest political failure of the year: a film which can only have been made by Richard Linklater as a bet that he could flunk the Bechdel test. Set on a university campus in 1980s Texas – a halcyon era mercifully free of safe spaces — Everybody Wants Some!! chooses to tell the story of gender politics from the point of view of a bunch of baseball-playing bros. Blind nostalgia is the order of the day, as this #notallmen mess finds a way to look with fondness upon these violent, sexist men – in the process denying women speech and agency. It becomes almost a game for the characters to work out in what way Linklater, freed at last from having to let Julie Delpy write a character for herself, will next prevent a woman from talking. There are scenes where women are asked questions and don’t reply, merely smiling and nodding. In one scene, a self-professed feminist gets her comeuppance by being seduced by the most grotesque of all the students.

Linklater’s amiable fondness for the dinosaurs at the heart of his film extends to sanitising their world, so that hazing is fun, homophobia is all but absent and one can only imagine that, once they’ve bedded the skirt they spend the entire film chasing, these guys are the kings of asking for consent. It is not possible to have followed events on American campuses in recent years and be blind to the terrible practises in male societies; yet Linklater persists with his oddly tone-deaf celebration of these jocks. In a scene that shows to what extent he is with these guys, he films a man whose prowess as a baseball hitter enables him to cut a ball in half mid-flight with an axe. Lovingly filmed in slow motion, this scene shows that he has no distance from his subject, and that what element of smiling satire his film can muster is completely insufficient. Everybody Wants Some!! is Trump’s America writ large: a sexist and macho look at a completely imagined past, in which things were great – for straight white men.","From the all-bro jocks and silent women of Everybody Wants Some!! to Bridget Jones’s rejection of science, these are the films that failed to take on cinema’s push for inclusivity"
"In a week where lots of folks used the money they got for Christmas on digital music, Jason Aldean and Kelly Clarkson saw weekly downloads of their Don't You Wanna Stay duet climb 79%. A bunch of those iTunes gift cards went to buy Carrie Underwood tracks, too, as several of her songs saw triple-digit percentage increases, some almost quadrupling their downloads from the previous week.

Here's the sales data for some of last week's tracks, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

Jason Aldean/Kelly Clarkson, Don't You Wanna Stay (57,000, +79%, 263,000 total)Carrie Underwood, Mama's Song (30,000, +186%, 264,000)Carrie Underwood, Undo It (20,000, +262%, 952,000)Carrie Underwood, Cowboy Casanova (14,000, +289%, 1.548 million)Carrie Underwood, Temporary Home (12,000, +307%, 629,000)Carrie Underwood, All-American Girl (11,000, +395%, 1.298 million)Carrie Underwood, There's a Place for Us (10,000, +15%, 56,000)Carrie Underwood, Before He Cheats (9,000, +226%, 3.125 million)Clay Aiken, Mary, Did You Know (2,000, +7%, 115,000)Jason Castro, You Are (1,000, +57%, 8,000)Jason Castro, Hallelujah [Album Version] (1,000, +61%, 52,000)

See photos of: Carrie Underwood, Kelly Clarkson, Jason Aldean

To report corrections and clarifications, contact Standards Editor

. For publication consideration in the newspaper, send comments to

. Include name, phone number, city and state for verification. To view our corrections, go to","Christmas gift cards boost Carrie Underwood, Kelly Clarkson track sales - Idol Chatter: American Idol News, Rumors, & Information"
"Mike Tyson isn’t just backing Manny Pacquiao to defeat Floyd Mayweather in Saturday’s match — the former undefeated heavyweight champion wants Pacquiao to knock out his “very small, scared” competitor.

Tyson slammed Mayweather in a video interview with Undisputed Champion Network posted online Wednesday after being asked about Mayweather’s claim last week that he is greater than boxing legend Muhammad Ali.

“He’s very delusional. If he was anywhere near that realm of ‘greater than Ali,’ he’d be able to take his kids to school by himself,” Tyson said of Mayweather. “He’s a very small, scared man.”

Tyson didn’t elaborate further about his entertaining comments regarding the undefeated Mayweather’s school-going habits, but he did predict the match wouldn’t last long. “I think it’s gonna be a knockout,” he said. “I don’t think it’s gonna go the distance.”

Tyson told reporters again Thursday that he’s hoping for a Pacquiao victory. “I just like Manny. Not necessarily because he throws a lot of punches but because he’s very elusive and might be hard to hit.”",Tyson slammed Mayweather in a new interview
"In The Conversation, David Brooks and Gail Collins talk between columns every Wednesday.

Gail Collins: Tim, thanks for taking the time to have this conversation while David Brooks is on vacation. I believe you’re coming back from some down time yourself. I’m so jealous.

Timothy Egan: Thanks, Gail, and it’s a real thrill for me to have a digital back-and-forth with you. But after all those days at the lake spent without shoes or a care in the world, I’m sluggish and my head is a muddle. So bear with me. In the summer, Huck Finn is my role model.

Gail Collins: Excellent choice. Michelle and Sasha Obama are just back, too. The White House got all kinds of heat for their high-end vacation in Spain. I’m sure it was a private decision. If the political team had done the planning, obviously they’d have been dispatched to swim on the not-at-all-polluted shores of the Florida panhandle and eat delicious, freshly caught Gulf seafood.

Timothy Egan: And they would have been criticized for a craven political stunt. Can’t the most scrutinized family in the world just have some down time without the rest of us trying to find larger meaning in it? A mother takes her youngest daughter to Spain for five days and she’s compared to Marie Antoinette. Please.

Sometimes a vacation is just a vacation, to paraphrase Freud.

When Laura Bush took a break from the hothouse of the White House to spend time with girlfriends in glorious Olympic National Park, at the far edge of Washington State, there was not a peep about what it cost taxpayers to keep her security detail nearby, nor any parsing of possible marital woes.

Sometimes a vacation is just a vacation, to paraphrase Freud.

Gail Collins: See, this is why it’s so great having you writing from the West. Who knew there were so many Western-vacation angles?

Timothy Egan: Don’t get me started. It’s probably easier to fly from the capital to Spain than to get from there to Port Angeles, Wash., where Laura took her down time (a fine town by the way, about 10 miles from where my mother lives!)

As for politicizing vacations, I blame the loathsome Dick Morris and the Clintons for this. Remember when Morris was advising Clinton and he poll-tested for possible vacations: They came up with a few days in the Rockies, in Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons.

Now, I love that area, and know it well. I love camping — my earliest vacation memories are camping with a family of nine inside a moldy old Army surplus canvas tent, a blast for everyone but my mother — but Bill Clinton looked miserable in the great outdoors, with his splotchy sunburn, his allergies inflamed, swatting away all those carnivorous deer flies.

He would have been so much happier playing Scrabble in an air-conditioned sanctuary somewhere in the flatlands. And I don’t think most Americans would have cared.

Gail Collins: I agree — most Americans are prepared to let the First Lady and the kids vacation in peace. I don’t necessarily give the president himself the same kind of pass. I never forgave George W. Bush for spending so much time clearing brush in Crawford and jogging at Camp David.

Timothy Egan: For what it’s worth, the radio reporter of record at the White House, Mark Knoller of CBS, calculated that President Bush spent 490 days at the Texas ranch — 77 visits. That’s a lot of brush cleared.

Gail Collins: Americans have always had a strange attitude toward vacations. We think they’re a good thing — almost a virtuous thing. Expanding horizons, bonding with the family and all that. But we don’t take very many of them.

It’s possible Americans are afraid if they leave work for two weeks, somebody else will be in their desks when they come back.

Europeans have gotten way more time off for decades — just go over there and look this month. Nobody’s home. And there have been lots of studies showing that American workers don’t even take all the vacation they’re owed. Of course, it’s possible they’re afraid if they leave for two weeks, somebody else will be in their desks when they come back.

Timothy Egan: I saw one survey that ranked the United States down there with such fair labor havens as Vietnam and Indonesia for total amount of days off. Members of the European Union must provide full-time workers with a minimum of 20 paid vacation days, plus public holidays. The U.S. averages about 14 days, and of course there are no laws on minimum vacation requirements.

But everyone needs down time, even those with forced down time. I don’t know if you saw that story in the Sunday Business section of The Times trying to quantify how much, if any, happiness can be bought with money. Guess what: the research suggests that taking a vacation will make you much happier than buying a new couch, or a pair of shoes, or almost any material thing. You’re buying memories and something even more precious — free time.

Everyone needs down time, even those with forced down time.

But could it be that the Europeans, for all their time off, are less productive? And then, of course, you’ve got the not-insignificant problem of European men who shouldn’t be wearing Speedos on the beach.

Gail Collins: Actually, Tim, when they’re on the job, European workers are as productive as Americans. Luxembourg requires 32 days paid vacation for every worker, and according to one recent study, the workers there are 27 percent more efficient than we are.

I don’t generally base sweeping economic theories on Luxembourg. But it did make me wonder. If Congress required businesses to give all their workers generous vacation benefits, more people would have to be hired to take up the slack. Corporate profits might drop, but right now our problem is that corporate profits are chugging right along while 9.5 percent of the workforce is unemployed.

Timothy Egan: I like that: The Gail Collins Back to Work Relief Act. But you should put in an amendment prohibiting people from doing what your friend Mitt Romney did on his family vacation, strapping his poor dog to the top of the car. Call it the Seamus Amendment.","Perhaps working Americans should take be taking more vacations, for the good of the country."
"Congratulations to the President-elect, whoever you are, because you’re going to need it. Our deadline arrived Tuesday before we knew the election outcome, but not before we can say with confidence that President Obama is leaving his successor a large and growing federal budget problem.

That’s the message in the Congressional Budget Office’s summary, released Monday, of the fiscal year that closed in September. Though the subject barely came up in the campaign—little policy substance did—the federal fisc is once again...",President Obama’s luck is about to run out—on his successor’s watch.
"So now Gio van Bronckhorst, Wesley Sneijder and Arjen Robben, the goalscorers in a deserved triumph over spirited Uruguay, have the chance to succeed where such legendary names as Johan Cruyff, Johnny Rep and Johan Neeskens failed.

If the men in orange inevitably take the plaudits, a silvery fox on the touchlines played a key part. Bert van Marwijk’s decision to withdraw a holding midfielder, Demy De Zeeuw, and send on the more attack-minded Rafael van der Vaart for the second half set Uruguay a challenge too far.

In the end, it didn’t really matter that it never felt quite like a World Cup semi-final, although Fifa should have offered the blocks of empty seats to local children, giving them a memory for life. For last night was about Dutch memories.

For now the Dutch can slay the ghosts that haunt their sleep, that keep alive those painful images of Paul Breitner and Gerd Muller punishing their complacency in Munich in 1974. Or the distressing memory of Mario Kempes striking amidst the tickertape in Buenos Aires four years later.

That wonderful Dutch generation twice failed at the last. A lesser collection of individual players now hopes to end that wait, overcoming either Germany or Spain in Soccer City. If Van Marwijk’s tactical tweak was vital last night, a change he made in the mood of the team was even more important.

Sneijder, Robben, Van der Vaart and Robin van Persie would not make a good relay team because each would want to keep the baton. Van Marwijk has ended that selfish mentality, making each think of the wider good. Such unity was captured after every goal, when those on the pitch celebrated with those on the bench. They are committed to each other and to victory.

''We cultivated this mentality,’’ said Van Marwijk. ''We have banished complacency. Today, I just said to them: ‘Don’t let this chance slip away.’ They didn’t. I love attacking, beautiful football but you have to start with the players doing their defensive jobs and in the right positions.

''We played a wonderful game against Germany in 1974 but we lost when we should have won. We played well and we had a unique generation. Johan Cruyff was the best footballer I ever saw. We are (now) strong as a ‘team’, and I want to stress the word ‘team’.’’

He will watch intently this evening’s second semi-final. ''Spain are playing the best football in the world, but Germany have been the best team at this championships. We’ll take either of them. It’ll be an interesting match. It would be unique to play Germany in the final, as it was in 1974.’’

How the Dutch fans would love that. Dressed as if heading out on the ultimate hen party, Holland’s magnificent supporters had begun partying long before kick-off, turning the Waterfront area into a sea of orange. Some were dressed as cow-girls, others had plastic edam cheeses on their heads and most came armed with orange vuvuzelas.

Even at half-time when Uruguay had just equalised, the Dutch fans kept the faith. The first half had been a tale of two captains, of Diego Forlan but first Van Bronckhorst. In setting the stage for the opening goal, Mark van Bommel went in hard, nastily hard, and Walter Gargano faltered at the sight of the Dutchman’s studs. Gargano pulled out of the tackle, although he still had to withstand the force of Van Bommel’s challenge.

Uruguay endured further pain. The ball was now under Dutch sway, De Zeeuw exchanging passes with Sneijder before transferring the ball to Van Bronckhorst, whose left-footed strike touched 61mph as it covered the 41 yards past Fernando Muslera. Not even Luis Suarez could have kept it out.

Suarez’s absence had brought in Edinson Cavani, forcing Forlan to work higher up the pitch but four minutes from the break he dropped deep to devastating effect. Collecting possession 30 yards out, his blonde tresses flowing behind him, Forlan cut inside and brought his left foot down into the ball.

Maarten Stekelenburg has been one of the keepers of this World Cup but he erred badly here. Sticking out a left hand far from convincingly, the Ajax keeper failed to prevent the ball flying into the net. Maybe he can get some lessons from Suarez back in Amsterdam. As the vanquished keeper beseeched the heaven for answers, Forlan sprinted to one group of Uruguay supporters. ''Three Million Dreams’’ read one banner. Uruguay’s tiny population were daring to dream. Not for long.

Van Marwijk gambled, altering his midfield. For all the fear of leaving the back-door open, Holland were fully committed to attack, wonderfully so. By now the Dutch vuvuzelas were blowing a gale, hitting hurricane force with 20 minutes remaining. Sneijder’s shot had a few stops en route into Uruguay’s net, notably off Maxi Pereira, but it was undoubtedly deserved.

Van Marwijk’s insistence that his players keep turning the screw, rather than showboating, was again seen when Dirk Kuyt lifted in a cross. Twisting his body, Robben met the ball brilliantly, heading it powerfully past Muslera.

Doubts briefly swamped Dutch minds when Maxi Pereira slid in a low left-footed but Van Marwijk’s history men held on and the party really started. Some notable snakes inhabit these parts but nothing as memorable as the merry orange conga, probably over the limit, that crawled through Cape Town last night.","Read a full match report of the World Cup 2010 semi-final game between Uruguay 
  and Holland at Green Point Stadium, Cape Town."
"Peter Ludlow was kicked out of the online game the Sims online after publishing reports of vice and extortion in his blog, the Alphaville Herald.

The philosphy lecturer transferred his blog and his attentions to Second Life, the 3D graphic-led communication network populated by computer-generated people known as avatars. The crime reporting continues.

Avatars move, communicate, make and sell things within the virtual landscape.

Even if you haven’t heard of it before now, you’re going to hear a lot about it in the months to come. The number of user accounts has just passed the million mark and celebrities and businesses are moving in every day.

I caught up with Ludlow between lectures and asked him why he’s kept away from virtual life for the last year and why he’s come back now.

‘I left because I was burnt out. And I came back because all of the media hype about Second Life was driving me crazy and I was ready to get back in the game and spend some time there.

‘Second Life is very interesting and promising in certain ways, but all of the media hype about making lots of money in the game, the metaverse, I thought all of that was overblown.’

That word, metaverse, says a lot about the origins of Second Life. It comes from a novel, Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson, a fairly poor piece of work with an awful plot cherished by SL residents as the origin of their online world.

It describes a virtual reality in which people take on avatar form to meet other people, play games and go on dates. There are clubs and bars, motorbike races and sword fights. It’s a social space, in contrast to online guru William Gibson’s data matrix.

Linden Labs, a Californian company, took the metaverse concept and built it across an array of servers in San Francisco. You can go in as an isolated avatar for nothing or rent an island for a few dollars a month, build a home, a shop, an office, a Buddhist retreat, a psychiatric hospital, whatever you want.

There’s a rapidly-growing economy. The Linden dollar trades at roughly L$250 to US$1 and can be used to pay for everything from shoes for your avatar to simulated lap dances.

It’s not all fashion and kinky sex, though, as Ludlow has been reporting for years. The Second Life Herald continues the crime-busting tradition of the Alphaville Herald. I asked Ludlow what form the criminality took.

‘Some of it would involve various kinds of fraud using Paypal or fraudulent offers to pay for certain goods that were not delivered. Some of it involved designing an avatar or establishing a position on eBay or something where you would pretend to be someone else.

‘There was a lot of that going on in the Sims online. There were various kinds of crime that were clearly crimes by anyone’s definition. There were other kinds of crime that were in a kind of vague area like role play or taking money from little kids.’

Do you ever worry that you might be putting yourself in danger?

‘That had occurred to me. Once we did a story on a Second Life gangster based in the United Arab Emirates, he called me up on the phone and yelled at me for a half hour, so it’s something to think about. I did talk about it with a friend whose father is a Cuban American who publishes a magazine in the US and she put things in perspective when she told me that people used to drive by and shoot through the front window.

‘I decided I wasn’t going to worry until people started shooting, that’s how you know it’s time to back off.’

Do you think that crime is as widespread in Second Life as it was in the Sims?

‘I don’t have any way of quantifying it, but there’s lots of different forms of extortion, but more likely what you’ll have is someone who’s running a club will harass someone who’s running another club or take them offline.’

So it’s more between businesses than against people.

‘Yes. The amounts of money have reached a level where criminal activity becomes profitable and worth undertaking.’

Don’t you think that a metaverse police force would take care of the problems you’ve been reporting on?

‘No. For example EA [Electronic Arts, the company behind the Sims] was absolutely incapable of taking care of the social problems in the Sims online; Linden Labs is completely incapable of addressing social problems in SL. You’re already getting little paramilitary organisations that get involved in solving disputes.’

Do you think they’re incapable or unwilling? If Linden Labs came out and said we have terrible social problems in our virtual world and this is how we’ll solve it it’d put people off, wouldn’t it?

‘They know they have problems. I’ve been to meetings with them and other experts in social resolution like anthropologists and lawyers, and the Lindens think that they’re going to have some magic bullet that’ll resolve these problems but it’s absolutely positively impossible. The idea that there’d be one vanilla solution and Linden Labs would have the manpower to enforce it is ridiculous.

‘The mistake that Linden Lab is making now is that they’re playing the role of Greek Gods. Their attention is being taken from here to there, they’re not omniscient, when they see something they reach in, and then people run to them with problems and they get involved.

‘What they’d be better off doing is stepping back and saying “You construct a conflict resolution mechanism and come up with your own ways of dealing with it and we’re going to get out of it”, but what they end up doing is the worst thing possible. They dabble in it, the organic growth of indigenous dispute resolution systems, so as far as I can see they’re doing the worst thing possible.’

So you think they’re making things worse by interfering?

‘No doubt about it. There are many things I’m unsure of but I’m absolutely sure of that. You can actually see it. I’ve been to areas where people are resolving things verbally and then Linden comes in and blows the thing apart.’

I’ll post more of this interview tomorrow.","Peter Ludlow, crime-busting Second Life blogger, talks to us about life online."
"The sexual assault investigation of Florida State quarterback Jameis Winston last fall was hampered by university administrators and Tallahassee police, according to a Fox Sports report.

Tallahassee police decided not to pursue charges in December 2013, but Fox Sports began investigating documents and discovered that Tallahassee police were returning reports in the case over to Florida State administrators when a reporter started looking into the alleged rape against the Heisman Trophy winner.

Tallahassee police also forwarded reports to the Florida State police chief, who got them into the hands of a high-ranking administrator in the university's athletics departments. Those reports then reached Winston's attorney, Tim Jansen, who managed to question two key witnesses in the case before the state attorney even learned of the allegations and launched his own investigation against Winston, according to Fox Sports.

The Fox Sports report also claims there is evidence of campus police officials interfering with reporters, even attempting to suggest there was no investigation of Winston.

A New York Times report on Friday night said that ""the treatment of the Winston complaint was in keeping with the way the police on numerous occasions have soft-pedaled allegations of wrongdoing by Seminoles football players.""

Florida State is currently in the midst of an ongoing federal investigation into its handling of the Winston allegations under Title IX, but the university defended its handling of the event in a statement earlier on Friday. It didn’t name Winston in the release, but referred to allegations against “a prominent athlete.”

“The University has remained silent for one reason: To protect our students, who are after all our highest priority,” the statement read. “But as we expect other stories to appear, it is abundantly clear that the continual drumbeat of misinformation about the University’s actions causes harm to our students, faculty, alumni, supporters and the FSU community as a whole. Because of this, and within the constraints of state and federal privacy laws, we want to share with you more detail to set the record straight.""","Tallahassee police and Florida State University administrators worked together to hamper the sexual assault investigation of Heisman Trophy winner Jameis Winston last fall, according to a Fox Sports report."
"The U.S. Justice Department unsealed charges against seven alleged Iranian hackers Thursday, saying the men worked as contractors for the Iranian government, and attacked the U.S. financial system and servers for a dam in New York.

The indictment is the most explicit accusation made by the U.S. government that Iranian government-affiliated hackers have attacked the U.S. It didn’t specifically allege the Iranian government directed the attacks, but said that one of the hackers received credit toward completion of his...","The Justice Department unsealed charges against seven alleged Iranian hackers, saying the men worked as contractors for the Iranian government, and attacked the U.S. financial system and servers for a dam in New York."
"NEW YORK – Could Jennifer Aniston’s wedding gown be a maternity dress? The 43-year-old actress, who is engaged to Justin Theroux, covered her stomach with her sweater as photographers snapped pictures of her leaving Barney’s in Beverly Hills over the weekend.

PHOTOS: Is Jen hiding a baby bump?

According to X17, Aniston made a big effort to hide a possible baby bump with her shopping bag and jacket as she walked through the parking lot.

Her rep denied pregnancy rumors to US Weekly last week when another photo surfaced that showed Jen’s midsection looking larger than usual.

“It’s crap,” the rep said.

But the photographic evidence has fans excited about the possibility that Aniston could finally become a mom.

Back in 2002, Aniston’s character on “Friends,” Rachel Green, became a mother to baby Emma. She also played a mom in 2008’s “Marley and Me.”","The 43-year-old actress, who is engaged to Justin Theroux, covered her stomach with her sweater as photographers snapped pictures."
"03/25/2016 AT 04:05 PM EDT

is not happy with MTV.

star took to Twitter Friday to blast the network, claiming her footage was ""manipulated"" after the reality show's

on Monday featured her daughter tearfully shouting that she didn't ""trust"" her mother, complaining that she never gave them food in the morning.

""It's so sad how the person behind the editing can even live a happy life by editing to manipulate the audience watching. It makes me feel like my story just isn't enough,"" Messer, 23, wrote in response to a fan's tweet asking why she continues to film the show despite being ""bashed.""

My point exactly. It's so sad how the person behind the editing can even live a happy life by....... https://t.co/h5umJew8td

... Editing to manipulate the audience watching. It makes me feel like my story just isn't enough. https://t.co/h5umJew8td

Messer went on to say she ""did hit rock bottom"" but came out of it and was ""willing to air it all"" in the hopes that she could helps viewers who might also be struggling.

""If just ONE person watched and reached out for HELP even when they feel so alone that's all I cared about because I could NEVER imagine ANYONE feeling the pain, hurt, depression AND anxiety that I WAS suffering from,"" Messer wrote.

I DID hit rock bottom but I come out of it and I was willing to air it ALL because if just ONE person.... https://t.co/h5umJew8td

....Watched and reached out for HELP even when they feel so ALONE that's all I cared about because ... https://t.co/h5umJew8td

... I could NEVER imagine ANYONE feeling the pain, hurt, depression AND anxiety ... https://t.co/h5umJew8td

""It would break my heart! I wanted to bring awareness and HELP others and if MTV couldn't share that then I will do it on my own the way God wants me to!!!"" she continued.

... That I WAS suffering from. It would break my heart! I wanted to bring awareness and HELP others and .... https://t.co/h5umJew8td

If MTV couldn't share that then I will do it on my own the way God wants me to!!!! ... https://t.co/h5umJew8td

The mom of three went on to say she felt betrayed by the network.

""It hurts to feel BETRAYED by the ones I THOUGHT I could trust with my story,"" she wrote. ""It goes to show you how 'THE ENTERTAINMENT WORLD' really is and I guess everyone will see where I REALLY am starting EPISODE 4.""

AND It hurts to feel BETRAYED by the ones I THOUGHT I could trust with my story.... https://t.co/h5umJew8td

It goes to show you how ""THE ENTERTAINMENT WORLD"" really is and I guess everyone will see where I REALLY am.... https://t.co/h5umJew8td

The reality star concluded by she is now in an ""amazing"" place and loves all of her fans.

.. It just BREAKS MY HEART!!! It's NOT okay but I KNOW that I am NOW in such a AMAZING place and I LOVE YOU ALL! https://t.co/h5umJew8td

&& I hope to continue to share my story but I REFUSE to allow it to be twisted for the benefit of a NETWORK! https://t.co/HGPUAHbIJw

""I hope to continue to share my story but I REFUSE to allow it to be twisted for the benefit of a NETWORK!"" she wrote.

MTV had no comment when reached by PEOPLE.

airs Mondays (10 p.m. ET) on MTV.","""I REFUSE to allow [my story] to be twisted for the benefit of a NETWORK!"" Messer tweeted"
"In Pennsylvania, Senator Arlen Specter, a former Republican who converted to the Democratic Party this year, quickly staked out a position in opposition to the troop escalation, while his opponent, Representative Joe Sestak, a former military officer who has been trying to run to the left of Mr. Specter, came out in favor it.

Other House and Senate candidates have seized on the buildup, siding both for and against it, making it likely that the president’s Afghanistan policy will be a central topic in primary races and perhaps general elections as well.

With national liberal advocacy groups already mobilizing against the troop increase, the president’s policy could conceivably prompt additional primary contests against Democratic incumbents, forcing them into races that consume money before general election showdowns with Republicans. Even if they do not instigate primaries, some advocacy groups can be expected to run advertisements and stage rallies against Democrats backing the escalation.

Despite the possible negative impact, Democrats and some experts do see a potential benefit arising out of the party division over how to proceed in Afghanistan.

For the most vulnerable Democrats — those in more conservative states and districts — a vote on the troop escalation presents an opportunity to side with Republicans on a national security issue. At the same time, it would allow a lawmaker to showcase a split with the liberal forces of the party and perhaps — depending on her ultimate view — with Speaker Nancy Pelosi herself.

“That will help some Democrats in moderate districts, because it cuts into Republican opponents running against them as out-of-touch liberals,” said Martin Frost, a former congressman from Texas who headed the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee during his tenure. “It is harder for a Republican opponent to go after the Democrat in a moderate district who votes with the president on the war.”

Mr. Frost, who was engaged in voter turnout efforts in the last election, said a stance in favor of the buildup could spur criticism from some Democratic constituents. But he said it was unlikely that those voters would then turn around and support a Republican.

“They might make life difficult for the Democrat, but they are not going to stay home,” he said.

Some top Democrats played down the electoral ramifications of Mr. Obama’s Afghanistan policy, saying the president was simply fulfilling his campaign promise to return the American military focus from Iraq to Afghanistan and its potential as a base of terrorism operations.

According to this view, the real test will come in 2011, when Mr. Obama will have to choose whether to follow through on his commitment to begin removing troops from Afghanistan as he presumably starts up his own re-election campaign.

Democratic strategists say that if nothing else, division over the Afghanistan policy could provide a distraction next year when party leaders had hoped to be free to focus on job creation and deficit reduction — two issues with appeal to independents. And a vote on spending $30 billion or more for the additional troops is not likely to come before next spring, pushing the contentious subject even closer to election season.

While Ms. Pelosi acknowledged that Afghanistan is a difficult internal matter for Democrats, she said she did not anticipate that the troop buildup would be an overriding issue in the midterm elections. She said Democrats would be judged more on how they handle persistent national unemployment and the overall economy.

“Meeting the needs of America’s families and seeing the progress that they make is what is important to us and to the president,” she said. “We’ll measure our success in that way and, hopefully, the American people will too in the next election.”",President Obama’s troop buildup is likely to add to Democratic difficulties in what was already looming as a treacherous midterm election.
"It's probably just hopeless. And it's definitely naive.

But what if it wasn't? What if this fiasco could actually change something? What if the mess in the athletic department at Rutgers could trigger a cultural shift, or at least hit the pause button, on the consuming madness of college sports? What if it provoked a reconsideration of the whole crazy thing—how students playing games for schools has become such a craven business vulnerable to envy and greed and poor judgment?

New Rutgers athletic director Julie Hermann, whose hiring has come under criticism.

You would think some reconsideration is in order. Rutgers, on the verge of a showy entry into the Big Ten Conference, finds itself in yet another college-sports controversy, once more self-inflicted. It has already lost a basketball coach over charges—and videotape—of verbal and physical abuse, and dismissed a supervising athletic director as well. Over the holiday weekend, the Star-Ledger published a startling report that the school's new athletic director, Julie Hermann—the person hired to lead Rutgers out of this crisis—was herself accused of verbal abuse by her players while a women's volleyball coach at Tennessee in the 1990s. The letter, reportedly authorized by all 15 students on the team, claimed that Hermann had referred to players as ""whores, alcoholics and learning disabled.""

Hermann said in a statement Monday she was never notified of the letter, and called it ""heartbreaking."" She acknowledged being an ""intense coach,"" but noted the ""vast difference"" between ""high intensity"" and ""abusive behavior."" Rutgers president Robert Barchi said Monday that Hermann will keep her job. On Tuesday, another issue came back to light: In 2008, Hermann, then an assistant athletic director at Louisville, was involved in a sex-discrimination lawsuit brought by a female assistant track-and-field coach. A jury awarded the coach $300,000, but a Kentucky appeals court overturned the verdict. The coach's lawyer has appealed to the Kentucky Supreme Court.

The whole thing would be funny if it weren't so unfunny.

Now the Rutgers controversy rushes off in the usual directions. Once again there will be calls for leaders to leave, perhaps Hermann, perhaps Barchi. This is how institutional problems get ""solved"" in the modern era—with a swift cut at the top. This is what Rutgers hoped for in April.

The second conversation (also a tedious repeat from April) is about our own standards for coaching behavior and whether or not we are softening—as if the controversies roiling Rutgers are less a matter of out-of-line coaches and more a function of society's thinning skin. This is delicious red meat, easy for the tough-talkers to flex a phony biceps about wimp culture.

These conversations don't solve a thing. It's just distraction.

Because what's not happening in Jersey is really the only thing that should be happening—not just at Rutgers but at every other college and university—which is a look deep down inside, to the guts of it all, to how college sports reached a point where malfunction became not the risk, but almost the rule. What's most depressing about the meltdown at Rutgers is not the original debacle or the subsequent debacle (or the university's apparent inability to conduct a thorough personnel background check). No, the depressing part is how utterly unsurprising it is, how accustomed we have all become to the steady beat of implosions in the win-or-else world of collegiate sports.

But what's worse is when these symptoms are just scalpeled from the patient, as if there's no correlation between the dysfunction and the surrounding environment. What almost always drags these colleges down are the very things they are pursuing: wins and attention, but mostly money, money and money. There's just an assumption that these benefits are positive, that the big time is worth it, that expensive coaches and conference expansion and mega TV contracts all serve a greater good—networks and fans love it, and it's foolish to not want a piece. When a program strays, the NCAA singles it out as roguish, a label that allows the lucrative NCAA ecosystem to escape serious investigation. TV networks cover crises without a glance at the role TV dollars play in fueling the mania. Oh well. Easier to focus on small mistakes and throw a few scapegoats overboard than to examine the big picture.

Maybe that examination can happen at Rutgers. Maybe there can be a step back, or at least a polite pause of momentum, and a school can have a healthy conversation about what it wants when it wants to be part of college sports. Maybe the current leadership can be part of this. Maybe they won't. Maybe there can be a serious conversation about how a school should measure athletic success, what values truly matter, what it will and won't do to win, what alumni really want when they say they want to be proud. Maybe this means change. Maybe it means being different. Maybe it means losing games and dollars. But maybe then Rutgers gets back on track. Maybe Rutgers becomes a model of how to do it right.

What if this could happen? What if this kind of thinking was possible? What if this could be a launch pad to re-examine the whole flawed passion that is college sports?

It's probably just hopeless. And it's definitely naive.

Write to Jason Gay at Jason.Gay@wsj.com

A version of this article appeared May 29, 2013, on page D6 in the U.S. edition of The Wall Street Journal, with the headline: What If Rutgers Is Everyone?.",Maybe some good can come from Rutgers's latest scandal—the hiring of athletic director Julie Hermann.
"My father often talked to us about his definition of success. He told us that it wasn't measured in money or material things, but in love and joy and the lives you're able to touch. Our parents took the time to teach each of us about character and what it means to live a good, passionate life.

While my siblings and I were all raised together under the same roof, I marvel at how different we can be sometimes. Four kids, four different life paths, personalities and aspirations.

We all must follow a different path to let our light shine, and that's what makes us so unpredictable and unique.

It's also why we need to break with the long-held expectation that schools exist to mold and manage kids. In today's world, expecting every child's education to be the same, progress at the same rate and be measured against the same narrow standards of performances is not just outdated, it's a disservice to young people and to the educators who dedicate their lives to helping them.

I experienced this disconnect firsthand after graduating from college. I had many opportunities in front of me, but they didn't test my limits, my creativity or enable me to pursue my passions.

At first, I took a job at a big consulting firm, mostly because it felt like what I was ""supposed to do."" While I enjoyed the experience and learned a great deal, I couldn't shake my passion for music. I had followed the somewhat predictable path of a college graduate, but I was obsessing over how to become an artist.

While not everyone has had the opportunities I've had, everyone has his or her own version of my story -- that moment when you become aware of the thing that will animate and fulfill you, and that period of struggle when you try to find a way to live a life that places your personal passion at the center.

Imagine what it would look like if our schools were set up to help people discover and pursue a personal passion instead of a predictable path?

The good news is that a number of individuals and organizations are finding new ways to innovate in education. Tuesday night, I'll be performing at an event where allies from the education and entertainment fields will announce the launch of Reimagine Learning, a $30 million fund organized and run by pioneering venture philanthropy, New Profit, which is providing support to educators, social entrepreneurs and researchers who are shaping the future of teaching and learning.

The goal is to create more student-centered environments that help young people not just do better in school but also discover what they love. While tonight is the formal launch, the effort is already well underway.

-- Fifteen nonprofit organizations have joined forces to launch Understood.org, a comprehensive free resource that provides support to parents with children who have learning and attention issues.

-- Peace First, an organization aiming to identify and support the next generation of peacemakers, has established the equivalent of a Nobel Prize for children whose work contributes to more caring schools and communities.

-- The MIT Media Lab has been experimenting with technologies that bring play and creativity back into learning and fit with the different ways that young people learn.

And thanks to a partnership with the MacArthur Foundation and the National Writing Project, I was excited to launch an initiative in 2014 to provide teachers with new resources to innovate in their classrooms, so that they can better meet the needs of different learners. The project, called LRNG, is part of a movement dedicated to inspire innovation in learning to ensure that it better reflects the world we live in today.

With these efforts and similar ones in communities across the country, there's a strong determination to ensure that schools and educators can start designing schools and classrooms that are more nurturing for students.

We can't live lives of joy if we can't discover what we love doing with our lives. So let's stop funneling people through a system and start letting each person discover the power and uniqueness of his or her own passion.

Let every child's light shine.

Read CNNOpinion's new Flipboard magazine.

Follow us on Twitter @CNNOpinion.",What if schools were set up to help people discover and pursue a personal passion?
"The venture capitalist Tom Perkins recently suggested that he should have a greater voice than others in selecting our government because he’s rich. “You pay a million dollars in taxes,” he told the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco, “you get a million votes. How’s that?”

Perkins later insisted that he had intended to be outrageous. As most Americans understand politics, however, he was just stating the obvious.

Instead of extra votes on Election Day, we who are wealthy enough to give money to politicians get special access before, and influence after, as candidates pursue the cash that is the life’s blood of their election campaigns. The more you give, the more access and influence you have. It’s as simple as that.

Our leaders’ supplication to donors is not new. But in the age of Super PACs the effect has become far more pronounced — even as the post-Watergate limits on campaign contributions look increasingly irrelevant.

There is a Super PAC for almost every candidate and cause — including one that I helped create, with the ironic mission of decreasing the influence of money in politics. But it would be a mistake to call this diversity. Our democracy is meant to be more than a disagreement among rich people.

Fortunately, there is an alternative to Perkins’ vision of a plutocratic dystopia.

Over the past few weeks, legislation has been introduced in both the House of Representatives and Senate that could upend the political landscape. If passed, these bills would sever the dependence that candidates now have on large contributions and Super PACs by offering them a real alternative: the support of small contributions from ordinary voters magnified by a limited amount of public funds.

The Government by the People Act was launched with 130 co-sponsors and the support of a diverse group of more than 40 national advocacy organizations. Within a week, more than 300,000 people signed on as “citizen co-sponsors,” vying to have the voice in politics that every citizen deserves.

This strong support signals the birth of new momentum and shows that meaningful reform does not require a constitutional amendment. The battle against super PACs will not be won by eliminating them. It will be won by making them less relevant and putting ordinary voters back at the center of our elections.

The effort is even more impressive when measured against the prospects for immediate success. Though the proposals enjoy broad bi-partisan public support, and some Republican members of Congress have privately expressed their support for change, the GOP leadership remains doggedly opposed.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has taken a particularly strident, if unpopular, position. He argues that campaign spending should be both unlimited and undisclosed, and is vehemently opposing all alternatives. Thankfully, other politicians have begun to appreciate that this is an issue that matters to voters and that any candidate will be better off as a supporter of reform than an opponent.

The excitement surrounding these congressional bill proposals is matched by the more immediate opportunity for success in New York State. Governor Andrew Cuomo, who has long advocated for citizen-funded elections as part of his efforts to clean-up Albany, has included a similar proposal in his budget submission to the state legislature.

In past years, Cuomo used his budgets to signal that Albany is working again. Other than delivering the budgets on-time, though, it has been little more than business as usual. New York State continues to be scarred by corruption scandals (three sitting legislators are now under indictment) and no legislation with economic consequence passes without an accompanying story of the campaign contributions that greased the wheels.

The same legislators who benefit from the current system have stymied Cuomo’s previous efforts at reform. But if the governor stands firm during budget negotiations, he is likely to have the victory that has so far eluded him.

Victory in Albany would be a boon not only for New Yorkers but for all Americans who believe that our democracy should do a better job at representing the interests of ordinary voters — not just people like Perkins and me, who have the resources to buy influence.

It would be the clearest signal yet that a new era of opportunity is upon us and would blaze the path for other states and the eventual passage of citizen-funded elections for Congress.

This must be a prospect that terrifies Perkins — every voter having a worth equal to his or mine. But it is far closer to the democratic promise so fundamental to our national identity. That ideal has been under increasing threat since the Supreme Court’s decision in Citizens United further opened the floodgates for money in politics.

Finally, the tide is beginning to turn.

PHOTO: Venture capitalist Tom Perkins is interviewed in his office in San Francisco, California, September 12, 2011. REUTERS/Robert Galbraith

PHOTO (INSERT 1): A roll of “I Voted” stickers rests on a table near a voter registration list at the Old Train Depot in Denmark, South Carolina, January 21, 2012. REUTERS/Chris Keane

PHOTO (INSERT 2): New York Governor Andrew Cuomo (L) speaks to New York Assembly leader Sheldon Silver before Cuomo delivered his fourth State of the State address in Albany, New York, January 8, 2014. REUTERS/Mike Segar",The battle against super PACs will be won by making them less relevant and putting ordinary voters back at the center of our elections.
"SAN FRANCISCO, Sept 4 (Reuters) - Amazon.com Inc is adding staff for a new division dedicated to restaurants in Seattle and New York, with indications the unit is trying to rapidly expand a meal delivery service, according to posts on LinkedIn and the company's jobs site.

Amazon, which declined to comment on Friday, is best known as a place to buy millions of products including books and electronics. It has increasingly moved into services, offering customers the ability to book everything from plumbers to local getaways.

The online retailer has dabbled in food delivery before but its move to form a dedicated division called Amazon Restaurants could mean it is preparing to enter the increasingly crowded meal delivery market and compete against well-established players like GrubHub Inc.

The exact purpose of the division is unclear but the job description of at least one employee in the unit suggests Amazon is interested in expanding restaurant delivery services beyond Seattle, where recent media reports say the company is already testing its own meal delivery program.

There are at least 15 job openings for a division called ""Amazon Restaurants,"" based in Seattle and New York, according to a Reuters search on LinkedIn and Amazon's own jobs site.

There are also six other postings for ""Amazon Restaurants and Travel,"" which appears to be a separate unit.

At least five Amazon employees have updated their LinkedIn profiles in the last five months to indicate they are working for Amazon Restaurants. One of them joined the division from GrubHub.

In a job ad posted last week, Amazon said it was looking for candidates to cultivate relationships with restaurant owners.

Amazon already partners with restaurants in Seattle on Amazon Local, a website and app where users can buy local deals and order food for takeout or delivery. Deliveries are done by restaurant staff, not by Amazon.

Technology-focused blog GeekWire reported last week that Amazon began quietly testing its own meal delivery service in Seattle using drivers for Prime Now, the company's one- and two-hour delivery program.

Ride-hailing app Uber has rolled out its own food delivery service UberEats, while startups like Postmates use a network of couriers to deliver food and home essentials.

Groupon Inc also launched its own food delivery service in Chicago in July called Groupon To Go after acquiring OrderUp, a Chicago-based food delivery company.","SAN FRANCISCO, Sept 4- Amazon.com Inc is adding staff for a new division dedicated to restaurants in Seattle and New York, with indications the unit is trying to rapidly expand a meal delivery service, according to posts on LinkedIn and the company's jobs site. The online retailer has dabbled in food delivery before but its move to form a dedicated division called..."
"Whether or not you like the idea of marriage, demographers would probably encourage you to get hitched. Since the middle of the 19th century, they have understood that people who marry enjoy longer and happier lives than those who remain single. In the early 70s, longevity researches added a footnote: a younger wife adds a few years to a man’s life.

But these statements seem tired today. In many countries, women are more likely than ever to be older than their husband, romantic cohabitation is commonplace and same-sex unions are winning more legal recognition. So does marriage still mean a longer lifespan?

The answer, in short, depends on age gaps, money and brains.

Related: Can money buy happiness?

Let’s focus on age gaps. A few years ago, that 70s footnote was reexamined by German demographer Sven Drefahl, who dug deep into Denmark’s population data. In doing so, he put together a highly cited and influential paper on marital age gaps and longevity.

Drefahl chose Denmark because, since 1968, the country has done as much as technology has permitted to keep a computerized register of everyone in the country. (This began, back in the day, with records on magnetic tape.)

As was reported when his study first came out in 2010, Drefahl found that women with younger husbands – so-called “cougars” – die young, as do men with older wives and women with older husbands. (I use “cougar” for brevity: as I will explain later, it’s a horrible term.) The only lifespan winners in the Danish data were the men with younger wives.

The finding that cougars die young is odd – and Drefahl didn’t claim in his paper to be able to explain it. It’s odd because, in theory, the benefits of being married to someone younger than you should apply to both sexes. In the autumn or winter of your years, having a younger spouse is likely to mean having a higher standard of health and fitness to keep up with, and when it comes to it, a younger spouse is probably a more energetic caregiver than someone your own age.

To appreciate the disparity between the lifespans of men and women with younger spouses, let’s look at some numbers. Between 1990 and 2005, a Danish woman of 50 or above, married to a man about 16 years younger than her, was 40% more likely to die by the end of 2005 than a woman of her age in a same-age union. The same set of comparisons for a man of 50-plus gives the result that he was 4% less likely to die than a man of his age married to a woman of his age.

There is also a flicker of black humor in Drefahl’s study: in the case of very wealthy older men, the husband is not 4% more likely to survive but 5% more likely to die. So, according to Denmark’s national dataset – not just tabloid headlines – super-sugar daddies should watch out.

That anomaly aside, according to Drefahl’s models, the optimum strategy for a man wanting a long lifespan is to marry a much younger wife. Meanwhile the female optimum is to seek a man born within 12 months of her date of birth. According to United Nations data from 2013, only in the Caribbean islands of Bermuda and St Kitts and Nevis does the average spousal age gap fall within the female optimum; it benefits male lifespans most in West Africa.

Since Drefahl’s research was originally published, he’s made some progress at figuring out why cougars snuff it early. He’s been looking at causes of death. The answer is that these women are far more likely to die of “external causes” than other married women – that is, they are more likely to die of accidents that are not suicides. (Consistent with the stereotype that older men stay fit and healthy because they are inspired by a younger partner, men with younger wives have low odds of dying from heart attacks, strokes and cancer.)

The elevated risk of accidents could be due to a mix of things. Like some cringeworthy stereotype of a risk-loving Mrs Robinson in a red convertible, it could be that women who generally do dangerous things are the ones who marry younger men. Or the high accident rate might reflect situations that develop as a result of the dynamic of these marriages: their young husbands might encourage activities like high-altitude mountaineering holidays, or perhaps even treat them unkindly.

It could also have something to do with the way that society treats women who go against the traditional norm. There is little evidence either way on this, but it seems reasonable that differential treatment might somehow be prompting these women to take bigger physical risks. Consider, for example, how the term “cougar” unfairly infers predatory behavior, and “toyboy” infers insubstantiality. On the other hand, “sugar daddy”, for all its blunt instrumentalism, sounds, well, a bit sweeter.

What’s true for Denmark can probably be applied to the US. Today, the average Danish married man is three years older than his wife, which is close to the US average of two years and four months. And over the whole of the 20th century, the two countries have displayed the same trends in the spousal age-gap: on average men were older than their wives by the greatest amount in the 1950s, and older than their wives, but by a lesser amount, in the decades before and after. This implies that similar social factors are driving changes in both countries.

But Denmark is different in a few ways. Danes are extraordinarily happy people. This month they yet again came top in an international survey of national happiness levels. Danes are also very liberal. For example, back in 1989, Denmark became the first country in the world to give same-sex partners similar legal rights and duties to married heterosexuals.

Related: Don't worry, be happy: your life might depend on it

Denmark’s statistics office also keeps excellent data on cohabitation, making it possible to answer the broader question of whether marriage still does a better job of fending off death than less formal, stable unions, in an uber-liberal society. Drefahl has also studied the benefits of marriage in Denmark and found that, for heterosexual relationships, it comes down to class. People with little income and education live longer if they’re married than if they cohabit. For Danes with middling socioeconomic status, there’s not much difference. Yet cohabiters with high levels of income and education live longer than married people of their class.

This last bit goes against the results of some US studies. Conservative institutions that publish on this matter in the US consistently claim that marriage is better than cohabitation in a broad-brush kind of way. But relatively little is known about the extent to which their findings are true for politically and socially different communities.

What is true for some towns and cities in the US might not be true for others: depending on where you are, it seems, marriage has a different social meaning. Liberal San Franciscans and New Yorkers, for example, might in fact be quite Danish in their relationship habits.","Marriage is supposed to help you live longer, but researchers say that women who marry younger men are more likely to die earlier. Why is that?"
"Happy Father's Day, dads! Now please just go away.

Yes, daddy-bashing is suddenly cool. The cover story of the latest Atlantic proclaims ""The End of Men: How Women Are Taking Control -- of Everything,"" while inside the magazine Pamela Paul poses the emasculating question, ""Are Fathers Necessary?"" Her answer, after sifting through the research: probably not. Social scientists have been unable to prove that dads contribute much, she reports. The effort and quality of parenting are what really matter, not parents' gender.

""The bad news for Dad is that despite common perception, there's nothing objectively essential about his contribution,"" concludes Paul, the author of ""Parenting, Inc.""

The bad-dad rap doesn't stop there. A 20-year study of lesbian parents in the journal Pediatrics concludes that teenagers raised by two mothers (read: no dad) had better grades and fewer social problems than other teens. The study's co-author, Nanette Gartrell of the University of California at Los Angeles, explained the difference by saying that lesbian mothers are more committed to child-rearing than heterosexual parents.

So what's a beleaguered dad to do? If science can't prove that we matter, does that mean we don't?

I've had plenty of reason to think about the role of fathers recently. Two years ago, doctors found a seven-inch tumor in my left femur. On the day I learned of my life-threatening illness, my 3-year-old twin daughters came rushing to greet me at home, laughing and falling to the ground.

I crumbled. I kept imagining the recitals I might not see, the graduations I could miss, the aisles I might never walk down. Would they wonder who I was or yearn for my approval, my love, my voice?

Three days later, I awoke with a plan to fill that void. I reached out to six men from all parts of my life and asked them to be there for my daughters at key moments. This group of men -- my oldest friend, my camp counselor, my college roommate, my business partner, my closest confidant and a tortured, romantic poet -- became the Council of Dads. I asked each to convey a different message to my girls: how to live, how to think, how to travel, how to dream.

Talking with these friends, it became clear to me that the men of my generation are often more involved as parents than their fathers were; they're also more communicative and more open to discussing their feelings and their kids. This may reflect shifting family dynamics, with both parents increasingly working outside the home, or new economic realities.

""For the first time in American history,"" explained Rabbi Harold Kushner, the author of ""When Bad Things Happen to Good People,"" ""we have a generation of Americans growing up who cannot look forward confidently to being more successful than their parents."" That's a psychological need, he added, especially for men. ""So what a lot of people are doing is redefining success: 'Okay, I'm not going to make as much money as my father made, but I'm going to have my priorities straight. I'm not going to be so busy I can't watch my kids at a dance recital.' ""

But while many dads are spending more time with their kids, an alarming number are spending less. The Census Bureau reports that in 2009, more than 24 million children lived apart from their biological fathers. That is one out of every three kids in the United States, including 25 percent of white children, 34 percent of Hispanics and 64 percent of African Americans. The percentage of American kids coping with absent fathers has tripled since 1960.

Good thing fathers are unnecessary, one might conclude -- so few are even around.","Happy Father's Day, dads! Now please just go away."
"If they haven't switched off completely, many Australians are looking forward to the end of the marathon eight-week federal election campaign - but not Christopher Pyne.

The cabinet minister from South Australia is relishing the fight, telling the TODAY Show today: ""I don't want it to end. It's the best time of my life"".

Labor frontbencher Anthony Albanese doesn't share his enthusiasm with eight days to go, saying he is looking forward to being on the home front next week in the lead up to polling day.

Mr Albanese defended opposition leader Bill Shorten and his continued claims the Coalition, if elected, would privatise Medicare; claims that have been largely regarded as fear-mongering.

""Have a look at what they're doing, not just what they're saying,"" Mr Albanese said.

""What they're doing is freezing the Medicare rebate so that people get off bulk-billing so that people go to, essentially, to a private system instead of the public system.

""What we know is, Whitlam created Medibank, the Liberals got rid of it, Hawke brought it back, the Liberals have tried to undermine it, it's part of their DNA.""

Mr Pyne said any changes to Medicare would be done ""in-house using the Digital Transformation Office"" and that the issue was whether or not the Australian public wanted ""a prime minister who tells lies all the time,"" in reference to Mr Shorten.

""He's been exposed as being a liar about privatising Medicare.""

Mr Albanese said there was a controversial divide in Australian politics and that ""the conservative forces in this country don't support"" public health, education or broadcasters.","An enthusiastic Christopher Pyne has declared he doesn't want the election campaign to end, despite many colleagues thinking eight weeks is long enough."
"Presidential candidate Ben Carson’s two top aides just resigned from his campaign.

Doug Watts and Barry Bennett, formerly Carson’s communications director and campaign manager, resigned Thursday, and according to Watts, the resignation is effective immediately.

In a statement provided to TIME, Watts said, “We respect the candidate and we have enjoyed helping him go from far back in the field to top tier status. Having just announced raising $23 [million] for the 4th [quarter], more than any other Republican candidate, and passing 1 million contributions and and over 600,000 unique donors since March, we are proud of our efforts for Dr. Carson and we wish him and his campaign the best of luck.”

Bennett, however, was more direct about his reasons for leaving. He told TIME, “This morning I called Ben and gave him the news that we had once again raised more money than any GOP candidate and had again beaten our own record. I then told him it was time for me to step down as I have come to understand I would never be able to solve the Armstrong Williams problem.”

Tensions have reportedly been simmering in the Carson camp in recent weeks, as Williams, a confidant of Carson’s who does not have an official role in the campaign, has taken on a larger presence in the media. In late December, Carson warned of a shakeup in his campaign, telling the Associated Press, “Every single thing is on the table. I’m looking carefully.”

Williams said at the time, in an apparent dig at campaign staff, “Dr. Carson is back in charge, and I’m so happy to see that.”

Carson put out a statement Thursday announcing Ed Brookover, who previously served as senior strategist, as the new campaign manager, and Major General Bob Dees as campaign chairman.

“As we enter a new phase of the campaign cycle, it is necessary to invigorate my campaign with a strategy that more aggressively shares my vision and world-view with the American people,” Carson’s statement said. “I commend Barry Bennett and Doug Watts for their efforts to help me share my vision for America.”","Doug Watts and Barry Bennett resigned, effective immediately"
"For Marcus Rashford this was another occasion to add to his increasingly impressive portfolio of outstanding moments. Rashford had reiterated his Euro 2016 credentials before any of the players had a single grass stain on their kit. In the process he became the youngest scoring debutant in England’s history and, of most significance, a boy who started the season in Manchester United’s under-18s might have secured a place in Roy Hodgson’s squad for France.

Hodgson certainly does not have a shortage of attacking options bearing in mind his team’s latest win came on a night when Harry Kane and Jamie Vardy were excused duty. Wayne Rooney showed some refined touches after coming on for the second half, including a thumping shot to score for the 52nd time in England’s colours, and Raheem Sterling’s confidence should be lifted by the fact that he set up both England’s goals before Eric Dier inadvertently helped out Australia with a diving header into his own net.

Related: England’s Roy Hodgson: ‘Marcus Rashford did well – but I wasn’t surprised’

Yet there was no doubt about the identity of the game’s headline-maker bearing in mind Rashford’s expertly taken goal barely a couple of minutes into an evening that must leave Daniel Sturridge with self-doubt polluting his mind. Hodgson has to whittle down his squad to 23 by Tuesday and Sturridge’s position has to be vulnerable when his fitness appears so erratic, especially now Rashford has shown he can fill in seamlessly.

Rashford played like a man – or, more accurately, a teenager – who was in a hurry to make his point and on this evidence it is going to be difficult in the extreme for Hodgson to exclude him from the final cut. Tommy Lawton was 19 years and 16 days when he scored on his England debut in October 1938. Rashford, at 18 years and 208 days, has broken a 77-year record and there was a lovely moment, straight after the goal, when the cameras panned to Rooney in the dugout and it was a sunrise of a smile on the face of England’s most experienced player. Rooney could not conceal his delight – in stark contrast to the body language of Sturridge, with his hood up, fiddling with his mobile phone and reflecting, undoubtedly, on the potential ramifications of his latest injury flare-up. In brighter news he does expect to resume training on Monday.

Rashford’s contribution was also a neat way of getting his retaliation in first, bearing in mind the chants in support of Jermain Defoe that could be heard during parts of the night. Rashford was still some way behind Bill Nicholson’s record, set in 1951, for scoring 19 seconds into his England debut but, more importantly, the new kid on the block confirmed he is not fazed easily. He has now scored with his first shot in the Europa League, the Premier League and at international level, all within a prodigious and almost implausible 92-day period.

It was not all perfect and Hodgson will not have missed the moment, for instance, when England broke from their own half only for Rashford’s touch to let him down when he had the chance to hare clear. Rashford had another chance later on, played in by Rooney, when another opportunity was wasted. Yet he could probably be forgiven, given what happened in England’s first meaningful attack.

The move started from the left-back position, with Ryan Bertrand advancing from defence, then playing a low pass into Rashford’s path. Rashford turned it on for Sterling, to his left, then moved into the penalty area and held his run as the return ball looped off the nearest defender. Rashford waited for the ball to drop, then pulled back his right foot and let fly with a precise volley.

England had begun the game with a midfield diamond featuring Jack Wilshere in the holding position and perhaps it might have worked better had Danny Drinkwater assumed that role. Instead Drinkwater started in a left-sided position that was not really his forte. Henderson was to his right, looking fit and eager to impress, and Adam Lallana had the No10 role until Rooney replaced him at half-time and England switched to a 4-3-3 formation.

At that point Rashford and Sterling moved into slightly wider positions, with Rooney at the arrowhead of attack, and Hodgson noted afterwards that the general play improved. James Milner also came on for the second half, with Hodgson keen not to over-exert Wilshere, and that meant Drinkwater could take the role where he excelled last season for Leicester City.

Australia were moderate opponents and 10 minutes into the second half Henderson moved the ball through the left-hand channel. Rashford let it run for Sterling and suddenly Australia were stretched again. Rooney was waiting in the middle and England’s record scorer had time to pick his spot with a powerful drive that was still rising as it hit the net.

Hodgson used the second half to bring on all the available players who had not appeared against Turkey in Manchester last Sunday and the initial diagnosis on Chris Smalling, who looked in discomfort before Eric Dier replaced him, was that he was merely suffering from cramp. Smalling’s importance to the team has increased because of Hodgson’s decision to include only three centre-backs and Dier’s own goal, a diving header from a right-wing cross, was an inauspicious contribution. “I might play him at centre-forward next time,” Hodgson mused.",Marcus Rashford and Wayne Rooney scored but Eric Dier headed into his own goal in England’s 2-1 win over Australia
"What would Jesus do? Ask Tyler Perry.

The United State Patent and Trademark Office sided with the media mogul in the trademark battle for the popular phrase “What Would Jesus Do,” according to The Hollywood Reporter.

He won the battle over “I Want to Work for Diddy” star Kimberly “Poprah” Kearney, who registered the trademark in 2008, several months before Perry did. Perry registered the phrase in the category of “entertainment services,” with the idea of producing “live concerts, a TV program and motion pictures” in relation to the trademark.

Kearney had it trademarked to use as the title for a reality show, but Tyler Perry Studios challenged her claim due to lack of use.

Kearney contended that she first used the mark in November 2007, including the fact that she had ""shared her television program and title with Tyler Perry Studios"" and that ""not many months after sharing this program and soliciting (Perry) for financial support of this program, (Perry) filed to register this mark; consequently, eventually resulting in this cancellation proceeding.""

The Hollywood Reporter stated that the “Madea Goes to Jail” star’s lawyers did “trademark jujitsu” to invalidate Kearney’s argument, including the fact that she has not yet produced or sold a “What Would Jesus Do” reality series and does not have a show in the works.

On Wednesday, the judges ruled in favor of the actor-producer, transferring the trademark from Kearney to Perry.

Kearney took to Twitter to lament her loss.

“Thanks every1 who has reached out bout the board letting @tylerperry steal my trademark 4,” she tweeted Thursday. “What Would Jesus Do-but its not over-God got this!”","What would Jesus do? Ask Tyler Perry. The United State Patent and Trademark Office sided with the media mogul in the trademark battle for the popular phrase “What Would Jesus Do,” according to The Hollywood Reporter."
"**Want FOX News First in your inbox every day? Sign up here.**

Buzz Cut: • Tsunami alert: New poll shows ObamaCare driving voters • Could the House really arrest Lois Lerner? • Hillary booster Sandberg pushes hard on gender bias • Rally lifts curtain on 2016 N.H. primary • British nobles get the vapors over beans

TSUNAMI ALERT: NEW POLL SHOWS OBAMACARE DRIVING VOTERS How big is ObamaCare in this year’s midterms? More than 80 percent of respondents in a new poll conducted by the Pew Research Center for USA Today said that a candidate’s stance on the troubled health law is important to them, with 54 percent saying it is “very important.” The worst news for Democrats is that among the majority of registered voters who said the law was “very important,” there were twice as many opponents as there were supporters. Overall, support for the signature Obama initiative, which pairs expanded welfare and entitlement programs with far-reaching regulations on health insurance, fell to 37 percent. That’s the lowest level since the summer after the law was passed in 2010 when incumbents’ town halls across the country erupted with ObamaCare outrage. The takeaway: The electoral climate this year is defined by ObamaCare and the forecast is getting worse for Democrats.

[“If you don’t care about Obamacare, you’re less likely to vote. If you think Obamacare is good, it’s not a big issue for you. But if you think it’s bad, it's an intense one.” – Republican Senate campaign committee Chairman Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., talking to USA Today.]

Dems need to scare up a stampede - Some race watchers may deduce from the poll that the constant efforts by President Obama and his fellow Democrats to frighten and mobilize base voters will be inadequate in the face of an overall political climate as dire as the one described by the Pew/USA Today poll. But the survey actually shows the importance of efforts to provoke a stampede of liberals to the polls. With centrist voters trending away from Democrats and a majority of independents beyond the reach of Democratic pleas for more mercy on the law, an agitated Democratic base could make the difference between just losing the Senate majority and a rout. If the GOP gets a major wave going, it could Republicans in a place to actually pass legislation rather than just blocking Obama’s efforts.

[King will choose sides after seeing who wins - The Hill: “Sen. Angus King (I-Maine), who caucuses with the Democrats, will decide after the midterm elections whether to switch sides and join the Republicans.”]

Obama to use civil rights anniversary to make campaign pitch - WSJ previews President Obama’s speech today to mark the 50th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act at the Lyndon B. Johnson Presidential Library in Austin. “The president's speech will celebrate Mr. Johnson's signing of the landmark civil rights law, which outlawed discrimination based on race, religion or gender. Mr. Obama also is expected to make the case for equality in economic opportunity. ‘Civil rights in 2014 is all about equal opportunity for everybody,’ a senior Obama administration official said.”

[Only two House Democrats, Reps. Marcy Kaptur, D-Ohio, and Jim Moran, D-Va., backed President Obama’s budget when Republicans offered it up.]

ObamaCare sites trap welfare applicants - National Journal: “Some applications sent from the exchanges never make it to the state Medicaid offices. Of those that do, jumbled or missing data can make the applications impossible to process in any kind of automated way. In the meantime, these individuals are without coverage as they wait for their applications to be reviewed, and their prospects for getting insured soon are dimming as backlogs build.”

COULD THE HOUSE REALLY ARREST LOIS LERNER? Washington Examiner: “House Ways and Means Committee Republicans aren’t ruling out the use of the chamber’s ‘inherent contempt’ authority if Attorney General Eric Holder refuses to act on the panel’s accusations against former IRS official Lois Lerner…the House’s ‘inherent contempt’ authority under the Constitution…was initially exercised in 1795 during the First Congress and on multiple occasions thereafter. Lerner could be held until January 2015 when a new Congress is seated, which could issue another subpoena and throw her in the clink again if she still balks at testifying.”

[JudgeAndrew Napolitano argues that the unwillingness of members of Congress to hold Director of National Intelligence James Clapper responsible for alleged abuses in connection with the NSA’s domestic surveillance program makes them responsible as well.]

Report: IRS employees unabashed about Obama support - Fox News: “IRS workers in several offices have been openly supporting President Obama, including by donning pro-Obama paraphernalia and urging callers to reelect the president in 2012, according to allegations contained in a new government watchdog report”

[Watch Fox: Chief Congressional Correspondent Mike Emanuel provides a close examination of the agency tasked with enforcing ObamaCare and looking into your finances.]

WITH YOUR SECOND CUP OF COFFEE... George Will takes a deep dive into the Compact for America balanced-budget proposal which, “would use the Constitution’s Article V to move the nation back toward the limited government the Constitution’s Framers thought their document guaranteed. The Compact for America is the innovation of the Goldwater Institute’s Nick Dranias, who proposes a constitutional convention carefully called under Article V to enact a balanced-budget amendment written precisely enough to preclude evasion by the political class. This class has powerful and permanent incentives for deficit spending, which delivers immediate benefits to constituents while deferring a significant portion of the benefits’ costs.”

Got a TIP from the RIGHT or LEFT? Email FoxNewsFirst@FOXNEWS.COM

POLL CHECK Real Clear Politics Averages Obama Job Approval: Approve – 43 percent//Disapprove – 52.5 percent Direction of Country: Right Direction – 30.3 percent//Wrong Track – 61.5 percent Generic Congressional Ballot: Democrats – 41 percent// Republicans 39.7 percent

HILLARY BOOSTER SANDBERG PUSHES HARD ON GENDER BIAS Hillary Clinton enthusiast and Facebook boss Sheryl Sandberg used her exclusive interview with Megyn Kelly to call for broad action on equal pay for women. Sandberg, who is pushing an effort to ban the use of the word “bossy” for girls, called for government intervention and social pressure to force companies to treat women differently. “We don't just need public policy reform. We need corporations to have the right policies and look how they are paying men and women and we need women to negotiate for themselves,” Sandberg said on “The Kelly File.” Sandberg added that women need to advocate differently for themselves in the workplace adding, “When men negotiate for themselves, everyone is fine with it because we expect men to advocate for themselves, but when women negotiate they can face a backlash because we don't expect it… When women get more successful and powerful, they are less liked. Men don’t have that trade off. They can negotiate and become CEO.” Watch the interview here.

[Ruth Marcus: “I’d vote for the Paycheck Fairness Act in the unlikely event that someone elected me to Congress. But the level of hyperbole – actually, of demagoguery – that Democrats have engaged in here is revolting.”]

HILLARY SOAKS UP MORE DEM DOUGH Despite repeated warnings from Team Obama that the Democratic fixation on Hillary Clinton’s 2016 candidacy is harming the party’s midterm chances, Planet Hillary will not be denied. NYT: “Ready for Hillary, the independent group devised to build support for Hillary Rodham Clinton’s potential 2016 presidential campaign, said Thursday that it had brought in 22,000 new donors and raised more than $1.7 million in the three-month period that ended March 31. The group aims to build grass-roots support with small donations solicited over the Internet, which was something of a struggle during Mrs. Clinton’s 2008 presidential bid. But it said that 98 percent of the contributions in the first three months of the year were for $100 or less, and 9,500 donations were for $20.16, a popular option at Ready for Hillary’s events nationwide.”

IN HER ORBIT Bubba warms up the base - AP: “Former President Bill Clinton [used] the 50th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act to criticize efforts in several states to create new restrictions for voters, saying they threaten to roll back a half-century of progress. The former president spoke Wednesday night at the Civil Rights Summit at the Lyndon B. Johnson presidential Library in Austin.”

All in the family - Bubba will be in Philadelphia today to stump for Democratic Congressional candidate Marjorie Margolies, the mother-in-law of daughter Chelsea Clinton.

Top of the scrap heap - Las Vegas Sun: “Hillary Clinton... presumed favorite for the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination, will visit Las Vegas on Thursday during a tour of three West Coast states…. Clinton’s Thursday speech will be at the annual convention hosted by the Institute of Scrap Metal Recycling Industries Inc….”

Silicon Valley’s favorite - San Jose Mercury News: “When she takes the stage at San Jose State University’s Event Center on Thursday evening… the man conducting Clinton’s Q&A -- Santa Clara County Assessor Larry Stone, a longtime friend of Bill Clinton’s -- knows she wouldn’t answer, and is already sure what she would say if she did blurt out her plans. ‘Of course she’s going to run,’ Stone says.”

Campaign text - AP: “Hillary Rodham Clinton’s new book on her time as President Barack Obama’s secretary of state will be released on June 10, her publisher says.

WEEKEND RALLY WILL LIFT CURTAIN ON N.H. 2016 RACE New Hampshire Journal editor John DiStaso posits: “When the New Hampshire presidential primary is history sometime during the first few months of 2016, the political observers, the strategists, the media and even the voters can look back on April 12, 2014 as the day the campaign was launched… The ‘Freedom Summit’ to be held on Saturday by the conservative advocacy groups Americans for Prosperity Foundation and Citizens United is a Republican event…this ‘cattle call’ (if you will) will be the first event at which anywhere from three to possibly six possible presidential candidates gather in one place on one day for the first time… The big draws on the presidential front are Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas and Rand Paul of Kentucky as well as former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee. There will be no Jeb Bush and no Chris Christie. No one conventionally identified with the more moderate (relatively speaking) GOP ‘establishment’… Sen. Kelly Ayotte will be the first elected official to speak…Also speaking are Utah Sen. Mike Lee, Tennessee U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn… the focus will be on Cruz, mostly because it’s his de facto New Hampshire debut. How will his Tea Party brand, so well-known and controversial nationally, translate to New Hampshire?”

REPUBLICANS GET JUMP BALL FOR 2016 IN IOWA While Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton stands more than 50 points ahead of her potential rivals in a Suffolk University poll of Iowa Democrats, there’s no such stratification on the GOP side. Des Moines Register: “Among Republicans who said they’ll go to the [2016 presidential] caucuses, 11 percent liked Mike Huckabee best as their nominee; 10 percent said Jeb Bush; 10 percent, Rand Paul; 9 percent, Ted Cruz; and 7 percent, Chris Christie. Six other potential candidates – Paul Ryan, Sarah Palin, Condoleezza Rice, Marco Rubio, Rick Santorum and Scott Walker – each had 6 percent, the survey found.” Ben Carson was the top pick of 9 percent of potential caucus goers.

GOP BUZZ BUILDERS Rubio, Ryan collaborating on ObamaCare replacement - Washington Examiner: “Sen. Marco Rubio [R-Fla.] and Rep. Paul Ryan [R-Wis.] are collaborating on an Obamacare alternative and could announce the proposal as early as this month, according to Republican sources…”

Jeb goes back to his roots - Former Gov. Jeb Bush, R-Fla., will appear in Connecticut tonight to present two-time Republican Senate candidate and former professional wrestling executive Linda McMahon the state GOP’s annual Prescott Bush Award, named for the former Florida governor’s grandfather.

Ryan building bank - Politico: “Paul Ryan has raised just shy of $1.4 million so far this year, the biggest quarterly haul in his career, according to a campaign aide. …The campaign will also report it has more than $4 million in the bank, an eye-popping sum for a House Republican with no real race on his hands.”

Walker way out in front in re-elect - According to a Wisconsin Public Radio/St. Norbert College poll, Gov. Scott Walker, R-Wis., leads Democrat Mary Burke 56 percent to 40 percent in his re-election bid.

Former Christie aides can skirt subpoenas - AP: “Two former associates of Gov. Chris Christie , [R-N.J.] do not have to hand over documents to a legislative committee investigating the traffic jam scandal engulfing the governor, a New Jersey judge ruled Wednesday.” NEBRASKA SENATE FRONTRUNNER OSBORN DELIVERS SOME JABS IN FINAL DEBATE Columbus (Neb.) Telegram: “At one point, former State Treasurer Shane Osborn took an indirect shot that appeared to be directed at [Midland University President] Ben Sasse when Osborn pointedly said: ‘I haven't evolved’ in opposing Obamacare. ‘I have always had the same position,’ Sasse said, believing from the beginning that Obamacare was ‘a bad idea.’ Unlike the other candidates, Sasse said, he has proposed a comprehensive, private-sector alternative to provide health care. … Sasse said the United States is underfunding the defense budget and, because of the leadership of the president, is beginning to look like ‘a big insurance company that just happens to own a Navy.’” [A group of 50 Nebraska conservative activists denounced the decision by grassroots group Freedom Works to withdraw its endorsement of GOP Senate frontrunner Shane Osborn and back rival Ben Sasse. While the signatories don’t endorse Osborn, they attack Sasse and Freedom Works. More from the Omaha World-Herald.]

LITTLE BREATHING ROOM FOR BRALEY In Suffolk University’s first poll on the Iowa Senate race, frontrunner Rep. Bruce Braley, D-Iowa, holds a 6-point lead over his top potential GOP challenger, less than half of what it was in a similar Quinnipiac University poll a month ago. Braley, once considered very likely to retain the seat for Democrats following the retirement of Sen. Tom Harkin, stumbled badly when a video surfaced of him belittling Iowa farmers. Among potential Republican primary voters, state Sen. Joni Ernst led businessman Mark Jacobs 25 percent to 23 percent. The poll shows Gov. Terry Branstad, R-Iowa, ahead of Democrat Mary Burke, 42 percent to 32 percent in his re-election bid.

PICK SIX: PETERS IN PERIL? Republicans need to gain six seats to take control of the Senate. Which six Democrat-held seats are the most vulnerable? The current consensus among Fox News First readers: Arkansas, Montana, Louisiana, South Dakota, North Carolina and West Virginia. But reader Craig Beachum sees a close contest between Rep. Gary Peters, D-Mich., and former secretary of state Terri Lynn Land and says, “add Michigan to the list.”

Share your top six picks. Email them – just your top six, please – to FOXNEWSFIRST@FOXNEWS.COM or tweet @cstirewalt. CASH CALL DSCC outraises NRSC - Washington Examiner: “The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee had its best fundraising month of the midterm election cycle so far in March, bringing in $8.1 million and outpacing Republicans, who raised short of $6.4 million for Senate races during the same period… The DSCC finished the month with $22.2 million and having eliminated its debt; the NRSC, meanwhile, finished March with nearly $15.9 million on hand and also without debt.”

RNC rakes in over $10 million in March - The Republican National Committee brought in $10.2 million in March to bring its quarterly fundraising total to $25.2 million. After spending heavily to upgrade its tech outreach, the RNC has $12.3 million on hand.

House Majority PAC hoists huge cash haul - House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi’s House Majority PAC announced it raised $5.2 million Wednesday.

Colorado - AP: “Republican U.S. Rep. Cory Gardner’s campaign is reporting it raised $1.4 million during the first three months of the year, almost all of it in March, following his surprise announcement he would challenge Democratic Sen. Mark Udall. … Udall raised more than $2 million during the first quarter of the year and has $5.9 million available. But the senator was raising funds for the full three months.”

Georgia - Roll Call: “Georgia Rep. Jack Kingston, one of a handful of Republicans vying for the state’s open Senate seat, raised $1.1 million in the first fundraising quarter of 2014… Kingston ended March with $2.1 million in cash on hand… In the May 20 primary, Kingston faces fellow Reps. Paul Broun and Phil Gingrey, along with former Dollar General CEO David Perdue and former Secretary of State Karen Handel. Broun raised $345,000 in the quarter and had just $230,000 on hand… Gingrey raised $326,000.”

Montana - AP: “U.S. Sen. John Walsh [D-Mont.] raised $946,000 in the first three months of 2014 in his bid to keep the seat he was appointed to in February…”

Virginia - WaPo: “Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) raised $2.7 million during the first three months of the year, his campaign announced Wednesday, more than $1 million better than the number he posted in the previous quarter. Warner ended March with more than $8.8 million in his campaign account.”

CONTROVERSIAL DEM DONOR DOCTOR TOP MEDICARE BILLER Daily Caller: “The Florida doctor who entangled Sen. Robert Menendez [D-N.J.] in an FBI investigation also turns out to be the nation’s No. 1 recipient of Medicare funds. Dr. Salomon Melgin, the Florida eye surgeon, charged the government $320 for giving 37,075 injections of an eye-drug to 645 patients. That’s an average of 57 injections per patient, costing the taxpayer $21 million in 2012. The wealthy doctor lives in a palatial house in in North Palm Beach, and donated heavily to Menendez. He’s now the target of at least one FBI investigation, which included raids on his offices in January and October 2013. Menendez got entangled in the doctor’s finances when he used Melgen’s private plane to fly Menendez to various locales, including vacation sites in the Dominican Republic. Menendez took at least three trips on the doctor’s airplane in 2010.”

[The Hill breaks down how millions of Medicare dollars have been sent to doctors under investigation for fraud.]

DEMS PLACE GOP DONORS AHEAD OF PUTIN ON ENEMIES LIST National Journal: “The good folks at the Sunlight Foundation have created a tool, CapitolWords, to show just how much [Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid] and his fellow Democrats are pushing the ‘Koch brothers’ message…in March 2014, their names were called out 79 times—and no one cited them more than Reid. Already, the Koch brothers have been name-dropped 38 times in April…The volume of the Democrats' Koch brothers messaging is cranked so high that its rise rivals congressional mentions of Russian President Vladimir Putin… so far in April, Sunlight's data show that ‘Koch brothers’ has been said more than ‘Vladimir Putin.’’’

[Washington Examiner reports that the Federal Elections Committee conceded it cannot stop sham political action committees that trick voters into believing they are supporting individual candidates.]

NO RE-ELECTION DECISION YET FROM KISSING CONGRESSMAN The Hill: “[The chief of staff for scandal-soaked Rep. Vance McAllister, R-La.] said while McAllister has no plans to resign, he hasn’t decided whether he’ll run for reelection this fall.”

BRITISH NOBLES GET THE VAPORS OVER BEANS The global warming debate took a foul turn in the British House of Lords as Baroness Verma warned bean-loving Britons to reduce their intake of baked beans because of the impact that human flatulence could have on the earth’s climate. From The Mirror: “…Labour peer Viscount Simon raised questions in the House of Lords about the impact of human eating habits. Viscount Simon, 73, said: ‘A programme on the BBC stated this country has the largest production of baked beans and the largest consumption of baked beans in the world. ‘Could you say whether this affects the calculation of global warming by the Government as a result of the smelly emission?’ Lady Verma replied: ‘You raise a very important point, we do need to moderate our behaviour.’” Their lordships may wish to consider calling Mel Brooks to testify on the topic.

AND NOW, A WORD FROM CHARLES… “I think you have to go after Syria, the Iran negotiations, the Crimea, Ukraine, what’s happening in Eastern Europe. I mean this really is a collapse of America’s stature in the world.” – Charles Krauthammer on “Special Report with Bret Baier” Click here to watch.

Chris Stirewalt is digital politics editor for Fox News. Want FOX News First in your inbox every day? Sign up here.

Chris Stirewalt joined Fox News Channel (FNC) in July of 2010 and serves as digital politics editor based in Washington, D.C. Additionally, he serves as the host of ""Power Play"" on FoxNews.com and makes daily appearances on the network including ""America Live with Megyn Kelly,"" ""Special Report with Bret Baier,"" and ""Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace."" Most recently, Stirewalt provided expert political analysis during the 2012 presidential election.

Daily must-read stories from the biggest name in politics",ObamaCare defining midterms and the forecast is getting worse for Democrats.
"Jill Chodorov, a real estate agent with Long & Foster, writes an occasional column about local market trends and housing issues.

At a recent appointment with a prospective home seller, I was asked a question that made me pause and think before offering an answer: Should we list the property now during the hot summer or wait until after Labor Day?

It was a steamy 94 degrees outside on this recent humid July afternoon, with a heat index of more than 100 degrees. My mind flashed to the image of me sitting on a lounge chair by a pool, rather than sitting at an open house on a Sunday afternoon.

Even as I imagined myself relaxing by the cool water of the pool, I told my clients what I knew was the truth — now is a great time to list their property for sale.

“Your house is in a great location, it shows well, and it will be priced desirably at under $500,000,” I said. “In addition, there are very few homes on the market in your neighborhood, so we don’t have much competition.” The home is located in the Forestvale neighborhood of Silver Spring, near Forest Glen Metro on the Red line, around the corner from Georgia Avenue and the Beltway, and blocks from Holy Cross Hospital.

After meeting with my client, I wondered how my colleagues were answering the same question from their clients. Although most agents agreed with my recommendation, I did find some differences of opinion.

Josette Skilling of Keller Williams Capital Properties in Bethesda agreed with my assessment. “I typically tell a client to wait, but this year with inventory tighter I am telling clients to list instead of wait,” Skilling said in a recent e-mail.

Skilling did add a few caveats to listing a home in the summer. “While the condition of the property is always important, it has to be really good at this time of year. I think it’s important to be a darn near perfect house so it stands out,” she wrote. “And I’ve counseled sellers to be less expectant of higher prices or a lot of competition, unlike in the spring.”

Susan Sonnesyn Brooks of Weichert Realtors also agreed. “I tell sellers that price and condition are more important than ever in the summer. Why not be one of the best offerings of the summer? What could be more cool than that?”

Brooks offered some additional thoughts on selling this summer. “Many buyers missed out in the spring on homes to competition, poor timing or not wanting to escalate their offers. They are still out there looking seriously and complaining about lack of inventory,” she said. “Waiting two months for September, when they will have a lot more competition from buyers who took the summer off is simply not acceptable to many of the motivated buyers. “

Brooks said that some buyers are on a timeline to buy. “Some are eager to get into new school districts before fall, and many have more time during the summer to house hunt and move,” Brooks said.

Beth Hughes of DCRE Residential is also hot on listing properties in the summer months. “One of my busiest months last year was August,” Hughes said.

“The low inventory and high number of buyers still looking means that it is still a good time to list your property. We are still seeing multiple offers escalating to over the asking price on properties in the D.C. area, so the market is still competitive,” Hughes said. “As far as I am concerned, summer is a viable market for sellers.”

Not all agents are bullish on the summer real estate market. Stanley Barsch of Barsch Realty had a chilly outlook on listing a home in the hot summer months.

“In my honest opinion, late July and August are not a good time to list a property for sale. D.C. is a ghost town in August,” Barsch said. “People are busy with vacations and pool parties. Home buying is not on the front line for most people. We are a four season area, things don’t really slow down. But I do think we have some cold spots and August is one of those times.”

“There are always buyers out there, but you are setting yourself up by listing in July and August. If the property does not sell, you have 30 days or more on the market when new listings are coming out in September,” Barsch warned. “You are committing suicide.”

“In addition, buyers have not been motivated in the last 45 days. And I don’t see them getting motivated in August,” Barsch added.

Barsch is correct. According to the latest data released last week by RealEstate Business Intelligence, a subsidiary of Rockville-based multiple listing service MRIS, buyers have been less motivated in the last 45 days. Sales in the D.C. metro area fell by 4.5 percent in June 2014 compared to June 2013.

Of course, factors other than high temperatures might account for the decline in sales. Some buyers can’t meet the tougher mortgage qualification standards. And homeowners who refinanced at historically low rates are reluctant to take on higher rates now.

Barsch is advising his buyers to get into the market now, however. “Not to contradict myself, but this is the best time for buyers to get into the market. Buyers have more of a bargaining chip,” Barsch said. “Buyers can take advantage of the slow market by negotiating for closing help, longer inspection contingencies, additional contingencies such as radon inspections, and they are not rushed to make an offer.”

Barak Sky of Long & Foster had a more relaxed view of timing the market. “What is most important to consider is what is best for the seller,” Barak said. “There are always buyers in the market. I have sold homes on Christmas Day and in the middle of the summer. Timing does not matter that much.”

Skilling said she will be listing two properties at the end of July. She will be sure that the properties show extremely well. “And then I cross my fingers.”

Here are some tips for attracting a summertime buyer:

• Keep the lawn mowed and weeded for prime summer curb appeal.

• Keep the air conditioner humming at a cool comfortable temperature.

• Stage outdoor spaces to highlight ease of summer living.

• Decorate with cool summer colors and accents.

• Highlight balconies, decks, patios and pools in photographs and marketing.

In tight market, pre-listing sites becoming popular

High radon levels may be downside to having a tight, energy-efficient house

Logan Circle condos to use feng shui

How to find affordable housing for an elderly parent

Jill Chodorov can be reached at jill.chodorov@longandfoster.com.",Real estate agents have differing views on whether to wait until fall or take the plunge now.
"Phillip Phillips is still recovering from his big win Wednesday night on American Idol. And he'll soon be recovering from surgery.

This morning, calling in to Live! with Kelly, the new champ said he only had ""about two and a half hours of sleep"" Wednesday night. He was due to be on the show next week but won't be able to, he said, explaining, ""I've been sick this whole show. I'm trying to get all my work done, to recover.""

Phillips was hospitalized at one point early in the season, and has been battling kidney problems. He added, ""It's been tough. I've had a lot of great people around me, great doctors. That helps out a lot.""

When Ripa asked him about upcoming surgery, he wasn't specific about what or when exactly he'd be having it, but said, ""Yes, I'll be having it here soon. I'm getting prepared for all that. I'm ready to feel better, feel like myself.""","The 'Idol' champ is still recovering from his big win Wednesday night, and soon he'll be recovering from surgery."
"House Republicans are calling for a pause in the Syria refugee program and for a new plan to handle the immigrants fleeing Syrian violence in light of the attacks in Paris. (Reuters)

Congressional Republicans unveiled a new strategy Tuesday morning to defeat the Islamic State: We will kill it with clichés.

House GOP leaders huddled with their caucus in the Capitol basement for an hour before emerging to hit the enemy with an unrelenting barrage of hackneyed phrases.

Dana Milbank writes about political theater in the nation’s capital. He joined the Post as a political reporter in 2000.

“The world needs American leadership,” said Paul Ryan (Wis.), the new House speaker.

House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (Calif.) opined that “we want our homeland to be secure,” while Majority Whip Steve Scalise (La.) spoke of the need to “go and root out and take on ISIS.”

Cathy McMorris Rodgers (Wash.), the No. 4 Republican leader, proclaimed that we must “rise to the challenge” and find “the courage and the resolve.”

And Rep. Lynn Jenkins (Kan.) announced that we must “stand shoulder to shoulder with France and our allies” and “show a path forward as we fight for a safer world for our kids to grow up in.”

Even after this furious fusillade of bromides, they did not tire, they did not falter and they did not fail to offer more banalities in response to reporters’ questions.

Ryan, who said we should “take a pause” in admitting refugees from Syria because “it’s better to be safe than to be sorry,” was asked what exactly this pause meant.

“We’ve assembled a task force” to determine that, Ryan said, and “we’ll give you the answer to those questions when we have made our conclusions.”

A task force! Islamic State might as well surrender now, to be safe rather than sorry.

So would the GOP leadership consider something that would be a major change in strategy: U.S. combat troops on the ground?

“I do not think any option should be taken off the table,” Ryan said. “I think all options should be placed upon the table.”

In the days since more than 120 people were killed in a terrorist attack in Paris, conservative presidential candidates have called for limiting the number of Syrian refugees allowed into the U.S.. (Sarah Parnass/The Washington Post)

One option not on the table, apparently: coming up with an idea of what to do to beat Islamic State. Obviously President Obama’s strategy — whatever it is — doesn’t seem to be doing the job. But the only thing the opposition seems to agree on is that he should do something else that works better — preferably something that leaves us shoulder to shoulder on the path forward, putting all options on the table as we root them out with courage and resolve.

Cliché is a substitute for rigorous thinking, and the legislature has not been doing a lot of that. Obama sent Congress a draft Authorization for the Use of Military Force in February, and nothing happened. Similarly, Congress did nothing in 2013 when Obama dumped on lawmakers the decision about whether to attack Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria for using chemical weapons.

Some GOP presidential candidates have floated alternative strategies. Donald Trump would “bomb the [excrement] out of them.” Sen. Lindsey Graham (S.C.) would send in 10,000 troops. Otherwise, there has been a lot of tired language in lieu of policy.

When NBC’s Chuck Todd asked Jeb Bush on Sunday how to defeat the Islamic State, Bush replied: “Well, you take it to them in Syria and Iraq.” Bush did have some specifics, though most were things Obama has been trying to do.

Sen. Marco Rubio (Fla.), interviewed the same day by ABC’s George Stephanopoulos, offered the platitude that we should “put together a coalition to confront this challenge.” As for the concrete proposal of 10,000 ground troops, Rubio called that “premature.”

Then there was the inimitable Ben Carson, asked by Fox News’s Chris Wallace what “specifically” he would do as president to respond to the Paris attacks. “Well,” Carson ventured, “obviously extending, you know, our support to the French, you know, that were our first allies, and we certainly want to stand with them.”

Pressed repeatedly on who he would call first to put together a military coalition, Carson gave a Palinesque reply: “I would call for all of the Arab states to be involved in this.”

House Republicans picked up the theme Tuesday at their leadership gathering. “We need a strategy,” Rep. Martha McSally (R-Ariz.) told the cameras. “That includes unleashing American air power in a way that can actually crush and defeat them in Iraq and Syria; a broader strategy diplomatically and militarily for the dozens of countries that we’re seeing ISIS presence in; stopping the flow of foreign fighters and then countering the radical extremism that we’re seeing.”

Crush and defeat them! Actually, those are aspirations, not a strategy. But there was no time to ponder this, because more clichés were being fired at Islamic State by the second. “It’s time for this administration to step up its game,” McSally said. “It is a generational conflict, and we must lead now more than ever.”

Read more from Dana Milbank’s archive, follow him on Twitter or subscribe to his updates on Facebook.",Republican lawmakers and presidential hopefuls offer platitudes but few specifics.
""" brawl has triggered a lawsuit ... which now alleges one of the stars was smoking crack cocaine at the reunion show.

, who is caught on tape punching Althea in the face and dragging her to the ground ... then hitting and scratching her for good measure.

In the suit, Althea claims eyewitnesses allegedly observed Joseline smoking crack cocaine out of a pipe backstage during the show. Althea believes Joseline was high as a kite when she attacked.

It's interesting ... Althea is NOT suing the show or the network, which means one of 2 things:

1. Producers didn't orchestrate the fight

2. They did but she needs the job","A vicious ""Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta"" brawl has triggered a lawsuit ... which now alleges one of the stars was smoking crack cocaine at the reunion…"
"Hilltop fortresses, riverfront temples, and pyramids that peek out of steamy jungles: Mexico's landscape is dotted with historical sites that span many centuries. Though many were built by the Mayans and the Aztecs, some were the work of ancient peoples whose secrets have yet to be unlocked. Dive into Mexico's unique history by checking out our picks for the country's 10 best archaeological treasures.

Nearly as wide at the base as the Great Pyramid of Giza, Teotihuacan's neatly stepped Pyramid of the Sun rises majestically from the plains northeast of present-day Mexico City. Formerly one of the largest capitals in the world, Teotihuacan is now shrouded in mystery. Archaeologists aren't even certain what people occupied this 2,000-year-old city, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Stroll down the temple-lined Avenue of the Dead to the Pyramid of the Moon, the best vantage point for taking in the entire city.

A quartet of stout stone warriors stands guard atop the five-tiered Pyramid of Quetzalcoatl, the breathtaking centerpiece of the ancient city of Tula. The pyramid is named for the elaborately feathered serpent whose image is found all around this sprawling temple complex north of Mexico City. The Toltec capital, which reached its height around a millennium ago, includes the Burnt Temple, a regal setting lined with dozens of pillars.

Unearthed in 1978 by workers repairing power lines, the 14th-century Templo Mayor sits just off the main square in Mexico City. One of the main temples in the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan, the Templo Mayor was where captives from rival peoples --as many as 10,000 at a time --were sacrificed to the bloodthirsty god of war. Seven rows of leering stone skulls greeted them as they met their fate. One of Mexico's crown jewels, it's a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Once home to the ""Cloud People,"" the mountaintop temple complex of Monte Albán does seem close to the sky. At this spectacular archaeological site, occupied a millennium ago by the Zapotec people, you'll find dozens of intriguing carvings of Danzantes, or ""Dancers."" Although their undulating outlines suggest movement, the figures are now thought to depict bound prisoners. Home to hundreds of tombs that have yielded impressive cache of gold and jade, Monte Albán is a nine-mile drive from Oaxca.

The mesmerizing abstract patterns carved into the stonework at Mitla are found nowhere else in Mexico. The other distinguishing characteristic is the vivid red pigment still adorning many of the temple walls. Occupied by the Mixtec people until the 16th century, when it was largely demolished by the Spanish (look for some stones in the wall of the nearby cathedral), this religious center was considered a gateway to the world of the dead. An hour's drive from Oaxaca, Mitla is well worth the trip.",Mexico's landscape is dotted with historical sites that span many centuries. Dive into the country's unique past by checking out our picks for its 10 best archaeological treasures.
"Experts of all kinds take to YouTube to share their wisdom. From makeup to video games, viewers can find coaches on virtually any topic.

Meditation and spiritual practices are available in video form for viewers to follow for free on YouTube. While it may be counterintuitive to look to the Internet for inner peace and relaxation, the growing popularity of ASMR and online fitness content proves viewers are using the web to better their physical and mental health.

The medical community cites many potential health benefits from a regular meditation practice, such as anxiety relief, or reducing the risk of heart disease and Alzheimer's disease.

If online meditation sounds appealing to you, here are five experts on YouTube who might help center you in the comfort of your own home. Just remember everyone's practice is different, and alternate forms of relaxation and therapy are always available to you.

Don't be surprised if you hear some cursing in Leo's videos, but it's this kind of no-frills approach to meditation and self-growth that keeps us coming back to his channel. As a professional life coach he has hundreds of videos, ranging from ""How to stop comparing yourself to others"" to ""Why women fall for assholes.""

Sealy, who is trained and certified in hypnosis and clinical hypnotherapy with the Institute of Clinical Hypnotherapy in Australia, creates videos that are meant to be listened to during actual meditation time. A disclaimer at the beginning suggests not watching while driving or operating machinery...or on the subway home. If you listen you'll know why. While not especially sleep inducing, his videos are extremely relaxing. Some are even meant for hypnosis.

If you enjoy your meditation and positivity in different forms, such as guided meditation or ASMR, D'Amico's channel is worth checking out. Some of her ASMR role play includes positive affirmations or healing massage, but she also has many videos dedicated to traditional guided meditation. She is a non-practicing registered nurse and a massage therapist.

Who doesn't want to imagine seeing a unicorn in the forest? Besides your standard sleep meditations and relaxation videos, the Honest Guys have a series of ""fantasy meditations,"" meant to transport you into magical worlds while you decompress. Their channel started as a place to talk about different self-help movements and books, but evolved into something much different. With the help of their writer, Siân, the team create incredibly intricate fairytale-like meditations that some people find calming and immersive. Try the running with wolves video.

This channel focuses only on relaxation music, rather than actual meditations, but has one of the most complete and well rounded collections available. They have great background music for your work day to keep you focused or eight-hour sleep music to keep you dozing. You can listen to one of their music meditations while listening to a non-musical text video from a different YouTuber and customize your meditative experience.

Have something to add to this story? Share it in the comments.","Get into a comfortable position, take a deep breath and press play."
"A Maiden Gully man has been charged with eight offences in relation to home made explosives detonated in Bendigo overnight as part of a dangerous prank.

The 24-year-old handed himself in to police at around 3.30pm today.

The charges include reckless conduct endangering life, manufacture explosive substance, criminal damage and cause explosion likely to endanger life.

Parts of the CBD were cordoned off this morning as a bomb response unit and arson chemist worked to remove a third undetonated pipe bomb.

Parts of the CBD were cordoned off. (Andrew Nelson, 9NEWS)

Police received numerous calls after residents heard loud explosions around 10pm.

One had been detonated at the intersection of Myrtle and King Street and the second outside the library in Hargreaves Street.

At 2am, an unexploded device was found in a bag in Chancery Lane.

One of the homemade devices was found in one of these bins. (9NEWS)

Police were called after reports of a loud explosion. (9NEWS)

No one is believed to have been injured in either of the two explosions.

Detective Sergeant Steve Rainey described it as a ""moronic"" Saturday night prank.

""It could have had catastrophic effects for anyone,"" he said.

Sgt Rainey said he suspected it was a prank that could have caused serious injury.

The man has been bailed to appear at Bendigo Magistrates Court on Tuesday.

Do you have any news photos or videos?",Two homemade bombs exploded in Bendigo in country Victoria overnight in what is believed to have been a dangerous prank.
"A decade ago, Sonya Begay fell into a second round of parenting. Her oldest son, Ruben Eppele, was struggling with drug addiction and temporarily lost custody of his three children to Kentucky’s foster care system. The kids — Damian, now age 16; Lea, 15; and Kayle 13 — are Navajo like their father and grandmother and should have been placed with Begay or another relative in accordance with the Indian Child Welfare Act. But it was almost a year before she could sort things out in court and take them home.

Begay and her son shared custody of Damian, Lea and Kayle for the next several years, and when she relocated from rural Richmond to Washington, D.C., for a job, the children moved with her. In 2010, she was raising them and working long hours as a policy analyst for the Department of Labor when she learned that Ruben had been murdered in Kentucky. Begay decided to leave her job and take the children back to Richmond. ""I was gone [at work] 12 hours a day, so to be away from them while they’re in their grief, while I’m in my grief, you can’t do that,"" she says.

Begay has since shepherded her grandkids through school, therapy and sports, but four years later, she remains unemployed. When the children are at school, Begay scours the Internet and calls old contacts to ask about job openings, volunteers in the Native American community and helps other ""grandparents as parents."" Her middle son, Shawn Cote, 27, is currently staying with the family to provide extra support. ""You don’t want your grandchildren to be raised by someone else,"" Begay says. ""Here in Kentucky, you raise your own. Taking on three children is a lot for me, but that’s the sacrifice I’ve had to make.""

Income: While at the Department of Labor, Begay earned $75,000 a year. Now, she, Damian, Kayle and Lea live on the children's Social Security survivors benefits of about $3,000 per month. The household's income is too high to qualify for food stamps, but low enough to qualify for public health insurance. ""I was making good money in D.C. and now, all of a sudden, we’re at the poverty line over here,"" Begay says.

Scrimping, not saving: Begay leans on cost-saving strategies: ""Some of the things I do now are couponing a lot, also buying in bulk and then economizing — repackaging [in smaller portions]. If [we go to a movie], it’s a matinee with coupons.""

Interaction before Internet: The family puts conversation before computer screens. ""By the time [the kids] get home, about 4, we start preparing dinner. We sit down and eat and talk about our day,"" Begay says. ""These kids, they don't request a lot of things. We don’t have cell phones for them. Things other children at school have, they understand that's not a necessity.""",Millions of Americans struggle to make ends meet. A photo series about how some of them get by on a budget.
"One day last fall, Norman Williams sat drinking hot chocolate with his lawyer, Michael Romano, at a Peet’s coffee in Palo Alto, Calif. At an outdoor table, Williams began to talk about how he’d gone from serving a life sentence at Folsom State Prison to sitting there in the sun. “After being shut down for so many years. I didn’t believe it,” he said of the judge’s decision to release him in April 2009.

A client of Michael Romano’s, serving life in Soledad, Calif. None of his crimes involved violence.

Williams, who is 46, was a homeless drug addict in 1997 when he was convicted of petty theft, for stealing a floor jack from a tow truck. It was the last step on his path to serving life. In 1982, Williams burglarized an apartment that was being fumigated: he was hapless enough to be robbed at gunpoint on his way out, and later he helped the police recover the stolen property. In 1992, he stole two hand drills and some other tools from an art studio attached to a house; the owner confronted him, and he dropped everything and fled. Still, for the theft of the floor jack, Williams was sentenced to life in prison under California’s repeat-offender law: three strikes and you’re out.

In 2000, three years after Williams went to prison, Steve Cooley became the district attorney for Los Angeles County. Cooley is a Republican career prosecutor, but he campaigned against the excesses of three strikes. “Fix it or lose it,” he says of the law. In 2005, Cooley ordered a review of cases, to identify three-strikes inmates who had not committed violent crimes and whose life sentences a judge might deem worthy of second looks. His staff came up with a list of more than 60 names, including Norman Williams’s.

Romano saw Cooley’s list as an opportunity. After working as a criminal-defense lawyer at a San Francisco firm, he started a clinic at Stanford Law School in 2006 to appeal the life sentences of some three-strikes convicts. In search of clients at the outset, Romano and his students wrote to Williams at Folsom about the possibility of appealing his conviction. Most prisoners quickly follow up when the clinic offers free legal help. But Williams didn’t write back. At Peet’s, Williams said he’d been too nervous. “I didn’t want to use the wrong words,” he said.

“You were lucky you were at Folsom,” Romano said. “It’s only a couple of hours’ drive from here. So we decided to come up and see you.”

“Yeah, if not, I’d still be there, staring at the walls,” Williams said. “Never had visitors before you came. I didn’t know what the visiting room looked like.”

IN 1994, the three-strikes ballot measure in California passed with 72 percent of the vote, after the searing murder of 12-year-old Polly Klaas, who was kidnapped from her slumber party and murdered while her mother slept down the hall. When the killer turned out to be a violent offender recently granted parole, support surged for the three-strikes ballot initiative, which promised to keep “career criminals who rape women, molest children and commit murder behind bars where they belong.”

The complete text of the bill swept far more broadly. Under California’s version of three strikes, first and second strikes must be either violent or serious. These include crimes like murder, attempted murder, rape, child molestation and armed robbery. But in California, “serious” is a term of art that can also include crimes like Norman Williams’s nonconfrontational burglaries. And after a second-strike conviction for such an offense, almost any infraction beyond jaywalking can trigger a third strike and the life sentence that goes with it. One of Romano’s clients was sentenced to life for stealing a dollar in change from the coin box of a parked car.

California’s repeat-offender law is unique in this stringency. Twenty-five other states have passed three-strikes laws, but only California punishes minor crimes with the penalty of a life sentence. About 3,700 prisoners in the state are serving life for a third strike that was neither violent nor serious, according to the legal definition. That’s more than 40 percent of the total third-strike population of about 8,500. Technically, these offenders are eligible for parole after 20 years, but at the moment, the state parole board rarely releases any prisoner early.

Emily Bazelon, a contributing writer, is a senior editor at Slate and the Truman Capote law-and-media fellow at Yale Law School.","An unlikely pair, a Republican district attorney and a criminal-defense lawyer, may be the key to reform in California."
"When astronomers discovered the planet known as GJ 1214b a couple of years ago, they knew they had an oddball world on their hands. They just weren't certain what form the oddness took. Whirling around a star some 40 light-years from Earth, GJ 1214b was about 2.7 times as wide as our home planet, with about 20 times the volume, making it a ""super-Earth,"" about midway in size between Earth and Neptune.

It was only about half as dense as our world, though, meaning GJ 1214b couldn't be made mostly of rock, like Earth. It might be a small chunk of rock with a huge atmosphere of hydrogen and helium — in essence a mini-Jupiter. Or it might be a bigger chunk of rock plus an awful lot of water, something like a junior Neptune. The scientists leaned toward the water-world explanation, but they couldn't be sure. As Zachory Berta, the Harvard grad student who first spotted the planet, puts it straightforwardly: ""It was difficult to understand.""

(PHOTOS: The Storms of Saturn)

Not anymore, though. A team lead by Berta has now used the Hubble Space Telescope to determine that the planet is indeed like Neptune's younger brother. That means it's fairly loaded with water, and that has big implications for finding earthlike biology in unearthly places. But it took a lot of astronomical sleuthing — not to mention some counterintuitive thinking — to suss out the new planet's nature.

There may be plenty of similarities between GJ 1214b and Neptune in terms of composition, but the two worlds have a whole lot of differences too. For one thing, GJ 1214b is much, much hotter — about 450°F (232°C) compared with a paralyzing –390°F (–234°C) for Neptune. That's because GJ 1214b practically hugs its parent star, orbiting it once every 38 hours, at a distance of 1.6 million miles (2.7 million km). Neptune's stats are a whopping 165 years and 2.7 billion miles (4.3 billion km). (Earth, by comparison, is 93 million miles [150 km] away from the sun and, of course, makes one revolution every 365 days.)

(PHOTOS: Striking New Images of Mercury)

But hot as things are on GJ 1214b, they could have been hotter still. That's because its parent star is a so-called M-dwarf, much smaller, dimmer and cooler than the sun. In the early days of planet hunting, everyone was focused on worlds orbiting sunlike stars since they were thought to be the most likely places for life to arise. But it gradually dawned on the scientists that M-dwarfs might be home to habitable planets too, provided they orbited at just the right distance so that their ambient temperature would sustain liquid water, a sine qua non for life as we know it. What's more, since M-dwarfs are smaller, a planet orbiting them would be easier to spot, both because it would block a greater share of the star's light and because its gravity would cause more of a stellar wobble.

It was to search for these promising planets around small, cool stars that Harvard astronomer David Charbonneau — Berta's mentor — founded the MEarth project, which uses small automated telescopes in Arizona to keep an eye on M-dwarfs, looking for the telltale dimming that would suggest a planet. GJ 1214b was the project's first discovery. The amount of dimming the telescope detected revealed the planet's physical size, and measurements of stellar wobbles made with other telescopes nailed down its mass. But this still left the mystery of what it was made of.

(PHOTOS: The Otherworldly Work of West Virginia's Green Bank Radio Telescope)

The only way to answer that question was to get a look at GJ 1214b's atmosphere, and that's where the Hubble came in. The planet itself is impossible to see directly, but when it passes in front of the star, a bit of light shines through the atmosphere. By analyzing that starlight, Berta and his colleagues could search for evidence of water.

As it turned out, they didn't find much — and that, paradoxically, means that there must be lots of it. The reason: if GJ 1214b were more like Jupiter, with a huge atmosphere made mostly of hydrogen and helium, it would include a trace of water vapor as well. ""Water is so abundant in the universe,"" says Berta, ""that it would be very weird to have none at all."" The atmosphere's large physical size would spread that little bit of water across a large area, making it show up easily in the Hubble's detectors. No strong water signal from GJ 1214b's means no huge atmosphere. The only other possibility to explain the planet's density, then, is a lot more water, but packed so much more tightly that the Hubble couldn't pick it up.

(MORE: New Planet Found: Could a Super-Earth plus Triple Stars Equal Life?)

That doesn't mean that GJ 1214b is one great ocean though. With a surface gravity much stronger than Earth's, some of that water would be squeezed into ice — but this ice would be hotter than the boiling point of water on Earth. Some would remain liquid, but it would be what's known as a superfluid — a weird molecular state in which it could spontaneously flow uphill. ""And on top of that,"" says Berta, ""would be steam."" These are not exactly the warm oceans and peaceful tidal pools in which earthly life first emerged.

So why does any of this make astronomers more hopeful about finding exobiology? Because if one water world exists, so must others — and some of them might be in a more hospitable orbit. Indeed, the Kepler space probe has already spotted more than 2,000 likely planets with its powerful detectors, and nearly 300 of them are super-Earths. The catch is that none of them is nearly as close to Earth as GJ 1214b, so they are all out of reach of the Hubble's eye. The MEarth project, however, which has opened a second observatory in South America to complement its Arizona site, is looking only at nearby, Hubble-friendly stars. One of those could truly be home to what we call an ocean — and one of those oceans could be home to something even more remarkable.

PHOTOS: New Planetary Nebula Dazzling Astronomers

PHOTOS: Happy Anniversary John Glenn! A Hero's Life in Images",Some imaginative astronomical sleuthing turns up one of the weirdest planets yet
"Actualizado sep 28, 2012 1:19 a.m. ET

Buenos Aires - Llevarse ""algo"" de Santa Fe era el objetivo del Cerro Porteño paraguayo, y logró embolsar todo por superioridad técnica y efectividad bajo los palos con una victoria por 1-2 ante el Colón argentino en el partido de ida de los octavos de final de la Copa Sudamericana.

Pedro Benítez (m.21) y Roberto Nanni (m.77) marcaron los goles del conjunto de Asunción y Lucas Mugni (m.45) el de los locales, obligados ahora a ganar fuera de casa, en un partido en el que el portero paraguayo Diego Barreto fue una de las figuras.

El técnico Fossati estuvo lejos de apelar a la clásica bravuconada de los boxeadores que antes de un combate prometen demoler a sus rivales. Afirmó que su equipo haría todo lo posible para llevarse un rédito de Santa Fe que le sirviera para el choque de vuelta en Asunción, y dijo la verdad.

Desde el comienzo se vio al Cerro Porteño dispuesto a jugar en campo rival, como si se tratara del conjunto local, con lo cual desarticuló al Colón y le puso en aprietos de manera temprana.

Dos Santos, Fabbro, Walter López y Oviedo coparon el patio santafesino, presionaron a fondo y crearon las mejores situaciones de peligro para que los puntas Salcedo y Hernán Rodrigo López avisaran al meta argentino Diego Pozo que no estaban de paseo en estas tierras.

El Colón se quedó frenado, trabado, neutralizado en el juego. Casi no pisó el área paraguaya y a la salida de un córner el defensa Pedro Benítez abrió el marcador para los azulgrana con un remate de cabeza a los 21 minutos.

En una réplica del Colón, el propio Benítez cabeceó al revés, contra su meta, y obligó a su portero Barreto a esforzarse para desviar el balón a los 37, y dos minutos más tarde el mismo guardameta paró un penalti a Iván Moreno tras una falta de César Benítez contra Uribarri.

Un error y una falta discutida dieron a Colón la posibilidad de igualar, pero todo indicaba que no era la noche del conjunto que dirige Roberto Sensini y las pruebas estaban a la vista.

En la jugada ofensiva más clara que tuvo la formación argentina en la primera parte, otra vez Barreto neutralizó el balón que llevaba dominado en el área Iván Moreno a los 42 y volvía a salvar su portería.

Pero no pudo en el minuto final del capítulo inicial, cuando Uglessich rechazó la pelota de manera defectuosa y Lucas Mugni, la nueva joya surgida de la cantera rojinegra, igualó con un impecable remate de zurda al segundo palo del portero asunceno.

Se mantuvo más activo, mejor estructurado y más profundo el Cerro Porteño en el comienzo de la segunda parte. A los 51 minutos el árbitro expulsó al punta local Ramírez y al centrocampista visitante Walter López por agresión mutua y a los 52 el estadio se quedó a oscuras por un corte de energía eléctrica.

Tras ocho minutos de interrupción se reanudó el partido, el equipo paraguayo mantuvo el dominio de la situación aunque no el dominio de la pelota mientras que el Colón tenía reacciones esporádicas sobre todo por la derecha a través de Maxi Caire.

Un cambio dispuesto por Fossati dio al Cerro Porteño la ventaja que buscaba a menos de un cuarto de hora para el final. Hizo salir al campo al punta Roberto Nanni por Santiago Salcedo y en la primera jugada en la que participó aquel marcó el 1-2 con un preciso remate raso junto a un palo.

Forlán, Nesta, Seedorf... muchas estrellas que llegan a nuestras ligas,

Barreto volvió a salvar a su portería en los minutos finales, cuando el Colón intentaba un nuevo empate, que no merecía ni consiguió.

1. Colón: Diego Pozo; Maxi Caire (m.77, Gabriel Graciani), Ronald Raldes, Maxi Pellegrino, Bruno Urribarri; Iván Moreno, Adrián Bastía (m.56, Facundo Curuchet), Sebastián Prediger; Lucas Mugni; Jorge Achucarro (m.63, Emanuel Gigliotti) y Rubén Ramírez. Entrenador: Roberto Sensini.

2. Cerro Porteño: Diego Barreto; Mariano Uglessich, Pedro Benítez, César Benítez, Carlos Bonet; Walter López, Fidencio Oviedo, Julio Dos Santos, Jonathan Fabbro (m.89, Gonzalo Viera); Hernán Rodrigo López (m.63, Edgard González) y Santiago Salcedo (m.75, Roberto Nanni). Entrenador Jorge Fossati.

Goles: 0-1, m.21: Pedro Benítez. 1-1, m.45: Lucas Mugni. 1-2, m.77: Roberto Nanni.

Árbitro: el brasileño Sandro Ricci expulsó a Walter López y Rubén Ramírez (m.51). Amonestados: Ramírez, Fabbro, Uglessich, Moreno, Curuchet y Uribarri.

Partido de ida de los octavos de final de la Copa Sudamericana disputado en el estadio Estanislao López, del club Colón, ante unos 35.000 espectadores. El uruguayo Jorge Fossati, entrenador del equipo paraguayo, fue ovacionado por el público local que recuerda su paso por el club hace una década.","Colón falló en su cancha y Cerro Porteño se lleva la
ventaja por un gol"
"03/22/2016 AT 10:20 PM EDT

for his April cover, the soccer star revealed that he's seen the film ""at least 50 or 60 times,"" as the film is one of 4-year-old Harper's favorite movies.

""We're very traditional. We make popcorn. So, yeah movie nights are fun,"" Beckham, 40 said. ""My little girl, she's very much into

and has been for a while.""

But the father of four isn't always stuck with the Disney musical. Beckham also told the glossy that Harper and his wife

together. In fact, they recently caught the movie as it was playing on television.

""Our little girl wanted to watch it so Victoria kind of sat for it and then she did all the moves with her after and sang all the songs,"" he told the glossy. ""Victoria's very proud of that.""

As for movie nights between mom and dad, Beckham shared that he and Victoria prefer older classics like

When Beckham isn't busy being a doting father and husband to the leading ladies in his life, he's doing the same for his three sons – Brooklyn, 17, Romeo, 13, and Cruz, 11.

celebrating Brooklyn's seventeenth birthday, the athlete shared a throwback photo of himself and his oldest child, telling the world how he proud he is of his son.

""17 years ago today this little man came into this world and changed our lives in so many ways,""

captioned the adorable photo. ""We were given the most precious gift that makes us smile and proud every time he walks through the door … Not so little anymore but look at the smile. HAPPY BIRTHDAY BUST""","Turns out the Beckhams can't ""Let It Go"" either."
"Highlights from Oprah: A Biography.

The blockbuster biographer's latest behind-the-scenes tell-all lands in bookstores Tuesday, all 525 gossipy pages of it.

04/30/2008 07:32 PM By Tara Burghart, Associated Press Writer

David Blaine took on a Zen-like appearance in the water tank as the minutes ticked by during his attempt to set a new breath-holding record. Oprah Winfrey, however, was anything but calm.

04/30/2008 06:09 PM By Tara Burghart, Associated Press Writer

David Blaine took on a Zen-like appearance in the water tank as the minutes ticked by during his attempt to set a new breath-holding record. Oprah Winfrey, however, was anything but calm.

David Letterman says the birth of his son, Harry, has made a ""huge difference"" in his life -- but the 3-year-old doesn't always get daddy's sense of humor. ""Mommy has to tell him a lot that I'm just teasing,"" Letterman said Monday on the season premiere of ""The Oprah Winfrey Show.""

Officials now say that it was wear and tear, and not a collision with a bird, that damaged the windshield of Oprah Winfrey's private jet and forced it to return to the city airport.

For Oprah Winfrey, this past television season has been all about granting viewers' dreams. But over the weekend, the talk-show queen made her own wildest dream come true. She honored her personal heroes 25 legendary black women for their contributions to the arts, entertainment and civil rights with a weekend of lavish festivities.","Collection of all USATODAY.com coverage of Stedman Graham., including articles, videos, photos, and quotes."
"Vladimir Putin has accused the United States of meddling outside its jurisdiction by arresting officials from Fifa.

“This is yet another blatant attempt [by the United States] to extend its jurisdiction to other states,” the Russian president said on Thursday.

Putin added that the arrests were a “clear attempt” to prevent the re-election of Sepp Blatter as Fifa president and that the Swiss had Russia’s backing.

“It looks very strange, the arrests are carried out on the request of the USA side,” he said. “They are accused of corruption – who is? International officials. I suppose that someone broke some rules, I don’t know. But definitely, it’s got nothing to do with the USA. Those officials are not US citizens. If something happened it was not in the US and it’s nothing to do with them.

“It’s another clear attempt by the USA to spread its jurisdiction to other states. And I have no doubt – it’s a clear attempt not to allow Mr Blatter to be re-elected as president of Fifa, which is a great violation of the operating principles of international organisations. The US prosecutor, as our media report, has already said that those Fifa officials have committed a crime. As if the prosecutor didn’t know about the principle of the presumption of innocence.”

Citing the former US intelligence contractor Edward Snowden and the WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, both of whom have evaded prosecution in the United States by hiding abroad, Putin questioned Washington’s right to request the Fifa officials’ extradition from Switzerland.

“Unfortunately, our American partners use such methods to achieve their selfish aims and illegally persecute people. I do not rule out that in the case of Fifa, it’s exactly the same,” Putin said.

Russia won the rights to stage the 2018 World Cup under Blatter’s auspices. That 2010 decision, along with the award to Qatar of the 2022 tournament, is the subject of a Swiss criminal investigation running parallel to the US action.","Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, has accused the United States of meddling outside its jurisdiction by arresting officials from Fifa"
"Following are excerpts from the final report of the Mollen Commission, which spent 22 months investigating police corruption in New York City. Summary

What we found is that the problem of police corruption extends far beyond the corrupt cop. It is a multifaceted problem that has flourished in parts of our city not only because of opportunity and greed, but because of a police culture that exalts loyalty over integrity; because of the silence of honest officers who fear the consequences of ""ratting"" on another cop no matter how grave the crime; because of willfully blind supervisors who fear the consequences of a corruption scandal more than corruption itself; because of the demise of the principle of accountability that makes all commanders responsible for fighting corruption in their commands; because of a hostility and alienation between the police and community in certain precincts which breeds an ""us versus them"" mentality, and because for years the New York City Police Department abandoned its responsibility to insure the integrity of its members.

All these factors contributed to the state of corruption we uncovered.

While the systemic and institutionalized bribery schemes that plague the department a generation ago no longer exist, a new and often more invidious form of corruption has infected parts of this city, especially in high-crime precincts with an active narcotics trade. Its most prevalent form is not police taking money to accommodate criminals by closing their eyes to illegal activities such as bookmaking, as was the case 20 years ago, but police acting as criminals, especially in connection with the drug trade. Corruption occurred not only because of fortuitous opportunities and the frailties of human nature, but often because of created opportunities and premeditated, organized group effort. . . .

In the face of this problem, the department allowed its systems for fighting corruption virtually to collapse. It had become more concerned about the bad publicity that corruption disclosures generate than the devastating consequences of corruption itself. As a result, its corruption controls minimized, ignored and at times concealed corruption rather than root it out. Such an institutional reluctance to uncover corruption is not surprising. No institution wants its reputation tainted -- especially a department that needs the public's confidence and partnership to be effective. A weak and poorly resourced anti-corruption apparatus minimizes the likelihood of such taint, embarrassment and potential harm to careers. Thus there was a strong institutional incentive to allow corruption efforts to fray and lose priority -- which is exactly what this commission uncovered. This reluctance manifested itself in every component of the department's corruption controls from command accountability and supervision, to investigations, police culture training and recruitment. . . .

The principle of command accountability, which holds commanders responsible for fighting corruption, completely collapsed. Supervisors and commanding officers were largely complacent about maintaining integrity. Few were concerned with corruption on their watch -- unless it exploded onto an embarrassing corruption scandal. One officer in a high-crime precinct related how his commanding officer went so far as to announce at roll call that he knew his officers were committing acts of corruption, and gave them this bit of advice: If you get caught, keep your mouth shut. . . .

The department also failed -- or refused -- to recognize that police corruption is a multidimensional problem that cannot be overcome by focusing solely on the corrupt cop and inadequate investigations. In so doing, the department failed to insure that corruption controls operated on a variety of fronts and in the daily operations of the department, including: recruitment, screening, integrity training, supervision, deterrence, accountability and police culture. Because of that failure, the department abandoned some of its best tools for conquering corruption: The honest cop and the community. How It Worked

What we have concluded, however, is that in precincts where certain conditions exist -- in particular an active and open narcotics trade and high crime -- pockets of corruption are likely to exist in varying degrees of seriousness, frequency and size. . . .

That minor forms of corruption are no longer the most pervasive reflects a significant change in the nature of police corruption. Twenty years ago, the most common form of corruption was relatively minor. Officers of all ranks took bribes to allow gamblers, prostitutes and others to avoid the law and escape arrest. These ""grass-eaters,"" as the Knapp Commission called them, constituted the majority of cops in the department at that time; serious corruption, committed by what the Knapp Commission called ""meat-eaters,"" was relatively rare. Today the situation is reversed. Minor corruption is no longer systemic among the ranks. And for that the department should be commended. But the ""meat-eaters"" are the rule rather than the exception among corrupt cops today. . . .","Following are excerpts from the final report of the Mollen Commission, which spent 22 months investigating police corruption in New York City. Summary    What we found is that the problem of police corruption extends far beyond the corrupt cop. It is a multifaceted problem that has flourished in parts of our city not only because of opportunity and greed, but because of a police culture that exalts loyalty over integrity; because of the silence of honest officers who fear the consequences of ""ratting"" on another cop no matter how grave the crime; because of willfully blind supervisors who fear the consequences of a corruption scandal more than corruption itself; because of the demise of the principle of accountability that makes all commanders responsible for fighting corruption in their commands; because of a hostility and alienation between the police and community in certain precincts which breeds an ""us versus them"" mentality, and because for years the New York City Police Department abandoned its responsibility to insure the integrity of its members."
"At some point in the run-up to Barack Obama’s just concluded tour of Latin America, which included stops in Brazil, Chile, and El Salvador, the US press decided that coverage of the trip would focus on expected friendly meeting with Dilma Rousseff, Brazil's recently inaugurated president. Â

The Washington Post, the New York Times, and National Public Radio, along with a host of other newspapers, cable news commentators, and blogs, all predicted that Obama, the US's first African American president, and Rousseff, Brazil's first woman leader, would find common ground, reversing the deterioration of diplomatic relations that had begun under Rousseff's predecessor, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.Â

The bad blood started, or so the story went, when Lula refused to listen to the administration of George W. Bush and

At some point in the run-up to Barack Obama’s just concluded tour of Latin America, which included stops in Brazil, Chile, and El Salvador, the US press decided that coverage of the trip would focus on expected friendly meeting with Dilma Rousseff, Brazil's recently inaugurated president. Â

The Washington Post, the New York Times, and National Public Radio, along with a host of other newspapers, cable news commentators, and blogs, all predicted that Obama, the US's first African American president, and Rousseff, Brazil's first woman leader, would find common ground, reversing the deterioration of diplomatic relations that had begun under Rousseff's predecessor, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.Â

The bad blood started, or so the story went, when Lula refused to listen to the administration of George W. Bush and isolate Venezuela's populist leader, Hugo Chávez. Before long, Brasilia was opposing or, worse, offering alternatives to Washington's position on a growing number of issues: climate change, opposition to the 2009 coup in Honduras, Cuba, trade and tariffs. Â

Lula declined to criticise Iran and opened up a separate negotiating channel, outside of Washington's influence and much to its annoyance, with Tehran to discuss Iran's nuclear ambitions.Â

The former Brazilian president also welcomed the president of the Palestinian National Authority, Mahmoud Abbas to Brazil, leading the rest of Latin America to recognise the Palestinian state and calling for direct talks with Hamas and Hezbollah.  Â

Various explanations were posited in the US press for Lula's behavior, which, for a Latin American leader, was unprecedented considering the historically subservient role Latin America has long played to Washington. At times it was described as a personality disorder, a striving for attention on the world stage; at other moments it was explained away as Lula's need to play to his party's rank and file, which, apparently, always enjoys a good tweaking of the US's nose.Â

In any case, Obama's visit just after Dilma's election offered a chance for a reset. Rousseff, it was reported, would be eager to use the trip to distance herself from her political patron, Lula. Though she was a member of a Marxist-Leninist guerrilla organisation opposing a US-backed dictatorship during her youth in the 1970s, Brazil's new leader had, according to the Washington Post, a ""practical approach to governance and foreign relations after eight years of the flamboyant Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva"". Â

""She's a different person and has a different style,"" remarked the chairman of Goldman Sachs asset management.Â

She was ""warm"" and would welcome Obama cordially (has it really gotten to the point where the US, which for decades presided imperiously over the international community, is today just happy that foreign leaders aren’t rude when its presidents come calling?). Nearly all major news and opinion sources thought that she would be more accommodating to Washington's concerns than her predecessor, in Latin America but especially in the Middle East.Â

Unfortunately for Washington the reality has departed from the narrative. Brazil, under Rousseff, continues largely to follow its own diplomatic lights. Â

Even before Obama landed in Rio, Brazil, as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council, joined with China and Germany to abstain from the vote authorising ""all necessary measures"" against Libya’s Muammar Gaddafi. Â

Since then, its opposition to the bombing has hardened.  According to the Inter Press Service News Agency (IPS), Brazil's foreign ministry – still, for the most part, staffed by the diplomats who charted Lula's foreign policy – recently issued a statement condemning the loss of civilian lives and calling for the start of dialogue. Â

Lula himself has endorsed Dilma's critical position on Libya, going further in his condemnation of the intervention: ""These invasions only happen because the United Nations is weak,"" he said. ""If we had twenty-first-century representation [in the Security Council], instead of sending a plane to drop bombs, the UN would send its secretary-general to negotiate.""Â Â

His remarks were widely interpreted to mean that if Brazil had been a permanent member of the Security Council – a position it has long sought – it would have vetoed the resolution authorising the bombing rather than, as it did, merely abstaining from the vote. Â

These comments were the first indication that the ex-president, still enormously popular and influential in Brazil, planned to continue to openly weigh in on his successor’s foreign policy. Â

Argentina and Uruguay likewise have voiced strong disapproval of the intervention.  On one level, this censure reflects Latin America's commitment to the ideal of non-intervention and absolute sovereignty.  But on another, less elevated and more commonsensical level, it reflects a belief that the diplomatic community needs to return to a standard in which war is the last rather than the first response to crisis.

""This attack [on Libya] implies a setback in the current international order,"" IPS reports Uruguayan President José Mujica as saying. ""The remedy is much worse than the illness. This business of saving lives by bombing is an inexplicable contradiction.""

Social inclusion vs IMF demands

On other important issues as well, Brazil continues push back against Washington. Â

The US-controlled International Monetary Fund (IMF), for example, is demanding that Brazil, one of the world's fastest growing economies, calm bond market concerns about inflation by reining in social spending. Â

Dilma's economic team has so far balked.  It argues instead that inflation can be controlled by government regulation of ""hot money,"" that is, the ability of foreign capital to place speculative bets on, and reap enormous profits off of, Brazil’s currency.  Â

This might sound a bit technocratic, but it is in fact a big obstacle to the IMF's bid to restore its lost role as what economist Mark Weisbrot has described as a ""creditor’s cartel"" in Latin America, the chief mechanism through which Washington imposes ""discipline"" on economies, like Brazil's, that shows too much independence.Â

Likewise, Brazil continues to be the main obstacle to jumpstarting the Doha Round of the world trade talks, demanding that the US and Europe lower tariffs to the products and commodities of the developing world.  While graciously hosting the US president, Rousseff nonetheless strongly criticized Washington’s ability to preach free trade while practicing protectionism, demanding that the US open its markets to Brazilian imports such as ethanol, steel, and orange juice.Â

However ""warm,"" ""practical,"" or ""cordial"" Dilma, Brazil’s first woman president, may be, she'll be no push over when it comes to matters of war, peace, and economics.  Â

Greg Grandin is a professor of history at New York University and a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He is the author of a number of prize-winning books, including most recently, Fordlandia: The Rise and Fall of Henry Ford’s Forgotten Jungle City (Metropolitan 2009), which was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in History, as well as for the National Book Award and the National Book Critics Circle Award.Â

The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera's editorial policy.Â","Tensions over Middle East policy are increasing, despite Barack Obama's recent visit to Latin America."
"The first blow of the phoney war which always precedes a Ryder Cup has been landed by Lee Westwood, who has pointed towards the potentially “adverse” influence of Tiger Woods as a vice-captain of the USA.

Woods has endured an infamously troublesome time as a Ryder Cup player but while injured this time, the USA captain Davis Love III asked him to become a member of the backroom staff. Westwood will play in his 10th Ryder Cup at Hazeltinein nine days’ time, with Europe seeking an unprecedented fourth win in a row.

“I don’t know what impact there will be from having Tiger around,” Westwood said to ESPN.com. “They have always struggled to find a partner for Tiger that’s been successful. He could have an adverse effect in the team room. People have always seemed to try to do too much when they have partnered him. It might be different if he’s one of the vice-captains, you don’t know.

“The captain is obviously building them up a lot and making a few interesting decisions. They have got a strong side and probably are favourites, but they haven’t won it for a while and they are playing in front of a home crowd. There is a lot of pressure on them. That is going to keep building in the next week or so and by the time the Ryder Cup comes around, it is going to be pretty intense for them.”

Westwood also referred to Love’s captaincy in 2012 at Medinah, and the handling of his wildcard picks this time, as being potentially significant. Four years ago Europe triumphed in memorable style as the hosts capitulated during the singles matches. “I don’t know if something went wrong on the Sunday or the team didn’t play very well for some reason, but that will be in the back of their minds,” the Englishman said.

Westwood was similarly questioning of Love’s decision, thus far, not to pick Bubba Watson. The USA captain has one wildcard remaining, with Watson seemingly battling against Justin Thomas and Daniel Berger for the spot. “There seem to have been issues about team spirit and chemistry. Love has not picked Bubba Watson and I don’t know what that does for team spirit; he was first outside the points qualification and is No7 in the world.”",Lee Westwood has questioned the wisdom of the USA selecting Tiger Woods as a Ryder Cup vice-captain as ‘they have always struggled to find a successful partner for him’
"Every week, CIO Journal offers a glimpse into the mind of the CEO, whose view of technology is shaped by stories in management journals, General interest magazines and, of course, in-flight publications.

British banker suggest it’s time to rip it up and start all over again. Lord Adair Turner, the ex-Morgan Stanley  executive whose four-year turn as Britain’s chief financial regulator began days before Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. went belly-up, says banking as most people know it is “largely fictional.” Debt remains the engine of economic growth, he tells Quartz’s Matt Phillips, and “the system is bound to blow up in the end and is bound to put us in a malaise we were placed in after the blow-up of 2008,” he says. Somber words from Baron Turner of Ecchinswell. He suggests that banks should be reduced to lending out the money they receive on deposits. And the central bank should have the power to print a lot of money. “Perón may have been in favor of it. But so was Milton Friedman and Milton Friedman is not exactly known as [a] left-wing, socialist, lover of inflation,” he says.

Why doesn’t Silicon Valley have black coders? “People tend to discuss Silicon Valley diversity problem in binary terms,” Bloomberg’s Vauhini Vara writes. Some believe companies have a built-in bias against minorities, while others say there aren’t yet enough qualified applicants. Ms. Vara tracks computer scientist majors from Howard University, a traditionally black college, as they head West for jobs. While companies have expanded outreach efforts, progress has been slow. The students, many of whom first encountered coding in college,  are surprised to meet peers who “started coding during childhood, won programming competitions in their spare time, and spent their summers interning at startups.” That kind path hints at a culture based not necessarily on meritocracy, but privilege. One senior tells Ms. Vara that when Valley companies visited Howard they would boast about playground equipment and volley ball courts. “Slides,” the senior says, “are not really appealing.”

Speaking of enclosed bubbles….Davos! While markets wobble, rest assured that World Economic Forum attendees are working hard this week to make the world a better place. Just as the perp walk reassures civilians that justice is being served, the photos filed this week of tech alpha-dogs—sleeveless Sun Valley Conference vest vintage 2005 edition, hemp jeggings—and their banker frenemies—Mackage coat over suit, waterlogged Testonis—sauntering through the Alpine hamlet’s streets like real folks should satisfy the plebes that “stuff is getting done.” Never mind the fact that those photos likely won’t contain representatives of half of the world’s population. Or that they may have been taken by a guy who can charge $150,000 for a corporate head shot. Or that the attendee swag bag this year is nothing a seat warmer at the Grammys would shout about.<

Now that’s a moonshot. Two astronomers announced Wednesday that there may be a new planet in the solar system. Something in the Kuiper belt “is stirring chunks of rock and ice into strange orbits,” the Atlantic’s Ross Andersen writes. “Something massive.” One of the discoverers played a key role banishing Pluto to dwarf planet status several years ago. The existence of a planet of significant size and density “20 times Neptune’s distance” leads Mr. Andersen to contact physicist Freeman Dyson about the possibility of using Planet Nine as a gravity assist “slingshot” for interstellar voyages. Don’t count on it, says the physicist.",British banker suggests it's time to rip it up and start all over again; a look at why Silicon Valley lacks black coders; the party from the Buddha Bar Dubai moves to the Swiss Alps; can a new planet in the solar system help power the ultimate moonshot?
"The three-way tug of war being hashed out in the discount retail industry just got a little bit more contentious.

On Wednesday, Dollar General said it was going hostile and taking its $9.1 billion offer for Family Dollar directly to shareholders after being rebuffed. The move further complicates Family Dollar’s agreed-upon deal, announced in July, to sell itself to Dollar Tree for $8.5 billion.

Family Dollar shareholders will now have the chance to tender their shares for the $80 apiece being offered by Dollar General, a substantially higher offer than the $74.50 that Dollar Tree has agreed to pay.

But while many shareholders may go ahead and tender their shares, there is no certainty that Dollar General will prevail. Dollar General will not go ahead and buy the shares from investors unless Family Dollar endorses the deal.

And the board of Family Dollar has signaled that it believes there is significant risk that a combination with Dollar General will not pass antitrust muster because of the two companies’ similar business models and overlapping footprints.

For this reason, the Family Dollar board previously rejected a friendly offer of $80 a share from Dollar General, pledging to stick with the offer from Dollar Tree.

At issue is whether or not the Federal Trade Commission would approve a combination of Dollar General and Family Dollar.

To ease such concerns, Dollar General has pledge to sell as many as 1,500 stores. And to entice Family Dollar, it has pledged to pay a $500 million reverse break fee if the deal is not approved.

But the Family Dollar board so far believes that even with these promises, abandoning the Dollar Tree deal is too risky. On Wednesday, Family Dollar acknowledged receipt of the Dollar General tender offer, but said little more.

“Family Dollar’s board of directors has not changed its recommendation in support of the merger with Dollar Tree,” the company said.

Dollar Tree did not comment on Dollar General’s move and has said little about it since Dollar General made its first counterbid in early August.

The position of the Family Dollar board is especially notable because Edward P. Garden, the chief investment officer of the hedge fund Trian Fund Management, is a director. Trian, the activist fund run by Nelson Peltz, is Family Dollar’s largest shareholder, and is looking to sell its shares at the highest possible price, though not one that would not pass regulatory approval.

Dollar General was caught off guard when Family Dollar, a company it had long sought to acquire, agreed to sell itself to Dollar Tree this summer. Complaining that it was not given a fair chance to bid, Dollar General suggested the decision not to engage in talks was motivated in part by the Family Dollar chief executive’s concerns about his job.

It then made a friendly bid, and raised that offer, but has so far not persuaded Family Dollar to turn its back on the deal with Dollar Tree.

“Our offer provides Family Dollar shareholders with significantly greater value than the existing agreement with Dollar Tree, as well as immediate and certain liquidity for their shares,” Dollar General’s chief executive, Rick Dreiling, said in the statement on Wednesday. “By taking this step, we are providing all Family Dollar shareholders a voice in this process, and we urge them to tender into our offer.”

By initiating the tender offer, Dollar General was able to start the clock with the F.T.C. Though Dollar Tree has a head start of several weeks in the process, and may be more likely to win approval without too many painful concessions, Dollar General can now effectively argue that Family Dollar shareholders should not approve a deal with Dollar Tree until both proposed deals have been reviewed by the commission.

“Additionally, we now can begin the antitrust review process and will have an opportunity to present our position directly to the F.T.C.,” Mr. Dreiling said. “As we previously have stated, we are confident in the results of our antitrust analysis, and we look forward to a constructive dialogue with the F.T.C.”

Should Family Dollar bring the deal with Dollar Tree to a shareholder vote right before the F.T.C. weighs in on the Dollar General bid, it would be a risky move. Family Dollar shares are trading above $78 a share, significantly above the agreed-to $74.50 offer from Dollar Tree.

Without knowing whether or not the Dollar General deal might be approved, Family Dollar would risk leaving money on the table.

“Until now, the Family Dollar board has been resisting Dollar General’s advances by rationalizing that although the Dollar General offer is nominally higher, the perceived antitrust risk was higher than the deal they have in hand with Dollar Tree,” said Brian JM Quinn, a professor at the Boston College Law School. “With the move to go directly to the shareholders, Dollar General is forcing the issue.”

Last week, Family Dollar and Dollar Tree sought to strengthen their deal by adding a “hell or high water” clause, pledging to do whatever is necessary to clear the deal with regulators. Dollar General has so far resisted making similar commitments.

Goldman Sachs is advising Dollar General and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett is providing legal advice. Morgan Stanley is advising Family Dollar and Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton is providing legal advice. JPMorgan is advising Dollar Tree, and Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz and Williams Mullen are providing legal advice.",The move further complicates Family Dollar’s deal to sell itself to Dollar Tree for $8.5 billion. Dollar General’s offer is for $9.1 billion.
"Lil Wayne's mentor Birdman and his Cash Money co-founder Ronald ""Slim"" Williams really got into the holiday spirit today in New Orleans -- handing out special Turkey Day care packages to people in need ... and TMZ has the pics.Bryan ""Birdman"" Williams, Slim, and a bunch of other dudes from Cash Money Records dropped by A.L. Davis Park for the charity drive, distributing turkeys and other Thanksgiving Day essentials (like AriZona Iced Tea).We're told Lil Wayne had planned to attend as well -- but was advised not to travel in his current health condition.Gobble gobble gobble, bitches.","Lil Wayne's mentor Birdman and his Cash Money co-founder Ronald ""Slim"" Williams really got into the holiday spirit today in New Orleans -- handing…"
"Christopher Capozziello for The New York Times

Lorenzo Wyatt, left, and Richard Stassun of Mr. Handyman in Fairfield, Conn., prepare to work around lead paint.

Richard Stassun installs protective plastic sheets before embarking on renovations at a home in Stratford, Conn.

Since April 22, all professional renovation projects in apartments and homes built before 1978 — the year the use of lead in paint was banned — that test positive for lead have had to meet federal guidelines and be performed by workers certified in lead-safe practices. Many older apartments in New York, remodeled more than once over the years, have long since been divested of their lead paint. But in a number of cases, contractors said, complying with the new rules could more than double the cost of renovations.

New York City already has some of the country’s strictest lead-paint laws, but the new regulation is being met with concern among contractors and building managers. The main difference for homeowners in New York is that guidelines regulating work in common spaces will be extended to individual apartments. Any area greater than six square feet that tests positive for lead paint is included.

The possibility of higher renovation costs could be a factor in the decision to buy an older apartment, brokers said. Already, co-op boards have reported tensions with new residents who bought apartments before the rule went into effect and were surprised at the added costs that would now come with any remodeling.

“Potentially, this could have very big consequences,” said Nicholas Ricci, the owner of Professional Services Inc., a construction and remodeling company in New York. “Everyone is still trying to figure out what it is exactly that the law requires.”

Although the E.P.A. says more than 25,000 professional contractors and other workers in New York have received the required certification, many condominiums and co-ops rely on handymen and superintendents to do work like painting and plaster repair inside apartments — especially when the jobs are small.

For bigger projects, said Stuart M. Saft, the chairman of the Council of New York Cooperatives and Condominiums, “in the past the supers and the building staff have been very careful not to get involved in lead paint removal. When they realized there is a lead-paint situation, they called in outside experts.”

But as the new regulation governs areas as small as six square feet, a super contemplating a minor repair job in a building would now need to be trained to work safely in the presence of lead.

Even for the simplest job there will be a higher price tag, according to contractors. For instance, because of the precautions, the repainting of a room that would have cost $500 could now cost more than $1,000.

To start with, furniture and equipment has to be wrapped in plastic at least 6 mils thick (a typical kitchen trash bag is around 1 mil). Similarly, floors, doorways and windows have to be lined with plastic and workers must wear protective gear.

There are also special vacuums needed for cleanup, costing as much as $850. Training and certification classes cost roughly $180 to $250 per student, and a business would have to pay an additional $300 to register as certified.

Todd Recknagel, the chief executive of Mr. Handyman, a national home service and repair company, said most consumers were unaware of the new regulation and the added cost.

“I would safely say most people are surprised by it,” he said. “We are educating the consumer on it out in the field.”

On national industry Web sites, which provide the cover of anonymity, the tone of contractors has been apocalyptic.

“All contractors should just continue as usual,” posted a man named Frank on a message board on the Home Construction and Improvement Web site. “If everybody refuses to do this what are they going to do, put us all in jail?”

Many people expressed concern that, with the real estate market still fragile, the regulation would both stifle construction spending and hurt the value of older homes. There were similar concerns expressed in New York City after a local law went into effect in 2004 — but the new E.P.A. regulations are more sweeping.

The battle over the new regulation has been long and contentious. It was in 1992 that Congress passed legislation directing the E.P.A. to write the regulation. But, because of fierce opposition from the construction industry, it was not completed until 2008, under pressure from environmental and public health advocates. And it did not take effect until this spring.","Thanks to a new federal regulation, yesterday’s $500 paint job could now cost over $1,000."
"As President Obama addressed a joint session of Congress on Wednesday night, the nation's rapidly deteriorating discourse hit yet another low.

It happened at 8:40 pm, just after the president vowed to lawmakers that his health-care reform proposals would not provide benefits to illegal immigrants. As millions of Americans watched from home, Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.) shouted at the president from his fifth-row seat: ""You lie!""

Murmurs of ""ooh"" filled the stunned chamber. Nancy Pelosi's chin dropped. Obama moved on to the next sentence in his speech, about how no federal money would be used to fund abortion. ""Not true!"" came another shout.

The national debate, already raw for years, had coarsened over the summer as town hall meetings across the country dissolved into protests about ""death panels"" and granny-killing. Guns were brought to Obama appearances. A pastor in Arizona said he was praying for Obama to die.

But even by that standard, there was something appalling about the display on the House floor for what was supposed to be a sacred ritual of American democracy: the nation watching while Cabinet members, lawmakers from both chambers and the diplomatic corps assembled.

Wilson was only the most flagrant. There was booing from House Republicans when the president caricatured a conservative argument by saying they would ""leave individuals to buy health insurance on their own."" They hissed when he protested their ""scare tactics."" They grumbled as they do in Britain's House of Commons when Obama spoke of the ""blizzard of charges and countercharges.""

When he asserted that ""nothing in this plan will require you or your employer to change the coverage or the doctor you have,"" there was scoffing and outright laughter on the GOP side. Rep. Jeb Hensarling (Tex.) shook his head in disbelief. Several Republicans shouted ""What plan?"" and Rep. Louis Gohmert (Tex.) waved at Obama a handwritten poster he made on a letter-size piece of paper: ""WHAT PLAN?"" Gohmert then took that down and replaced it with another handmade poster that said ""WHAT BILL?""

The irony was that Obama had used his speech to offer a significant concession to Republicans and to break with liberals in his own party. There was a cool silence in the chamber as the president told ""my progressive friends"" that the ""public option"" they treasure as part of health-care reform could be sacrificed in favor of other ideas.

And, in truth, there were provocations from the Democratic side. Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-N.J.), sitting on the Republican side, insisted on making a victory sign with his hand and waving it at Obama. Rep. Al Green (D-Tex.), also on the GOP side of the aisle, felt the need to pound his fist in the air and make what looked, awkwardly, like a fascist salute.

Scolding Republicans for scoring ""short-term political points,"" Obama wasn't subtle in his effort to make his foes look cruel. The White House stocked the first lady's box at the speech with a virtual medical ward: a woman with sarcoidosis, a colon cancer patient, a recurrent cancer survivor, a double amputee, two women with breast tumors, a woman with eye problems, a man with high cholesterol, two brain tumor survivors, the son of a brain cancer victim and the fathers of children who have seizures and hemophilia.

But while the majority of both parties' lawmakers behaved as adults, the insolence by House Republicans stole the show. There was derisive laughter on that side of the chamber when Obama noted that ""there remain some significant details to be ironed out."" They applauded as he spoke of ""all the misinformation that's been spread over the past few months."" They laughed again when he said that ""many Americans have grown nervous about reform.""

When Obama addressed the charge that he plans ""panels of bureaucrats with the power to kill off senior citizens,"" someone on the GOP side shouted out ""shame!"" The president went on: ""Such a charge would be laughable if it weren't so cynical."" ""Read the bill!"" someone shouted back. Obama mentioned those who accuse him of a government takeover of health care. ""It's true,"" someone shouted back.","While the majority of both parties' lawmakers behaved as adults, the insolence by House GOP members stole the show."
"Tony Blair is expected to defend his decision to join in the invasion of Iraq by asking his critics to think through the consequences for stability in the Middle East had Saddam Hussein been left in power, capable of developing weapons of mass destruction.

In the wake of the publication of the Chilcot inquiry report, friends of the former prime minister believe he will argue that the ultimate cause of the long-term bloodshed in Iraq was the scale of external intervention in the country by Iran and al-Qaida rather than failures in post-conflict planning.

Blair, frustrated by the repeated delays in the production of the report, has been meeting his allies to discuss his response, but is not planning to make any speech or intervention before publication on 6 July.

Related: The Chilcot report shouldn’t be used to pin blame for Iraq on one man | Jackie Ashley

Once the Iraq war inquiry report is out, Blair is likely to fight back by arguing the need to look at counter-factual scenarios, including the consequence of leaving Saddam in power, and will continue to insist that the world is safer for the removal of Saddam.

Although no weapons of mass destruction were found, contrary to intelligence community forecasts, Blair is expected to say that Saddam retained the expertise and capacity make such weapons.

The former Labour leader has also previously expressed concern that the inquiry has shifted from being a “lessons learned” process to one in which errors of judgement, or deception, are identified.

The findings – still unknown to the Blair circle – have the potential to lead to an explosive civil war inside the Labour party just a fortnight after the European referendum result is announced.

Jeremy Corbyn, the Labour leader, has vowed Labour will officially apologise for taking the UK to war in Iraq on the basis of a deception and in breach of international law. He has been less explicit about whether Blair could plausibly be sent to the International Criminal Court for war crimes.

Corbyn’s determination to assert Blair deceived the British people about the nature of the threat posed by Saddam has infuriated some supporters of the former prime minister. It has led some Blairites to ask why the former prime minister is being treated by a war criminal by a man that refused to vote for action in the Commons against a known war criminal, the Syrian president Bashar al-Assad.

Many in the Labour party think the timing of the report’s publication is intended to divert attention from the likely turmoil in the Conservative party over the conduct of the referendum to a potentially equally vicious blood-letting inside Labour.

Blair has argued in his autobiography and in a major speech in June 2014 that the bulk of the bloodshed, and the cause of the civil war from 2004 was the decision of both Iran and al-Qaida to enter Iraq, and to destroy the western reconstruction of Iraq.

But he will again accept that the planning for the aftermath of the war was inadequate, and make a series of recommendations on nation-building and setting up democratic institutions after a corrupt or brutal state is overthrown. He also accepts that the west did not understand the degree to which the country’s political economy was not functioning, and more pessimistic assumptions should have been made about the capability of the Iraqi state.

He said it is best to assume the worst about a corrupt or brutal state’s infrastructure and the integrity of its governing systems.

In probably his most self-critical judgement, Blair has accepted the west did not foresee the degree to which complex tribal, religious and sectarian tensions would be uncorked once a strong, repressive, all-powerful leader such as Saddam was removed. It has led him to favour more evolutionary approaches if possible both to the Arab spring and to western interventions in Libya, but not to flinch from what he has described as a “hard, unremitting counter-terrorist and counter-insurgency strategy”.

But he has told friends he still insists that this uncorking of forces in Iraq was so devastating because of the unexpected degree to which malevolent Iranian and al-Qaida forces infiltrated the country stirring up sectarian hatreds.

A campaign to defeat Saddam gradually changed into a campaign to defeat terrorism and a form of Islamist extremism. He insists this was more important than failures of post-war planning, even if he does accept that the sudden US decision to transfer responsibility from the State Department to the Defense Department on the eve of the invasion set back post-war planning and wrongfooted Whitehall.

He is also likely to challenge those that claim he was warned by Middle East academics in a November 2002 meeting about the chaos the US and the UK was likely to unleash by deposing Saddam. Academics at that event said they gave an explicit warning about the sectarian tensions inside Iraq repressed by Saddam and it is likely that Sir John Chilcot will have had access to the minutes of that meeting.

It was only one of many warnings given privately to Blair, including by the Foreign Office about the level of post-war planning.

He is also understood to have argued that peace-building needs to be a two-part process in which the nature of forces required for the aftermath of regime change are radically different from those required for regime change and that the international community has not yet built structures or capabilities to help construct democracies.

Blair has also proposed a senior team work inside No 10, led by a senior figure reporting directly to the prime minister on the same level as senior policy advisers whenever UK forces are engaged either in military conflict or peace-building. He has also accepted the capacity to build civil policing in Iraq did not exist early enough.

Senior figures in the Blair entourage are also expecting the Chilcot report will include a searching examination of the “special relationship” with the US, including the risks of the UK entering a military conflict with the US, not as an equal partner and outside the structures of either the EU or the United Nations.

Blair is likely to argue that the relationship is always unequal in terms of military hardware, but partnership with the US is essential to UK national security, and wider UK influence in the world particularly since 9/11.",The former prime minister is expected to warn of the dangers of leaving Saddam in power and blame Iran and al-Qaida for post-war collapse of Iraq
"Address: 237 St Georges Terrace, Perth, 6000Contact: 00 61 8 9214 4444; terracehotelperth.com.auGetting there: bus to St Georges Terrace (multiple services)Opening times: year roundPrice: double room from A$334, room only, including WiFiPayment type: credit cards acceptedReservations: recommended

Crown is essentially a one-stop-shop, anchored to Perth’s only casino. The development contains several fancy restaurants (Rockpool Bar & Grill, Nobu and Bistro Guillaume are the highlights) and loads of bars (my pick is champagne lounge, La Vie) among the flashing lights and tinkling tunes. There’s also a resort-style pool rimmed with cabanas, an 18-hole golf course and a theatre. The hotel rooms are as spacious as they are opulent, decorated in a modern mix of black, white and beige. For a ‘special occasion’ experience with fabulous views, book into one of the Luxe King Spa rooms on the top floor and soak in the deep hot tub before a session in the Isika Spa. Although across the river from the city centre, Crown is close to the domestic and international airports, making access easy.

Crown is essentially a one-stop-shop, anchored to Perth’s only casino.

Address: Great Eastern Highway, Burswood, 6100Contact: 00 61 8 9362 8888; crownperth.com.auGetting there: train to Burswood Station (Thornlie line)Opening times: year roundPrice: double room from A$355, room onlyPayment type: credit cards acceptedReservations: recommended

Don’t let the kitsch Euro exterior put you off: this well-located, inner city hotel gets rave reviews from guests, particularly for its olde worlde look. The 1911 building has been owned and run by local hospitality icon, Maud Edmiston for the past 43 years. She also has an eponymous chain of 15 Swedish pastry houses, so unsurprisingly, the hotel’s generous “Smörgåsbord” breakfast (included in the room rate) gets the thumbs up. Those with dodgy knees should avoid this hotel, however. Having to heave suitcases up the reception stairs is a source of some complaints, but a lift will assist from there on. All 52 rooms have ensuites, but the cream of the crop is the Scandinavian Room, with balcony. A little secret is the rooftop garden – sit beneath an umbrella and enjoy the view.

Don’t let the kitsch Euro exterior put you off: this well-located, inner city hotel gets rave reviews from guests.

Address: 97 Murray Street, Perth, 6000Contact: 00 61 8 9325 3900; missmaudhotel.com.au Getting there: bus to Murray Street (red CAT)Opening times: year roundPrice: double room from A$225, including breakfast and WiFiPayment type: credit cards acceptedReservations: recommended

It’s criminal to only do a day trip to Rottnest Island. You miss its true essence: the quiet when the final ferry-load of tourists departs and the joy of simple pleasures, such as sipping a WA wine on a deserted beach by sunset. Staying for a couple nights grants you a place in this special community. However, you need to know that the white-washed units facing Thompson Bay are basic. Premium View cottages sleep up to four and bedrooms can be made into doubles or singles, kitchens allow self-sufficiency and front yards have sea views. Splash out on a charming Heritage View Cottage, built during the 1800s colonial settlement period and privy to breathtaking ocean lookouts.

Splash out on a charming Heritage View Cottage, built during the 1800s colonial settlement period.

Address: Thompson Bay, Rottnest Island, 6161Contact: 00 61 8 9432 9111; rottnestisland.com Getting there: ferry to Rottnest IslandOpening times: year roundPrice: double room from A$260, room only, including baggage delivery servicePayment type: credit cards acceptedReservations: essential

With free in-room WiFi, fantastic views and a handy city location, Perth’s newest hotel ticks a stack of boxes. Located at the eastern end of the city, it’s within easy access to the airport and only a 10 minute walk - or a few stops on the free bus which pulls up outside - into the city. And if you’re feeling active, this Asian chain hotel has a number of bikes it lends out for free. Being brand spanking new, the modern, corporate-feel rooms - 236 of them spread over 19 storeys - are plush and clean. All are spacious, well-equipped suites decked out in beige, black, grey, silver and white tones. The in-house restaurant is equally polished.

Perth’s newest hotel ticks a stack of boxes.

Address: 10 Adelaide Terrace, East Perth, 6004Contact: 00 61 8 9261 0000; frasershospitality.com Getting there: bus to Adelaide Terrace (blue CAT)Opening times: year roundPrice: double room from A$199, including breakfast, WiFi and parkingPayment type: credit cards acceptedReservations: recommended

Having just installed double-glazed windows in all rooms, this funky, inner city hotel is now much more inviting. The upgrades follow extensive renovations completed a couple years ago. As a result, this hotel offers excellent value in a city where constant demand for accommodation means room rates are often sky-high. That said, rooms are compact, particularly the Petite Queen and Petite King, so you may want to check in to a Deluxe King room for more space. Rooms have a white and charcoal colour theme, while general areas are decorated with geometric wallpaper and smart sofas.

Having just installed double-glazed windows in all rooms, this funky, inner city hotel is now much more inviting.

Address: 70 Pier Street, Perth, 6000Contact: 00 61 8 9325 2133; 8hotels.comGetting there: train to Perth Central Station (multiple lines)Opening times: year roundPrice: double room from $110, room onlyPayment type: credit cards acceptedReservations: recommended

An awesome location, atmospheric pub, live music, basement bar and tasty menu add up to make this hotel an excellent choice. But with all things too good to be true, there’s a catch: you need to be comfortable with a certain level of noise (until it closes at midnight). Request one of their four suites, as the remaining five rooms share a bathroom. Book suite 1 for the most space and ensuite bathroom, or go for 8 or 9 for the quietest surrounds. The rooms are crisp, airy and white-on-white, enclosed in a historic stone building with a pub courtyard you’ll want to spend hours in, especially while nursing a local beer (try something by Little Creatures) and a flat-based pizza. The free parking here is a real bonus in this popular part of town.

An awesome location, atmospheric pub, live music, basement bar and tasty menu add up to make this hotel an excellent choice.

Address: 47 South Terrace, Fremantle, 6160Contact: 00 61 8 9335 5405; norfolkhotel.com.au Getting there: bus to South Terrace (orange CAT)Opening times: year roundPrice: double room from A$180, room only, including WiFi and parkingPayment type: credit cards acceptedReservations: recommended

A constantly expanding art collection attracts lovers of the finer things in life to this historic, limestone terrace b&b. Built in 1892, Fothergills sits opposite Fremantle Prison, which was constructed some 33 years earlier and is now one of the state’s most popular tourist attractions. Bronze sculptures and pottery are found throughout the three pretty courtyards, while paintings and glass works adorn the interior, by local, national and international artists. Expect urban views with a spot of ocean from some room balconies (ask for The English Room) and a lovely breakfast served in the conservatory.

Paintings and glass works adorn the interior, by local, national and international artists.

Address: 18-22 Ord Street, Fremantle, 6160Contact: 00 61 8 9335 6784; fothergills.net.auGetting there: bus to Ord Street from Fremantle (160)Opening times: year roundPrice: double room from A$195, including breakfast, WiFi and parkingPayment type: credit cards acceptedReservations: essential

Want to live like a local in arguably Perth’s most beautiful beach suburb? An accommodation group manages residential properties throughout Cottesloe, offering everything from compact studio apartments to six-bedroom houses with a pool for short, holiday stays or longer. The self-contained properties are all individually owned and the decor in each reflects the owner’s take on coastal chic, with splashes of colour throughout. Having lived in Cottesloe myself for two years, I can’t recommend the Cott (as locals call it) experience highly enough. Go for a beachfront apartment, a lazy 10m stroll to the sand. Beach towels are included.

Live like a local in arguably Perth’s most beautiful beach suburb.

Address: Cottesloe, 6011Contact: 00 61 8 9284 2555; cottesloewaters.com.au Getting there: train to Cottesloe Station (Fremantle line)Opening times: year roundPrice: double studio from A$147, room only, including WiFi and parkingPayment type: credit cards acceptedReservations: essential

This one’s for the lovers. It’s not cheap, but it is special, and when you consider that everything’s included – a chef making your every meal, guided tours to rock pools and art sites, a carefully compiled drinks list – it becomes a worthy contender. The remote location seals the deal: the only way to arrive is by air, zooming over the Kimberley’s sunburnt landscape to see ancient rock formations, curling rivers and spilling waterfalls (flights are included in three-night stay prices). You’re taken by buggy to an ocean view villa, equipped with private deck and luxurious egg bath, and then time is yours: do what you will with it. I made sure I swam in the 25m lap pool – after all, it was transported via two, 14-hour barge trips through crocodile-infested waters so it deserves appreciation.

The only way to arrive to this lodge is by air.

Address: Berkeley River, 6740Contact: 00 61 8 9169 1330; berkeleyriver.com.au Getting there: no public transport: twice weekly flights or private charterOpening times: Mar-NovPrice: double rooms from A$1,650, including full-board, WiFi and toursPayment type: credit cards acceptedReservations: essential

The owner of this glamping site within World Heritage-listed Purnululu National Park was one of the first non-indigenous to explore it. East Kimberley Tours is still family owned, and it’s one of only two accommodation providers within the park. EKT’s Deluxe eco-cabins are fitted with ensuites and comfy beds, and you get access to the communal and kitchen areas. Plus, in late 2014 they put in a 9m pool – quite the rarity in these parts and a blessing in the toasty Kimberley climate.You can drive yourself or take a land tour in (note: the 31-mile approach road takes three hours to travel), but EKT also offers fully-catered options, and tours that include scenic flights over the range. I’ve enjoyed the latter, twice, and argue it’s well worth the extra investment.

This glamping site is within World Heritage-listed Purnululu National Park.

Address: Purnululu National ParkContact: 00 61 8 9168 2213; eastkimberleytours.com.au Getting there: no public transport: driveOpening times: Apr-mid OctPrice: double cabins from $350, room only, including parking; $570, full boardPayment type: credit cards acceptedReservations: essential

This is one of the best-located places to stay in Margaret River and it’s where I return to most often when I’m visiting this region of towering trees, endless vineyards and epic surf. Set back from the honey sands of Smiths Beach, each self-contained apartment has a slick, new feel that borders on minimalist but is somehow welcoming enough to make you feel comfortable sprawling on the large couches. There’s plenty of glass, concrete and polished stone knitting together the well-equipped kitchen, bench top and large bathroom (with luxurious oval bathtub). Go for an upstairs apartment, they all have balconies with barbecues. The on-site café, cellar door and restaurant, Lamont’s, is excellent – I always stop in for breakfast and an espresso coffee.

This is one of the best-located places to stay in Margaret River.

Address: Smiths Beach Road, Yallingup, 6282Contact: 00 61 8 9750 1200; smithsbeachresort.com.au Getting there: coach to YallingupOpening times: year roundPrice: apartment from A$275, room only, including WiFi and parkingPayment type: credit cards acceptedReservations: recommended

An adults-only pool, a beachside bar and Australia’s only L’Occitane-partnered spa: what’s not to love about this tropical resort? It’s the only hotel in Broome to front famous Cable Beach, where crowds gather to watch the sunset every evening. You could horizon-gaze at the Sunset Bar and Grill, where the dress code is “Kimberley casual” (flip flops are fine) and the beers are served in stubbie holders, not glasses. A relaxed vibe courses throughout the leafy grounds, but you’ll find a more polished atmosphere in the Chahoya Spa, where I recently had one of the best full body massages of my life. Families will love the pool allocated to them, while yoga fans can rise at dawn for daily classes.

This is the only hotel in Broome to front famous Cable Beach.

Address: 1 Cable Beach Road West, Broome, 6725Contact: 00 61 8 9192 0400; cablebeachclub.com Getting there: bus to Cable BeachOpening times: year roundPrice: double room from A$299, room only, including return Broome airport transfers and parkingPayment type: credit cards acceptedReservations: essential

Decorated in Kimberley colours (think sunburnt orange, vivid green and earthy tones), these self-contained, one- and two-bedroom suites are a big hit with travellers to Broome. Accommodation can be pretty pricey in the popular holiday destination, but Moonlight’s rates sit towards the more reasonable end of the scale. Positioned in town but with views of Roebuck Bay’s cornflour blue waters, the location is also a plus point, along with the pool and barbecue facilities. Request a garden view room if you’re watching your pennies, otherwise opt for a Deluxe Bay View for the nicest outlook and the most space. The latter option will also get you a ringside seat for the Staircase to the Moon light phenomenon, reflected on the bay’s mudflats.

These self-contained, one- and two-bedroom suites are a big hit with travellers to Broome.

Address: 51 Carnarvon Street, Broome, 6725Contact: 00 61 8 9195 5200; moonlightbaysuites.com.au Getting there: bus to BroomeOpening times: year roundPrice: double room from A$208, room only, including parking (minimum 4-night stay)Payment type: credit cards acceptedReservations: recommended

It may sport a Spanish name, but this cattle station-turned-wilderness-park is as Aussie as it gets, and that’s why it’s my favourite place to stay in East Kimberley. More than just accommodation, the huge outback property encompasses gorges, rocky plateaux, deep natural pools and hot springs. Better still, whether you’re camping, bunking down in the canvas topped villas, enjoying the riverside bungalows or staying in the five-star homestead, you can access it all. This egalitarian nature is part of the charm, and the enormity and age of the environment acts as a leveller for everyone who stays there. Tour Chamberlain Gorge, where you’ll cruise flat waters edged with blazing red cliffs, and don’t miss the thermal waters at palm-fringed Zebedee Springs. If you’re feeling flush, a scenic helicopter ride is well worth it.

It may sport a Spanish name, but this cattle station-turned-wilderness-park is as Aussie as it gets.

Address: El Questro Road, Durack, 6743Contact: 00 61 3 9426 7550; elquestro.com.auGetting there: no public transport: driveOpening times: Apr-OctPrice: tented cabin from $289, room only, including parking; bungalow from A$329, room only, including parking; homestead room, $1,969, including full-board, parking and tours. Park permit: from $12 per day; children, 0-12 years, freePayment type: credit cards acceptedReservations: recommended

From a ‘where to stay’ perspective, Exmouth is an unusual place: all the extraordinary aquatic attractions are dotted along the World Heritage-listed peninsula it inhabits, but aside from back-to-basic campgrounds, there are few accommodation options. Staying in town is the answer, and swish, spacious Novotel Ningaloo Resort is the pick of the bunch. Located at the marina about three miles from the town centre, you should specify ocean views for the best outlook. Its 68 abodes include hotel rooms (some with spas) as well as one-, two- and three-bedroom, self-contained apartments decked out with fully-equipped kitchens. There’s also a swimming pool, gym and the well-regarded Mantaray's restaurant.

Novotel is located at the marina about three miles from the town centre.

Address: Madaffari Drive, Exmouth, 6707Contact: 00 61 8 9949 0000; accorhotels.comGetting there: bus to Exmouth (from Learmonth airport)Opening times: year roundPrice: double room from A$275, room only, including WiFi and parkingPayment type: credit cards acceptedReservations: recommended

Weatherboard chalets are surrounded by towering native trees in this idyllic getaway just outside the arty forest town of Denmark. When I stayed, I fell asleep to a chorus of frogs serenading the night, and woke to see cattle grazing the lush fields that roll towards the ocean. The chalets are rustic with warm, wood interiors, spas and good heaters for the southern region’s chilly nights. There’s an on-site spa that I’d argue is the best in the region – book in for a transcendent session in their aptly-named pamper pod. Nature meets nurture very effectively here. Karma partners with a local tour company that can take you hiking along the dramatic coastline, dotted with thousands of wildflowers in September and October.

Weatherboard chalets are surrounded by towering native trees in this idyllic getaway.

Address: 1572 South Coast Highway, Denmark, 6333Contact: 00 61 8 9848 1568; karmachalets.com.au Getting there: coach to DenmarkOpening times: year roundPrice: double room from A$180, room only, including A$20 spa voucher and parkingPayment type: credit cards acceptedReservations: recommended

Book ahead for this charming guest house – ever since it was voted “best b&b” in the country in 2013, by readers of Australian Traveller, a national magazine I write for, its rooms have been hot property. The owners claim the converted 1920s convent is the first b&b in the wine region. The six guest rooms all boast private ensuites and are an easy walk from the heart of Margaret River township. Try to secure the Courtyard room (which is part of the original chapel) or King Garden room, both of which have garden views and veranda access through French doors – a perfect spot to share a local vino. It’s not exclusively for loved-up couples, there are also twin-share rooms available.

This guest house was voted “best b&b” in the country in 2013.

Address: 5 Valley Road, Margaret River, 6285Contact: 00 61 8 9757 2349; margaretriverguesthouse.com.auGetting there: coach to Margaret RiverOpening times: year roundPrice: double room from A$200, including breakfast, WiFi, parking and afternoon teaPayment type: credit cards acceptedReservations: essential

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Follow Telegraph Travel on Twitter","An insider's guide to the best places to stay in Perth and Western Australia, including luxury hotels and top budget accommodation."
"A North Carolina girl was wounded today in a shooting at Cape Fear High School, authorities said.

Update at 4:54 p.m. ET: The 15-year-old injured student has been identified as either Caitlyn Abercrombie (NBC 17) or Caitlyn Ambercrombie (Fayetteville Observer). She is conscious and answering questions by nodding or shaking her head, a sheriff's spokeswoman says. Doctors are determining whether the bullet can be removed safely from her neck.

No one reported seeing or hearing the lunchtime gunshot, though one person reported hearing a ""pop,"" Cumberland County Sheriff Earl Butler said.

""She turned to walk toward the breezeway, and she fell,"" he said.

The lockdown at Cape Fear High School has ended. Students were released around 3 p.m. ET and assembled on the football field to be searched and scanned with metal detectors before leaving.

Update at 4:05 p.m. ET: Authorities say the girl is 15, not 17 as reported initially.

The lockdown at neighboring Mac Williams Middle School has been lifted, and students were released at 2:45 p.m. ET.

Update at 3:23 p.m. ET: The unidentified girl is in stable condition at a hospital, the Fayetteville Observer reports.

School officials say the bullet may not have been fired by someone on campus. Two school officials were near the girl when she was hit, and neither reported seeing anyone approach her or fire a weapon.

Authorities speculate she may have been hit by a hunter's stray bullet or by a drive-by gunman.

Original post: Two schools in Fayetteville, N.C., are on lockdown after a shooting at Cape Fear High School this afternoon, NBC 17 reports.

A 17-year-old girl was shot in the neck at the school and survived, although her condition is not known, the television station and the Fayetteville Observer report. The girl's parents have been notified, the newspaper says.

Parents are being asked to stay away from the Cape Fear campus, the Observer says.

That school and Mac Williams Middle School have been locked down, according to NBC17.

The incident took place outside the high school building during lunch, according to the Observer.

The victim was walking toward a breezeway when she was shot, Cumberland County Sheriff Earl Butler told NBC 17.

No one is in custody in the shooting. The girl was taken to Cape Fear Valley Medical Center, Debbie Tanna, a spokeswoman for the Cumberland County Sheriff's Office, told the Observer.","Two schools in Fayetteville, N.C., went on lockdown after a shooting at Cape Fear High School."
"To “KatyG” at post number #13 and number #44:

Ah, life as a GOP supporter must be Grand.

Following the lead of your current President–and the man you hope will become President–you just make stuff up and expect the world to believe it–simply ‘cuz you say it is so.

If you can’t twist the opponent’s words to fit your fantasy–you just urge people to “read between the lines.”

The fascinating part for me is how you folks don’t just go with the top guys’ strategy of running against a straw threat–like John McCain’s description of NOBODY’s economic proposal:

“The American people cannot afford an economic agenda that will take our country in the wrong direction and cost jobs. At a time when our small businesses need support from Washington, we cannot raise taxes, increase regulation and isolate ourselves from foreign markets.”

No–you flat out accuse Obama of being a stealth candidate for the poor–who is going to use the poor and then–what was your phrase–make them feel like victims?

Dear–perhaps if you listened to news sources beyond “talk radio” to get your pulse of the nation’s mood you’d have a clearer idea that a lot of those “poor” people are a) extremely hard working and b) have been victimized by predatory financial companies and crooks, operating in the anything goes environment created by the zealots of the mythical “free market” that gave us first Enron and now the housing bubble that is draining money out of what was–for most American families–their most valuable asset (a.k.a. their homes.)

The heart of the matter–KatyG–comes down not your assertions of some sort of hidden meanings in Obama’s speeches–or what you’ve been hearing in the right-wing radio echo chamber of Rush “Oxycontin” Limbaugh–but what the candidates actually propose to do.

Your guy, for example, lays out some worthy goals:

“To get our economy back on track, we must enact a jobs-first economic plan that supports job creation, provide immediate tax relief for families, enact a plan to help those facing foreclosure, lower health care costs, invest in innovation, move toward strategic energy independence and open more foreign markets to our goods.”

But, friend–those are just goals.

The rub is in actually accomplishing those things.

Perhaps, in lieu of making stuff up about Obama and Democrats, you’d like to engage in a back-and-forth on how EXACTLY your man plans to make all those wonderful things happen (though he did forget the chicken in every pot) by continuing the conservative economic policies that this nation has pursued for the last 27 years–and the fiscally catastrophic tax policies of the current wizard in the White House.

Insanity, dear, as the old saying goes, is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different outcome each time.

And finally, to “Matt” at post number 40:

Well, friend, I would offer the same observation to you that I did to KatyG–simply making stuff up doesn’t make it so.

Even if you add an exclamation mark.

And close with the declaration that “Facts are stubborn things.”

Here–friend–are the “facts” on the % (rate) that is in theory what the top 1% is supposed to pay:

1971-1981 70% 1982-1986 50% 1987 38.5% 1988-1990 33% 1991-1992 31% 1993-2000 39.6% 2001 39.1% 2002 38.6% 2003-2007 35%

And here’s a radical idea for all of you folks on the right in the era of the Internet:

Above and beyond just your imagination and recollect hearing on “talk radio.”

For example, the numbers I cite above?

From the U.S. Census and the Internal Revenue Service.

All conveniently collected–and verifably viewable at:

Let’s make this the year we declare our independence from false fear.

— Posted by Don Duval",A politics blog by the staff of The New York Times.  The Caucus analyzes the latest political news from Washington and around the country and looks ahead to the 2008 presidential election.
"Newsday (Long Island), in an editorial: ""The American people need to know if someone in the Obama administration leaked classified information to the press about cyberattacks against Iran, an undercover agent in Yemen and 'kill lists' of suspected terrorists targeted for execution in drone attacks. The nation's security may have been compromised. The activities recounted recently in The New York Times and elsewhere were so richly detailed … that members of the president's inner circle cannot escape suspicion. A vigorous and focused investigation is essential. … Congress should give the job to a small, bipartisan contingent of its members, perhaps selected from among those on the Senate and House intelligence committees. As a rule, the federal government keeps too many secrets. Within reason, the American people need to know what the government is doing. So leaks can serve a valuable purpose.""

McCain: Republican senator of Arizona wants an investigation into the national security leaks.

McCain: Republican senator of Arizona wants an investigation into the national security leaks.

Dan Froomkin, on The Huffington Post: ""Criminally investigating the kinds of leaks that are the bread and butter of national security investigative reporting is a noxious overreaction by hyper-controlling government officials who don't want us to know what's being done in our name. … There is such a thing as a criminal leak — for instance, when an administration official intentionally outs a covert CIA operative in an attempt to discredit an administration critic. But leaks that expose secrets that have momentous public policy implications need to be treated differently, because they are a critical part of our nation's system of checks and balances.""

Jed Babbin, on The American Spectator: ""The focus of the leak problem should not only be the questions of who leaked the information and what role the president played in the disclosures. The focus has to be the assessment of how much damage — and what kinds of damage — the leaks did to our national security. Every leaker has an agenda. More often than not, and quite evidently in these cases, the agenda is a political one. But for the Republicans to have any impact on the campaign — and the desired effect of ending the leak campaign — they have to begin with substance, not politics.""

St. Louis Post-Dispatch, in an editorial: ""Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. … charged that leaks were coming from 'the highest levels' of the White House for political reasons. … Three points about that: One, President Obama has been strong and decisive on national security, if not always correct or forthright. Two, he has not been shy about taking credit for it. And three, some people might have leaked for political reasons, but others may have just been bragging — infiltrating an al-Qaeda bomb-making operation was pretty slick. Whether these disclosures have damaged U.S. intelligence operations is speculative at best. The record of the past three years suggests that in matters of national security, Obama keeps too many secrets, not too few.""

Conor Friedersdorf, on The Atlantic: ""Forget the White House generally. Obama himself has purposely disclosed 'national-security information' — the existence of the CIA drone program — that his own Justice Department and press secretary treat as classified. I'm glad he's done so. The notion that the United States government should wage ongoing war in multiple countries while keeping it secret from its own citizens is noxious. By my lights, the CIA drone program's existence should not be a state secret. Obama ought to declassify it. But he hasn't. And he purposely spoke about it publicly, precisely in order to defend himself against criticism.""

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"Simplicity wins. This is the message that I’m taking away so far at Fortune’s Brainstorm Tech here in Half Moon Bay, California.

To frame the themes of this year’s powwow — which opened Monday afternoon with Michael Dell DELL and Amazon AMZN CEO Jeff Bezos (pictured right) — my colleague David Kirkpatrick asked participants what is the most exciting technology innovation of the last 12 months. The most popular answer: the iPhone. That probably doesn’t surprise you, but the interesting thing is how Apple’s AAPL iPhone and its seemingly simple user interface fits the trend of the best and latest technologies. As one Brainstorm participant, Mitel CEO Don Smith, says about the iPhone, the Nintendo Wii and other recent innovations: “The most exciting trend has been towards simplicity in many areas of technology. Simplicity is essential if our society is to reap the full potential of technology.”

This idea that simplicity is increasingly the key to success keeps coming up here at Brainstorm. In an interview with David K., Jeff Bezos said that as Amazon developed the Kindle, the electronic reader that came out last November, it set a simple goal: to improve upon the book. “It was an audacious goal bordering on arrogance,” he noted, adding that the book has remained so unchanged for 500 years that Gutenberg would recognize it today.

The Kindle would succeed, Bezos explained, only if “the container of the book gets out of the way. That’s not easy.” He mentioned that he once had a microwave oven that beeped every minute after cooking was done, until you opened the oven door. “I called it the self-important device” — and that’s what he didn’t want the Kindle to be.

Turns out, Amazon designed quite an elegant and unobtrusive machine. “It’s not easy to make a device that disappears,” Bezos said, sounding almost Steve Jobs-ian. I haven’t used a Kindle, yet. But after nasty supply shortages the first few months, I can get one — and just might. Keith Reinhard, the former CEO of advertising giant DDB, told me this morning that he bought one, not expecting to love it. But he loves it. “I’m reading five books at one time,” he told me. (Reinhard started in the ad business in 1962, but he knows how to multitask like a gen-Yer!)

Of course, globalization’s evolution — with ever-increasing focus on emerging markets — calls for simple solutions. Joost CEO Mike Volpi, who once headed strategy at Cisco CSCO , says he thinks the most innovative new technology is One Laptop per Child. That is Nicholas Negroponte’s program to spread computers across the developing world. “There is not amazing new technology in this computer, but cutting-edge technologies and open-source computing are intelligently packaged together to provide incredible value to the world’s poorest children,” Volpi says.

Nick Negroponte is on stage next. Gotta run!","Simplicity wins. This is the message that I'm taking away so far at Fortune's Brainstorm Tech here in Half Moon Bay, California. To frame the themes of this year's powwow -- which opened Monday afternoon with Michael Dell and Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos (pictured right) -- my colleague David Kirkpatrick asked participants what is the most exciting…"
"DETROIT, March 23 (AP) - The Ford Motor Company said today that its Ford EXP sport coupe would cost $7,253 and its Mercury LN7 sport coupe $7,750 when the two new models were introduced April 9.

The front-wheel-drive two-seaters will be offered ''with a very short list of available optional equipment,'' said Philip E. Benton Jr., vice president for sales operations.

Meanwhile, the company's Ford division announced it was cutting prices by $224 to $448 on optional equipment packages for 1981 Fairmonts and Granadas. Mr. Benton said the available options on the EXP and LN7 were limited because the cars carried many normal options as standard equipment.

Louis E. Lataif, vice president and general manager of the Ford division, said the reduced prices for Fairmont and Granada option packages were part of Ford's program of buyer incentives to increase sales.

The price cuts involve such options as tilt-steering wheels, split bench seats, remote-control deck lid release, two-tone paint treatment, vinyl roofs and wire wheel covers. Mr. Lataif said the price reductions would continue past the April 5 close of Ford's current $500 to $700 rebate offers on certain models.","RS00.6-   DETROIT, March 23 (AP) - The Ford Motor Company said today that its Ford EXP sport coupe would cost $7,253 and its Mercury LN7 sport coupe $7,750 when the two new models were introduced April 9.   The front-wheel-drive two-seaters will be offered ''with a very short list of available optional equipment,'' said Philip E. Benton Jr., vice president for sales operations."
"The chains operate a total of 400 stores nationwide and employ 5,450 staff. Deloitte, the administrators, said the shops had not been closed and were continuing to trade as normal.

Barratts and PriceLess are subsidiaries of Stylo, the Aim-listed company run by the Ziff family. The parent company is not in administration but trading in its shares have been suspended.

Stylo said it did not anticipate any short-term improvement in trading conditions, which it said had ""deteriorated markedly"".

""Against this background, the board has concluded that current and projected sales cannot support the current cost base of the business, in particular the high rent obligations,"" Stylo's statement said. ""Therefore a more pro-active restructuring approach is required to return the business to profitability.""

Stylo said it wanted to repay all creditors in full and reach a new agreement with landlords. To do this Deloitte is seeking to place the companies into a Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA), in which people who are owed money by a firm can vote on a repayment proposal put forward by its directors.

If the proposal is approved by 75pc of creditors, the company can emerge from administration and pay what it owes within an agreed period of time.

Stylo said it has support for the process from Prudential, Lloyds Group and Barclays. The Ziff family has confirmed its intention to make substantial further funds available to the Group

Employee rights and pension scheme unaffected, Stylo said in a statement.

Earlier today the Aim-listed company's requested the suspension pending clarification of its strategic options. It follows Friday's announcement from Stylo that its outlook was ""challenging"" and margins continued to be hit. The company added that it was managing stock and cost levels tightly while the board explored options for the business.

The family-run business was floated on the stock market over 70 years ago under the name Stylo Boot Company (Northern) Limited. In 1964, with 150 stores nationwide, the company bid for W Barratt and Company. Shutopia, a large store concept to sell footwear on out of town retail parks, was launched in 2006.",Shoe chains Barratts and Priceless have gone into administration.
"Although Princess Elizabeth always knew she would become the queen of England, the status change came rather abruptly — in 1952, when she was just 25 and her father, George VI, died of lung cancer at age 56. Elizabeth was a wife (to Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh) and mother to two young children, Charles, Prince of Wales, and Anne, Princess Royal. Never one for the spotlight, Elizabeth was looking forward to a quiet life in Malta, where her husband could join the Navy and fly the occasional plane, but when duty came calling, her personal life (and his, unhappily) took a back seat. “The Crown,” which debuts on Friday on Netflix, tells the story of her sacrifice in the name of public service. Considering the monarch still reigns, steadfast at age 90, that’s quite a track record, unmatched in British history.

Claire Foy, 32, and Matt Smith, 34, recently visited New York and spoke to The Post about what it was like to play the royal couple.

When you were asked to play the queen, what did you say? Claire Foy: I asked them, “Are you sure?” It was a relatively pain-free, enjoyable experience. You would have thought with a big job you’d have to jump through all the hoops, that you should be put through the wringer, but the people [I worked with], they were really nice. It was always a joy to go on an audition for them. It was a joy to be in a room with [director] Stephen Daldry and have him tell me what to do.

Matt, how do you think your “Doctor Who” fans will react to seeing you in this stately, slightly peevish role? Matt Smith: You never know, really. I hope they enjoy it. CF: He’s amazing in it. They’ll love it.

On the show, Elizabeth and Philip compromise from the beginning, when Philip renounces his last name. And then Queen Mary (Eileen Atkins) writes a letter to Elizabeth after George VI’s death and explains that her life will be one of duty. What is her reaction? CF: It’s like your grandparents saying to you, “Don’t disappoint me.” She’s got all that as well. Philip doesn’t know the pressure she’s under or what she’s got to do. She’s in the middle of him, the Cabinet and the Church of England.

She doesn’t question that much what she’s told to do, though. CF: I think that’s because she’s very duty-bound. She’s grown up doing the right thing.

As a royal couple, how did the public react to them? MS: Thousands of people would show up to watch them catch a train. Tens of thousands to see them go to the theater. They were the celebrities of their day. She’s lived through that massive sense of glamour and celebrity. CF: They used to take the royal train. And now they take the public train.

Sunday, 9 p.m., HBO Dolores (Evan Rachel Wood) and her human friends, William (Jimmi Simpson) and Logan (Ben Barnes), reach Pariah, a town built on decadence and transgression — and are recruited for a mission.

Monday, 11 p.m., Destination America Katrina Weidman and Nick Groff spend 100 hours in the Black Monk House in Yorkshire, England, the home of reported poltergeist activity. The intrepid duo aim to capture the most convincing evidence ever to be recorded.

Tuesday, 8:30 p.m., ABC Can the crayon really add 10 pounds? When Anna-Kat (Julia Butters) draws a Humpty Dumpty-shaped portrait of her mother for the school art show, a mortified Katie (Katy Mixon) sets out to retrieve it by any means necessary.

Monday, 9 a.m., ABC Actor Jerry O’Connell joins Kelly Ripa for a jubilant Halloween celebration. Talk about costumes! As seen below left, O’Connell will appear as the gruesome villain Negan from “The Walking Dead” as well as one of the presidential candidates. The show will also include a tribute to the Broadway smash “Hamilton” and spoofs of Beyoncé’s “Lemonade” (with Ripa, below) and the popular HGTV show “House Hunters.”

Tuesday, 9 p.m., NBC Rebecca (Mandy Moore) and Jack (Milo Ventimiglia) wonder what to do when little Randall (Lonnie Chavis) tests as a gifted child. The grown-up Randall (Sterling K. Brown) questions his career choices.

Monday, 6 a.m.-Tuesday, 4:30 a.m.

If you want a Halloween scare, Turner Classic Movies has a great lineup. Vincent Price (inset, with Phyllis Kirk) plays a sculptor who fills his museum with corpses in “House of Wax” (11:15 a.m.). “The Haunting” (6 p.m.) stars Julie Harris as a woman tormented by her mother’s ghost. In “The Mummy” (9:45 p.m.), a resurrected mummy stalks the archaeologists who raided his tomb.

Thursday, 9 p.m., Fox Upon signing a huge deal with Nike, Ginny (Kylie Bunbury) feels an overwhelming sense of pressure, which leads to a night of neurotic rebellion and a subsequent session with therapist Andrea Barton (Rita Wilson). Co-starring Meagan Holder and Mark-Paul Gosselaar.","Although Princess Elizabeth always knew she would become the queen of England, the status change came rather abruptly — in 1952, when she was just 25 and her father, George VI, died of lung cancer …"
"Black Friday is still weeks away, but Amazon is already starting its sales. The online retailer has launched its Black Friday Deals store, which features discounts on everything from smartphones to video games and sneakers.

The idea is to get shoppers excited for the actual Black Friday, which takes place Nov. 27, the day after Thanksgiving. Amazon is counting down the days by offering different deals daily in its “Deals of the Day” section. There’s a special bonus for Amazon Prime members this year, too — the company says those with Prime will get access to 30,000 deals 30 minutes before non-Prime customers.

Amazon says that its Black Friday store will offer “tens of thousands” of deals between now and Dec. 22. Some notable tech deals on Nov. 2 include an unlocked 16GB Moto X smartphone for $200, which usually costs $300. Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain is on sale for $40, which is a notable discount off its usual price of about $60. Amazon is also selling a pair of AngLink Bluetooth 4.1 headphones for $21.50 as part of a Prime Early Access deal. The earbuds usually cost $60.

Black Friday sales are usually big for Amazon, but the company saw even more success during Prime Day in July. The company promoted Prime Day as a Black Friday in July sales event, and said that it sold more units globally on that day than it did on Black Friday in 2014.

Read next: 5 Big Retail Trends That’ll Help 2015 Holiday Shoppers Grab the Best Deals",The company is offering deals in a shopping countdown
"If your job is traveling around California, as mine has been on and off since 1992, you get used to two things. First, wherever you go, the odds are good that Mark Twain beat you to it 140 years ago.

Second, the odds are even better than Huell Howser, California's tourist laureate, beat you 14 years ago. If so, you can bet that the locals remember his visit fondly, and that legions of Californians remember it too.

It’s happened to me at Lake Tahoe, in San Francisco, in Yosemite and up north in the land of drive-through trees. In fact, I suspect that among Californians these last two decades, Huell may have had more viewers than Twain had readers.

This isn’t an ideal situation. But it’s not such a bad thing, either. Huell’s unflagging sense of wonder was always a welcome counterpoint to the been-there, done-that posture that you encounter so often in life and on television. (And yes, I’m calling him Huell, because what Californian has ever called him “Howser”?)

Call up a few clips on YouTube. The visit to the Bagdad Café, maybe. The time he straddled the U.S.-Mexico border. Or Huell’s euphoric communion with the flies of Mono Lake.

“They’re mating?” he asks the local expert in his Tennessee twang. “On my hand?”

In November, when Huell’s production company announced his retirement, Times television critic Robert Lloyd explained his own soft spot for Howser’s work. I can only agree. And now that Huell has left us for good — he died Sunday night at age 67 — I want to offer up two more perspectives, one from the mountains, one from City Hall.

“Working with Huell was different than with any other reporter or show,” said Yosemite National Park Assistant Supt. Scott Gediman, who did about 15 shows with Huell.

On one hand, Gediman said, Howser’s approach was “the ultimate in low-tech, with him and his photographer.” But as Gediman sees it, Howser was actually doing something rare: listening carefully.

Huell was in the moment, ready to swerve in conversation toward the topics that the speaker was most passionate about. With so many viewers and editors craving speed and brevity, this doesn't happen on the air a lot. Or in print, for that matter.

“He didn’t have an agenda,” said Gediman. “It took a lot more effort, and a lot more skill and a lot more brilliance than he got credit for. I thought a lot of him, I really did.”

With Gediman, Huell stood at Glacier Point, roamed Yosemite Valley, examined some of the park’s most historic buildings, took a boat out on the Hetch Hetchy Reservoir and hiked Yosemite Falls, where Huell complained on camera, “Scott, these mosquitoes are killing me!”

In about 15 years at Yosemite, Gediman said, he’s done countless television interviews, including ““Nightline,” “Dateline” and “Larry King Live.” But when people walk up to Gediman at the park, the question they ask is: “Aren’t you the ranger who’s on 'Huell Howser'?”

Howser, raised in Tennessee, came to Los Angeles in 1981, already a veteran television reporter. By 1987, he was shooting short episodes for public television station KCET. Beginning in 1990, he filmed two decades of episodes under the “California’s Gold” marquee and many more under a handful of other titles. He covered the missions, the parks, the coast, the desert (where he had a house in Twentynine Palms) and the resurgence of downtown Los Angeles.

If Huell were political, “he could have been governor forever,” said City Councilman Tom LaBonge, who met Howser in the 1980s.

At that time, LaBonge served as a deputy to City Councilman John Ferraro and Huell was a reporter at KNXT, eager to hear story pitches. Over the years, they’d talk California history, share dinners at Musso & Frank in Hollywood. LaBonge and his wife, Brigid, visited Huell at his artifact-filled desert house. When LaBonge took over Ferraro's old City Council seat in 2001, he chose his friend Huell to swear him in.

“He would call me sometimes for story ideas, we’d sometimes drive around town,” LaBonge said. Sometimes, LaBonge said, “he’d tell me, ‘You’re full of baloney, Tom.’ He’d know what to pick. He’d listen and he’d let you know right away.”

Like most of us, I didn’t really know Huell – I met him briefly once, at a Los Angeles Times Travel show just before he took the stage to utterly charm a packed house. But we all got to know Huell the way he wanted to be known – as a man of curiosity, energy and optimism, a California outsider who found his way into a great place and never took it for granted.

Who wouldn’t want to follow that path?

Follow us on Twitter @latimestravel

Like us on Facebook @Los Angeles Times Travel","If your job is traveling around California, as mine has been on and off since 1992, you get used to two things. First, wherever you go, the odds are good that   Mark Twain   beat you to it 140 years ago.  "
"NAME OF TIMES IS WITHDRAWN FROM COLLEGE GUIDEBOOK TITLE

(By The Associated Press) - The New York Times is withdrawing its name from the title of a new college guidebook compiled by its education editor. In future printings, the book, ''The New York Times Selective Guide to Colleges'' by Edward B. Fiske, will be renamed ''A Selective Guide to Colleges,'' according to Leonard R. Harris, corporate relations director of The Times.

The book, which uses a star system to rate 265 colleges and universities much the way critics use stars to rate restaurants or movies, has drawn strong reaction from campuses, both favorable and critical.

''The Times is not dissociating itself from the book, except to clarify the title,'' Mr. Harris said, adding that the newspaper's name would still be on the book jacket because Mr. Fiske would remain identified as education editor of The Times. No Change in Contents

''There's no difference at all in terms of how the book will be put together, its contents,'' Mr. Fiske said. ''There's no element of repudiation.''

Mr. Harris said the decision to change the book's title was reached late last week after discussions with Mr. Fiske, with officials of Times Books, which published the guide, and with officials of the newspaper, including its publisher, Arthur Ochs Sulzberger.

The change was disclosed in a letter from Mr. Sulzberger to David H. Bennett, a history professor at Syracuse University who had written a critical letter to The Times about the book.

Mr. Sulzberger issued this statement: ''We think the 'Selective Guide to Colleges' is an excellent book that is based on solid reporting. We're pleased to be publishing it. Upon reflection, we feel that the use of the name of The New York Times so prominently in the title was inappropriate since the judgments about the colleges and universities are those of The Times's education editor, Edward B. Fiske, and not those of the newspaper.

''Therefore, future printings of the book will reflect a change in the title. Times Books and Ted Fiske agree that this is the best way to present a reference book that has already received widespread praise from critics and educators alike.'' Support in the Future

The newspaper provided Mr. Fiske with extensive staff assistance in compiling the guide, and Mr. Fiske said he would get similar support from the newspaper in future editions.

Mr. Harris said: ''I think this resulted from the fact that enormous attention was being paid to the system of stars used in the book, ranking such things as academics and quality of life, without terribly much attention to what the stars were supposed to signify. In a sense it was as if the newspaper had passed judgment on various aspects of universities, when Ted Fiske was making it quite plain that those were his personal judgments.

''We felt we were misleading readers by making them think these had the full, full weight of The Times behind it.''","NAME OF TIMES IS WITHDRAWN FROM COLLEGE GUIDEBOOK TITLE   (By The Associated Press) - The New York Times is withdrawing its name from the title of a new college guidebook compiled by its education editor. In future printings, the book, ''The New York Times Selective Guide to Colleges'' by Edward B. Fiske, will be renamed ''A Selective Guide to Colleges,'' according to Leonard R. Harris, corporate relations director of The Times.   The book, which uses a star system to rate 265 colleges and universities much the way critics use stars to rate restaurants or movies, has drawn strong reaction from campuses, both favorable and critical."
"12/05/2008 AT 05:30 PM EST

In a new PSA, debuting first on People.com, six-time Grammy-winner Toni Braxton urges parents and other adults to learn more about the warning signs of autism.

""All of us – parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, teachers and family friends to children – must become familiar with the red flags for autism,"" Braxton says. ""The earlier children are diagnosed and early intervention begins, the better chance a child has of a brighter future.""

Braxton speaks from experience. Her son, Diezel, now 5, was diagnosed with autism at the age of three. Diezel appears in the ad with his mom, as she points out that one in 150 children are now diagnosed with the developmental disorder.

""Our partnership with the Ad Council has already resulted in a remarkable increase in awareness of autism, and we are confident that Toni's star power and her courage in participating in this campaign will lead to even greater success,"" says Alison Singer, executive vice president of communications and awareness for Autism Speaks, the nation's largest autism advocacy organization.

The ad urges viewers to visit","The singer urges adults to learn about the ""red flags"" of the disorder"
"Cincinnati, OH (SportsNetwork.com) - The Washington Nationals have placed right-hander Stephen Strasburg on the 15-day disabled list with neck tightness.

Strasburg was removed from Friday's start against the Cincinnati Reds in the second inning. He is 3-5 with a 6.55 ERA in 10 outings this season.

The Nationals filled the roster spot by recalling pitcher Taylor Hill from Triple-A Syracuse. He was 3-2 with a 4.35 ERA in nine starts for the Chiefs.

The 26-year-old right-hander reached the majors for the first time with the Nationals in 2014, making one start and two relief appearances.","Cincinnati,  OH (SportsNetwork.com)  -  The Washington  Nationals have  placed    right-hander   Stephen  Strasburg  on  the  15-day  disabled  list  with  neck    tightness.Strasburg  was removed  from Friday's start against the Cincinnati Reds in the    second inning"
"BUCHANAN, N.Y., May 29— The Indian Point No. 2 nuclear power plant, which had been shut down yesterday after operating only four days since a seven-month layoff, was put back in service this afternoon, the Consolidated Edison Company said. It was generating power at low levels, the utility said.

The plant was put back in service last weekend for the first time since Oct. 17, when the utility discovered a water leak in the reactor containment building. It was shut down again yesterday morning after operators noticed that oil in the non-nuclear turbine system had overheated. The nuclear fission in the reactor continued, but the turbines were disengaged while the utility corrected a restriction in the oil flow.

A utility spokesman, Pat Richardi, said that the plant went back in service at 2:45 P.M. today, but that the 865-megawatt plant was producing only 100 megawatts of electricity. She said the utility hoped to increase the production to 300 megawatts by Sunday.

She said engineers were gradually increasing the speed of turbine generators to check the turbines' vibrations.","The Indian Point No. 2 nuclear power plant, which had been shut down yesterday after operating only four days since a seven-month layoff, was put back in service this afternoon, the Consolidated Edison Company said. It was generating power at low levels, the utility said."
"On Thurday night, Mitt Romney made it through another debate with only a few scratches on his armor. Don’t underestimate how strange and surprising this is, especially when you recall how much hazing Romney endured four years ago.

The common explanations for Romney’s recent success are true: He’s a smarter and stronger candidate than he was in ’08. He has chosen his media appearances wisely. He speaks more naturally and authoritatively, and less like a political consultant’s Charlie McCarthy doll. He’s quick on his feet.

But Romney has also been very, very fortunate. For reasons mostly of chance, he’s managed to escape–so far–the the whipping-boy role that doomed his first White House campaign.

How did this happen? For the better part of two years, Romney floated above the political fray, the GOP frontrunner-in-waiting, as the Republican field was slow to form and even slower to engage in intramural fighting. In the early Republican debates, Romney’s rivals focused on Obama-bashing and went easy on one another. (Exhibit A: Tim Pawlenty’s ObamneyCare chicken-out.) As fall approached, the time seemed night for an all-out assault on the frontrunner. But then Rick Perry came along, parachuting into the race to become its instant front-runner, and begging to be taken down a peg.

Perry’s rivals promptly obliged him. Romney had obvious motives to go after Perry early and hard. But Perry also drew quick attacks from several the lesser candidates. Michele Bachmann, whose candidacy Perry effectively blew out of the water, has repaid him with her incessant attacks on the HPV vaccination issue (albeit to self-destructive ends). Familiarity with his state’s governor seems to have bred contempt in Ron Paul, who has whacked Perry in debates and on TV. Even Rick Santorum is going after Perry, presumably to steal away some socially-conservative voters.

Romney, meanwhile, has hardly seen a ruffle in his his well-combed hair. Sure, his GOP rivals zap him from time to time, mostly over health care, though never terribly effectively. But they have barely aimed at the fat target of Romney’s numerous flip-flops on social issues, from abortion to gay rights to gun control. And when they have, well, more luck! Consider the way Rick Perry bungled the delivery of last night’s “flip-flopper” attack on Romney, rendering it incomprehensible and totally ineffective. At the same time another candidate with a motive to tear Romney up–Jon Huntsman, who is desperate to win New Hampshire–seems averse to harsh negative attacks.

In the 2008 debates, Romney tended to get abused like a hapless freshman targeted by the school bullies. Check out this bit of analysis on ABC News after a January 5, 2008 debate in New Hampshire:

[GEORGE] STEPHANOPOULOS: I think the predicate was set early on that Mitt Romney was going to be the center of this debate and on the defensive. And here’s one of the moments that mattered very early on. Mitt Romney was talking about his position on the war, and Mike Huckabee interjected.

ROMNEY: Don’t try and characterize my position. Of course, this war has…

STEPHANOPOULOS: Clean shot. A very clean shot by Mike Huckabee. And Diane, I counted up. These guys on the stage do not like Mitt Romney. He was attacked by Rudy Giuliani, Fred Thompson, John McCain, Mike Huckabee. He was the center of the debate even though he’s not the leader anymore.

Back then, Romney’s rivals seemed to resent him personally in a way that’s less evident now. It’s also been a while since Romney blatantly flipped on a core position. But particularly if the now-forming conventional wisdom holds up that Perry isn’t ready for prime-time, Romney will at last become his rivals’ prime target. And the material is certainly there for anyone willing–and competent enough–to use it:","On Thurday night, Mitt Romney made it through another debate with only a few scratches on his armor. Don't underestimate how strange and surprising this is, especially when you recall how much hazing Romney endured four years ago."
"Sam Stovall, CFP, Chief Investment Strategist, Standard & Poor’s

Sam Stovall: We have just entered a new calendar year and it is also an election year. I think heading into this year, investors are a little bit unnerved because the third year of our president’s term in office is traditionally the strongest. Up until 2011, it had never fallen in the third year since World War II, and the average price advance was 17%. That all flew out the window in 2011.

Stovall: Yep. The S&P was close to being break even in 2011, which is exactly what happened in 1947. We had a 0.0% change. This time we kicked the field goal. We hit the crossbar, but it bounced back onto the field rather than being a score. That was the first time since World War II that the S&P 500 declined in the third year of a president’s term in office.

Historically you could say that is a little bit of a negative omen. But I think it’s too early to count out the market’s performance in 2012. It’s not like a perennial losing team where on opening day somebody holds up a sign that says, “Wait till next year.”

I think that 2012 could be a good year, but definitely not a great year. I say that because the U.S. economy continues to show improvement. We’ve come to believe that the Chinese economy will engage in a soft landing and not suffer through a hard landing. And while Europe remains the wild card, we think that the IMF and the ECB, as well as the leaders in Europe, are trying to do whatever they can to contain the sovereign debt problem. Should the S&P 500 end up with the 8% earnings growth that we expect in 2012, we think that we could see a very low double-digit advance in the S&P in 2012.","S&P's Sam Stovall says recovery will continue through 2012, setting up a great 2013. Here's how to play it."
"Bethanie Mattek-Sands of the USA, who is ranked 97th in the world in singles and 18th in doubles, is known for her fashion on the court, her new role as a U.S. Fed Cup star ... and her willingness to speak her mind. Mattek-Sands will provide USA TODAY a behind-the-scenes look at life of the WTA Tour as the US Open Series winds its way toward the U.S. Open in New York, the season's final major.

Bethanie Mattek-Sands of the USA, who is ranked 98th in the world in singles and 18th in doubles, has been known for her fashion sense, her new role as a U.S. Fed Cup star ... and her willingness to speak her mind. Mattek-Sands will provide USA TODAY a behind-the-scenes look at life of the WTA Tour as the US Open Series winds its way toward the U.S. Open in New York, the season's final major.

India and Pakistan are uncomfortable nuclear neighbors at best, warring enemies at worst and fierce cricket rivals whatever the situation. Rohan Bopanna of India and Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi of Pakistan are challenging these notions of mutual mistrust. Their unusual and increasingly successful doubles partnership is defying popular perceptions of their country's tangled political history.

Two records were in the spotlight last weekend: The mark for Masters 1000 titles, and the standard for doubles victories.

Top-ranked Roger Federer had to struggle at times in his first-round match at the Australian Open before beating Russia's Igor Andreev; Defending champion Serena Williams had a much easier time earning a straight-set win Tuesday over Polish teenager Urszula Radwanska.

...down fighting to Switzerland’s Marco Chiudinelli in a five-setter in the first round. March 22nd, 2010 NEW DELHI - India's Sania Mirza, out of action because of a chronic wrist injury, has dropped eight places to 92 in the Women's Tennis Association (WTA)...

...tennis tournament. Dubois, of Laval, Que., was also scheduled to play a second-round doubles match later Thursday. Dubois and Sania Mirza of India will meet Kai-Chen Chang of Taiwan and Heidi El-Tabakh of Oakville, Ont. In other women's singles matches, top-seeded...

...some additional pressure as the defending champion she did not have last year, when she came through the draw to beat India’s Sania Mirza in the final. “For sure, there’s a little extra pressure this year,” she says. “But I like it. I’m just out to control...

...can't be reimbursed even for their coaching bills which are the easiest to process. “If the top four men players and Sania Mirza do not benefit under present rules, it's only correct that the Ministry should adjust its rules keeping in mind the needs of tennis,”...

...Sania Mirza defeated wildcard Eugenie Bouchard of Canada 6-2, 6-2 to move into the singles quarterfinals of the $75,000 Vancouver ITF tennis tournament on Thursday. In doubles, Sania and Stephanie Dubois entered the doubles quarterfinals with a fluent 6-0,...

Draw for the Australian Open men's and women's singles competition starting Monday at Melbourne Park

Venus Williams moved on, Rafael Nadal came back and Marat Safin said goodbye at the U.S. Open on Wednesday.

Two engineering students smitten by Indian tennis star Sania Mirza have been arrested and accused of stalking her.

Maria Sharapova's Wimbledon preparations received a setback Saturday in a 6-4, 6-4 loss to Li Na of China in the Aegon Classic semifinals. The Russian served erratically to drop to 5-1 against the 20th-ranked Li.

Maria Sharapova reached her first semifinal in more than a year Friday after beating Yanina Wickmayer 6-1, 2-6, 6-3 at the Aegon Classic.","Collection of all USATODAY.com coverage of Sania Mirza., including articles, videos, photos, and quotes."
"In a letter sent to every member of Congress, Geithner said the national debt stands at $13.95 trillion - $335 billion short of the limit on borrowing that Congress set last year. Unless Congress acts to raise the limit, the letter says, the United States will default on its debt, an unprecedented event that could destroy ""millions of American jobs,"" cause interest rates to spike, damage the dollar, and halt payments to millions of Social Security recipients, veterans and active U.S. troops.

""Failure to increase the limit would be deeply irresponsible,"" Geithner wrote. ""For these reasons, I am requesting that Congress act to increase the limit early this year, well before the threat of default becomes imminent.""

The letter comes one day after Republicans took control of the House, their membership reinforced with new lawmakers who have vowed to block further borrowing, a top priority of the conservative tea party movement. Newly elected House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) acknowledged Wednesday that default must be avoided, but he said Republicans would demand deep spending cuts and budget reforms in exchange for raising the limit on borrowing.

""The American people will not stand for such an increase unless it is accompanied by meaningful action by the president and Congress to cut spending and end the job-killing spending binge in Washington,"" Boehner said in a statement. ""While America cannot default on its debt, we also cannot continue to borrow recklessly, dig ourselves deeper into this hole and mortgage the future of our children and grandchildren.""

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) told reporters that he views the debate over the debt limit as ""an opportunity, actually, for us to come together and make some significant strides toward beginning to reduce our spending and debt.""

Some Democrats, too, have said they would be reluctant to raise the limit above $14.3 trillion without a plan for balancing the budget. President Obama also is committed to deficit reduction, but Treasury officials said work on the deficit should occur separately from talks over extending the debt limit.

Geithner's four-page letter - which warns that default would spur ""catastrophic damage to the economy, potentially much more harmful than the effects of the financial crisis of 2008 and 2009"" - comes as a growing number of GOP lawmakers are declaring their intention to vote against a higher debt limit. Some are campaigning against it. Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) has posted a petition on the Web site of her political action committee, encouraging voters to tell Congress that the ""spending frenzy cannot continue. It's time to force our elected officials to stop spending cold turkey, and we can start by making sure they do not raise the debt ceiling.""

Administration officials say such views appear to reflect a deep misunderstanding of the consequences of default, and the White House has in recent days sought to head it off. On the Sunday talk shows, Council of Economic Advisers Chairman Austan Goolsbee warned against ""playing chicken with the debt ceiling,"" saying failure to increase the limit would spark ""the first default in history caused purely by insanity."" And on Thursday, the White House released remarks from a series of conservative commentators who agree that the debt ceiling must be allowed to rise.

Among those supporting the White House position is former Bush administration Treasury secretary Henry M. Paulson, who released a statement Thursday warning that inaction ""is simply not an option.""

""I applaud the commitment lawmakers have made to reduce spending and put the country on a more fiscally responsible path,"" Paulson said. ""As they pursue smarter spending, it's also vital to protect America's creditworthiness, and therefore I'm confident Congress will act to increase the debt limit well before it is reached.""

The Treasury cannot predict with certainty when that date will arrive. In his letter, Geithner said it is likely to occur between March 31 and May 16.

The Treasury could take steps to buy time, but those ""exceptional actions"" would delay default by no more than eight weeks, officials said.

Immediate budget cuts won't help much either, they said. The debt is an accumulation of obligations incurred over many years when the government ran budget deficits. ""Even if Congress were immediately to adopt the deep cuts in discretionary spending of the magnitude suggested by some members of Congress . . . the need to increase the debt limit would be delayed by no more than two weeks,"" Geithner wrote.

Geithner did not specify how much additional borrowing authority he is asking Congress to approve. That decision is usually taken by lawmakers.","Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner warned lawmakers Thursday that the national debt could hit the legal limit on borrowing as soon as March 31, and he urged quick action to avoid a government default that would spark ""catastrophic economic consequences that would last for decades."""
"“I’m trying to be patient with this thing,” Mr. Powell said, having already completed the prayer-and-playing routine at least five times.

In the Mid-City neighborhood, John Richie, a filmmaker, contemplated shaving his head and donating his blond locks because he had heard that hair absorbs oil. Bridget Joseph, an energy consultant, was eager to volunteer to clean oil off something, anything — but nothing needed cleaning yet.

All over town, people felt frustrated and helpless, they said, as a disaster that could have the environmental and economic effect of a major hurricane crept toward them, like Hurricane Katrina redux, but this time in silent, excruciating slow motion.

“Basically everybody’s like, what can we do? What are we supposed to do against this thing?” Mr. Powell said. “Every day I’m monitoring the situation and feel exactly the same way: I don’t know what to do.”

It has been 17 days since the Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded and collapsed into the Gulf of Mexico about 130 miles from New Orleans, in water nearly 5,000 feet deep. The rig, about 50 miles from the Louisiana coast, had drilled a well in the sea floor that began to gush hundreds of thousands of gallons of crude oil upon the collapse.

New Orleans, with an economy based on tourism and seafood, and dependent on fragile coastal wetlands for hurricane protection, has watched in horror as the oil, orange as rust, has snaked toward the coast — more slowly than at first expected, but in quantities much larger than originally estimated. On Thursday the Coast Guard confirmed that oil had hit the Chandeleur Islands miles off Louisiana’s southeast tip.

“It’s hard to wrap your head around it,” said Geoff Douville, a video production manager and bar owner who lives in Mid-City. “Does anybody have any idea what’s going to be the ultimate result of this?”

The timing is a devastating blow to the city’s psyche. Since the Saints won the Super Bowl upon the backdrop of Mardi Gras, followed by the landslide election of a popular new mayor, Mitchell J. Landrieu, New Orleans had been, by all accounts, getting its groove back. Five years removed from Hurricane Katrina, the tangible signs of a real recovery are everywhere: in rebuilt homes and refurbished parks, in old restaurants come back to life and in new businesses thriving. With hurricane season still weeks away, people were feeling optimistic for the first time in a long time.

“It was a good winter, with the Saints and the rebuilding and the new mayor,” Mr. Powell said. “First time I felt that way since Katrina, for sure.”

The echoes of the hurricane are everywhere now: from the map of the gulf showing something ominous moving closer, to the anxiety in the nervous waiting. Another man-made disaster, people say, akin to the levee failures. Residents also complain about a lack of good information, and about how the reports from the gulf keep changing: one day things look better, the next day, the situation looks worse.

The local news media’s attention has been split by Mr. Landrieu’s inauguration on Monday, business developments within the city’s N.B.A. franchise, the Hornets, and the annual Jazz and Heritage Festival, which ended last weekend after 10 days of celebrating music and food.

In the time of Hurricane Katrina, New Orleanians felt frustrated by a lack of trustworthy information about what was happening to the city while they were evacuated out of it. These days, in a reversal, people in the city are relying on people outside it — friends and family who work in the oil and gas or fishing industries, particularly people who live and work near the coast.

“The best and most reliable information is coming from the ground up, just like in Katrina,” Mr. Douville said.

And everybody knows somebody, as New Orleans and the coast are inextricably linked. For now, they are waiting together.

And life goes on. College students are preparing for finals. Golfers are on the greens. Preservation Hall is packed.

“Most people are just annoyed, rolling their eyes with a pessimistic attitude, like how could this even happen?” said Chris Monfort, a food-delivery man from the Bywater neighborhood.

There are no windows to board up, no sandbags to fill. So a lot of people are doing what New Orleanians do best: they are filling up on gulf seafood as if it were the last supper.

“To think that we might not have a good crayfish season anytime soon is a pretty scary thought to a New Orleanian,” said Cliff Hines, a musician.

And, like Mr. Powell, some people are praying. “All we can do,” Mr. Hines said, “is hope that it’s not as bad as everybody’s saying it’s going to be.”",There were feelings of frustration and helplessness in New Orleans as another potential disaster crept closer.
"You can wear a Muslim head scarf, and you can wear the uniform of the Junior ROTC. Just not at the same time.

That’s the word from the U.S. Army, which is supporting an officer’s ruling last month that a 14-year-old Tennessee girl could not wear her traditional head covering while in uniform at a parade.

The student, Demin Zawity, of Brentwood, Tenn., quit the Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps program at Ravenwood High School and returned to regular gym classes when commanding officers said she had to take off her hijab if she wanted to march in the homecoming parade.

""It was during Spirit Week. We were getting ready for the homecoming parade and the head officer said that I wouldn't be able to wear the head scarf while I had the uniform on,"" Demin said.

""I said that it was a religious thing and that I really couldn't take it off.”

Demin said she asked the officer if an exception could be made, and “ he told me that he would see what he can do.""

But school officials and district lawyers determined that if Demin wanted to participate; she would have to comply with the rules.

""We as a school system are bound to the regulations of the Army. We cannot conduct the program unless we follow the regulations,"" said Jason Golden, Chief Operating Officer and General Counsel for the school district.

""We were practicing all week and the day before the parade he pulled me over to the side and said that I couldn't march,"" Demin recalled, speaking of her senior officer. ""I wanted to break down and cry right there, but I held it in and went into stoic mode.""

But Demin’s family feels she is being discriminated against, and has reached out to the Council on American-Islamic Relations, which is calling on the school district and the Department of Defense to change a policy that it says ""effectively bars a Muslim student from participating in the class.""

""It's an unwise policy,” CAIR staff attorney Gadeir Abbas said. “It's acceptable for a Jewish student to wear his yarmulke under his uniform hat. The regulations already reflect that there are religious obligations among members.""

""A yarmulke can be covered by military headgear,"" said Lt. Col. Matthew Hackathorn, a spokesman for the U.S. Army Cadet Command who further stated that regulations don't issue a ban on religious garb unless it is exposed or covers the uniform.

Demin’s mother, Perishan Hussein, said her daughter “felt that they were dismissive toward her beliefs. It was very upsetting to her.”

""It shouldn't have been a shock to them. She wears the headscarf every day. She has been wearing it ever since they approached her to join the program.""

""We think that it's un-American that anyone is not allowed to participate over religious beliefs, the mother continued. ""The government has previously made rules that over time, they had to change because they didn't make sense. This rule makes no sense.""

She said her daughter has been ""stressed"" by the whole incident and now has no intention of returning to JROTC --even if she is allowed to wear the hijab.

Demin's family and CAIR say they do not intend to sue unless they deem it necessary. CAIR sent a letter last week to the superintendent of Williamson County Schools asking that a formal apology be issued to Demin and that she be allowed to participate in the JROTC program wearing her hijab as part of her uniform.

It also mailed a letter to the Department of Defense asking for a change to the policy.

""We are reviewing the program's current policies, regulations and procedures to ensure consistent application and enforcement of uniform standards,"" said Lt. Col. Hackathorn. He said the senior officer in charge of Demin's class acted according to the regulations.

""The JROTC tries to instill good values in the students who participate,"" Hackathorn said. ""Wearing the uniform demonstrates personal responsibility, attention to detail, and being part of a team.""

""We're not discriminatory. She's invited to come back anytime, but it has to be in accordance with the regulations,"" he said.",The U.S. Army is forced to reconsider the regulations for religious wear in their JROTC program after a Muslim student from a Tennessee Middle School was barred from participating in a homecoming parade if she wore her headscarf while in uniform.
"The annual Pride Parade in Seattle drew an estimated 300,000 revelers this year. The air was incredibly festive. Participants had seen victory after victory for their cause, and many others had jumped on the proverbial bandwagon, much as a winning sports team suddenly gathers a lot of new fans.

In the providence of God, I was also preaching that day at our downtown church, located right alongside the parade route. This is the city Jesus has called me to serve, and I’ve been ministering here now for about two decades. I can assure you, it’s complicated. What does it look like to remain faithful to God while loving neighbors who passionately disagree with Christian convictions? If you’re looking for an answer that makes both God and everyone else happy, I can save you a lot of wasted time…it doesn’t exist (Romans 8:7).

So how do we avoid the ditch on the left -- where we don’t call sin a sin -- as well as the ditch on the right -- where we are angry culture warriors battling unbelievers instead of evangelizing them? In my new book, ""A Call to Resurgence: Will Christianity Have a Funeral or a Future?,"" I offer the following suggestions: 1. Come to terms with disagreement. For the Christian, changing God’s laws in Scripture, by popular opinion, makes as much sense as changing God’s laws in nature -- including gravity and the temperature at which substances freeze and boil. Non-Christians don’t need to accept these laws but tolerate them, if indeed they believe in tolerance, diversity, and inclusion, as they boast. Christians and non-Christians disagree on a lot of things including what to do with our money, sin, and genitals. We won’t agree because we don’t agree. Instead of trying to pretend that we do agree, we need to accept the fact that we agree to disagree and get on with evangelizing lost people, defending our religious freedoms, and loving our critics while leaning over the plate to take one for Team Jesus. 2. Turn the other cheek. Both homosexuals and Christians are, curiously enough, organized minority groups.

If Christians war with homosexuals, we’re ignoring the majority -- all the people somewhere on the continuum between the two groups.

As a general rule, those people in the middle are the very people we’ve been called to evangelize. If they see us as being mean spirited, they will be less likely to want to hear about the love of Jesus from unloving people.

Jesus tells us to turn the other cheek, not because he likes it when we lose a fight, but because he likes it when we win people who are watching the fight (Matt. 5:39). 3. Welcome everyone to your church… The same Bible that talks about sin is equally clear about love. The church I serve as pastor includes people who are practicing homosexuals, as well as others who are struggling with same sex attraction to varying degrees.

They sit in service next to single people cohabiting, people who watch porn, adulterers -- and the self-righteous religious people who look down on all of them.

We all start in a bad place.

When the Bible says that Jesus died for sin, he’s talking about evil people, like me. I was sleeping with a pastor’s daughter when I became a Christian and realized that worshiping God included my pants. We are all works in progress. We do not expect people to get their sin in order before attending church any more than a hospital expects people to get healed before they show up. 4. …but don’t allow everyone to lead your church. Christians who practice repentance should be the only ones allowed into official church membership and leadership (1 Tim. 3:1–12).

This does not mean in any way that they are perfect, but that they agree with the Bible, and that when they are in sin, they are willing to fight to overcome sin by God’s grace.

We’re not asking for perfection but rather for a desire for progress in victory over sin. 5. Distinguish between temptation and sin. The Bible is clear that Jesus was tempted and did not sin (Hebrews 4:15). Just because someone is tempted does not mean that person is in sin.

Temptation is an opportunity for sin or for victory.

We must not shame or condemn people who experience various kinds of temptation -- including sexual temptations such as same sex attraction or heterosexual fornication or even pornography -- if they desire to make a life U-turn. At the same time, we must not endorse or encourage caving in to sinful desires either. Instead, we need to walk lovingly with people, telling them that part of the Spirit’s work in their lives is self-control, and that so long as they want to fight for holiness, we want to fight not against them but for them. And as they gain victory, we ought to celebrate and encourage them all the more. 6. The best defense is a good offense. The best thing the church can do for marriage is encourage and assist good marriages. This includes lots of teaching on sex and marriage, great premarital counseling, a supportive community for married couples, and efforts to nurture marriages that are enduring and endearing so that God’s people are getting divorced only on rare occasion because of extreme circumstances. 7. Evangelize through suffering. Bible-believing Christians will need to toughen up -- rather than crumple in a heap -- when slapped with words like hateful, bigoted, intolerant, shameful, cruel, unloving, homophobic, prejudiced, discriminatory, and more.

Jesus told us to love our enemies; his assumption was that we would have enemies to love (Matt. 5:44). If we say what Scripture says, we should expect to suffer as Scripture promises. In fact, Jesus promises that we’ll see trouble, experience hardship, and be hated. Rather than run away or fight back, however, he invites us to endure and persevere as an “opportunity to bear witness” (Luke 21:12–19). We have been chosen by God to live at this time and in this culture with all its faults and flaws, as part of the church of Jesus Christ with all her faults and flaws, as people with our own faults and flaws (Acts 17:26).

Because our society no longer values historically Christian beliefs, we have an unprecedented opportunity for a resurgence of biblically faithful, personally humble, evangelistically fruitful, missional Christianity. The truth of God’s Word is hard like an anvil meant to reshape us into something better. But we can deliver a hard word without having a hard heart toward the recipient.

An honest explanation of sin is essential for our message of ultimate help, healing, and hope: Jesus Christ is alive. He is King of kings and Lord of lords.

Jesus makes life, death, suffering, and persecution meaningful.

And the backlash is a blessing.

After all, you really don’t know how committed you are to Jesus until you have to start paying a price for that friendship.

Pastor Mark Driscoll is the founding pastor of Mars Hill Church in Seattle, Washington and is one of the world's most-downloaded and quoted pastors. He was also named one of the ""25 Most Influential Pastors of the Past 25 Years"" by Preaching magazine, and his sermons are consistently #1 on iTunes each week for Religion & Spirituality with over 15 million of downloads each year. His latest book is ""A Call to Resurgence: Will Christianity Have a Funeral or a Future?"" was released on November 5, 2013, and is available now.","The annual Pride Parade in Seattle drew an estimated 300,000 revelers this year."
"A decade’s absence makes the hearts of America grow fonder: nine years after their last franchise collaboration, Matt Damon and Paul Greengrass return to the top of the domestic box office as Jason Bourne grosses an estimated $60 million across its opening weekend.

Continuing the Bourne collective’s massive haul since 2002 (over $1 billion in total receipts), Universal’s fifth theatrical adaptation of Robert Ludlum’s book series averages $14,093 from 4,026 screens in North America, earning the second-highest opening haul for a Bourne title in history (unadjusted for inflation) and a positive A- grade on CinemaScore. The debut also marks the second best opening weekend of Damon’s career, trailing just behind The Bourne Ultimatum’s $69.3 million.

According to Universal, exit polling indicates men made up 55 percent of Bourne’s weekend audience, while 60 percent of ticket buyers were over the age of 35. Domestic numbers are up around 30 percent from the same frame last year, when Paramount’s Mission: Impossible Rogue Nation scored $55.5 million.

Bourne additionally amasses an estimated $50.1 million from 46 international markets, bringing its worldwide total to just over $110 million.

Topping $100 million in North America, Star Trek Beyond tumbles nearly 60 percent in its second weekend, adding an estimated $24 million to its total. The $185 million picture — the third in the rebooted lineage — is, adjusted for inflation, the second lowest-grossing title in franchise history, though its foreign numbers (currently at $54.8 million and counting) should push the film past its budget in the coming weeks. Whether the film pulls in enough to make a profit, however, remains to be seen.

Giving Star Trek a run for its money at No. 3 is STX’s female-driven comedy Bad Moms, which earns a healthy estimated $23.4 million in its opening weekend. Fronted by an ensemble cast that includes Mila Kunis, Kristen Bell, Kathryn Hahn, Annie Mumolo, Jada Pinkett Smith, and Christina Applegate, the R-rated comedy’s total was fueled by an over-25, predominantly female audience as it averaged $7,278 on 3,215 screens.

On top of doing solid business, Bad Moms earned a rare A grade on CinemaScore, besting other summer comedies like Keanu (B), Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising (B), and Ghostbusters (B+) on its way to a healthy overall run as it wisely taps into a recently underserved demographic.

Rounding out the top five are The Secret Life of Pets and Lights Out, which pull in an estimated $18.2 and $10.8 million, respectively. In its fourth weekend of wide release, Pets’ domestic total sits just below $300 million. By mid-week, the film will become 2016’s sixth title overall (third animated) to cross that line. Lights Out’s 50 percent drop marks a relatively light decline for the horror genre, bringing the film’s U.S. and Canada total to an impressive $42.9 million on a $4.9 million budget.

Also debuting in wide release is the Emma Roberts/Dave Franco thriller Nerve, which earns an estimated $9 million this weekend after its $6.1 million head start on Wednesday and Thursday. The film’s five-day gross hovers above $15 million as it, too, receives an A- grade on CinemaScore.

Outside the top 10, Woody Allen’s Cafe Society expanded to 565 theaters on Friday, taking an estimated $2.3 million over the three-day frame, while Central Intelligence’s $910,000 gross adds to its worldwide total, which pushed past $200 million at the tail end of the week. Specialty titles like Equity and Indignation also impress in limited release, averaging a respective $20,182 and $22,268 from four theaters each.

Check out the box office estimates for the July 29-31 weekend below.

1. Jason Bourne – $60 million 2. Star Trek Beyond – $24 million 3. Bad Moms – $23.4 million 4. The Secret Life of Pets – $18.2 million 5. Lights Out – $10.8 million 6. Ice Age: Collision Course – $10.5 million 7. Ghostbusters – $9.8 million 8. Nerve – $9 million 9. Finding Dory – $4.2 million 10. The Legend of Tarzan – $2.4 million

This article originally appeared on EW.com",Matt Damon and Paul Greengrass returned to the top of the domestic box office
"The world’s stock markets are in fine fettle and mere irritations like the euro zone debt crisis or a possible slowdown in the economic recovery probably won’t get in the way.

That’s the headline message from Thursday’s Reuters poll of 300 strategists, brokerages and wealth managers, including some of the world’s foremost experts on stock markets.

But before ringing your broker to scream “buy!” down the phone, there are some fairly big caveats to digest regarding this poll – not least the fact that the consensus view from our respondents has been very wrong in the recent past.

In 2008, they didn’t foresee how far major stock indexes would fall as the global financial crisis took hold (or in many cases, foresee any fall at all), nor did they predict the strength of the spectacular rally of 2009.

Also, the range of forecasts in the latest poll was conspicuously wide, signalling a high degree of uncertainty. For S&P 500 predictions at the end of 2010, our lowest forecast was 850 and the highest 1,375 – a 500 point difference. For the mid-2011 forecasts, the range was even wider at 750 points against 1,400.

But most strategists are still typically optimistic, even if major business surveys in Europe and downbeat comments from the U.S. Federal Reserve this week showed businesses and policymakers are looking ahead with apprehension.

While our poll respondents were right to single out recent robust corporate earnings as a key pillar of support for stocks, there was little mention of a nagging feeling that the global recovery will run into sand later this year as fiscal austerity measures in many Group of 20 countries bite.

If our polls have shown anything over the last couple of years, it’s that if things are going to tail off, they’ll probably tail off more than our consensus of experts usually says.",The world’s stock markets are in fine fettle and irritations like the euro zone debt crisis or a slowing recovery won’t get in the way -- at least according to the consensus of the Reuters global stocks poll.
"(CNN) -- A jetliner burst into flames Tuesday after landing in Sudan, killing at least 28 people, officials said.

Officials say 28 are dead after a plane caught fire shortly after landing in Sudan.

Khartoum Police Chief Mohammad Othman Mohammad Noor said ""a defect"" in the Sudan Airways plane caused it to catch fire as it touched down.

""The fire then led to an explosion on the airplane,"" he said. ""There was a large number of passengers on the plane, some of whom survived. The number of casualties is still unconfirmed at this time.""

Lighting up the night sky, flames consumed the plane as it sat on the runway at the airport, which is in the center of Khartoum near residential and business areas.

Mortuary officials said that 28 people had been confirmed dead, though initial reports said that more than 100 had been killed.

Police updated that information late Tuesday, saying 123 people survived. Dozens are unaccounted for. It's possible that some of those people may have simply gone home after escaping the burning plane, officials said.

Hospitals said they were treating 11 patients from the plane.

Sudanese television reported that more than 200 people were on the plane when the incident occurred about 8:45 p.m. (1:45 p.m. ET). Sudan Airways Flight 109 was arriving from Amman, Jordan, and Damascus, Syria, airport security officials said. Watch as flames engulf the wreckage »

Abbas al-Fadini, a member of the Sudanese parliament who was on the plane, told Al-Jazeera that ""fire was inside the plane.""

""It started from the right engine and then spread to the inside of the plane,"" he said.

He was sitting in the front of the plane, he said, and was among those who got out first. Flight attendants and crew members were guiding passengers to the exit, he said.

Some passengers who had minor injuries remained at the airport, he said.

Journalist Andrew Heavens said relatives of those on the plane had gathered at the airport, talking on their cell phones and waiting for news as ambulances sped past.

John Ukec, the Sudanese ambassador to the United States, confirmed that the plane was a Sudan Airways flight carrying 203 passengers and 14 crew members.

Sudanese television said 13 of the crew members survived.

Jordanian officials said the plane carried 34 passengers when it left Amman and picked up 169 passengers in Damascus. It made an initial landing outside Khartoum, at Port Sudan on the Red Sea, the Jordanian officials said, but took off again and landed in the city.

Sources in Khartoum said the plane was an Airbus A310 with the capacity to carry 250 people.

The weather in Khartoum as the plane attempted to land was terrible, the sources said. Low visibility and heavy rain and wind followed a big sandstorm earlier in the day.

A pilot who landed a plane in Khartoum earlier in the evening reported a rough landing, the source said, and added that there was a lot of standing water on the runway. Sandstorms can cause crashes when sand gets into the engines and causes them to ignite, the pilot said.

Video from the scene showed wreckage engulfed in flames. Media reports said the initial landing of the Sudan Airways flight was delayed because of the weather, and the plane landed after the weather cleared.

CNN's Nic Robertson, who recently was in Sudan, said the nation is in its rainy season.

""It's the time of year where you get massive rainstorms ... just coming in very quickly,"" he said. ""The problem in Khartoum is not just the rain, but it mixes with a lot of dust in the air. Khartoum is right on the edge of the Sahara Desert. The city is famous almost for these huge dust storms that blow in. So at this time of year, you get the dust, you get the rain coming together. It's bad conditions.""

He said the Khartoum airport is very modern, with a large amount of air traffic passing through.

The last crash of a Sudan Airways plane was July 8, 2003, when a Boeing 737 reported engine trouble after takeoff from Port Sudan and missed its return approach to the airport, crashing about three miles away. A 3-year-old boy was the only survivor of the 117 people aboard. It was Sudan's worst air disaster.

The airline has connected Sudan with cities in the Middle East and Africa since 1947.

CNN's Caroline Faraj contributed to this report.

All About Sudan • Air Disasters","A jetliner burst into flames Tuesday after landing in Sudan, killing at least 28 people, officials said."
"Most polls predict a sizable victory for Mitt Romney in Florida. How did this happen? How did Newt Gingrich lose his grip on the state? Money, that’s how.

Gingrich’s shadow pockets were unable to defend his shallow politics.

In fact, several new reports suggest that he was severely outspent by the Mitt Romney money machine. According to an ABC News report on Friday, for example:

Newt Gingrich is not just getting outspent by Mitt Romney and his allies on the Florida airwaves, he’s getting creamed.

The Romney campaign and a super PAC supporting him is spending nearly quadruple the amount that Gingrich and the pro-Gingrich super PAC, Winning Our Future, has spent to air television and radio ads ahead of the state’s Jan. 31 primary.

So far, Romney has bought $5.6 million worth of airtime and the pro-Romney super PAC, Restore Our Future, has shelled out a whopping $8.2 million, according to a Republican media buyer who is tracking ad spending in the state.

Compare that to $837,000 spent by the Gingrich campaign and the nearly $3 million of airtime bought by Winning Our Future, a super PAC supporting the former House speaker, and it’s easy to understand one reason why Gingrich has slipped in the most recent polls in the Sunshine State.

The final tally of ad spending could be even more lopsided, Talking Points Memo reported on Sunday:

According to some final numbers shared with T.P.M. by a Democratic media observer, Mitt Romney’s lucky number in the final push is five.

As in five-to-one: that’s the ratio — just about — by which Romney and his allies have outspent Newt Gingrich and his allies on TV. The narrative that Team Romney is pushing is that of a new-and-improved candidate, battle-hardened after his South Carolina woes, and sharpened as a candidate by having had to outsmart Newt Gingrich.

The Dems think these spending figures suggest something else: that it’s not Romney who’s winning votes in Florida, but the size of his wallet. According to my Democratic source, the total ad spending through Tuesday in Florida by the Romney campaign and its allied super PAC, Restore Our Future, is $15,340,000. The total spending for Gingrich’s campaign and his super PAC, Winning Our Future, is $3,390,000.

If you just look at super Pac spending, you see how damaging it can be. Here’s the Huffington Post on Saturday:

The biggest spender in Florida — the most expensive state in the Republican primary to date — has been the pro-Romney super PAC Restore Our Future. Run by a trio of former Romney advisers, the group has spent $10.7 million in the state. The vast majority of that — $9.9 million — has gone into a barrage of ads, on television and radio, and direct mail attacking Gingrich. That’s more than double what pro-Gingrich super PAC Winning Our Future is spending in Florida.

This is not what happened in South Carolina, where Winning Our Future was able to match the spending of Restore Our Future and provide Gingrich with room to win.

There can be no doubt that this level of spending helped to reshape the race in Florida. It also didn’t help that Gingrich’s two Florida debates were not as full of bombast as the two in South Carolina.

But the problem for Romney is that voting for him has never been about him. It has always been, and continues to be, about a dearth of options. Romney is the default candidate, not the preferred one. His money can buy him votes, but it can’t buy him love.","Mitt Romney may be winning votes again, but is he winning hearts?"
"Mackenzie Hughes figured he was down to his last chance to stay alive in a four-man playoff Monday morning in the RSM Classic.

The 25-year-old rookie from Dundas Ont., with pluck and a pure putting stroke poured in an 18-foot par putt from off the 17th green at Sea Island, and that last chance turned into his first PGA Tour victory when the other three players all missed from 10 feet or closer.

""I made the putt of my life right there,"" Hughes said.

No case of the Mondays here.Mackenzie Hughes' clutch putt to claim his first PGA TOUR victory.#QuickHits https://t.co/uCMBFJ9n0f

Hughes calmed his nerves and came up clutch in the morning chill, becoming the first PGA Tour rookie in 20 years to go wire-to-wire for his first victory. The final day of a long year on the PGA Tour brought a most unlikely finish.

Hughes had a chance to end it Sunday night until his 10-foot birdie putt in the dark on the 18th hole turned away. The next morning, he was the only player who was never on the green at the par-3 17th until his ball was in the cup.

Blayne Barber, Henrik Norlander and Camilo Villegas narrowly missed their par putts to extend the playoff.

Hughes was watching from off the green, and the prospect of winning became more real with each putt that missed — first Barber, then Norlander. And when Villegas missed his 7-footer, Hughes dropped his putter, turned his back on the green and knocked off his cap as he rubbed his head in disbelief.

""If I didn't make, I thought I was probably out,"" Hughes said. ""Before I hit it, the thought was, 'Just make them think about it.' Put this putt in first, and if you can be the first guy in, put the pressure back on them. And that's what happened.""

The victory sends the 25-year-old Canadian to the Masters. One of his most vivid golf memories as a kid in Ontario was watching Mike Weir win the green jacket in 2003.

""He was texting me last night a little bit,"" Hughes said. ""It's pretty cool to have a guy like that to lean on for advice.""

Billy Horschel was eliminated from the five-man playoff on the first extra hole Sunday night when he narrowly missed a birdie putt, then shockingly missed a 2-foot putt. Hughes putts so well it was mildly surprising when he missed his 10-foot putt on the second playoff hole.

""It ate at me a little bit knowing that I had 10 feet to win it,"" he said. ""But I came out here to try to clear my mind, tell myself that I have a one-in-four chance.""

The odds looked worse when his 4-iron bounded over the green and down a steep slope. Making the pitch shot even more difficult is that the pin was 15 feet from the back edge, and the green ran quickly away from him. His pitch was a few feet from being perfect, but instead it stopped short of being on the green.

Norlander was in the front bunker, while Barber was left of the green and Villegas was just over the back. Barber and Villegas used putter for their second shots.

The last rookie to go wire-to-wire for his first win was Tim Herron at the 1996 Honda Classic. Hughes started this week with a 61, and he led after every round until he was posing with tournament host Davis Love III with the trophy.

Hughes, who closed with a 69 and finished at 17-under 265, capped a memorable fall season.

He began his rookie season by playing the final two rounds with Phil Mickelson and tying for 13th at the Safeway Open. Mickelson's caddie, Jim Mackay, said in a text message Saturday night, ""I really like his moxie, he's got guts.""

In his only week off this fall, Hughes and his longtime girlfriend from Kent State, Jenna, were married. They plan a honeymoon in the off-season, and now he gets to plan a schedule that includes Kapalua, Augusta National and the PGA Championship in Charlotte, North Carolina, where he lives.

Hughes earned $1.08 million US.

Villegas and Norlander do not have full PGA Tour cards, and a victory would have changed that. Villegas got into the field as a past champion, while Norlander has no PGA Tour status and received a sponsor's exemption.

Villegas had made every big putt, from his birdies on the 16th and 17th in regulation to his 6-foot par putt on the 72nd hole to join the playoff, and another tough 4-foot putt in the dark Sunday night to stay alive. He missed from 7 feet Monday.

""I just pushed it a tiny bit,"" Villegas. ""But once again, I'm proud of myself. We want to win a golf tournament, so you go with a little bittersweet, but you've got to look at the positive and keep moving forward.""",Canada's Mackenzie Hughes holed an 18-foot par putt from off the green Monday morning to win the RSM Classic and become the first rookie in 20 years to go wire-to-wire for his first PGA Tour victory.
"Culture Connoisseurs consistently offer thought-provoking, timely comments on the arts, lifestyle and entertainment.

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You must be logged in to recommend a comment.",Warning: Viewing these 16 entries in the Food section’s sixth annual readers’ recipe contest may induce a mighty hankering for the red ripe fruit of summer.
"Dozens of bikini-clad women and upset New York residents congregated outside New York City's public transit headquarters on Tuesday to protest the transport authority’s recent decision to ban a popular Georgi Vodka ad campaign, which features models donning sexy swimsuits, from appearing on buses that travel through certain neighborhoods in Brooklyn that are primarily populated by Hasidic Jewish communities.

The Metropolitan Transit Authority's move was reportedly initiated in response to a string of complaints filed by religious groups in the New York borough.

“We’re very upset about the censorship,” Georgi Vodka spokesperson Todd Shapiro told Pop Tarts. “We had about 50 girls pointing their backsides at the MTA as part of the protest, basically telling them to ‘butt’ out. The government should not be acting in a role of judging where an ad goes based on religious beliefs. The MTA has no place in segregating areas; it should be all or nothing.”

Furthermore, Martin Silver, the President of Star Industries, which creates and supplies several premium liquors including Georgi Vodka, feels that MTA’s actions are a “blatant violation” of the First Amendment.

“Both women [in the ads] are clothed. No inappropriate body parts are shown,"" Silver said at the protest. ""These ads are clearly not pornography. The MTA has absolutely no right to censor these ads, and by doing so, they are directly denying Star Industries of its Constitutional rights.”

However, Rabbi Shea Hecht, who serves as Chairman of the Board of the National Committee for the Furtherance of Jewish Education told us he has great respect for the First Amendment, but believes he also has a right to travel through his neighborhood with his children and not be offended.

“Thirty years ago I was on the planning board in Crown Heights, Brooklyn and we approved shelters to be constructed at bus stops providing they did not show anything offensive to us. We're ecstatic that MTA made this decision and hope it sets a precedent for future advertising,” he said. “But where are the women’s rights activists in all of this? This campaign is insulting at least half the population. If they want to sell bikinis, then fine, put a girl in a bikini – but what does that have to do with vodka?”

Nonetheless, the adult beverage company has no intention of resting until their controversial campaign is blasted across the backside of all buses that travel through Hasidic Jewish neighborhoods in Brooklyn. According to Shapiro, Georgi Vodka now plans to drive the billboard through these forbidden areas, encouraging locals to sign a petition for its reinstatement.

MTA declined to comment on the issue.

This is not the first time Georgi Vodka has come up against city officials. In 2006, a similar “Georgi Butt” advertisement, which showcased a woman’s backside in a string bikini, was yanked from city buses and deemed inappropriate for public viewing. It has since returned to MTA buses in New York City, with the exception of the restricted Brooklyn neighborhoods.",Bikini Models Protest Vodka Ad Ban in Hasidic Jewish Communities in Brooklyn
"Tuesday, February 21th 1995, 3:71AM

HOUSE SPEAKER Newt Gingrich talked bluntly to a Republican luncheon Thursday about the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

""The appropriation is gone,"" he said. ""The game is over.""

Actually, what he means by ""over"" is that CPB, which recently fired his good friend, former congressman-turned-lobbyist Vin Weber, can go find its own money.

To which National Public Radio President Delano Lewis is just as blunt: ""Zero federal funding will kill public broadcasting.""

At the very least, it means the whole ballgame changes, because public radio stations (and TV stations, of course) now need more money from public donations, corporate underwriting and/or some form of ""privatization,"" which Gingrich advocates, but which would work against the whole idea that this is programing that is not beholden to any special interest like an advertiser or private owner.

Most public radio stations get 15%-20% of their operating budgets from federal funds less for big stations, more for smaller. But the bigger stations also produce much of the programing for smaller stations, so there's a reverse trickle-down effect.

Gingrich and the Republicans earlier suggested they might preserve funding for the smaller stations like WPRL at Alcorn State University in Mississippi, a school that almost had a Heisman Trophy winner this fall in Steve McNair, but whose radio station gets half its money from the feds and would have to fire half its staff without it.

Gingrich's comment last Thursday, however, suggests no one gets anything: ""There's nothing public about public broadcasting. It's elitist. Rush Limbaugh is public broadcasting.""

Lewis doesn't think so: ""To say Rush Limbaugh is public broadcasting reveals a total lack of understanding of objectivity, balance, journalistic standards and the need to provide accurate, in-depth information. It also suggests the Speaker's determination to kill public broadcasting has far more to do with ideology than economics.""

Lewis noted that polls show most Americans support public broadcasting, a fact he hopes will save some of the federal dollars for radio and TV.

Meantime, not surprisingly, many public radio stations report greatly increased donations, as WNYC did last fall when Mayor Giuliani talked of selling it. WXPN and WHYY in Pennsylvania, WGBH in Boston, KCRW in Santa Monica, KQED in San Francisco and WETA in Washington all recently had record-breaking pledge drives.

But this may be a one-time blip, whereas federal money could be gone for good.

SMOOTH GROOVES: SW Networks, the radio syndication company whose ""Pure Concrete"" airs on WAXQ (104.3 FM) and which hopes to place a hip-hop show in New York soon, has also rolled out a seven-day, 24-hour network called ""Smooth FM.""

Playing music like WQCD David Sanborn, Najee, etc. it doesn't have a New York station yet. But the deejays certainly have a New York flavor: Maria Milito of WXRK; Holly Levis of WQCD; Claire Stevens, formerly of Z-100; Paul Cavalconte, formerly of WDRE; Chris Frohne, formerly of WRCN; Ray Langert, formerly of WALK and WKJY, and Joe Marino of WYNY (who used to be Joe Davis on Z-100).

""It's interesting,"" says Marino. ""Now I'm playing instrumentals of tracks I used to play as rock songs.""

AROUND THE DIAL: Mayor Giuliani guests tomorrow, 7:40 a.m., on ""Drivetime Dialog"" over WWRL (1600 AM). . . . Ex-WCBS and WOR newsman Lou Adler is providing daily reports to WRKL (910 AM) one at 7:25 a.m. on law and one at 5:25 p.m. on health matters. Joanna Langfeld, formerly of WABC, will do a daily ""People Report"" at 8:25 a.m. and a video report at 6:25 p.m. . . .

Joe Franklin and Richie Ornstein stumped their audience Saturday on WOR when they asked for the second song played by the station after it signed on in 1922. The first was Al Jolson's ""April Showers,"" the second was Paul Whiteman's ""Whispering.""","HOUSE SPEAKER Newt Gingrich talked bluntly to a Republican luncheon Thursday about the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. ""The appropriation is gone,""he said. ""The game is over.""Actually, what he means by ""over""is that CPB, which recently fired his good friend, former congressman-turned-lobbyist Vin Weber, can go find its own money. To which National Public Radio President Delano Lewis is just as blunt: ""Zero federal funding will kill public broadcasting."""
"NEW YORK – A man police say punched a 62-year-old New York City man in a park after threatening to ""punch the first white man"" he saw denies race played a role in the assault.

Lashawn Marten told the Daily News (http://nydn.us/18gXdbW ) in a jailhouse interview Thursday he's punched people of various races and doesn't target anyone.

Authorities say Jeffrey Babbitt died after he was struck, fell backward and hit his head last week in Union Square Park.

Babbitt is white. Marten is black.

The 31-year-old Marten declined to discuss details of the alleged attack but asked to see an autopsy report and a death certificate.

Marten is being held on an assault charge, but upgraded charges are possible.

A lawyer for Marten was not immediately available for comment.

Information from: Daily News, http://www.nydailynews.com",A man police say punched a 62-year-old New York City man in a park after threatening to punch the first white man he saw denies race played a role in the assault.
"Germany, for so long criticised as the author of austerity, is being lavished with praise.

Over the migrant crisis, it has demonstrated not just moral leadership, the German people have shown great acts of kindness to the refugees.

The German Chancellor Angela Merkel has described the German welcome as ""breathtaking"".

In not many European countries would you find refugees being met with the chant: ""Say it loud. Say it clear. Refugees are welcome here.""

The scale of the German undertaking is enormous.

One state premier has now accepted publicly that the number of 800,000 refugees arriving in Germany ""will need to be revised upwards"".

The deputy chancellor is now talking of Germany taking in 500,000 refugees annually for several years.

The government in Berlin says that caring for the new arrivals will cost initially 6bn euros.

For a long time, Angela Merkel believed her legacy would be determined by the fate of the eurozone.

Not any more. The refugee crisis will define her years in power.

She is already framing German hospitality through the prism of history: ""I am happy that Germany has become a country that many people outside of Germany now associate with hope.""

In the background, however, there is growing criticism.

Germany might have displayed leadership but has been ""dangerously naive"".

The charge is that it has triggered a global migration that Europe will be unable to control.

Germany misread the power of communication and globalisation.

When Germany said that it would process asylum seekers wherever they had entered the EU, it sent a powerful signal that travel restrictions were easing.

The policy was aimed at the Syrians and Iraqis fleeing the horrors of war, but on the roads and trains across Europe are thousands of people who see this as an opportunity to move to the EU.

Among those fleeing war are groups of Pakistanis, Bangladeshis and Nigerians.

It is hard to calculate what percentage of those arriving are refugees or economic migrants.

The UN believes that 50% of those arriving by sea are from Syria.

The figure is much higher on the land-route north from Greece.

And as several leaders have pointed out, Europe has a duty to offer asylum to those fleeing conflict.

Another feature of this migration is the use of smartphones. Many of those moving through Europe follow the news closely.

They are well informed and see this as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to come to Europe. Many of them fear the window will close.

The German government has tried to reassure the public by saying it will robustly separate economic migrants from refugees.

It will not be easy. Will Europe really deport Pakistanis back home? Or will Germany just move against those who have arrived from the western Balkans, from Kosovo and Albania?

Some of Europe's politicians - mainly from the right - are in full cry.

The Hungarian leader Viktor Orban believes that Germany has acted in its own economic interest with little regard for the rest of Europe.

In France, Marine Le Pen says: ""Germany is probably thinking of its moribund demographics, and it is probably trying to lower salaries again.""

In truth, Berlin is more anxious about the path it has chosen than it reveals.

Angela Merkel's coalition partners, the CSU, say the easing of the travel rules was a ""wrong decision"".

Its leader, Horst Seehofer, says: ""There is no society that can cope with something like this.""

So behind the scenes, Germany is exerting huge pressure on other countries to share the burden.

Mrs Merkel persuaded French President Francois Hollande to ditch his doubts.

She nudged the Spanish Prime Minister, Mariano Rajoy, into softening his opposition to quotas.

It has been a display of German power and influence.

German warnings to those countries resistant to taking in refugees have a hint of threat about them.

Angela Merkel says: ""What isn't acceptable in my view is that some people are saying this has nothing to do with them. This won't work in the long run. There will be consequences.""

Her Deputy Chancellor, Sigmar Gabriel, has warned that Europe's open borders - enshrined in the Schengen agreement - are at risk.

This would not just be a political blow for Europe but also a ""heavy economic blow"".

That focuses minds in Eastern Europe, so economically dependent on Germany.

Angela Merkel has admitted that ""what we are experiencing now is something that will change our country in the coming years"".

But in parts of Eastern Europe, they do not want to change their countries.

The Prime Minister of Slovakia, Robert Fico, describes the idea of quotas as ""irrational"".

""Migrants do not want to stay in Slovakia,"" he said.

""There is no base for their religion here.""

The Hungarian prime minister, Viktor Orban, believes that the identity of Europe will be changed by the large number of Muslims among the refugees.

The President of the European Council, Donald Tusk, warns that this exodus could last for years and that ""it is important to learn how to live with it without blaming each other"".

Certainly Europe will be changed by these past weeks. The faces on the railway tracks will be the faces of new Europeans.

Many will settle and stay. It will require enormous sensitivity and skill on the part of Europe's leaders to pass on Europe's values to new arrivals. It will be a historic challenge.

Germany's generosity might transform the relationship between Europeans and people in the Middle East.

But if the numbers prove impossible to manage, if ordinary Europeans become fearful that the nature of their societies will change, then Mrs Merkel will be blamed for a profound miscalculation with implications for European unity.

The Schengen Agreement led to the creation of Europe's borderless Schengen Area.

The treaty was signed on 14 June 1985 by five of the 10 member states of the European Economic Community, near the town of Schengen in Luxembourg, but wasn't implemented for a further decade.

It proposed the gradual abolition of border checks at the signatories' common borders.

The Schengen Area operates very much like a single state for international travel purposes.

There are external border controls for travellers entering and exiting the area and common visas, but no internal border controls.

It currently consists of 26 European countries covering a population of more than 400 million people. The UK and Republic of Ireland have opted out.","If ordinary Europeans become fearful the migrant crisis will change the nature of their societies, then German Chancellor Angela Merkel will be blamed for a profound miscalculation with implications for European unity, says Gavin Hewitt."
"The State Department has no new information on the whereabouts or welfare of Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian, detained two weeks ago in Iran, spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Tuesday.

“We remain concerned about his detention in Iran,” along with others seized July 22, Psaki said.

“Our focus is on doing everything possible to secure the safe return and release of Mr. Rezaian and the others detained with him,” Psaki said. “We, of course, call on the Iranian government and continue to call on the Iranian government to immediately release him and the other individuals.”

Rezaian was arrested with his wife, Iranian journalist Yeganeh Salehi, and two other people. One was released but the others remain jailed and have not been heard from. Iran has announced no charges.

The names of the others arrested with Rezaian and Salehi have not been made widely public, but Psaki noted that both Rezaian and the third person held hold dual citizenship.

Mary Rezaian pleads for the Iranian government to release her son, Washington Post correspondent Jason Rezaian, and his wife Yeganeh Salehi. The two were arrested last week on undetermined charges in Tehran along with two others, one of whom has since been released. (Provided to The Washington Post)

The State Department has requested access to Rezaian and the other dual national, working through Switzerland, which has acted as an intermediary since the rupture of U.S.-Iranian diplomatic relations following the 1979 revolution.

Iran does not recognize dual citizenship, considering those who hold it to be Iranian only, and thus routinely denies such requests for jailhouse visits by the Swiss. Psaki said there was no update to report on the Swiss request, indicating that Iran has either denied the request or has not responded.

Psaki also said she could not corroborate or refute media reports on Monday that a caretaker or doorman at Rezaian’s apartment building died after an altercation with Iranian security agents seeking Rezaian’s arrest.

“We, of course, have seen the reports that an individual in Mr. Rezaian’s building died from injuries sustained” at the time of the arrest, Psaki said. “We don't have any further information or confirmation of those reports.”

The Iranian mission to the United Nations did not respond to a question about the veracity of those reports or queries about Rezaian’s whereabouts or status.

Iran has periodically arrested dual nationals visiting or working in Iran, in some cases holding them for many months.

Asked Tuesday about the United States’ continued negotiations with Iran while it holds Americans, Psaki said the matters are separate. The talks, which will resume within a month, are aimed at curbing Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for the lifting of international sanctions.

Anne Gearan is The Washington Post's diplomatic correspondent.

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customFields- published 1407277800/1407277800000/1407277800 tracking: {authors=Anne Gearan, content_category=National-Security, in_url_headline=u-s-has-no-information-on-jailed-post-reporter, section={section=world, subsection=national-security}, show_ads=true, show_comments=true, ugc={allow_comments=true, allow_photos=false, allow_videos=false, comments_period=14, comments_source=washpost.com, default_sort=, default_tab=, display_comments=true, is_ugc_gallery=false, max_items_to_display=15, max_items_to_display_top=3, moderation_required=false, stream_id=}} allow_comments: true published_date:Aug 5, 2014 10:30:00 PM close date: Aug 19, 2014 10:30:00 PM

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customFields- published 1407277800/1407277800000/1407277800 tracking: {authors=Anne Gearan, content_category=National-Security, in_url_headline=u-s-has-no-information-on-jailed-post-reporter, section={section=world, subsection=national-security}, show_ads=true, show_comments=true, ugc={allow_comments=true, allow_photos=false, allow_videos=false, comments_period=14, comments_source=washpost.com, default_sort=, default_tab=, display_comments=true, is_ugc_gallery=false, max_items_to_display=15, max_items_to_display_top=3, moderation_required=false, stream_id=}} allow_comments: true published_date:Aug 5, 2014 10:30:00 PM close date: Aug 19, 2014 10:30:00 PM",State Department seeking access to jailed Post reporter in Iran
"Sitting next to Stew at a lodge outside Park City last Friday on the day of the premiere, Mr. Lee said that he saw the musical at the Public and had a visceral, immediate response.

“When you are a young black kid, you see three options,” he said, tearing into a salmon filet while he talked. “You can be a rapper, a baller in the N.B.A. or N.F.L., or end up slinging drugs on the corner. But being an artist? C’mon.” Mr. Lee, 51, became a filmmaker when there were few role models, so watching a musical about a young man who riffs his way through church choir, punk rock and an Amsterdam and Berlin sojourn on his way to becoming a rocker hit him hard.

“I was blown away,” Mr. Lee said. “It knocked me out, and I told everyone I knew. I brought my wife back, I told Wesley Snipes, I told everyone, but the thing that killed me is that I know a lot of very hip black folks in New York, and you know what, for whatever reason — marketing, maybe because it had a lot of rock and roll, no R&B, no hip-hop — they never heard of it. But if it wasn’t for Bo Diddley and Little Richard, there wouldn’t be such a thing as rock ’n’ roll.”

“Passing Strange” is a bit of a corrective, a reminder that historical tropes are just that: old news. Stew and Mr. Lee had their eyes very much on the presidential inauguration on Tuesday, not just for what it means for the country, but also for what it means in terms of knocking down notions of what black people want or care about.

“I mean, look at what’s on Obama’s iPod,” Stew said. “He’s lived abroad, he’s interested in all kinds of music and all kinds of things. I get really tired of what is expected of a race or a people. All kinds of people want all kinds of things.”

“I can remember the shock when ‘She’s Gotta Have It’ came out,” he added, referring to Mr. Lee’s 1986 film that took the notion that black women just danced in attendance to men who always seem to be players, and flipped it. “I knew every single type of person in that movie, but those people had never been on screen before.”

“Same thing with the play,” he added. “You’ve seen this kid before, but never in a play.”

Mr. Lee, who is not generally short on demands on his time, said the decision to turn his camera on “Passing Strange” was a simple one.

“I wanted to meet the crazy genius who put this together — I had to know him — but more importantly, I had a really personal connection to a lot of the elements in the story,” he said. “I thought that making a film about it seemed like a way to make sure the most people saw what this guy had accomplished.”

Stew, 47, whose full name is Mark Stewart, has already accomplished a great deal. “Passing Strange” was nominated for seven Tony awards and won best book in addition to two Obies and a Drama Desk Award. Given its history at the Sundance Institute Theater lab in 2004, it is a sweet turn that it ended up back at the festival that bears its name five years later.

“We’re thrilled,” said Robert Redford, sitting in a booth at Zoom restaurant in Park City. “We worked with Stew a lot because it was clear that he was enormously talented and that he had a wonderful story to tell. And now to have Spike here with the film is a remarkable moment for the festival.”

Stew said that after the musical was commissioned by the Public, pairing him and his partner, Heidi Rodewald, with the director Annie Dorsen, he went to the theater lab, where he began to write seriously. “I had been a songwriter,” he said, “but I came here, I had a room with a view, a desk and a deadline.”

Mr. Lee said that having a songbook serve as the bones of a narrative has its perils, “but this guy had lived a life.”

“He had something to write about,” he added.

In his storied career as a filmmaker, Mr. Lee has made big movies and little movies, indies and studio, flops and hits, but has never been to Sundance before now. Grabbing some lunch before the premiere in a white Yankees cap trimmed in fluffy white fake fur — “I’m not taking a poll, I’m just trying to stay warm” — he just shrugged when he was asked how that might be. “Just never happened.”

From under the brim of his fedora, Stew riffed a bit as he spoke of their joint presence here in a place known for Mormonism and snow. “He and I, just by being here, have had an impact on the black people demographic in Utah.,” Stew said. “You know those signs that say, ‘Welcome to Utah’ and list the population? They added a few little black squares in our honor. They’re going to take ’em off when we leave.”","The musical “Passing Strange” is back, this time as a filmed version of the live show, directed by Spike Lee."
"Nintendo’s announcements at E3 will please long-time loyalists but the company is taking steps to attract new fans too — something it has struggled with since the launch of the Wii U console.

Nintendo provided some details on its plans for a line of figurines that will work with its videogames. The toys, which operate along the lines of the hit “Skylanders” and “Disney: Infinity” games, will be called “Amiibo” and will use near-field communication chips that can store and share data from games. The first game that will work with Amiibo will be the new “Super Smash Bros.” title coming to the Wii U this holiday season. There will be about 10 figures launching alongside the game.

Here’s how it works: Tapping the base of an Amiibo toy on the Wii U tablet controller brings that character into Smash Bros. to fight. Amiibo characters won’t be controllable in Smash Bros. — players will just have sit back and watch. But players will be allowed to train their Amiibo to build up fighting skills. This, Nintendo said, will make it so that each person’s Amiibo has its own unique attributes. No two figurines will have the same data.

Eventually, other Wii U games will be compatible with Amiibo, including the recently released “Mario Kart 8,” the next entry in the long-running “Mario Party” franchise, and two new games: ”Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker” and “Yoshi’s Woolly World.” An NFC reader accessory for Nintendo’s 3DS handhelds and Amiibo will launch in 2015 as well.

Even More ‘Super Smash Bros.’

The Amiibo integration wasn’t the only Smash Bros. news. The Wii U version of the forthcoming fighting game will let players use their Mii characters — the avatars that Nintendo introduced on prior-generation Wii console. Including the custom-made characters, which have been featured already in games such as Wii Sports, will allow gamers to play as themselves or any other Miis they create (Nintendo showed Miis they made for Abe Lincoln, Ice T and Elijah Wood).

Though Smash Bros. doesn’t come out until later this year, Nintendo and Best Buy have teamed up to host a “Smash Fest” that will let people try the game in stores over the next few weeks. Nintendo also will sell a reissued GameCube controller and adapter (that works with up to four controllers) for the Wii U, so gamers can use the old-school style controller when Smash Bros. goes on sale. The adapter will sell for $20 and the controller will sell for $30.

There will also be a special bundle that will include the Wii U game, a GameCube controller and the adapter, for $99.99.

‘Zelda’ in the Open World

If you love Nintendo, it’s a good bet you love Zelda. In 2015, an entirely new “Legend of Zelda” — one of the company’s best-selling franchises — will hit the Wii U.

Nintendo promises to push the series in a new direction. The as-yet untitled Zelda game will be an open-world game, which will allow players to roam around taking on puzzles and dungeons and tasks in any order they wish. The Zelda series has experimented with nonlinear gameplay before, with “The Ocarina of Time” on the Nintendo 64. But Nintendo says the world of this game will be larger and more expansive than any other Zelda game before it, and players will even have the ability to roam and trek distant mountains if they prefer.

Meanwhile, three Zelda characters (Link, Princess Zelda and Impa) will show up in a new hack-and-slash adventure game called “Hyrule Warriors” for Wii U. “Hyrule Warriors” is set for a Sept. 26, 2014, release date.

While most of Nintendo’s news involved new games starring well-known characters, the company has one wholly new property in Splatoon, a kid-friendly shooting game. The game centers around multiplayer battles where two different teams of players square off, shooting colored ink on the ground to claim their respective territory. Each character can also turn into a squid and swim around in the ink—you swim faster in your own color and slower in a rival’s. Splatoon is set to launch in the first half of 2015 and is playable at E3.

Mario Sidekicks in Their Own Games

For the first time, Toadstool from “Super Mario Bros.” will star in his own title: “Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker.” Nintendo didn’t offer many details on the Wii U game, but the Wii U touchscreen tablet will be used to change the perspective of the on-screen camera to help Toad collect coins, gems, stars and through various levels—similar to the gameplay seen in “Super Mario 3D World.” Caption Toad goes on sale later this year.

Yoshi, Mario’s dinosaur companion and sometimes steed, has had games of his own for years. The next one will be “Yoshi’s Woolly World,” set for a 2015 release. In this platforming Wii U game, Yoshi looks like he’s made of knitted yarn, and he’ll travel through worlds made of felt, cotton and … yes … more yarn. The game is a sort of spiritual successor to “Kirby’s Epic Yarn” from the Wii, which first introduced this theme.

Kirby is getting a new Wii U game, too, but instead of yarn he’ll be made of clay. “Kirby and the Rainbow Curse,” set for 2015, and is a platfomer that will look and play like a stop-motion claymation film. The new Kirby title will use the Wii U GamePad to bring some drawing mechanics into play as well.

A new Wii U title called “Mario Maker” is coming in 2015. Players will be able to create their own Mario levels in the style of the original “Super Mario Bros.” game or the “New Super Mario Bros. U” game.

Nintendo is also resurrecting one of its most popular franchises, “Star Fox,” with a planned Wii U game. In it, the view of Fox McCloud’s cockpit will be on the GamePad, while what’s seen on TV will be the perspective from behind the hero’s Arwing plane. The game will let players fly or drive a tank on the ground, switching between the two with the press of a button. A new helicopter will be introduced as well. The game is currently set for a 2015 release.",Nintendo’s announcements at E3 will please long-time loyalists but the company is taking steps to attract new fans too -- something it has struggled with since the launch of the Wii U console.
"Two presidential elections ago, the conventional wisdom said that George W. Bush was a likable, honest fellow. But those of us who actually analyzed what he was saying about policy came to a different conclusion — namely, that he was irresponsible and deeply dishonest. His numbers didn’t add up, and in his speeches he simply lied about the content of his own proposals.

In the fifth year of the disastrous war Mr. Bush started on false pretenses, it’s clear who was right. What a candidate says about policy, not the supposedly revealing personal anecdotes political reporters love to dwell on, is the best way to judge his or her character.

So what are the current presidential candidates saying about policy, and what does it tell us about them?

Well, none of the leading Republican candidates have said anything substantive about policy. Go through their speeches and campaign materials and you’ll see a lot of posturing, especially about how tough they are on terrorists — but nothing at all about what they actually plan to do.

In fact, I suspect that the real reason most of the Republicans are ducking a YouTube debate is that they’re afraid they would be asked questions about policy, rather than being invited to compare themselves to Ronald Reagan.

But didn’t Rudy Giuliani just announce a health care plan? No, he vaguely described a tax cut proposal that he says would do something good for health care. (Most experts disagree.) But he offered no specifics about how the plan would work, how much it would cost or how he would pay for it.

As Ezra Klein of The American Prospect has pointed out, in the speech announcing his “plan” — and since no policy document has been released, the speech is all we have to go on — Mr. Giuliani never uttered the word “uninsured.” He did, however, repeatedly denounce “socialized medicine” or some variant thereof.

The entire G.O.P. field, then, fails the substance test.

There is, by contrast, a lot of substance on the Democratic side, with John Edwards forcing the pace. Most notably, in February, Mr. Edwards transformed the whole health care debate with a plan that offers a politically and fiscally plausible path to universal health insurance.

Whatever the fate of the Edwards candidacy, Mr. Edwards will deserve a lot of the credit if and when we do get universal care in this country.

Mr. Edwards has also offered a detailed, sensible plan for tax reform, and some serious antipoverty initiatives.

Four months after the Edwards health care plan was announced, Barack Obama followed with a broadly similar but somewhat less comprehensive plan. Like Mr. Edwards, Mr. Obama has also announced a serious plan to fight poverty.

Hillary Clinton, however, has been evasive. She conveys the impression that there’s not much difference between her policy positions and those of the other candidates — but she’s offered few specifics. In particular, unlike Mr. Edwards or Mr. Obama, she hasn’t announced a specific universal care plan, or explicitly committed herself to paying for health reform by letting some of the Bush tax cuts expire.

For those who believe that the time for universal care has come, this lack of specifics is disturbing. In fact, what Mrs. Clinton said about health care in February’s Democratic debate suggested a notable lack of urgency: “Well, I want to have universal health care coverage by the end of my second term.”

On Saturday, at the YearlyKos Convention in Chicago, she sounded more forceful: “Universal health care will be my highest domestic priority as president.” But does this represent a real change in position? It’s hard to know, since she has said nothing about how she would cover the uninsured.

And even if you believe Mrs. Clinton’s contention that her positions could never be influenced by lobbyists’ money — a remark that drew boos and hisses from the Chicago crowd — there’s reason to worry about the big contributions she receives from the insurance and drug industries. Are they simply betting on the front-runner, or are they also backing the Democratic candidate least likely to hurt their profits?

All of the leading Democratic candidates are articulate and impressive. It’s easy to imagine any of them as president. But after what happened in 2000, it worries me that Mrs. Clinton is showing an almost Republican aversion to talking about substance.","What are the presidential candidates saying about policy, and what does it tell us about them?"
"NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Fitch Ratings on Tuesday reaffirmed the United States' AAA credit rating.

The move comes less than two weeks after Standard & Poor's downgraded the United States' long-term debt to AA+.

""[T]he key pillars of US's exceptional creditworthiness remains intact: its pivotal role in the global financial system and the flexible, diversified and wealthy economy that provides its revenue base. Monetary and exchange rate flexibility further enhances the capacity of the economy to absorb and adjust to 'shocks,' "" Fitch said in a statement.

Fitch did add a caveat, however. It would likely revise its outlook on the U.S. rating to negative from stable if the congressional committee charged with proposing at least $1.2 trillion in deficit reduction fails to reach agreement, or if the economic recovery proves weaker than expected. That means there would be a greater than 50% chance that Fitch would downgrade the country within two years.

Still, that's more lenient than Moody's, which reaffirmed the United States' AAA status in early August but announced it was also lowering its outlook on U.S. debt to ""negative.""

Moody's left open the possibility that it might downgrade the United States if the recent debt ceiling deal fails to achieve the deficit reduction promised, if the economic outlook deteriorates significantly or if interest rates spike and increase the government's borrowing costs.

Reaffirmation of the U.S. sterling rating by Fitch and Moody's is no doubt some comfort to the Obama administration, which expressed anger and frustration when Standard & Poor's on Aug. 5 downgraded the United States, citing the ""political brinksmanship"" in the debt-ceiling debate as indication that governance in Washington has become ""less stable, less effective, and less predictable.""

The difference in opinion between the credit rating agencies is less about the facts of U.S. debt than about their level of skepticism regarding lawmakers' ability to compromise and follow through on meaningful debt reduction.

The Fitch news didn't appear to offer much support to stocks on Tuesday morning, as traders were consumed by news of the European debt crisis and slower-than-expected growth.",Fitch Ratings on Tuesday morning reaffirmed the United States' AAA credit rating. The move comes less than two weeks after Standard & Poor's downgraded the United States' long-term debt to AA+.
"BAGHDAD — A series of daring but little noticed breakouts from Iraqi prisons has freed hundreds of hardened militants who are now among the leaders and foot soldiers of the radical Sunni groups operating in neighboring Syria and, increasingly, in Iraq itself.

The role of the former inmates in fueling a new wave of Sunni jihad across the region is an unfortunate reminder of the breakdown of authority in Iraq since the United States departed in 2011, of the security vacuum that has spread around the region and of the continuing threat of Sunni-led terrorist groups that the United States said it was fighting during its occupation of Iraq.

The prison breaks also reflect the surging demand for experienced fighters, which led to a concerted effort by militant groups, particularly the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or ISIS, to seek them in the one place where they were held en masse — Iraq’s prison cells.

That group even had a name for its prison strategy, “Operation Breaking the Walls,” which unfolded during a 12-month campaign from July 2012 until a major break at Abu Ghraib, the main Iraqi prison, on the western outskirts of the capital, in July 2013. In all, American officials estimate, a few hundred of the escapees have joined the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, several in senior leadership roles.

While the group was already gaining strength in this period, an American counterterrorism official said, “The influx of these terrorists, who collectively have decades of battlefield experience, probably has strengthened the group and deepened its leadership bench.”

One such escapee was Abu Aisha, who declined to be identified by his full name and is now leading a group of Qaeda fighters on the western edge of Falluja, his hometown, which for nearly six weeks has been held by antigovernment Sunni fighters. With Falluja under siege, the American government has been rushing guns, ammunition and missiles to help the Shiite-dominated Iraqi security forces and allied tribal fighters retake the city, where so many American Marines once fought — and died — nearly 10 years ago.

Abu Aisha was a car mechanic before 2003 but found new purpose in fighting the Americans. Many detainees, himself included, he said, spent their time in prison learning the ways of militant Islam, studying the Quran and Shariah law and preparing to return to waging jihad once free.

Abu Aisha was originally arrested by the Americans and then released from Camp Bucca, the infamous American prison in southern Iraq, in 2008. He was rearrested by the Iraqis in 2010.

“Finally, they put me in Abu Ghraib, and I again met some of the leaders and fighters I knew, including princes from Al Qaeda — Iraqis, Arabs and other nationalities,” he said. “Most of them had been at Bucca as well.”

One night last summer, as Abu Aisha sat in his cell waiting, as he did each day, for his date with the executioner, explosions and gunfire erupted and a familiar prison guard opened the doors to his cell and told him to leave immediately. With hundreds of others, Abu Aisha ran through the prison’s corridors until he escaped through a hole that had been blasted through a wall. He hopped into a waiting Kia truck that took him to freedom — and back to the battlefield.

Abu Aisha said leaders of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria gave him a choice: leave and fight with them in Syria, or stay and fight in Iraq.

“Many of the leaders that I know went to Syria and the jihad there once they fled from Abu Ghraib,” he said in a recent interview. “Other fighters went there after a while because they felt they would be freer in Syria. I decided to stay with my group.”

The prison breaks, and the mayhem they helped fuel in Syria, also had the effect of altering the calculus of many Western officials toward the war there. In the beginning, they saw the conflict in the terms of a dictator — President Bashar al-Assad — brutally oppressing his largely peaceful opponents.

But after the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria took on an increasingly important role in the fighting there — often battling with more moderate insurgent groups, to the dismay of Al Qaeda, which broke ties with ISIS over the issue — Western powers were even more reluctant to intervene.

Osama al-Nujaifi, the speaker of Iraq’s Parliament and the country’s most important Sunni politician, said that the escaped fighters “went to Syria to lead large fighting groups there.”

“So, people started thinking, Is Bashar better, or is Qaeda better?” he said.

Many Western experts have blamed Turkey’s open-door policy along its southern border with Syria for fostering the growth of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria and other extremist groups. But Turkish officials have pushed back, citing intelligence reports that trace the growth of the group to the Iraqi prison breaks.

More than 600 prisoners are believed to have escaped in the largest of these sophisticated attacks, facilitated by corrupt prison guards who were easily bought, the officials said.

Two prison breaks in particular — the one at Abu Ghraib and the other, in September 2012, in the northern city of Tikrit — have had a significant impact on the group’s overall capacity to undermine Iraqi security and contributed to its expansion in Syria, the officials said.

In the Tikrit break, for instance, 47 death row detainees escaped, and they appear to have been instrumental in facilitating the group’s re-energizing and escalation of operations throughout 2013, according to Charles Lister, a visiting scholar at the Brookings Doha Center in Qatar.

American officials said more than 500 prisoners escaped in the Abu Ghraib operation alone. They also say that “the majority” of the escapees had been originally detained by Iraqi forces, but acknowledged that large numbers — perhaps scores — had been captured during American operations in Iraq before the United States military left the country at the end of 2011.

Shaker Waheeb, perhaps the most dangerous Al Qaeda figure to emerge here recently, was one of those captured. Mr. Waheeb was studying computer science at a university in Anbar when the American invasion of Iraq led him to quickly change paths and fight the Americans. He was detained and held in Camp Bucca before being turned over to the Iraqis. He escaped from the prison in Tikrit in late 2012.

In Iraq, Mr. Waheeb has become something of a cult figure for up-and-coming jihadis — he has been referred to as the heir apparent to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the brutal Qaeda leader who was killed by American forces in 2006 — and public enemy No. 1 to the broader public. Iraqi officials have claimed more than once to have killed him, but today he is a key figure leading the fighting within Falluja. Last summer, he was seen on a grisly video executing three Shiite truck drivers on the side of a highway in the deserts of Anbar Province and was linked to an attack in which 14 Shiite truck drivers in Iraq were found beheaded.

Among the more moderate fighting groups within Syria, the prison breaks have helped stoke conspiracy theories that the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, which has been fighting recently with the groups, is a pawn of the Assad government. While there is no evidence to back that up, some said they believed that the Syrian government — with assistance from the Iraqi government of Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki, which has largely sided with Mr. Assad — helped orchestrate the escapes.

“By doing this, exporting more foreign fighters to Syrian territory, the Maliki government did Assad’s regime a favor by supporting his claim of fighting terrorism inside Syria,” said Abduljabbar Osso, a rebel leader in Aleppo who has been fighting with the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria.

Another rebel commander, Lt. Col. Ahmad al-Aboud, said that the moment his people heard about the prison escapes in Iraq, “We knew we would face more trouble after that.”

“We have always faced difficulties smuggling light weapons from Iraq to Syria through the Iraq border,” he said, “but it was very easy for ISIS to get full patrols of vehicles, weapons and fighters across to Syria.”

The Iraqi government has done little to explain how the prison breaks happened, although most agree that the inmates had help from the inside. Parliament members said that when they tried to investigate the Abu Ghraib break, they were stymied by security forces and top government officials.

“Unfortunately, the government did not allow us to even get close to the prison for a week,” said Shwan Muhammed, a member of Parliament and one of the investigators.

Not all of the escaped prisoners returned to the fight.

Ahmed al-Dulaymi, 31, who fled from Abu Ghraib, is working as a farmer in Diyala Province, another Qaeda stronghold, using fake identification. Like many Sunnis in Iraq, he explains the recent resurgence of Sunni extremism as a reaction to the policies of the Shiite-dominated government, including broad security sweeps that have landed many innocent Sunni men in prison.

“Many of my friends were good people, but because of the government’s actions, my friends have become dangerous people and leaders in Al Qaeda,” he said. “Injustice is what gives birth to Al Qaeda.”

Tim Arango reported from Baghdad, and Eric Schmitt from Washington. Reporting was contributed by Duraid Adnan and Yasir Ghazi from Baghdad, Karam Shoumali from Istanbul, and employees of The New York Times from Anbar and Diyala Provinces, Iraq.

A version of this article appears in print on February 13, 2014, on page A1 of the New York edition with the headline: Escaped Inmates From Iraq Fuel Syria Insurgency. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe",Prison breakouts in Iraq have freed hundreds of militants who have joined radical Sunni groups operating in neighboring Syria and in Iraq itself.
"“Silent Night” has new meaning for a Louisiana church after they were issued criminal sanctions because their worship services exceeded 60 decibels – which is about the same noise level of a dishwasher.

The executive pastor of Vintage Church was issued a criminal summons and the rest of the staff was threatened with “physical arrest” if they used any microphones or amplified sound in their worship services, according to a lawsuit filed by Liberty Institute.

Click here to join Todd’s American Dispatch – a must-read for conservatives!

Jefferson Parish, Louisiana and the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office are named in the lawsuit – alleging that the local government is “imposing unwarranted and unreasonable demands on the members of Vintage Church.”

If it’s okay to use a jackhammer on Sunday morning, why isn’t it okay to worship Jesus?

“Federal and Louisiana law both protect Vintage Church from this sort of targeted enforcement,” Liberty Institute attorney Justin Butterfield said.

For the record, I reached out to the sheriff for comment – but he declined to speak to me.

The trouble started back in August when the small evangelical congregation announced plans to expand its existing sanctuary – located within a subdivision.

However, that meant the church had to temporarily relocate its two Sunday morning worship services to an enclosed outdoor tent. The church applied for, and was granted a permit to erect the structure.

On Aug. 9, a neighbor called authorities to complain about the noise levels.

On Aug. 18, the church was told by the sheriff’s office that any sounds before 8:50 a.m. had to be kept below 60 decibels. They also told the church they could not set up for the Sunday service until after 8:50 a.m.

Pastor Rob Wilton told me that was the start of what would become weekly visits by heavy-handed authorities.

“It’s been difficult,” he told me. “We have been consistently hassled by our neighbors and by the parish officials since the first of August - every single week.”

By Nov. 12 the sheriff’s office escalated their bullying tactics by issuing a stern warning to the church – vowing to either “issue summons or even ‘physically arrest’ Vintage Church personnel if any amplified sound were used by the church for the first service, including the pastor’s use of a microphone to preach, regardless of the sound levels.”

So that meant no microphones, no electric guitars, no musical instruments that required amplification.

The church complied with those demands – but it turned out not to matter.

The following was written in the lawsuit:

“On Nov. 15th, 2015, six JPSO officers in six marked JPSO vehicles, plus Sheriff (Newell) Normand in an unmarked black SUV, arrived at Vintage Church in response to a neighbor’s call. Vintage Church was not using any sound amplification, but JPSO officers demanded to inspect the equipment in the Vintage Church’s tent to ensure that there was no sound amplification. Vintage Church’s pastors showed the JPSO officers that all sound equipment was unplugged. JPSO nevertheless issued a second summons to Pastor (Matt) Brichetto, stating that the sound levels were above 60 dB without any amplification at all.”

What the heck were they supposed to do – whisper the morning sermon?

“I preached without a microphone but we still received a second criminal summons,” the pastor told me. “They literally issued the summons in front of the congregation. Thankfully they allowed me to continue to preach.”

The executive pastor had previously been slapped with a criminal summons – delivered in front of stunned church members.

“They even took his fingerprints on our property,” Pastor Wilton told me.

Let’s put this in some perspective, folks. The church was not hosting a weekly Guns & Roses concert. It was a worship service.

Liberty Institute says parish ordinances allow local residents to engage in all sorts of activities on Sunday morning that are much louder than 60 decibels.

“The parish allows things like lawn mowers and jackhammers starting at 8 a.m. on Sunday while placing these burdensome restrictions on the church,” attorney Butterfield told me.

If it’s okay to use a jackhammer on Sunday morning, why isn’t it okay to worship Jesus?

There are always two sides to a story. The neighbors may very well have a valid argument. But since neither the neighbors nor the sheriff’s office want to go on the record, we don’t know what that argument might be.

Regardless, the storm trooper tactics of the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office are uncalled for.

“We are seeing more and more of this sort of hostility toward churches in the United States,” Butterfield told me. “Five or ten years ago the idea that a church would be issued a criminal summons and would be subjected to this sort of continuous investigation just for having a worship service would be unthinkable.”

I’m certain that Sheriff Normand has much more important things to do on a Sunday morning than bully and harass a small evangelical church.

Perhaps he might consider spending next Sunday reading the Good Book or the U.S. Constitution.

Todd Starnes is host of Fox News & Commentary, heard on hundreds of radio stations. His latest book is ""God Less America: Real Stories From the Front Lines of the Attack on Traditional Values."" Follow Todd on Twitter@ToddStarnes and find him on Facebook.",“Silent Night” has new meaning to a Louisiana church after they were issued criminal sanctions because their worship services exceeded 60 decibels
"After Russian scientists finally reached an Antarctic lake cut off from the world for thousands of years, Quentin Cooper wonders why reports suggest they might encounter dinosaurs.

As a child of, oh, about seven, I decided to tunnel from my back garden to the other side of the world. My reasoning was sound – provided each day I dug a little deeper it would only be a matter of time before I reached Australia. After a week I got bored and gave up.

Which is why I marvel at the Russians who did not. The ones two-and-a-half miles above Lake Vostok in the Antarctic who – despite having to brave the coldest recorded temperature on Earth – kept their gaze resolutely downwards for more than a decade, drilling a little deeper every year until just weeks ago, when they finally reached the surface of this largest and most secluded subglacial lake.

An amazing achievement... providing they haven’t already gone too far and contaminated the pristine waters and fragile ecosystems it is presumed to contain. There is general agreement in much of the media coverage that its untouched waters have been cut off from the outside world for a staggering 10-20 million years – “isolated from earthly life forms since before Man existed”, as one newspaper put it.

The researchers insist they have been ultra-careful... although according to a Russian state-owned news agency they have already sampled the lake water and gifted some to Prime Minister Vladimir Putin who said it was “interesting” because “dinosaurs drank it”. Curiouser still, the liquid was apparently yellowish.

Inevitably, given such elements, some articles have made references to Arthur Conan Doyle’s 100-year-old novel The Lost World, suggesting the tunnelling Russians could break through to find, if not actual dinosaurs, then all manner of strange creatures previously thought extinct.

A far better fictional forerunner for these eager ice burrowers is Edgar Rice Burroughs, and his novels The Land That Time Forgot and The People That Time Forgot, both filmed with dodgy special effects in the 1970s. As with The Lost World you get stop-motion dinosaurs still at large, but here just like Lake Vostok the long cut-off ecosystem is close to the South Pole, surrounded by ice and accessed by going under water. The tag line for one of the films was even “A lost world shut off by a wall of ice, roamed by beasts unknown to science”, which could have come straight from tabloid reports of the Russian drilling.

These and other fantasy sources all trickle into the news coverage, polluting our expectations. It seems almost churlish to point out that 10-20 million years is how long Lake Vostok has been under ice, not how long the water within it has been isolated. There is growing evidence that its contents are perpetually freezing and being replaced by water from other parts of the ice sheet melting under high pressure, and that it may be more realistic to think in terms of whatever is down there being cut off for 10-20 thousand years rather than 10-20 million.

Even if the water had been locked away untouched for 20 million years, this is nowhere near long enough for the dinosaurs mentioned by Putin to put in an appearance – they were wiped out around 65 million years ago. However, 20,000 years is still enough to mean there is a good chance of finding some unknown microbes in the lake. Drilling through the ice has already produced cores containing bacteria, fungi and algae, related to, but different from species at the surface today. Or just as intriguing would be if there is nothing – making it the only spot on Earth to have natural water without life.",BBC Future description goes here
"By the end of this year, the world is projected to reach an unheralded but historic milestone: Half of the fish and shellfish we consume will be raised by humans, rather than caught in the wild.

Reaching this tipping point is reshaping everything from our oceans to the livelihoods and diets of people across the globe. It has also prompted a new round of scientific and political scrutiny, as researchers and public officials examine how aquaculture is affecting the world's environment and seafood supply.

""Hunting and gathering has reached its maximum,"" said Ronald W. Hardy, who directs the University of Idaho's Aquaculture Research Institute and co-authored a study on the subject in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. ""We've got to grow more.""

The drive to bring fish ""from egg to plate,"" as Hardy puts it, has the potential to answer a growing demand for seafood worldwide, as well as reduce some of the imports that compose more than 80 percent of the fish and shellfish Americans eat each year. But without technological advances to improve efficiency, it could threaten to wipe out the forage fish that lie at the bottom of the ocean's food chain and potentially contaminate parts of the sea.

And consumers will have to accept that they are eating a different kind of fish than the ones that swim wild: ones that might have eaten unused poultry trimmings, been vaccinated, consumed antibiotics or been selected for certain genetic traits.

Although there is still debate about farming's share of the world fish supply -- the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization estimates it stood at 44.3 percent in 2007, whereas the PNAS study says it will reach over half in a matter of months -- no one questions that aquaculture has grown exponentially as the world's wild catch has flattened out. In 1970, farmed fish accounted for 6.3 percent of global seafood supply.

This trend reflects global urbanization -- studies show that as more people move to cities, they are consuming more seafood -- but it is changing the world's seascape as well. Vessels now venture to the Antarctic Ocean to catch the tiny krill that have sustained penguins and seals there for millennia, and slender poles strung with farmed oysters and seaweed jut out of Japan's once-pristine Matsushima Bay.

Chinese freshwater fish farms are replacing traditional agricultural plots there, according to Karen Seto of the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, and Nature Conservancy senior scientist Mike Beck said some Chinese bays are so crammed with net pens that they are no longer navigable.

Moreover, fishermen such as Shannon Moore, who catches salmon in Washington state's Puget Sound, worries about how farmed fish's parasites are affecting wild stocks. ""These young wild critters are pretty small, and they can ill afford to have these hitchhikers on them,"" Moore said, referring to parasites that plague juveniles migrating near Canadian fish farms.

But aquaculture's proponents suggest that farming represents the best chance of giving people a chance to make a living off the sea. Sebastian Belle, executive director of the Maine Aquaculture Association, noted that three-quarters of his group's members are either current or former commercial fishermen, and although the average age of Mainers with a fishing lease permit is 57, the average for those with a fish-farm permit is 33. ""It's really the next generation of watermen,"" Belle said.

Jane Lubchenco, who used to write about aquaculture's environmental impacts as an academic before taking the helm of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, announced this month that her agency will come up with a national policy to address fish farming. ""It's important that aquaculture be done in a way that's sustainable,"" she said in an interview.

America now ranks as a minor player in global aquaculture: It accounts for 5 percent of the nation's seafood supply, but the $1.2 billion in annual production is 1.5 percent of the world's total. In 2006, China supplied 62 percent of the world's farmed fish and shellfish, according to FAO.","By the end of this year, the world is projected to reach an unheralded but historic milestone: Half of the fish and shellfish we consume will be raised by humans, rather than caught in the wild."
"Thursday, October 13th 2011, 4:00 AM

Give us a break. It should be impossible in this city to rack up, oh, 186 arrests without someone stepping in to say enough.

Hasn't happened, and so Greg Washington has become well known to the NYPD as New York's Squeegee King.

You pull up to a light. Washington comes forward with windshield-washing equipment and sets intimidatingly to work. If cops are around, you see Washington busted and, likely, you believe the criminal justice system will take its deterrent toll.

Not even close, because Washington is about to be processed through Criminal Court, the place where New York's quality of life goes to die.

Yesterday, after the Daily News featured Washington's latest arrest on the front page, he was arraigned before Judge Michelle Armstrong and was quite amenable to pleading guilty.

The Manhattan district attorney's office asked for a 15-day sentence, essentially the maximum punishment for the misdemeanor of aggressive solicitation. Armstrong meted out 10 days, a short sojourn to three hots and a cot on Rikers Island for Washington.

Homeless and apparently mentally ill, he'll soon enough be back to squeezing drivers for money, because that's just what he does.

Washington's spin in the revolving door illustrates two important points.

The first is that the Legislature, notably the Democratic-controlled Assembly, won't get tough with repeat misdemeanants. DA Cy Vance is among those who have called for converting, say, an eighth misdemeanor conviction into a felony.

Had such a statute been in effect, Washington, who has been arrested 17 times in 2011 alone, would have faced serious jail time. That prospect would likely have focused the minds of the judge and Washington's court-appointed lawyer on diverting him into a mental health program aimed at curbing his obsession.

Without such leverage, the path of least resistance will keep returning the Squeegee King to the street, where he will happily harass the hell out of whomever.","Give us a eak. It should be impossible in this city to rack up, oh, 186 arrests without someone stepping in to say enough."
"Keeping Fido happy ain’t cheap.

Americans spent a record $55.7 billion on their pets last year, an industry trade group said Thursday, a figure that could increase to a whopping $60 billion this year. The amount Americans shelled out for puppy chow, cat litter, toys, grooming and all matter of indulgences last year is equivalent to the gross domestic product of Croatia, and $10 billion more than Germany’s entire defense budget.

The American Pet Products Association, which has been tracking spending on pets since the mid-1990s, unveiled the latest figures Thursday during the Global Pet Expo in Orlando, Fla. Spending increased 4.5 percent from 2012 to 2013.

“People are pampering their pets more than ever,” said Bob Vetere, the president and CEO of the American Pet Products Association, citing spending on everything “from interactive and innovative toys to dog walking, doggy day-care and pet-friendly hotels, restaurants and airlines.”

Spending on pets has surged since the group first started tracking it: In 1996, total spending was $31.1 billion, adjusted for inflation. Most of the money spent last year was on food, $21.5 billion in total, the association said. Another $14.3 billion was spent on veterinary care, $13.1 billion on supplies, and $2.2 billion on the actual purchase of pets. Services like grooming and pet-sitting are among the strongest growth sectors of the industry.",New figures released Thursday show Americans are spending more money than ever on their pets. They forked out a record $55.7 billion in 2013—or about $10 billion more than Germany's entire defense budget—and are expected to top that this year
"“I would like to go to sleep today and not wake up tomorrow,” she said. “The truth is life is too hard and I am alone.”

A cheap and quick way of destroying a woman’s life, acid attacks in India, Afghanistan and Bangladesh have received widespread attention in recent years, with a documentary about victims in Pakistan winning an Oscar this year. While the gruesome assaults have been rare in the West, a rising number of attacks in Colombia has alarmed prosecutors and public health officials and terrified women. Dozens of such attacks, in which assailants soak their victims with sulfuric or nitric acids, are believed to take place here each year.

The precise reason for the spike here — and not in, say, neighboring Peru — is not known. But women’s rights advocates in Colombia talk about an epidemic of violence against women, from spouse-battering cases so extreme that they make the nightly news to reports of illegal armed groups using rape as a weapon in a murky rural conflict.

“Sometimes in the West we make fast judgments and say, ‘Look how terrible they treat women in the East,’ and we don’t look first at ourselves,” said Monica Roa, the Bogota-based international programs director of Women’s Link Worldwide, a rights group. “The violence here may be different, but it emanates from the same place. This is a culture where machismo reigns, where men do what they want to do.”

If a woman is attacked over a dowry in India or because she ventured outside without a veil in Pakistan, in Colombia a woman might be attacked because of sheer rage over her independence or even by a disturbed man she doesn’t know.

That’s what happened in 2004 to Maria Cuervo when a complete stranger shouted, “This is so you don’t think you’re so pretty” and drenched her face with acid.

Mostly, though, a jilted boyfriend or a husband intoxicated with jealousy is behind the attack.

“He had hit me because of jealousy, so I ended it,” Erica Vanessa Vargas, a slight, soft-spoken woman of 20, said of the day she ended her relationship with a boyfriend four years ago. “He then said, ‘If you’re not mine, than no one will have you.’ ”

Her former boyfriend paid a small boy $1.75 to throw acid at her — changing the course of a young life. “I stopped going to school, I can’t work, I can’t depend on my own self,” said Vargas, wearing a scarf to shield her scarred neck and chin.

The statistics on acid attacks are hazy in Colombia, as in other countries where they take place.

Bogota city councilwoman Olga Rubio, a victims’ advocate, said about 100 of the assaults have taken place so far this year across Colombia. It is a pace that would easily surpass last year’s total of 150.",Dozens of women are assaulted each year by perpetrators looking for a quick way to destroy a life.
"An anti-Syria government protester with a pre-Baath Syrian flag, which has been adopted by the opposition movement.

Editor's note: Randa Slim is a scholar at the Middle East Institute and a research fellow at the New America Foundation. Follow her on Twitter.

(CNN) -- The six-point peace plan for Syria proposed by Kofi Annan is doomed to fail for one simple reason: Neither President Bashar al-Assad nor the government opposition is interested in making it work.

For al-Assad, full implementation of the plan, which includes a political settlement through dialogue and respect for the rights of citizens to demonstrate peacefully, will bring an end to his regime. From the onset of the uprisings, his government knew that a repeat of the protests in Egypt's Tahrir Square or Bahrain's Pearl Square in Damascus or Aleppo will mean regime change. Al-Assad and his inner circle are not about to create conditions that are conducive for such sit-ins just because the Annan plan calls on them to do so.

For the opposition groups, Annan could spend all the time he wants on negotiations, but any talks not predicated on al-Assad's stepping aside will not be acceptable. The activists who are spearheading Syria's revolution insist that the opposition exile leadership has a limited mandate and that is to discuss details for the transfer of power from the Assad family to the opposition.

The bottom line is that the two main protagonists in the conflict look at the Annan plan as a means to achieve their respective, mutually exclusive objectives.

By agreeing to the Annan plan, al-Assad pursues a dual-track strategy: He appeases his Russian and Iranian allies, who have been pressuring him to accept a political solution, while working to kill his way out of the crisis under the pretext that he is confronting ""armed terrorists and gangs.""

The opposition wants the cease-fire in order to field mass protests. As one activist from Hama put it to me recently: ""We don't need military intervention, we don't need humanitarian corridors, we don't need safe areas. Enforce the cease-fire and millions will march toward the presidential palace demanding Assad's ouster.""

After more than a year of uprisings, Syria is still stuck in a violent stalemate. Al-Assad has not been able to crush the opposition, and opposition seems nowhere near to dislodging al-Assad. Increasingly, the conflict is being framed in existential terms, with some involved becoming more radicalized.

The majority of Alawites believe their physical survival is at stake, because they are convinced al-Assad's demise will engender wide-scale revenge killings on them. Hence, they will not accept a solution that will produce a new regime in which they are not guaranteed a leading role. Similarly, the opposition groups believe that if they stop now and al-Assad remains in power, he will hunt them down.

Absent a game changer that will tip the balance in favor of one side or the other, the crisis in Syria will become a full-blown sectarian war pitting Sunnis against Alawites, which will likely spill over into the neighboring countries of Iraq and Lebanon.

Although military options have been considered by the West, it's hard to say whether that would make a difference in reversing the dynamics in the country. A military operation might cause a regional war involving Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Iran, with each country supporting its allies in Syria.

For now, Iran's Supreme Leader has cast his support firmly with al-Assad. A well-informed Iranian source told me that the Iranian regime will support al-Assad no matter what until the end. On the other hand, Russia's Syria policy seems to be in flux judging by its vote in the United Nations recently. It's too early to tell whether Russia will ease al-Assad out the way Saudi Arabia did in the case of Yemen's Abdullah Saleh. Russia and Iran will probably not abandon al-Assad until they are part of the deal-making process about Syria's future government.

One possible game changer is if the protest movement in Syria becomes widespread and covers large stretches of the country.

To date, only four of Syria's 14 governorates constitute the major hubs of the protest movement: Homs, Hama, Idlib and Daraa. While we have seen protests in other regions, they have not been as sustained and extensive as those in the four governorates. This is partly due to the state of fragmentation in the opposition ranks, especially among the exile groups, which do not inspire confidence among fence-sitters.

Although large segments of fence-sitters including businessmen have come around to supporting the opposition, many remain ambivalent because they doubt the opposition will succeed in overthrowing al-Assad. This perception is reinforced by the fact that Annan's plan does not call for al-Assad to step down -- a detail that is not missed by the Assad regime propaganda machine.

While the exile opposition remains divided, there are hopeful signs that the opposition ranks within Syria are becoming better organized, better trained and gaining legitimacy.

The future leaders of Syria will not come from the Syrian National Council or the National Coordination Committee for Change; they will emerge from the ranks of the revolutionary councils that are forming in different parts of the country.

These councils bring together an eclectic mix of the most active local coordinating committees, independent activists, community and business leaders and military defectors. They are putting in place an administrative infrastructure that is akin to a local provincial council, handling everything from media affairs to helping families who lost their homes to providing legal aid to jailed activists. They are also coordinating with each other to protect relief supply lines that cross their respective territories. In the process, the leaders in these councils, who hail from Syria's different religious and ethnic groups, are developing political skills, cultivating local constituencies and learning through trial and error the business of governing.

In a country that is increasingly polarized along sectarian and ethnic lines, these councils can perhaps provide the glue that keeps the country stitched together.

Follow us on Twitter @CNNOpinion

The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Randa Slim.","Randa Slim says that with the country still stuck in a violent stalemate, one way out is if the protest movement becomes more widespread."
"Brazil's economy is facing a bleak outlook, plagued with increasing inflation, a plunging currency and contracting GDP. The Dow Jones Brazil Index has fallen almost 45 percent in the past year. But one trader says that all those negative factors are actually creating the perfect environment for a significant bounce.

""I think we're going to get another 10, possibly 20 percent bear market rally, of which since 2012 we've had four,"" Larry McDonald, head of U.S. strategy at Societe Generale, said Wednesday on CNBC's ""Trading Nation.""

According to McDonald, economic challenges will force Brazil's central bank to ease its monetary policy, which will prompt a relief rally for Brazilian stocks.

The Brazil central bank decided Wednesday to implement another rate hike, bringing the country's interest rates to a nine-year high. However, the central bank signaled that this would be the end of its tightening cycle.

Read More Brazil opts for steep rate hike, signals end of tightening

""They're going to go into a more accommodating policy, which should be very good for Brazilian stocks,"" McDonald said.

In the past three years, McDonald said the iShares MSCI Brazil ETF (EWZ) has seen several rebounds between 20 and 40 percent, one of which was at the end of the last rate hike cycle.

The EWZ, which tracks Brazilian stocks, fell to 28 this week, hitting lows it hasn't seen since 2005. The ETF is down about 42 percent from a year rallied on Wednesday, gaining about 2 percent.

However, Boris Schlossberg of BK Asset Management said risk is still rampant in Brazil.

""I think Brazil is very serious trouble,"" Schlossberg said Wednesday. ""The only reason to own EWZ is if there is a regime change, and that seems unlikely now.""

Brazil's controversial President Dilma Rousseff is dealing with impeachment calls, low approval ratings and political scandal. Schlossberg said Brazil also faces trouble in commodities and declining market demand from China. Hosting the 2016 Olympics could be another huge fiscal hit to the country, he added.

And if Brazilian stocks rally, Schlossberg said this could be the time to re-establish new short positions.

Incidentally, McDonald agrees with that sentiment.

""Each bear market rally has failed, and we've gone back to retest the lows,"" McDonald said. ""The risk reward right here for the next two months is very good, in terms of your upside vs your downside. But when you get the upside, history has proven, if you didn't sell any of those rallies, you lost money.""","It's been a bumpy ride for Brazil, but one trader says economic challenges could set it up for a rally."
"A 19-year-old man who is in the U.S. illegally has been charged in the brutal and ""almost unimaginable"" murder of three people in Florida, including a pregnant teen.

Brian Omar Hyde, who apparently has a violent history in his native Belize, is accused of killing his 37-year-old aunt Dorla Pitts, her 17-year-old pregnant daughter Starlett Pitts and the girl's 19-year-old boyfriend, Michael Kelly, Jr.

Dorla Pitts' husband told detectives he was on the phone with her when he heard her scream out ""Brian! What happened here? What happened?""

The three bodies were found in a Lehigh Acres home on Tuesday. All three died from ""repeated sharp force trauma to the head and neck,"" the Lee County Sheriff's Office said.

Miraculously, the 18-month-old daughter of the two young victims was found unharmed in the house.

""This was an extremely violent scene, even for us,"" Lt. Matt Sands said during Thursday's press conference. ""All homicide scenes are normally violent, but even for us, this scene was what we consider almost unimaginable.""

Hyde was arrested later Tuesday when he was stopped in nearby Fort Myers for driving his white Range Rover on the wrong side of the road. He was caught driving without a license.

The Range Rover was registered to the same address as the crime scene. ""That's when the first connection was made,"" Lt. Sands said.

Hyde also had blood on his pants and shoes. He was charged with three counts of second-degree murder and one count of killing an unborn child.

Starlett Pitts was six months pregnant when she was killed, authorities said. Michael Kelly's sister, Derquiasha Henderson, told NBC they had been picking baby names recently.

""We were just doing all of that, we were supposed to hang out,"" she told the station.

Hyde sneaked into the U.S. through Texas approximately seven months ago and found a home with his relatives, the Lee County Sheriff's Office said.

He and two other men were suspects in a double murder case in Belize in 2013, NBC reported. Hyde comes from a ""criminal"" family, according to the station. His uncle was reportedly a suspect in two Belize murders.

Michael Kelly's mother told NBC that she was suspicious of Hyde, but accepted him because of his relation to Starlett.

""This could happen to anybody, so be careful who you bring into your house,"" Sherri Flemming told NBC. ""It could be your own family member.""

ON A MOBILE DEVICE? WATCH THE VIDEO HERE","A 19-year-old man in the U.S. illegally has been charged in the ""almost unimaginable"" murders of three people in Florida."
"(Adds details, analyst estimates, shares,)

Aug 12 (Reuters) - News Corp, owner of the Wall Street Journal, reported a better-than-expected quarterly profit as strong growth in its digital real estate services and book publishing business partially offset the weakness in its print business.

Shares of the company, controlled by Rupert Murdoch, rose about 4 percent in extended trading.

News Corp, whose revenue is largely dependent on its newspaper holdings in the United States, Australia and Great Britain, has been diversifying its business.

The company has benefited from strong growth in its digital real estate websites, which include U.S. site Move Inc and its stake in Australian REA Group.

The company had said realtor.com, controlled by Move, surpassed Trulia in the first quarter to become the second most popular real estate listings website in the United States.

The company is also carrying out a major reorganization at its Dow Jones news publishing unit that involves job cuts and a shift to digital media.

Book publishing revenue rose 8 percent to $390 million in the fourth quarter, while revenue from digital real estate services rose 67 percent to $189 million.

Total revenue fell to $2.14 billion from $2.19 billion.

Net loss available to the company's stockholders was $379 million, or 65 cents per share, in the quarter ended June 30, compared with a profit of $12 million, or 2 cents per share, a year earlier.

Excluding items, the company earned 7 cents per share.

The company recorded an impairment charge of $371 million related to its digital education business in the quarter.

Total impairment and restructuring charges were $424 million, compared with $21 million a year earlier.

Analysts on average expected the company to earn 5 cents per share on revenue of $2.19 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

(Reporting by Devika Krishna Kumar in Bengaluru; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty and Don Sebastian)","Aug 12- News Corp, owner of the Wall Street Journal, reported a better-than-expected quarterly profit as strong growth in its digital real estate services and book publishing business partially offset the weakness in its print business. News Corp, whose revenue is largely dependent on its newspaper holdings in the United States, Australia and Great Britain,..."
"It comes just days after the computer systems of another law firm, ACS:Law, were hacked, exposing the names, addresses and credit card details of 8,000 Sky subscribers who were alleged to have infringed copyright laws.

Internet service providers and copyright holders are worried that the ACS:Law data breach could undermine wider antipiracy efforts by the entertainment industry.

“ACS:Law’s actions have undermined the current legal process,” PlusNet told the BBC. “It is in everyone’s interests to restore confidence in this process so that broadband users are safeguarded.

“We are actively reviewing our approach to these disclosure requests to achieve this objective, and this will inform our approach to Monday’s hearing.”

ACS:Law could be fined up to £500,000 by the Information Commissioner’s Office for breaching data security laws.","Law firms will continue to pursue those suspected of piracy and illegal 
  filesharing, despite the ACS:Law data breach scandal."
"Does it violate Massachusetts regulations to have your nails painted in an empty conference room at work?

A startup that dispatches manicurists to offices in Boston and other cities is attracting scrutiny from the Massachusetts board that licenses cosmetologists and nail salons. At issue: whether it’s legal — and fair — for New York-based Manicube to offer manicures outside a licensed nail salon.

In Massachusetts, manicures must be done in a licensed salon as a way of ensuring safe and hygienic conditions. The investigation by the Massachusetts Board of Registration of Cosmetology, prompted by complaints from salon owners, is the latest tussle between regulators and startups taking new approaches to established industries, similar to the ride service Uber in transportation or home-sharing network Airbnb in hospitality.

The people who work for Manicube are licensed manicurists, but they perform manicures in about 50 corporate offices around Boston as a convenience to employees. Sometimes, the $15 manicures are covered by employers as a perk, and sometimes they’re paid for by employees.

In a letter obtained by the Globe, the cosmetology board told Manicube officials that “they are in violation of state regulations” and the board would determine whether to impose fines or take other actions after an investigation. Amie O’Hearn, a spokeswoman for the state Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation, declined to comment.

Founded by two alumnae of Harvard Business School, Manicube launched its services in Boston last fall. The goal was to help working women use their time more efficiently, while also building a salon-type business without real estate and other overhead costs. Companies can invite a manicurist in on a weekly or monthly basis, using free space like a conference room or workout facility. Customers can sign up for Manicube’s services and pay using the company’s website.

Manicube cofounder Elizabeth Whitman said the Massachusetts rules are outdated and, if strictly interpreted, would prevent practices such as a bridal party having hair, makeup, and nails done in a home or hotel before a wedding. Whitman said the company hopes to work with regulators to modernize rules that don’t consider “new, innovative models that perform services outside of a brick-and-mortar salon.”

For instance, rather than sterilizing implements, Whitman said, Manicube’s manicurists use disposable ones.

But salon owners said services such as Manicube’s should have to follow the same rules they do. Among those who filed complaints with the cosmetology board was Conan Owen, co-owner of Virginia-based Relax & Rejuvenate, which offers mobile spa services to hotels in 16 cities nationwide.

Owen said that his company offered manicures at hotels in Boston about a decade ago, but had to stop when the regulators cracked down. “I didn’t know it was illegal,” he said.

Owen said he still gets requests “from private individuals and companies wanting us to do nail services in Boston. And we tell them we can’t.”

Boston salon managers said they devote significant time and money to comply with state regulations on ventilation, tool sterilization, and other measures. They also must undergo regular inspections to ensure salons meet requirements for first aid kits and eye wash stations, said Christine Haddad, the spa and nail director at G20 Spa & Salon in Boston.

“I don’t see how they could regulate that if you are performing manicures in a few dozen different offices around the city,” Haddad said.

Christine Perkins, owner of Pyara Salon in Cambridge, said it’s unfair to have a competitor that doesn’t have to jump through the same hoops. Her business pays more than $30,000 a month to rent its Harvard Square site, she said, and when she moves to a new location nearby next month, she’ll need approval from the cosmetology board to open.

“They’re going to look at my floor plans, the sinks, the utensils I use, and sanitation,” Perkins said.

To a degree, the nail salon controversy echoes the battle between Uber and the taxi industry.

Uber enables people to use a mobile app to request and pay for a ride, relying on a network of drivers using their own cars. Taxi drivers complain that Uber undercuts them because its drivers aren’t subject to the same licensing, rules, and associated costs. Some cities, such as Cambridge, have considered imposing new regulations on ride-sharing services.

In April, Manicube raised $5 million in venture capital, most of it from Bain Capital Ventures, an arm of the Boston investment firm. Scott Friend, a managing director at Bain who led the investment, said in an e-mail that his firm recognized that Manicube’s business model could create conflicts with existing rules, but “that ultimately, regulators will latch onto what matters most — consumer protection based on better hygienic standards and worker protection based on hygiene, work environment, and compensation.”

Two of the three states in which Manicube operates, New York and Illinois, don’t have similar restrictions. But the company’s planned launch in California has attracted the notice of that state’s Board of Barbering and Cosmetology, which said Manicube’s service would be prohibited there.

Helen Peveri, who retired last month as executive director of the Massachusetts cosmetology board, said regulators are considering changes to manicure rules.

“The public wants more services and more availability, like mobile salons for example, and all that is being discussed,” she said.","Under Massachusetts rules, manicures must be done in a licensed salon as a way of ensuring safe and hygenic conditions. Manicube, a New York-based startup that dispatches manicurists to offices, is under scrutiny by regulators."
"Sahar is too weak to move her body, which has black bruise marks all over from being beaten, and the nurses gave her diapers because she can't get to the toilet, Frogh said.

The girl's eyes are bruised and she can't speak. Her hair was also cut short by her in-laws as a punishment after she refused to sleep with other men.

A photograph provided by the Afghan Women's Network shows her asleep in a hospital bed, the bruising on her face obvious and her head bandaged.

The mental trauma she suffered is also affecting her, and is under medication to help her deal with it, Frogh said.

""We've also provided her with a trauma counselor because she is very traumatized and even when I wanted to take her hand, she resisted,"" despite being unconscious, Frogh said.

Because the teenager was beaten and assaulted, she added, ""now she doesn't want anyone to even touch her.""

Last month, authorities in Baghlan said they rescued the girl after hearing reports that she was tortured after she refused to be forced into prostitution. But, they said, they were waiting for her to fully recover to talk to her and learn more.

Sahar was married off to a 30-year-old man about seven months ago. After her parents reported not seeing her for months, police launched their investigation, Baghlan police official Jawid Basharat said at the time.

Meanwhile, Sahar's father-in-law, mother-in-law and sister-in-law have been arrested but her husband -- who Frogh said is thought to be a soldier serving in Helmand province -- has not been caught.

The Women's Network is determined to do its best to ensure she gets the care she needs -- but Frogh warned that her recovery won't be easy.

""She needs proper food, proper care that our government's hospitals don't have, therefore we have been collecting donations to provide to the hospital to buy her good food, clothing and other basic needs,"" she said.

""We also have to think of her shelter once she is back into normal life, which is going to take some months.""

At the same time, the Women's Network has found a lawyer for Sahar and has persuaded the Afghan authorities to move the investigation to Kabul, where there will be less influence from the local community, Frogh said.

It has also contacted the attorney general to appeal for a faster investigation before the girl's in-laws are released from custody.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai has called for the abuse to be ""seriously investigated,"" his office said in a statement Sunday.","A 15-year-old girl allegedly tortured by her in-laws in Afghanistan after she refused to be forced into prostitution is not doing well in hospital, aid workers say.Sahar Gul was rescued by police..."
"I’m not going to speculate on what decision Mike Huckabee will make when he provides “clarity” tonight on his Fox News program about whether or not he will run for president.

But we can do some educated guessing about which other Republican candidates will spend the most time sweating the decision. Mr. Huckabee is the first choice of quite a few Republicans — usually somewhere between 15 and 20 percent when he’s polled — so his choice will have quite a bit of impact upon the field.

Here’s how this is going to work. I’m going to list six characteristics of Mike Huckabee, each one of which has some salience as to the sorts of voters that he’s liable to appeal to. We’ll then see which of the other Republican contenders share this characteristic in common with him. The more like Mr. Huckabee the other candidates are, the more they’ll benefit if he chooses not to run — and the more they’ll be harmed if he does.

1. Mike Huckabee is a social conservative. Although Mr. Huckabee does not always wear his social conservatism on his sleeve, his credentials are not really in question. How many other Republican candidates does this describe? I don’t think I’d get any debate on Rick Santorum, Michele Bachmann, Sarah Palin, or Herman Cain. Tim Pawlenty gets a point in this category — he’s more socially conservative than people realize. Newt Gingrich may be considered hypocritical because of his multiple marriages — but his positions are down-the-line social conservative, so he gets a point. Mitch Daniels, like Mr. Pawlenty, is more conservative on social issues that he’s usually given credit for — but he’s also called for a “truce” on them; we’ll give Mr. Daniels half a point. The other major candidates are either explicitly moderate on some key social issues or, like Mitt Romney and Donald Trump, have held inconsistent positions throughout their careers.

2. Mike Huckabee is an evangelical Protestant. It’s important to distinguish this characteristic from the previous one. Rick Santorum may be extremely socially conservative — but he’s Roman Catholic, and not an evangelical Protestant — and to some religious voters, that makes a difference. The candidates who, as best as I can tell, would consider themselves to be evangelical Protestants are as follows: Michele Bachmann, Herman Cain, Mitch Daniels, Sarah Palin, Ron Paul and Tim Pawlenty. They score a point in this category.

3. Mike Huckabee is a Southerner. This is true of surprisingly few other candidates, given the dominant role the South often plays in shaping the G.O.P.’s electoral coalition. The exceptions are Mr. Cain, Mr. Gingrich, and Mr. Paul.

4. Mike Huckabee is an outsider. This characteristic may be a little harder to define than the others — but that doesn’t make it any less important. In a primary field, candidates often work to differentiate themselves as much by whether they operate from inside or outside the party establishment as by their policy positions. To score this category, we’ll give half a point to every candidate who is not a member of what I call the “Fairfax Five”, which are the candidates who are most lauded by Republican elites in and around Washington, D.C. We’ll also give half a point to each candidate that I classified as an “outsider” when I sorted the candidates by this criterion in February. (On that list, I classified Mr. Pawlenty, Mr. Daniels and Mr. Santorum rate as being somewhere between insiders and outsiders, so we’ll give them a quarter-point for this.)

5. Mike Huckabee runs strongly in Iowa. He won the caucuses in 2008 and leads in almost all polls of it now. If Mr. Huckabee does not run, the candidate who runs a clear second place in the Iowa polls — Mr. Romney — would benefit, possibly opening up the door for him to sweep both Iowa and New Hampshire. Mr. Romney scores a full point. After that, the field in Iowa looks pretty muddy. But I think we can give half a point to the three Midwesterners in the race, who are Ms. Bachmann, Mr. Pawlenty, and Mr. Daniels, who might have some regional advantage in the state. And we can give another half-point to those candidates who have spent the most time in Iowa so far, who are Mr. Cain, Mr. Pawlenty, Ms. Bachmann, Mr. Gingrich and Mr. Santorum.

6. Mike Huckabee is a paid contributor to Fox News. You’ll sometimes hear pundits talk about the “Fox News Primary”, which is the idea that the network, because of its strongly Republican-leaning viewership, has a lot of influence over who the party’s nominee will be. But we can take this one step further — four Republican candidates have been on the network’s payroll at some point or another during this campaign cycle, and may be especially familiar to those viewers. In addition to Mr. Huckabee, they are Ms. Palin, Mr. Santorum, and Mr. Gingrich, the latter two of whom no longer appear as Fox News contributors now that their intentions to run for president have become clear.

If we add up the points across all six categories, the clubhouse leader, with 4.5 points, is Herman Cain of Georgia, the radio talk show host and entrepreneur who is beginning to get more attention lately. He’s the most Huckabee-like of the other Republican candidates. Closely behind him, with 4 points each, are Sarah Palin, Newt Gingrich, and Michele Bachmann. Mr. Pawlenty, Mr. Santorum and (somewhat to my surprise) Mr. Paul also score reasonably well.

Other candidates, however, share little in common with Mr. Huckabee. Jon Huntsman of Utah might be closest to his opposite number — socially moderate rather than socially conservative, Mormon rather than evangelical Protestant, rarely seen in the cornfields of Iowa or on the airwaves of Fox News. Mr. Romney doesn’t share much in common with Mr. Huckabee — although his not having to compete against Mr. Huckabee in Iowa would be a big deal. Donald Trump and Mr. Huckabee don’t have much in common.

That isn’t to say that a candidate like Mr. Huntsman would prefer that Mr. Huckabee enter the race. Unless one of your opponents splits the vote in an extremely fortuitous way with his rivals, you’d almost always rather that he stay on the sidelines.

But common sense and our little exercise here would dictate that Ms. Palin, Mr. Cain, Mr. Gingrich and Ms. Bachmann would be in the strongest position to fill the hole created by Mr. Huckabee’s exit from the race, while Mr. Pawlenty and Mr. Santorum would also have some opportunities to exploit.",Some educated guessing about which Republican candidates will sweating Mike Huckabee's decision.
"Sim Chi Yin/VII Mentor, for The New York Times

Wilson Chandler has learned to embrace his time in China, including the demands of media and fans, while the N.B.A. goes on without him. He has been playing as a forward for the Zhejiang Lions.

Wilson Chandler was about six weeks into China, and having mostly acclimated to his strange new life, he wanted a tat. But even at 6-foot-8, Chandler had little available real estate — he already had approximately 100 tattoos, including a tribute inked across his neck to his grandmother Olivia, who raised him in Michigan, which is memorialized on his forearm, not far from the gothic lettering of his nickname, Thrill, stripped across his bicep. So the Chinese tattoo artist had to search before he found a space near Chandler’s left elbow. There he slowly etched “Qian De Le,” the Mandarin rendering of Chandler’s name, into his skin. A few mildly painful minutes later, China was indelibly stamped onto Chandler.

How Kenyon Martin beat the China trap.

Chandler has had six new tattoos done while in China, including the Mandarin rendering of his name, ""Qian De Le,"" above his left elbow.

It is a souvenir from Chandler’s unlikely Chinese adventure. He has visited the Great Wall and the Forbidden City in Beijing, ridden the bullet train to Shanghai and begun his own Chinese microblog (a version of Twitter, with Chinese censors) while playing forward for the Zhejiang Lions of the Chinese Basketball Association in the eastern city of Hangzhou. Had this been a normal year, Chandler, 24, a restricted free agent and rising star with the Denver Nuggets, would have most likely spent last summer considering lucrative offers from the Nuggets and other teams in the National Basketball Association. But because of the N.B.A. lockout, and the prospect of losing an entire N.B.A. season, Chandler bolted overseas in September, among the first of several players to sign in China. Then in November, earlier than many anticipated, the lockout ended. Players who signed in Europe or elsewhere opted out of their contracts and returned, like swallows, to the familiarity and multiyear contracts of the N.B.A.

Not Chandler. If the Turkish league or the Spanish league was content to rent N.B.A. players for a few months, the Chinese league most definitely was not. China had demanded its own indelible stamp from the foreign players: a signature on a binding contract that forbade them to return to the N.B.A. before the end of the Chinese season, no matter what. They were trapped.

“I made a decision,” Chandler told me when I visited him in Hangzhou in the middle of December. “You make a decision, you live with it.” The C.B.A. regular season ends on Feb. 15, but because the Zhejiang Lions are likely headed to the playoffs, Chandler’s exile will probably last a few more weeks after that.

If Chandler is frustrated by his predicament, Commissioner David Stern can probably sympathize. Stern and the N.B.A. are confronting their own China trap, having misjudged what, for now, is possible there. Not too long ago, the N.B.A. had visions of empire: it formed a Chinese subsidiary, N.B.A. China, and made plans for an N.B.A. league in the country, complete with state-of-the-art arenas and retail N.B.A. stores selling licensed merchandise.

What made all this seem possible, even logical, was that the Chinese league was kind of a joke. I saw this firsthand when I spent the 2008-9 season following the Shanxi Brave Dragons, a team owned by an eccentric Chinese steel baron. The C.B.A. fervently wanted to emulate the N.B.A., but it was more like a crazy carnival instead. The refereeing was often shady, the coaching at best mediocre and the level of play sometimes downright awful. Even though basketball was one of China’s most popular sports, several teams struggled to attract more than a few thousand fans. The N.B.A. was far more popular, with higher television ratings and a huge fan base crazy about Kobe Bryant and other stars. The N.B.A. also had Yao Ming, the Chinese center who became an All-Star with the Houston Rockets and was so popular in China that domestic television ratings doubled and tripled for Rockets games.

Those advantages are now fading. Unable to overcome injuries, Yao retired from the N.B.A. after last season and is a part of the C.B.A. as the owner and public face of its team in Shanghai. Television ratings for the Chinese league have jumped, partly because of the added star appeal of exiled N.B.A. players like Chandler, while ratings for the N.B.A. have declined since Yao’s peak years. The C.B.A. has also received a boost from its most surprising star, Stephon Marbury, who has proved unexpectedly adroit at public relations in China after his tumultuous time in the N.B.A. Perhaps the N.B.A.’s biggest challenge of all is that the C.B.A. is part of the Chinese government, under the control of the ruling Communist Party.","China loves basketball. But as American players — and the N.B.A. itself — have discovered, the country has its own rules."
"Philadelphia Eagles coach Andy Reid declined to rule out QB Kevin Kolb, who suffered a concussion on Sunday, for the team's Week 2 game against the Detroit Lions.

Reid said Kolb won't be able to practice until at least Friday, when NFL-mandated guidelines for concussions call for the third in a series of tests for Kolb and LB Stewart Bradley, who also suffered a concussion in a loss to the Green Bay Packers.

But Reid said he does not envision a QB controversy developing between Kolb and Michael Vick, who played well in relief on Sunday.

""Kevin Kolb is the No. 1 quarterback,"" Reid said.

Kolb and Bradley failed the first in the series of concussions tests on Monday, Reid said. The team sent the players home after to rest.

Vick said Sunday night that he would still like to be a starter in the NFL.

-- Sean LeahyHat tip: CSN Philly

To report corrections and clarifications, contact Standards Editor

. For publication consideration in the newspaper, send comments to

. Include name, phone number, city and state for verification. To view our corrections, go to",Andy Reid: There is no QB controvsersy for Philadelphia Eagles - The Huddle: Football News from the NFL - USATODAY.com
"At the same time, however, the company can also be saddled with a list of striking failures, missteps that would have doomed lesser firms. McKinsey consultants were on the scene when General Motors drove itself into the ground. They were Kmart's advisers when the retailer tumbled into disarray. They pushed Swissair in a direction that led to its collapse. They played a critical role in building the bomb known as Enron and collected massive fees right up until the moment of its spectacular explosion. And these are just the clients unlucky enough to have had their woes splashed across headlines. Many more have paid handsomely for guidance that shortchanged shareholders, led to unnecessary layoffs, and even prompted bankruptcies. And yet the consultants are rarely blamed for their bad advice—at least not publicly so.

Remarkably, that pervasive influence has come even though McKinsey contains more contradictions than the Bible. The firm is well known, but there is almost nothing known about it. Precious few McKinsey employees have ever become acclaimed in the outside world. The employees are trusted and distrusted—and loved and despised—in equal measure. They are a collection of huge egos that are yet content to stay behind the scenes. They are confident but also paranoid. And they are helpful yet manipulative with their clientele—and even their own people. What do they actually do? They are managerial experts, cost cutters, scapegoats, and catalysts for corporate change. They are the businessman's businessmen. They are the corporate Mandarin elite, a private corps, far from prying eyes, doing behind-the-scenes work for the most powerful people in the world. How do they do it? Well, their methods have been compared (by others and by themselves) to the Jesuits, the U.S. Marines, and the Catholic Church. They feel so strongly about themselves that they have insisted on a proper noun where one need not exist. To an outsider, they are a consulting firm.To themselves, simply, The Firm.

But the McKinsey story is even more than all of that. It's also about the rise and reach of American business in the twentieth century—and its remarkable adaptability to changing times. American capitalism may be under stress now, but modern American management technique—which McKinsey has played a part in both creating and disseminating—has distinguished itself as much by its innovative ability as by its sheer might. Today McKinsey is a global success story. But first it was a distinctly American one.

—Duff McDonald is a contributing editor at Fortune and the New York Observer.","In his new book, financial journalist Duff McDonald provides an intimate and incisive behind-the-scenes history and analysis of this enigmatic firm."
"A commencement address is just that — an address. It travels in a single line, from the person on the podium to the masses baking in the sun. That may be fine for your typical speaker, an alumna who has become a senior vice president or mid-level public official. But when it comes to lightning-rod speakers such as former secretary of state Condoleezza Rice or the anti-Islam women’s rights activist Ayaan Hirsi Ali — figures who inspire passionate disagreement — a speech from on high leaves students feeling slighted and voiceless. Short of heckling or walking out, hollering until the speaker backs out is one of the only ways to express disapproval.

In a world where even airlines tweet enthusiastic apologies to disgruntled customers, why do our universities cling to a form of communication that can trace its lineage to the Sermon on the Mount?

I do not advocate that we eliminate these addresses. (Among other things, they provide speechwriters like me with a steady income.) Nor would I suggest avoiding controversial speakers and turning commencement into an event of all pomp and no substance.

Instead, imagine what might happen if universities invited controversial speakers to teach a pre-commencement seminar before their big addresses. Gather a cross section of the student body — activists, artists, football players — in an auditorium, hand out a couple of microphones, and let them have at it. After all, if a speaker is to receive an honorary degree, shouldn’t he or she at least participate in a single honorary seminar?

Rutgers University’s antiwar activists could ask Rice why she ginned up support for a preemptive war, despite precious little intelligence suggesting that the next smoking gun would be a mushroom cloud. Instead of protesting her speech, they could ask her face to face: Why do you continue to defend the George W. Bush administration’s torture of detainees?

Similarly, I think that Hirsi Ali, who has attacked Islam as “a destructive, nihilistic cult of death ,” and the Brandeis University student who called those views “pure hate speech” would benefit from hearing about each other’s divergent experiences with Islam. And I imagine Christine Lagarde, the first woman to head the International Monetary Fund, would have quite a response to the young women at Smith College protesting her for leading a historically “imperialist and patriarchal” institution. Ditto Robert Birgeneau, an outspoken liberal and former chancellor of the University of California at Berkeley, whom students at Haverford College deemed responsible for police mistreatment of Berkeley Occupy protesters.

By entering the lion’s den, the speakers would establish what speechwriters call a “handshake” — creating a connection with detractors by acknowledging their concerns. Such a move would show that the speakers respect the students and their views. It would recognize that even those in positions of authority are not above fielding questions about themselves and their actions. Most important, it would honor the purpose of a university education — to train students to listen to competing arguments, marshal their own and ultimately, perhaps, agree to disagree.

Moreover, this exchange would yield better commencement speeches. Some of the best commencements are ones whose speakers — face to face or via e-mail — solicit student input about themselves and how they view the world they’ll be entering. A pre-commencement seminar could serve as both focus group and discussion about the controversy at hand. If “The Matrix” is right that “you do not truly know someone until you fight them,” by the same token, speakers should get to know students before pronouncing them incredible, good-looking and the future of the human race. After debating them, such praise might feel more sincere.

A brief dialogue wouldn’t solve everything. But at a minimum, it would offer a practical outlet for student criticism and reaffirm the value of the degrees they’ll soon receive. It says to the students: “Like it or not, you still have something to learn — and to teach.”

At my own college commencement three years ago, as I and my 5,000 fellow almost-graduates listlessly listened to then-Mexican President Felipe Calderón, all I could focus on was the small plane circling counterclockwise above the stadium. The bright yellow banner streaming behind it read: “40,000 DEAD! HOW MANY MORE?”

It was a protest of Calderón’s drug-war policies, though that wasn’t clear at the time. I didn’t know who was upset or why, and I didn’t know what Calderón thought about their arguments. All I saw was a world leader — gamely but vainly trying to reach a few thousand students — and the block capitals billowing above him.

Read more from Outlook, friend us on Facebook, and follow us on Twitter.","Instead of forcing speakers out, students should debate them."
"Before you go, we thought you'd like these...

Kate Middleton's style for less

Pale peach makes Kate’s form-fitting lace dress a demure ensemble appropriate for a reception in honor of the Queen. We plan to wear this look-alike from Sequin Hearts to impress on date night!

Get it now: Sequin Hearts lace illusion dress, $69 at dillards.com

Photo Credit: Getty Images (Courtesy: iVillage)

I Can See Your Halo

The Duchess’s whopping sapphire engagement ring may be out of reach to us mere mortals, but we can get surprisingly close to wearing her matching earrings with these halo-style stunners from Emitations.

Get it now: Emitations ‘Tawana’s’ Oval Stud Sapphire Earrings,’ $39 at emitations.com

Photo Credit: Getty Images (Courtesy: iVillage)

Leave it to Kate to find the most demure version of this season’s hot skater dress silhouette: Sweet, swingy and the perfect shade of pale pink! Our pick from ASOS has the same dusty hue and soft, flattering pleats.

Get it now: ASOS skater dress with cap sleeves, $24.86 at asos.com

Photo Credit: Getty Images (Courtesy: iVillage)

Here’s a smart way to bring summer dresses into fall -- top ‘em with a tailored navy blazer, one of Kate’s go-to pieces!

Get it now: Topshop ponte blazer, $70 at topshop.com

Photo Credit: Getty Images (Courtesy: iVillage)

Black accents up the polish of Kate’s little red jacket, which she wore on a trip to her alma mater St Andrews. We found a similar style for under $30; add your own skinny black belt and slim turtleneck to complete the look.

Get it now: Forever 21 ‘Classic Jacket,’ $27.80 at forever21.com

Photo Credit: Getty Images (Courtesy: iVillage)

Owning a pair of Wellies is practically a requirement of being British! That said, we love this olive green pair from American brand Western Chief just as much as Kate’s Hunters -- and at less than half the price!

Get it now: Western Chief solid rainboot, $32.99 at 6pm.com

Photo Credit: Getty Images (Courtesy: iVillage)

One of Kate’s most talked-about “re-wears,” her sailor-inspired McQueen dress looked as lovely at Wimbledon as it did on a trip to Canada. Try the nautical trend for yourself with this cute dress from ModCloth.

Get it now: Modcloth ‘Cast A-line’ dress, $89.99 at modcloth.com

Photo Credit: Getty Images (Courtesy: iVillage)

While most of us don’t rely on coatdresses too often, this chic shade of pale yellow is a welcome addition to any wardrobe. Modcloth’s double-breasted dress, for example, works with everything from prim heels to casual boots and a denim jacket.

Get it now: ModCloth ‘The Necessity of Style’ dress, $64.99 at modcloth.com

Photo Credit: Getty Images (Courtesy: iVillage)

Kate’s jewelry is always classic, fresh and effortless. Her long multi-ring necklace is a prime example -- especially when worn against the clean background of a solid dress or tee.

Get it now: Technibond oval gemstone circle drop necklace, $41.93 at hsn.com

Photo Credit: Getty Images (Courtesy: iVillage)

At a pre-Olympic event, Kate hit the mats in a gray-and-white dress from British brand Hobbs. Our version is just as breezy and easy!

Get it now: M.S.S.P plaid empire dress, $44.80 at dillards.com

Photo Credit: Getty Images (Courtesy: iVillage)

Rainy weather didn't stop the future queen from turning out to the UK premiere of African Cats. Accompanied by her royal husband, Kate wore a dove gray Matthew Williamson frock with green embellishments on the collar and sleeves.

Looking for a demure sheath like Kate's? Try this Calvin Klein dress ($118 at nordstrom.com). Pop on a big statement necklace or add chunky, bright bangles to your wrists to mirror the duchess's signature style.

Photo Credit: Getty Images (Courtesy: iVillage)

While William is away on military assignment for several weeks, the future queen-in-training has made several solo public appearances, including her first official public speech at a children’s hospice in Ipswich, England. The philanthropic brunette donned a long-sleeved blue dress with a flirty hem above the knee.

Scoping out a royal blue dress to match this royal? Try this Lauren by Ralph Lauren jersey sheath ($134 at nordstrom.com) Pair it with a wide black belt and matching pumps to emulate the duchess.

Click here to see Kate Middleton’s most stylish moments!

Photo Credit: Getty Images (Courtesy: iVillage)

Kate did not disappoint in her chic jade Emilia Wickstead coat dress for a visit to the Irish Guards. Emulating another look during her Canadian tour, Kate donned a gold shamrock brooch, once worn by the Queen Mother herself.

For a sleeveless version, we love this deep jade Laviniaturra dress ($158 at yoox.com). Pair with a simple blazer for an easy day-to-night look.

Click here to see Kate Middleton’s most stylish moments!

Photo Credit: Getty Images (Courtesy: iVillage)

Middleton shows off her casual side for a visit to London’s Olympic Park and a meet-and-greet with the women’s hockey team. Before dressing down to tennis shoes and a sweatshirt, Kate sported one of her go-to cropped blazers and impressed in ankle-length peach skinnies.

To emulate Kate, ditch the dresses and pumps for black flats and these Levi’s high rise ankle jeans ($68 at piperlime.com). Toss on a silk scarf and you’ll be ready to conquer spring!

Click here to see Kate Middleton’s most stylish moments!

Photo Credit: Getty Images (Courtesy: iVillage)

Kate attended a Gary Barlow benefit concert in the South Kensington, London while wearing a Zara lace dress and chic cropped blazer. Although she's been seen in many a blazer, the three-quarter length sleeves really make this dark jacket stand out from the rest.

Looking for a cropped blazer similar to Kate's? Try this Mango jacket (on sale for $54.99 at Mango.com). Pair it with a slimming cocktail dress for evenings out.

Photo Credit: Getty Images (Courtesy: iVillage)

Swapping out her casual blazers and dark jeans, Kate turned heads with a glamorous purple dress -- cinched at the waist to show off her figure. Kate takes the simple frock to the next level with a diamond maple leaf brooch that was also worn by none other than the Queen herself.

For a similar style, try this Christin Michaels Noelle Wrap Dress ($89 at Zappos.com). Don't have a diamond maple leaf brooch lying around? A chunky statement necklace will kick the frock up a notch.

Photo Credit: Getty Images (Courtesy: iVillage)

For a visit to the Americas, the Duchess of Cambridge donned a stylish fitted Smythe navy blazer with cropped, dark J Brand jeans.

Want a jacket to rival Kate's best? Try this Asos Boyfriend Blazer ($99.99 at asos.com). Pair it with your best pair of cropped denim and wedges to replicate the duchess's casual look.

Photo Credit: Getty Images (Courtesy: iVillage)

The Duchess of Cambridge found this Diane von Furstenberg green silk dress so fetching that she wore it twice: First at an event in Los Angeles and then again at a yacht party during Zara Phillips’s wedding festivities.

For a similar style you’re guaranteed to wear more than once, check out Alice by Temperley’s ‘Alisha’ dress ($126 at theoutnet.com).

Photo Credit: Getty Images (Courtesy: iVillage)

During their tour of the northern Canadian city Yellowknife the newlyweds took time out from their busy itinerary for a romantic canoe ride to ‘Honeymoon Island.’ Kate dressed down for the jaunt, looking effortlessly chic by pairing her trademark J Brand jeans with a classic tan button down.

Get Kate’s style by wearing your own skinny jeans with Quiksilver’s QSW shirt ($74 at quiksilver.com).

Photo Credit: Getty Images (Courtesy: iVillage)

The Duchess of Cambridge looked summery and sophisticated in this Joseph dress while greeting fans outside Quebec’s City Hall, where the couple attended a ceremony honoring Canada's Royal 22nd Regiment.

Get her look for a fraction of the price with T Tahari’s ‘Julia’ dress ($70.80 at dillards.com).

Click here to see Kate Middleton’s most stylish moments!

Photo Credit: Landov (Courtesy: iVillage)

Kate Middleton looked flawless in the navy and white ensemble that she wore while visiting kids at Inner-City Arts in Los Angeles. Not the types to sit on the sidelines, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge even took part in a children’s painting class, where the down-to-earth princess just threw an apron over the look and joined the fun.

Steal Kate’s style by pairing a navy top with Trina Turk’s ‘Shaye’ pleated skirt ($99.20 at trinaturk.com).

Photo Credit: Getty Images (Courtesy: iVillage)

When Prince William and Kate Middleton visited northern Ireland, the bride-to-be was spotted in a very ladylike trench. We love the piping!

Like the look? Try this Eyelet Trench Coat ($149 at Bebe) for rainy days.

Photo Credit: Getty Images (Courtesy: iVillage)

Not many can pull off a fascinator, but Kate Middleton is the exception. She wore the fun accessory during a visit to the Trearddur Bay RNLI Lifeboat Station.

Daring enough to try the intimidating headwear? Go with the ASOS Sinamay Pill Box Fascinator with Arrow ($44.83 at ASOS).

Photo Credit: Getty Images (Courtesy: iVillage)

We love red on Kate Middleton. During a trip to the University of Saint Andrews she wore the vibrant color that really complimented her tone and style.

Think red will also look good on you? Try this Soho Jacket ($67 at Boden USA). Wear it with a matching skirt just like Kate or with a pair of black pencil pants.

Photo Credit: Getty Images (Courtesy: iVillage)

Kate Middleton wore Reiss' ""Nanette"" dress (from last season) for the official engagement photos. Although the dress goes for about $284 and will be available this month as part of the Reiss spring/summer 2011 collection, you might want an even cheaper version of the look.

Consider the Patrizia Pepe Shoulder Pad Fitted Dress ($101.72 at ASOS). Top the number off with a white cropped sweater, and you've got the look!

Photo Credit: Getty Images (Courtesy: iVillage)

There's no question, the LBB (as in, little black blazer) is this season's must-have. Take the trend up a notch like Kate Middleton by trying a different fabric than the usual -- velvet.

Like the look? We think the Daisy Fuentes Velvet Blazer ($24 at Kohl's) looks just like hers!

Photo Credit: Bauer Griffin (Courtesy: iVillage)

Kate Middleton attended a Christmas reception in England with fiance Prince William wearing a white and black block dress and tuxedo jacket.

We love the style so much, we went on a hunt for something similar. Like it, too? Try the Two-Tone Ponte Dress ($99 at Last Call by Neiman Marcus). Don't forget to pair it with a black blazer.

Photo Credit: Getty Images (Courtesy: iVillage)

We can't get enough of Kate Middleton's classic, easy style. During a night out on the town, she styled herself casual with a beige pashmina and cute riding boots.

We think this Journee Collection Paisly Print Faux Pashmina Scarf ($19.99 at Target) looks just like hers! It's the ultimate cold-weather staple!

Photo Credit: Bauer Griffin (Courtesy: iVillage)

Kate Middleton has been known to sport riding boots with light jackets and skinny jeans. You could say it's her signature style.

To get the look, wear these Paris Blues Stretch Black Slub Skinny Jeans ($15 at 15DollarStore.com) with any light jacket and flat boots in your closet.

Photo Credit: Bauer Griffin (Courtesy: iVillage)

This Kate Middleton ensemble is ready for a party. Even though New Year's celebrations have passed, this special-occasion outfit will never go out of style.

For the look for less, go with the Sequin Mesh Top Dress ($34.50 at Charlotte Russe). Wear it with flat suede boots with minimal accessories to keep the look classy.

Photo Credit: Bauer Griffin (Courtesy: iVillage)

Click through the gallery to find out how you can get the stylish royal's best looks, for less!

More from iVillage: Michelle Obama Style for Less Denim Finds Under $50 Handbags for Fall Coat Trends: Fall's 25 Most-Wanted Toppers

Photo Credit: Chris Jackson/Getty Images Entertainment",Kate Middleton has made her first year as a royal a stylish one! Get the Duche  of Cambridge's best look
"L-R: Susan Spencer, Richard Schlesinger, Maureen Maher, Erin Moriarty, Troy Roberts, Peter Van Sant CBS

L-R: Susan Spencer, Richard Schlesinger, Maureen Maher, Erin Moriarty, Troy Roberts, Peter Van Sant

Program Facts | Contact Us | Tapes and Transcripts

""48 Hours"" is television's most popular true-crime series, investigating shocking cases and compelling real-life dramas with journalistic integrity and cutting-edge style.

PROGRAM FACTS:""48 Hours""' in-depth approach has earned the program and its teams numerous awards including three Peabodys, 20 Emmys, five RTNDA Edward R. Murrow Awards and an Alfred I. duPont-Columbia Award. The 2014-15 season - our 27th - began on Saturday, Sept. 27, 2014.

***DVR USER ALERT***: Our show name now is simply ""48 Hours"". If you use a series or season pass on your DVR, you may need to reset so you don't miss a mystery!

WHO WE ARE:Senior Executive Producer:Susan Zirinsky Correspondents:Erin MoriartyTroy RobertsSusan SpencerPeter Van SantRichard SchlesingerMaureen MaherDirector: Rob KlugExecutive Editor:Al BrigantiSenior Story Editors:Kathleen O'ConnellNancy KramerSenior Broadcast ProducerAnthony BatsonSenior Producers: Peter SchweitzerJudy Tygard Senior Coordinating Producer: Suzy AllenCONTACT US: ""48 Hours""524 West 57th St.New York, NY 10019E-MAIL: 48hours@cbsnews.comPHONE: (212) 975-3247 E-ALERT: Sign up for our weekly e-mailON DEMAND: Want to read or watch a show again? Full episodes and web extras are available online at CBSNews.com/48hoursiPad: ""48 Hours"" is available on your iPad. Download now.iTunes: Download your favorite showsGET SOCIAL: Follow ""48 Hours"" on Facebook and Twitter #48hoursDVDs & TRANSCRIPTS: CBS News Archives: footage@cbsnews.com | 212-975-6441(Transcripts are not available online.)

© 2014 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.",Learn more about television's most popular true-crime series
"The Olympics have always been the most powerful creator of athletic household names. The World Cup and Super Bowl are in the same category. Television builds the athlete's back story, and millions of viewers who don't follow these sports normally are caught up in the drama and pageantry. The audience transcends hardcore fans and creates household names. The athletes are young and fresh-faced and generally display the best in fundamental values. National pride is a heavy factor in attracting a huge audience. Athletes who perform well in critical situations and have an interesting story are catapulted post-games into a celebrity-making machine of talk shows and print press.

Athletes and their agents prepare an endorsement profile far in advance of the Games. They are in contact with corporations and sponsors that might want to feature the athlete in advertising done during the Games or after. Marketing decks and presentations extolling individual athletes sit in the hands of key executives. Sometimes an unexpected athlete grabs center stage, as did gymnast Kerri Strug in 1996. We had to move rapidly to strategize how to keep her profile high as the games faded in memory.

Here are U.S. athletes with the best chance to star-build in the Rio Olympics:

Talented and rugged, and he's from Newport Beach.

9) U.S. Men's Basketball Team

Too many superstars to list. These are pros, and the competitions are one-sided. The fact they are representing the country shows character and will enhance an already endorsement-laden group.

8) Allyson Felix And LeShawn Merritt: Track

Felix is the best known face in women's track and has an interesting story. Merritt has a chance to win two gold medals. Men's track and field is traditionally an American stronghold, but individual stars have yet to emerge.

7) Nathan Adrian And Caeleb Dressel, Swimming:

The next generation of talented men's swimmers have a chance to emerge. In photo above, Adrian and Dressel flank Ryan Held and Michael Phelps after winning goal in freestyle relay.

6) Gabby Douglas, Aly Raisman And Laurie Hernandez: Gymnastics

These women all have interesting stories, and their enthusiasm and camaraderie jump off the television screen. America will fall in love with these young superstars.

5) Kerri Walsh-Jennings And April Ross: Beach Volleyball

Kerri Walsh has a new partner in April Ross, and their pairing is dynamic.

4) Carli Lloyd, Alex Morgan And Christen Press: Soccer

The U.S. team may win gold, and these three women are telegenic and talented. Here is Press practicing yoga.

The all-time medals winner in Olympic history is back, and he's closing out his career in spectacular fashion. He went through tough times and has bounced back. Under Armour, Subway, Visa, Power Bar, AT&T Wireless, and Speedo are a few of his deals.

Another familiar face who may dominate the pool events. Charming and likable.

The women's team dominated the competition, and this pretty, charismatic star may win the gold for individual all-around. She has deals with Nike, Core Power and GK Elite Sportswear, and will have many more.

NBC Sports and the way in which it showcases stars and competitions is the major factor in the development of post-Olympic stars. Some stars not listed above will undoubtedly end up taking center stage during these two weeks.

-- Leigh Steinberg has represented many of the most successful athletes and coaches in football, basketball, baseball, hockey, boxing and golf, including the first overall pick in the NFL draft an unprecedented eight times, among more than 60 first-round selections. His clients have included Hall of Fame quarterbacks Steve Young, Troy Aikman and Warren Moon, and he served as the inspiration for the movie ""Jerry Maguire."" Follow him on Twitter @leighsteinberg.

More Leigh Steinberg: -- Breaking Down Decision To Bring Super Bowl Back To L.A. -- 12 Essential Steps of Win-Win Negotiations -- Why Football Will Be Better With Less Contact At Practice

Alex Morgan, Allyson Felix, Aly Raisman, April Ross, Caeleb Dressel, Carli Lloyd, christen press, Gabby Douglas, Katie Ledecky, Kerri Walsh, Kerri Walsh Jennings, Laurie Hernandez, Leigh Steinberg, LeShawn Merritt, Michael Phelps, Nathan Adrian, Olympics, Sam Mikulak, Simone Biles","Top 10 Most Marketable U.S. Olympians: There are some familiar names like Michael Phelps, but there are others ready to make an impact in Rio."
"If you look for love on Tinder, the person you are least likely to fancy is yourself, new research out of the US suggests.

Psychologists found that both men and women who turn to the popular dating app tend to have a poorer self image than non-users.

They were less satisfied with their bodies and appearance, a study showed.

In addition, men alone who used Tinder appeared to have generally lower levels of self esteem.

Tinder, which has a reported 50 million active users worldwide, allows people to ""like"" or ""pass"" members of the opposite sex with a right or left swipe of their smart phones.

If two users ""like"" each other, they are ""matched"" and can begin communicating.

Scientists asked 1,044 women and 273 men - mostly university students - to complete questionnaires detailing their use of Tinder.

They were also quizzed about their body image, socio-cultural factors, perceived objectification and psychological well-being.

Around 10 per cent of participants said they had used the dating app. While both male and female users reported less satisfaction with their bodies and looks compared with non-users, only men had lower levels of self esteem.

""We found that being actively involved with Tinder, regardless of the user's gender, was associated with body dissatisfaction, body shame, body monitoring, internalisation of societal expectations of beauty, comparing oneself physically to others, and reliance on media for information on appearance and attractiveness,"" said Dr Jessica Strubel, from the University of North Texas, US, who co-led the research.

Because of the way the app works, Tinder users were at risk of feeling ""depersonalised and disposable"", said Dr Strubel.

While feeling insecure themselves, they were also tempted to believe something better might turn up with the next swipe of the screen.

The study focused primarily on women, hence the larger number of women participants. But the results showed that men were just as negatively affected by Tinder as women, if not more so, said the researchers.

""Although current body image interventions primarily have been directed toward women, our findings suggest that men are equally and negatively affected by their involvement in social media,"" Dr Strubel added.

More research is needed to investigate the long-term psychological effects of social media platforms such as Tinder, she said.

The findings were presented at the American Psychological Association's annual meeting in Denver.","Tinder users have worse self-image than those who don't use dating app, a US study has found."
"To follow up her performance of Nelly’s “Dilemma” on Thursday night’s Lip Sync Battle, Olivia Munn pulled out the big guns. As in, she literally carried around a big gun for her recreation of Taylor Swift’s “Bad Blood.”

Read More: Watch Beyoncé Join Channing Tatum in Epic Lip Sync Battle

The 35-year-old X-Men: Apocalypse actress competed against Kevin Hart on the latest episode of the hit Spike show and pulled out a big win against the comedian. While Hart’s rendition of Onyx’s “Slam” was a crowd-pleaser, Munn’s decision to bring out her very own T-Swift-esque squad — WWE wrestler Big Show, Chanel Iman, Charlotte McKinney and Jaime King — ultimately landed her on top.

Watch the full battle above.",She even brought her own squad as backup
"At 4 p.m. ET (1 p.m. PT) tomorrow, Jan. 12, streaming live exclusively on Mashable, Klout founder Joe Fernandez will be answering questions from readers. As part of the Young Entrepreneur Council’s new program called YEC Global, Fernandez will be answering questions live via video chat broadcast exclusively on this site.

Joe Fernandez is the Founder and CEO of Klout. While his jaw was wired shut for nearly three months after surgery, Joe began to develop a deep fascination with the evolution of influence on the social web. The way individuals could instantly broadcast questions, opinions, and ideas to their trusted network sparked his curiosity. In 2008, Joe started Klout in an effort to help businesses understand this individual user impact and provide context around who a person influences and what topics he or she is particularly influential in. Klout is currently the standard for influence on the social web. Joe grew up in Las Vegas and attended the University of Miami and Oxford University.

YEC Global is an international mentorship program of the Young Entrepreneur Council, an invite-only non-profit comprised of promising young entrepreneurs. Its goal is to promote and support young entrepreneurs around the world, as well as foster the thriving global entrepreneurial ecosystem by sending delegations to various countries around the world to lead in-person, peer-to-peer mentorship programs, creative sessions, panel discussions and business competitions. The program also offers one-to-two week internships at YEC member-owned companies.

Check Mashable tomorrow afternoon at 4 p.m. ET (1 p.m. PT) where Fernandez will be answering questions from the audience live via video chat.

You can also sign up for an email reminder of the chat by visiting this registration page.","Joe Fernandez, founder and CEO of Klout, will be answering your questions about social media on Thursday, Jan. 12 at 4 p.m. ET. Join us!"
"Updated: Wednesday, November 18, 2015, 7:25 PM

A teacher from a French Jewish school was stabbed by three Islamic State supporters who shouted anti-Semitic slurs during the assault in Marseille Wednesday night, officials said.

The attackers, one of whom displayed an ISIS T-shirt, rode up on the kippa-clad man on two scooters and stabbed him in the street near the school and a synagogue around 8 p.m. local time, police prefect Laurent Nunez told Agence France-Presse. The history and geography teacher’s injuries aren’t life-threatening, but the three suspects were still at large Wednesday.

FULL COVERAGE: LATEST NEWS ON THE PARIS TERROR ATTACKS

Another one of the assailants forced the 57-year-old victim to look at a cellphone picture of Mohamed Merah, a homegrown terrorist who killed seven people in a 2012 attack targeting a different Jewish school in southern France, Marseille public prosecutor Brice Robin said.

""The three people insulted, threatened and then stabbed their victim in the arm and leg. They were interrupted by the arrival of a car and fled,"" Robin said.

POLICE DOG DIES IN RAID THAT KILLED PARIS ATTACKS MASTERMIND

The UEJF Jewish students' union called on police to use all means to catch the attackers and said in a statement that the teacher had suffered three knife wounds. A rabbi elsewhere in France's second largest city was attacked several weeks ago.

Michele Teboul, the regional president of the Jewish group CRIF, told AFP she's ""worried"" about further attacks in the area.

""I'm very shocked. because this is the second incident of its kind in a very short time,"" Teboul said.

Wednesday night's stabbing follows the ISIS-linked terror attacks in Paris on Friday that killed at least 129 people. La Belle Equipe café, where 19 people died, has a Jewish majority owner.","A teacher from a French Jewish school was stabbed by three Islamic State supporters Wednesday night, officials said."
"The power of a still image

The power of a still image

The power of a still image

The power of a still image

The power of a still image

The power of a still image

The power of a still image

The power of a still image

The power of a still image

The power of a still image

The power of a still image

The power of a still image

The power of a still image

Editor's note: CNN contributor Bob Greene is a best-selling author whose books include ""Late Edition: A Love Story"" and ""Once Upon a Town: The Miracle of the North Platte Canteen.""

(CNN) -- Winston Churchill, glaring, resolute, combative, left hand on hip, stares straight off the page -- a moment, and an image, like no other.

(How did the photographer, Yousuf Karsh, get that iconic pose from Churchill, Britain's prime minister, in 1941? Churchill told Karsh that he had very little time for the session. Karsh reached over and took Churchill's cigar from him -- then, as Churchill reacted, snapped the photo.)

Marilyn Monroe, at her most beautiful in 1953, leans back, wearing white slacks and a black sweater, and gazes off dreamily to her right. Somehow, even though being photographed for a national magazine, she appears supremely relaxed and right at home. Why? She was at home -- she knew that the photographer, Alfred Eisenstaedt, and the magazine, Life, would do right by her, and she had invited them in.

Prisoners at the Buchenwald concentration camp in 1945, their faces haunted, their bodies gaunt, their eyes showing nothing and everything, look out from behind the wire fence that imprisons them, just before they are liberated. How did Margaret Bourke-White happen to be there to shoot that photo? Gen. George Patton wanted the world to see why his soldiers were fighting. Patton understood that Bourke-White and her magazine -- Life -- were the best way for the world to witness and understand.

All these photos and hundreds more are in a book called ""75 Years: The Very Best of Life."" It was published just before the holidays; I bought copies for friends around the country, and all of them have told me the same thing: They are spending hours with it, looking for long minutes at individual photos, treasuring the talent of the photographers, many long dead.

It is the photographers that I keep thinking about as I have spent my own hours and days with the book. To be a Life staff photographer meant that you were among the best in the world. Professional news photographers, even the most highly regarded of them, find themselves in tenuous times today; it is expensive to have them on staff and to send them places to do their work. There is always going to be someone with a camera around to snap a close-to-good-enough image and sell it inexpensively or give it away.

So to linger over the photos in the Life 75th anniversary book -- it is a very large book, because Life's pages were large by design, for maximum impact -- is to marvel at the commitment the magazine made, especially in the days before television, to do whatever was necessary to bring the world to its readers. And to spend time with those images is to honor the talent and courage of the photographers whose best work is on the level of fine art -- fine art produced as the deadline clock is ticking.

They were there. They seemed always to be there, at the moments that mattered. Larry Burrows in Vietnam in 1966 as Marine Sgt. Jeremiah Purdie, grievously wounded, reaches for a comrade who is also hurt; Ralph Morse virtually living with the first astronauts, capturing Alan Shepard, in 1961, running toward the Redstone rocket booster that will propel him toward space; Bill Eppridge at Robert Kennedy's side in that California hotel kitchen in 1968, somehow, in the anguished confusion, getting the shattering photograph of busboy Juan Romero who is down on the floor with Kennedy, trying to comfort the dying senator. . . .

W. Eugene Smith in 1948 with Dr. Ernest Ceriani, the country doctor who was the subject of one of the most famous photo essays ever published, as Ceriani, on the edge of exhaustion, wearily holds a cup of coffee; Gordon Parks in Rio de Janeiro in 1961, paying tribute to the heartbreaking life of 12-year-old Flavio Da Silva, a boy who is malnourished and ill but who must care for his brothers and sisters; Eisenstaedt in Times Square on V-J Day in 1945, with the impossible task of trying to sum up in a single shot the nation's joy as the war ends, and doing so with that photo of photos: the sailor and the nurse. . . .

Life featured words, too, of course, but it was the photographers who were the stars. During my own tenure as Life's columnist, my first assignment took me to rural Kentucky with the Everly Brothers, as the singers returned to their late father's home. I was glad to be in the company of Don and Phil Everly, but the real thrill came from the days spent on the road with the great Life photographer Harry Benson. I kept looking over at him. So this is Harry Benson. So this is how he works. I didn't want to miss or forget a moment of it.

I should mention that Life and CNN reside under the same corporate roof. But I fell in love with Life long before there was such a thing as CNN; Life brought the world to my parents' Ohio home, and when the mailman delivered it each week, he was bringing us more than just a magazine. He was bringing us . . .

Well, he was bringing us life. Life observed with as much skill and guts and heart as those photographers could push themselves to produce.

Life, as a regularly scheduled magazine, is no more; it continues as a series of single-topic issues and special books, and its photography is featured on its popular website. But the Life that was read in America's homes each week, and then, later, each month, is gone.

""I can't stop looking at that book,"" Gary Griffin, one of the friends to whom I gave copies, told me on the phone from California the other night. Me, either. Jackie Robinson rounds third base in the 1955 World Series, the expression on his face the stuff of novels, and Ralph Morse freezes it in time and gives us the chills all these years later. Man, oh man. That was the life.

Join CNN Opinion on Facebook and follow updates on Twitter

The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Bob Greene.",Bob Greene says Life magazine's photographers captured the world in photos that were works of art
"11/20/2014 AT 06:10 PM EST

When it comes to bad fashion, Stacy London isn't afraid to speak up, and she's back at it on a new show for TLC.

""I'm super excited to be back,"" the TV host tells PEOPLE of her new series

. ""I was burnt out after

. It was a good amount of time for me to take off. I rested and did a lot of traveling, it was amazing!""

While the new show, which premieres Jan. 23 at 9 p.m. on TLC, is still fashion-focused, this time London works her magic by ""making under"" women – toning down some very over-the-top looks.

""It was an easy thing to say yes to,"" she says of her new gig. ""Everyone here is like family and it felt like the right time.""

And even though London enjoyed her time off since her

, she never stopped handing out fashion advice – even if it was sometimes unsolicited.

""I try to do it in the nicest way possible, she says. ""But you might as well let people know.""

""I'll be like, 'Hey, not that you asked me, but just a quick thought.' ""","The former What Not To Wear star will host Love, Lust or Run"
"Kanye West‘s new video for his lastest single “Bound 2″ is a family affair. In the visuals, the 36-year-old rapper links up with his fiancé Kim Kardashian for a steamy joyride. Kardashian, 33, appears topless in the clip, lounging on a motorcycle gas tank and handlebars and facing Kanye as he steers the couple through a bumpy ride.

West debuted the video Tuesday (Nov 19) during an appearance on the Ellen Degeneres Show where the “Yeezus” artist also dished on his new family life.

When asked if he and Kardashian had planned to conceive the couple’s 4-month-old daughter, North West, the new dad admitted it was a pleasant surprise.

Kim Kardashian and Kanye West’s Engagement - Inside the Romantic Proposal!

“I mean, we were just practicing all the time” West quipped, adding, “Practice made perfect.”

In the interview, West also dished on how having a baby has changed his life.

“Just being super focused,” he told Ellen. “Like even more determined to get these ideas, you know, across and establish the exact foundation I want for my family.”

Still, the rapper confessed he won’t be altering his raunchy lyrics on account of his new baby girl.

“I’m not as concerned with the idea of profanity or nudity its more the messaging behind it,” he said. “She’s going to be in the real world so she’s going to hear things and see things. I think she’s got to be prepared for that.”

See: Kim Kardashian Through the Years

While West is admittedly smitten with baby North, he is also very much in love with his wife-to-be, Kim Kardashian. When asked why he considers Kardashian to be his “dream girl,” West had this to say: ”She’s an important person that when I was at my lowest moments I could get on the phone with her and she would make me feel like, you know, I was here for a reason… It’s incredible to have a woman like that, that you know is not using you for money.”

“Her personality is so calming,” he added. “And I don’t know if that’s the way people would describe my personality.”

This is not the first time Kardashian has appeared in one of West’s music video. In 2012, she made in a brief cameo in his video for the track “Theraflu,” in which West professed his love for the starlet.

Watch the “Bound 2″ Music Video below.

video platformvideo managementvideo solutionsvideo player","Ellen Kanye West‘s new video for his lastest single “Bound 2″ is a family affair. In the visuals, the 36-year-old rapper links up with his fiancé Kim Kardashian for a steamy joyride. Kardashian, 33, appears topless in the clip, lounging on a motorcycle gas tank and handlebars and facing Kanye as he steers the couple through a bumpy ride. West debuted the video Tuesday (Nov 19) during an appearance on the Ellen Degeneres Show where the “Yeezus” artist also dished on his new family life. When asked if he and Kardashian had planned to conceive the couple’s 4-month-old daughter, North…"
"updated 02/23/2016 AT 08:05 PM EST

•originally published 02/23/2016 AT 04:25 PM EST

claims in a new episode of

that his public outbursts following

may have been caused by his use of testosterone cream.

""It was really that whole post-

meltdown. That was a very specific period of time that did feel very out of body and very, just detached from all things real,"" Sheen says in the episode, according to an advance transcript provided to PEOPLE. ""I felt superhuman during some of that. It was a lot of highs and lows.""

Sheen, who on a previous episode of

, adds that he looks back with regret on that period.

""I was taking a lot of testosterone cream and I think I went too far with it,"" Sheen says. ""It was, kind of, like, a borderline, not a 'roid rage, but a 'roid disengage. That's the stuff that I do look at [and] cringe a little bit behind. There were things about that person that were empowering, that were vibrant, that I felt alive, whether or not I was in some suspended state or not, but I didn't like the anger. I tend to be victimized by my anger at times.""

's medical interpretation of Sheen's claims about the testosterone cream wasn't immediately known.

, the actor recalled Sheen discussing his use of testosterone cream.

""Three times a day you rub the cream on your thighs, and it's deceptive, because you feel the same, but suddenly you're flying into a rage,"" Cryer recalled Sheen saying in 2014.

Dr. Oz recently spoke with PEOPLE about Sheen's claim that he may have bipolar disorder, with Oz acknowledging Sheen is ""not diagnosed"" with it, ""but he has manic episodes."" Oz, 55, said he has connected Sheen, 50, with a psychiatrist to work through issues related to bipolar disorder.

""He's actually making inroads,"" Oz said. ""He was very resistant to this possibility. The fact of the matter is, if he doesn't banish this, he's going to keep making the same mistakes he's been making.""

Sheen previously opened up to Oz about his

airs weekdays (check local listings).",The star appears on Wednesday's Dr. Oz
"I found it both encouraging and discouraging. I sat surrounded by a roomful of Chinese teenagers who were asking probing questions about my academic experiences and other countries. They represented China's best, China's future, and they represented it well. But there was one big problem. They were all there to be interviewed by admissions officers from America's top prep schools, because none of them felt they'd be adequately challenged in China's schools.

I was in Beijing, accompanying my niece to school interviews. Like those other kids, she was thinking about going to high school in America. Why? Even at China's most elite schools, many complain that their curriculum is all about rote learning, with little creativity. They don't get enough opportunity to study art and drama or to pursue their passions.

I talked to parents, too, including a billionaire couple and a pair of high government officials. The billionaire father confided, ""I worry my child is not getting taught morality and the whole human person. Everything is about test scores, not how to handle challenges in real life."" Other parents nodded in agreement. These were some of the people who have benefited most from China's reforms over the last 30 years, and they all supported the direction the government has been taking the country in, yet, they worried about their children's futures if more changes weren't made.

[On Dec. 7, 2010, the day after this article was published, The New York Times ran an article titled ""Top Test Scores From Shanghai Stun Educators,"" which told of how students in Shanghai had outscored their counterparts in dozens of other countries in standardized exams. What those scores represented, though, was not Chinese educational superiority but an unhealthy focus on standardized testing. --S.R.]

Since the Great Recession began there has been a palpable shift in power away from America and toward China. Its effect on everything from commodity markets to global supply chains and military plans is undeniable. Unfortunately, not all the reforms in China are keeping up with the great economic and human rights ones the government has implemented.

To cement its superpower status, China needs to improve its educational system so it doesn't just produce great academic research and innovation but also attracts the world's top students. All great powers draw in the world's best and train the future leaders of their allies and vassal states. That is soft power at its finest. The British have had Eton and Oxford, the U.S. St. Paul's and Harvard. China needs its own global centers of learning.

China's educational system at present causes its best and brightest to move abroad for their studies. Several hundred thousand Chinese study abroad every year, 128,000 in the U.S. alone this year. Nearly 20% of the non-European Union international students in the United Kingdom are Chinese. When I was a graduate student at Harvard's Graduate School of Arts and Sciences a decade ago I had more classmates from China than from any other nation except the U.S.

Even those who cannot afford to go abroad realize the weakness of China's education system. In 1,000 interviews my firm, the China Market Research Group, conducted with 24- to 28-year-olds in five cities, 70% said they were willing to spend 10% or more of their disposable income on training, and 10% said they'd spend 20%. Chartered financial analyst preparation centers, as well as education and training companies like New Oriental, are booming, as people not only equip themselves to get ahead but work to acquire basic skills they realize they lack.

Unqualified college graduates are a serious problem. Many grads are underemployed, working as shop attendants or on factory lines, and not because there aren't white-collar jobs open but because they aren't qualified for any available positions. Companies from Microsoft ( MSFT - news - people ) to Starbucks ( SBUX - news - people ) to Intel ( INTC - news - people ) have announced large hiring sprees in China, and Citigroup ( C - news - people ) plans to triple its staff in the country to 10,000 within three years. Yet nearly 25% of this year's Chinese university graduates have failed to find jobs, and multinationals report that their biggest headache is finding qualified talent.

What should be done? China should continue to encourage students to go abroad to gain expertise to bring back, but it also needs to strengthen its education system internally. Aside from introducing more liberal arts at the university level, as I have written before, reform needs to start at the primary school level.",It needs to overhaul its educational system.
"Not, interestingly, religion. That was the angst last time around, and the extent to which the dynamic has changed, with mammon supplanting Mormon as the bejeweled albatross around his neck, was reflected in another recent comment of his, one that prompted less notice and was interpreted in a particular and highly revealing way.

At one of the debates just before the Florida primary, as he and Newt Gingrich jousted over the Latino vote, he answered Gingrich’s charges that he was anti-immigrant by calling them “repulsive” and declaiming, “My father was born in Mexico.” Many news reports mentioned the moment, casting it as an example of his newfound readiness to take the fight back to Gingrich.

But only a few of those reports recognized what an odd line of defense Romney had employed, given why his father was born there. The family lived south of the border because Miles Park Romney, Mitt’s great-grandfather, had fled the United States after the passage of an 1882 law that explicitly banned polygamy, which he practiced. He was reputedly instructed to till a polygamous Mormon colony on foreign soil.

When Romney first ran for president in 2008, there was so much discussion about the potential impact of his Mormonism, and his own concern about it was deep enough, that he delivered a set-piece speech designed to rebut any lingering impression of the religion as an exotic, even loopy sect. In that painstakingly calibrated address, he said the word Mormon all of once. Christ or Christianity came up repeatedly.

Four years later, he still avoids the word, trumpeting his faithfulness without specifying the faith. What’s surprising is that no one around him — not reporters, not rivals — talks about it all that much, either. The Romney-Gingrich showdowns in South Carolina and Florida got plenty nasty: at one point the Gingrich camp, flashing back to Romney’s term as Massachusetts governor, falsely accused him of pretty much wresting kosher food from the mouths of Holocaust survivors. But neither Gingrich nor his allies played the Mormon card, even though nearly 20 percent of the Republicans and independents surveyed by Gallup last year said they wouldn’t support a Mormon presidential candidate.

Steve Schmidt, who managed John McCain’s 2008 presidential campaign, said there was a simple, good reason to let Romney’s Mormonism be.

“It’s baked into the cake,” he said, explaining that at this point, voters are well aware of it, have already decided if it matters to them, and that’s that. Anyone trying to use it against Romney, even obliquely, might succeed only in being branded a religious bigot, especially in a country “that becomes more tolerant of difference all the time,” Schmidt said.

His assessment is borne out by what happened when Politico, in a report last August, said that President Obama’s tacticians were contemplating a general-election strategy that would underscore ways in which Romney seemed “weird.” The adjective sounded suspiciously like a stand-in for Mormon, as Romney’s enraged lieutenants noted, and the White House hastily denounced the Politico report as dead wrong. Two months later, a prominent Baptist pastor at the Values Voter Summit in Washington called Mormonism a cult and encountered an instant — and warranted — backlash.

Will that be the end of it? One longtime Republican strategist I talked with predicted that Gingrich would broach Romney’s Mormonism yet, with the aim of mobilizing the Mormon-wary evangelicals who vote in southern primaries on March 6, “Super Tuesday.”

That’s a regrettable motive. But there are valid reasons for the rest of us to home in on Romney’s religion, not in terms of its historical eccentricities but in terms of its cultural, psychological and emotional imprint on him.

His aloofness, guardedness and sporadic defensiveness: are these entwined with the experience of belonging to a minority tribe that has often been maligned and has operated in secret? Do his stamina and resilience as a candidate reflect his years of Mormon missionary work in France, during which he learned not to be daunted in the face of so much resistance that he won a mere 10 to 20 converts, according to “The Real Romney,” a biography published last month?

And what of his sometimes huffy expectation that voters accept his current stances against abortion and gun control, to name two flips, and stop fussing over so many contrary positions in the past? Does that track with Mormonism’s blithe reluctance, according to its critics, to explain controversial tenets that it has jettisoned, like a ban on black clergy members that was in place until 1978?

A tactful desire to avoid any sensationalizing of Romney’s faith has created a tendency not to give it appropriate due. To read “The Real Romney,” which represents an exception, is to realize the utter centrality of religion in his life. One of the book’s most arresting passages describes a moment when Ann, his wife-to-be and then a Protestant, asks him what Mormons believe. His detailed explanation moves her to tears, perhaps because it’s so heartfelt, perhaps also because he’s so nervous about her reaction.

The news media’s caution about focusing on Romney’s religion mirrors his own reticence, which, as Frank Rich pointed out in New York magazine last week, may be a big reason he can’t connect with voters in a visceral, intimate way. He’s editing out the core of his identity. He’s muffling his soul.

“His church experience is, I think, one of the great humanizing influences in Mitt Romney’s life,” said Patrick Mason, a professor of Mormon studies at Claremont Graduate University. Mason noted that if Romney would embrace that side of himself, he could beat the rap that he’s never been exposed to hardship by recounting his missionary experience. “That’s usually a very spartan lifestyle, and by definition most of the people you’re talking to are going to be poor.”

Romney’s even longer period as a Mormon lay leader in Boston involved counseling and consoling people dealing with marriage problems, addiction, unemployment: some of life’s messiest, scariest stuff. He must have gained a fluency in human frailty. But when The Times’s Sheryl Gay Stolberg was researching an article about that time, Romney predictably declined her interview request.

He has released tax returns, putting his Swiss accounts in the foreground. But he still cloaks his church duties, consigning his French proselytizing to the background.

Is it the right political calculation? I’m not sure. But I know it makes for a woefully incomplete portrait, denying voters something that they deserve — and that might well cut his way.",Romney’s Mormon faith is too central to his biography and identity to be swept to the side.
"Stocks sold off more than 1 percent on Tuesday, under pressure from strength in the dollar and better housing data that renewed anxiety over imminent central bank tightening.

Read MoreEl-Erian: Correction in stocks could happen if …

""The stock market is really a knee-jerk reaction to the Fed,"" said Jack Ablin, chief investment officer of BMO Private Bank. He said investors will continue to focus on when the Federal Reserve will raise rates and the situation in Greece.

That nation faces a 300 million euro ($326 million) payment deadline to the International Monetary Fund on June 5, the first of four payments due that month to the organization that total 1.6 billion euros. On Tuesday, both Greek and European officials attempted to calm fears that Athens would default on the payment.

""When there's a vacuum the market headlines become very important,"" Krosby said. ""The Greece headlines become very important because there's nothing (else) to focus on.""

Read MoreDisciplinary actions: See which firms made the list

The S&P 500 closed down 1 percent for its worst day since May 5. The index did hold the key 2,100 level that JJ Kinahan, chief strategist at TD Ameritrade, was watching.

The Dow Jones Industrial average had its poorest performance of the month, dropping 190 points to close at 18,041. The Nasdaq also had its worst day since May 5, falling 1.11 percent as tech stocks led by a 2.2 percent decline in Apple weighed on the index.

Analysts said the massive selloff could result in a bounce back on Wednesday, bringing volatility back into focus.

Read MoreThis is giving a sense of a major top: Jim Paulsen

The CBOE Volatility Index, considered the best gauge of fear in the market, spiked 16 percent on Tuesday to 14.06 after dipping below 12 for the first time in six months on Friday.

Against ""the backdrop of what's going on globally and the question of when rates are going to rise in the United States ... if you see the VIX continue to go up at these levels then you'll see significant correction pricing in,"" said Andrew W. Ferraro, wealth advisor at Strategic Wealth Partners.

To be sure, the VIX is still at relatively low levels, trading below 15, Kinahan said. ""People aren't necessarily buying volatility protection until needed,"" he said.

He said a factor in the stock selloff and the decline in longer-term bond yields may be traders rotating assets out of equities into the longer end of the Treasury market where yields are more attractive.

Read MoreConsumer confidence inches up in May

The U.S. 10-year Treasury yield fell to 2.14 percent in late trading Tuesday. The two-year yield dropped to 0.61 percent.

""The front end is holding up in response to decent economic data today as well as recent comments from the Fed restating their desire for a rate hike in 2015,"" said Brandon Swensen, co-head of U.S. fixed income at RBC Global Asset Management (U.S.). ""The safe-haven bid for Treasurys remains as strong as ever, which is why they are always dangerous to short. Sentiment can turn quickly.""

After a slew of economic data on Tuesday and ahead of Friday's GDP report, Wednesday is relatively quiet with only weekly mortgage applications due.

Tiffany, DSW and Costco report earnings before the bell on Wednesday and may shed further light on the retail environment. Luxury home builder Toll Brothers also posts results before the bell.","Dollar strength and bond yields, in the context of Federal Reserve tightening, will continue to dominate market movements on Wednesday."
"The World Mission Society Church of God in Ridgewood, New Jersey

updated 12/12/2015 AT 09:00 AM EST

•originally published 12/10/2015 AT 01:40 PM EST

For two years, Michele Colón believed with complete conviction that the end of the world was imminent and that an elderly lady from South Korea was God. For those same two years, Colon, a nurse, attended services at the World Mission Society Church of God in the New Jersey suburb of Ridgewood. Colón tells PEOPLE she defected from the World Mission Society Church of God more than four years ago. She says she did so because she believes she had been brainwashed into what she alleges is a doomsday cult. Colón further claims in a civil suit she filed against the 50-year-old World Mission Society Church of God, a copy of which was obtained by PEOPLE, that the group is a ""profit-making"" cult that ""uses a number of psychological control tactics...to prevent its members from exposing its criminal and tortious behavior."" In its motion to dismiss Colón's complaint, the church called her allegations ""entirely fabricated."" The motion states that Colon's claim is part of a larger effort by her to ""position herself as a veteran of the 'cult war' and build a career as 'cult expert' to the detriment"" of the World Mission Society Church of God's reputation. But interviews conducted with six other former World Mission Society Church of God members, including a former member of 12 years, echo Colón's claims. All seven former members tell PEOPLE the religious faction isolates its acolytes from their families and friends by controlling information and using brainwashing techniques. ""Fear and guilt – that is what fuels this cult,"" Colón tells PEOPLE. ""They fill you with this fear that the world is going to end at any moment and you feel guilty for not doing enough good before the end comes."" In a prepared statement, the World Mission Society Church of God dismissed all cult characterizations as ""religious intolerance"" and urged any examination of it include ""how the Church serves the community and how it adheres to the standard of Christianity, which is the Bible.""",Former members claim they were told the world would end in 2012
"LOS ANGELES – Actress Jessica Capshaw, pregnant with her third child, is taking time out this Mother’s Day to draw attention to the many mothers in the developing world in need of medical care.

Best known for her role as pediatric surgeon Arizona Robbins on “Grey’s Anatomy,” Capshaw has penned a heartfelt message and PSA on behalf of the International Medical Corps, a global humanitarian nonprofit organization dedicated to saving lives and relieving suffering through health care training and relief and development programs.

“Being a mom has been my most important job to date, and I take my job very seriously, and I have a lot of fun doing it. At the same time, I realize how lucky I am to have something that too many mothers don't have: access to medical care that supports their health and that of their families,” she wrote. “Maternal health remains a staggering challenge, particularly in the developing world. Globally, a woman dies from complications in childbirth every minute.”

Capshaw said the real life savers are those doing work far from the limelight.

“I play a pediatric surgeon fiercely determined to give mothers the chance to see their children grow up healthy. In the real world, I see this dedication in the courageous and committed health professionals who work for International Medical Corps. They are the ones saving lives in some of the world's toughest environments – places like Darfur, Afghanistan, the Congo and Haiti,” she continued. “They are making motherhood the blessing that it should be, instead of the health risk that it can be.”","Being a mom has been my most important job to date, and I take my job very seriously, Capshaw said."
"Chris Brown I Had a Seizure Because Everyone's Mean to Me

's seizure Friday was triggered by a giant pain in his ass -- aka the media and lawyers.

TMZ broke the story ... the L.A. City Fire Dept. rushed to a recording studio just after 1 AM after someone called 911 and said CB

​. When EMT's arrived CB refused treatment.

Chris' rep says the seizure was triggered by ""intense fatigue and extreme emotional stress, both due to the continued onslaught of unfounded legal matters and the nonstop negativity.""

The good news ... the rep says the seizure was nonepileptic -- it's called a NES.

TMZ -- sometimes we trigger seizures.

Get TMZ Breaking News alerts to your inbox",Chris Brown's seizure Friday was triggered by a giant pain in his ass -- aka the media and lawyers.TMZ broke the story ... the L.A. City Fire Dept. rushed…
"Nvidia Shield owners will be able to stream games to their handheld devices from the cloud starting next week, the company announced Thursday.

A streaming service called Grid will launch on Nov. 18 in the United States, and will offer users of the Nvidia Shield handheld gaming device a library of 20 titles at launch. All the games will be free to stream until June 30, 2015.

The Nvidia Shield, which debuted in Oct. 2013, is an Android-powered handheld device that plays any game from that ecosystem with a connected controller but can also stream games from powerful PCs running Nvidia graphics cards. The Grid streaming service will allow Shield owners to not need a PC to enjoy the same quality game, the company said.

A Shield tablet was also released in 2014. Streaming should work on both.

Music and movie streaming services like Spotify and Netflix have already caught on, but Nvidia thinks ""gaming gratification"" should be just a moment away, too. Though there are game streaming services available, like PlayStation Now, they haven't become as popular as other streaming media. Some of the games that will be available to Grid users are Batman: Arkham City, Borderlands 2, Brutal Legend and Psychonauts.

The company said it took a decade to perfect Grid. The reason? ""Streaming games is hard,"" Nvidia said in ablog post. It added that users don't want streaming services that have long load times or lag.

Nvidia said it will amp up its cloud-based graphics processing power to equal ""the fastest supercomputer in the U.S.,"" too.

Nvidia also announced on Thursday that the Shield tablet can upgrade to Android 5.0 Lollipop, the latest operating system available, on Nov. 18.

New buyers of the 32GB/LTE Shield tablet will also get Half Life 2, Portal and Half Life 2: Episode One included on the device at no extra cost. The tablet costs $400.

BONUS: This Oculus Rift game will scare the crap out of you

Rex Santus contributed to this report. Have something to add to this story? Share it in the comments.",Nvidia Shield owners will be able to stream games to their handheld devices starting next week.
"The harmonica is suddenly in the news because the Democratic candidate for Vice President, Senator Tim Kaine, is a devoted player. Kaine was introduced to the instrument at a young age by a friend. Nearly 50 years later, Kaine says he remains passionate about this humble instrument. But do his devotion to it, and the life skills he has learned through his association with it, lend themselves to skills he may need if elected Vice President of the United States? As a longtime harmonica player myself, I’d like to provide some answers.

His harmonica playing speaks to his outgoingness and ability to relate to people:

Kaine is not shy about joining in on the harmonica. He will play at country store “picking parties,” join in “jam sessions” and jump on stage at bluegrass festivals and other events. If a group will welcome him, he is glad to be with them—no matter their beliefs and politics. They’re united by music. This shows Kaine is expert at group dynamics, able to understand when he should play his role as a sideman, wait his turn and play only as long as he is expected to. He can read the non-verbal cues from the other musicians, and especially the leaders, as to when to jump in, and when to step back.

His sense of community and unification:

Kaine has a keen sense for what is appropriate, whether the musical event is one attended by dozens, hundreds or thousands. He understands the extent to which he is just a musician in these situations, no more special than anyone else on the stage or in the audience. His everyman persona—“just a harmonica player”—belies a sense of fitting in with the music community. And his boyish enthusiasm, low-key modesty, respect for his fellow musicians and clear love for live music all serve to unite people with him—because he fits into that community in a sincere, genuine manner.

Kaine has studied his musical history. His favorites include acoustic blues musicians Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee, bluegrass icons Doc Watson and Flatt & Scruggs, and Belgian jazz giant Toots Thielemans. He revered the experience of performing at the Carter Family Fold, considered by many to be the birthplace of country music. He respects those who came before, and greatly admires them, infusing his own playing with lessons he picked up from studying their works closely.

There’s not much to suggest Kaine has written much of his own music. But he has learned to improvise—thinking on the spot of what to play when the song leader nods to him, and how to develop a theme, with a build-up, high point and swift conclusion. For solos more purely rhythmic in nature, he echoes the themes of others and improvises off them, adding his own notes and accents, but staying on rhythm and “on message,” as it were.

Kaine has said that the reason he carries “an emergency supply” of four harmonicas in his briefcase at all times is so that when a moment allows, he can pull away from his daily duties for a brief respite. He immerses himself in the music when he plays, and that reverie can carry him back to days studying the records of Flatt & Scruggs, or the simple joys of playing on one of his close-knit family’s many camping trips. A little time with the “mouth harp” offers a relaxing escape, a slowing down from the rush of the day, and provides refreshment when his battery is running low.

His reactions and decision-making ability:

Playing within a group is a true collaborative effort, marked by teamwork, mutual respect, knowing one’s place and time, as well as sometimes just sensing that some precious silence and appreciative listening are the right choice for that moment. When called upon to play, often just with a nod of the head, Kaine, like other harmonica players, must be able to think on his feet, react quickly to the tempo and spirit of the performance of the song, and the most recent “speaker,” and make an almost instant decision of how to approach the blank space that has been presented to him by his fellow musicians. He can play slow or fast, few notes or many, follow others’ ideas, or go in a new direction—and then he must, at the proper time, return “the floor” to someone else, or back to another leader.

Given what he’s learned as a harmonica player, which began long before he got into politics, you might conclude those harmonica “life lessons” have served him well in the corridors of public service. He’s been an elected City Councilman, Mayor, Lieutenant Governor, Governor and Senator—and never lost an election. Not a bad payoff for a hobby that started out on the swings of an elementary school, trying to find the right notes to match the melody in his head.",The mouth harp is the most democratic of instruments
"Petroleum exporters have long used delaying tactics during climate talks. They view any attempt to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by developed countries as a menace to their economies.

The original treaty meant to combat global warming, the 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, contains provisions that in Saudi Arabia’s view require such compensation.

Mr. Sabban outlined his stance at climate talks in Bangkok this month.

Environmental advocates denounced the idea, saying the Saudi stance hampered progress to assist poor nations that are already suffering from the effect of climate change, and that genuinely need financial assistance.

“It is like the tobacco industry asking for compensation for lost revenues as a part of a settlement to address the health risks of smoking,” said Jake Schmidt, the international climate policy director at the Natural Resources Defense Council. “The worst of this racket is that they have held up progress on supporting adaptation funding for the most vulnerable for years because of this demand.”

Saudi Arabia is highly dependent on oil exports, which account for most of the government’s budget. Last year, when prices peaked, the kingdom’s oil revenue swelled by 37 percent, to $281 billion, according to Jadwa Investment, a Saudi bank. That was more than four times the 2002 level. At one point in 2008, the average gasoline price in the United States surpassed $4 a gallon.

Saudi exports are expected to drop to $115 billion this year, after oil prices fell. American gasoline prices are hovering around $2.50 a gallon.

The one-year swing in the kingdom’s revenues shows that oil prices are likely to be a bigger factor in Saudi Arabia’s future that any restrictions on greenhouse gases, said David G. Victor, an energy expert at the University of California, San Diego.

Mr. Victor dismissed the Saudi stance as a stunt, saying that the real threat for petroleum exporters came from improvements in fuel economy and rising mandates for alternative fuels in the transportation sector, both of which would reduce the need for petroleum products. “Oil exporters have always, in my view, far overblown the near-term effects of carbon limits on demand for their products,” Mr. Victor said. “For the Saudis this may be a deal-breaker, but the Saudis are not essential players. In some sense, one sign that a climate agreement is effective is that big hydrocarbon exporters hate it.”

A recent study by the International Energy Agency, which advises industrialized nations, found that the cumulative revenue of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries would drop by 16 percent from 2008 to 2030 if the world agreed to slash emissions, as opposed to the projection if there were no treaty.

But with oil projected to average $100 a barrel, the energy agency estimated that OPEC members would still earn $23 trillion over that period.

Mr. Sabban, however, cited an older study by Charles River, a consulting firm, which found that the losses in revenue for Saudi Arabia alone would be $19 billion a year starting in 2012.

The Copenhagen talks were a major point on the agenda of the last OPEC conference.

But not every oil-exporting country is falling in line with the Saudi position. Some have been trying a different approach that has earned the backing of environmental groups. For example, Ecuador, OPEC’s newest member, said last year that it was willing to freeze oil exploration in the Amazon forest if it got some financial rewards for doing so.

The Saudi negotiator said that the compensation mechanism was an integral part of the global climate regime that has been in place since the 1990s and that was not up for renegotiation.

“It is a very serious trend that we need to follow and influence if we want to minimize its adverse impacts on our economies and our people,” Mr. Sabban said in an e-mail message to other OPEC officials. “That does not mean we would like to obstruct any progress or that we do not want to join any international agreement. We will do that if the deal is fair and equitable and does not transfer the burden to us.”

A version of this article appears in print on October 14, 2009, on Page B1 of the New York edition with the headline: A Push for Payments If Oil Exports Drop. Order Reprints| Today's Paper|Subscribe","Saudi officials reiterated a call for oil-producing countries to be compensated if rich nations reduce their consumption, in advance of negotiations in December."
"In a previous column, I covered how to cobble useful market research on the cheap. At some point, though, you need to take a deeper, more focused cut--you need to survey your audience.

Gathering that data can be tricky if you are using inexpensive, do-it-yourself online-survey tools. Here's some help.

First, when it comes to crafting surveys, keep these three maxims in mind:

Keep it focused. If you want to gather today on multiple issues, then issue multiple surveys. Don't cram in more than one specific line of questioning per survey. Example: If you want to learn about people's eating habits, don't also ask them about their tastes in clothing; the answers may be related, but tackle them separately in different surveys. You'll get a higher response rate and more useful data.

Keep it simple. Give survey-takers check-boxes, lists and scales to simplify their tasks and make their responses easy to measure. (Short-answer text boxes should be optional.) Mete out the questions in logical, building-block fashion.

Top Tips: 16 Must-Try Marketing Maneuvers

In Depth: 21 Top Twitter Tips

Keep it short. Do not overburden respondents--limit completion time to 10 minutes or less. Time the survey after you have written it to see what you are actually asking your respondents to do. (I guarantee you will underestimate the amount of time it took to complete.) Also be sure to have a few disinterested third parties run through it to uncover any confusing language.

Now for a simple case study. I recently fielded a survey for a local Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Chapter. It's a great example of how surveys, done right, can yield critical, actionable data. Here was the situation:

Motivate ex-Peace Corps volunteers to join the local alumni chapter and stay involved with local non-profit development work. It costs $20 annually to be a member.

Only 10% of ex-volunteers bother to join. Anecdotal feedback indicates that ex-volunteers do not see value in joining for $20.

What must the chapter offer ex-volunteers to make joining worth the $20?

The goal of the research was clear. Yet everyone involved in the organization had a particular angle he wanted to investigate. At bottom, what they wanted to know from people was: ""Why do you not join the group?""

After a lot of cat-herding, here's what we did.

Step One. We created three separate lists to properly identify respondents: a) people who had never joined the organization; b) people who had belonged, but quit; and c) people who were current members

Step Two. We asked a ""profiling question"" to separate responses into the three groups. The introductory page set up the survey by describing our organization, and the strategic purpose of the survey (along with a hearty thank-you to the participants).

Then, we separated the three target segments by allowing them to self-select by type. Our question: ""What is your relationship with NorCalPCA?""

I am currently a member

I was a member in the past, but am not now

I have never been a member of NorCalPCA

By asking this seemingly simple question, we discovered great confusion about what being a member actually meant. (Many who were not members thought they were.) This data alone taught us that our communication was poor.

Step Three. We wanted to get an initial reading before we reminded participants about specific NorCalPCA programming. Our question: ""Based on what you know about NorCalPCA, please indicate your overall satisfaction with the organization.""

Step Four. We then dug deeper to measure awareness of NorCalPCA and its activities. Our question: ""Are you familiar with the following NorCalPCA programs?""

Mentor Program for Recent Returnees

Step Five. We went after feedback on individual activities. We used the following structure to measure satisfaction with a list of events (the nice thing here was that respondents didn't have to click through multiple pages to register their opinions):

Please rate the following events, with ""5"" being very satisfied and ""1"" being very unsatisfied:

Step Six. If a respondent rated a particular event 1 or 2, that response triggered a follow-up question: ""You indicated a dissatisfaction with [event name]. Please indicate why you were dissatisfied."" The respondent was then presented a list of possible reasons, along with an open text box for any further explication.

Step Seven. Finally, we asked respondents for suggestions about how to make the organization more valuable to them. We offered a list of possible improvements, again with the 1-5 scale rating system to gauge their opinions (and again, and open text box for any additional insight).

Results. We discovered quite clearly that the main problem was communication. Most respondents simply did not know all the benefits of membership, and had never been to a local event. The issue was not the quality of the events, but building awareness about them. (That information was critical to determining how the organization should invest its capital.) The sites for the events needed to be rotated a bit so that all potential members in a given geography could attend.

The Costs Of Doing It Yourself The key benefit to do-it-yourself surveying is that it's cheap. Online services such as Constant Contact or SwiftPages offer survey tools to their subscribers for as little as $10/month, and you may be able to turn it on and off without losing data from past surveys. More robust options include SurveyMonkey.com, Surveygizmo.com or Zoomerang.com. Their prices range from free to $600 annually for smaller do-it-yourself survey development. For perhaps $1,000 a month, you can get more help with writing and structuring your surveys. You can also pay yet more for access to a database of potential customers who fit your profile.

Want more professional help? Market research advisors charge $200 per hour or more, but you tend to get what you pay for. ""An expert can craft the questions to be objective, giving you data that you can truly rely on,"" recommends Amy Barr, of A2B Strategy, a small business planning and research advisor: ""You also must be consistent with the questions asked, so that you can compare data from different surveys with confidence.""

However you choose to tackle market research, get it right. It is the foundation of your success, in any economy.

Kern Lewis is President of GrowthFocus, Inc., a small business marketing consultancy in Castro Vally, Calif. You may reach Kern at klewis@growthfocus.net.

Top Tips: 16 Must-Try Marketing Maneuvers

In Depth: 21 Top Twitter Tips",The difference between gathering good data and bad lies in how you ask the questions.
"On Saturday afternoons for 21 years, dedicated listeners would ""get their bannock and tea,"" and tune into CBC Radio for news from Our Native Land. The first - and so far only - national radio program focused on native issues and cultures, it chronicled the rejuvenation of native literature, art, culture and political activism beginning in 1965. Hosts included Johnny Yesno, Bernelda Wheeler, Albert Angus and Brian Maracle, who were part of the all-aboriginal production team.

In the second segment of a two-part 1984 interview, Buffy Sainte-Marie talks about her work as an author and Sesame Street performer. She says her ""great unfulfilled ambition"" is to portray Pauline Johnson, a woman she sees as her forerunner, in a film about the Mohawk poet's life. Johnson also talks about her spiritual practice and offers advice to aspiring native stars: "" you have to be bold enough to ask for what you need and you have to be good enough to get it.""

• CBC Digital Archives also has a 1979 interview with Buffy Sainte-Marie in which she talks about working on

with her young son, native people getting shut out of Hollywood movies, and the importance of breast feeding.

Medium: Radio Program: Our Native Land Broadcast Date: Aug. 25, 1984 Guest(s): Buffy Sainte-Marie Host: Brian Maracle Duration: 11:41 This clip has been edited for copyright reasons.

Last updated: June 5, 2012

Page consulted on March 27, 2013

Canada's first aboriginal radio show is reaching maturity - and it's t...

The Hudson's Bay story according to native people, and what it's like ...

Johnny Cash on the American Indian, and a report on Vancouver Island's...

Looking at the unhappy marriage of the RCMP and Aboriginal people - ti...

Our Native Land turns ...

The best of the first ten years of Canada's only national aboriginal r...

Canadian and American AIM members salute Red Power.

Our Native Land: On th...

In 1974, native youth are hitting the road to escape the city and find...

Native women's groups are sprouting up across Canada, this clip finds ...

Our Native Land: In ou...

Writers Maria Campbell, Howard Adams, George Manuel and Mike Polsuns a...

Get your bannock and t...

George Clutesi, an Aztec fire dancer, wild rice harvesting and the red...

Meet folksinger, aboriginal activist and Sesame Street star Buffy Sain...

Native elders from across Canada share their nation's stories and lege...

What the Indian Act is all about and how native mothers in Regin...

Alcohol, cons and despair: aboriginal people living on skid row.

Indians should move to cities, says one report featured in this 1983 p...

Unusually high numbers of aboriginal kids have been forced into the ch...

Our Native Land: Rise ...

Looking back at the rise of Canada's native rights movement beginning ...

In 1984, Buffy Sainte-Marie tells Our Native Land about her childhood,...

Buffy Sainte-Marie on writing, Pauline Johnson, spirituality and succe...

In this 1985 episode of Our Native Land, guests debate the role of gov...","Buffy Sainte-Marie on writing, Pauline Johnson, spirituality and success.</p>"
"Violence flared on the streets of Sao Paulo on Saturday after more than a 1,000 demonstrators protested in against Brazil's hosting of the football World Cup later this year.

Waving flags, carrying banners and chanting ""there will be no Cup"", the demonstrators took to the streets in what the Anonymous Rio protest group billed as the first act in its ""Operation Stop the World Cup"" campaign.

The event was largely peaceful but police later clashed with some protesters.

The demonstrators gathered in front of the Sao Paulo Art Museum for about an hour before heading out to another part of the city chanting slogans against the tournament.

As they approached the downtown area, some ""Black Block"" anarchist demonstrators attacked an empty police car and tried to overturn it, while others torched a small car and smashed the windows of banks, as they have in previous protests since last year.

Police responded with tear gas and rubber bullets, dispersing the crowd. More than 100 demonstrators were detained.

During the demonstration several protesters chanted: ""If we have no rights, there will be no Cup.""

""By rights we mean the people's right to decent public services,"" said university student Leonardo Pelegrini dos Santos. ""We are against the millions and millions of dollars being spent for the Cup. It is money that should be invested in better health and education services and better transportation and housing.""

Fellow student Juliana Turno said ""this is a small sample of the protests that will happen when the World Cup begins.""

Last year, millions of people took to the streets across Brazil complaining of higher bus fares, poor public services and corruption while the country spends billions on the World Cup, which is scheduled to start in June.

Those demonstrations coincided with the Confederations Cup soccer tournament, a warm-up tournament for the World Cup.

In Rio de Janeiro, about 50 protesters gathered in front of the Copacabana Palace hotel, holding signs blasting the World Cup. After about an hour, the crowd moved onto a main street that runs along Copacabana beach, halting traffic as police watched from the side.

Small demonstrations were also held in several other cities.",Dozens arrested after demonstration against high cost of this year's football tournament turns ugly
"Is there a reason to be against gay marriage? Current claims 1) ""it goes against tradition"" - well so do interracial marriages (laws not changed completely until 1970s), un-arranged marriages, marriages for love & not financial arrangements etc.

2) ""marriage is for procreation"" - well seniors are allowed to marry, as are infertal couples, and people with physical handicaps that make reproduction impossible; plus lesbians are able to carry children using donated sperm (straight women use sperm donations to, so it must be OK, right?)

3) ""It'll devalue the meaning of marriage"" - seriously, 10 milion dollars was spent to hold a wedding on TV for a marriage that lasted 72 days, drunk people can use a drive-thru and get married by Elvis. 50% of straight marriages end in divorce - are we really blaming the devaluing of marriage on gay people? That's all I could come up with besides a religious reasoning. Am I missing a valid arguement? I jsut don't see one - besides just not accepting gay people as a concept.

FWIW, does anyone really believe that if you ban gay marriage that gays will cease being gay and find some straight person to marry? Talk about screwing up a family and ruining kids (this happend to a friend of mine, it would have been much better if his gay dad had never married a straight woman and lived a huge lie until he couldn't take it any more.)","Bradley Hirschfield discusses gay marriage in Maryland, and whether civil rights should be left up to popular vote."
"The Americans, FX; Better Call Saul, AMC; Downton Abbey, PBS; Game of Thrones, HBO; Homeland, Showtime; House of Cards, Netflix; Mr. Robot, USA

Should win: The Americans, FX While several of this category’s nominees feel carried over simply by default, some gems found their way in. Game of Thrones began, by the end of its sixth season, to thrillingly move toward an endgame. Mr. Robot took massive and, within the confines of its first season, successful creative risks (ones that are not paying substantial dividends in the current, lagging second season, but the show may yet pick up). And Better Call Saul, in a season that expanded its crooked-lawyer story to examine Jimmy McGill’s malign influence on all around him, was TV’s second-best drama—just behind The Americans, which feels unlike any of its fellow nominees or any traditional multi-season show. It’s a show that feels as though it has in mind not just its narrative endpoint but the exact mix of thorny ideas it hopes to work through before it gets there, and yet, by some magic, it never feels methodical.

Will win: Game of Thrones, HBO Television’s current defining hit by any metric, Game of Thrones will make for a worthy winner—if it could win for its transitional fifth season, less cohesive than the most recent set of episodes, it’s not unreasonable to expect it mounts a Breaking Bad-style streak through the rest of its run.","This year's Emmys broke new ground up and down the ballot. Mr. Robot and The Americans entered the Best Drama race for the first time,…"
"The tragic mum-of-two was snapped inspiring the next generation at school talk

JO Cox inspires the next generation as she gives a talk to pupils — barely a day before she was gunned down in the street.

Labour MP Jo addressed a class of school kids on the EU referendum at Whitcliffe Mount School in Cleckheaton, West Yorks, on Wednesday.

The image, posted to her Twitter account, would be one of the final images of the tragic young mum devoted to public service.

In a caption under the photo, she wrote: “The #EUref debate @WMount in Cleckheaton was excellent. Lots of interest and great questions from students #Remain”.

Heartbreaking moment Canadian MP and friend of Jo Cox breaks down in tears as tributes pour in

A day later she would lay dead after a horrific attack at the hands of a barbaric gun and knife attack following an advice surgery in her constituency of Batley and Spen.

The final days of Jo’s life detail her commitment to the community in her Yorkshire seat.

On Tuesday the mother of two children, aged three and five, spoke with local kids at the Batley Parish School, where she talked to youngsters about their aspirations.

The snap catches Jo standing in front of the engrossed children while she poses questions to them during school assembly.

She wrote alongside the picture: “Led the assembly at the wonderful Batley Parish School, we focused on good citizenship, democracy and aspiration.”

Only one day earlier she met with MacMillan Cancer Support staff, working in the local community to help those affected by the disease.

Later that day she visited staff at a chippy that was now offering gluten-free fish and chips to customers.

And last week the 41-year-old highlighted the work done by local church-goers in the community.

We pay for your stories! Do you have a story for The Sun Online news team? Email us at tips@the-sun.co.uk or call 0207 782 4368",JO Cox inspires the next generation as she gives a talk to pupils — barely a day before she was gunned down in the street. Labour MP Jo addressed a class of school kids on the EU referendum at Whit…
"By Marc A. Thiessen September 22 at 10:40 AM

When John Kerry ran for president in 2004, he dismissed the allies fighting alongside the United States in Iraq as a “trumped-up, so-called coalition of the bribed, the coerced, the bought and the extorted.”

Now, as secretary of state, Kerry is going hat-in-hand to many of the same nations he insulted, asking them to join a U.S.-led coalition in Iraq.

No wonder he’s having so much trouble.

As Kerry lobbies potential coalition partners at the U.N. General Assembly meeting in New York this week, it is worth recalling how he offended the 30-plus nations that sent ground troops to fight alongside us in Iraq — including the United Kingdom, Italy, Poland, Ukraine, the Netherlands, Australia, Romania, South Korea, Japan, Denmark, Bulgaria, Thailand, El Salvador, Hungary, Singapore, Norway, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Mongolia, Latvia, Portugal, the Czech Republic, Lithuania, Slovakia, Albania, New Zealand, Tonga, Estonia, Kazakhstan, Macedonia, Moldova, Spain, the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, Honduras, the Philippines, Armenia and Bosnia-Herzegovina — plus the many others who supported the mission with basing, overflight and other crucialassistance.

Kerry dismissed as “window dressing” the sacrifice of those nations, including the 14 coalition countries who by then had seen their soldiers die on the battlefield in Iraq. His cavalier comments prompted the president of Poland (a country that led Multinational Division in Central-South Iraq and lost 23 soldiers in battle) to declare, “It’s sad that a Senator with twenty years of experience does not appreciate Polish sacrifice . . . I don’t think it’s a question of ignorance. . . . It’s immoral not to see this involvement we undertook.”

Kerry mocked the contributions of smaller nations, declaring “When they talk about a coalition, that’s the phoniest thing I ever heard. You’ve got 500 troops here, 500 troops there.” Never mind he’s now working for a president who just used a prime-time address to announce that he is deploying — wait for it — 475 troops to Iraq (but insists they will not have a “combat role”).

Now, Kerry is meeting resistance from nations small and large as he seeks allies to join the fight against the Islamic State. Turkey has forbidden the United States from using Incirlik air base for military strikes on Islamic State targets. Egypt’s foreign minister told Kerry that Egypt’s “hands were full” with its own fight against terrorism. In Jordan, the New York Times reports, King Abdullah II “told Secretary of State John Kerry . . . that Jordan was focusing on the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip.” Looking at Kerry’s efforts, CNN reports that “it looks like a coalition of the not-so-willing.”

Kerry claimed at the U.N. on Friday that “we have seen more than 50 countries come forward with critical commitments.” But in his U.N. speech, he named just two countries — Australia and France — that are providing fighter jets and military personnel, while explaining that “the coalition required to eliminate ISIL is not only, or even primarily, military in nature.” Bahrain, Kerry said, “has offered to host an international conference in the near future to . . . counter terrorist financing,” Germany is providing “lethal aid,” and Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Japan, New Zealand, and South Korea are contributing “to the UN-led humanitarian response in Iraq.”

How many of these contributions would have passed Kerry’s “window dressing” test in 2004? Not many.

Let’s be clear: If countries want to keep their cooperation with the United States a secret, that should be fine by us. When the George W. Bush administration formed coalitions in Iraq, Afghanistan and the broader war on terror, it did not insist that every nation publicly declare if and how it was contributing. The policy was to accept help from countries on a basis that was comfortable to them, and then let them characterize how they were helping the coalition. Many contributed openly, while many others cooperated privately.

But this was not good enough for Kerry in 2004. He declared that 30 nations with actual boots on the ground was evidence of a “go-it-alone policy in Iraq.” Now he expects to get credit for the support of any nation that issues a strongly worded statement.

To be fair, Kerry’s difficulties are not entirely his fault. No one believes President Obama’s strategy in Iraq will work — not the Republicans, not the Democrats, not the generals, not the American people. So it’s little wonder that our allies are questioning the strategy as well and finding ways to avoid making specific commitments.

After all, in 2004, Kerry declared that the United States could take preemptive action abroad only if it “passes the global test.” Well, if the current Iraq coalition is any indication, Kerry is failing his own global test.

Read more from Marc Thiessen’s archive, follow him on Twitter or subscribe to his updates on Facebook.

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customFields- published 1411396817/1411396817000/1411396817 tracking: {authors=Marc A. Thiessen, content_category=Editorial-Opinion, in_url_headline=marc-thiessen-kerrys-coalition-against-the-islamic-state-fails-his-global-test, section={section=opinions, subsection=null}, show_ads=true, show_comments=true, ugc={allow_comments=true, allow_photos=false, allow_videos=false, comments_period=14, comments_source=washpost.com, default_sort=, default_tab=, display_comments=true, is_ugc_gallery=false, max_items_to_display=15, max_items_to_display_top=3, moderation_required=false, stream_id=}} allow_comments: true published_date:Sep 22, 2014 2:40:17 PM close date: Oct 6, 2014 2:40:17 PM

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customFields- published 1411396817/1411396817000/1411396817 tracking: {authors=Marc A. Thiessen, content_category=Editorial-Opinion, in_url_headline=marc-thiessen-kerrys-coalition-against-the-islamic-state-fails-his-global-test, section={section=opinions, subsection=null}, show_ads=true, show_comments=true, ugc={allow_comments=true, allow_photos=false, allow_videos=false, comments_period=14, comments_source=washpost.com, default_sort=, default_tab=, display_comments=true, is_ugc_gallery=false, max_items_to_display=15, max_items_to_display_top=3, moderation_required=false, stream_id=}} allow_comments: true published_date:Sep 22, 2014 2:40:17 PM close date: Oct 6, 2014 2:40:17 PM",The secretary of state is having trouble enlisting allies in the fight against the Islamic State.
"‘You met, and then?” people say when they ask how my husband, Nico, and I got together.

“And then,” Nico says, somewhat embarrassed: “Google Translate.”

We met in 2010 at a hotel in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, where I was reporting on the aftermath of the devastating earthquake that year. He, a U.N. peacekeeper from France who spoke practically no English, and I, an American with equal amounts of French, communicated with a lot of pantomime. But once we’d started “talking,” we stuck close by each other, him leading me across the lobby by the hand at one point. We kissed that night.

I woke up early the next morning to an e-mail from him. “Hey Miss!” Nico’s words, suddenly prolific, greeted me. “How are you? For me, it was a magic evening, magic moment, magic woman.”

Google’s translations are not perfect. In that first missive, Nico complimented me heartily on my “hornbeam,” which for some reason the software was giving him as a synonym for “charm.” And he expressed frustration, at times comically, about not being able to shower me with “lovely words” the night before.

When he stole away to my hotel again a couple of nights later, I knew, thanks to dozens of additional e-mails and text messages sent in the interim, that he was driven there as much by emotion as by desire.

I was no prude, as a sexually active single gal. But as a standing policy, I did not sleep with strangers. I slept with Nico that night because, thanks to those Google-assisted communications, he didn’t feel like one.

And so, the next day, I was gut-punched by the e-mail I received. “I’m glad to have could to see you. It was very sweet and ardor this night. I like the contact with your skin.” But also: “I don’t think I see you again. I don’t think this is a good idea to stay in touch.”

My mouth went dry. My instincts and his ardent transliterations had removed my usual reservations about one-night stands — and look where it had gotten me.

I wrote back, calling him a swear word.

He responded immediately. The swear word “in google translate is not very good word!” he said, alarmed. “I want see you again, I want talk with you again. . . . It’s not the problem!”

The problem, several subsequent messages made clear, was that he had almost gotten caught absconding from his unit’s camp, which visiting French soldiers like himself were forbidden to leave except on business. He’d endangered his career and put anyone who’d seen him doing so in an awkward position. He couldn’t come to my hotel again.

Of course, that’s not what “stay in touch” means. Nuance!

With the help of algorithms, no matter how clumsy, what could have been a fleeting hookup became a long-distance relationship. After I went home to San Francisco and he returned to France, we sent countless, constant e-mails. English was our official language; he was dying to learn it.

Any day we could find the time, we both logged on to a video chat. After smiling at each other and typing our hellos, I would write a topical sentence: I had a meeting at work today. Or: I’m not sure if I want to have kids.

I’d watch his eyes move from one browser window to another on his screen as he copied the sentence from the chat, pasted it into Translate and hit enter. It was the Translate window he responded to, not my face directly, as he read what I had written, saying “ah” or laughing or frowning. Then he would glance at me to repeat whatever face he’d just made, with eye contact this time, before turning back to Translate to type his response in French, get the translation, copy and paste it into the chat window, and hit send. And I would read that.

We did this for hours at a time, over many months, with translations sometimes so garbled they raised more questions than they answered.

Nico, once: “Be careful it’s of rhetoric! Lol.”

Nico, another time: “My apartment is a whorehouse.”

That one took us quite a few minutes to figure out. In French, “bordel” does mean “whorehouse”; the expression “C’est un bordel,” though, means “It’s a mess.”

Google Translate was still easier than the truly old-fashioned way by a mile — or roughly 6,000 miles, in this case. Imagine doing what we were doing with a dictionary: flipping the pages for every word, conjugating verbs. Could we have exhaustively pieced together our interactions with phrasebooks? Sure, though we might have been less likely to stick with it.

Despite the modern tools at our disposal, this nascent relationship still didn’t seem practical. Our friends were flummoxed. But our chats kept Nico in my life in a manageable way, somewhat predictable and scheduled. We got to know each other slowly. And that may have been for the best: At the time, I was struggling with an emotional disorder. Between depressive symptoms and an intense career, I was already juggling more than I could handle. Our distance, though painful, felt safe.

With each e-mail and chat session, our divide narrowed. Immersed in computer-generated English, Nico started to pick up the language.

Him: “My English is very bad this evening!!! SUCKS! (like this?)”

Me: “Your use of ‘sucks’ was perfect.”

Him (signing off): “Stay contact every day every time. . . .”

Seven months after we met in Haiti, we finally saw each other in person again, in a rendezvous arranged, obviously, over chat and e-mail. He could speak enough for us to have simple conversations over dinner. He knew so much more English than the first time we’d met. All learned from our interactions. All translated by Google.

The process continued, and his English kept improving. A year and a half after chancing into each other at that Port-au-Prince hotel, Nico and I moved in together in San Francisco. A few months later, we got married.

The more we talked, the more we confirmed that we were as in love as we’d thought from that first, pantomime-heavy interaction. Translations had validated our gut feelings. Since then, our relationship and communication — as well as my mental health — have continued to strengthen.

This year, Google released a newer, faster smartphone app that can translate spoken language and pictures of foreign text. Early reviewers report that there are still a lot of mistakes. But the software is likely to get better with time. Even the older method of translating by typing text into computers was advanced enough to make our union possible.

Less than a year after our wedding, Google drastically altered our lives again, when a Google employee bought the house where we rented our basement apartment. She came downstairs one night and informed us that we would be evicted.

I’d lived in the rent-controlled apartment for five years. I was devastated and bitter. Google giveth, and Google taketh away.

Not everything, though. I still had my deep and abiding love, the joy and most cherished treasure of my life: my husband. And he had something, thanks to our diligence and patience and, yes, Google, that could never be taken. He used his English to comfort me, and to help make plans for moving forward, in words we both could understand.

Read more from Outlook and follow our updates on Facebook and Twitter.",He spoke only French. I spoke only English. Google to the rescue.
"BOSTON (Reuters) - Boston's Adrian Gonzalez proved a thorn in the side of his former team as the first baseman's seventh-inning hit set the surging Red Sox on course for a crushing 14-5 victory over the San Diego Padres on Monday.

Gonzalez, who spent the previous five campaigns with the Padres before being traded to Boston in the off-season, broke open a 3-3 tie with an RBI double that opened the floodgates as the Red Sox added 10 runs in the top of the inning.

""It's just great at-bats,"" Gonzalez told reporters after he finished with three hits to raise his Major League-leading batting average to .353. He also leads baseball in RBIs with 67.

""It's a line-up that consistently has good at-bats, professional at-bats and you wear down a pitcher.""

Padres starter Wade LeBlanc left the game in the fourth inning and Boston exploited a shaky San Diego bullpen that walked four and hit two batters in the marathon seventh.

Padres reliever Cory Luebke gave up two runs in 3 1/3 innings and was charged with struggling San Diego's (30-44) sixth consecutive loss.

""Our bullpen has been the best in baseball, top to bottom,"" Padres manager Bud Black countered. ""Tonight showed that these guys aren't invincible. Bad inning. That's the only way you can write it.""

Boston (44-28) got a lift on the mound from Andrew Miller, making his season debut in place of injured starter Clay Buchholz. He allowed three runs in 5 2/3 innings of the no-decision.

Matt Albers came on to finish the sixth and pitched the seventh to earn the win for the red-hot Red Sox, who have won 14 of their last 16 games, and lead the American League East by 1 1/2 games despite a 2-10 start to the season.

Boston took an early 3-0 lead with runs in the first, third and fourth innings but the Padres battled back and tied the game in the sixth on a three-run homer from Orlando Hudson.

Hudson finished with three hits and Chase Headley went 4-for-5 in the loss for the Padres.

(Writing by Jahmal Corner in Los Angeles; Editing by John O'Brien)",BOSTON (Reuters) - Boston's Adrian Gonzalez returned to haunt his former team as the Red Sox crushed the San Diego Padres 14-5 on Monday.
"A new study published Monday in the journal Pediatrics finds that playing video games for up to an hour a day can be beneficial for 10-to-15-year-olds.

""Electronic gaming and psychosocial adjustment,"" believed to be the largest study of its kind, was carried out by Oxford University and examined the positive and negative effects of video gaming on a representative sample of 5,000 UK children and teenagers.

It found that a little gaming goes a long way to helping children feel well adjusted, even when compared to 10-to-15-year-olds when compared to kids who don't partake of console games at all.

Children who play console or computer games for up to an hour a day were the most likely to express satisfaction with their lives; had the highest levels of sociability, and appeared to have fewer friendship, emotional or hyperactivity issues than other subjects in the study.

However, there appears to be a tipping point. When children play for three hours or more a day, they are less well adjusted.

The study's author, Dr. Andrew Przybylski, speculates that this could be related to how much of a child's free time is taken up by video gaming. If a child has three-to-four hours' free time a day and the majority of it is taken up by gaming, then he or she is missing out on other valuable, enriching activities.

However, whether good or bad, the research suggests that the impact of video games on children is very small when compared with what it describes as the more ""enduring factors"" of family life and material deprivation.

""These results support recent laboratory-based experiments that have identified the downsides to playing electronic games. However, high levels of video game-playing appear to be only weakly linked to children's behavioural problems in the real world. Likewise, the small, positive effects we observed for low levels of play on electronic games do not support the idea that video games on their own can help children develop in an increasingly digital world,"" said Dr. Przybylski, who believes that more research will now need to be done into understanding what types of games have the biggest positive benefit on children and how other external factors impact on childhood and adolescent development.",A new study published Monday in the journal Pediatrics finds that playing video games for up to an hour a day can be beneficial for 10-to-15-year-olds.
"The ritual bath (miqwe) (Assaf Peretz, courtesy of the Israel Antiquities Authority)

The engraved graffiti left by the Australian soldiers. (Assaf Peretz, courtesy of the Israel Antiquities Authority)

The engraved graffiti left by the Australian soldiers. (Assaf Peretz, courtesy of the Israel Antiquities Authority)

Archaeologists in Israel have discovered an ancient ritual bath, as well as a 1,700 year-old water cistern with some surprising graffiti.

The 1,900 year-old ritual bath, or miqwe, was recently discovered at Ha-Ela junction near Jerusalem. The excavations by the Israel Antiquities Authority took place prior to the widening of a highway.

“We exposed a miqwe in which there are five steps; the fifth step being a bench where one could sit at the edge of the immersion pool,” said Yoav Tsur, excavation director on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority, in a statement. “We found fragments of magnificent pottery vessels there dating to the second century CE, among them lamps, red burnished vessels, a jug and cooking pots.”

Tsur believes that the miqwe ceased to be used in the second century, perhaps following the Bar Kokhba revolt, a Jewish uprising which was brutally suppressed by the Romans.

The ancient water cistern, which is located near the ritual bath, also revealed some fascinating details about more recent history. Graffiti engraved on the ceiling of the cistern by two Australian soldiers indicates that it had been exposed until the 1940’s.

The inscriptions were read by by Assaf Peretz, an archaeologist and historian with the Israel Antiquities Authority, who identified two names - Cpl Scarlett and Walsh. The date 30/05/1940 also appeared below the graffiti.

Research suggest that that the two soldiers were members of the Australian Sixth Division stationed in what was then British Mandate Palestine.

“The fins of British mortar bombs were found while searching the site, as were twenty-seven rifle cartridges, six of which were manufactured in Australia and fired in the region,” said Peretz, in a statement.

“The finds from this excavation allow us to reconstruct a double story: about the Jewish settlement in the second century CE, probably against the background of the events of the Bar Kokhba revolt, and another story, no less fascinating, about a group of Australian soldiers who visited the site c. 1,700 years later and left their mark there,” added Tsur.","Archaeologists in Israel have discovered an ancient ritual bath, as well as a 1,700 year-old water cistern with some surprising graffiti."
"An independent review released this week identified a series of missteps in the Baltimore police handling of protests that occurred after the death of Freddie Gray in police custody.

The report, authored by the Police Executive Research Forum, found that the police department planned poorly, lacked adequate equipment and failed to articulate clear arrest policies.

Gray, a 25-year-old black man, died in April after sustaining injuries in the back of a police van. The city erupted in violence in the aftermath of the death, causing millions in damage.

The new report argued that adequate police preparation could have helped avoid much of the damage. Leaders during the crisis were unclear and sometimes changed without notice, according to the report. Officers were also unclear regarding arrest policies and certain orders from higher ranking officials.

The Baltimore Police Department wrote that the report “confirmed many of our own critiques” in a statement that accompanied the release of the report. Nonetheless, police vowed to improve its practices.

The report comes just days after 2015 became the deadliest year for the city in more than a decade. More than 300 homicides have occurred this year, more than any year since 1999.","Police planned poorly and lacked adequate equipment, report says"
"'There is a feeling within the airline - and outside it - that BA's cabin staff have led a charmed life but now have to face up to reality' Photo: GETTY

British Airways cabin crew lead lives that seem outside the real world, with the sort of perks that would make most of us green with envy – never mind their salaries. So why do they seem to be preparing an extended suicide note?

The roots of the problem – and of much of current cabin crew thinking – go back decades; back to BA's long-lost ancestor, Imperial Airways, founded in 1924 – note that ""Imperial"" – and then BOAC, a state-owned monolith created in 1939.

""There's still a hangover from those days,"" said one crew member I spoke to. ""It's as if some crew, especially the older ones, feel as if they're somehow part of the Civil Service, waving the flag, with all the old-fashioned sense of entitlement that implies.

""BA may have been a private company since 1987, but many older staff still have a jobs-for-life mentality; the sort of outlook you'd find in more backward-looking parts of the public sector.

""For example, you'd get people throwing sickies if they didn't like their shift pattern. Some would say BA's inflexible rota system forced them into it – but others would call in sick so they could go to parties.""

It's not surprising that with BA's losses, there is a feeling within the airline – and outside it – that BA's cabin staff have led a charmed life but now have to face up to reality.

""You have had it too good for too long,"" an Air France crew-member told one of my BA stewardess friends, reflecting widespread industry opinion.

The crews' view from BA's great rival, Virgin, is similar. The Virgin steward I spoke to sympathised with anyone who had to take a salary cut, but felt BA staff needed to be realistic.

""The BA crews do earn an awful lot of money and they've had it cushy for a long time,"" he said. I used to share a house with someone who was BA crew and I couldn't believe his salary. He was earning double what I was.""

My BA stewardess friend agreed. ""Some elements have definitely got to change and most crew accept that. But there's no doubt everyone wants to work for BA because they know their crews get the best deal…""

Another crew member, who has been with the airline for 24 years and is now a purser, said she and her colleagues had been prepared to take temporary pay cuts and unpaid leave, just as they did after the attacks of September 11.

""The last thing I want to do is strike, but the airline doesn't want to listen. It doesn't want to talk,"" she said. ""They want to cut costs at any price. When you join BA now, you're given a number: and from then on, that's how it feels as if you're being treated – like a number.""

If the attitudes of some crew are shaped by the past and a misplaced sense of entitlement, then BA's management over many years must take some of the blame.

Never mind the ins and outs of the present dispute, John King, appointed to BA in 1981 in the buildup to the 1987 privatisation, may have appeared ruthless, but he was aware that he would have to take a cosseted workforce with him.

Despite the cuts and tough-talking, King was rather more emollient behind the scenes, and staff were allowed to get used to the idea of generous salaries, perks and conditions. King's successors – Colin Marshall, Rod Eddington and Bob Ayling – all dabbled, but, as the current dispute shows, the good times continued to roll – and how.

Now push really has come to shove and Willie Walsh, current head of BA, means business. The airline is in a hole, and a big one: a vast pensions liability, huge losses, declining business-class revenues, and competition on short-haul routes from leaner, hungrier – and lower-paying – no-frills carriers.

Had they known it, the glory years for BA cabin crew were over a long time ago. Unfortunately, no one told them. Now they're being told. It's no wonder they don't want to listen.

A long-haul pilot who has worked for BA for more than 20 years gives his opinion on the dispute.

""Do some staff still think they're in the public sector? Absolutely right they do. I've heard some people say we can't go bust and my jaw drops – look at TWA, PanAm, Swissair, Sabina and other airlines that were never supposed to go under. There's a perception that we are still somehow the national airline and the government will bail us out and everything will be rosy.

And there are certainly parts of the airline that are still stuck in the Seventies. I heard one of my cabin crew say: ""I've been here for 30 years: I must be paid this amount."" I said: ""well why, if the company you work for can't afford it and goes bust because they are paying too much in wages?""

We have working practices which you would never dream of having if you started an airline today: the fact that we always stay in four- or five-star hotels in city centres, for example – and I'm not complaining: I think it's marvellous.

It doesn't add up, of course, but there is no way they are going to listen. The problem is, people come to BA, stay for 20 years, and have no idea of what it's like in the real world. I've given up discussing it: so many crew are stuck in an unreal old-world mindset.""","The Seventies are to blame for the current dispute, British Airways cabin crew 
  members tell Sara Macefield."
"Mozilla has just unleashed Firefox Beta for mobile on the waiting world.

Formerly codenamed “Fennec,” Mozilla’s mobile project is now simply called FirefoxFirefox.

The initial rollout is available for owners of Nokia N900 phones and any device running AndroidAndroid 2.0 (a.k.a. Eclair) or higher. Tested and supported devices include the Droid, Droid 2, Droid X, Desire, Evo, Galaxy S and more.

iPhoneiPhone users, we’re sorry, but you’ll have to stick with the Firefox Home app in the App StoreApp Store for now. Mozilla has no plans to work on BlackBerryBlackBerry Rocks! for now.

Mozilla says this mobile browser is “built on the same technology platform as Firefox 4 for desktop computers, just optimized for browsing on a mobile device.” The browser includes such features as syncing, add-ons and the Awesome Bar.

The product is still in beta; updates will be rolled out regularly before a final version is announced.

What do you think: Will you be downloading Firefox 4 for your phone? If you’re an iPhone user, do you wish you could? Let us know your opinions in the comments.

Jobs Come join the Windows Web Services (WWS) site management team and be a part of delivering outstanding consumer web experiences for Windows customers. The WWS site management team is looking for an exp...",Mozilla has just released Firefox Beta for mobile on the waiting world.
"A number of homes in Victoria's flood-affected northwest are on alert as floodwaters inch closer.

Four homes in between Horsham and Quangton could be impacted as the Wimmera River continues to rise.

The river near the Quantong Bridge is above major flood levels, sitting at 6.58 metres by 3.30pm and rising.

It's expected to peak late on Monday night.

SES crews have been notifying residents in the affected area but over-floor flooding isn't expected.

""It will be more that they will be cut off and have paddocks and things go underwater,"" SES spokeswoman Jacque Quaine told AAP.

Residents further downstream in Dimboola along the Wimmera River were also doorknocked on Monday.

Horsham incident controller Stephen Warren said some of the floodwater had been transferred to lakes in the Horsham region.

""That means for the summer some recreation facilities will have some water in them, so that's one good thing,"" he told AAP.

Also in the western region, the Avoca River still remains on major flood watch but continues to drop in Charlton where it peaked at 7.55m on Saturday afternoon.

It had receded to 3.6m on Monday afternoon.

Authorities are now bracing for more rain from Tuesday.

A rainband will start moving across the northwest of Victoria from Tuesday with rain picking up from the afternoon.

The Bureau of Meteorology is forecasting about 15mm-30mm of rain, with the potential for localised heavier falls.

There have been 21 people rescued from floodwaters across the state and a man has died in the past 10 days.

Severe structural damage from landslides and heavy rain also closed sections of the Great Ocean Road.

The tourist route is open to all traffic from Moggs Creek to Lorne, closed from Lorne to Wye River, and open but with restrictions on heavy buses and trucks from Wye River to Skenes Creek.",Towns affected by flooding in Victoria after heavy rain for days will be on alert again as more rain is forecast early in the week.
"A young man charged with several gun offences by counter-terrorism police investigating the murder of Curtis Cheng will remain behind bars after withdrawing a bail application.

Masood Zakaria was in custody at Parramatta Courthouse but didn't appear in the local court where his defence lawyer Winston Terracini SC told Magistrate Theo Tsavdaridis he would not be seeking bail for his client during a brief hearing on Thursday.

The 21-year-old is due to front court via audio visual link when his matter is next mentioned on February 15.

Zakaria was also before the court on Wednesday, hours after he was arrested at Westmead, in Sydney's west, by counter-terror police from Strike Force Peqin.

He was subsequently charged with possessing an unauthorised pistol, supplying a pistol to an unauthorised person and acquiring a pistol subject to a prohibition order.

The strike force was created to investigate the circumstances surrounding Mr Cheng's murder outside the Parramatta police headquarters in October 2015.",A man facing several gun charges laid by NSW counter-terror police has withdrawn a bail application.
"LENE LOVICH is at Studio 54 tonight. The spacious disco, which reopened last week under new management, has presented a few rock concerts before, but tonight's is the first in a regular Wednesday night series, and the fact that Miss Lovich is the performer makes it doubly special. She earned her reputation in the late 70's with eccentric vocal improvisations - birdlike twittering, swooping sirenlike sounds - and brooding melodies that had a distinctly Slavic flavor. What one tends to forget is that she is more than an intriguing vocal improviser; she is an exceptional writer, arranger and singer of songs.

Miss Lovich, who was born and raised in Detroit and lives in London with her boyfriend, guitarist and songwriting partner, Les Chappell, was in town this week to rehearse her band for the concert and an appearance at the Left Bank in Mount Vernon, N.Y., the following night.

''I'm not sure where that Slavic influence came from,'' she said during a break. ''It must be from my earliest childhood; my father was really keen on Tchaikovsky and that sort of music and used to play it really loud. But I didn't try to recreate that; it just came out.''

The newest recording from Miss Lovich is a six-song ''mini-lp'' called ''New Toy.'' It includes some of her richest, most mature music to date. The arrangements emphasize the songs, but they are full of imaginative effects and bewitching textures.

''A lot of the things you think are synthesizers are actually my vocals,'' she noted. ''I like that kind of singing to work as instruments rather than as something gimmicky. And I like the idea that each time you listen to the music you hear different, almost subliminal details.''

Miss Lovich a nd Mr. Chappell have been busy building their own recording stu dio outside London and working on a still incomplete newalbum. ''It's difficult to get most recording engineers to take notice of wha t you want to do,'' she said, ''especially when what youwant to do is n't conventional. We like to experiment in the studio, because we ha ve a lot of ideas and most of them seem to work.''

There's an abundance of ideas on ''New Toy,'' and they do work. It will be interesting to see how this new music, which sounds more intricately detailed than anything Miss Lovich attempted before, will translate in concert.","LENE LOVICH is at Studio 54 tonight. The spacious disco, which reopened last week under new management, has presented a few rock concerts before, but tonight's is the first in a regular Wednesday night series, and the fact that Miss Lovich is the performer makes it doubly special. She earned her reputation in the late 70's with eccentric vocal improvisations - birdlike twittering, swooping sirenlike sounds - and brooding melodies that had a distinctly Slavic flavor. What one tends to forget is that she is more than an intriguing vocal improviser; she is an exceptional writer, arranger and singer of songs."
"it’s been a struggle to find a location for his new restaurant,

, but happily the former Kin Khao chef and Dogpatch neighborhood resident has settled on a space in his own back yard.

The fast-casual tacos and margaritas concept will be located on the corner of Third and 20th streets. Gaines will oversee the kitchen, while his wife, Stephanie Gaines, will serve as general manager. Gaines is keeping details of the menu on the low-down for now, but says it will be about 12 to 15 items, including dessert, and he’ll try to keep prices below $20. The beverage menu will feature about 4 different mixed drinks, as well as beer and wine. In addition to dine-in guests, Gaines also hopes to do a lot to-go business.

The 500-square-foot dining room and bar, which will seat about 30 people, will be designed by architect Wiley Price (State Bird Provisions, The Progress, Trick Dog, Ramen Shop).

Gaines is aiming for a January 2017 opening. Hours will be 11 a.m.-11 p.m. daily.

Glena’s, 632 20th St., S.F. glenassf.com","We’re moving into the Dogpatch ! Looking forward to seeing this space transform and opening early 2017 to bring Tacos and Margaritas. A photo posted by Glena’s SF (@glenassf) on Sep 2, …"
"Sony announced the PlayStation 4 with a lot of fanfare and in-your-face visuals. The two-hour presentation inundated the media and gaming industry with a lot of pretty lights and sounds, but left more questions that needed answering.

While we're not expecting to see the PlayStation 4 on store shelves until late in the year, there's a lot we hope to learn before then. Even Sony doesn't have all the answers right now — the company admitted that many things are still being ironed out. With so many gaming options on the marketplace for 2013, including Microsoft's rumored next-generation Xbox, gamers have a lot of choice, so here are the biggest things we'd like to see answered soon.

This figure could be all over the place. Sony had the most expensive console by far at the last cycle; a PS3 was $600 at launch, a number plenty of people balked at. This was in 2006, too, a time before powerful tablets and cellphones took our gaming mobile, or Android-based consoles were on the horizon. While these might not have the processing power of the PlayStation 4, the market's diversity proves gamers can find content in a lot of places, and Sony will have to consider that in the price.

Along with the system cost, there are the potential extra monthly costs of playing. While the PlayStation Network has been free for years, with the exception of the premium PlayStation Plus membership, Sony might take another look at pricing. Its presentation confirmed free-to-try games in the store, a powerful social service that allowed players to share game video, and games served to other devices.

In a roundtable with journalists Thursday, Sony's worldwide studios president Shuhei Yoshida said the company was investigating a lot of different pricing structures dependent on what consumers want. He couldn't confirm if any part of the online experience would remain free, or if Sony would offer it all to gamers without charging them.

After Sony patents were uncovered last month that discussed technology that would associate a game disc's identifier with an account, there was speculation if the upcoming console would refuse to play used games. (Similar rumors are also circulating about the next Xbox.)

Sony didn't exactly put this rumor to rest. Yoshida says that ""PlayStation 4 discs will work on any of the consoles."" But then he added that publishers could decide to lock their titles, similar to what EA has already begun doing on recent games like Dead Space 3, which requires a code from the box if players want to play online.

When a reporter in the room pointed out the console maker was also a game publisher, Yoshida admitted Sony had not yet decided how to handle used games that it publishes. How Sony's first party games will be handled will likely set a precedent for others publishing on its console.

Sony doesn't even know that yet, Yoshida confirmed. We'll probably see something closer to E3 in June.

We originally wondered if Sony would do something bold like ditch the optical drive, but Yoshida's other comments about used games dissuaded that idea.

The PlayStation 4 is not backwards compatible, Yoshida said. Neither game discs nor old games bought on the PlayStation Network will work on the system. But Sony talked about the power of Gaikai's streaming services harnessed with PlayStation Cloud, and said that older generations of PlayStation games would eventually be accessible. While this is exciting news, it leaves us with two questions: can we re-download games we already own for free? It would be total gouging to have to pay full price for games twice. And when will these older libraries come to the PS4?

The PlayStation 4's DualShock 4 controller's touch pad can't be ignored. It's prominently placed in the center of the controller's face, and changes its whole look. While Sony was happy to brag about this addition, there is little idea of what it does.

A Killzone Shadow Fall developer said on Late Night with Jimmy Kimmel that the touch pad was useful for navigating between menus, but that's a lot of real estate to devote to that function. Will we see more games moving from mobile to the PlayStation Store that feature touch controls? Was this influenced by the OUYA design? We have yet to see this demonstrated with any of the game technology.

The PlayStation 4 presentation focused on how great the console is for developers, and included a video talking to those working at studios large and small on how great the new features are. 2012 was also a big year for indie games in the PSN Store, with such massive successes like Journey and Sound Shapes. With a bigger store potentially coming to the PlayStation 4 ecosystem, how will Sony attract indies to provide quality content for the system?

Yoshida said he already respected the iTunes model, and hoped Sony could do something similar with the next-gen PlayStation Store, but of course couldn't announce any specific plans. With so many indies focusing on mobile because of the ease of publishing, can Sony attract them with a self-publishing model that resemble's Apple or the upcoming Android home consoles?

Launch lineups are ridiculously hard to set up, with games often taking longer to develop than anticipated. At the same time, launching with an anemic list of games doesn't help a console's chances. While lots of publishers and developers partnering with Sony spoke at the presentation, not all were even showing games; Square Enix, Quantic Dream and Media Molecule only showed concepts.

A couple of those titles have been confirmed for launch: first-party Killzone Shadow Fall and Ubisoft's highly anticipated Watch Dogs. While there are still many months for games to pop up between now and launch, Sony is also still promoting huge games for the current-gen PlayStation 3, including Naughty Dog's The Last of Us and Quantic Dreams' Beyond. Let's hope they fill out the lineup much more before launch.

Holiday 2013 is the best answer we could get for that, which is reasonable. We don't expect to get a clear answer on this until June at the earliest, though it's worth noting that Nintendo announced its Wii U launch date only 80 days before it was to arrive in stores.

What questions do you have about the PlayStation 4? Let us know what you're curious about in the comments.

Controller and game images courtesy Sony Computer Entertainment America. Used games image courtesy wlodi.","Sony announced the PlayStation 4 with a lot of fanfare and in-your-face visuals. The two-hour presentation inundated the media and gaming industry with a lot of pretty lights and sounds, but left more..."
"Soraya Chemaly is a media critic and activist.

Last week, two studies revealed that unexamined teacher biases are having a significant effect on girls’ education. The first found that gender stereotypes are negatively affecting girls’ math grades and positively affecting boys’. The second revealed how disproportionately penalized young black girls are for being assertive in classroom settings. Together, they make the clearest possible case for making it mandatory for teachers to be trained in spotting and striving to overcome their implicit biases.

The findings of the first study reveal both the short and long-term effects of primary school teachers’ implicit beliefs about gender on children’s math skills and ambitions. Researchers found that girls often score higher than boys on name-blind math tests, but once presented with recognizable boy and girl names on the same tests, teachers award higher scores to boys. The long-term effects are amplified by socioeconomic factors and family structure—girls from families where fathers were better educated than mothers and who are from lower socioeconomic communities were the most negatively affected.

The impact of unconscious teacher bias is long understood and well-documented. This new research confirms decades of work done by Myra and David Sadker and Karen R. Zittleman. Through thousands of hours of classroom observations, the Sadkers and Zittleman identified specific ways in which implicit and stereotypical ideas about gender govern classroom dynamics. They, as others have, found that teachers spend up to two thirds of their time talking to male students; they also are more likely to interrupt girls but allow boys to talk over them. Teachers also tend to acknowledge girls but praise and encourage boys. They spend more time prompting boys to seek deeper answers while rewarding girls for being quiet. Boys are also more frequently called to the front of the class for demonstrations. When teachers ask questions, they direct their gaze towards boys more often, especially when the questions are open-ended. Biases such as these are at the root of why the United States has one of the world’s largest gender gaps in math and science performance. Until they view their videotaped interactions, teachers believe they are being balanced in their exchanges.

The two reports released last week were focused on girls. However, the same biases have been implicated in teachers unconsciously undermining boys’ interest in the arts and language, enabling harmful gender gaps in self-regulation, and tacitly accepting certain male students’ propensity to believe that studying is “for girls” – all factors that contribute to boys’ lower academic performance. An understanding of implicit bias, coupled with data analysis, shows the degree to which what is typically portrayed as a “boy crisis” in education is actually more a crisis of income disparity and related to class-based constructions of masculinity. However, while boys lives are impoverished in these ways, boys within each racial/class category benefit overall from beliefs that institutionalize “boys being boys” attitudes, a problem directly related to the second report released last week.

The report, which included data on black girls’ heightened vulnerability and overpolicing, showed extraordinarily high rates of school suspension for African American girls in New York, where Black girls are twelve times more likely than their white counterparts to be suspended. In Boston, eleven Black girls face suspension for every white girl that does. U.S. government surveys show that while Black children make up less than 20% of preschoolers, they make up more than half of out-of-school suspensions. Black boys have the highest rates of suspension overall, but nationally up to 12% of black girls are suspended annually. This is twice the rate of suspension of white boys. In effect, teacher biases are resulting in black girls being disproportionately punished for behavior that boys-crisis-in-education advocates want schools to accommodate by becoming more “boy friendly.” In the words of researcher Megan McClelland, “In general, there is more tolerance for active play in boys than in girls. Girls are expected to be quiet and not make a fuss. This expectation may be coloring some teachers’ perceptions.”

Teacher (and parent) biases regarding science and math reflect the profound degree to which the “target student” implicitly remains white, male and of higher social status. Last year, rates of girls taking STEM-related advanced placement tests reached a record low. In two states not a single girl (in some states there were also no boys of color) took the Computer Science AP. Parental and teacher biases are the root cause of the systemic inhibition of diversity in the tech pipeline that we face today. Our two-decade long flat lining of girls’ STEM participation will affect sex-segregated wage and wealth gaps for years to come. If we want to disrupt this reality, we need to understand why, by the time American girls reach the age of 10, simply checking off a “female” box at the top of a test results in lower test scores. For girls of color, gender and race create a double jeopardy stereotype threat. If anything at all is evident from studies of classroom interactions it is how dynamic the interplay between gender, race, ethnicity and social class are.

The issue of whose assertive qualities, self-expression, and imagination are being cultivated and whose are being penalized speaks directly to the broader harms of not taking a nuanced intersectional approach to the problem of education. Everyone’s lives are impoverished by these bias and the stereotype threats they cultivate in children. When we tackle the ugly sexism of the tech industry, try to understand why young boys are killing themselves, or contemplate the aggrieved racialized and gendered entitlement at the heart of so much of our violence, we are fighting rear-guard actions. It’s too little, too late. Very little of this is done with malicious forethought. Training teachers to understand bias will not eliminate it, but it could create an institutional environment in which it is clear that understanding bias and its effects is critically important. The long-term return on investment is inestimable.

TIME Ideas hosts the world's leading voices, providing commentary and expertise on the most compelling events in news, society, and culture. We welcome outside contributions. To submit a piece, email ideas@time.com.","Teachers may not mean to play favorites, but it's happening with dire consequences."
"02/10/2016 AT 11:55 AM EST

wins the popular vote for this one.

The actor slips into his best

mode for a hilarious Funny or Die spoof, impersonating the presidential hopeful in a cheeky biopic that features a slew of star-studded appearances.

, is a 1980s-set 50-minute romp that jumps off the mogul's best-selling book of the same name – but with a twist.

""Thought to be lost in the Cybill Shepherd blouse fire of '89,

is a TV movie based on the best-selling Donald Trump autobiography of the same name,"" the film's narrator, none other than Ron Howard, says before revealing that Trump himself – aka Depp in full bouffant form – wrote, directed and starred in it himself.

And he's got ample backup: The film also features cameos by Alfred Molina, Patton Oswalt, Jack McBrayer and Andy Richter, among others.

""It was a crazy, completely nuts idea that somehow we pulled off,"" Funny or Die cofounder Adam McKay told",The faux film is a 1980s-set 50-minute romp that jumps off the mogul's best-selling book of the same name – but with a twist.
"Volkswagen could be slammed with penalties of up to $18 billion. U.S. regulators accuse the German automaker of deliberately avoiding clean air rules in nearly half a million of its vehicles. EPA officials said they will require Volkswagen to fix the cars for free, indicating a recall is likely. The automaker said in a statement it is cooperating with investigators but wouldn't comment further. (Reuters)

In ads, Volkswagen touted its popular Jetta and Beetle diesels as paragons of clean-fuel technology: Buyers were promised a car that was “clean, fuel efficient, and powerful,” according to one 2013 testimonial.

In reality, the claims were based in part on a clever ruse, U.S. officials alleged on Friday. For at least five years, Volkswagen officials illegally rigged their vehicles’ pollution-control systems so they would run cleanly only during emissions tests, while spewing higher levels of pollutants on the highway, the Environmental Protection Agency said.

The EPA joined California state officials in accusing the German automaker of deliberately circumventing air-pollution laws with the use of a software “defeat device” installed on nearly 500,000 Volkswagen and Audi diesel models sold in the United States since 2008. If substantiated, the violation could lead to billions of dollars in penalties and repair costs, agency officials said.

“Volkswagen was concealing the facts from the EPA, from the state of California and consumers,” Cynthia Giles, assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance, said at a news conference announcing legal action against the company. “We expected better from VW.”

A notice of violation posted Friday said the rigged software was used in five diesel models, including several of the company’s best-sellers. An EPA statement hinted of a future recall, saying it was “incumbent on Volkswagen to initiate the process” to fix the affected cars’ emissions systems.

“Using a defeat device in cars to evade clean air standards is illegal and a threat to public health,” Giles said.

The alleged scheme employed a sophisticated algorithm, installed in the emissions-control modules, that could detect when a vehicle was undergoing emissions testing. The software, which the EPA called a “defeat device,” would turn on full emissions controls during testing and switch them off again under normal driving conditions.

As a result, the cars emitted far more pollution than advertised—up to 40 times the federal standard for NOx, a component in urban smog, the EPA said. NOx can contribute to asthmatic attacks and other respiratory illnesses that send millions of people to the hospital each year.

Volkswagen had no comment about the allegations Friday.

Agency officials said the problem was first detected last year by a group of West Virginia University researchers. The team was conducting tests of Volkswagen’s 2.0-liter diesel engine when it noticed variations in emissions levels. The results were shared with EPA and discussed in conversations with company officials, who acknowledged that a software change accounted for the varying emissions rates.

Investigators later found the software in diesel versions of Golfs, Jettas and Beetles and Audi A3s beginning with the model year 2009, and in Volkswagen Passats beginning with 2014 models, according to an agency fact sheet. Officials said no immediate action is required by car owners and that Volkswagen ultimately will be required to fix the problem.

Legally, the EPA could assess the company a $37,500 fine for each car that violated clear-air standards — which could total $18 billion. In all likelihood, though, the final penalties will be less than that amount.

“While the diesel vehicles do not meet air pollution standards, they continue to be safe and legal to drive,” said Janet McCabe, acting assistant administrator for the Office of Air and Radiation. “We will hold VW responsible for recalling the affected vehicles…at no cost to consumers.”

The EPA has authority under the Clean Air Act to order a recall, though it could take up to a year for a formal notice to be issued, officials said.

“Our goal now is to ensure that the affected cars are brought into compliance,” said Richard Corey, executive officer of California’s Air Resources Board. He said federal and state agencies intended to “dig more deeply into the extent and implications of Volkswagen’s efforts to cheat on clean air rules and to take appropriate further action.”

The allegations prompted sharp criticism of Volkswagen from environmental and consumer protection groups.

“The charges here are truly appalling,” said Frank O’Donnell, director of Clean Air Watch. “It was cheating not just car buyers but the breathing public.”

Ellen Bloom, senior director of federal policy for Consumers Union, said the allegations, if confirmed, amounted to a “serious violation of the law.”

“Volkswagen was ripping off the consumer and hurting the environment at the same time,” she said.

Automakers have a long history of using defeat devices. In 1998, the EPA reached a $1 billion settlement with diesel-engine companies such as Caterpiller, Renault and Volvo for installing equipment that defeated emission controls. It was, at the time, the largest U.S. civil penalty for violating environmental law. The EPA said the firms installed the devices in an estimated 1.3 million engines in tractor trailers and large pick-ups.

That same year, Honda and Ford settled EPA cases also accusing them of using defeat devices. With Ford, the problem was found in 60,000 Econoline vans, allowing for excessive pollution at highway speeds. Honda was found to have disabled the misfire monitoring device on 1.6 million cars, depriving emission control inspectors of that information.

Todd Frankel contributed to this post.

Also in Energy & Environment:

The world’s 3 trillion trees, mapped

Global warming ‘pause’ never happened, scientists say

Why storing solar energy and using it at night is closer than you think

For more, you can sign up for our weekly newsletter here, and follow us on Twitter here.

Joby Warrick joined the Post’s national staff in 1996. He has covered national security, intelligence and the Middle East, and currently writes about the environment.","Volkswagen deliberately circumvented pollution controls by installing special software on Volkswagen and Audi models, EPA says."
"The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s media lab has unveiled an extension for Google Chrome called “Meow Met,” which shows a work of art featuring a cat from the museum’s collection every time a new browser tab is opened.

Designed by Emily McAllister, the extension features pieces by famous artists such as Mary Cassatt, Édouard Manet, Rembrandt, John Singer Sargent, and Walker Evans.

The plug-in is the latest example of how museums have taken to curating cat art to attract millennial visitors. The Brooklyn Museum presented an exhibit about cats in ancient Egypt while Japan Society put on a show about the history of cats in Japanese art, and most famously, the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis started a cat video festival that has toured the country.",Thanks to the Metropolitan Museum of Art's cat art Chrome plug-in
"Paris Hilton I'd NEVER Kidnap Kim K ... We're Friends!

is no Kardashian abductor ... in fact, she tells TMZ the leaked Ford print ad that shows her kidnapping Kim's family is ""stupid"" 'cause they're still good friends.

Ms. Hilton was signing autographs for fans at LAX this weekend when she was asked how she felt about the controversy stemming from the ad ... which depicted Paris driving off with Kim, Khloe and Kourtney tied up in the back of a Ford Figo.

Paris blew the whole thing off ... calling the situation ""ridiculous"" and ""stupid"" -- but the most shocking part was how she described her relationship with Kim ... considering they had a huge falling out a while back.

Hey North and South Korea ... you guys payin' attention?","Paris Hilton is no Kardashian abductor ... in fact, she tells TMZ the leaked Ford print ad that shows her kidnapping Kim's family is ""stupid"" 'cause…"
"To Prepare: Whole-Wheat Pasta and Its Cousins

Community Grains guarantees 100 percent whole grains in its nutty-tasting pastas, which are still delicate enough to seduce you into the whole-wheat pasta camp. The California company gets its various types of wheat directly from small growers there, and identifies the exact type of grains used in its products. In addition to pappardelle, fusilli, linguine and rigatoni, it also produces whole grain flours, an excellent coarse-grain cornmeal for polenta and an array of dried beans: Available at Fairway Markets and communitygrains.com.

To Drink: Blending the Philippines and Morocco in a Shake

The pale celadon color announces springtime, which is one reason to whip up a lightly sweetened Filipino avocado shake, the tagaytay, that is served at Jeepney, in the East Village. But I had another motive. During last year’s family trip to Morocco, we became hooked on an avocado and almond smoothie made at a pastry shop just off the main square in Marrakesh, but could not reproduce it at home. Now, using Jeepney’s recipe, I nailed it; the key was the ice. Put half an avocado, 2 tablespoons sugar, 2 ounces coconut milk and 4 ounces whole milk in a blender with a cup of ice. Whirl and serve. For the Moroccan version, replace the two milks with almond milk. Either way, it’s cool velvet.

To Indulge: An Essence of Blond Chocolate

In his book “Beard on Bread,” James Beard tells of accidentally turning his oven to broil instead of bake at first, a felicitous blunder that resulted in a fine loaf and a recipe that was a keeper. Incidents like this fuel kitchen legends. Recently, at the Valrhona chocolate school in France, the director, Frédéric Bau, forgot that he had some white chocolate melting in a double boiler, and discovered it 10 hours later when its intense buttery aroma came wafting his way. The chocolate had taken on a golden color and a rich, toasty flavor. Valrhona has now introduced this blond chocolate as Dulcey, an alluring, satiny, golden bar. It’s 32 percent cocoa butter, plus sugar, milk powder, butter and lecithin. It melts easily, so pay attention: $7.99 for a 2.99-ounce bar, www.valrhona-chocolate.com.

To Read: French Deputies Represent Their Foods

France is divided into departments, and in “French Country Cooking: Authentic Recipes From Every Region,” 95 are represented, along with another 9 scattered around the globe, including islands like Martinique in the Caribbean and Réunion in the Indian Ocean. This cookbook is the English translation by Jeannette Seaver of one published in France in 2011. The recipes, many with personal stories and fetching four-color photos, were contributed by deputies from each constituency in the National Assembly. Hearty home-style flans, chowders, stews and bread puddings do not stint on the eggs, cream, butter and pork. There are a handful of restaurant dishes like a chicken in cream from La Mère Blanc and the famous salmon in sorrel sauce from Maison Troisgros, as well as two versions of lobster Amoricaine. (Go for the simpler one, from Finistère in Brittany.) A wonderfully basic trout in butter assumes you have just caught the fish. Do your best. I came away from an immersion in some of the 180 recipes wondering why anyone would cook anything but French food. Occasionally, pan sizes are not indicated, but any reasonably accomplished cook can figure it out: Arcade Publishing (2012), $35.

To Study: When Manors Ruled on Long Island

In the 17th century, Sylvester Manor consisted of about 8,000 acres, covering all of Shelter Island, in Peconic and Gardiners Bays between the North and South Forks of Long Island. Today the 243 acres that remain of the Sylvester family estate have become a nonprofit organic teaching farm, mainly for young people, established in 2010 by Bennett Konesni, an 11th-generation descendant. The manor figured significantly in the infamous triangle trade involving slaves, sugar and rum, as the provisioning plantation for the family’s sugar estate on Barbados. “Food was the dominant thread in the history of Sylvester Manor,” said Mr. Konesni, who has donated 10,000 documents from the manor to New York University. An exhibition of about 80 — including Nathaniel Sylvester’s 1680 will — opens Wednesday. “Sylvester Manor: Land, Food and Power on a New York Plantation” will be on display, free, Mondays to Fridays through July 15 at the Fales Library of the Elmer Holmes Bobst Library of New York University, 70 Washington Square South. Visits to the manor can also be arranged: sylvestermanor.org.

To Sip: A Vintage Lillet to Age Gracefully

Lillet, the classic French aperitif, has made a single-vintage product since the 1960s. Called Réserve Jean de Lillet, it’s released in France every now and then in small amounts when a superior crop in Bordeaux (where Lillet gets its grapes) warrants it. In a few weeks, 1,000 bottles of the 2009 Réserve will reach the United States. Priced at roughly $40 for 750 milliliters, they will be available in New York and San Francisco, but can be ordered nationally on the Web site of Astor Wines and Spirits. The Réserve uses white grapes from a single vineyard in the Sauternes region, and ages for 12 months in French oak barrels, unlike Lillet Blanc, a blend that ages 6 to 12 months in larger grand-cru vats. The result is darker, fuller and thicker, with a more intense note of orange and stone fruit. It also has aging potential, and is best drunk on its own, over ice, the better to savor its complexity: Astorwines.com. — ROBERT SIMONSON","This week, Community Grains whole-grain pastas and flours, perfecting the avocado shake and a new indulgence from Valrhona."
"It seems like every four years we re-learn about the existence of sports like skeleton and biathlon, but that doesn't mean they simply disappear in the meantime.

In the years between Vancouver and Sochi, athletes have been training and competing, fans have been watching and -- yes -- amateurs have even been participating for fun and fitness.

Want to your chance to play the Olympian, too? We found ways to try 10 of the sports you'll soon be watching on TV.

Not surprisingly, the best places to try many of these sports are past Olympic venues. Olympic parks in and around Vancouver, Salt Lake City, Lake Placid, N.Y. and Calgary still have the dedicated facilities like ski jump ramps and bobsled tracks.

In several cases, though, these sports are more accessible than you may have thought: There are curling clubs in most states, for example, and you don't have to be a performance athlete to join.

Who knows? All that spectating may spark an interest.

One of the most accessible Olympic sports for newbies, curling is like shuffleboard on ice. Although most popular in the Midwest and Northeast, there are curling clubs both official and unofficial in 44 states, according to kccurling.com, the website of Kansas City Curling. In hot spots (cold spots?) like Wisconsin in Minnesota, many of these clubs have dedicated curling facilities, and in most other places -- like Olive Branch, Mississippi's Mid-South Ice House -- curlers rent time at an ice rink.

This foot-first cousin of skeleton has racers sliding down an icy track and negotiating turns at speeds up to 90 miles per hour. The sport is so dangerous that a Georgian luger died on a training run at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics after flying over the sidewall of a turn. Still want to give it a try? Canada Olympic Park, host of the 1988 Calgary Olympics, offers luge rides on the Olympic track, complete with a coaching session by professional athletes.

If you're stoked about Olympic hurdler Lolo Jones' attempt at Winter Games glory, you, too, can try your legs at bobsledding. Utah Olympic park offers the Comet Bobsled Ride, in which a professional pilot and three passengers rip through the entire Olympic track, hitting speeds up to 80 miles per hour. Lake Placid, Whistler and Calgary have similar bobsled rides.

For East Coast skiers and boarders with aerial aspirations, Killington Resort in Vermont is the place. But beyond its six terrain parks, Killington's famed mogul run, Outer Limits—the longest and steepest in the East -- is the kind of place where Olympians are made. Not only did gold medalist Donna Weinbrecht train there, she now teaches mogul skiing teaches mogul skiing at Killington. If you think your thighs are up to the task, you can also participate in the amateur-only Bear Mountain Mogul Challenge for a chance at glory on a smaller scale.

Target shooting and cross country skiing may seem like an odd pairing, but the sport, with its roots said to be in Norwegian military training, is a hit in many European countries. In the U.S. there are more than 50 local clubs that practice the sport, according to the U.S. Biathlon Association. The International Biathlon Union lists five stateside training centers, including Lake Placid's with its beginner ""Be a Biathlete"" program.

Apolo Ohno may only be in Sochi as a TV commentator, but his sport, with a history going back centuries, lives on. It also happens to provide a great low-impact workout and was the sport that gave rise to the now-famous Tabata method of high-intensity interval training. US Speed Skating lists clubs in 23 states.

In this discipline, which combines elements of downhill racing with freestyle features, four snowboarders -- or skiers, as the case may be --race down a course in the style of a motocross or BMX event. Since the introduction of snowboard cross in the 2006 Turin Olympics, American Seth Wescott has dominated, twice taking home the gold. That home is Sugarloaf, Maine, where Wescott helped design Sidewinder, the resort's permanent snowboard and ski cross course.

For the complete list of the Winter Olympic Sports To Try Yourself, go to TheActiveTimes.com.

More Stories from The Active Times: -- 32 Tropical Island Getaways -- 10 Wintertime Adventures in Yellowstone -- 8 Ways You're Wasting Time at The Gym -- The A to Z of Gym Etiquette

Like us on facebook, follow us on twitter, and subscribe to our YouTube channel.

VIDEO OF THE DAY:Wrestler 'Uses The Force'

This text will be replaced","By Mark Lebetkin
TheActiveTimes.com
It seems like every four years we re-learn about the existence of sports like skeleton and biathlon, but that does..."
"Who says NBA players are too old and wealthy to listen to their mothers? DeAndre Jordan, despite his 6.3 rebounds per game last year, is apparently still consulting with his on fashion choices.

So I have a date to the @ESPYS and its my mom @callmeMISSKIM but it seems that she's not into my outfit idea...lol pic.twitter.com/3hBot0K3s5

— DeAndre Jordan (@deandrejordan) July 10, 2013

Maybe he should think about switching agents to someone who can help him out with that?

jay-z truly is the greatest of all time...#mchg

— DeAndre Jordan (@deandrejordan) July 7, 2013

For the record, here's some of Jordan's past fashion choices:

ThePostGame brings you the most interesting sports stories on the web.

Follow us on Facebook and Twitter to read them first!

This text will be replaced","Who says NBA players are too old and wealthy to listen to their mothers? DeAndre Jordan, despite his 6.3 rebounds per game last year, is apparently st..."
"U.S. refiners haven't built a major new fuel-processing plant since 1976, in part because of environmental regulations. But a flood of oil from Texas, Oklahoma and North Dakota has companies rushing to expand existing plants and build small new processors around the country.

Valero Energy Corp., Marathon Petroleum Corp. and other refiners are engineering ways to expand fuel-making capacity at their aging plants without the cost of...","American refiners are set to add at least 400,000 barrels a day of oil processing capacity through 2018 to accommodate the nation's shale-oil boom."
"A hotel in Hudson, N.Y. that advertises itself as a great option for weddings and gatherings has some hidden fine print: if you or your guests post a negative review of your stay online, you’ll be charged $500.

The PR tactic totally backfired, since the Union Street Guest House’s punitive online review policy has now been written up in the New York Post and Business Insider. And the wording of the policy is hilariously stuffy:

Please know that despite the fact that wedding couples love Hudson and our Inn, your friends and families may not. This is due to the fact that your guests may not understand what we offer – therefore we expect you to explain that to them. USGH & Hudson are historic. The buildings here are old (but restored). Our bathrooms and kitchens are designed to look old in an artistic “vintage” way. Our furniture is mostly hip, period furniture that you would see in many design magazines. (although comfortable and functional – obviously all beds are brand new.) If your guests are looking for a Marriott type hotel they may not like it here.

In other words, your idiot guests probably won’t appreciate how nice this hotel is, since they are Marriott-loving philistines who don’t understand “hip, period furniture” and “vintage” design. Therefore:

If you have booked the Inn for a wedding or other type of event anywhere in the region and given us a deposit of any kind for guests to stay at USGH there will be a $500 fine that will be deducted from your deposit for every negative review of USGH placed on any internet site by anyone in your party and/or attending your wedding or event. If you stay here to attend a wedding anywhere in the area and leave us a negative review on any internet site you agree to a $500 fine for each negative review.

Consider it a fine for having friends without a sophisticated understanding of modern antiques.

The hotel said it would refund the fine if the review was deleted, but guests/trolls are already flooding the Union Street Guest House’s Yelp page to rage against the policy. The Union Street Guest House could not be immediately reached for comment.",Since your dumb wedding guests probably don't understand how great this New York hotel actually is
"Rep. Charles Rangel, a New York Democrat who stepped down as chairman of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee earlier this year because of questions about his travel and personal finances, has been formally charged with violating congressional ethics rules.

The Committee on Standards and Official Conduct just made the bombshell announcement in a terse statement that set an initial hearing date for next week. It's a potential public relations disaster for Democrats, who took over the House in 2007 promising to ""drain the swamp,"" in one of Speaker Nancy Pelosi's favorite phrases, after several prominent Republicans, including former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, a Texas Republican, ran into ethics problems.

Update, 5:23 p.m. ET: USA TODAY's John Fritze just caught up with Rangel on Capitol Hill and the longtime Harlem lawmaker insisted that he will be vindicated. ""I've waited a long time and at long last the sun will be piercing the cloud that I have been carrying,"" Rangel said. He ""looks forward to responding"" to the committee's charges, the congressman continued, adding that he hopes the case will be resolved before New York's Sept. 14 primary election.

Rangel is facing a primary opponent with a familiar name: Adam Clayton Powell. Powell, a member of the New York legislature, is the son and namesake of a legendary lawmaker whom Rangel defeated 40 years ago to launch his House career.

We happened to be speaking to Powell earlier today -- before the ethics committee's announcement -- and he was touting a recent poll that showed Rangel's approval ratings sagging. ""He has lost a lot of respect,"" Powell said. ""This is going to be a close race.""

Rangel, 80, known for his dapper wardrobe and rapier repartee, is now one of the most senior members of the Democratic caucus. First elected in 1970, he rose through the ranks to become the first African American to chair the Ways and Means Committee, widely regarded as one of the most powerful panels on Capitol Hill because it oversees the nation's tax code.

Earlier this year, the House ethics panel admonished Rangel for letting private corporations pick up the tab for trips to the Caribbean. Left unresolved at the time were questions about other alleged ethics violations, including Rangel's failure to report rental income from his villa in the Dominican Republic on his annual congressional financial disclosure forms.

To report corrections and clarifications, contact Standards Editor

. For publication consideration in the newspaper, send comments to

. Include name, phone number, city and state for verification. To view our corrections, go to","Veteran House Rep. Charles Rangel facing ethics charges - On Politics: Covering the US Congress, Governors, and the 2010 Election - USATODAY.com"
"Congratulations to Neal Holmes, the winner of BBC Travel’s June photo competition! This month’s theme was epic travel selfies.

Every month, a new winner will be inducted into our Photo Nomad Hall of Fame. We recently caught up with Holmes, 31 and an avid vlogger, to get the story behind his stunning shot.

Not too long ago, my partner and I were working on a big show that was touring North America. Our schedules were pretty hectic and we were really looking forward to a break.

It might seem a bit romantic, but Meka and I have always wanted to drop a pin on the map and go wherever it lands. So we did. We ended up on North America’s western seaboard, and after a little searching on Google Maps, we came across Vancouver Island in Canada. We wanted to spend our week deep in nature, and this looked like the perfect spot.

Vancouver Island was truly spectacular. We rented a campervan and spent our days hiking anywhere we could. One day, as we were trekking to a lookout point above a forest, we came across an incredible little waterfall with a swimming spot beneath. We couldn’t wait to dive in.

Meka and I made our way down to the water and prepared ourselves for a refreshing plunge. I put my camera in a waterproof case on the end of my selfie stick and then – without much thought – we jumped in. It was an amazing feeling. The water was cold and clear, and all around us sunlight was breaking through the surface. It was almost otherworldly.

We didn’t get to see the photo until later that day, and I was pretty amazed at what I had captured. Here I was suspended in the water with Meka not far behind me. It is an epic shot that still helps us remember an epic trip.

As told to Richard Conway, BBC Travel contributing editor

Richard Conway, BBC Travel contributing editor:

The key to an epic selfie is being able to convey a sense of place in an otherwise portrait-oriented style. As the entries flooded in, it wasn't long before we identified a frontrunner. Holmes' shot of the moment he and his partner dove underwater on Vancouver Island is striking, instantly transporting viewers into the moment with him. When we see it, we are there. It's certainly epic, and is a well-deserved winner.

Jared Kohler, New York Times contributing photographer:

Selfies are a great opportunity to record a story with ourselves as the central character, though it can be very easy to get so focused on ourselves that we forget to tell the story we are experiencing. Holmes' picture stood out because it balances the two perfectly. We are totally immersed in this underwater environment with its shafts of light and deep colours, but we also get a strong sense of the photographer and the experience he is having. There’s so much going on that we only later notice that Neal’s partner Meka swimming in the distance – a great addition to an already interesting and beautiful photograph.

Erica Fahr Campbell, former Time photo editor:

This photo works very well in two ways. Firstly, it makes the underwater environment look as though it’s on an alien planet. Secondly, it works as a piece of dynamic self-portraiture in which we get a definite sense of the photographer and his world. Neal seems like a lensman who likes to take risks. For a photo that was undoubtedly taken very quickly, there also seems to have been a lot of thought put into composition. What emerges is an exciting window into a world we want to visit. It is a very worthy winner!","Neal Holmes, the winner of June's photo competition, tells us how he got this epic selfie."
"In the end, it wasn’t even close. In a 58 percent Democratic congressional district, the most Jewish congressional district in the country and one that has not voted for a Republican representative since 1922, Republican political newcomer Bob Turner creamed Democrat David Weprin 54 percent to 46 percent in the special election in New York’s 9th Congressional District. Former New York mayor Ed Koch had called the election a referendum on President Obama’s Israel policy. Democratic assemblyman Dov Hikind crossed party lines to endorse Turner and make a point of his dissatisfaction with Obama.

In May, my colleague Greg Sargent, expressing skepticism about Koch’s predictions of a GOP victory, channeled the conventional Democratic wisdom that “it’s hard to believe that Obama’s Israel stance will really cost him a meaningful level of Jewish support.” Well, now in lieu of unreliable polling (of notoriously difficult-to-determine Jewish opinion) we have concrete electoral returns. The message is clear: Association with Obama, even for a pro-Israel Jewish candidate, is toxic.

There were voters, of course, who likely wanted to send a message on other matters. Obama’ job speech was viewed with a high degree of skepticism, if not dismay, among many voters who simply have heard enough about how billions in government spending will create millions of new jobs. They aren’t buying it, and what’s more, they’ve heard quite enough from the president.

There are many with bragging rights today. The Emergency Committee for Israel, which put out some eye-catching ads linking Weprin to Obama, has shown, as it did in the 2008 election, that it can make a splash. ECI made a strong push in the race, highlighting Obama’s Israel policy in TV ads, billboards and even in an ad on the New York Times home page. Bill Kristol, co-founder and chairman of ECI, told me this morning: “Voters in NY-9 — like millions of others across the nation — supported candidate Obama in 2008 in part because they believed his assurances he’d be a pro-Israel president. He hasn’t been. Last night’s results reflect that fact. His administration’s efforts to distance the U.S. from Israel have done nothing but embolden Israel’s enemies.” He continued, “So President Obama has a problem with the American people, who are pro-Israel. It can’t be solved by political rhetoric or patronizing reassurance. If he wants to be thought the friend of Israel he said he’d be, President Obama has to start behaving as one.”

The Republican Jewish Coalition’s executive director, Matt Brooks, was bursting his buttons. His group had announced in early September an “advocacy campaign, with mail pieces going out in the coming days to every Jewish household in New York’s 9th congressional district. The campaign will call on voters to use the special House election on September 13th as an opportunity to send a clear message to President Obama: Enough is enough on Israel.”

Last night Brooks released this statement: “This Republican win in an overwhelmingly Democrat district is a significant indicator of the problem that President Obama has in the Jewish community. While party leaders scramble to deny and try to stem the erosion of Jewish support for Democrats, the real issue is this President’s policies on Israel, on jobs, and on the economy. Jewish voters are coming to see that Republicans offer real solutions to our economic crisis, are resolute friends of Israel, and represent a way forward to a better future. Bob Turner’s win tonight has huge implications for 2012 races in states with large Jewish communities, such as Florida, Ohio, and Pennsylvania.”

We will see how transferrable the themes of this election are in a presidential race, but one can imagine that nothing short of panic is coursing through the halls of the Democratic National Committee and the veins of Obama’s newly appointed Jewish community outreach director, Ira Forman.

Politico reported: “Even before the polls closed, the recriminations – something short of panic, and considerably more than mere grumbling – had begun. On a high-level campaign conference call Tuesday afternoon, Democratic donors and strategists commiserated over their disappointment in Obama. A source on the call described the mood as ‘awful.’ ‘People feel betrayed, disappointed, furious, disgusted, hopeless,’ said the source.” What is especially significant is that Jewish voters now number among the betrayed, disappointed, furious, disgusted and hopeless.

What if, you know, it’s not simply a “messaging” problem for the Democrats? Might it be that the perfect storm — a rotten economy, an incompetent president and an administration uniquely hostile toward the Jewish state and inept in Middle East policy — might actually separate a chunk of the Jewish electorate from its historic fixation with the Democratic Party? Now that remains to be seen, but the signs are pointing in that direction.

Let’s also not forget that it was a clean sweep for the GOP last night. The Las Vegas Review-Journal reported on the “blowout” 22-point win by the Republican in the Nevada-2 race:

As the LVRJ noted, “The two special elections together suggest a deep discontent with Obama’s economic policies as unemployment remains high — 12.9 percent in Nevada — and debt continues to grow. In 2008, Obama won Nevada handily but is considered vulnerable to defeat in the battleground state in 2012.”

And if Jewish voters start voting like other voters, rather than as a group that is reflexively Democratic no matter how that party performs, then we could finally see the emergence of a new sort of politics within the Jewish community, one in which both parties have to compete for and win the Jewish vote. Now, that’d be something.",A stinging rebuke to the president.
"I was not surprised that left-leaning pundits, who gleefully tried to tar Mitt Romney with Rush Limbaugh’s comments, would be scornful of the notion that President Obama should be responsible for the remarks of Hilary Rosen, a former strategist (on health care) and frequent White House visitor. (Limbaugh doesn’t even like Romney all that much.) Certainly, Michelle Obama, David Axelrod and Jim Messina — who weighed in to defend Ann Romney — all were concerned that the public wouldn’t buy such a transparent double standard. Even the president got into the act.

Aside from the rank hypocrisy by liberal spinners, the issue is not whether Hilary Rosen is a campaign operative (she isn’t). It is whether the comments touched a nerve with stay-at-home mothers, including conservative women and social conservatives, who had been lukewarm to Romney heretofore. From the immediate reaction yesterday it seems to have done that.

Liberals might not fully “get” it, but social conservatives and stay-at-home mothers (think of Sarah Palin’s core fan base) feel elites denigrate and even mock them. They resent a feminist being defined as “a pro-choice career woman.” This is a sore point with these voters. Give Axelrod and company their due: They understand this phenomenon.

But the damage may go beyond that. This was a week in which the once pliable national media pretty much called out a key campaign plank — the Buffett rule — as nothing more than a gimmick. So two gimmicks — soak the rich and paint Romney as anti-women — blew up in the White House’s face. And then my colleague Glenn Kessler pretty much shredded Obama’s invocation of Ronald Reagan to push his tax scheme. Kessler wrote:

It is political karma when a substance-less campaign hinging largely on over-the-top negativity has gambits boomerang. It gives one hope that in the rigors of a campaign, at least some of the nonsense is teased out of the debate. You might excuse the GOP for being a wee bit gleeful. (“‘Talk about overplaying their hand,’ RNC deputy communications director Tim Miller told POLITICO. ‘Given the economic numbers showing the Obama economy disproportionately impacts women and a top Democrat attacking stay-at-home moms, it’s clear that the President has the woman problem.’”)

And now what is Obama going to talk about? It’s quite possible that by election day Obamacare is invalidated in whole or in part, unemployment is still around 8 percent, no tax reform plan has passed and we have made no significant progress on the debt. Add to that the potential for Obama’s overly negative strategy to galvanize Republicans and turn off moderates. Is that a winning hand for Obama?",The president is hoisted with his own petards.
"THE I’m A Celebrity campmates took on one of the most difficult celebrity cyclones in the show’s history tonight

The annual trial often proves hilarious as the camp mates are forced to battle against the elements in order to keep their star and land themselves food for the evening.

Scarlett Moffatt had previously shown her excitement at the idea she might face the challenge and told hosts Ant and Dec in her Critter Console trial that she was hoping to last long enough to face it.

At the time she said: ""I think I've calculated it right and it's only two more sleeps!""

Meanwhile tonight's effort was tense from start to finish as the stars made it through with SECONDS to spare.

Ant and Dec began by explaining how Celebrity Cyclone was going to work, saying: “You all stand on the Twister which spins round and you need to get the four large stars on the markers and keep them there until the end.

""When you see the giant fireball, the first celebrity can get off the twister and go to the first marker. Then the second celebrity gets off the twister and goes to the second marker and so on, you have 10 minutes to do the trial.""

Joel Dommett could be seen struggling to make it to his star base and was spotted clutching his nethers as a water shoot took direct aim at his groin.

Ant and Dec were laughing along on the sidelines but were left in shock when Joel took a tumble and landed on his head.

Youching in pain for the comedian, Ant then said: ""Ouch! That was a nasty one!""

Meanwhile, the giant fireball went off and Scarlett set off with all four stars but really struggled to move up the cyclone and towards her marker. She eventually worked out a way of throwing the stars ahead of her on the cyclone and climbing out the water as balls and water kept hitting her.

For more on I'm a Celeb, listen to JAKE YAPP from 8am.

Call Jake on 0344 499 1000

Listen on DAB, via the talkRADIO app or online at talkradio.co.uk

Eventually she reached her marker and Sam set off, she also lost a star as she got hit by a ball and fell over.

Adam started off running at the cyclone but ended up crawling on his knees towards his marker as the power of the water was too much.

Once Adam reached his marker, Joel set off and ran up the cyclone, even punching a big ball along the way before he fell over.

Everyone cheered him on and he ran towards the final marker just as the super powerful water chute releases gallons of water on them all resulting in them sliding back to the beginning.

With one minute to complete the trial they all managed to run back to their markers and with seconds to spare won the trial. They all cheered and hugged each other.

Hours before taking on the challenge, Joel got cheeky in the camp as he got changed into his cape - flashing his bum to he cameras, and gaining a slap from Adam.

It was a difficult day in camp for more reasons than one yesterday after a shock double eviction saw Homes Under the Hammer star Martin Roberts and footballer Wayne Bridge evicted from the camp.

Wayne admitted he didn't expect to enjoy himself as much as he did in the jungle, but at the same time, he felt ""drained"".

He said: ""I can’t believe the way I’ve acted on TV, crying on TV.""

Having come into the camp late alongside Danny Baker, Martin said his time in the jungle ""surpassed all expectations"" as he opened up about what it was like to break into the close knit group.

He said: “It was always going to be a difficult thing to break into. It got quite tough quite quickly.”

On his hyper and over-eager behaviour when he first came in, he added: ""It comes from being badly bullied at school, you over compensate.

""One of things the jungle has taught me is, I’m OK. If you just chill out and be yourself people come to you.""

Joel Dommett, Scarlett Moffatt, Adam Thomas and Sam Quek are now the four remaining camp mates, with one more eviction happening tonight ahead of the grand finale tomorrow evening.

Catch I'm a Celebrity tonight at 9.30pm on ITV1, followed by Extra Camp on ITV2.

Got a story? email digishowbiz@the-sun.co.uk or call us direct on 0207 782 4220",THE I’m A Celebrity campmates took on one of the most difficult celebrity cyclones in the show’s history tonight The annual trial often proves hilarious as the camp mates are forced to …
"Culture Connoisseurs consistently offer thought-provoking, timely comments on the arts, lifestyle and entertainment.

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You must be logged in to recommend a comment.",Winter doldrums got you down? Here is the first wave of spring home furnishings and trends we’re seeing in stores. Give one or two a try to liven up your holiday-weary rooms.
"Parents should talk with their children about peer pressure and alcohol abuse, experts say.

Read this article in Spanish/Lea este artículo en español

(CNN) -- News of students at the University of Tennessee using ""alcohol enemas"" to get drunk prompted a slew of comments from CNN readers in disbelief.

""When I was in college we just did funnels and kegstands,"" said commenter LogicBomb101.

""Is there a 12-step program for that?"" FootnoteFad asked.

But alcohol enemas are no laughing matter, experts say. One of the Tennessee students was taken to the hospital with a blood alcohol level of 0.40, officials said. That's five times the legal limit and in what doctors call the ""death zone"" for alcohol poisoning.

Using an alcohol enema involves placing a small tube into someone's rectum and pouring alcohol into the colon. Because the alcohol is absorbed directly into the bloodstream, the recipient gets drunk faster.

Our stomachs and livers have an enzyme known as alcohol dehydrogenase that breaks down ethanol to make it less toxic for our bodies, said Atlanta gastroenterologist Dr. Preston Stewart. The lower gastrointestinal tract doesn't have that enzyme, so alcohol molecules are absorbed into the bloodstream through the lining of the colon.

Eventually the alcohol would still make its way to the liver, Stewart said, but the high alcohol content would overwhelm the organ. ""It's extremely dangerous.""

No one is sure when alcohol enemas first appeared on the social scene or how frequently they're being used.

In 2004, a Texas man died after his wife gave him a sherry enema, causing his blood alcohol level to soar to 0.47.

""In the past year or so there have been several stories about young people finding unique ways to get alcohol in their bodies,"" said Dr. Aaron White, with the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.

Fortunately, he said, they seem to be isolated incidents.

While it's not known what motivated the young men in Tennessee to participate in this risky behavior, White said several factors could have been at play. One is the sense of competition among college drinkers who always want to ""win"" at games like beer pong and flip cup. It could also have been simple boredom, or curiosity.

Many young adults believe inserting alcohol into another orifice will reduce the chance that they'll spend the night hung over a toilet vomiting. That makes it all the more dangerous, because your body can't reject the toxin, White said.

""When you do it rectally you may still throw up, but there's nothing to throw up here. It's kind of like a point of no return once you put it in there that way.""

Robert Pfeifer, founder of the rehab center Sober College, said he's seen an increase in risky behavior in young adults over the last year, from ""bath salts"" drugs to synthetic marijuana to vodka tampons. As their bodies develop a tolerance for toxic substances, abusers seek out stronger and faster highs.

""There certainly are signs that are out there that people have gone over the edge and need to get some help,"" Pfeifer said. ""Behaviors like this -- that's definitely a sign.""

If you or someone you know has an alcohol abuse problem, please visit the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration at http://www.samhsa.gov/ or call 1-800-662-HELP.

Brief counseling may curb problem drinking

Is underage drinking ever OK?

Underage drinking: Talking to your teen about alcohol","Alcohol enemas bypass your body's ability to detoxify alcohol, making them a risky way to get drunk."
"NASHVILLE – Complaints that the New International Version of the Bible (NIV) is inaccurate and too gender-inclusive are not going to stop one of the world's largest Christian resource producers from selling it.

That translation was criticized at the 2011 Southern Baptist Convention meeting in Phoenix. Church representatives there approved a resolution asking Nashville-based LifeWay Christian Resources — owned by the denomination — to take it off its shelves.

Critics said the translation, which was updated in 2011, is filled with errors when it comes to language about gender, using ""brothers and sisters"" instead of ""brothers"" and ""they"" instead of ""he"" for a single pronoun. That kind of approach undermines the authority of the Bible, they said.

After having a committee review the 2011 NIV, they voted unanimously this week to keep selling it, while making clear they don't endorse it.

""We do not believe the 2011 NIV rises to the level to where it should be pulled or censored or not carried in our retail chain,"" said Adam Greenway, a trustee who is senior associate dean of the Billy Graham School at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, in a statement.

That decision disappointed the Rev. Tim Overton of Halteman Village Baptist Church in Muncie, Ind. Overton wrote the resolution against the NIV that passed in Phoenix.

His resolution initially was rejected by the committee that vets resolutions before they are presented at the annual meeting. But he brought it to a floor vote, where it was approved.

Overton, like many other Southern Baptists, believes in verbal plenary inspiration — the idea that every word of the original texts of the Bible comes from God. Adding words to a translation undermines that belief, he said.

""If it says 'brother' and you say 'brothers and sisters,' you are adding to the Scriptures,"" he said.

Marty King, spokesman for LifeWay, said a committee of trustees reviewed the NIV to decide whether it was acceptable. Under Southern Baptist rules, he said, they were not required to comply with the resolution, and representatives at the annual meeting had inaccurate information about the translation.

""People thought this Bible used female language for God,"" he said. ""It does not. We think that messengers voted without accurate information.""

First published in 1978 and updated several times since, the NIV remains one of the best-selling Bibles in the United States.

A previous update that used inclusive language, known as the Today's New International Version, flopped after being published in 2002. That year, Southern Baptists passed a resolution asking LifeWay not to sell the Today's New International Version, and the retailer agreed.

The latest update is a better translation, said George Guthrie, Benjamin W. Perry Professor of the Bible at Union University, a Baptist school in Jackson, Tenn. Guthrie spoke to the LifeWay trustees at their meeting, saying that the NIV is a thought-for-thought translation, rather than a word-for-word translation. That's a common approach used by many translators.

Guthrie said that the Committee on Bible Translation, which produced the NIV, did a good job.

""The NIV is not perfect,"" he said. ""But it is a good translation.""

The LifeWay decision was welcome news to the NIV's translators. Douglas Moo, the Kenneth T. Wessner Chair of Biblical Studies at Wheaton College in Wheaton, Ill., said he was confident that LifeWay would do the right thing and keep the NIV on the shelves.

""I am grateful for the decision, but there is a part of me that regrets that the decision needed to be made,"" he said.",Complaints that the NIV Bible is inaccurate is not going to stop one of the world's largest Christian resource producers from selling it.
"“I feel really good about where we are,” Apple’s chief executive, Tim Cook told investors Monday in releasing yet another beyond-solid financial performance for the country’s most valuable company. “It’s tough to find something in the numbers not to like.”

Indeed. Revenues for the company’s second fiscal quarter grew 27% from the year-earlier quarter to $58 billion. Apple earned $13.6 billion, up 33%. The company has done 27 acquisitions in the last year and a half, and it is dramatically upping its share repurchase and dividend program. Yet Apple AAPL , now has $194 billion in cash and cash-like investments, up $16 billion from last quarter.

Wall Street analysts found a few things not to like because, well, that’s their job. Apple’s iPad sales are slowing, and while Cook predicts growth will re-accelerate, he won’t say when. (Bigger iPhones and snazzier Macbooks are cannibalizing iPads, he said.) Margins for the just-introduced Apple Watch are lower than the company’s overall margins, and Cook wouldn’t say if or when that will change.

Beyond that, there is an awful lot to celebrate in Apple’s recent performance. What’s more, Apple continues to grow more than the competition in two key areas, phones and PCs. Both are astounding accomplishments if you stop and think about it.

On phones, Apple was supposed to have been marginalized by now by phones running Google’s GOOG Android operating system. Android is mostly free, and any manufacturer can use it. Instead, Apple’s share has continued to grow. Cook said iPhone sales grew at a 40% clip during the quarter compared with a 15% rate for the overall market, as calculated by IDC. “In almost every country we grew at a multiple to the market,” Cook said.

Even more remarkable is the continued resurgence of the Mac. For years Apple was a single-digit niche player in PCs, the choice of artists, educators, and other oddballs. Luca Maestri, Apple’s chief financial officer, said the company sold 4.6 million Macs in the quarter, a 10% year-over-year increase, compared with a 7% global contraction for personal computers, per IDC. The Mac remains a tiny portion of Apple’s overall business. But it’s an annuity business that amazingly is now picking up the slack from the slowing iPad. When Cook says, as he did Monday, that he doesn’t care which Apple products cannibalize others, it’s easy to believe that he means it.

Apple has plenty of challenges ahead, not the least of which is satisfying the elevated expectations of its consumers and investors. (Cook said user feedback on the Apple Watch has been nearly 100% positive, which, judging from comments I’ve been seeing, may be a tad too exuberant.) That said, doing well while doing better than everyone else truly is tough not to like.

For more about Apple’s earnings, watch this Fortune video:","iPhone and Mac sales beat the competition, leading to continued Apple success."
"Most of us, apart from those lucky enough to live in Texas or Florida, have to pay state income taxes. State income-tax rates vary by state, as do the types of income taxed and the rates on various types of income, such as interest, dividends and retirement distributions.

Therefore, it is important to determine the impact of an additional tax burden on long-term financial planning. For example, if a retiree is selling his or her home in a state with low income taxes and moves to a state such as Georgia or North Carolina, he or she will incur a tax of 6 percent on all income over $7,000, or 7 percent on all income over $60,000, respectively.

Read MoreRetirement plans at the 11th hour

If a retiree is planning on having a secondary or vacation home, it may be beneficial to maintain a primary residence in the state with a lower income tax. This can be an even bigger headache if one decides to move overseas, as income taxes both in the United States and in the new country of residence may apply.

Additionally, a move out of the U.S. may raise some estate and probate issues that must be addressed in financial planning. These rules can be tricky, so please get professional tax advice before making the move overseas. One last thing: Don't forget about local sales tax, as that can also affect cost of living.","Before making a beeline for sunnier climes, retirees should consider several important tax, cost, health-care and housing implications."
"Gina Rodriguez in emmy magazine

09/09/2015 AT 03:45 PM EDT

might be one of the

in Hollywood right now, but all of the

star's motivation comes from one place – her father.

When she was 15 years old, ""My father got into a terrible car accident,"" Rodriguez tells

for their October cover story (out Sept. 15). ""The car was like an accordion, it was so smashed. They were totally sure we were going to lose him.""

It took Rodriguez's father, Genaro, nearly two years to fully recover from the accident, and in that time, he started driving the actress to school, playing motivational tapes during the drive. ""It was like, '

This is ridiculous!'"" she remembers, laughing. But it was on those car rides that Rodriguez's

""Then he started making me look in the passenger-side mirror every day and say, 'Today's going to be a great day. I can and I will.' At the time, I thought it was so lame. The worst! But he wouldn't let me out of the car until I did it.

""What I came to realize,"" she admitted of the phrase, which she used to title her upcoming book from Simon & Schuster, ""is that there is no better way to live than the way that man lives."" (And yes, she still recites it to herself every single day.)

Gina Rodriguez on the cover of emmy magazine

Inspired by the motivation and faith that her father instilled in her, Rodriguez, now 31, is determined to pay it forward for Latina women everywhere – even if that meant passing up a big, buzzy show like Lifetime's

to find a project she believed in like she did

""Jennie [Snyder Urman's] script encompassed this dual-culture identity so authentically,"" Rodriguez remembered about reading the pilot for the first time. ""I met her and I was like, 'You don't see me as a brown baby. You see me as a woman, and that's why this show is so strong. Because you see people as people. You're writing about the human experience. And no matter the ethnicity, we all want love, success, a family. We all want to do it right. That's the human experience.' ""

Gina Rodriguez in emmy magazine

for the first season of the show and an upcoming film –

, where she'll share the screen with

– under her belt, there's still plenty that Rodriguez still wants to accomplish, including, directing, producing and voicing an animated character.

""And I want to be a superhero. I want to be an X-Man. Talk about Storm … .I want to create a f---ing storm! My dreams keep getting bigger. I don't expect them to happen tomorrow. But I believe they'll happen before I'm done.""

Gina Rodriguez in emmy magazine

After all, she said, ""I think you must believe something

happen in order for it to happen. I definitely always believed I was capable of doing all this, as long as I didn't stop trying.""

Gina Rodriguez in emmy magazine

returns Oct. 12 to The CW.",The Jane the Virgin star opens up to emmy magazine about the long road to success and what she learned from her father
"Apple debuted the iPad mini on Tuesday.

Apple's new iPad mini made a maximum impact at its unveiling on Tuesday. After months of rumors, speculation and alleged “leaked” photos, Apple’s worst-kept secret was finally introduced by CEO Tim Cook and other execs at an invitation-only event in San Jose, Calif. As expected, the new device comes with a 7.9-inch screen — nearly 2 inches smaller than the regular iPad — weighs half as much as its big brother, and was described by Apple marketing Vice President Philip Schiller as being “thin as a pencil” at just 7.22mm thick. About the only surprise to the tech heads and writers in attendance was its entry-level price.

The iPad mini, which will compete with such 7-inch tablets as Google’s Nexus 7 and Amazon’s new Kindle Fire HD, costs $329 for the basic 16GB, Wi-Fi-only model. Most people expected the mini to start at $249. “The $329 price point is high, but Apple's betting that many people will pay the premium,” Darren Murph, managing editor of tech site Engadget, told the Daily News. “There’s a huge market of people who have been holding off on buying an iPad, waiting for Apple to create a cheaper alternative. And this is it.” The device, which tops out at $659 for a 64GB model with a 4G network connection, will be available for pre-order on Friday, Apple said. The company also announced a fourth generation iPad with a faster processor, plus upgrades to several products, including the 13-inch MacBook Pro and iMac desktop computer.","New iPads and new Mac computers were among the products unveiled Tuesday at an Apple event in San Jose, Calif. The new Macs include a 13-inch version of a MacBook Pro with sharper, ""Retina"" display."
"NEW YORK — If Amazon has its way — and it did not become one of the country’s most valuable companies by drifting with the current — even watching home movies of your sister’s adorable children or a friend’s crazy cat will become marketing opportunities.

The company began selling a device Wednesday that lets consumers watch Amazon’s extensive video library and play a wide array of games on television sets.

“Amazon has a vested interest in making sure it is present at every moment of possible consumption, which is all the time,” said James McQuivey, an analyst with Forrester Research. “It wants to get into that television screen and start to build a relationship.”

Amazon Fire TV is part of a multibillion-dollar effort by the company to move from selling goods produced by others, which is traditionally a low-margin business, to presiding over the entire process of creation and consumption. Physical formats such as books, CDs, and DVDs are disappearing, replaced by downloads and streaming.

In books, Amazon has largely made this transition. It makes e-readers and tablets and then sells the content for them. Some writers produce their books exclusively for Amazon, happily living in the digital equivalent of a company town.

Video is much more competitive. Netflix, which began by renting the same DVDs that Amazon was selling, is the leader both in streaming video and creating original shows to feature on it.

“Streaming is the long-term future of video,” said William V. Power, an analyst for Robert W. Baird & Co. “Amazon needs to capitalize on that. The prize is controlling much of the living room and a big piece of the economy.”

Fire TV, which arrives after years of explicit rumors and intense speculation, costs $99. In addition to content from Amazon’s own studios, it offers programming the retailer licenses for an estimated 20 million Amazon Prime subscribers. Those customers pay up to $99 a year for a membership that includes videos and shipping.

Other Fire content will come from established players such as Hulu and Netflix. Yet another source will be homemade films. With a separate $40 controller, Fire TV can also be used to play games, including a version of the extremely popular “Minecraft.”

“We’re missionaries about inventing and simplifying on behalf of customers,” Peter Larsen, an Amazon vice president, said at a Manhattan news conference held to reveal the device.

Larsen, speaking on a stage outfitted to look like a living room, said devices from competitors, which include Roku, Google, and Apple, have three problems: It is too hard to search for content, performance is slow and unreliable, and the content is a closed system. He noted that Apple TV users could not get the full Amazon Prime experience.

Among the improvements and enhancements promoted for Fire TV: a voice search function that allows users to say a name like George Clooney or a genre like horror and see results instantly pop up.

Amazon is leveraging its position as a retailer to expand into new fields, something it has become very good at. “Because we’re selling millions” of set-top boxes already, “we hear what’s working and we hear what’s not working,” Larsen said. Jeffrey P. Bezos, Amazon’s founder and chief executive, was not present at the news conference.

Dave Limp, another Amazon executive, dismissed all the new and old companies that will be duking it out with Amazon in the consumer’s living room.

“We don’t go at it from the perspective of who you’re going to compete against,” he said. “We don’t think of this as a sporting event where there has to be one winner.”

But in a chart on Amazon’s site, where the company has already started selling the Fire TV, it made explicit comparisons with those competitors, whom it judged wanting. Amazon’s chart was immediately attacked for leaving out things that its competitors did better. For instance, Roku offers streaming sports, and Amazon does not.

Since set-top boxes give consumers an incentive to cut the cable cord, Fire TV also puts Amazon in the sights of Comcast, the country’s dominant cable system.

Consultants are already laying their bets. “The likely winners are Apple and Amazon, both of which offer entire ecosystems, are excellent at merchandising content, and are capable of subsidizing prices and making up the revenue elsewhere,” said Bill Rosenblatt, president of GiantSteps Media Technology Strategies.","NEW YORK — If Amazon has its way — and it did not become one of the country’s most valuable companies by drifting with the current — even watching home movies of your sister’s adorable children or a friend’s crazy cat will become marketing opportunities. The company began selling a device Wednesday that lets consumers watch Amazon’s extensive video library as well as play a wide array of games on their television sets. “Amazon has a vested interest in making sure it is present at every moment of possible consumption, which is all the time,” said James McQuivey, an analyst with Forrester Research. “It wants to get into that television screen and start to build a relationship.”"
"Good news! Carolyn's archives have been updated. Check out the sidebar on Carolyn's archive page to find even more transcripts from past Hax chats.

Dream, Meet Reality: Hi Carolyn,

I just took my dream job. It feels funny to call it that, because it's not especially glamorous, but it pays extremely well and puts me in contact with a lot of great mentors and colleagues. But I am completely burnt out, and this dream job keeps me away from my 3- and 8-year-olds an unacceptable amount of the time. Every day as I drag myself home I fantasize about quitting, but I know the job won't be around anymore when my kids are older. What should I do?

Carolyn Hax: Finish thinking it through. No, this job probably won't be there when your kids are older. Neither will your kids, though, most likely, but there may be other jobs.

In other words, if you're going to try to weigh ""now"" against ""later,"" use complete pictures of both. Obviously there will be some unknowns, but if you combine current certainties and future likelihoods with those unknowns, you'll probably have more than enough information to support a rational decision. That rational decision has to include your feelings about your kids, because those are real and certain.

I think it's also important, as you figure this all out, to make sure you aren't ruling things out without exploring them fully, like going part-time. All those great mentors and colleagues can help you here, too.

Chicago: My boss is chew-you-up-and-spit-you-out mean. It's kind of a gimmicky part of his persona, like a character he's playing. He seems to think it is funny to make people uncomfortable. I don't handle it as well as other people in my department, who seem to take it in stride. It hurts my feelings. Do you know any tricks for dealing with people who get a kick out of their own nastiness?

Carolyn Hax: It sounds as if you've already figured out most of a strategy: If he's so mean that it almost seems like he's playing the role of the mean boss, then try casting yourself in the role of the person who sees through his gimmick and doesn't take it personally.

Either that or start looking in earnest for a new job. Or both.

Toronto: Hi Carolyn! I've just started seeing someone new and I think this one has potential. Most excellent! I'm coming off a bit of a dry spell (and don't have much previous experience), and I was wondering if you had any general dating advice. Just stuff to keep in mind or things that should have my attention. Many thanks! These chats and your column have helped me tremendously over the years...

Carolyn Hax: Any time you find yourself editing what you say or working to maintain an image that you think will please him, cut it out. That's the No. 1 suggestion I have to avoid what I see as the No. 1 mistake people make, which is to force a relationship with someone who isn't quite right for them. Congrats, good luck, and thanks for the kind words.

Washington, D.C: Carolyn - what's your take on dating a guy who has decided to take a 'stand' against marriage?

Carolyn Hax: If you want to get married and you still want to date him knowing he's opposed to marriage, then you need to ask yourself why he's worth your blatantly undermining yourself.

If you don't share his beliefs but you sympathize with them, then it might not hurt to see where it goes. The reasons for not wanting to get married can range from infantile to principled, so unless you've got your own mind made up, the reasons matter.

If you agree with him or don't care about marriage, then I guess it's not a big deal.

Though, for what it's worth, I think anyone is suspect who has such an absolute vision of such an unpredictable part of the future. Not wanting kids, for example, is the rejection of a very specific way of life; that makes sense to me. Marriage can fit into as many ways of life as there are married couples, so a rejection of it needs annotation for the whole picture to be clear.

From one mom to another: Dear Carolyn,

I know it's well established in your column that it's natural for moms to favor one child, or to secretly love one more than the other. But my question is, do you think it's even - possible- to have equal feelings about more than one child?

Carolyn Hax: I do. Though I wouldn't use the word ""equal""; equivalent seems more apt to me.

It's a given--and yet an ongoing source of amazement to me--that kids can come from the same gene pool and grow up in the same home and still be completely different from each other. These differences bring out different facets of the people around them, including their parents and siblings. So, as a parent, you're probably going to have a different relationship with each kid.

If each of these relationships hits high notes and the occasional lower notes, then it's possible not to feel dramatically more attached to one child than another, and instead feel you value them all.

As kids grow, the attachments ebb and flow, too, so you might feel closer to one kid at one time, and then closer to another a year or so later, etc.

Besides talking about it in this way, though, it's probably best -not- to think about it too much, and instead just take each kid and each day.

Maybe you can help me work through a decision about my 10-year-old son's involvement in school sports. We signed him up for rec league basketball last year because we thought it would help him shed some baby fat, gain confidence and make friends. It achieved none of those goals. Instead, he was miserable, often crying in the car on the way to practice and on the way home afterward.

I feel strongly that we should take the hint and refrain from signing him up this year, but my husband (a one-time school athlete) repeatedly says that failure is part of development. We are worried about our son's body image and I can't imagine he'll like the sport any better this year. The season starts in a couple of weeks. Should I go with my gut and pull him from the roster, or do you think my husband has a point?

Carolyn Hax: Failure is part of development, sure, and resisting going -to- practice is hardly unusual. But crying on the way home is a really big deal, as is the fact that he's doing this at age 10, not 5. Forcing a child into a sport he hates is not going to foster any kind of love for sports.

I actually find it upsetting that a father would force his somewhat-above-crying-age kid into a sport that makes him cry. Besides sounding like torture for your son, it also sounds like a recipe for him to gain weight, lose confidence and withdraw socially. The way you get those benefits from exercise that you name is through willing participation in an enjoyable activity. Those are the elements that motivate a child--or even an adult newcomer--to persevere through the awkward, failure-pocked stages of learning a new skill.

Your son may need the activity for his health and need the challenge for his confidence, but he has told you very clearly that this is not the sport for him. There are so many choices available that I think it would be unconscionable not to explore alternatives, openly following your son's lead.

I specifically suggest you consider individual sports he can learn through private lessons until he feels strong enough to play with his peers. Martial arts, tennis and swimming are three that come to mind. Tell him your only requirement is that he choose one sport, but he can choose anything, as long as it's feasible, and the choice is his.

If he's drawn to a team sport, then pick a program that has a supportive entry level and consider supplementing it with private instruction on the side. It doesn't have to be forever; just long enough for him to get through the steepest part of the learning curve without the Lord of the Flies contingent looking on.

Thanksgiving?: Will you be taking any pot-smoking in the bathroom questions today??

Carolyn Hax: If I get them, they're yours.

Dec. 10 is the date for Hax's Annual Hootenanny of Holiday Horrors, 2010 Edition (I'm going to do my best to get that title slightly wrong every time I mention it, since I have no idea what the actual title is), so if you're not ready to leash up your albino hedgehog and take it out for a spin, there's still time to fatten it up.

Carolyn Hax: Will post in a sec--rewriting my answer to something.

Re: School Sports: How about if the sporty dad plays a sport with his son outside? That will get him active and increase his confidence, spending valuable time with dad.

Carolyn Hax: That's fine, as long as father doesn't eclipse son. If Father is impatient or easily frustrated when Son doesn't catch on quickly, then this ""quality time"" could backfire.

Divorced, ready to date: Dear Carolyn,

Do you think it would be wildly inappropriate of me to ask my child's 2nd grade teacher on a date?

Carolyn Hax: I think so. Anyone else?

Arlington, VA - re 10 yr old and sports: Did the son say why he didn't like the sport? That would be helpful in figuring out what he might be interested in instead. And it doesn't have to be sports, either. What about other interests like drama, computers, science clubs, etc.?

Carolyn Hax: You're right that his pursuit doesn't have to be a sport, but if his main interest doesn't have a physical element to it, it would be helpful if the family made the group effort to find some form of exercise that he enjoys and can carry with him into adulthood. So many aspects of modern life are sedentary that I don't think it's fair to kids to raise them unprepared to maintain their physical health. This boy can walk, hike, bike, play golf, play tennis, do martial arts, swim laps, etc., for the rest of his life.

First Thanksgiving in VA: Hey Carolyn,

I'm cooking a huuuuge turkey on Sunday for an equally huge Thanksgiving party for the mentoring group that I'm president of. I'm hoping that the bar will be set low because we're all college students, but I can get a little high-strung (i.e. panic attack-y) when things don't go exactly according to plan. Any advice for keeping the panic from taking over if I realize that the turkey isn't fully defrosted/no one is bringing forks/I should have 'brined' the turkey/I have 4 hours of cleaning to do afterward?

Carolyn Hax: 1. Parties where something goes wrong are often (close to always) better than the ones that come off without a hitch. Just have some backup, pantry-friendly food ready in case the turkey refuses to cook.

2. Acting as the host's helper is often (close to always) one of the best ways to enjoy a party. Do you have anyone in the group who has a cool head, and with whom you have a friendly relationship? You can delegate the punch list to this person so that you don't have to worry about missing something. Don't expect this person to stay and clean, though; if you need extra hands there, you might want to ask a different person to help.

Detroit, Mich.: I am dreading seeing my aunt tonight. I live away from our hometown and she's been asking when I'm going to invite her up for ages. My reply has always been 'let me know when you'd like to come' (cowardly, I know). Well, she's here ... for a conference and will be visiting me tonight. I need some advice/tips/combacks on how to deal with her. She just so happens to know everything ... more about law than a lawyer, more about health than a doctor ... everything! As I'm sure you can imagine this is difficult to deal with, especially now that I do know more than her about certain subjects. She also seems to think that the only purpose for children is to be little slaves - she is always asking me and my cousins to do things for her and get things for her at family gatherings. If we refuse, she'll say 'You're going to make your grandmother get it?' (her mom). I'm sure she'll have much to say about my place and more specifically my pets - she used to have the same animal (when she was young) and MUCH has changed regarding the care they should be entitled to. So, what to do and how to deal? I'd really appreciate some advice.

Carolyn Hax: It's one night. Just smile and keep your eyes focused on the horizon.

ready to date: Yes. Highly inappropriate. If the reader is still interested next year when their child is no longer in the classroom, they could revisit. But not now.

Carolyn Hax: This is the consensus, and I'm not surprised.

sports and crying: I would say the crying on the way TO practice is a much bigger flag than the crying on the way home. I loved, loved, loved swimming (swam on teams from age 6 through college), and I often cried on the way home because I wasn't very good at it, for a very long time (until junior year of HS), and it frustrated me. As a smart kid to whom most things came easily, it was GREAT for me to have something that didn't.

The key was that it was something -I WANTED-; my parents asked me, neutrally, on a regular basis (when it was time to sign up again, not mid-season) if I wanted to try something else, and I always chose to continue swimming. I liked it, even though it was hard and I sometimes cried. What does this kid want? 10 is old enough to choose.

Carolyn Hax: Interesting take, thanks. I said it the other way because a bad mood going there can often mean the kid really enjoyed what you pulled him away from, and a good mood on the way home means the kid enjoyed the sport (or whatever).

It really comes down to, listen to your kid.

Chicago: I feel like I'm parenting a 5 year old. Only he's in his mid-30s. My husband is unwilling to exercise without some coercion on my part - generally me delivering an ultimatum. I hate the pattern we've fallen into and I really do hate myself for having to resort to ultimatums but I'm at a loss as to what to do. He's a social person and really prefers having someone to do things with (vs going to the gym by himself) - so I've tried getting him to go running with me, or joining a pick up league at his gym (which he never goes to). But he just digs in his heels, won't do anything and I end up getting all frustrated and angry. I wish I could just ignore him but I can't seem to get past the feeling that I'm negotiating with a 5 year old and losing. Btw, his work commute doesn't allow for exercise - so we're talking about getting a minimum of exercise, not training for a marathon.

Carolyn Hax: Cut it out. Yes, you want him to be healthy, and yes, you want him to live to a ripe and spry old age, but, really--that's not for you to decide. It would be nice if he wanted to do these things for you and/or for your marriage, but he's an adult, and he's saying no. How can you be at a loss when there's a very clear option staring right at you? Take no for an answer. Stop treating him like a 5-year-old.

U.S.: Do you think there's any chance of falling back in love with my spouse after I've developed strong feelings for someone else who I want to be with, but can't due to distance?

Carolyn Hax: Yes, but you have to unplug the myth machine (it's kind of like one of those fog machines they use in theaters).

A real spouse can't compete with the idealized version of the one who got away. As long as you're enjoying the narrative of having a lost love, you're never going to be able to invest yourself fully at home. You need to poke real holes in the story with your and his/her real flaws. You need to embrace the idea that this forbidden love would transform into mundane love shortly after it stopped being forbidden. When your mind drift toward your someone else, think gas, socks, nose hair, flab, mildly annoying mannerisms, and whatever else sinks your boat.

Re First Thanksgiving: Do as much as possible the day before.

Carolyn Hax: That too, thanks.

Oh, and pay attention to how long the turkey needs to defrost (check the company's web site). If it's not too late, consider a fresh turkey, since they cook much faster.

Alexandria VA: You said about if you find yourself editing what you say, or working to uphold a certain image of yourself with a person, that's a bad thing. Well, why, exactly? I've been married for 24 years. I edit what I say and work to uphold a certain image of myself all the time. I can say things politely or rudely; I can live like a reasonably competent person or like a slob. Seems to work better when I think about how I want to phrase things and think about how my husband would react if I said hurtful things, or didn't hold up my end of the bargain re: spending, house cleaning, care of the dogs, all sorts of things. Why is it a bad sign to edit one's self? Makes the world tick along a little more smoothly, in my experience.

Carolyn Hax: It's also a way to find yourself several years into a marriage and bearing no resemblance to the person you were before.

What you're talking about is basic civility, and, you're right, it's not good for anyone to say every hateful thing that crosses your mind.

But there's an important difference between that and living in a way that's inauthentic. Being civil is still being you.* Biting back any complaints or worries you have because your mate will yell at you for voicing them; or being super-social to please your super-social mate when you're naturally more reserved and would stay home if s/he quit pressuring you; or being the high-functioning, super-competent half of the couple who carries the load for both of you even though your mate is perfectly capable and when what you really want is to sleep for a month--that's going to kill, possibly in this order: your mood, your sense of self, your feelings for the other person, your will to invest another ounce of energy in the relationship, your relationship.

That's what I'm talking about.

*If you're naturally a nasty piece of work, then it's actually best not to put on a veneer of civility, but instead to either choose a mate who is unfazed by the real uncivil you, or to work on you attitude and temperament to the point where civility is real.

I'm having a very hard time getting past a breakup that happened over three years ago. It hit me all of a sudden (literally, this week) that I had been continuing to use it as an excuse for opting out of everything--namely dating and attending a friend's wedding. Now that I've had my moment of clarity, what do I do to thrust myself into a more engaging future?

Carolyn Hax: I'm not sure you have to do anything. You've had your aha moment, so now live your day-to-day life accordingly for a while. If you've given it a chance to become your new routine and you still aren't satisfied with the way your life is going, then you can start pushing yourself to get out more. Again, only if you have to; this week's revelation might be all the motivation you need.

Washington, DC: Carolyn, why is it OK for a wife to live off a wealthy husband, but not vice versa? I retired after 30 years of the corporate rat race to be Mr. Mom for our teenage daughter. We have household help, but I do most of the cooking, shopping, laundry, carpooling and more. I also mentor at-risk youth and am active in my church and community.

My wife is a high-powered DC lawyer. She loves her job and is good at it. We have more money than we know what to do with, give generously to charity and at last count were helping 6 nieces and nephews with their college expenses. She would be miserable at home, while I truly enjoy it.

But when people hear of our situation, you would think I had two heads, or perhaps torture small animals on the side. I often get what I hope are mocking comments of, ""Wow, I'd love to live off MY wife,"" with the ""you moocher, you"" left unsaid. Maybe I am a little uncomfortable with this situation, but most of the time I just count my blessings and wish other people would count theirs.

Carolyn Hax: This is actually something I touch on in Sunday's column, so I'm not going to get into it too much. But i think it is just as okay for a man to be a househusband as it is for a woman to be a housewife--and while I have a real problem with the hypocrisy of people who give men a hard time but don't really blink at stay-at-home moms, my baseline attitude is that if the couple is okay with it, then I'm okay with it, period. By that measure, your verbal snipers are out of line on two counts: hypocrisy, and failing to mind their own business.

It sounds as of you're taking the right attitude with people, but don't be afraid to say something along the lines of, ""Yeah, she and I both feel lucky""--in other words, to respond to the snide comments as if they were meant to be taken at face value.

Bethesda MD: My mother (who is not hurting for funds, but is notoriously cheap) often gives our family ""recyled"" presents. For example, in past years she has given me, as Christmas gifts, a distinctive piece of pottery which I previously gave to her, a picture frame which I witnessed my sister give to her at a previous Christmas, clothing which she ordered for herself and which did not fit her, and slightly-used designer soap. My husband and I laugh about it and pretend we don't notice, but her largesse (or lack of it) extends to our children. For his thirteenth birthday she gave my son a mens' grooming kit, complete with nose hair trimmer. (I believe it was unused -- but my father died 12 years ago, so she has presumably been saving it since then.) None of these gifts are given as ""I thought you might like this, since I cannot use it...,"" or ""Grandpa really wanted you to have his nose hair trimmer...."", but they are wrapped and given like brand new. How can we tell her that the junk she gives us is just that -- junk? If she does not wish to buy us anything, fine with us. But the pseudo-presents are awful, and it is getting hard to get the kids to pretend to like them (for the record, my son did say thank you.) Do you have any suggestions?

Carolyn Hax: You're focusing your attention on the wrong side of the equation. Your mom isn't going to change, nor is it your place to change her.

As parents to your kids, though, it is your place to explain that this is the way your mother is, and the sooner they all learn to find joy in nose-hair trimmers, the merrier Christmas will be. If he were 4, that might be tough, but 13 is plenty old enough to see the sublime implications here.

Given your mom's recycling proclivities, you can also pick out for her this year whatever you'd like you and your kids to receive next year.

I joined an online dating site on a lark to get over a really sad breakup. Eventually I met ""Mark,"" who truly seems great, and we have been emailing back and forth...for a little over a month. I'm talking upwards of 15 emails between us. I've thrown him every possible hint that he should go ahead and ASK ME OUT ALREADY, but for some reason he's not pulling the trigger. The reason I'm not going it for him is twofold: first, I like for the guy to take charge, and second, Mark's profile specifically says he's into chivalry and loves to surprise women with thoughtful plans. What should I say to move things along that doesn't sound confrontational? I'm liking him more and more with each email, but I'm ready to get together for some physical chemistry experimentation already.

Carolyn Hax: A month? This isn't going anywhere.

But here's the hedge answer anyway: What you're doing--holding back because you think that's what he wants, and so will make him like you more--is exactly what I was talking about earlier when I advised against in my third answer today. Be yourself, say what you want to say, ask what you want to ask. If he can't handle it, he's not the guy.

You say you want the guy to take charge, okay, and if that's more natural to you, then don't spell out that you want him to ask you out already. But don't use that as justification to sit around waiting for something to happen, either. Instead, mentally cross this guy off your list unless and until he asks you out, and start looking for someone else. And make sure that if Mark does come through, you make your plans as if you're meeting a stranger, because that's still what he is to you.

New York, NY: My husband has anxiety- diagnosed by doctors and most of the time is on medication for it. However, when he's not on medication (which he does not want to be) he says things that, at least, are borderline emotionally abusive. How do I reconcile ""in sickness and in health"" when the ""in sickness"" part is (probably) abusive? Things like telling me the anxiety is all my fault, infertility is due to my hobbies, telling me he doesn't want to see me, I take up too much time etc. Is this what marriage is all about?

Carolyn Hax: You say he doesn't ""want to be"" on medication--does he take it because he knows he's mean to you and doesn't want to be? Or is he taking it for some other reason (a job, for example), and when that reason isn't applicable, he goes off the meds?

My reflexive answer is, no, this is -not- what marriage is all about. It's not about putting up with abuse.

And my follow-up answer is that anxiety doesn't excuse mistreatment of someone. Plenty of people live with anxiety and do not treat their spouses like dirt.

Still, if he doesn't ever do this when he's on medication, if he is on medication ""most of the time"" as a conscious effort he makes toward you and the marriage, because he feels he owes it to you to do all he can to be well, then that's a situation you can work with (with professional help, I suggest). His not caring that he hurts you is one that I don't suggest you tolerate.

You also mention infertility; if you are still trying to get pregnant or if you're trying to adopt a child, I hope you'll think carefully about bringing a child into a situation where s/he might be the target of Daddy's abuse. That's not fair. Please get this problem resolved in a sustainable way before you bring little people into it.

Washington, DC: I'm a mother to two amazing children that I joined our family when I married their father.

The older of the two, a 16 yr old girl, has her first boyfriend. She thinks that her dad and I believe this guy is just a friend. They only get the chance to meet in groups because they don't go to the same school. She emails and texts with him each day and he is a growing presence on her Facebook page.

Does it matter that she doesn't want to tell us that this is actually her boyfriend? The guy has actually called her his girlfriend on Facebook.

What do you think? Is it okay for her to be so private?

Thanks for your thoughts on this!

Carolyn Hax: It doesn't set off any alarms to me, because having a private life is so important at that age (and hers is visible to you by other means, apparently). HOwever, you still might want to go out of your way--without looking like you're going out of your way, of course--not to have big reactions to things she tells you, about the guy or anyone/anything else.

That will create an environment where she will, I hope, eventually feel comfortable telling you things--as a result of both age/maturity and trust that you're not going to say ""YOU HAVE A LITTLE BOYFRIEND?! THAT'S SO CUUUTE!""

You also don't want to out her because you don't want her hiding her FB page from you. If you see other/more disturbing signs of hiding or dishonesty (or, that she doesn't see him as her BF but he's pressuring her and claiming her as his GF, also a possibility), then you might need to revisit the decision not to say anything, but till then, lie low.

Washington DC: Hey Hax, My SIL is threatening to ruin Thanksgiving if we don't agree to go to her house for Christmas dinner. LSS, FIL is quite elderly and frail. SIL lives an hour away from him in a house with several stairs he can't go up and slippery tile that is a hazard. She can't/doesn't cook food he can eat and keeps the house too cold for him, to the point where he often shivers through the meal.

We offered to cook dinner for FIL in -his- house, making the menu to -his- specifications. He was delighted. She is hurt and huffy. She refuses to leave her house on Christmas. Either we all go there or she's too busy to see us for the whole holiday season. She's the type to hold a grudge so this could blow up into a 'we haven't spoken in 50 years' sort of thing but I find myself wondering if that would be a blessing in the end. At what point do we give in?

Carolyn Hax: Not sure what LSS means but if you believe dinner at FIL's house is genuinely the right thing to do, then do it. Caving to unreasonable people is something you do in isolated incidents when there's a larger goal to be accomplished (ref: dinner tonight with the obnoxious aunt)--and I'm having trouble envisioning the larger goal in this case. Or, at least, one that's bigger than the goal of taking sensitive care of your elderly FIL.

re: anxiety: Although I do not condone the abuse, she needs to have a comeback. I take medicine to help me with anxiety. When I do not take it, I can get 'short' when my husband says minorly irritating things. He usually responds with ""have you taken your medicine?"" I hate it when he says it, but its usually true - I need to take my meds to take the 'edge' off. I do not like taking the meds, for no other reason than I hate taking pills everyday. But they make me a better person so I try to remember. It may be the same with him. Have a gentle reminder - one that won't make him upset - that he needs to take his meds.

Carolyn Hax: Thanks. A few more on this topic coming.

doesn't want to be on anxiety medication: Maybe he needs a different medication that has no side effects. I can tell you getting the right medication has been a lifesaver for me! I feel no side effects and feel happy and productive. Without it, I was so stressed and anxious, I couldn't drive across bridges any more! The right medication is out there.

Carolyn Hax: I'd expect ""try other meds"" to be their default in a situation like this, but here it is just in case, thanks.

Anxiety/abuse: My husband also suffers from bipolar disorder and anxiety and I've experienced the emotional abuse. It can get better but only if he realizes that he is hurting you. My husband denied it for a long time even after being confronted by his doctor. Take care of yourself so that you can take care of him. Only when that is accomplished will you have the energy to take care of a child.

LSS - Long Story Short: Hope this helps!

Carolyn Hax: It does, thanks. Now it seems like a duh, but it was new to me.

Washington, DC: Hi Carolyn, Love the chats. How do I know if I'm depending on another person too much?

Carolyn Hax: Take the other person out of the picture, and what happens? And if the person is never out of the picture, not even for a weekend away, then why not?

New York anxiety: Sounds like the wife who wrote in is past this point, but I want to toss it out anyhow: sit down with him and say that his anxiety is becoming a problem for you, both indirectly (you worry about him) and directly(how he acts towards you). Be caring, but be as strong and direct as possible - this is a Big Deal, and he needs to address it for the sake of your relationship.

I say this beacause I was on the receiving end of one of these talks. My problem was depression rather than anxiety, and I was prone to emotional paralysis rather than anger, but the situation was otherwise similar: I had been in treatment, I was out of treatment at that point. I could see my moods and behavior getting worse, but I was having a hard time getting myself to DO anything about it. And I figured that if I could handle it, it was OK. (Mental illness screws with your head...who knew?) My partner sat me down and made it clear that this wasn't just a problem for me, but a problem for US. Depression (and anxiety, I'm sure) is very isolating, so this was both a much-needed kick in the rear and a helpful reminder that she was there to help - as long as I was helping myself, too.

Of course, once you've passed this point, if he still can't/won't help himself...disengage, carefully.

Carolyn Hax: Well said, thank you.

spokane, wa: My brother is graduating with his masters and wants me to attend, but it's on a school night and my children are performing in a school concert that night. At first I said no, and he got so upset he approached me and he wouldn't take no for an answer. We both said things we shouldn't. He is questioning our entire relationship based on this issue. He equates this event in his life with getting married or having children (of which he's only done the former) I'm torn between my children and my brother. I told him I would go to get him off my back but I feel coerced and in my heart of hearts I should be going to my kid's functions. What should I do?

Carolyn Hax: I'm not sure I can answer this objectively, because 1. i find graduations to be unbearably dull, my own included; and 2. I find it somewhere between odd and offensive that a grown man would use emotional blackmail to keep you from going to your kids' concert.

If someone out there can offer a sympathetic spin on the brother's approach, or even a way that the LW might have spun it unfairly, then I'm eager to see what you have to say. maybe the master's is the result of a lifelong struggle through X adversity? One that his sib witnessed up close, and maybe treated dismissively? I'm digging here.

Until then, my only answer can be to think very hard about any possible Ancient Stuff your brother might be bringing to this issue, and try to talk about it with him. If you can't think of anything and you will only resent giving in to his coercion, then stick to your no and go see your kids.

Boston, MA: Re Washington, DC Mr. Mom:

While I understand that Dad at home is still in the minority, expressions like ""Mr. Mom,"" just fuel the idea that the one at home should be the mother, and that Dad being at home is not-quite-normal. In a way, it reinforces the stereotype that he is trying to fight.

Kid who doesn't like sports: I was a kid who was not good at sports. Like worst in the class/on the team bad. I tried, but it was never going to happen. When I was young it was okay, but by age 10 - 11 the other kids on the teams I was on became less tolerant of it. Eventually it became torture for me, and thank goodness, my parents were fine with me stopping. I think sometimes people tho whom sports come more naturally have NO idea how shameful/embarassing/awful not being good at sports can feel, especialy team sports where others can get angry at you.

Carolyn Hax: You may be right about that, but there's no excuse for an athletic parent (or a parent naturally skilled at anything else) to have that kind of a blind spot. The inability to see others suffer at something just because you love it isn't about ability, it's about a lack of empathy. Applies to sports, reading, numbers, music, art, anything.

Re: spokane: Were you the favorite by any chance? Mom and Dad fall all over themselves to get to your events but show little to no interest in his? Have you been to his other events in his life? Has he always gone to yours? Is he the youngest child of multiple children and by the time these events get to him no one seems to really care because all the other kids did it?

I know you're not supposed to beancount, but I can't help but notice that my parents traveled oceans to go to my brother's special events but because I was baby #5 they barely made it any of mine. When they did it was grugdingly at first. And the brother in question has never been to any other sib's special event either, although I'm not sure he even realizes it.

Carolyn Hax: One good thought, thanks (though if true, it's on the brother to articulate that).

First, is there more than one performance for the concert? Even if there's just an in-school performance in the afternoon, maybe you can attend that, send your husband to the evening ""official"" concert, and get to attend both?

Second, it's possible that this brother has attended all of the sister's big life events (graduations, etc), and is upset that now his are taking a back seat. Not that it's right or fair, but someone who has sat through a million (dull) graduations out of a sense of obligation might appreciate knowing that you feel the same obligation, even if ultimately you can't attend the graduation.

Carolyn Hax: also useful, thanks.

For Spokane...: Curious about this wording:

""He equates this event in his life with getting married or having children (of which he's only done the former)""

Seems derisive, or is it just me? Maybe that's his beef - I may not have Kids, but I have a Masters.

Chicago, IL: Ugh, in response to the brother getting his masters degree. I didn't even attend MY OWN Ph.D. ceremony, and I certainly wouldn't expect anyone else too. But perhaps the letter writer has a history of diminishing the accomplishments of the brother. One solution might be to offer to take the brother out for celebratory drinks later that evening or on the first weekend night. This would let him feel special (still and indulgence, in my opinion) but wouldn't leave the letter writer feeling as if his/her values were compromised

Carolyn Hax: More on the theme, thanks.

If there is a family history of dismissiveness toward this brother, then I'd reverse my advice and say that she should go to the graduation--but after some sort of acknowledgment that 1. he has been given second-class treatment and that 2. blackmailing was not the way to get his sib to attend.

Carolyn Hax: Hookay, I'm done. Thanks everyone, have a great weekend and Thanksgiving and broke Friday and whatever else you celebrate between now and Dec. 3. See you in two weeks, and start typing up those stories for Dec. 10--maybe even as they happen next week.

Cambridge, UK: Hi Carolyn and lovely producer - I can't find a link to today's column in the usual places. Help?

washingtonpost.com: Here you go! Should she marry her jobless boyfriend?. Looks like it got published later than usual.

what stories...: are we typing up?

Carolyn Hax: For the Holiday Horrors Hootenanny. I'll see if we can link to 2009's ...

washingtonpost.com: 2009 Holiday Hootenanny of Horrors

In her daily column in The Washington Post Style section, Carolyn Hax offers readers advice based on the experiences of someone who's been there. Hax is an ex-repatriated New Englander with a liberal arts degree and a lot of opinions and that's about it, really, when you get right down to it. Oh, and the shoes. A lot of shoes.

Got more to say? Check out Carolyn's discussion group, Hax-Philes. Comments submitted to the chat may be used in the discussion group.

Past Carolyn Hax Live Discussions

Editor's Note: washingtonpost.com moderators retain editorial control over Discussions and choose the most relevant questions for guests and hosts; guests and hosts can decline to answer questions. washingtonpost.com is not responsible for any content posted by third parties.",Carolyn Hax takes your questions and comments about her columns and any other questions you might have about the strange train we call life.
"Mengele. Kevorkian. Now Gosnell can be added to that awful list. Men who perverted the idea that medicine should indeed “first do no harm.”

Dr. Kermit Gosnell was on trial for his life for the first degree murder of four babies born as a result of a failed late-term abortion. The American media that had resisted covering the gruesome case were also on trial.

Followers of the Philadelphia case weren’t surprised with either result.

Gosnell is a monster. He was initially charged “with killing seven babies born alive,"" along with Karnamaya Mongar a newly-arrived, 41-year-old refugee from Bhutan.

Prosecutors say Gosnell's staff gave the 90-pound woman a lethal dose of anesthesia and painkillers during a 2009 abortion,” according to the Associated Press. Some charges were dropped and he was found guilty of three counts of first-degree murder and one count of third-degree murder, as well as “211 counts of failing to comply with a state law that requires a 24-hour waiting period before an abortion is performed.”

The facts read more like a demon’s resume than a description of a man sworn to heal. One former worker testified that she saw “a late-term baby who survived an abortion ‘swimming’ in a toilet and ‘trying to get out.’”

Another child reportedly was big enough “that Gosnell joked it could have walked to the bus.” Child after child had life ended as scissors snipped spinal cords, decapitating them.

Yet this “house of horrors” would never have seen the light of day if the American media had their way.

Major outlets ignored the story until conservative anger called them out. The Media Research Center (where I work), Kirsten Powers, Fox News Channel, some in Congress and an army of conservatives on Twitter provided part of the pressure.

Even then, news coverage was paltry – far less than outlets would devote to any story du jour from Manti Te’o and his invisible girlfriend to endless accounts of the Jodi Arias trial.

ABC was the worst. It took that network a couple years after the arrest and 56 straight days of trial to acknowledge Gosnell existed. ABC found more than three hours of air time for other court cases during that time, but waited until Gosnell was convicted before it ever admitted he was even on trial.

“Nightline” co-anchor Terry Moran inadvertently admitted the network’s failure during the May 13 “World News with Diane Sawyer” segment. “For two months, jurors heard often shocking, grisly testimony.” Yes, two months of “shocking, grisly testimony” and only one minute and 51 seconds of news coverage at the very end.

In short, if you rely on ABC for your news coverage, you are out of luck. It’s that kind of timely newsgathering that would have viewers expecting to see reports on the end of WWII or the sinking of the Titanic later this week.

The other two members of the Big Three didn’t impress either. NBC was bad and CBS only a little better. NBC’s Savannah Guthrie asked Obama a question about Gosnell but didn’t even bother to follow it up. And when NBC finally gave an actual report on the case on May 1, it hid the awful nature of the case. The network that had reported on the smell of a decomposing body in the Casey Anthony trial called Gosnell’s crimes “too gruesome” to tell viewers.

Other outlets were just as averse to reporting the awful story of baby murder. The Washington Post committed to the story after health reporter Sarah Kliff defended her own failure to cover Gosnell because it was a “local crime” story.

But it wasn’t a local crime story. It was part of a national belief in infanticide coming directly from the pro-abortion movement. Just in the time of the Gosnell trial, we’ve seen a Planned Parenthood lobbyist and an abortion doctor both show support for baby murder after the child is born.

Abortion lobbyist Alisa LaPolt Snow told an astonished hearing that the life of a baby born after a botched abortion should be “left up to the woman, her family, and the physician.”

The pro-life group Live Action caught a D.C. abortion doctor in an embarrassing admission of, you know, supporting baby murder. “One video features a D.C. doctor, Cesare Santangelo, who said that in the unlikely event that an abortion resulted in a live birth, ‘we would not help it,’” reported the Post. For that reveal, he said he considers the heroes of Live Action to be “terrorists.”

That is the world that Kermit Gosnell introduced to America. It’s a world where the liberal fantasies of “safe, available and rare” abortions have been twisted into a convenient rationale for taxpayer-funded baby murder, even after a child is born. It’s an image the abortion community won’t be able to erase.

Dan Gainor is the Boone Pickens Fellow and the Media Research Center’s Vice President for Business and Culture. He writes frequently about media for Fox News Opinion. He can also be contacted on Facebook and Twitter as dangainor.",Dr. Kermit Gosnell was on trial for his life for the first degree murder of four babies born as a result of a failed late-term abortion.
"Andrew Burton / Getty Images

Former U.S. Vice presidential candidate and Alaska Governor Sarah Palin and Donald Trump exit Trump Tower, in New York City on May 31st. Palin and Trump met for a dinner meeting in the city.

Stops: 4 — Gettysburg National Civil War Park, coffee in Dillsburg, Penn., the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia and Famous Famiglia Pizzeria in New York City

Number of Palin sightings: 3

The surreal third Day of Sarah Palin’s pseudo-political bus tour through the mid-Atlantic started off in Gettysburg, Penn., where she visited the battlefield and the national soldier’s memorial. After a brief tour, she and an assortment of family and friends gathered for a group photo at the memorial. She greeted a few fans on her way out, including Janita Carlton, a 50-year-old homemaker from Green Forest, Arkansas, who waited nine and a half hours at the Gettysburg memorial on Monday when she heard the former Alaska governor was coming for a visit. “I was disappointed yesterday – it was hot!” Carlton said – the temperatures topped 100 degrees at the park. “But today we’re going to finally see the field. And it was so worth it to meet her! There’s hardly a politician I’d do this for.” Who else? “Mike Huckabee, I love him not just because he’s from Arkansas but because I think we needed someone with his values in the race – with Sarah’s values, too,” Carlton says. What about Barack Obama? “No way!” Mitt Romney? “Hmmm, don’t think so.” Tim Pawlenty or Jon Huntsman? “Who?”

(PHOTOS: She’s Back. Sarah Palin on the Road in 2011)

Palin then moved on to Dillsburg, Penn. (named for the town’s first settler, Matthew Dill, according to a sign) and picked up what she called “what I heard is the best coffee in town” at Coffee Express on South Baltimore Street. She greeted cafe-goers and took a couple of questions from reporters. One diner told Palin that he’s concerned about government spending. “See reporters?” Palin, sporting a white jacket with a pink leaf pattern, an American and Israeli flag pin, black pencil skirt and heels, said as she turned to the 20 members of the media crammed into the coffee shop behind her. “Don’t ask me what the challenge is. They know: It’s to cut spending.”

“When are you gonna be on Dancing With the Stars?” another man asked.

“Oh my gosh, I’m the biggest klutz in the world,” Palin said. “They should ask Todd, because that’s what people tease him about all the time, ‘Is it Todd’s turn on dancing with the stars?’”

“You should make your announcement here in Dillsburg,” the same man pressed.

“Hahahha, okay,” Palin said, turning towards the coffee counter. “I’ll let you know.”

A reporter then asked Palin if she would do away with subsidies to oil and gas companies. Democrats – and some fiscal conservatives like House budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan – support such a move. But most Republicans oppose it, arguing the cost would be passed on to tax payers.

“I think all our energy subsidies need to be re-looked at and eliminated,” Palin said, warming to one of her favorite topics. “And we need to make sure that we’re investing and allowing our businesses to invest in reliable energy products right now that aren’t going to necessitate subsidies because, bottom line, we can’t afford it. We can’t afford it,” she repeated. “We’ve got to allow the free market to dictate what’s going to be most efficient and economical for our nation’s economy.”

Another reporter asked if she thought U.S. troops should be withdrawn from Afghanistan?

“It sounds like they’re going to start to come home,” Palin replied. “And I’ve said, with Senator McCain and so many others that it’s the conditions on the ground that need to dictate when our troops start coming home instead of having some kind of political decision being made with a drop dead deadline to send our troops home. You know, showing our enemy our playbook, that doesn’t make any sense and it’s not good war strategy.”

“I agree with you 100%,” one of the men at the table said – they were the only customers in the coffee shop when Palin walked in. “Ask these guys,” Palin instructed the media. No one did. A minute later, Palin was heading to the door and reporters were running for their cars, worried they’d get left behind.

Palin packed up and headed to Philadelphia where she hurried through the Liberty Bell exhibit – so quickly in fact that few reporters had time to follow her – and left so quickly that only two press cars managed to keep up. She rolled on to Jersey City to stay the night, but soon after arriving, Palin snuck out for the most eyeball-grabbing event of her trip to date: A New York City pizza dinner with none other than Donald Trump.

Thus ended Day Three of Sarah Palin’s “learning tour” up the East Coast. Rumor has it she’ll visit the Statue of Liberty on Wednesday. After that, who knows.","Stops: 4 -- Gettysburg National Civil War Park, coffee in Dillsburg, Penn., the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia and Famous Famiglia Pizzeria in New York City Miles: 239 Tanks of gas: 1 Number of Palin sightings: 3 The surreal third Day of Sarah Palin's pseudo-political bus tour through the ..."
"By David Millward, Transport Editor Last Updated: 6:37PM BST 09 Apr 2009

A large number of caravans have been seen heading towards Somerset and Wales Photo: SWNS

Airports, roads, major stations and seaports were all described as busy as Britons tried to make the most of the holiday weekend.

They did so as weather forecasters predicted a wet few days with heavy rain expected to hit many parts of the country, while temperatures are expected to hit the mid 60s Fahrenheit.

Motoring organisations have predicted that around 10 million people will venture out this weekend.

Their numbers are being swelled by cash-strapped families staying in the UK this year.

After a quieter than normal morning rush hour, the AA and Trafficmaster have spotted a number of hot spots including the western section of the M25 between the Heathrow and Watford turn-offs.

A large number of caravans have also been seen heading towards Somerset and Wales and traffic has also been busy on the M6 toll road.

Elsewhere delays were reported on the M6 southbound near Warrington, Cheshire and on the northbound carriageway between Stafford and Stoke.

Other congested stretches included the M3 eastbound between Camberley and Bagshot in Surrey.

Commuter trains have been quieter than usual, confirming the belief that the holiday getaway has got off to an early start.

The Association of Train Operating Companies expects to carry 10 million passengers over the weekend, with long distance rail services getting busier throughout the day, with a peak during the late afternoon and early evening.

Virgin Trains is expecting the West Coast Main Line between London, north west England and Scotland to be busy throughout the day, especially. However with three services to Manchester and Birmingham an hour, Euston is expected to be less crowded than usual.

By midafternoon, the pace was picking up. ""People are leaving their desks for the weekend,"" a spokesman said.

Meanwhile British Airways said that today will be the busiest day of the holiday weekend, during which it expects to carry half a million people.

At Heathrow, which was described as ""busy"", hundreds of passengers were evacuated after a suspect package was discovered in Terminal 3.

New York, Los Angeles and Hong Kong remained the most popular destinations, while flights to Edinburgh, Paris and Geneva were also in demand.

The strength of the euro has led to an influx of passengers coming in from the continent, with traffic up 15 per cent compared to last year.

BA expects to carry more than 52,000 visitors are expected from Paris, Stockholm, Zurich, Munich and Frankfurt.",Millions of people have taken to the roads as the Easter exodus begins in earnest.
"A Brooklyn judge revoked the bail of a drug dealer who she called ""psychopathic"" after viewing an amateur video of him to trying to deck a 12-year-old boy for knocking down his son at a basketball game.

Raumel Johnson, 39, had pleaded guilty to cocaine trafficking and was scheduled to self-surrender in July to begin serving a 41-month jail term.

But Federal Judge Pamela Chen tossed Johnson in jail Tuesday based on the disturbing video which was recorded May 30 at a West Hempstead, L.I., school gym as the buzzer sounded ending the game.

Chen watched the 30-second video in her chambers, then described the action: ""There certainly was a young man who blatantly and without any provocation assaulted (Johnson's) son,"" she said. ""The aggressor student was walking away and Mr. Johnson came flying out of nowhere and swung for his head.""

The boy ducked and fortunately, the punch missed.

Defense lawyer Stuart Grossman admitted that Johnson ""lost his cool,"" and claimed everyone involved shook hands later to resolve the beef.

""You call it losing his cool, I call it violent and psychopathic,"" Chen said. ""I view him as a danger.""

Johnson had previously been involved in an altercation in Brooklyn with the coach of his son's basketball team because the youngster was cut from the team. That arrest was dismissed, according to court papers.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Amatruda said Johnson clearly lacks self-control and successfully appealed a magistrate judge's earlier ruling to allow Johnson to remain free on $200,000 bail under house arrest.","The dealer, who came after a boy who assaulted his son during a basketball game, was supposed to surrender in July."
"Michael Harding for The New York Times

Jim Lucas and Jennifer Mole, and their two daughters, Indie, 8, left, and Tilly, 6, in their home in Coldingham, Scotland. More Photos »

Mr. Lucas wanted the stone facade facing the street to lend an element of surprise for what was to come. “Then, as you walk into the house you’ve got this canvas of glass providing you with your own perfect viewing platform to experience the countryside beyond,” said Mr. Lucas, 43, who shares the home with Jennifer Mole, 43, and their two daughters, Indie, 8 and Tilly, 6.

The rectangular two-story home, carved into the steep slope of a hill, features a row of four bedrooms arranged one level above an open area that includes living and dining rooms and a galley kitchen. Both floors overlook a wildflower garden complete with a vegetable patch, fruit trees, and a tennis court. The house is not only eye-catching in its dramatic cantilevered form, it is also designed to meet the energy-efficient performance standards of a passive house, which combines airtight construction and minimal energy consumption. The house doesn’t require a heater or an air-conditioner; a mechanical ventilation system exchanges interior and exterior air.

“I’ll tell you how efficient the house is,” said Mr. Lucas, a managing director in the London headquarters of Creditex, a New York-based financial brokerage house. Last Christmas, when the temperature was 3 degrees Fahrenheit, “we had to open the doors to cool down — it was too hot,” he said. “The house is even more efficient than we anticipated, which really is a nice problem to have.”

Yet building a passive house had not entered the minds of Mr. Lucas and Ms. Mole, a stay-at-home mother, when in 2007 they started looking for properties in their native Scotland from their three-bedroom Georgian terraced house in the South London district of Greenwich.

“We were keen to move our base to Scotland as the kids approached school age,” said Mr. Lucas, who has worked in London for nearly 20 years, and continues to commute home to Scotland on weekends. “We nearly bought a traditional country house. But then we thought, ‘why are we thinking of moving into a big old house that would involve major conversion and costs? Why don’t we start from scratch?’ That was our eureka moment.”

Serendipitously, Mr. Lucas spotted the site of what would be the family’s new home while pursuing his hobby: buying, renovating and selling houses all over the United Kingdom.

“The site was fantastic — a bungalow with about two acres of land, in the middle of a lovely village, right next to the school, and a few miles from Jennifer’s parents, ” he said.

They bought the site in 2007, demolishing the existing property, but keeping its name, Sunnybank. Mr. Lucas and Ms. Mole collaborated on the design of the house with Tony Lucas, an eco-conscious principal of London-based Venner Lucas Architects, who had previously worked with the couple on the refurbishment of their Greenwich home. The architect suggested they use environmentally friendly techniques developed by the Passivhaus Institut in Germany more than a decade ago. The family moved into the home around Christmas 2009, following 16 months of construction that cost $955,858.

“I was a bit mistrustful of the fact that we wouldn’t need heating at first, however the idea that it’s going to be a cheap house to run was appealing,” said Mr. Lucas, who is not related to the architect. “I think that’s where new housing is going.”

Sunnybank is almost hidden, tucked back as it is off the street and behind a gate. From the driveway, a narrow stone path leads to the home, whose front exterior is whinstone, a dark-colored rock reclaimed from Ms. Mole’s family farm. Once inside, the house opens up as a light-filled revelation with a skylight running along the length of the rectangular building.

From the front door, a long narrow entrance corridor also runs the length of the front of the house. Off this corridor, with stark white walls lined with family photos, are the family and master bathrooms. The corridor is linked to a parallel bedroom corridor in the cantilevered rear of the home by a short glass bridge. A wooden staircase, just past the front door, descends to the heart of the open plan living area. The kitchen and dining area are to the right , while the living room and playroom take up the remainder of the space. All the main rooms on both levels have southern exposure to take advantage of the natural light and feature glass walls and sliding doors with a view of the garden and countryside beyond.

In designing the home’s interior, the couple had to reconcile their clashing aesthetic tastes. “I like sleek, clean Modernist lines, whereas Jennifer’s tastes are more homely, and towards clutter and mayhem!” Mr. Lucas said. “And then you have Tony, the architect, in the middle designing something to appeal to both of us.”

A practical example is the master bedroom, Mr. Lucas said. “I didn’t want a bedroom with clutter, but Jen’s not going to be tidy so Tony created a room just big enough to get a bed in and created a dressing room off that, which Jennifer can use for her things. That was a good way of hiding the clutter.”

Hiding clutter is the raison d’être behind many of Sunnybank’s features, including built-in storage, a utility room on the lower level with a laundry chute connected to the lime-green family bathroom above. “Although I’m still picking up clothes from the bathroom floor,” Ms. Mole said with a smile.

The couple said their daughters are enamored by the idiosyncratic touches to the home, like the glass bridge and the wooden staircase, one side of which they delight in sliding down. “When the kids’ friends come to visit they immediately run around having fun, feeling at home,” Mr. Lucas said. “We’ve put in lots of durable things like solid wood floors, and tiles, so it’s a house to be used and abused, so to speak.

And for a Modernist build, which can be quite stark, it’s a very family orientated, very relaxed home.” Mr. Lucas, with his commonsensical approach, and Ms. Mole, with her environmental awareness, said they had labored for many weeks over requirements for their new house. But in the end, their passive house met their needs. “It fits in perfectly with the way that we live, “ he said.","The two-story home, dubbed Sunnybank, is not only eye-catching but designed to meet the energy-efficient performance standards of a passive house."
"An admitted rapist will find out this week whether or not he has contracted HIV after attacking a woman with the virus, his lawyer says.

Richard Thomas, 27, of Manchester, England, has pleaded guilty to raping the woman and was sentenced to jail for five years and four months, Sky News reports.

During court proceedings, Harry Pepper, a prosecutor, said Thomas broke into the woman’s home in the middle of the night on July 20 and she awoke to find him raping her.

Thomas knew the woman had an illness, but collapsed when he learned from police that she has HIV, Sky News reports.

Thomas’ lawyer, Virginia Hayton, said he will find out the results of the HIV test on Friday.

Click for more from Sky News.","An England rapist will find out this week whether or not he has contracted HIV after attacking a woman with the virus, his lawyer says."
"Instead of throwing down weedkiller, why not dig up dandelions for next winter’s food?

Last year, I decided that instead of suffering through another winter without local greens, I would try my hand at forcing roots — an age-old practice that yields springy vegetables even in the middle of winter. The foraging guru Euell Gibbons forced pokeweed and dandelion roots in his cellar, documenting it in his 1962 book, “Stalking the Wild Asparagus,” and I was curious to see if I could recreate it in an apartment in New York City.

In preparation for the long winter, I dug up dandelion roots last fall at the College of Staten Island, dreaming of the days when I’d be able to add young shoots to my pre-spring salads. (It’s best to dig roots before the first frost, and from places where no pesticides have been used.)

In the process of forcing, you have to first trick the bulb or root into thinking it’s winter (a refrigerator is often used), and later the roots are moved to a warm space, signaling spring. This allows plants to bloom in their off-season. Forcing roots is a lot like forcing flower bulbs — you can try it provided there’s space in the bottom of your refrigerator. Since I don’t have a cellar and space in the refrigerator is limited, I planted mine in a dirt-filled pot and kept it outside a friend’s doorstep on Staten Island for a month and a half. Edible shoots benefit from a few good hard frosts, and, of course, mine had several.

The year before, following Mr. Gibbon’s example, I had forced pokeweed roots (Phytolacca americana) — which, in maturity, is thoroughly toxic — growing in the darkened hallway of my apartment building. That tenacious plant’s young shoots were once popular in the South as poke salad or “salet.” The rather alien-looking sprouts were delicious, even twice-boiled (several changes of water are necessary to extract toxins). But I felt my mouth start to tingle as I ate them, so I put down my fork (and that project). (Many medical authorities consider all parts of Phytolacca americana poisonous, and I do not advise consuming it.)

A few weeks ago, I brought my potted dandelion roots home, setting them on the kitchen floor, where the warmth and a good watering would simulate “spring.” Thinking they might need some time to adjust, I decided against watering the pot right away, and promptly forgot about it as I engaged in a frenzy of cooking braises, resulting in a steamy kitchen. A week later, I noticed several toothy-looking, one-inch dandelion shoots, the color of young corn, sprouting out of the pot.

Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale), a k a lion’s tooth, blowball, faceclock, is one of our most ubiquitous and identifiable weedy plants. Native to Eurasia, it was first brought over by European colonists and is the bane of many American gardeners and homeowners. But William Cobbett, author of the 19th-century classic “The American Gardener,” considered its springtime shoots “one of the very best of greens.” He called it “a sort of wild Endive.” (When Mr. Cobbett arrived on Long Island in 1817, lacking a tended garden, he noticed the wild dandelions growing underfoot. “I have always, since that time, looked at this weed with a more friendly eye,” he wrote.)

Dandelions — high in vitamins A, C and K and rich in calcium, iron and manganese — have a long culinary history in Europe as a salad green, leaf vegetable, jam, wine and even as a coffeelike beverage. Medicinally, the plant has been used as a diuretic, liver and kidney support, wart remover and respiratory aid.

But this little pot of Taraxacum officinale is destined for our next salad, where each young shoot tastes like summer. After that, when they’ve matured, they’ll be transformed into a bitter-greens pie. Until then, I’m happy to watch the little basal rosettes, which I used to squash with my shoe as a child, growing under the cold glare of the kitchen window.

Ava Chin is a professor of creative nonfiction and journalism at the College of Staten Island. The Urban Forager appears every other Saturday.","A pot of dandelion - high in vitamins A, C and K and rich in calcium, iron and manganese - is destined for the Urban Forager's next salad, where each young shoot tastes like summer."
"Most grandmothers love cooking for their grandchildren, and Kris Jenner is no exception.

So when mealtime comes for little North West, Mason and Penelope Disick, the famous matriarch happily whips up her signature dish, that also happens to be the kids’ favorite.

“All three of them right now are in love with my pilaf,” says Jenner, whose first cookbook In the Kitchen With Kris: A Kollection of Kardashian-Jenner Family Favorites debuts October 21. “It’s the perfect little side dish to any dish we cook for the babies. Whether it’s lamb chops or grilled chicken or even with applesauce. It’s hysterical; all of my grandkids are into my pilaf!”

And it’s no surprise why the dish is such a hit. The “family heirloom recipe” was passed down to Jenner from her late ex-husband, Robert Kardashian’s mother. And that is just what the Keeping Up With The Kardashians star is hoping to do with her own cookbook.

“As a family we love to entertain and have meals together, and now that I have grandchildren, I though it would be really fun to put together a lot of their favorite dishes,” Jenner tells PEOPLE. “It would be something they’d always have even when I’m not around. Just if for no other reason, it was for them.”

And speaking of “them,” the Kardashian-Jenner clan are fully represented in the book. The reality star includes family-inspired dishes like Kim’s Super Cheesy Macaroni and Cheese, Khloe’s Buttermilk Fried Chicken and even something for her soon-to-be ex-husband — Bruce’s Meatloaf and Mashies.

For a taste of Jenner’s family-friendly rice pilaf, which can also be found in her new book (now available for pre-sale), try her recipe.

Nana’s “Wedding” Rice Pilaf Makes: 8 to 10 servings

1/2 cup blanched silvered almonds 3 tbsp. unsalted butter 1½ cups vermicelli, broken into 1½ to 2-inch pieces 2 cups long-grain rice 3½ cups reduced-sodium chicken broth, heated to steaming 1½ tsp. kosher salt ¼ tsp. freshly ground black pepper ½ cup seedless raisins

1. Heat a medium skillet over medium heat. Add the almonds and cook, stirring occasionally, until toasted, about 3 minutes. Transfer the almonds to a plate. Set aside.

2. Heat the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the vermicelli and stir constantly until it is lightly toasted, about 1 minute. Add the rice and stir constantly until most of the rice turns chalky white, about 1 minute more. Add the chicken broth, salt, and pepper and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to medium-low and cover the saucepan tightly. Simmer until the rice is tender and has absorbed the liquid, about 18 minutes.

3. Remove from the heat. Add the toasted almonds and raisins (do not stir them in) and cover the saucepan again. Let stand for 5 minutes. Fluff the pilaf with a fork and transfer to a serving bowl. Serve hot.","Jason LaVeris/FilmMagic Most grandmothers love cooking for their grandchildren, and Kris Jenner is no exception. So when mealtime comes for little North West, Mason and Penelope Disick, the famous ..."
"“The Orphan Master’s Son” (Random House)

Mr. Johnson, 45, was cited by the board for an “exquisitely crafted novel that carries the reader on an adventuresome journey into the depths of totalitarian North Korea and into the most intimate spaces of the human heart.”

While writing the novel, Mr. Johnson said, he read propaganda and books approved by the regime. He eventually included Kim Jong-il, the late North Korean leader, as a character in the book. “I came to, not feel for him, but to see a human dimension in him,” he said. “He was a very cunning person, a very witty person. He had flaws like all people. The more I studied him the more I realized that he was a very human figure.”

Finalists Nathan Englander, “What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank”; Eowyn Ivey, “The Snow Child.”

Mr. Akhtar, 42, a Pakistani-American, grew up admiring the films of Woody Allen and longed to set a play “in that milieu of the moneyed intelligentsia of New York — but with a character who shared my ethnicity.” In “Disgraced,” that character is Amir, a successful corporate lawyer whose deep-seated self-loathing is fully revealed at a dinner party that is classic Manhattan, with talk of art and money giving way to suspicion and hatred.

Mr. Akhtar is also a novelist and actor, and is now at work on his second novel while preparing his next play, “The Who & The What,” for its world premiere in California next winter. If “Disgraced” was a metaphorical riff on “Othello,” the next play is a similar meditation on “The Taming of the Shrew,” he said on Monday. “Both plays are about Muslim Americans,” he said, “but the new one is a comedy.”

Finalists Gina Gionfriddo, “Rapture, Blister, Burn”; Amy Herzog, “4000 Miles.”

“Embers of War: The Fall of an Empire and the Making of America’s Vietnam” (Random House)

How did the United States get drawn into war in Vietnam, ignoring France’s bitter post-World War II experience there? In a follow-up to a book focused on America’s role in Vietnam in the 1960s, “Choosing War,” Mr. Logevall, a professor of history at Cornell, has provided what his Pulitzer citation called “a balanced, deeply researched history” of that long, unintended slide into a conflict that proved unwinnable.

“In teaching the war to undergraduates, I became more and more interested in the French Indochina war,” Mr. Logevall said when asked what inspired him to write an 800-page prequel. “I had the sense that the French experience was the key to everything that happened later.”

Finalists Bernard Bailyn, “The Barbarous Years: The Peopling of British North America: The Conflict of Civilizations, 1600-1675; John Fabian Witt, “Lincoln’s Code: The Laws of War in American History.”

“The Black Count: Glory, Revolution, Betrayal, and the Real Count of Monte Cristo” (Crown)

Alexandre Dumas’s famous novel was inspired by the life of his father, Thomas-Alexandre, who was born to a slave woman in Haiti but rose to a general’s rank in the French Army until he incurred the enmity of Napoleon.

“For me the great thrill of this book is that I pulled somebody out of the pages of fiction, who was forgotten about in fact, and showed his exploits to be a true story,” said Mr. Reiss, who learned of his prize while sitting in a dentist’s chair. “It’s swashbuckling, but for a purpose. He was the highest-ranking black leader in a white society until modern times and really a very serious revolutionary.”

Finalists Michael Gorra, “Portrait of a Novel: Henry James and the Making of an American Masterpiece”; David Nasaw, “The Patriarch: The Remarkable Life and Turbulent Times of Joseph P. Kennedy.”

“Stag’s Leap” (Alfred A. Knopf)

The poems in “Stag’s Leap” were written after the breakup of Ms. Olds’s 30-year marriage in 1997. Ms. Olds, 70, promised her children, fully grown at the time, that she wouldn’t publish the poems in a book for several years. “I didn’t want them to have to be concentrating on Mom’s writing while they were adjusting to the new family pattern of life,” Ms. Olds said on Monday from her home in New Hampshire.

Finalists Jack Gilbert, “Collected Poems”; Bruce Weigl, “The Abundance of Nothing.”

“Devil in the Grove: Thurgood Marshall, the Groveland Boys, and the Dawn of a New America” (Harper)

Mr. King, 51, said he had become fascinated by what he called “lost cases in civil rights history,” cases that were on the front pages of newspapers at the time but had been mostly forgotten since then. “They got glossed over,” he said. “I started looking into them and found these untold stories. Thurgood Marshall was this amazing trial lawyer and his life was threatened constantly. He wasn’t just about reconstructing the American dream. He was out there fighting for people’s lives.”

Finalists Katherine Boo, “Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity”; David George Haskell, “The Forest Unseen: A Year’s Watch in Nature.”

“Partita for 8 Voices” (New Amsterdam Records)

The Pulitzer Committee called “Partita” a “highly polished and inventive work” that incorporates “speech, whispers, sighs, murmurs, wordless melodies and novel vocal effects.”

“It’s about things falling apart and coming together again,” said Ms. Shaw, 30, who wrote the piece for the vocal group she sings in, Roomful of Teeth. “I wanted to make sounds that I never heard before.”

Finalists Aaron Jay Kernis, “Pieces of Winter Sky”; Wadada Leo Smith, “Ten Freedom Summers.”",“The Orphan Master’s Son” by Adam Johnson won the fiction prize and “Disgraced” by Ayad Akhtar won for drama.
"Canaccord Genuity’s Apple Apple analyst, Michael Walkley, does a monthly survey of the four major wireless carriers (AT&T AT&T, Verizon, Sprint and T-Mobile) to determine which smartphones are the top sellers. In his November survey Apple’s iPhone 5s has the #1 position with the 5c being in third place at all four. (Note that my family and I own Apple shares).

Strong iPhone 5s and steady 5c across the board

Walkley’s survey results are a positive indicator for Apple’s December quarter as the iPhone 5s has been the top seller at all four major wireless carriers since it was introduced and the 5c has been in either the #2 or #3 position. I believe one of the other takeaways from the table below is that Apple and Samsung have gained share at the expense of the tier two smartphone vendors HTC HTC, Nokia Nokia, Sony and Motorola since the last time they showed up was in August.

Walkley wrote “Our U.S. and global handset surveys indicated strong ongoing sales of the iPhone 5s and solid sales of the Samsung’s Galaxy S4 and Galaxy Note 3 smartphones at all four tier-1 U.S. carriers and also in several international markets. Our global surveys indicated seasonally softer sales of low/mid-tier Android smartphones from Chinese OEMs in China following strong sales into the first week of the October holiday season. In addition, our surveys indicated steady global sales of Samsung’s mid/low-tier smartphones backed by Samsung’s aggressive promotions and pricing.”

Fiksu’s tracking of the iPhone 5s and 5c provides another datapoint on how Apple’s 5s and 5c are doing. The company is able to track the usage of its Software Developers Kit (SDK) in individual devices and has found that the 5s and 5c have had steadily increased usage when analyzed as a percent of the total iPhone install base.

The iPhone 5s’ adoption had been tracking along the same line as the 5 a year ago until about a week ago when the 5 had a major spike up. While Thanksgiving did fall a week earlier last year, which could explain the 5’s ramp, the 5s has not seen a similar spike. When you add the 5s and 5c together their 12.97% of the install base is a bit higher than the 5’s 11.89% at the same point in time post-launch.

Increased fiscal 2014 and 2015 estimates

Canaccord Genuity’s Apple analyst, Michael Walkley, raised his fiscal 2014 and 2015 revenue and EPS estimates due to strong demand for the iPhone 5s and healthy long-term China Mobile iPhone sales. He increased his fiscal 2014 revenue estimate from $184.8 billion to $187 billion and raised his EPS projection from $43.48 to $44.20. His fiscal 2015 revenue estimate increased from $197 billion to $201.4 billion with his EPS moving from $48.78 to $50.02.

iPhone and iPad unit and revenue details for the December quarter

Walkley had been estimating 52 million iPhones would be sold in the December quarter at an ASP of $624. He is now projecting 54 million with an ASP of $618 for revenue of $32.9 billion (up 7% year over year), which includes deferred revenue of $550 million, and is the second month in a row he has raised his estimates.

His iPhone unit estimate of 54 million, up 13% year over year, is pretty much in-line with other sell-side analyst estimates I have seen vs. the 57 million, up 19%, that I am currently projecting (which has upside due to the iPhones strength in the U.S., China and Japan).

He is keeping his iPad estimate the same at 24.8 million, up 8% year over year, with revenue of $11.3 billion, up 6%. His unit estimate is in-line with the other sell-side numbers I have seen and compares to the 27.5 million units, up 20%, and $12.1 billion, up 13%, that I am estimating.

Follow me on Twitter @sandhillinsight. You can find my other Forbes posts here.","Canaccord Genuity's latest survey shows strong iPhone 5s and steady 5c sales.  Michael Walkley raised his iPhone, revenue and EPS estimates."
"Helen Grant, the sports and equalities minister, says: 'I am determined to do all I can to help tackle all forms of discrimination in sport.' Photograph: Yui Mok/PA

The sports, tourism and equalities minister, Helen Grant, has called sexist email exchanges involving the Premier League chief executive, Richard Scudamore, ""completely unacceptable"".

Grant, who has made increasing the number of women involved in sport a priority, became the first government minister to criticise Scudamore after private emails were leaked to a Sunday newspaper.

""I found the content of those emails completely unacceptable and very disappointing, particularly at a time when there is so much good work and progress being made promoting women's sport,"" Grant said. ""I am determined to do all I can to help tackle all forms of discrimination in sport. There is absolutely no place for it and all of us working in sport need to pull together on the issue. There is no room for complacency.""

The shadow minister for sport, Clive Efford, weighed in by writing to the Premier League to ask why no action has been taken against Scudamore.

""Women's football is the third biggest participation sport in the country, a fact in which both the Premier League and the FA often express their pride,"" he said. ""How can their support for women in the game, whether they are participants, supporters or employees, be taken on trust if the rules on equalities are set aside so easily when one of the figures at the head of the game breaks them in such an unspeakable way?

""Football plays a major role in confronting discrimination in all its forms and they cannot get away with paying lip service to policies on sexism. Either they mean it when they speak out against discrimination or they do not.""

In exchanges with a lawyer friend who referred to females as ""gash"", Scudamore jokily warned him to keep a female colleague they nicknamed Edna ""off your shaft"" and told sexist jokes that mocked ""female irrationality"". The emails were seen by a former temporary PA who leaked them to the Sunday Mirror.

Scudamore, who emphasised that they were ""private emails exchanged between colleagues and friends of many years"" that should not have been accessed by his PA, nevertheless apologised and said ""it was an error of judgment that I will not make again"".

Grant was in Malaysia on a mission to drum up tourism, during which she appeared at a Premier League event on Monday, when senior figures from organisations including Fifa, Kick It Out and the Women's Sport and Fitness Foundation called for a full investigation into the comments.

The Football Association has declined to charge Scudamore with bringing the game into disrepute, saying that it was a private matter and referring it back to the Premier League.

It is understood to have considered the precedent set by the Manchester United defender Chris Smalling, who was not charged when he was pictured in newspapers dressed as a suicide bomber because the pictures were taken at a private party.

Grant is likely to raise the matter next time she meets Scudamore but the government does not have the same oversight of the Premier League as it does of governing bodies that receive public money.

Depending on the recommendation of the audit and remuneration commission, headed by the stand-in Premier League chairman, Peter McCormick, the matter may be discussed at the next shareholders' meeting of all 20 clubs.

Scudamore is considered likely to survive the storm, given that there is little appetite among the clubs for him to be challenged. Critics have called for a more transparent investigation.

""We expect a strong process for those in the boardroom as well as players and supporters who are in the public eye, particularly for organisations which have a strong code of conduct, especially if you are somebody who preaches equality,"" said the Kick It Out chairman, Lord Ouseley. ""But football appears to have a different rule for those in the boardroom.""

Moya Dodd, the Asian Football Confederation vice-chair who sits on Fifa's executive committee, said the game needed to ""take sexism as seriously as we take racism"".

The former NBA player John Amaechi likened Scudamore's comments to the racist remarks of the disgraced Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling, who was kicked out of the sport.",Helen Grant has criticised sexist email exchanges involving Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore
"Canadians John Greyson and Dr. Tarek Loubani are now free to leave Egypt, news that comes after the two were released from jail last weekend but not allowed to leave the country.

CBC's Derek Stoffel reported the news in a Twitter message Thursday morning. He also said that their clearance to leave the country has been confirmed by

Egypt's Foreign Ministry. Stoffel also quoted a government spokesman who said the case is now ""closed,"" and that the men will be allowed to re-enter the country.

""There names were cleared,"" said the spokesman.

CBC's Sasa Petricic is also reporting that the two Canadians are now free to leave the embattled country.

""Their names have been taken off the no-fly list and they are basically free to go,"" Petricic reported on CBC News Network on Thursday.

Greyson, a Toronto filmmaker, and Loubani, a London, Ont., doctor, have been in Egypt since their arrest in mid-August. The two were arrested, but never faced any formal charge.

The had men arrived in Egypt the day before their arrest and planned to travel to Gaza. Loubani was planning to work at a hospital there, while Greyson was going to film a short documentary about Loubani's work, according to a statement the men issued during their time in jail.

With the Gaza border closed because of the upheaval in Egypt, the men returned to Cairo.

When a protest in Ramses Square suddenly turned violent, Loubani began treating victims, some with gunshot wounds, while Greyson filmed.

Later that evening, the men were stopped and arrested at a police checkpoint as they made their way back to the hotel.

And so began seven weeks of incarceration for the men, who claimed they were beaten, denied access to phone calls and forced to sleep in squalid conditions.

Greyson and Loubani were suddenly released from prison last weekend, raising hopes that their return to Canada was imminent. But at the airport, they were not allowed to board a flight to Germany and were told their names were on a no-fly list.

Since then, the men have been living in a Cairo hotel while lawyers pushed for their release.

Lawyers had been told the men's cases would have to be processed along with the hundreds of protesters also arrested on Aug. 16. It now appears Egyptian prosecutors have backed down from that position.

""The prosecutors were contemplating all kinds of charges against the group. The charges appear to have been dismissed,"" Petricic reported.

""They are free to leave but it's not clear when exactly they will be boarding a plane to head back home.""

Stoffel also reported that the Egyptian government will not investigate claims the men were beaten and treated badly in jail, because no official complaint has been filed.

The imprisonment of the two men has been called a ""roller-coaster"" for their families, and triggered a high-level diplomatic push for their release.

Stoffel asked the Foreign Ministry spokesman if the men were wrong to be at the protest, given the turmoil in Egypt at the time and a travel advisory for the country issued by the Canadian government.

“It’s better of course for all foreigners … to refrain from going to places of demonstration, especially in Cairo,"" the spokesman said.

BREAKING: Cairo lawyer for John Greyson and Tarek Loubani says Egyptian officials have agreed to let the men leave Egypt. #FreeTarekandJohn

Egypt's foreign ministry confirms that Loubani/Greyson are allowed to leave #Egypt. #FreeTarekandJohn","Canadians John Greyson and Tarek Loubani are now free to leave Egypt, news that comes after the two were released from jail last week but not allowed to leave the country."
"variety series and specials, including ""The Andy Williams Show,"" ""The Perry Como Show,"" ""The Carpenters at Christmas,"" ""The Gladys Knight & the Pips Show,"" ""The Captain & Tennille Special,"" ""Barbara Mandrell and the Mandrell Sisters"" and Emmy and Grammy telecasts.

series and specials, including ""The Andy Williams Show,"" ""The Perry Como Show,"" ""The Carpenters at Christmas,"" ""The Gladys Knight & the Pips Show,"" ""The Captain & Tennille Special,"" ""Barbara Mandrell and the Mandrell Sisters"" and Emmy and Grammy telecasts.

In addition to these memorable guest features, she was heavily showcased on the 2002 “Doggystyle All Stars” album released on Snoop’s label and sung background for Gladys Knight and Yolanda Adams, earning her a large following eager to hear more from her.

""American Idol"" stage on Wednesday as teenage singer Scotty McCreery was crowned the series winner. Acts like Judas Priest and Gladys Knight turned out in force to perform with show... ... Read More » 05.25.2011 11:14AM EST A top doctor was called to the set","Collection of all USATODAY.com coverage of Gladys Knight, including articles, videos, photos, and quotes."
"to the rash of holiday season break-ups

-- his wife wants out of their marriage after just 10 months.

According to docs filed earlier this month, Renner's wife

is seeking the split over irreconcilable differences -- but get this ... she's demanding he return her stolen passport, birth certificate and SS card.

The couple just copped to their secret marriage back in September ... and every indication is the break-up will be nasty.

In her divorce docs ... Pacheco says they have a prenup, but adds it should be torn up because it was based on fraud. There's no further detail about what she means by ""fraud.""

Pacheco wants the moon ... she's asking for spousal support and physical custody of their 1-year-old daughter, Ava Berlin. She's also looking to use the Range Rover until the smoke clears, and for Renner to pony up her rent and moving expenses.",Add Jeremy Renner to the rash of holiday season break-ups -- his wife wants out of their marriage after just 10 months.According to docs filed…
"“We’re gonna burn this club to the motherfucking ground,” declares Killer Mike as he and his Run the Jewels collaborator El-P take to the stage to the sounds of Queen’s We Are the Champions. For anyone else, this might seem like a self-aggrandising entrance, but these are two of the biggest personalities in hip-hop, and compared to the explosion that is the rest of their set, it’s a positively low-key way to kick things off.

This is the pair’s last show at SXSW and it is clear they have no intention of going quietly. “We’re going for the livest set at SXSW,” El-P roars, before they break into a furious rendition of 36” Chain. They may have made the album that topped almost every best of 2014 album countdown of note, but it is live that Run the Jewels are truly in their element. The chemistry between Killer Mike and El-P, who have collaborated since 2012, is almost unrivalled in hip-hop, with their enormous personalities and boundless energy bouncing off each other and fueling the pair in this 45 minute set.

This is an initially irritable crowd, sodden through thanks to the unrelenting Austin downpour, but El-P and Killer Mike’s charismatic stage presence manages to evaporate these rain-soaked woes almost immediately. In fact, the audience throws themselves into the set with such reckless abandon that El-P stops at various points in the night to thank the security guards tasked with keeping the boisterous masses under control. If El-P’s request for “everybody to take two steps back and chill the fuck out” seems a little cautious for an artist whose reputation is built on aggressive hip-hop, he can’t really be blamed: he was almost punched by a stage-invading audience member during a set at the Spotify house on Thursday.

The pair are both veteran rappers, and this live set allows them to show off the lyrical dexterity that has won them so much critical acclaim. Their performance of Blockbuster Part 1, from their second LP, Run the Jewels 2, is abrasive and dynamic, while Close Your Eyes (And Count to Fuck), their song about starting a prison riot, kicks the show up to an even higher notch.

Run the Jewels are not a duo to shy away from political controversy, tackling race and police brutality in their tracks, with Killer Mike leading the chorus of condemnation following the events in Ferguson last year. Tonight is no different, with El-P taking a not-so-subtle jibe at the “driveling, warmongering, paedophile leaders that we’ve elected”, and dedicating another track to “everyone in Ferguson trying to do the right thing”.

This is an entirely unrestrained set, helped along by a crowd who really do give it their all. Bodies are thrown carelessly into each other, and as El-P and Killer Mike break into the chant of “lie, cheat, steal, kill, win”, the air is filled with a pulsing sea of pumping fists. Run the Jewels may be a late-career renaissance for the pair, who are both entering their 40s, but as their set proves, they are worthy of every column inch of hype.","Cedar Street Courtyard, AustinThe critically acclaimed rap powerhouse deliver a no-holds-barred set that is breathtaking in its intensity and ecstatically received"
"07/19/2016 at 04:45 PM ET

Chloë Grace Moretz might be feuding with Khloé and the rest of the Kardashian-Wests over the Taylor Swift drama, but her boyfriend, Brooklyn Beckham, isn’t shy about the fact that he’s a proud supporter of West’s Yeezy clothing line — and he’s proving his devotion by flaunting his Kanye-designed attire on social media.

Beckham posted a series of photos on Instagram clad in a Yeezy t-shirt, prompting some of his followers to question his loyalty — and his relationship status.

RELATED PHOTOS: Yeezy Mania: Every Star Seen So Far in Kanye West’s Super-Hot Sneakers

Kanye takes his brand very seriously, and sees fans of the brand as loyal followers. His sister-in-law Kylie Jenner was nearly forced to turn down her Puma deal because she’d be betraying his Adidas partnership. Then there was the time Austin Swift publicly threw out his Yeezy sneakers to support Taylor in the “Famous” debate.

A photo posted by bb (@brooklynbeckham) on Jul 19, 2016 at 9:46am PDT

RELATED VIDEO: Kanye West Addresses Taylor Swift Controversy (Again): ‘I Just Said What Everybody Else Was Thinking’

So, the question remains: Does Beckham simply like the shirt, or is he silently telling the world which side of the feud he’s on? We’ll take Moretz’s own pair of Yeezy sneakers as a hint that the couple just wears what they want, feud or no feud.

What do you think of Beckham wearing a Yeezy shirt? Tell us below.

— Jillian Ruffo Follow @jillianruffo",Does Beckham's apparel choice determine which side he's on?...
"But his paintings’ geometric simplicity, flatness of form and workmanlike brushwork exuded a quiet modernity, as did their wholeness of composition and feeling. In the catalog to a 1975 York exhibition at Davis & Long, the critic and painter Fairfield Porter wrote, “Certainly part of the strong emotional appeal of these paintings” is that Mr. York “is not clever, and in no sense superior to the nature of his medium or the nature of the subject, but that he is at one with both.”

Albert Edward York was born in Detroit in 1928. His parents were not married, and he was raised by his father but lived mostly in boarding schools and foster homes while his father worked as an electroplater in the automobile industry. In his teens he lived with an aunt and uncle in Belleville, Ontario. He studied at the Ontario College of Art and then at the Society of Arts and Crafts in Detroit; after serving in the Army during the Korean War, he moved to New York in 1952.

He studied briefly with Raphael Soyer until Mr. York’s life was taken over by odd jobs and he stopped painting altogether. Things eased in 1957, when he found a steady job as a gilder with Robert Kulicke, the innovative frame maker who died in 2007 and was also a still life painter.

Mr. York returned to painting in earnest in 1960, after four months spent in France with Virginia Mann Caldwell, whom he had met at a loft party in 1959, and her two children. They married later that year. He is survived by his wife; two stepchildren, Jonathan Caldwell of Santa Fe, N.M., and Kristin Caldwell of Carlisle, Pa.; and four step-grandchildren.

In 1962 he reluctantly showed his paintings to Mr. Kulicke, who enthusiastically recommended them to Roy Davis, Mr. Kulicke’s art school friend and business partner, whose small gallery began as a showroom for Kulicke Frames. Mr. York had his first exhibition at the Davis Galleries in 1963 and his last (at Davis & Langdale) in 2007, for a total of 16 exhibitions there. Because Mr. York worked so slowly, some paintings were exhibited repeatedly, but that seemed to fit Mr. York’s sense of time.

He painted only about 200 to 250 works in his lifetime. Most are in private collections and museums. A rare auction of his work took place after the death of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, who owned six of his paintings.

Mr. York and his family moved to the East End of Long Island in the early 1960s, and he earned money painting houses and doing rough carpentry; financial need was an important incentive to make paintings. When his mother, who he had been told was dead, reappeared in his life in the early 1970s and set up a trust fund for him, he worked even more slowly.

Mr. York had a small solo show at Mills College in Oakland, Calif., in 1993, and his paintings appeared in numerous group exhibitions, about which Mr. Davis kept him uninformed for fear he might refuse to participate. In 1989, when the critic and curator Klaus Kertess organized an exhibition of landscape paintings by Jane Freilicher, April Gornik and Mr. York at the Parrish Art Museum in Southampton, he did so without meeting Mr. York and was never sure if he even saw the show, since no one knew what he looked like.

Ms. Langdale said Mr. York did go to the show with her and Mr. Davis; she took a rare photograph of him on the occasion. In his New Yorker article, Mr. Tomkins wrote that after seeing his work at the Parrish, Mr. York said he was “pretty upset about what I’d been doing for these last years.”

Robert Kulicke offered an explanation in the New Yorker piece: “What Al doesn’t understand is that in art you never hit what you’re aiming at, but the difference may not be downward.”

A version of this article appears in print on November 1, 2009, on Page A36 of the New York edition with the headline: Albert York, Reclusive Landscape Painter, Dies at 80. Order Reprints| Today's Paper|Subscribe","Mr. York was a painter of small, mysterious landscapes who shunned the art world yet had a fervent following within it."
"A jury in Manhattan Supreme Court found three parachutists who leapt from One World Trade Center in 2013 guilty on all but the most serious charges they faced, sparing them felony records and the probability of a prison sentence.

The defendants, Marco Markovich, 28 years old, Andrew Rossig, 34, and James Brady, 33, considered Monday’s verdicts a victory.

“This verdict is the same as the plea we would have taken over a year...","Jurors convict World Trade Center BASE jumpers, except on felony charge."
"The Tehran government has postponed Tuesday’s scheduled execution of a 26-year-old Iranian woman charged with killing a man accused of attempting to rape her.

Following last minute pleas, the regime pushed back the hanging of Rayhaneh Jabbari, who was headed to the gallows on charges that in 2007 she stabbed and killed Morteza Abdolali Sarbandi, a former employee of the Iranian Intelligence Ministry.

The government announced that the execution will be postponed but did not give any indication the sentence had been overturned. It also did not disclose if any future execution date had been set.

Jabbari, who has already served seven years in prison, claims Sarbandi drugged her and attempted to have physical contact with her.

Activists around the globe have been working tirelessly to prove Jabbari’s innocence and to have her death sentence revoked.

Then 19-year-old Jabbari met Sarbandi at a café, where he learned that she was an interior designer. He then asked her to meet him in his office to discuss a remodeling project, according to Jabbari’s accounts.

When Jabbari arrived, she realized the location, a remote, rundown site, did not resemble an office. At that time, Sarbandi offered her a fruit juice, which contained a date-rape drug, or “roofie,” based on forensic tests conducted by the police during investigation and related to Fox News by human rights activists.

Jabbari then attempted to defend herself by stabbing Sarbandi in the shoulder with a small pocket knife and fled the scene. Sarbandi bled to death, and Jabbari was later arrested and imprisoned.

“She has been tortured in so many ways in prison. They may have pressured her to confess,” said Shabnam Assadollahi, an Iranian activist based in Canada.

Assadollahi and three other women, Nazanin Afshin-Jam, Shadi Paveh and Mina Ahadi, launched an international campaign to shed light on Jabbari's case

They successfully circulated a petition that gathered more than 126,700 signatures from around the world.

“This is a verdict of ""Ghessas"" [""an eye for an eye""], but the details of the case don’t make sense,” Assadollhai said.

Jabbari’s family and advocates, including Assadollahi, have pointed to the fact that a small pocket knife and two stabs in the shoulder would not result in fatal consequences for a large man, which is how Sarbandi was described.

Those petitioning against her execution believe that a third party may have been involved in the case and that Jabbari was set up. There is also skepticism that there may have been interference in the case and that crucial evidence that would potentially save Jabbari’s life was either tampered with or destroyed.

Ahmed Shaheed, the United Nations’ special investigator on human rights also spoke up against the execution, stating that Jabbari did not receive a fair trial and that she should be re-tried because she acted out of self-defense.

Lisa Daftari is a Fox News contributor specializing in Middle Eastern affairs.",The Tehran government  has postponed Tuesday’s scheduled execution of a 26-year-old Iranian woman charged with killing her accused rapist.
"just learned a hard lesson about being a tenant ... because a judge just socked him hard for making what the actor felt were ""improvements"" on his Malibu rental.

, claiming he made drastic improvements on the crib by painting the fireplace and slapping wallpaper on the wooden cabinets in the kitchen.

Problem is ... the lease required the landlord's prior approval, and Val didn't get it.

When Kilmer moved out, the landlord returned only around $16K of the $23,500 security deposit ... withholding around $7,400 for undoing Val's handiwork.

The judge just laid down the law ... saying the landlord was indeed allowed to withhold money but he got greedy. The judge allowed the landlord to keep a little more than $5K but return $2,210.

So note to Val: Get your landlord's approval before doing it again ... and don't wallpaper over wooden cabinets -- it's gross.",Val Kilmer just learned a hard lesson about being a tenant ... because a judge just socked him hard for making what the actor felt were…
"Tracey Emin sits besides her My Bed artwork, which she created in 1998. Photograph: Rob Stothard/Getty Images

The most famous bed in contemporary art, a tangle of stained and rumpled sheets bearing expensive witness to a time of heartbreak for the artist Tracey Emin, is coming to the Tate gallery on long loan from its new owner, the German businessman and collector Count Christian Duerckheim.

Although Emin described the Tate as ""the natural home"" for her 1998 My Bed, the gallery couldn't afford to bid at the recent Christie's auction where it eventually sold for £2.54m, more than twice the top pre-sale estimate.

Bidding opened at £650,000, and was bought minutes later by the dealer Jay Jopling, but as it has now emerged, on behalf of Duerckheim, who explained his admiration for the work: ""I always admired the honesty of Tracey, but I bought My Bed because it is a metaphor for life, where troubles begin and logics die.""

Tate director Nicholas Serota said: ""I am absolutely delighted that Count Duerckheim has agreed to loan such an important work to Tate for a period of at least 10 years. We look forward to displaying the work and are most grateful to Count Duerckheim for his generosity in creating an opportunity for visitors to see a work that now has iconic status.""

The Tate will announce in the autumn when the bed will go on display.

The piece, which she describes as a self-portrait, was made by Emin in 1998, when she was living in a council flat in Waterloo. It is her own bed, covered in stained sheets, used condoms, blood-stained knickers and empty bottles of alcohol, testimony to a lost weekend after the breakdown of a relationship.

It helped win her Turner Prize nomination in 1999, and was bought the following year for £150,000 by the collector Charles Saatchi, who was then buying the so-called Young British Artists' work on an epic scale.

According to the artist, Saatchi once displayed the piece in the dining room of his Belgravia home, surrounded by 19th century baroque silver tableware. His investment has now blossomed almost 20-fold at the Christie's auction. Although not as familiar a name as the flamboyant Russian and Middle East collectors, Duerckheim has been quietly buying German and English contemporary art since the 1970s.

The British Museum recently exhibited a spectacular collection of his German 20th-century prints and drawings, and he presented 34 of them, including 11 drawings by Georg Baselitz, to the museum.

He has been buying art, often through Sotheby's, for many years and recently gave one of the auction house directors, Cheyenne Westphal, a tour of his contemporary German collection, a visit which began as an invitation to value his apparently equally impressive wine collection.","My Bed, featuring artist's stained sheets, loaned to gallery for at least 10 years by German owner Count Christian Duerckheim"
"""It was being pregnant,"" she responds with a laugh. ""It takes every ounce of your strength and psyche. You work extremely hard to create another human being.""

For some, the joyous and unexpected news might have been a good reason to shelve the project. But the Oscar-nominated actress (Up in the Air) was pulled too deeply into the story of a woman struggling with her devout faith to change course.

""This film was unstoppable. It was grasping me in a way that was beyond my control,"" says Farmiga, 38. ""I had valid excuses, but I couldn't use them. 'Not now' becomes 'never' in this industry.

""This was a curve ball that gets thrown at you,"" she adds, referring to her pregnancy. ""I could have chosen to duck, but I opted to receive.""

Farmiga dramatically broke the news to the film's financier during a tour of his new, sprawling studio in spring of 2010.

""I fainted,"" Farmiga says, laughing. ""And when I came to, I said, 'By the way, I'm pregnant.'''

Rather than being deterred, the financier simply insisted that Farmiga get to work immediately before her pregnancy began to show too much. Pre-production began the next day.

To add to the complex situation, Farmiga juggled the rapidly accelerated pace of the project with intense morning sickness (""morning, afternoon, night, it's relentless with me"") and the Montreal filming for her starring role in Source Code.

""I was BlackBerry-ing with my casting directors under the desk in between every close-up,"" she says.

Back on the Upstate New York set of Higher Ground, ""we set the production schedule around my belly,"" Farmiga says. She immediately shot scenes in which her character was not pregnant and wore support hosiery to disguise the pregnancy. For later scenes, her team embraced the blossoming condition and wrote a pregnancy into the script.

""It was only natural. We were telling the story of a mother,"" Farmiga says.

She counted on the support of her tight-knit family to help her through the trying 26-day shoot in stifling summer heat. Her son, Fynn, now 2, was a comforting constant on set and played the role of an infant in the movie. Producer and husband Renn Hawkey helped ease the burden each night.

""My husband got the brunt of it,"" she says. ""It was beyond exhaustion. My feet were swelling, everything was swelling. But he was there to cheer me on and massage me — until the alarm went off the next morning. And it was off to the field of battle. … It was the hardest thing I have ever done.''

Co-producer Carly Hugo says Farmiga's gracious, fighting spirit was infectious on the set. ""The feeling across the board was, if she's still smiling, we're going to smile,"" Hugo says. ""That went from cast to crew.""

Taissa Farmiga, 17, who plays the younger version of Vera's character, says she was inspired by her older sister's courage. ""There were a couple of breakdowns,"" she says. ""But we pushed through. We did it.""

Farmiga gave birth in November and says her bubbling daughter was the force that carried her through the film, which has received strong critical praise since its Sundance premiere. Gytta (Ukranian for ""gift"" ) received a special thanks in the film's end credits.

""I was operating from two heartbeats,"" Farmiga says. ""Her energy was there. Now that she's out of the womb, I see what I was tapping into. This is one energetic child.""","There was no stopping the pregnant but determined actress, who created 'Higher Ground' and 'another human being.'"
"Michelle Rodriguez upstaged the NY Knicks from her courtside seats by drunkenly posing for ridiculous selfies ... and snuggling up to smoking hot model Cara Delevingne.Michelle was all over Cara -- and looked totally out of it -- while putting on what has to be the greatest party chick clinic in NBA history last night at Madison Square Garden.It's unclear if Michelle -- who's proudly stated going ""both ways"" in the past -- scored after the game ... but click through the gallery.Looks to us like Michelle put in enough work to earn some overtime. Oh, the Knicks won the game. But who cares?",Michelle Rodriguez upstaged the NY Knicks from her courtside seats by drunkenly posing for ridiculous selfies ... and snuggling up to smoking hot…
"There is the timbre of his voice — pitched somewhere between a squawk and a scream. The propulsive cadence of his sentences. And of course, those distinctive habits of pronunciation (“yuuuge”).

Donald Trump's supporters often praise how the politician gives voice to harsh truths. But that voice itself, that unmistakable instrument, has been a noteworthy element of Trump’s populist image. Though he grew up in privilege, eventually attending college at Wharton, Trump never shed his Queens accent. Today, that accent helps him summon the stereotype of the blunt, no-nonsense New Yorker.

“He wants to sound macho,” explains John Baugh, a linguistics professor at Washington University in St. Louis. “As part of his whole tough-guy persona, he adopts almost a working-class style of speech.”

To understand how this accent is pivotal to our perception of Trump, consider the following video, recently posted by comedian Peter Serafinowicz:

Serafinowicz took an interview clip from Fox News and dubbed over Trump’s New York accent with a posh, British one. “What if Trump had elocution lessons?” reads the description.

""I watch a lot of his speeches,"" Serafinowicz remarked in an e-mail. ""He pretty much says the same things over and over — the ‘wall’, immigrants, politicians are stupid, his constant boasting … can you imagine Obama or Bush or Clinton saying to a crowd 'Has anyone read my book?'""

The video pokes fun at Trump’s macho stylings by assigning him one of the world’s fanciest-sounding accents. The words are still Trump’s, but when they come through in those British tones, Trump’s entire demeanor seem to change. He appears smarter. More refined.

“I found it quite amusing,” Baugh says, of the juxtaposition. “This isn’t just a British accent,” he explains. “It’s what the British call Received Pronunciation — it’s the upper class variety of the British accent, which conveys a very lofty and haughty linguistic demeanor.”

The video illustrates that the way politicians talk can have a profound impact on how we understand them. This is no secret, of course. Every day, we judge people — consciously or subconsciously — by their styles of speaking. Our voices contain clues to where we grew up, where our parents came from, where we learned English. People often modify their natural accents to avoid stigma, or to invite a favorable assumption, because linguistic discrimination is real.

“It’s pretty much universal,” says Nicole Holliday, a linguistics PhD candidate at New York University who studies language and identity. “You can go anywhere in the world and ask who speaks the ‘bad’ version of the language — and invariably, it’s the people who are marginalized, who are rural, poor, or belong to religious minorities.”

Accents activate stereotypes. People do not perceive the New York style of speaking as particularly attractive or high-status. But they do associate it with competence, aggressiveness, and directness.

“Democrat or Republican, in an age where trust in politicians is at a minimum, it is not hard to see the attraction of that blunt aspect of the New York image,” Michael Newman, a linguist at Queens College and CUNY’s Graduate Center, writes. “It’s a quality that can be profoundly appealing.”

Polls show that Republicans don’t think Trump is likable, honest, or compassionate . But they do consider him decisive and competent, which Republican voters say are the most important qualities in a presidential candidate. In this way, Trump’s New York accent is a perfect fit for his shark-like political persona.

“Traditionally, the New York City accent has been stigmatized as rough and not necessarily intelligent,” Holliday says. “But people do perceive it as authoritative. So he’s got an accent that people don’t like, but that they find credible. Trump sounds like he knows what he’s talking about, because of his accent.”

Trump’s working-class New York accent may also help the billionaire appear a bit more relatable on the stump. Though he is stratospherically wealthy, his average-Joe way of speaking makes him sound a little more down to earth.

Many other politicians have been accused of sounding folksier on the campaign trail, especially when they have been making rounds in the Heartland.

Last year, Bloomberg Politics traced the history of Hillary Clinton’s speaking style, which took on southern shadings when she was a politician’s wife in Arkansas, but shifted northward when she became a First Lady and later a New York senator. Recently, Clinton’s drawl resurfaced as she was campaigning in Tennessee:

Barack Obama does something similar. When he gives speeches at black churches, for instance, his voice develops a twang.

“When Hillary’s down south, she’s more likely to say ‘y’all’ or something along those lines, even though she would never say that in one of her Wall Street meetings,” Baugh says. “And with Obama, it absolutely shows up when he’s speaking to a black audience. I notice it mostly in words like ‘history’ and ‘geography’ — the vowel is a little longer and the intonation rises slightly.”

The habit is not unique to politicians, and it is not always an affectation. People naturally adjust the way they speak depending on their audience, often without being aware of it. Researchers believe the habit helps foster a closer connection between by emphasizing people's similarities.

“We call that linguistic accommodation, or dialect leveling, and it’s pretty common,” Baugh says. “When you’re interacting with someone whose dialect is different from your own, you subconsciously adjust your speech to reflect the way they speak. For a lot of people it’s considered to be a sign of linguistic empathy.”

Because people attach such social significance to accents, the way that a politician talks becomes a rhetorical tool — another way to connect with voters or to burnish a certain public image. As it turns out, Donald Trump is a beneficiary not only of his family's wealth, but also of his family's way of talking, which appeals to our biases about accents and New Yawkers.

John Di Domenico, Robert Heck and Tim Beasley are all professional Donald Trump impersonators. They are often hired for corporate events, trade shows and retirement parties. But if Donald Trump's campaign flames out, who will want to hire a fake Donald Trump? (Erin Patrick O'Connor/The Washington Post)",Why we should care about Donald Trump's accent
"Tank Johnson (David Trotman-Wilkins/AP/Chicago Tribune)

Perhaps, NFL players just need something to take the edge off after getting slammed by 300-pound human torpedoes all day, or maybe it’s that a good deal of them are still going through their experimental phases in their 20s. Whatever the case, it’s no secret that at least some football players use marijuana. Some get caught, such as Cardinals defensive tackle Daryl Washington, who was suspended today for an incident involving marijuana.

But Washington isn’t in the minority, according to veteran defensive tackle Terry “Tank” Johnson. The ex-Chicago Bear estimates to Fusion TV that “70 to 80 percent” of NFL players use marijuana. “I hate to say that as if it’s a bad thing, but I think that would be about accurate.”

As to why players use the illegal substance knowing full well the consequences of getting caught violating the NFL’s drug policy, Tank said, “It’s a good way to relax and enjoy yourself and have a good time, so I think that’s why guys gravitate toward the green.”

Um… Seeing as though there are quite a few, more legal ways to have a good time that don’t result in suspensions or fines, that seems like a pretty poor excuse. The Fusion report, which seems to skew toward the pro-legalization lobby, offers an alternative explanation for the possible widespread use of pot — self-medication.

“Managing and tolerating your pain is how you make your money in this game,” Johnson said, who added he’s broken multiple bones, suffered “a few concussions here and there” and experienced various other types of pain on the job.

Although Fusion’s report is based on the anecdotes of Johnson and a couple of other football players, it is likely that at least some players probably prefer to manage their pain through marijuana. It could be that they prefer “the green” to more traditional prescription pain medications, which have come under fire in the NFL for misuse. Recently, a group of former players filed suit against the NFL, alleging the league advocated them to use prescription pain medications without disclosing the risks of addiction.

ESPN.com columnist Gregg Easterbrook writes about the problem of prescription drugs in his new book “The King of Sports: Football’s Impact on America,” as well:

“Just as head trauma is coming into the light of day as a football problem, so is painkiller abuse. Professional football players are major consumers of three kinds of painkillers: Narcotic pills such as Vicodin, injected local anesthesia, and Toradol, an all-purpose pain reliever that a disturbing number of NFL players have injected even when they are feeling fine.”

With that in mind, it’s logical to ask whether using marijuana for medical reasons should be allowed in the NFL. That’s a sticky question as surely some players, as insinuated by Johnson, would continue to use it purely for recreational purposes, with or without a prescription. Ergo, if someone were to test positive, it’d be hard to know whether to cite him for a violation or not.

As for NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell’s view on medical marijuana, he has said he would considering allowing it. Goodell told USA Today:

“I’m not a medical expert. We will obviously follow signs. We will follow medicine and if they determine this could be a proper usage in any context, we will consider that.” At the moment, though, he added, “our medical experts are not saying that.”

In other words, nothing will change regarding the NFL’s drug policy anytime soon. It seems for now, if Johnson’s estimate is correct, those 70 percent to 80 percent of marijuana users in the NFL might want to think twice before their next puff, no matter the reason.","The reasons, he says, range from recreational use to self-medication."
"Paul Walker, a star of “The Fast and the Furious” film franchise, has died after a car crash.

According to the Associated Press, a publicist said Walker passed away after a car crash in California. A publicist confirmed the actor’s death to the Journal. Walker was 40 years old.

The actor’s Twitter account posted a link to the following note: “It is with a truly heavy heart that we must confirm that Paul Walker passed away today in a tragic car accident while attending a charity event for his organization Reach Out Worldwide. He was a passenger in a friend’s car, in which both lost their lives. We appreciate your patience as we too are stunned and saddened beyond belief by this news. Thank you for keeping his family and friends in your prayers during this very difficult time. We will do our best to keep you apprised on where to send condolences. – #‎TeamPW”

Born Paul William Walker IV in Glendale, Calif., Walker starred in such films as “Varsity Blues,” “Into the Blue” and “Takers,” but it was “The Fast and the Furious” in 2001 that won him his greatest fame. The movie, which spawned several sequels, featured high-powered vehicles, car chases and street-racing scenes.

“Fast & Furious 6″ has taken in $238,679,850 at the box office so far, according to Box Office Mojo.

The news that Walker had died after a car crash spurred stunned tributes to him on Twitter from friends and fellow actors.

“Paul Walker is the reason I wanted to drive a car in the first place,” one tweet said.","Paul Walker, a star of ""The Fast and the Furious"" film franchise, has died after a car crash. According to the AP, a publicist said Walker passed away after a car crash in California. A publicist confirmed the actor's death to the Journal. He was 40 years old."
"The Philippines just elected a president who vows to be a “dictator” in the battle against evil. Here are the five facts you need to know about Rodrigo Duterte, and what his victory means for his country and for others.

He’s a genuine punisher People throw around the term “strongman” a lot these days, but Duterte lives up to the billing. Known as “Duterte Harry” and “The Punisher,” Duterte served as mayor of Davao City for more than 22 years. Trained as a lawyer, he vowed to clean up a city so notorious for its crime it was once tagged the “Nicaragua of Asia.” Today, Davao’s per capita crime rate is the lowest in the country. But the methods Duterte allegedly used to pull this off have drawn condemnation from international human rights groups. It’s widely believed that Duterte sanctioned extrajudicial killings by roving packs of vigilantes. These death squads targeted petty criminals, street children and drug dealers, according to Human Rights Watch, claiming the lives of more than 1,000 people, 132 of them children. Duterte appointed himself judge, jury and executioner—and the people of Davao loved him for it. In a March survey conducted in the city by Ateneo de Davao University, 88 percent of people polled said they would vote for Duterte as president. (BBC, The Diplomat, The Guardian)

He’s unapologetically brash Duterte made security the focal point of his campaign, and he didn’t go much further than that. But whatever Duterte lacked in serious policy proposals, he more than made up for in Donald Trump-like rhetoric. In 1989, an Australian missionary was raped and murdered in Davao, where Duterte was mayor at the time. A month ago, an old video surfaced of Duterte telling a crowd that “she was so beautiful, I think the mayor should have been first. What a waste.” He’s refused to apologize for the comment. He’s called Pope Francis a “son of a whore” for causing a traffic jam on the pontiff’s visit to the country; he’s promised to execute 100,000 criminals and throw them into Manila Bay if elected president. While such crass language would sink the campaigns of typical presidential hopefuls, Duterte has used it to burnish his anti-establishment credentials—even though he’s actually the son of a former provincial governor. (CNN)

He’s not a member of the elite Duterte’s candidacy also got a boost from growing awareness that Philippine citizens remain under the thumb of political and economic elites. 83 percent consider corruption a “problem”; 64 percent of those say it’s a “serious problem.” That up to 70 percent of Philippine legislators come from political families doesn’t help that perception. And while the Philippine economy has taken off in recent years thanks to serious pro-market reforms, very little of that wealth has made its way to the impoverished majority. More than 45 percent of the population still lives on less than $2 a day. Duterte has demonstrated no understanding of economics, but as mayor he appointed competent economic advisors, which has reassured many international observers. (Transparency International, CNN, LA Times)

He’s willing to take a stand against China… All of southeast Asia lives in the shadow of China, and there is no more hotly contested issue right now than the historic conflict over boundaries in the South China Sea (SCS). One third of global maritime trade travels through the SCS, including more than 60 percent of South Korean, Japanese and Taiwanese energy supplies and 80 percent of China’s crude oil imports. And that’s before we get to the vast oil and gas reserves believed to lie beneath the seabed. China has been aggressively building artificial islands in the SCS to strengthen its legal claims over the waters, which has provoked a backlash from neighboring countries. First among them was the Philippines; outgoing Philippine President Benigno Aquino took a strong line against China, even taking it to arbitration court in the Hague in a case Beijing refuses to recognize. Duterte meanwhile has offered to jet ski to the contested islands and hoist the Philippine flag there himself. Beijing and the Philippine people were amused by the braggadocio; the Philippines’ fellow claimants were anything but. (Business Insider)

…But it’s not the stand that his allies want The real concern are Duterte’s comments about what follows once the Hague issues its ruling on the SCS sometime in the next few weeks. China wants to engage its neighbors one-on-one to strike individual deals that strengthen its broader negotiating position. The neighbors should know they are stronger when they band together and speak to China with a single voice, one backed by support from the United States. But Duterte has said that if multilateral talks fail to produce an agreement within two years, the Philippines should go it alone and strike a separate deal with Beijing—provided that China pay for some infrastructure improvements like trains around Davao City and between Manila and Bicol. That gives Beijing an obvious incentive to make sure that multilateral talks fail.

This isn’t just a problem for southeast Asia. The US has more than 75,000 troops already stationed in the region and formal alliances with Japan, South Korea, Thailand and the Philippines. Washington is bound by treaty to defend them if push comes to shove. And Duterte’s “Philippines First” approach to foreign policy makes it much more likely that southeast Asia will end up in a shoving match over the South China Sea. That’s why Roderigo Duterte is the region’s new wildcard. (TIME)","The ""Punisher"" is a wildcard in the pack of world leaders"
"Helena Price was always drawn to technology, even while growing up in her small town in North Carolina. But she didn’t discover the mechanics of the industry behind some of her favorite services like AOL’s AIM chat until she got to college and eventually joined a couple of startups after graduation. Worse: She spent years feeling like an outsider because everyone she met had fancy pedigrees and degrees from prestigious schools.

But fast forward to today, and Price is a sought after photographer living in San Francisco who has worked with the who’s who of the tech industry. Her camera has seen the offices of every major company including Facebook, Uber, Twitter, Instagram, Airbnb, and Microsoft.

Her latest project, however, goes back to those feelings of inadequacy and searching for others in the tech industry who, like her, weren’t the usual suspects when it comes to typecasting tech workers. On Monday, she unveiled the fruits of a three month-long project, completed with the help of designer Alonzo Felix and developer Martha Schumann, that seeks to showcase the 100 members of the tech industry whose backgrounds are diverse and unique.

She titled the project “Techies,” a common term for tech workers and one that, as tensions in San Francisco have grown heavy thanks to astronomical rent prices and cultural clashes, has become “derogatory,” according to Price.

“I want people from outside of tech to realize that there are lots of different people here in tech,” Price told me last week. “I want to show that people are here because they love what they do, but there’s a lot of adversity,” she added.

Get Data Sheet, Fortune’s technology newsletter.

Scrolling through the website, each of the project’s subjects stands out despite being photographed on the same dark background in one of a couple of poses, a testament to their diversity. Some are better known faces to Silicon Valley insiders like journalist and investor Om Malik, investor John Maeda, entrepreneur Tristan Walker, entrepreneur Laura Weidman Powers, engineer Tracy Chou, designer Julie Ann Horvath, entrepreneur and journalist Evelyn Rusli, investor Kanyi Maqubela, and entrepreneur and journalist Brian Lam. Others, however, aren’t well known startup founders or investors. And in some cases, their portrait doesn’t immediately divulge the type of challenges they have faced.

“How do you look at these people and not think that they’re incredible?” Price exclaimed, with an obvious awe at her own subjects’ stories and journeys to the tech industry. “Your idea of qualifications needs to expand a bit,” she added, as if speaking to the tech industry’s hiring managers and investors.

Over the last couple of years, Silicon Valley’s lack of diversity among its ranks has gained increasing attention. Major companies like Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Google, and others have begun to release annual reports that detail the demographic breakdown of their workforces. They consistently reveal an underrepresentation of women and especially Latino and black employees. (Check out Fortune‘s comparison of several tech giants’ numbers from last summer.)

On the venture capital side, the numbers are even more dismal, with women making up only 6% of decision-making investors are major funds, according to a recent Fortune report.

“We’re all in this race, and some people start a mile or two back,” Price said to describe the challenges of people from disadvantaged backgrounds. “In many ways, this project is an exploration of what this mile or two back looks like.”

Eventually, Price hopes to expand her project beyond this initial website. She’s currently working on an event, tentatively scheduled for May, and eventually would like to create a book that would encompass many more stories than the 100 she started with. Facebook, Medium, Ueno sponsored this project, and she hopes to get more backers for future undertakings.

Though she says she’ll never go back to working in the tech industry (she spent several years doing marketing, business development, and other non-technical jobs for a few startups before becoming a full-time photographer in 2013) she’s not a tech hater at all. Rather, she says that she’s “grateful for tech” and the opportunities it has brought her.

And luckily, that’s a sentiment echoed frequently throughout the interviews with her subjects, weaved alongside their incredible stories of overcoming challenges.",A photography project shares the stories 100 members of the tech community.
"How can you win at the Kentucky Derby?

Bet on the horse that ran the fastest before the Derby. Or if that's too complicated, just bet on the favorite.

According to a Wall Street Journal analysis aided by some prominent thoroughbred-racing number crunchers, these two strategies would have produced handsome returns if applied consistently over the past 12 years.

Since 1997, a bet on the horse with the fastest average speed in the major ""prep"" races preceding the Kentucky Derby -- such as the Florida Derby, the Wood Memorial Stakes and the Illinois Derby -- would have yielded a 40% return, or $168 on 12 $10 bets. Betting on the favorite each year would have produced $177, for a 48% gain -- as good as the total return for the Dow Jones Industrial Average over the period.

Kentucky Derby contender Dunkirk is a decent bet at Saturday's Run for the Roses.

Past performance, of course, is no guarantee of future results -- whether on the track or in the stock market -- so don't bet the house that these techniques will come through in Saturday's 135th Run for the Roses.

As gambling propositions go, horseracing has never been a winner. At the Derby's venue, Churchill Downs, 16% to 17% of all the money wagered goes to the house, the winning owners and tax collectors -- versus 5% at a typical casino roulette table. Moreover, the horses at the Derby have short but impressive résumés that are open to many interpretations -- many of them completely misguided.

Derby horses are so evenly matched, the race hasn't had an odds-on favorite (that is, a horse so expected to win that the gain on a $1 bet would be less than $1) since 1992. Then, almost half of all bets were placed on a horse named Arazi -- who disappointed his legion of fans by finishing eighth in a field of 18. Saturday's Derby will have no overwhelming favorite.

Get a daily roundup of the top sports headlines and analysis, plus features and video. To sign up for the email newsletter, click the link below.

""The Derby isn't like handicapping any other race,"" says Len Friedman, a professional horse-picker at Len Ragozin's The Sheets, a New York handicapping publisher. ""It's got 20 horses in it, which means there's an enormous amount of bumping and trouble."" A typical race has fewer than half as many.

Mr. Friedman has successfully picked the winner in three of the last 12 races. ""I'm happy that I can look back here and see that I broke even,"" he says. ""I figure that's a friggin' miracle.""

Saturday's Derby will find horseracing under the most scrutiny in years. The sport has suffered from the recession, with betting down 9% to $3.1 billion in the first quarter compared with 2008. North America's largest racetrack owner, Magna Entertainment Corp. of Ontario, filed for bankruptcy protection in March.

Pioneerof the Nile, right, is also a decent bet at Saturday's Run for the Roses.

The sport's glory days -- romanticized in ""Guys and Dolls"" and ""The Sting"" -- seem long behind it. The on-track euthanization last year of the filly Eight Belles, who fractured both forelegs after finishing second in the Derby, brought concerns about the safety and health of thoroughbreds to the fore.

But as the sport of kings grapples with these issues, it seems to have become a more-attractive proposition for bettors. The Journal's statistical analysis found that lately, the Derby has been pretty predictable, especially if one looks at the results of the 33 prep races that lead up to the big race.

We asked Equibase Co., which tabulates horseracing data and is owned by major racetracks and breeders, to mine its archives for data on every contender in Kentucky Derby history, to see how well we could predict each year's eventual winner.

It turns out that eight of the last 12 Derbys were won by a horse judged among the three fastest in its prep races, based on simply averaging Equibase's speed measurements in the races, which are adjusted for differing track conditions and distances.

Last year's Kentucky Derby winner, Big Brown, won the Florida Derby with a blistering Equibase ""speed rating"" of 113, the highest in the field in last year's Derby (that comes out to about 37.4 miles per hour). Three other winners in the last 12 Derbys were the ""fastest"" pre-Derby horses -- Silver Charm in 1997, Fusaichi Pegasus in 2000, and Smarty Jones in 2004.

According to data provided by Equibase, the fastest average speed in major prep races this year has been recorded by the California colt Pioneerof the Nile, who has an average Equibase speed rating of 110.8. Early odds on Pioneerof the Nile are 4-to-1.

We also looked at a simpler betting technique: choosing the favorite each year. Horserace wagering works like a state lottery -- the bets on every horse are pooled together, the track takes its cut and what's left is divided among those who bet on the winning horse.

The favorite -- the horse with the lowest odds, or betting return -- is the one that receives the most bets, something that can't necessarily be judged until minutes before the race begins. This year, four top horses are drawing a large portion of the wagering -- which means the early favorite, I Want Revenge, isn't much of a favorite.

Four times in the past 12 years, the favorite has won -- Big Brown, Street Sense in 2007, Smarty Jones and Fusaichi Pegasus. The 48% return gained from betting on them -- after subtracting the money lost betting on the losing favorites in the other eight years -- stacks up pretty well. The average bettor loses money at the Kentucky Derby.

Mr. Friedman, the handicapper, isn't impressed by either strategy. ""The fact that you found a 12-year period where you won doesn't mean anything,"" he said. ""As far as the Derby is concerned, almost any sample is too small to be meaningful. They only run it once a year.""

Mr. Friedman may have a point. Although betting on the favorite horse was a winning strategy over the last 12 years, that's not enough data to conclude that the method would consistently beat the house in the long run.

Write to Keith J. Winstein at keith.winstein@wsj.com","How can you win at the Derby? Bet on the horse that ran the fastest before, or just bet on the favorite."
"Daym Drops, the internet’s most awesome fast food reviewer, hit up a Connecticut Five Guys Burgers & Fries earlier this year and released an epic bacon cheeseburger review. But then he was auto-tuned.

This is now even more epically awesome.

“YOU BITE THE FRY, THE FRY BITES BACK, THATS HOW YOU KNOW IT’S OFFICIAL”

Posted By: Chris Preovolos ( Email ) | Aug 16 at 7:07 am

Daym Drops, the internet’s most awesome fast food reviewer, hit up a Connecticut Five Guys Burgers & Fries earlier this year and released an epic bacon cheeseburger review. But then he was auto-tuned. This is now even more epically awesome. “YOU BITE THE FRY, THE FRY BITES BACK, THATS HOW YOU KNOW IT’S OFFICIAL”","Crazy cheeseburger guy, auto-tuned"
"GLENDALE, Calif. – For more than two years, inside a Walt Disney laboratory built to resemble a child’s bedroom, grade schoolers have been secretly testing an at-home version of Iron Man’s high-tech armor.

Disney’s goal: Use wireless systems, motion sensors and wearable technology to strike a balance between what children want to do (tap screens and play video games) and what parents would prefer (more running around).

The Walt Disney Company unveiled a resulting toy line on Tuesday called Playmation, which will arrive in stores in October. For about $120, an “Avengers” theme starter pack will include a red Iron Man “repulsor” glove that players wear on their right hand and forearm and four smart toys, including two action figures.

Used together, the parts lead players on villain-destroying missions – run, duck, dodge, jump, shoot. A related app provides access to additional assignments and powers. “It’s physical play for a digital generation,” Thomas O. Staggs, Disney’s chief operating officer, said in an email.

Analysts who have had the opportunity to scrutinize Playmation said it could solve a puzzle that had largely stumped the traditional toy industry: What if toys could play back? The answer could ensure the relevancy of companies like Hasbro and Mattel – and Disney — to future generations of children.

“I see this as a breakthrough item, especially in the action and role-play aisle,” Jim Silver, the editor of TTPM, a toy review website, said in an interview. “What Disney has done here is so sophisticated that I actually don’t like the word ‘toy’ for it.”

This can be tricky terrain. Smart toy efforts tend to prompt swift and severe reactions from watchdog organizations, with privacy as a main concern. The latest example is Mattel’s new Internet-connected Hello Barbie, which records children’s speech, analyzes it and provides pertinent responses.

Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood, a Boston advocacy group, instantly deemed that toy “Eavesdropping Barbie” and began organizing parents against Mattel. The toymaker, whose profit fell 45 percent last year, in part because of declining interest in traditional Barbie products, has defended the digital doll, citing substantial privacy safeguards.

Mindful of this pitfall, Disney has “doggedly designed Playmation with privacy in mind,” said Kareem Daniel, senior vice president of strategy and business development for Disney Consumer Products. The Playmation components, for instance, are intentionally not tethered to an Internet connection during play, he said.

Disney is speeding ahead with the rollout of Playmation. “Star Wars” theme sets will arrive next year; prototypes shown last week to a reporter involved Jedi training and Darth Vader skulduggery. A “Frozen” version is scheduled for 2017. Aimed at children 6 to 12, the toys are also wearable by adults.

With a plethora of characters in the Disney stable and a flexible technology platform to tap into, “Playmation’s potential is tremendous,” Mr. Staggs said.

The core Playmation toys reveal a subtle but important shift at Disney Consumer Products, which has recently experienced rapid growth. (The unit generated $1.4 billion in operating profit last year, a 22 percent increase from 2013.) Disney traditionally has not designed its own toys but rather has licensed its characters to companies like Hasbro and Mattel.

But Playmation was created inside Disney, reflecting an attempt by the company to become more assertive in the creation of new toy categories and generate more growth.

Playmation has a few challenges. For starters, the line arrives during a management change at Disney Consumer Products. Bob Chapek, the executive who most ardently supported Playmation, was promoted in February to take over the company’s theme parks. His merchandising successor, Leslie Ferraro, has adopted Playmation, but her experience has been entirely in marketing.

In addition, only two Playmation users can play the full experience at one time, at least initially; that could frustrate children. Playmation works outdoors, but bright sunlight may interfere with certain motion sensor functions, according to Afsoun Yazdian, director of Playmation user experience and product management.

Depending on how Playmation is marketed, the toy line could also bump into Disney Infinity, a video game and toy product sold by a separate Disney division. To play Infinity, users collect character figurines, which resemble the Playmation action figures. Infinity 3.0, focused on “Star Wars” and costing a cheaper $65 for the starter set, will also arrive in stores in the fall. (Disney said it saw no threat of cannibalization.)

Still, toy analysts said they were encouraged by the depth of Playmation. The “Avengers” set comes with 25 missions out of the box. Disney will also sell add-on Playmation toys – Hulk hands, various action figures – starting around $15 each.

“I don’t think this is something that kids are going to play once and forget about,” Mr. Silver said.","Disney’s new Playmation uses wireless systems, motion sensors and wearable technology to engage children with interactive missions."
"Celebrities and politicians are speaking out about Donald Trump‘s controversial claim that Vice President-elect Mike Pence was “harassed” while attending the Friday evening showing of Hamilton.

The 70-year-old President-elect had tweeted that Pence “was harassed last night at the theater by the cast of Hamilton, cameras blazing” — before calling for an apology from the cast.

“The Theater must always be a safe and special place,” he wrote. “The cast of Hamilton was very rude last night to a very good man, Mike Pence. Apologize!”

Pence, 57 — who has been a crusader for anti-LGBTQ legislation throughout his career — paid a visit to the hottest musical on Broadway and received heavy boos from the audience upon his arrival.

Broadway has been a safe-haven for the LGBTQ community for years — accepting, employing and championing many of its members. Hamilton itself stars a diverse cast lead by Javier Muñoz in the title role — an openly gay, HIV-positive actor.

During a post-curtain call speech at New York’s Richard Rodgers Theatre, the Broadway cast addressed him directly and asked the audience not to boo, saying “we’re all sharing a story of love.”

“We welcome you, and we truly thank you for joining us here at Hamilton: An American Musical — we really do,” Brandon Victor Dixon — who plays former vice president Aaron Burr in the show — said. “We are the diverse America who are alarmed and anxious that your new administration will not protect us, our planet, our children, our parents, or defend us and uphold our inalienable rights, sir. But we truly hope this show has inspired you to uphold our American values, and work on behalf of all of us.”

Video of the speech quickly went viral online — with many weighing in throughout the evening and into early morning as to whether Trump’s harassment claims were justified.

Alec Baldwin — who plays Trump on Saturday Night Live — noted that “all dissent is harassment to [Trump]” — before saying “2020 is coming.”

Pence ""harassed"", says Trump.All dissent is harassment to him.Maybe even criminal.2020 is coming.

— ABFoundation (@ABFalecbaldwin) November 19, 2016

Rosie O’Donnell — a longtime Trump foe — laughed off his call for apology. “That’s rich — coming from you,” she said.

“A lecture? A request for a peaceful 4 years? I’m so sorry they had to endure that,” tweeted Chrissy Teigen. “You cannot pretend real life s— isn’t happening.”

“Look who wants a f—— safe space now,” she continued. “The very thing him and his supporters make fun of as liberal political correctness. God, what a POS”

She added: “Donald knows very well what he is doing. He knows the Hamilton speech was NBD. He knows his tweet will fire both sides up to distract from the 25 million dollar settlement of yesterday. Most conniving human on planet earth.”

Gay rights advocate George Takei said that Trump should actually be the one to apologize.

“AMERICA must always be a safe and special place,” he wrote. “The Trump administration has been very cruel to many good people. Apologize!”

“If Trump gets upset at a NY theater audience booing his VP, imagine what he’ll feel like on inauguration when millions cry out against him,” he said.

If Trump gets upset at a NY theater audience booing his VP, imagine what he'll feel like on inauguration when millions cry out against him.

— George Takei (@GeorgeTakei) November 19, 2016

Model Brooklyn Decker called for Trump to stop tweeting, writing “Someone please take away his Twitter. It’s time.”

Someone please take away his twitter. It's time.

— Brooklyn Decker (@BrooklynDecker) November 19, 2016

“President & VP Elect Trump and Pence feel harassed when politely asked to respect Americans’ equality and inalienable rights. Telling,” wrote former independent presidential candidate Evan McMullin. “@realDonaldTrump wants a safe space in the theater for his team, while he threatens the inalienable rights of Americans across the country.”

President & VP Elect Trump and Pence feel harassed when politely asked to respect Americans' equality and inalienable rights. Telling. https://t.co/rUql7ci9ay

— Evan McMullin (@Evan_McMullin) November 19, 2016

Chicago Med star and Broadway vet Colin Donnell alluded to Trump’s previous bad behavior.

“It’s ok Donald it’s just ‘Theatre Talk,’ ” he wrote. “Sorta like ‘locker room talk’ except in that it was completely thought out and respectful.”

It's ok Donald it's just ""Theatre Talk"". Sorta like ""locker room talk"" except in that it was completely thought out & respectful. https://t.co/aGtEbgc1vo

— Colin Donnell (@colindonnell) November 19, 2016

Josh Gad —a Tony-nominee for his role in The Book of Mormon who dressed as Trump on Lip Sync Battle – penned a message on Twitter on Saturday.

“I know the booing upsets some of you,” he wrote. “But this is what happens when you run on a platform of hate. When you spend a year demonizing races and faiths. When your running mate teases assassinating and jailing his rival. When you openly supported conversion therapy for Gays.”

“I personally would never boo someone at the a theater,” he added. “But this feels different.”

Other people who spoke out where Republican pundit Ana Navarro, the N.Y.C. Mayor’s Office — and even Lin-Manuel Miranda himself.

It's called ""Hamilton"", not ""Stalin"". Nothing wrong w/this diverse cast respectfully asking our VPEOTUS to protect/defend ALL Americans.🇺🇸 https://t.co/23RVc84D8o

— Ana Navarro (@ananavarro) November 19, 2016

Also, while you're fired up. Maybe you could take the time to denounce the 400+ actual HATE CRIMES that have been perpetrated in your name? https://t.co/qAQHZf5JLV

— Laura Benanti (@LauraBenanti) November 19, 2016

The Hamilton staff received a request from Pence to attend Friday’s performance earlier that afternoon, producer Jeffrey Seller told The Hollywood Reporter.

“The cast, the creators, we all felt that we must express our feelings to vice president-elect Pence. This is not a normal time, this is not a normal election,” Seller said. “This has not been a normal result. And in a democracy, one must let his and her voice be heard, and we were not going to the show tonight without expressing how we feel.”

“Everybody should be able to see this show, regardless of their politics,” he continued. “But it does just so happen that the politics of this administration have been so negative toward minorities, people of color, gay people that we felt the need to speak up. As a cast comprised of minorities, women, gay people, it was necessary. We had to speak. We had to express how we feel.”",Celebrities and politicians are speaking out about Donald Trump’s controversial claim that Vice President-elect Mike Pence was “harassed” while attending the Friday evening showin…
"Friday night on All In with Chris Hayes: Oprah Winfrey is one of the world’s richest women, so why did a Zurich boutique refuse to sell her an expensive handbag? Winfrey told Entertainment Tonight the Swiss saleswoman made prejudicial assumptions based on the color of her skin. According to Winfrey, she was told that she would “not be able to afford” the $38,000 crocodile leather Tom Ford bag she asked to look at. After asking two more times to view the bag, Winfrey gave up and left the store, preferring to give her business to a more tolerant salesperson elsewhere. “[Racism] still exists, of course it does,” she said. Obviously, the Swiss are not aware of The Oprah Winfrey Show.

After Winfrey recounted the incident this week, Swiss officials were highly apologetic, saying the saleswoman’s behavior was “terribly wrong” and calling the situation a “misunderstanding.” Racism is not uncommon in Switzerland, where the nationalist, anti-immigrant Swiss People’s Party holds the largest number of seats in parliament. Some Swiss towns are even working to ban people seeking asylum in the country from public places like swimming pools and libraries.

Melissa Harris-Perry, Tulane University professor and host of msnbc’s Melissa Harris-Perry, will join guest host Ezra Klein to talk about Oprah Winfrey’s experience with racism in light of the broader conversation about race happening in this country since the Trayvon Martin verdict.

Plus: NBC Political Analyst and former Obama Press Secretary Robert Gibbs, Newsweek and The Daily Beast Special Correspondent Michael Tomasky, The Guardian National Security Editor Spencer Ackerman, and Chicago Sun-Times Bureau Chief Lynn Sweet will join the table to talk about the president’s wide-ranging press conference Friday afternoon.

Also, Andrea Peterson of The Washington Post, Julian Sanchez, Fellow at The Cato Institute, and Elizabeth Goitein, Co-Director of the Liberty & National Security Program at the Brennan Center for Justice, will join a discussion about the news that encrypted e-mail providers reportedly used by Edward Snowden voluntarily shut down rather than face government investigation.","Friday night on All In with Chris Hayes: Oprah Winfrey is one of the world's richest women, so why did a Zurich boutique refuse to sell her an expensive handbag"
"AN eight-year-old boy called his dad to tell him “Mum’s not moving” moments after she suffered a fatal epileptic fit.

Mum-of-two Kelly Duncan, described as a “happy-go-lucky” woman who doted on her family, was just 36 when she died.

Partner Paul Field, 38, said: “She was a loving, caring mum who couldn’t do enough for the kids or myself.

“I still can’t believe she’s gone – it feels like a dream.

“It seems surreal and I can’t get it into my head she’s gone.”

He said Kelly feared she would never have children, yet eight years ago, her dream came true when son Alex was born.

“I was her angel,” he beamed.

But on July 15, Alex and his four-year-old sister Maisie were with Kelly at home when she suffered the tragic fit.

Alex knew of his mum’s condition.

As she stopped breathing he phoned 999, calmly doing everything he could to save her.

“I was working away near Nottingham and Alex called me up at 6.10am on the Friday,” said Paul.

“He said Mum’s had a fit – Mum’s not moving.

“I said I’m driving home, you call 999 and get an ambulance.

“I got in touch with a friend and he went to see how the kids were and the police were already there.

“The police told me ‘they are working on her, they’ve been working on her for 45 minutes’.

“Once I got home, when the police were still there, I knew she was gone.”

Fighting back tears, he added: “I just broke down – I was heartbroken.”

Kelly was diagnosed with epilepsy at 16, and had frequent fits, but an operation eight years ago significantly reduced her fitting.

Since then, she’d suffered just half a dozen.

It meant Paul could take more work away from their Harvey Walk home, in Hartlepool.

And he added: “She was finally getting on with her life.”

But now Kelly’s gone, Paul has to plan her funeral, which is pencilled in for Thursday, July 28, at Hartlepool Crematorium.

A GoFund me page has been set up to help cover the funeral bill that nobody saw coming.

Due to her epilepsy, life insurance would have cost more than their mortgage.

So far, £1,280 has been raised of a £5,000 goal.

And for Paul, he will now have the task of raising the couple’s two “bright and brilliant” children.

As he grieves for the partner he met in 1999 at Fifth Avenue nightclub, he said Alex in particular has been a “rock” for him.

“I’ve been feeling the worst first thing in the morning and last thing at night, as that’s the hardest part,” said Paul.

“But when I’ve broke down Alex will say ‘don’t worry dad we will get through it’ and he will just cuddle me.

“He just tells me to be brave.”

And despite her passing away too soon, he said there are memories from their 17 years together that he will cherish for a lifetime.

Recalling the moment they met, he said: “I was a bit intoxicated at the time but she took my number anyway – she phoned me a week later and said: ‘Have you forgot about me?’ I’d put her number in a bag but I’d lost it, so I told her and she said ‘oh yeah, likely story’.

“That was Kelly though, if she had anything to say she would say it – she was very straight forward.”

But with over 500,000 Brits estimated to have epilepsy, he has issued a warning to anybody with symptoms.

“Make sure you get it checked,” he said.

To help with funeral costs, visit www.gofundme.com/2ec55rgk","AN eight-year-old boy called his dad to tell him “Mum’s not moving” moments after she suffered a fatal epileptic fit. Mum-of-two Kelly Duncan, described as a “happy-go-lucky” woma…"
"(Image credit: Daniel Acker/Bloomberg/Getty Images)

Three men were indicted this week for shipping millions of packs of untaxed contraband Marlboro cigarettes that were part of a sting conducted by the FBI.

Jia Yongming, Yazhou Wu, and Ricky Le were indicted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office on Monday in a U.S. District Court in New Jersey. They are charged with conspiracy to transport contraband cigarettes and trafficking in goods bearing counterfeit marks.

Thomas Dunn, an attorney for Yongmin, had no comment. An attorney for Wu and Le could not be reached for comment.

Read more: How to Spot Fake Luxury Goods

Last July, the U.S. Attorney’s Office arrested the three California residents in Los Angeles and charged them with conspiring to ship and distribute more than 4,600 cases of Marlboro and Marlboro Light cigarettes.

Like many other states, California requires a stamp to be placed on packs of cigarettes to show the state tax has been paid. California had a $0.87 tax on each pack of cigarettes while the illegal operation had been underway for over a year.

The cigarettes were shipped from China to ports in Newark, N.J., and New York City. From warehouses, they were headed for their final destination, California, where they were delivered by undercover FBI agents, as reported by the Philadelphia Inquirer. The agents were paid about $225,000 in commissions for delivering five loads of cigarettes.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office said the state of California lost more than $2 million in taxes from this conspiracy.

David Sutton, a spokesman for Altria, which owns the Marlboro brand, said this had the “classic elements” of a counterfeiting cigarette case.

“In this case, it shows you that this kind of activity is invariably driven by higher and higher excise taxes,” Sutton said.

This case began two months after the last Federal excise tax increase on cigarettes — to 62 cents per pack — in April 2009.

In the president’s budget this week, there is a proposal to raise the Federal tax again by 94 cents to $1.95 a pack. If passed, Sutton said it “will definitely create a significant incentive for additional counterfeit cigarette smuggling.”

Sutton said Altria supported this investigation.

“The counterfeit product almost always comes from China,” Sutton said. “You see it in L.A., south Florida, the port of Newark – because of the New York City market. The criminals are sophisticated in counterfeit cigarette trafficking.”

Sutton said counterfeiters rely on organized crime units to distribute the products.

“You see counterfeit trafficking in dense urban centers, like New York and Chicago, because you have established criminal organizations in place for distribution of the product,” he said.","(Image credit: Daniel Acker/Bloomberg/Getty Images) Three men were indicted this week for shipping millions of packs of untaxed contraband Marlboro cigarettes that were part of a sting conducted by the FBI. Jia Yongming, Yazhou Wu, and Ricky Le were indicted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office on Monday in a U.S. District Court in New Jersey. They are charged with conspiracy to transport contraband cigarettes and trafficking in goods bearing counterfeit marks. Thomas Dunn, an attorney for Yongmin, had no comment. An attorney for Wu and Le could not be reached for comment. Read more: How to Spot Fake Luxury Goods Last July,…"
"General Motors is going to modify its Chevrolet Volt plug-in car to strength it to eliminate the possibility that its batteries can catch on fire hours or days after a serious side-impact crash. GM says it was a ""customer satisfaction"" action and would not be considered a recall.

It turns out that battery coolant could leak on an electronic board, causing the fire, GM said today in a conference call. The leaks were discovered in tests in which a Volt was rotated until it was inverted. Only a small amount of coolant, a few cupfuls, were involved.

To fix it, GM will modify the car to strengthen the protection around the battery. It will only add a few pounds. ""It is a structural reinforcement that distributes the load,"" said GM's Mary Barra. But GM's North American chief Mark Reuss says the battery itself is safe and doesn't not need modification. He says only about 250 owners asked GM for loaners or to have their car bought back. GM has sold more than 8,000 Volts, which can travel 25 miles or more on electric power alone before a backup gas engine kicks in.","General Motors is going to modify its Chevrolet Volt plug-in car to strength it to eliminate the possibility that its batteries can catch on fire hours or days after a serious side-impact crash. GM says it was a ""customer satisfaction"" action and would not be considered a recall."
"(Want to get California Today by email? Sign up.)

For a second night on Wednesday, thousands of protesters gathered in cities across the state to denounce the idea of a Donald J. Trump-led America, with some chanting, ”Not my president!”

On social media, the hashtag #Calexit took off, echoing the British decision to leave the European Union.

And in Sacramento, a joint statement from legislative leaders said, “Today, we woke up feeling like strangers in a foreign land.”

For one group, the postelection reaction has been electrifying. Yes California, a grass-roots organization with 3,000 or so supporters, has for years been trying to persuade Californians to take up the cause of secession.

“We hit it big with Trump being elected,” Marcus Ruiz Evans, a spokesman, said on Wednesday.

California cannot, of course, just pick up and leave. Even if the state wanted to, an exit would require two-thirds approval of both the House and Senate in Washington, along with the blessing of 38 state legislatures — a feat analysts say is implausible.

But Mr. Evans may be on to something. After Mr. Trump clinched his victory late Tuesday, at least three tech investors signaled a willingness to finance a secession effort.

Shervin Pishevar, a co-founder of Hyperloop One, announced on Twitter that he would back a “legitimate campaign” for California to become its own nation.

Marc Hemeon, another entrepreneur, responded to Mr. Pishevar saying to count him in. So did Dave Morin, a founder of the social network Path.

Speaking by phone, Mr. Hemeon, who is the founder of Design Inc. in Orange County, said he was “reeling” from Mr. Trump’s win. He felt compelled to do something.

“Fighting for your family — that’s what it comes down to,” said Mr. Hemeon, who has two daughters and a son.

Calls for secession are not new in California. There have been at least 200 such proposals since the state’s founding in 1850.

Modern secessionists have argued that Californians have simply drifted too far culturally from the rest of the country. What’s more, they say, with an economy larger than France, the state doesn’t need America.

Mr. Evans, of Yes California, said help from sympathizers in Silicon Valley, where anti-Trump sentiment runs deep, could help speed the way toward his group’s nearest goal: a referendum on the ballot.

One purchase he would make right away, he said: billboard space along Interstate 5 heading into Sacramento.

The design is already created. It reads, “Welcome to Our Nation’s Capital.”

• With more states voting in favor of marijuana, a small business prepares to cross state lines, as legally as possible. [The New York Times]

• The pharmaceutical industry scored a victory as voters rejected Proposition 61, which would have added price controls. [The Associated Press]

• Congressional races: Darrell Issa, a Republican, and Ami Bera, a Democrat, held narrow leads. Steve Knight and Jeff Denham, both Republicans, prevailed. [The Associated Press]

• “The horror, the horror”: Silicon Valley’s reaction to a Trump presidency was grim. [The New York Times]

• Peter Thiel was the only prominent Silicon Valley investor to back Mr. Trump. Now, he’s positioned to reap rewards. [The New York Times]

• A slate of rent control measures in the Bay Area got mixed results. [San Francisco Business Times]

• Voters rejected a measure to abolish the death penalty, but approved another that would streamline the process. [Sacramento Bee]

• Hillary Clinton beat Mr. Trump in Orange County, the first time since 1936 the county went blue in a presidential election. [Orange County Register]

• After San Diego voters rejected funding of a new football stadium, the Chargers were left with questions about their future. [The New York Times]

• Half a century on, playing vintage blues is an act of preservation and reclamation for the Rolling Stones. [The New York Times]

Nick Offerman, the actor and comedian, wants you to love woodworking the way he does.

So he has written a book, “Good Clean Fun,” a how-to on crafting useful objects like a coaster or a birdhouse.

The book, Mr. Offerman’s third, also takes readers on a tour of the Offerman Woodshop, a collective of woodworkers that he started in Los Angeles in 2001.

We caught up with Mr. Offerman by phone.

What inspired you to write “Good Clean Fun”?

My obsession with woodworking is one that I can’t seem to shake, but also my evangelism — encouraging my readership to make things with their hands. And when I had the idea to do a woodworking book, I realized that would afford me some months in my shop where I could tell my agents to leave me alone.

What does woodworking do for you?

It’s an intrinsic part of my manhood. It’s not something that I think much about. I just have an organic need to keep altering my world for the better with tools.

It seems as if these manly arts are fading.

That’s what awakens the evangelist in me to say, ‘Hey guys, I understand you’re depressed. Trust me, if you paint a closet in your house or if you go out and change your tire on your car, I can’t tell you what an incredible feeling of accomplishment awaits you.’

Is it hard to make a living these days as a woodworker?

There are six workers in my shop making a living. It’s not the most exorbitant living but they do get a lot of recompense that can’t be counted in dollars. I think that they are much more satisfied with their lives at a lower salary than many people working in cubicles.

California Today goes live at 6 a.m. Pacific time weekdays. Tell us what you want to see: CAtoday@nytimes.com.

The California Today columnist, Mike McPhate, is a third-generation Californian — born outside Sacramento and raised in San Juan Capistrano. He lives in Davis. Follow him on Twitter.

California Today is edited by Julie Bloom, who grew up in Los Angeles and attended U.C. Berkeley.","Thursday: Donald J. Trump’s victory energizes a #Calexit movement, Peter Thiel is positioned to reap rewards, and a check-in with Nick Offerman."
"Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders don’t think much of each other. One is a billionaire capitalist builder, the other a democratic socialist who rails against billionaires. Each believes that the other would be a disaster for the country as president. But there is more to their story than that.

The two outsiders have rattled the political establishment. Each has created a movement of passionate supporters who want them to upend the political status quo. And for two men who seemingly couldn’t be more different, their views have sometimes converged in surprising ways — no doubt more than they’d want to admit.

Start with some aspects of their campaigns. Both like to talk about polls.

No poll seems to escape Trump’s attention — good polls, bad polls, scientific polls, unscientific polls. He cites them for proof of his popularity and mercilessly to put down his opponents.

Here’s how Sanders started his opening statement at Thursday’s rowdy debate with Hillary Clinton in Brooklyn: “When we began this campaign almost a year ago, we started off at 3 percent in the polls. We were about 70 points behind Secretary Clinton. In the last couple of weeks, there were two polls out there that had us ahead.”

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump complained about the delegate voting process at his Rochester, N.Y., rally on April 10, saying, ""We're supposed to be a democracy."" (Reuters)

Both denounce super PACs and neither has to spend time asking wealthy people for money, as Clinton must do constantly. Trump is largely self-funding his own campaign, though he does get contributions from individual supporters. Sanders has a grass-roots money machine that has produced a record number of individual contributions, which he says average $27.

Both have grievances about party rules. Trump says the delegate selection process, particularly in states such as Colorado, where voters didn’t cast ballots, is fundamentally unfair — rigged against him. Sanders has a beef about the potential role of superdelegates, those party leaders and elected officials who have automatic slots at the convention and a big majority of whom already are pledged to Clinton.

[Trump’s fight with GOP hierarchy escalates.]

The rules cut both ways, of course. Both Trump and Sanders have been beneficiaries of the quirks of the their party’s regulations. Trump won only about one-third of the popular vote in the South Carolina primary but got all 50 delegates. Meanwhile, Sanders would be much further behind in pledged delegates if Democrats allowed winner-take-all primaries, as Clinton has captured more of the big-state primaries.

Both Trump and Sanders feel under attack — probably for good reason.

Trump believes the national party leadership wants to deny him the nomination, and there’s good evidence of that. Sanders not only sees the party hierarchy favoring Clinton — although Democratic National Committee officials swear they have maintained their neutrality — but also points to corporate leaders as his enemies.

On some policy issues, Sanders and Trump also agree. The most obvious is trade, where they share almost identical positions.

From the start of his campaign Trump has railed against what he says are horrendously bad trade deals that have hurt the country, setting himself at odds with mainstream Republican policy. Many more Democrats agree with Sanders’s opposition to trade agreements. He’s not really out of the mainstream. But his position runs counter to the policies of President Obama and former president Bill Clinton, and he has pushed Hillary Clinton to the left on this during the campaign.

Iraq is another issue on which they have agreed. Sanders has made his opposition to the war and Clinton’s vote for the 2002 congressional measuring authorizing it a central line of demarcation in his campaign — a test of presidential judgment. Trump has gone rogue with the GOP, not only by declaring that the decision to invade was a costly mistake, but also by arguing during a debate earlier this year that then-President George W. Bush lied about the existence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq to justify the 2003 invasion.

Thursday’s Democratic Party debate highlighted two other policy issues where the Sanders and Trump sound alike: the U.S. role in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and this country’s posture with regard to Israel and Palestinians.

[Sanders, Clinton stage acrimonious debate in Brooklyn]

Trump made headlines recently when he spoke to The Washington Post editorial board and questioned whether NATO had become obsolete. He argued that European nations should carry a bigger share of the financial burden. “I do think it’s a different world today, and I don’t think we should be nation-building anymore,” he said. “I think it’s proven not to work, and we have a different country than we did then.”

That’s not a lot different than the position Sanders enunciated many years ago. At Thursday’s debate, CNN’s Dana Bash confronted Sanders with a 1997 quotation in which he said, “It is not the time to continue wasting tens of billions of dollars helping to defend Europe, let alone assuming more than our share of any cost associated with expanding NATO.”

Bash asked Sanders how he differed from Trump. “You got to ask Trump,” he replied. Noting problems of poverty and crumbling inner cities, he also sounded like a candidate who thinks nation-building should start at home.

“I would not be embarrassed as president of the United States to say to our European allies, ‘You know what, the United States of America cannot just support your economies,’ ” he said. “You got to put up your own fair share of the defense burden. Nothing wrong with that.”

Trump raised a ruckus in February when he told MSNBC’s Mika Brzezinski and Joe Scarborough that he would be even-handed — “a neutral guy” — when it came to negotiations between Israel and Palestinians.

He was denounced by his rivals and tried to make amends by backpedaling when he spoke to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC ). He has said since that nobody is more pro-Israel than he, but his initial comments continue to raise questions about his true feelings.

On Thursday night, Sanders called himself “100 percent pro-Israel,” but he also criticized Clinton for not speaking about the plight of Palestinians when she recently addressed AIPAC, and he laid out a view that sounded quite similar to Trump’s earlier comments.

“Of course Israel has a right to defend itself,” Sanders said. “But long term there will never be peace in that region unless the United States plays a role, an even-handed role, trying to bring people together and recognizing the serious problems that exist among the Palestinian people.”

There are obviously profound differences between Trump and Sanders. The senator has called Trump “a pathological liar” and has denounced Trump’s comments about immigration, abortion and other issues. Trump sees Sanders as a wild-eyed leftist who would raise taxes or spend the country into bankruptcy or both. That makes the areas in which they seem to be in agreement one more oddity of this surprising campaign season.

Dan Balz is Chief Correspondent at The Washington Post. He has served as the paper’s National Editor, Political Editor, White House correspondent and Southwest correspondent.","On trade, Iraq, Middle East, NATO and rigged systems, the outsiders share similar views."
"ROME – Celebrated American painter Cy Twombly, whose large-scale paintings featuring scribbles, graffiti and references to ancient empires fetched millions at auction, died Tuesday. He was 83.

Twombly, who had cancer, died in Rome, said Eric Mezil, director of the Lambert Collection in Avignon, France, where the artist opened a show in June. Twombly had lived in Italy since 1957.

""A great American painter who deeply loved old Europe has just left us,"" French Culture Minister Frederic Mitterrand said in a statement. ""His work was deeply marked by his passion for Greek and Roman antiquity, and its mythology, which for him was a source of bottomless inspiration.""

Twombly was known for his abstract works combining painting and drawing techniques, repetitive lines, scribbles and the use of words and graffiti. He is often linked to the legendary American artists Jasper Johns and Robert Rauschenberg, whom he met as a student in New York in the early 1950s.

""Whether it's making sculpture or working across canvas or making small drawings with quite elaborate and detailed elements in them, you have this very strong sense of the physical presence of these paintings and sculptures, and you have the sense of an artist at work,"" the Tate's director Nicholas Serota said in an in-house interview ahead of a 2008 show of his work.

Though recognition came late for his work -- and he was often overshadowed by the famous company he kept, like Johns and Rauschenberg -- Twombly was asked to paint a ceiling of the Louvre museum in Paris in 2010, the first artist given the honor since Georges Braque in the 1950s.

For that work he chose something simple: a deep blue background punctuated with floating disks and emblazoned with the names of sculptors from ancient Greece, apt for a gallery of bronzes.

""I got into something new in old age,"" he said of his choice of color, which was unusual.

The Lexington, Virginia-born artist said he was inspired by the colors he found in a Chinese print as well the blue of early Italian Renaissance artist Giotto, who used paint made from lapis lazuli.

""I was just thinking of the blue with the disks on it, it's totally abstract. ... It's that simple,"" Twombly told The Associated Press at the time.

Simple or not, his work fetched millions at auction: An untitled Twombly painting set an auction record for the artist at a 2002 Sotheby's sale, fetching euro5.6 million. Before that, a 1990 Christie's auction set a record for Twombly, with his 1971 untitled blackboard painting going for $5.5 million.

His canvases also ignited the passions of his followers. In 2007, a woman was arrested in France for kissing an all-white canvas he painted, worth about $2 million. Restorers had trouble getting the lipstick off, and she was ordered to pay hundreds of dollars to the owner and the gallery -- and $1.50 to the artist himself.

Born Edwin Parker Twombly in 1928, the artist got his nickname from his father, who was a baseball player for the Chicago White Sox and had been called Cy after another famous slugger, ""Cyclone"" Young. Eventually Twombly Jr. got the same nickname.

Between 1942-46, he studied modern European art under Pierre Daura, a Spanish artist who was living in his hometown of Lexington, according to a catalog for a 2009 Twombly exhibit in Rome organized by the Tate Modern and Rome's National Museum of Modern Art.

In 1950, he won a scholarship to the Art Students League in New York, where he was exposed to the works of Rothko, Pollock and others. There he met Rauschenburg, a few years his senior but also a student at the League. On Rauschenburg's advice, Twombly enrolled at Black Mountain College in North Carolina, the experimental school whose alumni are a Who's Who of contemporary arts.

He opened his first solo exhibit at the Seven Stairs Gallery in Chicago in 1951 and a year later sailed from New York with Rauschenburg for his first trip to Europe -- which would eventually become his home -- and North Africa, the catalog said.

In 1954, he was drafted and trained as a cryptographer in the U.S. Army. While serving, he would draw in the dark -- following a Surrealist technique -- and the practice was later evident in his work.

Three years later he moved to Rome and never really left. Later in life, he spent more time in the seaside town of Gaeta south of the Eternal City.

In 1959, he married Luisa Tatiana Franchetti and they had a son, Alessandro Cyrus, the catalog said.

Twombly, who had a gallery in his name at the Menil Collection museum in Houston, Texas, won a series of awards, including a knight in France's Legion of Honor bestowed at the inauguration of the Louvre ceiling.

He won Japan's highest and most prestigious art award in 1998, the Praemium Imperiale prize, which honors fields not covered by the Nobels.

In 2001 he snapped up the prestigious Golden Lion award at the Venice Biennale, where he first exhibited his work in 1980.

The same year, he opened his first major sculpture show at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. The exhibit was still able to ignite the old controversy about whether what he made was really art and whether what he possessed was really talent.

To some it looked like the debris in a carpenter's shop with planks and crudely nailed boxes slathered with white paint and plaster. For others, it was an eloquent reminder of the ancient Mediterranean.

""In painting, drawings and sculpture, Cy Twombly constantly held himself apart from the great conflicts that would upset the artistic scene of the 20th century,"" Mitterrand said.

Mezil, the Avignon gallery director, said that his work only got better with time. Twombly's June show there was ""the most beautiful exhibit before his death,"" he said.

Funeral arrangements were not immediately known.","Celebrated American painter Cy Twombly, whose large-scale paintings featuring scribbles, graffiti and unusual materials fetched millions at auction, has died. He was 83."
"Unless you're the product of a feral childhood or a member of a hunter-gathering tribe from the third world, there's a really good chance that you're familiar with the comic-book legend of Superman. Even 74 years after he made his debut on the front page of Action Comics, he remains a powerful force in the American cultural landscape. In fact, the only thing that can match the power he exudes on pop culture is his godlike supernatural physical abilities.

It is precisely those stupendous superpowers that elicit our adulation. We love Superman because he can do things that we can only dream of. That will change very soon as we undergo the ""biotech revolution.""

We are currently at the beginning stages of this revolution that will prove to be one of the most transformative eras in human history, and our bodies will be the beneficiary of most of the innovations.

To elucidate the sorts of innovations we can expect within the next 20 years, I defer to renown futurist and inventor Ray Kurzweil (who has arguably the most stunning track-record of technological predictions).

Kurzweil suggests that by 2030 many of our bodies will have nanobots, the size of red blood cells, which are billions of times more powerful than our computers today. These nanobots will be instrumental in regulating our immune systems and various aspects of our bodies.

The nanobots, which will be inside most of us, will basically get rid of the bad stuff and reinforce the good parts of our DNA. This has huge implications for the future of the sports world as athletes will be able to make their genes (and hence their entire bodies) more powerful and more resilient to injury.

Barry Ptolemy, director of the highly acclaimed film on Kurzweil, Transcendent Man, echoes the renown futurist's predictions. Ptolemy suggests that very soon we will have access to pill that can be ingested to rewrite our entire software code.

Consider this. As you read this, the ends of your DNA in all the cells of your body are slowly eroding. The body repairs the ends (called telomeres), but it loses the battle over time. Wrinkles appear in your skin, but that's only one obvious change while millions of degenerations like wrinkles happen to cells throughout the organs of your body. Like your skin's visible deterioration, your thoughts become cloudier, your muscles weaker.

Today we elucidate how the body tries to fight this process, but tomorrow we aim to master it. We will approach the day that we can repair our DNA ad infinitum.

The cycle of aging is built into all of the systems of our society. Consider the implications of profoundly extending (or perhaps ending) this cycle. You can maintain your youthful physique for decades. For the world of sports this is significant because it means that athlete could presumably play at a professional level well into their 50s or beyond.

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So much like Superman, future athletes will be able to use technology to maintain their prime physique and develop immunity to various injuries currently plaguing some of our best talents. But perhaps the most exciting thing to come out of the biotech revolution will be the performance-enhancers.

As we've seen, the same technology that can help us become more resilient to injury can be used to make us stronger and faster than ever before.

Similarly the supplements of the future will alter our DNA to make us both healthier and more athletically dominant. We've already witnessed the impact that steroids have had on sports, but the next generation of performance-enhancing drugs will make steroids look like child's play.

Unlike the stuff that Barry Bonds and Lance Armstrong used, these supplements will likely be legal in the sporting community because of their innocuous nature and proliferation.

We can only speculate about the impact that these performance-enhancing drugs will have on the individual's athletic ability. We don't know how far these future drugs will take us. But due to their ability to completely alter almost every fiber of our body, we can say with confidence that their impact on the individual, and thus the sports-world, will be unprecedented.

In addition to performance-enhancing supplements, the athletes of the very near-future will be assisted by bionic technology. Similar to Lee Majors' character, The Six Million Dollar Man, bionic implants of various kinds will be the norm. Many of these bionic enhancers won;t be visible (they could be the size of the nanobots that Ray Kurzweil referenced), but they will be extremely effective.

Bionic limbs have only recently become manifest in the sports world. The Most notable example of this technology being used (against able-bodied athletes) was the 2012 London Olympics. This event marked the first time an athlete competed with two bionic limbs. South African sprinter Oscar Pistorious demonstrated the benefit that bionic technology can have in athletic competition as he ran the 4 x 400 meter sprint. His bionic limbs didn't enable him to outcompete the other sprinters but the bionic innovations of the next 20 years will probably enable humans to surpass human limitations. It is likely that the next generation of athletes, aided by biotech innovations, will be the ones to break commonly-held conceptions of what is physically possible.

The effects of technology can be subtle, as well. Tiger Woods underwent laser eye surgery to see better than 20/20 vision. Although she received the procedure for medical reasons, Diane van Deren's brain surgery altered her perception of time in a way that has enabled her to become one of the most successful female extreme distance runners in human history. Both she and Woods show no immediate outward sign of their superior physical structures they possess.

Thus, in a very short period of time, we will see true superhumans. Athletes who can outpace horses, bench-press thousands of pounds and jump ten feet in the air, will likely emerge on the scene. The Superman-athlete is about to make his mark on the sports world and there will be no turning back.

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"John Shea reporting from the ballpark . . .

Pablo Sandoval was activated but is not in the lineup. He’ll start Tuesday’s and Wednesday’s games and is available off the bench in the series opener.

“If they want me, I’ll be there, man,” said Sandoval, who’s coming off a left hamstring strain.

The Giants saw enough of the third baseman in three games for Class A San Jose, however limited.

“Zero ground balls, man, in three days,” he said. “I was waiting for one, but . . . “

Manager Bruce Bochy is open to playing Sandoval on some occasions at first base even though that’s where he was hurt, doing the splits stretching for a throw.

“I’m ready for anything,” Sandoval said.

Asked if he pushed himself running or went easy, he said, “Kind of easy. It’s going to be day by day. I don’t want to push it now. But every day I feel better and better.”

To which Bochy said, “We don’t want him to go 100 percent, but he’s real close to it. I think he puts it at 90 percent. That’s pretty good. That’s going to work until he gets better.”

The Giants optioned first baseman Brett Pill to create a roster space for Sandoval.

The lineup: CF Pagan, 3B Scutaro, LF Cabrera, C Posey, RF Pence, 2B Theriot, 1B Belt, SS Arias, RH Vogelsong.","Pablo Sandoval activated, not in Giants’ lineup for series opener; Brett Pill optioned"
"In joining with the liberal justices, perennial swing vote Justice Anthony Kennedy helped deliver a victory to abortion rights activists and signaled the court's majority in their favor could continue regardless of the presidential election and the filling of the empty seat on the bench left by the death of conservative Justice Antonin Scalia.

Justice Stephen Breyer wrote the majority opinion, which was joined in full by Kennedy. Breyer wrote that despite arguments that the restrictions were designed to protect women's health, the reality is that they merely amounted to burdening women who seek abortions.

""There was no significant health-related problem that the new law helped to cure,"" Breyer wrote. ""We agree with the District Court that the surgical-center requirement, like the admitting-privileges requirement, provides few, if any, health benefits for women, poses a substantial obstacle to women seeking abortions, and constitutes an ""undue burden"" on their constitutional right to do so.""

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg joined Breyer's opinion and wrote a brief concurring opinion, which focused on what she called women in ""desperate circumstances.""

""When a State severely limits access to safe and legal procedures, women in desperate circumstances may resort to unlicensed rogue practitioners, faute de mieux, at great risk to their health and safety,"" she wrote.

The ruling will have reverberations on the presidential election, where the fate of the Supreme Court has been front-and-center after the death of Scalia in February. Senate Republicans have refused to act on President Barack Obama's nomination of Judge Merrick Garland, leaving the court with eight justices.

But Monday's ruling signals that even if Republicans were to name that replacement, the court still has a five-justice majority that could rule against abortion restrictions. And if Hillary Clinton were to win, the majority could even grow.

Hillary Clinton immediately praised the ruling.

""SCOTUS's decision is a victory for women in Texas and across America. Safe abortion should be a right—not just on paper, but in reality. -H""

President Barack Obama said he is ""pleased"" by the ruling.

""We remain strongly committed to the protection of women's health, including protecting a woman's access to safe, affordable health care and her right to determine her own future, the President said.

The court's decision has major implications for the future political battles over abortion beyond Texas.

Anti-abortion activists since Roe v. Wade have worked to pass a slew of laws across the country restricting abortions or making them more difficult, like the law struck down in Texas.

But Monday's ruling strengthened the premise of the 1992 case Planned Parenthood v Casey, sending a message to states that might pass such laws and lower courts that would uphold them that they have a high hurdle to prove they're constitutional. The Casey ruling said that states could impose restrictions as long as they didn't impose an undue burden on the woman.

""By clarifying exactly what the 'undue burden' test requires, I suspect the majority was hoping to dissuade states like Oklahoma from continuing to pass laws that so directly challenge the central premise of Roe v. Wade -- that the Constitution protects a pregnant woman's right to an abortion in a meaningful percentage of cases,"" said Steve Vladeck, CNN contributor and professor of law at American University Washington College of Law.

""In the process, the Court today has called into question everything from categorical bans on abortions to so-called 'fetal heartbeat' restrictions, and perhaps plenty of other laws in between,"" Vladeck added.

Already, both sides signaled they intend to keep fighting.

""Our fight is far from over,"" Clinton said in a statement. ""In Texas and across the country, a woman's constitutional right to make her own health decisions is under attack. In the first three months of 2016, states introduced more than 400 measures restricting access to abortion.""

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott decried the ruling. ""The decision erodes States' lawmaking authority to safeguard the health and safety of women and subjects more innocent life to being lost,"" the Republican governor said in a statement. ""Texas' goal is to protect innocent life, while ensuring the highest health and safety standards for women.""

""I'm disappointed in the Court's decision. But our fight to protect women's health & promote life will not stop here,"" House Speaker Paul Ryan

All eyes were on Kennedy entering oral arguments -- a position the 79-year-old justice has often found himself in on the abortion issue.

Kennedy was one of the authors of Casey, but then disappointed supporters of abortion rights when he upheld the federal partial birth abortion ban in 2007. All eyes were on him for this case to see if he would take the opportunity to clarify Casey. Instead, as the most senior justice in the majority it was his choice to allow Breyer to write.

""The fact that Justice Kennedy gave away this opinion assignment and didn't write separately is striking,"" said Vladeck. ""Kennedy has not only been the swing vote on abortion issues since he joined the Court in 1988, but he has written an opinion in virtually every major abortion case during that time, including the majority opinion in the Court's controversial 2007 decision upholding the federal ban on so-called 'partial-birth' abortions.

""It's not stunning that he sided with the liberals in striking down the Texas law in this case, but it is stunning that he didn't feel the need to explain why,"" Vladeck added.

Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito wrote dissents.

Thomas wrote a bitter dissent for himself, accusing the court of eroding the Constitution.

""The Court has simultaneously transformed judicially created rights like the right to abortion into preferred constitutional rights, while disfavoring many of the rights actually enumerated in the Constitution,"" Thomas wrote. ""But our Constitution renounces the notion that some constitutional rights are more equal than others. ... A law either infringes a constitutional right, or not; there is no room for the judiciary to invent tolerable degrees of encroachment. Unless the Court abides by one set of rules to adjudicate constitutional rights, it will continue reducing constitutional law to policy-driven value judgments until the last shreds of its legitimacy disappear.""

While Thomas would have upheld the laws, in Alito's dissent, joined by Chief Justice John Roberts, the justices would have sent the laws back to the lower courts to be decided after more evidence was presented.

Alito accused the justices in the majority of fabricating claims for the attorneys in the case.

""Determined to strike down two provisions of a new Texas abortion statute in all of their applications, the Court simply disregards basic rules that apply in all other cases,"" Alito wrote. ""The Court favors petitioners with a victory that they did not have the audacity to seek.""

Alito thought the two provisions of the law should have been dealt with separately and he condemns the majority for failing to do that analysis.

""If some applications are unconstitutional, the severability clause plainly requires that those applications be severed and that the rest be left intact....How can the Court possibly escape this painfully obvious conclusion. Its main argument is that it need not honor the severability provision because doing so would be too burdensome.""

Carrie Severino, chief counsel and policy director of the Judicial Crisis Network and former clerk to Thomas, said the ruling ""made clear that some constitutional rights are more equal than others."" In a statement, she added that ""by throwing out the regular legal rules in order to carry water for the abortion industry, the Court has further threatened its own legitimacy. It's no wonder the Supreme Court is suffering record levels of disapproval with the American people.""

There were two provisions of the law at issue. The first said that doctors have to have local admitting privileges at nearby hospitals, the second says that the clinics have to upgrade their facilities to hospital-like standards.

Critics say if the 2013 law, known as H.B. 2, is allowed to go into effect it could shutter all but a handful of clinics in a state with 5.4 million women of reproductive age.

Texas countered that the law was passed in response to the Kermit Gosnell scandal. The Pennsylvania man was convicted in 2013 of first-degree murder for killing babies that were born alive in his clinic.

State Solicitor General Scott Keller argued in court papers that if the court were to uphold the law, an abortion clinic ""will remain open in each area where one will close, meaning that over 90% of Texas women of reproductive age will live within 150 miles of an open abortion clinic.""

A federal appeals court upheld the Texas law in 2015, and last spring a majority of the Supreme Court voted to stay that ruling pending appeal. The four conservative justices at the time: John Roberts, along with Thomas, Alito and the late Justice Antonin Scalia, publicly noted that they would have denied the stay.

Protesters gathered outside the court in the hot, humid weather said they were ready to continue the abortion battle at the ballot box in November.

Ilyse Hogue, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America, told CNN that the electoral fight would extend from the race for the White House, to the races in statehouses throughout the nation.

""I think it's a wake-up call to most Americans who value freedom, who value dignity that we need to get out and make our voices heard against a vocal minority, especially in November,"" Hogue said. ""It's not just at the top of the ticket, but at the statehouse, too.""

Teresa Stormes, 57, a CPA from Paragould, Arkansas, was visiting Washington with her children, Will Robbins, 18, and Ashley Robbins, 29. Even after a loss at the nation's highest court, people opposing abortion should turn to their local races and candidates, and their neighbors, she said.

""There's a lot of people on the planet and there's only a certain circle of people we can influence,"" Stormes said. ""It's kind of like you have to go back to square one and be an example where you are and support life where you are.""

Joe Aquilante, 42, a high school theology teacher from Philadelphia, said he had traveled down to Washington the previous weeks with other students and teachers from his school, expecting a ruling. When it was announced Monday, he said he had ""mixed emotions.""

""You know, I was saddened, but I'm emboldened as well because we've got to continue to fight,"" he said.

Fiorella Spalvieri, 53, a mental health administrator who was visiting Washington and walked over to the protest in support of pro-abortion rights groups, took a sober view of the ruling Monday: ""I'm not sure the debate will ever be over.""

CNN's Tom LoBianco contributed to this report.","In a dramatic ruling, the Supreme Court on Monday threw out a Texas abortion access law in a victory to supporters of abortion rights who argued it would have shuttered all but a handful of clinics in the state."
"NEW YORK — I had very high hopes for Barack Obama. I still do. He’s smart, curious, informed — and he has a sense of humor, if only he’d display it more. But he inherited a nation in a funk and, one year into his presidency, he’s not found a way to lift the mood. Americans feel mired.

At a fundamental level, that funk is about a power shift. The United States is not what it was. It got attacked and the response has proved draining in blood and treasure. Anger accumulated, frustrations and debt grew. America’s 20th-century role is unraveling, albeit slowly, but its 21st-century role is not yet born.

Like it or not, we are witnessing the relative decline of the West. It’s going to be a long, slow movie but I don’t think the plot is going to reverse itself.

This transition prompts a couple of reactions. One is “To heck with the world.” Many Republicans (and Sarah Palin comes to mind) are in this my-way-or-the-highway place. The other is: Let’s adjust to the new reality through outreach and a new modesty. Obama is somewhere in that zone.

The thing is the president needs some results. I see him caught in a kind of halfway house. His gut tells him the world has changed and demands new policies but Washington politics keep him stuck in the conventional. His first year on the world stage has offered innovative speeches but largely unoriginal policy.

I suspect he’s not yet confident enough to have the courage of his convictions. Or perhaps he just needs more grown-ups in the White House. The transition from a very successful campaign to power is still a work in progress. If I get another mass e-mailing from the White House about what Obama’s “movement” needs next, the response will be ugly. That’s not how you govern.

The issue is change. Obama has spoken of “a new foundation.” It’s needed within and without, where the vital centers of growth have shifted to China, India, Brazil. But change is not about speeches. It’s about conviction and courage. I don’t see it happening for the moment — not with respect to Beijing, or Tehran, or Jerusalem, or Havana, or ... Well, the list could go on.

In the 1950s, as he watched his country getting embroiled in the conflict that would become the Vietnam War, a U.S. official observed: “Whether the French like it or not, independence is coming to Indochina. Why therefore do we tie ourselves to the tail of their battered kite?”

Obama is still hitched to too many battered kites.

There was the $6 billion-plus arms sale to Taiwan, which predictably enraged Beijing. No re-imagined relationship with China is going to emerge as long as Beijing views Washington as meddling with its core strategic interests in this way. How Obama thinks he can double U.S. exports by 2015 while provoking China is a mystery. How he expects any meaningful cooperation on Iran is equally hard to fathom.

When I was in China last month, I asked the Foreign Ministry about Iran policy. I got a pretty clear written response: “We think sanctions would not fundamentally solve the problem. There are still diplomatic means that we can try regarding the nuclear issue.” The Foreign Ministry told me China stood strongly behind nonproliferation but called for patience in “resolving the Iranian nuclear issue in a comprehensive and peaceful way.”

That’s a very considerable distance from Obama’s tone in his State of the Union address, where he lumped Iran with North Korea (being so utterly different, they should not be paired) and warned Iranian leaders that they “will face growing consequences. That is a promise.”

What did I say about a halfway house? Obama wants a new relationship with China but he’s stuck with the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act. He seeks a new relationship with Tehran but is relapsing into the old, sterile sanctions-threatening pattern at a moment of great political fluidity in Iran when American saber-rattling is counterproductive. It is outreach that has unnerved the Iranian regime; threats serve the hard-liners. I’m with Chinese patience for now.

In the Middle East, where he wants to redefine America’s relationship with the Muslim world, and advance peace between Israel and Palestine, Obama finds himself listening to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s recent vows to keep some settlements in the West Bank “for eternity.” He has been unable to change the dynamic of ever widening estrangement between Israelis and Palestinians. I’ve seen no big new ideas, just a cool acquiescence to the Netanyahu’s “nyets” that help make “two-state solution” one of the weariest phrases on the planet.

The only area where Obama’s actions have been more eloquent than words is in the elimination last year of Al Qaeda fighters — “far more than in 2008,” the president said. This is a new but so far undeclared Obama doctrine: large-scale targeted killings. It’s cheaper and more effective than ground invasions but raises issues that can’t be passed over in silence.

New foundations are needed. But they can’t be built in halfway houses.","President Obama’s gut tells him the world demands new policies, but Washington politics keep him stuck in the conventional."
"With a verve usually reserved for major sporting events, cultural festivals or something resembling fun, the South Korean capital has amped up its attitude for this week's gathering of the Group of 20, a group of world leaders who will debate things like macroprudential bank regulations and currency policy - not raise the roof with a street party.

Nevertheless, there are banners draped from major buildings, specially developed cocktails and a public plaza set up with displays about global growth and economic policy. Fresh flowers line the streets, covered from a fall chill so they can be unveiled for arriving heads of state, and large, G-20-themed lanterns provide the opening motif of this year's lantern festival on the Cheonggye stream in central Seoul.

It is not so much a testament to any public fascination with the content of the meetings as evidence of the importance that the Korean government, and particularly President Lee Myung-bak, have attached to the event. This is the first time the group - the self-styled board of directors for the global economy - has met outside the Western industrialized world, and Lee has made it a national mission to ensure that the session is, in image and substance, a success.

The effort has included Lee's personal lobbying to keep on track what has developed into an unexpectedly difficult agenda, and a pull-out-the-stops approach to the city's preparations.

""In terms of diplomacy, he has decided this event should be one of the major achievements"" of a five-year term marked by stalled talks with North Korea, the economic crisis and the sinking of a warship last spring, said Yoon Young-kwan, an international relations professor at Seoul National University and former foreign affairs minister. ""He has invested much time and energy.""

""The circumstances have not been so easy,"" Lee said in an interview this weekend previewing the meeting. A dispute over world currency values expanded beyond the U.S. and China to pose larger risks of economic protectionism, and efforts to overhaul the management of the International Monetary Fund appeared to stall.

Lee personally intervened in the latter issue, appearing at a preparatory meeting of finance ministers last month and urging them to resolve the dispute before their heads of state arrived in Seoul. They did, setting the stage for a notable turnaround: a country with lingering bad memories of strict conditions set by the IMF during a financial crisis in the 1990s helping to broker changes to give the fund more influence and credibility in emerging markets.

It's part of what Lee sees as South Korea's role as a bridge between cultures and economies - a nation culturally close to China and, in recent decades, politically close to the U.S.; an industrialized country with still recent memories of postwar poverty and, it argues, a strong example to offer other developing nations.

World summits often seem more a logistical burden for the host than an opportunity to show off the country, but that isn't the case here.

""This is historically important for Korea in terms of transforming from a peripheral state to a core state in the management of the global economy,"" said Park Jin, a member of the South Korean Parliament from Lee's ruling party.

""Korea went through a successful democratization and economic modernization at the same time. ... Now we're in a position to coordinate.""

MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON POST: South Korea, U.S. in trade talks before G-20 summit",SEOUL -  Could a city get more excited about exchange rates?
"It looks like concern within Mitt Romney’s campaign that the prolonged Republican presidential primary could damage his standing among undecided voters has some legitimacy.

A new USA Today/Gallup poll gauging support among independents in swing states finds that President Obama holds a 48% to 39% advantage over the presumptive GOP nominee Romney, a significant change from polling conducted last year.

The poll, conducted before Romney’s primary victories on Tuesday, also places Obama’s overall support in 12 swing states above Romney’s, 51% to 42%.

The key to these results is the sizable departure of independent women from Romney’s camp over the last few months to Obama's. In polls conducted between October and December 2011, Romney led Obama 48% to 43% among independent women. But since then, the aggregated data from February to March bode well for Obama, with independent women now preferring the president 51% to 37%.

That’s a whopping 19% swing – Romney down 11 percentage points and Obama up 8 – and it was seen within the male independent electorate as well, with a 12% swing accounting for Obama’s current slim 46% to 45% lead.

Interestingly, though the initial thought would be to chalk up the shift to the recent debate over contraceptives and health insurance, 8 out of 10 independent women polled were unaware of Romney’s stance. Of those who were aware of Romney’s position on contraception, the majority disagreed with him, by a 2-to-1 margin.

For Obama, 58% were unfamiliar with his position on contraception, and of those who did know where he stood, there was an even split between those for and against his views.

The poll, conducted March 20-26, surveyed voters in the battleground states of Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Michigan, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Wisconsin. The poll was conducted through telephone interviews with a random sample of 933 voters and a sampling error of 6%.

Original source: Independent women lead exodus of support from Romney",It looks like concern within  Mitt Romney &rsquo;s campaign that the prolonged Republican presidential primary could damage his standing among undecided voters has some legitimacy.
"FOR years, Gregory Turner wanted a second home in the city.

He and his wife, Veronica Helgans, who met in medical school at Tufts University and settled in Storrs, Conn., assumed they would buy a pied-à-terre at some future date, possibly when their youngest child left for college.

One weekend a few years ago, Dr. Helgans, an obstetrician-gynecologist, was attending a conference in Midtown while Dr. Turner, a radiologist, went for a long run. He found himself on the far Upper East Side, on lovely streets lined with “what I call Philadelphia-style walk-ups,” he said — not too ornate. He was in his kind of neighborhood, a thought he filed away for future reference.

Last winter he decided it was unwise to wait. “All of a sudden I woke up and realized I am almost 50 years old and I am not going to get another 50,” he said.

So, with visions of quaintness in his head, Dr. Turner began the hunt for a one-bedroom costing no more than $400,000 in a prewar co-op building. He concentrated on blocks between East 79th and East 86th Streets, an “easy-on, easy-off” location for driving to and from his saltbox in Connecticut.

He made the two-hour trip on occasional weekends, sometimes with his wife or one of the children, Graham, now 16, or Isabel, 12.

Dr. Helgans had little interest in the search.

“I have enough busyness in my life,” she said. “Greg is always looking at real estate sections on his own. It’s kind of a hobby.” All she cared about was not having to bother with renovations.

Attending open houses, Dr. Turner said, “was an education unto itself.” A topic of frequent debate was whether the Second Avenue subway would alleviate crowding on the East Side line. People besieged the agent on duty, he said, “firing away with questions about is there an outstanding lien and why is the maintenance so high and what’s the reserve and when does the heat go on and off.” He had no idea about any of it. “I thought everybody controlled their own heat.”

Dr. Turner was charmed by a small one-bedroom on East 81st Street in a white clapboard house hidden behind a courtyard shared with a brick walk-up building. He later returned with the whole family. “I tried to talk them into it,” he said.

But the ceiling sloped and so did the floor. The courtyard made Dr. Helgans feel exposed. “I didn’t want to have people watching me or to be impinged upon,” she said. “Sometimes going to a coffee shop locally is a hard time because people keep walking over to talk to me and I can’t read. It is good to have a little anonymity.”

That one remains for sale for $350,000, with monthly maintenance of almost $1,100.

On East 83rd Street, Dr. Turner found a co-op for $349,000, with monthly maintenance in the mid-$700s. A frosted-glass wall partitioned off the windowed sleeping area. Dr. Helgans loved the renovated interior.

But Dr. Turner didn’t like the rectangular floor plan or eye-level streetlight outside, a potential source of nighttime glare. Also, the apartment was on a courtyard, on view to several dozen windows. “How could you relax?” he said.

At a nice walk-up building on East 82nd Street, a one-bedroom, with an exposed brick wall and a windowed bathroom, was beautifully renovated, though with a drab view of backyards. The price was $350,000, with monthly maintenance in the mid-$600s.

There Dr. Turner met the listing agent, Therese Bateman, then of the Corcoran Group and now at Town Residential. She noted that the bedroom radiator, against a wall rather than beneath the window, wasn’t ideal for bed placement. Dr. Turner appreciated her forthrightness, so he asked her if she would represent them once they got around to a purchase. In the meantime, however, he was having so much fun looking on his own that he declined her help with the legwork.

Dr. Turner screened out places with boring views and dingy common areas. He also held out for a pretty block. “I actually got to a point where I walked down every single street from Central Park to Carl Schurz Park, and ranked every block,” he said.",Gregory Turner and Veronica Helgans went looking for a pied-à-terre on the Upper East Side.
"""America's Got Talent,"" NBC's top-rated summer series from producer Simon Cowell's Syco Television and FremantleMedia North America, celebrates its landmark 10th season with the hottest performers from across the country competing for America's vote.

With the talent search open to acts of all ages, ""America's Got Talent"" has brought the variety format back to the forefront of American culture by showcasing unique performers from across the country. The series is a true celebration of the American spirit, featuring a colorful array of singers, dancers, comedians, contortionists, impressionists, jugglers, magicians, ventriloquists and hopeful stars, all vying for their chance to win America's hearts and the $1 million prize.

Last summer, ""America's Got Talent"" remained the number-one summer show in total viewers for the ninth consecutive year. For the first time in the show's history, America chose a magician as their winner: Rhode Island native Mat Franco, who went on to headline the ""America's Got Talent Live"" stage show in Las Vegas.

Previously, self-taught dancer Kenichi Ebina was named the Season 8 winner. Ebina infuses illusion, mime and special effects of sound, light and video into each dance performance.

In 2012, Olate Dogs was named the winner of Season 7. Olate Dogs is a high-energy, fast-paced dog act filled with impressive pet tricks led by Richard Olate and his son Nicholas Olate.

In 2011, West Virginia native Landau Eugene Murphy Jr. beat out thousands of acts to take home the coveted $1 million grand prize for Season 6. He signed with Columbia Records and Syco Music and released his first album, ""That's Life,"" in November of that year.

Mississippi-born soul singer Michael Grimm was named the winner of the fifth season's competition. After headlining the national ""America's Got Talent Tour,"" he toured with the legendary Stevie Nicks and Heart. Season 5 also brought national attention to then-10-year-old classical singer Jackie Evancho, who has gone on to release several best-selling albums.

Season 4 winner Kevin Skinner released his debut album, ""Long Ride,"" in 2010. Pop opera singer Neal E. Boyd won Season 3, and has since performed for audiences that included U.S. presidents. Season 2 winner Terry Fator, a ventriloquist, singer and comedian from Dallas, went on to sign a deal to headline at the Mirage in Las Vegas, where he continues to perform. Singer and songwriter Bianca Ryan won the premiere season of ""America's Got Talent"" in 2006, when she was just 11 years old.

""America's Got Talent"" is produced by FremantleMedia North America and Syco Entertainment. Simon Cowell, Sam Donnelly, Jason Raff, Trish Kinane and Richard Wallace are the executive producers.","Watch Season 10 full episodes of summer's top-rated competition series, hosted by Nick Cannon with judges Heidi Klum, Howard Stern, Mel B and Howie Mandel."
"This week the conservative Heritage Foundation announced that the U.S. is no longer an economically free nation. Our score on the Index of Economic Freedom has fallen from 80.7 in 2009 to 78 in 2010, with a score of 80 being the cutoff between free and ""mostly free.""

It's not hard to get depressed about the prospects for economic freedom these days, given all of the government interventions of the past 18 months in response to the Great Recession. However, I think it's important to remember that freedom encompasses much more than escaping government's oppression and intrusion, and growth in government spending and taxation don't automatically lead to totalitarianism.

I think many conservatives and libertarians look at government's share of the gross domestic product as the central measure of freedom. Implicitly, they assume that if there were no government we would be 100% free. If government taxing and spending consume one-third of GDP, then we are only two-thirds free and so on.

Obviously, there is something to this. But because it's so easy to measure government's share of the economy, I think there is too much attention paid to it to the exclusion of other important factors. On the one hand, we underestimate the importance of government regulations because they are hard to quantify yet may affect our lives more significantly than taxation or other governmental actions. On the other, I think we tend to underappreciate the ways in which technology frees us. The blessings of things like cellphones, PDAs and the Internet compensate for an enormous amount of waste and inefficiency elsewhere in society and the economy. To the extent that technology boosts productivity, it makes the burden of government more bearable.

Another thing we tend to forget is the great benefit of the wealth that almost all Americans have today. Not that many years ago, people had to spend an enormous percentage of their waking hours simply acquiring and preparing food. Now, even among poor households, obtaining adequate food is a minor concern. Indeed, obesity is a far bigger problem among the poor than malnutrition. The freedom to do things other than grow crops, raise livestock and cook on a wood stove is not one to be underestimated.

Because of the declining cost of things essential to life, burdens that might have been unbearable in the past can be borne with relative ease today. Consider taxation. If much of society is barely able to produce enough to live on then even the smallest tax can be extremely burdensome. That's the main reason why tax burdens before the 20th century were minuscule by today's standards: There was simply nothing to tax. Wealth, incomes, output and productivity were too low for there to be much for government to take.

Now that the cost (both absolutely and relative to income) of basics--food, water, clothing--have fallen dramatically from just a few generations ago, people can afford to pay more taxes without suffering the deprivation that similar burdens would have imposed in the past. And we get more back for our tax dollars. In the past most government spending went for wars. Today, at the federal level, the vast majority of people will get back every dollar they pay in Social Security taxes plus a lot more, and Medicare provides a valuable service that will eventually benefit almost everyone. At the state and local level, spending mostly goes for things that people want, like police and fire protection, schools, parks and roads.

This brings me to an unappreciated point about how Social Security and Medicare add to freedom. Conservatives and libertarians tend to look at these programs solely in terms of the way they diminish it. But before these programs came along, care for the aged imposed an enormous burden on families that decreased their freedom.",There's more to freedom than low taxes.
"A U.S. Secret Service audiotape 30 years old sheds light on the chaotic aftermath of Ronald Reagan's shooting when neither the president nor his guardians realized he had been shot, and an agent's snap decision to get him to a hospital might have saved his life.

""Let's hustle,"" agent Jerry Parr is heard barking as Reagan's limousine suddenly changed course, the sight of the president's blood signaling there was more wrong with him than a bruised rib or two, as everyone thought right after the March 30, 1981, attack. The car, which had been spiriting Reagan back to the security of the White House after the spray of gunfire, sped to George Washington University Hospital instead. Reagan lost about half his blood and came closer to death that day than Americans realized for years later.

The Secret Service released the tape Friday in response to a public-records request from Del Wilber, a Washington Post reporter whose book, ""Rawhide Down: The Near Assassination of Ronald Reagan,"" comes out next week.

Just over 10 minutes, the tape captures the urgent, confused yet coolly methodical radio communications among agents on the scene and the Secret Service command post, starting when the president and his entourage walked out of the Washington Hilton hotel while John Hinckley Jr., with a pistol, stood waiting.

Hinckley opened fire, wounding press secretary James Brady in the head, police officer Thomas Delahanty in the back and Secret Service agent Timothy McCarthy in the abdomen before his last bullet ricocheted off the limousine, grazing Reagan's rib and lodging in his lung. As has been known, Reagan and his protectors at first thought he had merely hurt his ribs from being shoved into the vehicle by Parr.

At 2:27 p.m., 19 seconds into the tape, agent Ray Shaddick radios: ""Advise, we've had shots fired. Shots fired. There are some injuries, uh, lay one on.""

Sixteen seconds later, Parr radios assurance about a president whose Secret Service code name was drawn from the Westerns he loved: ""Rawhide is OK. Follow-up. Rawhide is OK.""

""You wanna go to the hospital or back to the White House?"" Shaddick asks.

""We're going right. we're going to Crown,"" Parr says, using a code word for the White House.

""Back to the White House,"" Shaddick repeats. ""Rawhide is OK.""

Twenty-four seconds later, a voice asserts again: ""Rawhide's alright.""

But 25 seconds after that, the plan abruptly changes: ""We want to go to the emergency room of George Washington.""

Nowhere in the tape does anyone state that the president is hurt.

Inside the car, however, as participants have told it, Reagan was worsening. Parr had quickly checked Reagan as they sped away and finding nothing terribly amiss, preferred the safety and medical facilities of the White House to an unsecured hospital. And when Reagan found blood in his mouth, the president told his men he must have cut his lip. But Reagan was becoming more ashen, complained of trouble breathing and the bleeding did not appear to be from a mere cut. Parr ordered the diversion to the hospital.

""Go to George Washington fast,"" agent Drew Unrue is heard saying, at 01:57 minutes into the tape.

""Get an ambulance,"" Parr tells the command post, known as Horsepower. ""I mean get the, um, stretcher out there."" He wants the hospital to be ready to wheel the president in.

""We've made the call,"" Horsepower replies.

Sirens are heard, and a voice confirms that authorities have captured a suspect. Hinckley was piled on and arrested at the scene.

Less than four minutes after Reagan left the Hilton, the car carrying the stricken president arrives at the hospital. Moments later, ""Rainbow"" -- Nancy Reagan -- is on her way.

Reagan had suffered extensive internal bleeding, but his gunshot wound was not discovered until doctors examined him. As it turned out, he did not enter on a stretcher but got out of the car, walked in with the help of agents and began to collapse before those around him picked him up and carried him to the emergency room. Doctors were able to stabilize his blood pressure in short order before removing the bullet in surgery.","A U.S. Secret Service audiotape 30 years old sheds light on the chaotic aftermath of Ronald Reagan's shooting when neither the president nor his guardians realized he had been shot, and an agent's snap decision to get him to a hospital might have saved his life."
"The New York Times won five Pulitzer Prizes in journalism on Monday, the second-most in its history, for work on subjects as varied as America’s wars in Asia, the sudden downfall of a political titan, art from ancient to modern and a history-making presidential campaign.

The prestigious prize for public service went to The Las Vegas Sun for its exploration of a large number of construction worker deaths at some of that city’s biggest building sites.

The St. Petersburg Times won two awards, including one in the national reporting category, for its PolitiFact project, which checks the truth of political claims. The other was won by Lane DeGregory, for feature writing. The award for PolitiFact broke new ground, in that most of the work was published on PolitiFact.com, but not in print. Works appearing primarily online were first eligible for awards in 2007.

The New York Times’s five awards give it 101 since the Pulitzers were first awarded in 1917, by far the most of any news organization. Only twice has an organization won more than five in a year: in 2002, when The Times won seven, and last year, when The Washington Post won six. The Los Angeles Times won five in 2004.

Speaking in the newsroom, Bill Keller, executive editor of The New York Times, said that while budget cuts have convinced many newspapers that they cannot pay for expensive work like investigations and overseas reporting, “this paper has decided it can’t afford not to do those things.”

But “prizes are not the reason we do what we do, or the measure of it,” he added, saying that he was especially proud of The Times’s coverage of the financial crisis, a finalist in the public service category that did not win a Pulitzer. In fact, no organization won for economic coverage.

The Times won the prize for breaking news reporting, for its coverage of the rapid disintegration of Gov. Eliot Spitzer’s political career when the newspaper revealed he had been a client of a prostitution ring.

The Times’s coverage of the war and political struggle in Afghanistan and Pakistan won for international reporting. And an examination by David Barstow of conflicts of interest among the military analysts who help television networks cover the wars in Asia won the Pulitzer for investigative reporting.

Holland Cotter of The Times won the prize for criticism, for his coverage of art that spanned continents and millennia. And Damon Winter won for feature photography, for his images of Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign.

The prize for breaking news photography went to Patrick Farrell of The Miami Herald for his images from Haiti of the destruction left by a hurricane.

Several of the prizes indirectly highlighted the precarious state of American newspapers, going to papers that have adopted unorthodox printing and delivery practices. The Sun in 2005 became an insert inside The Las Vegas Review-Journal; The Detroit Free Press recently halted home delivery four days of the week and prints an abbreviated edition on those days. In January, The East Valley Tribune, in Mesa, Ariz., stopped printing three days of the week and laid off 40 percent of its staff — including Paul Giblin, one of the reporters on its prize-winning project, and Patti Epler, the editor who guided it.

The Free Press and The Tribune both won prizes for local reporting. The Free Press, and in particular the reporters Jim Schaefer and M. L. Elrick, were cited for uncovering the misconduct that sent Mayor Kwame M. Kilpatrick to jail. Ryan Gabrielson and Mr. Giblin of The Tribune won for a critical examination of a popular local sheriff.

Bettina Boxall and Julie Cart of The Los Angeles Times won the prize for explanatory reporting, for their examination of wildfires in the West.

Eugene H. Robinson of The Washington Post, won for commentary; the award for editorial writing went to Mark Mahoney of The Post-Star in tiny Glens Falls, N.Y.; and Steve Breen of The San Diego Union-Tribune won in the editorial cartooning category.

In the arts and letters, Elizabeth Strout won the fiction prize for her book, “Olive Kitteridge.” Lynn Nottage won the drama prize for “Ruined.” The poetry prize went to W. S. Merwin for “The Shadow of Sirius.”

Works on American history swept the nonfiction awards. Jon Meacham, editor of Newsweek, won the biography prize for “American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House.” The history prize went to Annette Gordon-Reed, for “The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family.” And Douglas A. Blackmon took the prize for general nonfiction, for “Slavery by Another Name: The Re-Enslavement of Black Americans from the Civil War to World War II.”

The composer Steve Reich won the prize in music, for “Double Sextet.”

This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:

Correction: April 23, 2009 An article on Tuesday about this year’s Pulitzer Prize winners referred incorrectly to submissions of work that appeared online. This was the first year work published only online — not primarily online — was accepted. (Works appearing primarily online were first eligible in 2007.)",The five prizes for The New York Times were the second most in its history. The Las Vegas Sun won the public service prize.
"He was sprawled on the floor of his apartment surrounded by empty beer and wine bottles when E.M.S. broke down the door. He was 63, but his elderly mother still kept tabs on him. When he hadn’t answered the phone for three days, she’d called 911.

He was an alcoholic, she told E.M.S., with many admissions to the hospital for “alcohol withdrawal,” but was otherwise healthy.

Working in an inner-city hospital, our medical teams admit so many alcohol withdrawal cases that the treatment is nearly second nature. Basically, all you have to do is treat the shakes with sedatives like Valium until the withdrawal symptoms abate, or the patient ducks out of the hospital for another drink.

Our patient exhibited every sign of alcohol withdrawal – a rapid heart rate (tachycardia), hypertension and tremors. He was awake but lethargic.

He was given intravenous Valium every few hours through the night, but the next day, he still had the shakes, as well as the elevated heart rate and blood pressure. Hard-core alcoholics are known to be “tolerant” of sedatives, so we cranked up the dose.

We continued to increase his Valium dose, and by the end of the day, his shakes were starting to improve, though his heart rate hadn’t yet come down. But he was a textbook case of alcohol withdrawal, we told ourselves, he just needed more sedative.

We were about to leave for the day… and about to fall into a trap.

The trap that we nearly fell into is called anchoring bias. The patient was admitted to our team with the diagnosis of alcohol withdrawal. Once we had that label in our minds, we fit everything into that diagnostic box, anchoring all of his symptoms to that diagnosis, even ones that didn’t quite fit.

Just before we left, one of the medical residents reviewed the patient’s vital signs for the previous 24 hours and noted that the heart rate did not drop — even transiently — after each Valium injection. That gave us pause. Was it still alcohol withdrawal, with an “atypical” presentation, or was there something else going on?

Occam’s razor is the principle that one should hunt for the simplest single diagnosis to explain a patient’s condition. Certainly this patient, who reeked of alcohol when he first arrived in the E.R., had every symptom of withdrawal.

But Hickam’s dictum is the opposite philosophy, that patients can have as many illnesses as they damn well please. Maybe there was something else in addition to alcohol withdrawal.

Lots of things cause a rapid heart rate in addition to alcohol intoxication: dehydration, electrolyte abnormalities, hypoglycemia, fever, anxiety, drugs, bleeding, heart attacks, blood clots, infections, hyperthyroidism, even too much coffee.

We’d already hydrated him, corrected his electrolyte problems, checked for infections, heart attacks and thyroid disease. His oxygen saturation was 100 percent, without any supplemental oxygen needed. A CT scan of his head and chest X-ray were normal. Other than the rapid heart rate, so was his EKG.

But then the d-dimer, a nonspecific blood test for clots, was elevated. A stat CT scan of the chest demonstrated clots in both lungs — a life-threatening condition called pulmonary embolus that required immediate treatment with blood thinners.

In the textbooks, patients with pulmonary embolus are short of breath and complain of sharp pain when breathing in deeply. Their oxygen saturation is low, and their EKGs show a classic “right-heart strain pattern.”

Our patient had none of those symptoms, and he had another condition, alcohol withdrawal, that could account for his rapid heart rate.

This was a frightening near miss, a potentially fatal condition almost undiagnosed because of our anchoring bias. Only the astute observation — that the patient’s heart rate was not dipping after the Valium injections — led us to the additional diagnosis.

Anchoring bias is often considered the Achilles’ heel of diagnostic reasoning. It’s as though our brains close ranks around our first impression, then refuse to consider anything else. Once a patient is “billed” as a heart attack, or gastroenteritis, or anxiety, we view every data point through that particular lens.

If the data don’t fit, we tend to assume that it’s merely because the illness is presenting atypically rather than that our diagnosis might be wrong or incomplete. Anchoring bias casts an even longer shadow in today’s shift-oriented medical world, in which patients are serially handed off from one team to another. The label that is attached to them takes on a life of its own.

Once our patient was treated with blood thinners, the clots could no longer grow bigger. As they began to heal, his heart rate normalized. He still needed heavy doses of Valium to ease his alcohol withdrawal symptoms, but those, too, eventually subsided.

For the doctors, this was a harrowing lesson in the trap of anchoring bias. It is so easy to slip into it without even knowing. But this case reminded us to keep reciting the mantra: if something doesn’t fit, don’t try to make it fit. Ask what else might be going on. Don’t fall into the trap.

The patient, though, ended up in another clinical dilemma. He needed to stay on blood thinners to prevent a future clots, but his history of alcohol use made this a risky proposition. A drunken fall while on blood thinners is a recipe for a brain hemorrhage. Without blood thinners, however, his next blood clot could be fatal.

But that’s a treatment quandary, rather than a diagnostic one. Fodder for another discussion.

Danielle Ofri is an associate professor of medicine at New York University School of Medicine and editor in chief of the Bellevue Literary Review. Her most recent book is “Medicine in Translation: Journeys With My Patients.”","The patient was found in his room, surrounded by alcohol bottles. But while he was battling alcohol withdrawal, the medical team almost missed a life-threatening diagnosis. It's as though our brains close ranks around our first impression, then refuse to consider anything else."
"Delegates durring the second day of the Republican National Convention on July 19, 2016 at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio.

A delegate reacts during the roll call of states on the second day of the Republican National Convention on July 19, 2016 at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio.

On Tuesday, the second day of the Republican National Convention, Ohio Minutemen gather in downtown Cleveland to express their feeling on the 2nd amendment.

Donald Trump, Jr., son of Donald Trump, speaks on the second day of the Republican National Convention at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland on July 19, 2016.

Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) gives two thumbs up after delivering a speech on the second day of the Republican National Convention on July 19, 2016 at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio.

Former Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson delivers a speech on the second day of the Republican National Convention on July 19, 2016 at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio.

A gun rights activist stands in front of police lines during a rally outside the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Ohio on July 19, 2016.

Republican Presedential candidate Donald Trump speaks via video message on the second day of the Republican National Convention on July 19, 2016 at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio.

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and his wife Mary Pat Christie react during Donald Trump, Jr's speech on the second day of the Republican National Convention on Tuesday, July 19, 2016.

A woman hands out water with the message ""Elect Jesus"" on the bottles at the Cleveland Public Square in Cleveland, Ohio on Tuesday July 19, 2016.

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker takes a photo with a delegate on the first day of the Republican National Convention on July 18, 2016 at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio.

World War II veteran and former Sen. Bob Dole (R-KS) (L) listens to a speech on the first day of the Republican National Convention on July 18, 2016 at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio.

Former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani speaks on stage during the Republican National Convention Monday, July 18, 2016, in Cleveland.

Photo: Chad Rachman/New York Post

Former U.S. Navy Seal Marcus Luttrell speaks at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Ohio, U.S. July 18, 2016.

A member of the activist group Code Pink (C) demonstrates during Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) speech on the first day of the Republican National Convention on July 18, 2016 at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio.

A delegate stands as she listens to the speech of Pat Smith, mother of Sean Smith, one of the four Americans killed in the September 11, 2012 terror attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, on the first day of the Republican National Convention on July 18, 2016 at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio.

Antonio Sabato Jr. delivers a speech on the first day of the Republican National Convention on July 18, 2016 at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio.

A delegate holds a Donald Trump doll as she sits in her seat at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Ohio, U.S., July 18, 2016.

Delegates hold up signs saying ""Make America Safe Again"", the new GOP slogan, during the 2016 Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Ohio, USA on July 18, 2016.

Former Texas Governor Rick Perry waves to the crowd after delivering a speech on the first day of the Republican National Convention on July 18, 2016 at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio.

Street vendor Steve Scanlon sells convention related souvenir buttons near Public Square ahead of the Republican National Convention Monday, July 18, 2016, in Cleveland.

Photo: Chad Rachman/New York Post

Scott Baio gives two thumbs up during his speech on the first day of the Republican National Convention on July 18, 2016 at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio.

Sen. Mike Lee, (R-UT) and Phill Wright, Vice Chair of the Utah State Delegation (L) shout no to the adoption of rules without a roll call vote on the first day of the Republican National Convention on July 18, 2016 at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio.

Delegates from Texas wear cowboy hats during the first day of the Republican National Convention on July 18, 2016 at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio.

People hold Donald and Melania Trump, and Lebron James signs Monday, July 18, 2016, on E4th Street in Cleveland.

Photo: Chad Rachman/New York Post

An anti-Trump activist gestures during a protest outside the Republican National Convention on July 18, 2016 in Cleveland, Ohio.

Gary Mathes walks the streets of downtown Cleveland on July 18, 2016. Mathes came to town for the Republican National Convention which started today.

CODEPINK founder Medea Benjamin along with members of the activist group Code Pink demonstrate near the site of the Republican National Convention on July 18, 2016 in Cleveland, Ohio.

Donald Trump supporters gather at Settlers Park to attend a rally for Trump on the first day of the Republican National Convention (RNC) on July 18, 2016 in downtown Cleveland, Ohio.

Delaware delegate Hank McCann smokes a cigar outside of the Quicken Loans Arena on first day of the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Ohio, July 18, 2016.

Community activist Satinder Puri protests city corruption amid preparations for the arrival of visitors and delegates for the Republican National Convention on July 15, 2016, in Cleveland, Ohio.

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{* #tradAuthenticateMergeForm *} {* traditionalSignIn_emailAddress *} {* mergePassword *}","The 2016 Republican National Convention is upon us and with it all the hats, pins, and speeches from politicians of all backgrounds within the GOP. Here is a selection of some of the best moments f…"
"LOS ANGELES — Cinephiles will undoubtedly hold their noses in horror over “Marmaduke,” a forthcoming live-action adaptation of the newspaper comic. Middlebrow drivel! Cinematic sewage!

Monica Almeida/The New York Times

John Davis, the producer of the movie “Marmaduke,” with the film’s star George.

The producer John Davis has heard it all before, and then some. After all, “Marmaduke” is cut from the same cloth as “Garfield,” his critically reviled comic-strip adaptation from 2004. His response? “Garfield,” made for a comparatively inexpensive $58 million, when adjusted for inflation, sold more than $230 million at box offices around the world and spawned a sequel and several direct-to-DVD spinoffs.

“My taste tends to be pretty much the taste of the public,” Mr. Davis said. “I don’t really design movies to be commercial. I just make movies I want to see.”

It would be hard to find a producer whose approach to motion pictures is more in sync with what studios want right now than Mr. Davis. Indeed, as complaints increase from cinema buffs and Hollywood’s creative ranks about the lack of studio interest in original ideas, Mr. Davis is busy churning out movies based on what studios do want: so-called branded characters, source material that already has currency in the marketplace.

Aside from “Marmaduke,” Mr. Davis is working on an ambitious adaptation of “Gulliver’s Travels,” starring Jack Black, and “The Sims,” based on the popular computer game. A movie version of the classic children’s book “Mr. Popper’s Penguins” is in the works, and Mr. Davis is in advanced negotiations to secure the movie rights to the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus.

Mr. Davis, 55, is successful at navigating this mainstream swath of the film business partly because he has a rare ability to charm reluctant rights holders, said Emma Watts, the president of production at 20th Century Fox, where Mr. Davis has a first-look deal through 2014. “He’s very adept at securing rights that have been historically hard to get,” she said.

Some of his tricks are standard operating procedure for a producer. “I kept calling the agents and calling the agents and calling the agents,” Mr. Davis said, referring to “Mr. Popper’s Penguins.”

Counterintuitively, he also advises rights holders to lawyer up. “You have successful rights holders who have done it their way and don’t understand the studio ways,” he said. “I often recommend they hire a great entertainment attorney so it doesn’t feel like they’re dealing with alien culture. They will know what studio precedents can be changed and not changed.”

If a historic property has never been made into a movie, there is usually a protective owner behind it who is worried about what Hollywood will do.

“This is why you have to become personally friendly with the rights holders,” Mr. Davis said. Take Jim Davis (the men are not related), the creator of Garfield and friends. “Getting that deal done took a tremendous amount of time,” Mr. Davis said. “This was Jim’s baby.”

Marmaduke, a galumphing Great Dane, pales in the shadow of Garfield, of course. The “Garfield” strip, published since 1978, appears in more than 2,500 publications worldwide. “Marmaduke” was created by Brad Anderson in 1954 — that makes the character roughly 392 in dog years — and appears in about 500 newspapers around the world, according to Doug Stern, the chief executive of United Media, which owns the property.

The single-panel canine cartoon has seen its popularity increase in recent years — as the butt of jokes. A 2008 headline in the satirical newspaper The Onion read, “Some Old Man Still Churning Out Marmaduke.” Blogs have sprung up to mock the comic, including Joe Mathlete Explains Today’s Marmaduke (marmadukeexplained.blogspot.com).

Even so, a parade of producers has tried to obtain the movie rights and failed, Mr. Stern said. “I’ve had a lot of interest in movies built around that character over the years,” he said, “but I finally decided to do it with John because he has a reputation for getting stuff done. John is also wonderfully unslick.”

That’s true enough, and surprising for someone with Mr. Davis’s pedigree. He has worked on more than 80 movies — including “Predator,” “The Firm,” “Grumpy Old Men” and “Norbit” — that, combined, have earned more than $4 billion at the worldwide box office. He is the oldest son of Marvin Davis, the billionaire oilman and onetime owner of 20th Century Fox, who died in 2004.

But like any good showman, Mr. Davis does have a flair for the dramatic. To pitch the idea of “Marmaduke” to Fox, he put a Great Dane inside a Mini Cooper — the dog was so large that its head stuck prominently through the sun roof — and parked it outside the office of the studio’s co-chairman, Tom Rothman. Fox ordered the movie, teaming with New Regency Pictures for a budget of about $50 million.

Like “Family Circus,” the “Marmaduke” cartoon is the product of the Eisenhower era and is written with little irony or attitude. The challenge for Mr. Davis was to figure out how to retool the character in a way that would reliably tickle modern funny bones. The solution: move the dog from Kansas to California and remake him as an awkward teenager trying to fit in with a bunch of snooty purebreds.

“He took a brand and then found a story that updates the character and makes it feel fresh again,” Ms. Watts of Fox said. Owen Wilson supplies Marmaduke’s voice; George Lopez voices the dog’s feline sidekick, Carlos.

Box office expectations for “Marmaduke,” to be released on Friday, range from a spare opening weekend of $10 million to a solid $25 million, according to surveys that monitor advance interest.

“Cinema snobs may roll their eyes, but from way back in film history, talking animals have been a very good business bet,” said Jeanine Basinger, the chairwoman of the film studies department at Wesleyan University. As an example, Ms. Basinger gave Francis the Talking Mule, which starred in seven Universal Pictures comedies in the 1950s.

Mr. Davis said he would move away from animal pictures — he was also behind the “Dr. Dolittle” series starring Eddie Murphy — as his three children get older. Now in their early teens, they have been motivation, Mr. Davis said, in his pursuit of family movies. Still, he does have a soft spot for furry performers.

“For ‘Dr. Dolittle 2,’ I auditioned four bears on a sound stage,” he said. “Do I have a great job or what?”","John Davis, who brought “Garfield” to the big screen, now escorts “Marmaduke.”"
"From the very first scene of UnReal’s second-season premiere, we know what kind of main character we’re dealing with. Shiri Appleby’s Rachel, a TV producer, gets a new tattoo on her inner wrist listing her priorities: “Money. Power.” And a third we can’t print referring to her male-objectifying lust.

Throughout the episode, she checks them off: she gets a promotion – she’ll now run the Bachelor-style reality programme Everlasting, where she’s been honing her stellar manipulation skills as a lower-level producer for the past several years. At a party celebrating her female boss and mentor’s new “seven-figure” production deal in Vegas, Rachel snorts cocaine and sleeps with the latest Everlasting star’s manager. Then she talks a junior producer through her first exploitative on-camera interview, directing her to bring a contestant to tears over her fiancé’s recent death. The junior producer vomits afterward, then chokes, and gasps “That was amazing!”

This isn’t just a show about an anti-heroine. It’s a show about the making of more anti-heroines – and what a heady trip being bad can be.

We’ve seen few women with the same privilege of being bad while staying in viewers’ good graces

UnReal proves that the anti-heroine is finally, unequivocally, here. We have been living in the era of the TV anti-hero – to the point of oversaturation – since Tony Soprano strode onto the scene 17 years ago with a complicated family life and a gun in his pocket. Walter White, Don Draper and many others followed. But we saw few women with the same privilege of being bad while staying in viewers’ good graces. Now, at last, with UnReal’s Rachel – as well as, arguably, The Good Wife’s Alicia Florrick, the title character of Jessica Jones, Veep’s Selina Meyer, and most of the women of Orange Is the New Black, among others – we have entered the era of the anti-heroine.

If you’re wondering why this is important, think about how the men I mentioned above – Tony Soprano, Walter White, Don Draper – make men feel. We like our characters at extremes. We’re not likely to take on any of those men’s lifestyles wholesale, but bringing a little Tony Soprano to your accounting job, or a little Don Draper to your first Tinder date, feels good. Seeing people like ourselves on TV with the entire spectrum of human traits – from very bad to very good – is empowering. It makes for better stories, and better roles for the stars.

Walter White’s wife couldn’t catch a break with viewers, though she deserved our sympathy far more than our ire

Naturally, that means women have been left behind in the anti-hero trend. That’s partly because grounding stories in even a hint of realism favours the anti-hero, at least when you’re looking at the obvious ‘bad guys’: men have always been more likely to be crime bosses than women. They were obviously more likely to be cheating, promiscuous ad agency executives of the 1950s; that blatant sexism is, after all, one of the main points of Mad Men. But history shows that it’s harder for unlikeable female characters to pass even network approval, much less gain the affection of the general public. Walter White’s wife couldn’t catch a break with viewers, even though she was married to an anti-hero, and thus deserved our sympathy far more than our ire.

Throughout film and television history, women have sometimes been allowed to serve as pure villains or femmes fatales. But elevate that flawed woman to main-character status, and she has a much tougher time.

The modern TV anti-heroine likely began with Sex and the City’s Carrie Bradshaw. Interestingly, she debuted six months before Tony Soprano on the same network, HBO, which launched the current ‘golden age of drama’ by making gritty series with strong artistic visions and often aggressively unlikeable characters – Carrie included, though she rarely gets the same credit as Tony.

Of course, anything she did that was bad was several levels below murder: her worst crime was cheating on a very nice boyfriend, Aidan, with a married ex, Big. But she gets short shrift in TV history because of what a phenomenon Sex and the City became, complete with every traditionally girly accoutrement possible – designer shoes, purses, pink cupcakes, pink drinks, girl talk over expensive brunch. Carrie’s otherwise transgressive achievement was adorned with, and drowned in, stereotypes.

Carrie did, however, break down a barrier that would allow her successors to go much further. Shonda Rhimes, who has almost single-handedly integrated and complicated female-driven broadcast drama, started with Meredith Grey of Grey’s Anatomy, who’s essentially a medical doctor version of Carrie Bradshaw. Our first introduction to Meredith was seeing her run out on a drunken one-night stand without exchanging names. Later she found out he just so happened to be her boss at her new job. Meredith has never made a play for sympathy since, instead leaning into her “dark and twisty” tendencies; she slowly earned our affection with time.

We’re not supposed to like them; we’re supposed to cringe as we relate to them anyway

Rhimes’s more recent leading ladies have treaded into Soprano territory: How to Get Away With Murder is not kidding with its title, and its main character, Annalise Keating (Viola Davis) is unapologetically the cause of a shocking number of dead bodies. And Scandal, starring Kerry Washington as DC strategist Olivia Pope, stands as Rhimes’s clearest morality play yet. This past season, its fifth, has made it clear that the show is, for all its soapy dramatics, the story of how an anti-heroine is made, how she goes from wearing the white hat to committing murder. The fact that these last two shows are led by women of colour is even more extraordinary. But they’re such finely drawn characters, played by such great actresses, that they’re working on a Tony Soprano level. Viewers love them despite their crimes.

Lena Dunham and her Girls characters somehow don’t fare as well with viewers, even though they haven’t physically harmed a soul. The show’s very first promo posters in 2012 had the tagline, “Living the Dream. One mistake at a time.” In other words, the whole point of the show is to follow young women through the time in their lives when many of us are far from our best, their early 20s.

And yet only perhaps Hillary Clinton has felt as much public ire as Dunham. Perhaps it’s her sense of entitlement that has grated on people so much. (In the very first episode, she responds to her parents cutting her off financially by snapping, “This is nuts. I could be a drug addict. Do you realise how lucky you are?”) What it’s taken viewers a while to realise is that Dunham isn’t condoning the behaviour of her character, Hannah Horvath, nor that of her friends. She is, if anything, making fun of it; she’s giving us a comedy of manners for the 2010s, full of young adults lacking self-awareness who will likely cringe at their own behaviour in hindsight. We’re not supposed to like them; we’re supposed to cringe, even as we relate to them.

Herein lies the key to any effective anti-hero, male or female: they serve a purpose. They’re more interesting to watch than a traditionally likeable character because they have somewhere to go and something to do. They might hold up a mirror to our society’s own worst traits, the way Seinfeld and The Sopranos both ultimately held their audiences accountable for cheering the characters on. They might offer a story of redemption (Don Draper looked like he was headed there, but stopped short) or comeuppance (like Walter White’s). UnReal shows us the depths to which a woman must stoop to give us what we often see as harmless, brainless entertainment like The Bachelor. The Good Wife and Scandal demonstrate the corrosive effects of politics on even well-meaning souls. Veep shows us the absurd inhumanity of political office, and what kind of person it takes to endure that.

And some of the best of our anti-heroines also trace their fatal flaws back to their struggles with, specifically, womanhood. An anti-heroine doesn’t have to be a crime boss or a powerful executive (though she could be). UnReal’s Rachel draws her power from exploiting other women, making a show for women. The Good Wife’s Alicia cheated, lied, and shut down emotionally to avoid the pain she’d experienced with her politician husband’s public betrayal. Jessica Jones became an uncaring, alcoholic badass – and a superhero – in reaction to being sexually and emotionally assaulted by a mind-controlling man. These are the stories in which women find their power. These are the anti-heroines we’ve been waiting for.

If you would like to comment on this story or anything else you have seen on BBC Culture, head over to our Facebook page or message us on Twitter.

And if you liked this story, sign up for the weekly bbc.com features newsletter, called “If You Only Read 6 Things This Week”. A handpicked selection of stories from BBC Future, Earth, Culture, Capital, Travel and Autos, delivered to your inbox every Friday.","Why hasn’t there been a female version of the TV anti-hero? Perhaps, with UnReal, Veep and Jessica Jones, that's changing, writes Jennifer Keishin Armstrong."
"The video above contains footage that some people may find distressing.

At two separate sites in the Democratic Republic of Congo, wild bonobo mothers have been observed eating their dead infants. It was a meal they shared with other bonobos, with the dominant female deciding who got access to the meat.

The behaviour has only been observed once before, which suggests it is extremely rare. You can see the unexpected behaviour in the video above.

One of the study's authors, Nahoko Tokuyama of Kyoto University in Japan, says she does not know why the behaviour occurred. ""It may be explained by nutritional benefit. However, the number of cases is too small to find biological reasons.""

She was shocked when she saw Hideo (pictured below), an older brother of one of the dead babies appearing to look ""happy when he was eating his dead younger sibling"". She says they treated the dead infants as they would any other meat.

The research was published in the journal Primates.

Melissa Hogenboom is BBC Earth's feature writer. She is @melissasuzanneh on Twitter.

Join over five million BBC Earth fans by liking us on Facebook, or follow us on Twitter and Instagram.

If you liked this story, sign up for the weekly bbc.com features newsletter called ""If You Only Read 6 Things This Week"". A handpicked selection of stories from BBC Future, Earth, Culture, Capital, Travel and Autos, delivered to your inbox every Friday.","Two bonobo mothers have been seen cannibalising their own offspring, in what is believed to be an extremely rare act"
"Entering the day with 4,255 combined hits between Japan and the MLB, Ichiro Suzuki first tied Pete Rose with his 4,256th career hit, a leadoff infield single off San Diego’s Luis Perdomo in the first inning Wednesday.

The Japanese future Hall-of-Famer then passed “Charlie Hustle” in the ninth, lining a double down the right field line off Padres closer Fernando Rodney.

Ichiro broke into the big leagues in 2001 with the Seattle Mariners, winning the AL MVP and batting title as a rookie. It was his first of 10-straight seasons with at least a .300 batting average and 200 hits, including his 262 hits in 2004 that broke the single-season record.

The Japanese outfielder also inches closer to the Major League 3,000-hit club, now just 21 hits away from becoming the 30th player to reach the milestone.","Ichiro Suzuki tied Pete Rose with his 4,256th career hit, a leadoff infield single off San Diego’s Luis Perdomo."
"Earlier this week, virtual reality sports training company EON Sports VR announced a partnership with Major League Baseball team the Tampa Bay Rays. This new collaboration will see the team having batting practice in virtual reality.

The Rays will use a simulator from EON Sports VR called the iCube, a 10-ft. x 10-ft. x 10-ft. box. Players get to practice swinging, with 30 VR at-bats, against a virtual pitcher that mimics a vast array of human MLB pitchers. One pitch may be a 90 mile per hour fastball from San Francisco Giants ace Madison Bumgarner and the next could be New York Yankees star Masahiro Tanaka's dangerous splitter coming down across the virtual plate.

Related: The NCAA Final Four will be taking place in virtual reality

EON Sports VR employs the Sidekiq VR Headset, a mobile smartphone VR headset similar to the Samsung Gear VR, with eye tracking technology to get your swings as accurate as possible. Batters are trained in two specific areas: strike zone awareness and pitch tracking. For strike zone awareness, the batter deduces which pitches thrown were balls and which were strikes after each at-bat. For pitch tracking, batters will have to do the same, but in this case will have to decide if each pitch was a fastball, slider, curve ball, or change up.

The Kansas City-based EON Sports VR is turning into a popular training source for Tampa Bay sporting teams. Last July, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers became the first team in the National Football League to purchase EON Sports VR's Sidekiq football-simulator software.

Even without the iCube, anyone can practice their batting. EON Sports sells the complete baseball training simulation with a Sidekiq headset, as part of a Project OPS bundle, for $200. Included in the bundle are seven batting lessons from five-time All Star Jason Giambi in virtual reality.

EON Sports also sells personalized VR football training sessions for $50 each. One day, you may be able to train like any player in the world … virtually.","Earlier this week, virtual reality sports training company EON Sports VR announced a partnership with Major League Baseball team the Tampa Bay Rays."
"Shifty Shellshock (born Seth Brooks Binzer on August 23, 1974) is an American music artist, best known as founder and front man of Crazy Town. He has also had a solo music career after the break up of the band and has had many appearances in various reality television series Celebrity Rehab 1 & 2 and Sober House 1 & 2. A native to California, Seth Binzer had the love of music since the day he was born. Shifty's father, was a well-known artist and...

Shifty Shellshock (born Seth Brooks Binzer on August 23, 1974) is an American music artist, best known as founder and front man of Crazy Town. He has also had a solo music career after the break up of the band and has had many appearances in various reality television series Celebrity Rehab 1 & 2 and Sober House 1 & 2. A native to California, Seth Binzer had the love of music since the day he was born. Shifty's father, was a well-known artist and filmmaker. He had directed the Rolling Stones’ live movie Ladies and Gentlemen. Binzer had love for a wide genre of bands (such as The Cure, Cypress Hill, LL Cool J, Beastie Boys and others. He began to discover his own personal style of music and started to record albums of his own with the Beastie Boys serving as his big inspiration. Binzer met fellow Crazy Town front-man, Bret Mazur, in 1992; they started collaborating under the name The Brimstone Sluggers.","Shifty Shellshock on TMZ, your go-to source for celebrity gossip.  Get the latest Shifty Shellshock news, gossip, pictures. and videos today!"
"When we began work on our Age of Unicorns cover for Fortune, one internal conversation was about cautionary tales. Fab? Sure. Box? Seemed so at the time, not so much today. “What about Groupon?” someone asked with a chuckle.

Social buying site Groupon GRPN was one of the original unicorns, becoming valued at more than $1 billion by venture capitalists less than two years after its founding. It later would turn down a reported $6 billion acquisition offer from Google GOOG , before going public in November 2011 at an initial market cap of $12.65 billion and closing its first day of trading worth more than $23 billion.

But it didn’t take long for the wheels to fall off: By June 2012, the company was valued below Google’s proposed acquisition price. The following March, founding CEO Andrew Mason was fired. The company that was supposed to re-energize Chicago’s startup scene — replete with a warehouse chic headquarters that also served as a new business incubator — had run out of gas.

And then everyone seemed to forget about it, as a much larger group of billion-dollar startups emerged. Everyone, that is, except for people who wanted to make jokes about past valuation excess.

But from where I sit, the laughter is unwarranted.

Groupon not only was an original unicorn, but it remains a successful one. The company currently has a market cap of $4.9 billion, which is higher than it ever was valued by venture capitalists. Its revenue and EBITDA have consistently climbed in each year since going public, and there is plenty of cash on hand without a single cent of debt.

If you want to criticize someone for overvaluing Groupon, take a good long look at public market investors. You know, the folks who are supposed to use all sorts of clear-headed, quantitative metrics (as opposed to VCs, who are said to pull unicorn valuations out of thin air). In fact, even Groupon’s final deals in the private market were largely driven by mutual fund managers dipping down to buy secondary shares from VCs who were smart enough to bake in some early gains.

It would be like if the smartest guys in the room convinced everyone that this year’s Boston Celtics were going to win 60 games, and then making fun of the Celtics when they failed to achieve such lofty goals. Obviously the team isn’t where it ultimately wants to be, but it wasn’t the one making bold predictions. Nor has it collapsed.

If Groupon is a cautionary tale for other unicorns, perhaps it only is in the context of going public. Groupon’s decision to IPO when it did is arguably the reason it remains in business. As venture capitalist Bill Gurley noted, it is much easier to survive a valuation decline as a public company than as a private one. Had Groupon waited a couple more years, perhaps it would have been worthy of derision. But it didn’t. And it isn’t.

Sign up for Term Sheet, Dan’s daily newsletter on deals and deal-makers.",Groupon is not a cautionary tale of unicorns past.
"A woman looks at a painting by US painter Cy Twombly. Photograph: Francois Guillot/AFP/Getty Images

Cy Twombly's paintings are today on view at Dulwich Picture Gallery in south London, cheek by jowl with works by the 17th century master Nicolas Poussin, and a stone's throw from paintings by Rubens and Rembrandt. It is a company in which he manifestly belongs.

In an age when some said painting was finished, he proved otherwise. His ambitious and convincing epics of charismatic colour and vertigo-inducing space do what painting has always done, and tell stories of sex, death, history and the gods.

Here is an artist who can teach you to read. Few of us read as Twombly did, steeping himself in Greek, Latin and English verse, and teasing the beholder to follow up enigmatic quotations scrawled in a languid stain on his sighs of paintings.

At Dulwich is a painting, Hero and Leandro (for Christopher Marlowe), that is a white misty spume of oceanic spray assailed by a bloody smear of red. Blood in water, it seemed to me. Only later did I read Marlowe's poem Hero and Leander that begins: ""On Hellespont, guilty of true love's blood...""

Twombly came of agein the America of Jackson Pollock and the Abstract Expressionists. It was surely, in part, a sense that imperial New York's historical double is ancient Rome that made him emigrate to Italy.

What he found there was low life and sex in a landscape of ruins: his way of responding to the dolce vita was to turn the arabesques of Pollock's style into outbursts of graffiti. In his paintings the myths of the gods found in Roman frescoes are retold with obscene pink smears for buttocks and breasts. Out of this comes a deeply romantic art of colour and time and place that brutally breathes new life into the mythologies of Greece and Rome.

Above all, he came from America's south; when born in 1928 the civil war and the (albeit deserved) destruction of southern pride was a living memory for some in his native Virginia. Classical architecture has a history there going back to Thomas Jefferson; and no southerner can fail to see history as a melancholic process. He found in the Mediterranean a world even more crumbling with ruins and memories, where it is still possible to imagine the sea stained with the blood of old battles. He may have seemed apolitical, yet shortly before 9/11 he unveiled paintings of the sea battle of Lepanto, the traumatic 16th century conflict between Christians and Muslims.

While Twombly was alive and working – and his last paintings of flowers were ripely beautiful – it was possible to see a connection between the art of today and the noble legacy of Greece and Rome as it has been perpetuated by artists such as Raphael and Picasso. His death really hurts, it leaves a black hole. A link has been cut, a lifeline lost. Some artists fade from memory when they die. Twombly will grow in stature. He will be mourned by all who truly love painting. The great god Pan is dead, as a voice was heard to cry by sailors in the age of the Roman emperor Augustus.",He painted supremely ambitious and convincing epics of charismatic colour and vertigo-inducing space
"In many ways, the “Family Guy” episode “Partial Terms of Endearment” is typical of that audacious Fox animated comedy, teeming with rapid-fire jokes and willfully offensive non sequiturs about disabled animals, God, Nazis, bodily functions and the sexual habits of “Sesame Street” characters.

A DVD cover of the “Family Guy”episode that Fox declined to show on television.

The latest on the arts, coverage of live events, critical reviews, multimedia extravaganzas and much more. Join the discussion.

Lois Griffin, left, visits the doctor after agreeing to be a surrogate for her friends Naomi and Dale.

It is also an episode in which a central character finds herself with an unwanted pregnancy and contemplates an abortion, a subject that is frankly discussed — and flagrantly satirized — by the cartoon’s cast. The Fox network has said it will not broadcast “Partial Terms of Endearment,” which was produced for the 2009-10 season.

However, the home video arm of 20th Century Fox plans to release the episode as a stand-alone DVD in September, in packaging that plays up its polarizing qualities. When it does, many “Family Guy” fans will get their first look at an unlikely reminder of the television networks’ aversion to the issue of abortion, and a rare boundary encountered by an often rebellious series.

“Times really have changed,” said Seth MacFarlane, the creator of “Family Guy.” “The network is making a decision that is, unfortunately, probably based on people’s current ability to handle and dissect controversial narratives.”

As a longtime admirer of the comedies of Norman Lear — to the point that the “Family Guy” opening credits pay homage to “All in the Family” — Mr. MacFarlane said he tried to include two to three episodes each season that are issue-oriented. When the topic of abortion came up in the “Family Guy” writers’ room, he said, “There’s nothing about that issue that should be any different than doing an episode about gay marriage or an episode about the oil spill.”

Mr. MacFarlane enlisted Danny Smith, a veteran “Family Guy” writer and producer, to draft the episode’s script, assigning him to read a part of Carl Sagan’s book “Billions and Billions” that tries to find common ground between the “absolutist positions” of abortion rights advocates and anti-abortion groups.

In the script that Mr. Smith delivered, Lois Griffin, the wife of the titular “Family Guy” lummox, Peter Griffin, agrees to be a surrogate mother for a college friend who cannot conceive. When the friend and her husband are killed in a car accident, Lois debates whether she should keep the child, frequently finding herself in opposition to Peter’s wishes.

Mr. Smith, who describes himself as “a recovering Catholic,” said the script was not especially contentious when it was revised by the show’s mostly male writing staff. “We’ve had more spirited debates about whether or not we should state whether Santa Claus is real,” Mr. Smith said.

When Mr. MacFarlane presented the concept to Fox, it warned him that the subject matter raised a red flag, but allowed him to produce the episode anyway. He said he believed that the network would eventually run it, as it had an earlier episode called “When You Wish Upon a Weinstein” that it rejected in 2000. That installment, in which Peter yearns for his son Chris to become smarter by converting to Judaism, was first shown on Adult Swim on Cartoon Network in 2003, and then on Fox in 2004. (“Nobody got too offended,” Mr. MacFarlane said. “Most of the time these things turn out to be nothing.”)

But the Fox network decided not to show “Partial Terms of Endearment.” The network said in a statement that it fully supported “the producers’ right to make the episode and distribute it in whatever way they want,” and declined to elaborate on its decision. A spokeswoman for Adult Swim also said in an e-mail message that there were “no plans to air that episode of ‘Family Guy.’ ”

Last August Kevin Reilly, Fox’s entertainment president, told reporters at the Television Critics Association tour that the rejection of the episode “was a business decision” because it represented “fragile subject matter at a sensitive time.” But the “Family Guy” staff remains unclear on Fox’s rationale.

It’s not that abortion is a totally forbidden subject on network television: a recent episode of the NBC drama “Friday Night Lights” dealt with it, and the best-known treatment of the issue, a two-episode arc of “Maude,” was produced by Mr. Lear in 1972.

On one level the “Family Guy” producers understand that some of their jokes — a scene in which Lois is impregnated by Peruvian natives wielding blow-dart guns; a lengthy Warner Brothers parody in which Peter stalks Lois with an Acme Miscarriage Kit — may not have treated the abortion debate with proper gravity.

But they say there is no way to predict what material will offend audiences. Mr. Smith pointed to an episode in which the family dog, Brian, becomes an advocate for marijuana legalization.

“I have two sons,” Mr. Smith said, “and I don’t know if I feel comfortable with this cartoon dog telling people that life is better with a bag of weed.” Mr. Smith said more viewers complained about a scene in which Peter accidentally kills a neighbor’s cat.

There was also support from Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment, which felt that issues of taste would not discourage “Family Guy” fans from seeking the episode on DVD, and determined that DVD sales could cover the production costs of “Partial Terms of Endearment” if the network did not broadcast it.

“Seth and I have had arguments where I’m the nervous Nellie, and he’s pushing the envelope,” said Mike Dunn, the president of Fox’s home entertainment unit. “Finally it’s like, O.K., you win. This franchise does better when it’s pushed.”

Mr. MacFarlane said that the word abortion may simply be a “comedy red zone that you just shouldn’t enter,” noting that Fox had also made him change a joke because it contained the phrase World Trade Center.

But he did not criticize Fox for its decisions, which he said revealed more about mass audiences than about the networks.

“People in America, they’re getting dumber,” Mr. MacFarlane said. “They’re getting less and less able to analyze something and think critically, and pick apart the underlying elements. And more and more ready to make a snap judgment regarding something at face value, which is too bad.”

Whatever Fox’s reasons for refusing to broadcast “Partial Terms of Endearment,” Mr. MacFarlane said it was unlikely that the decision came from the corporation’s politically conservative chairman, Rupert Murdoch.

“My assessment of him has always been that he is a shrewd businessman first and a conservative second,” Mr. MacFarlane said, adding: “If he felt that something like this would be profitable to the corporation, he would have no issue airing it.”

Meanwhile, Mr. Smith joked that he was more worried about what the loss of network residuals for the episode would mean for his own bottom line.

“I have two kids in private school, man,” he said. “Fox is hitting me where it hurts. I’m always going to have a creative outlet here, but jeez, don’t take my money away.”",A “Family Guy” episode satirizing abortion that Fox declined to broadcast is to be released as a stand-alone DVD in September.
"Defense Secretary Ashton Carter announced that he is opening all jobs in combat units to women, after years of research and debate on the role of women in the military. (Reuters)

Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter said Thursday that he is opening all jobs in combat units to women, a landmark decision that would for the first time allow female service members to join the country’s most elite military forces.

Women will now be eligible to join the Navy SEALs, Army Special Forces and other Special Operations Units. It also opens the Marine Corps infantry, a battle-hardened force that many service officials had openly advocated keeping closed to female service members.

“There will be no exceptions,” Carter said. “This means that, as long as they qualify and meet the standards, women will now be able to contribute to our mission in ways they could not before.”

Carter’s announcement caps three years of experimentation at the Pentagon and breakthroughs for women in the armed services. Earlier this year, two female soldiers became the first women to ever graduate from the Army’s grueling Ranger School. But the Pentagon’s project also set off a bitter debate about how women should be integrated.

Carter said that top leaders in the Army, Navy, Air Force and U.S. Special Operations Command all recommended that all jobs be opened to women. The Marine Corps recommended that certain jobs such as machine gunner be kept closed, but the secretary said that the military is a joint force, and his decision will apply to everyone. The top Marine officer who made that recommendation, Gen. Joseph F. Dunford, became chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in September, and did not appear alongside Carter on Thursday.

The services will have 30 days to provide plans to Carter on how they will implement the policy change, he said. By law, the military also must notify Congress formally and wait that long before making any changes.

The roots of the secretary’s decision date back to January 2013, when then-Defense Secretary Leon Panetta announced he was rescinding a longtime ban on women serving directly in ground combat units. Panetta gave the services until this fall to research the issue.

About 220,000 jobs and 10 percent of the military remained closed to women before Tuesday’s announcement, Carter said. Another 110,000 jobs in careers like artillery officer were opened in a series of decisions since 2013.

President Obama said in a statement that the Defense Department is “taking another historic step forward” by opening up all positions to women.

“As Commander in Chief, I know that this change, like others before it, will again make our military even stronger. Our armed forces will draw on an even wider pool of talent,” Obama said. “Women who can meet the high standards required will have new opportunities to serve. I know that, under the leadership of Secretary Carter and Chairman Dunford, our men and women in uniform will implement this transition — as they have others — in a responsible manner that maintains military readiness and the unparalleled professionalism and strength of our armed forces.”

The issue has at times opened an uncommonly public rift between senior military leaders. In particular, Navy Secretary Ray Mabus took issue with a Marine Corps study that found that the average woman struggled to keep up with men, according to a number of metrics. The study did not track individual performance, drawing fire from Mabus and others in favor of full integration.

As the Marine Corps commandant, Dunford recommended to keep a number of jobs in infantry and reconnaissance units closed.Carter, asked why Dunford was not present for the announcement on Thursday, said that he and the general have talked extensively on the subject, and he “will be with me” as the services proceeds with making related changes.

[Marine experiment finds women shoot less accurately, get injured more frequently than men]

“He understands what my decision is, and my decision is my decision, and we will implement it accordingly,” Carter said.

Dunford said in a statement on Thursday afternoon that it is his job to provide his “candid best military advice” to Carter on issues ranging from military readiness, to combat effectiveness, to how the services are employed.

“I have had the opportunity to provide my advice on the issue of full integration of women into the Armed Forces,” Dunford’s statement said. “In the wake of the Secretary’s decision, my responsibility is to ensure his decision is properly implemented. Moving forward my focus is to lead the full integration of women in a manner that maintains our joint warfighting capability, ensures the health and welfare of our people, and optimizes how we leverage talent across the Joint Force.”

Dunford did not respond to questions about why he did not appear alongside Carter as the secretary announced the policy change Thursday. Three years ago, Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, then the Joint Chiefs chairman, did so as Panetta announced that he was rescinding the combat exclusion policy.

Carter said the important factor in him opening all jobs to women was to give the military access to every American who can add strength to it. Studies carried out by the services since 2013 found that some of the standards the military previously used to determine whether a service member was fit for a job were outdated or didn’t reflect the actual tasks required in combat, he said.

“It’s been evidence-based, and iterative,” Carter said of the review. “I’m confident the Defense Department can implement this successfully, because throughout our history we’ve consistently proven ourselves to be a learning organization.”

The Marine Corps will immediately begin the process of implementing the policy change, and share plans and lessons learned with the other services, said Maj. Chris Devine, a Marine spokesman at the Pentagon.

“We are well-informed by our combat experience, as well as our objective approach and data obtained from the past two years of study,” Devine said. “As we move forward with full integration, we’ll continue to maintain our standards, while leveraging every opportunity to optimize individual performance, talent and skills to maximize the warfighting capabilities of our [Marine air ground task forces] in an increasingly complex operating environment.”

Carter cited the military’s 2011 repeal on a policy banning gay service members from serving openly as an example of how gender integration can be completed successfully. The repeal of that “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy raised questions in many corners of the military at the time, but is now widely considered to have been implemented smoothly and without hurting the military’s ability to fight.

The secretary also noted that three women have successfully been able to complete the Army’s Ranger School this year as part of the research into how to better integrate women in the military. The service opened it to women on a full-time basis in September, although the elite 75th Ranger Regiment remained closed to women at the time.

[Focus and determination marked women’s path to Ranger School graduation]

Skeptics remain, however. Sen. John McCain (R.-Ariz.) and Rep. Mac Thornberry (R.-Texas), chairmen of the Senate and House armed services committees, said in a statement released jointly on Thursday that they intend to “carefully and thoroughly review all relevant documentation related to today’s decision,” including the Marine Corps gender integration study that caused the rift between the service and Mabus.

“We expect the Department to send over its implementation plans as quickly as possible to ensure our Committees have all the information necessary to conduct proper and rigorous oversight,” the statement said. “We also look forward to receiving the Department’s views on any changes to the Selective Service Act that may be required as a result of this decision.”

Other members of Congress applauded Carter’s decision. Rep. Martha McSally (R.-Ariz.), a retired Air Force colonel and A-10 attack jet pilot, said in a statement that the move recognizes that the military is strongest when it prioritizes merit and capability.

“It’s about damn time,” McSally said in the statement. “Women have been fighting and dying for our country since its earliest wars. They have shown they can compete with the best of the best, and succeed. We are a country that looks at people as individuals, not groups. We select the best man for the job, even if it’s a woman.”

Another female combat veteran and member of Congress, Rep. Tammy Duckworth (D.-Ill.), released an even more pointed statement of support reflecting her time as an Army helicopter pilot in Iraq and injuries suffered there.

“I didn’t lose my legs in a bar fight — of course women can serve in combat,” she said. “This decision is long overdue.”

Mabus said in a statement that Carter’s decision will maximize the combat effectiveness of the Navy and Marine Corps alike.

“Our process and studies showed that as long as someone can meet operationally relevant, occupation-specific, gender-neutral individual standards, that person is qualified to serve,” Mabus said. “Gender does not define the Service of a United States Sailor or Marine — instead, it is their character, selflessness, and abilities.”

Previous coverage: Navy secretary criticizes controversial Marine Corps gender integration study

Will the Army open its elite Ranger Regiment to women? A controversial decision awaits.

As Marines take heat for handling of gender integration, Army stays quiet on plan","The decision will apply to everyone -- ""no exceptions."""
"Sometimes in life, a goofball preacher tells a tiny group of mourners in “Hunt for the Wilderpeople,” we may feel “like a sheep trapped in a maze designed by wolves.” (The preacher is played by the film’s writer-director, Taika Waititi.) Watching this lovely little lark from New Zealand, you may feel like a happy camper on a twisty trail blazed by a cockeyed comic prodigy.

The center of attention, from the moment he arrives in a police car at a cabin in the boondocks, is a kid named Ricky Baker (Julian Dennison). With his gangsta scowl and incipient jowls, Ricky sees himself as a menace to society, and his dim-bulb social worker, Paula (Rachel House), could not agree more. In fact, he has a tender heart and a head stuffed with pop-culture rubbish, and he menaces only himself, having already flunked out of so many foster-care placements that his last chance lies with a scruffy backwoods couple who are more or less willing to take him in. (The wife, Rima Te Wiata’s Bella, covers him with unconditional love. Her husband, Hec, played by Sam Neill, can’t bear the sight of him.)

Ricky is a wonderfully fresh creation, the embodiment of hilarity—as well as the embodiment of embodiment, given his alarming girth—because he doesn’t see anything funny about anything, least of all himself. Mr. Waititi perpetrated some very funny stuff as a performer and filmmaker in his previous feature, “What We Do in the Shadows,” a vampire comedy that he co-wrote and co-directed with Jemaine Clement. Yet this new one operates in a far more accessible realm where whimsy and absurdity mingle freely with real feelings and droll social satire. (The closest analogy that comes to mind is the alternate universe of Wes Anderson’s “Moonrise Kingdom.”)

As an urban child of the digital age, besotted by video games, movies and TV, Ricky doesn’t make rigid distinctions between the reality of rural life and what he makes out to be a forest from “The Lord of the Rings” enhanced by smells and real dirt. That forest is where most of the movie plays out after a surprise plot turn—a genuine shocker—sends Ricky and Hec fleeing from their cabin, accompanied by Tupac, Ricky’s dog. For the kid it’s a great adventure, a chance to chase around with a real gun playing outlaw. For Hec it’s pure misery, at least at first, playing father to a kid he deplores. “Stick to the tracks,” he warns Ricky, who goes off to look for help at one point. “If you get desperate eat your dog.” For the cops, then the army and always the Javert-like social worker, Paula, it’s a nationwide manhunt for a presumed pervert who has abducted a child.

Mr. Neill is superb as a curmudgeon coming around to conditional love, grudging kindness and finally overt pleasure, even in such unlikely disputes as whether “majestical” is a real word. Tioreore Ngatai-Melbourne—what a marvelous name—is a vision of sylvan beauty as Kahu, a Maori girl who makes her entrance on horseback. “Hunt for the Wilderpeople,” which was based on a book by Barry Crump called “Wild Pork and Watercress,” has its share of misfired jokes and pseudo-mythic sequences that semi-fizzle. All in all, though, it’s majestical nonsense that is anything but nonsensical.

In Taika Waititi’s second feature as a director, the 11-year-old hero is played engagingly by James Rolleston. The time is 1984. The setting is a poor Maori community on the east coast of New Zealand’s North Island. It’s the town where Mr. Waititi grew up, and he plays Boy’s father, a goony stoner and scuzzy crook who has come home after years of absence to dig up a bag of money he’d buried in a nearby field.","After a kid obsessed with pop culture and a senior grouch flee their rural home, a large-scale manhunt ensues in this picaresque New Zealand film; directed by Taika Waititi, starring Julian Dennison, Rachel House, Rima Te Wiata, Sam Neill and Tioreore Ngatai-Melbourne"
"Tuesday's midterm elections and the record amounts outside groups spent to oust Democratic incumbents are just a warm-up for 2012.

The voter coalition that elected President Obama and fortified Democratic congressional ranks just two years ago -- independents, women, young people, blue-collar workers and more -- fractured in the midterm elections Tuesday, either swinging to Republicans or staying home.

Republicans picked up several seats in the Senate Tuesday but fell short of a majority, giving Democrats one major bright spot in an otherwise dreary election for President Obama's party.

Californians chose two veteran Democrats for governor and U.S. Senate on Tuesday over Silicon Valley businesswomen and rejected an effort to legalize marijuana.

President Obama waxed enthusiastic about California Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer and gunerbatorial candidiate Jerry Brown this morning during an interview with a Los Angeles radio station.

...and Republican victors is highly revealing. The biggest Democratic success stories involved re-elected Sens. Barbara Boxer and Harry Reid, and new California governor Jerry Brown – all age 70 or above! The GOP, meanwhile, hailed breakthrough victories for...

Repudiation as defined in Webster’s dictionary - 1. to disown, 2. to disavow Reports continue to come in describing Barry's rather stubborn refusal to accept, in any way, shape, manner or form, the premise that it was the blatant abuse of power by both

...the Democratic Party to retain a majority in the U.S. Senate. In California, 65 percent of Latinos voted for Democrat Barbara Boxer, and only 28 percent favored Carly Fiorina. In Colorado, the Democrat, Sen. Michael Bennet, was re-elected with overwhelming...

...Marijuana usage remains fairly stigmatized in polite society in America, enough so that even liberal politicians like Barbara Boxer, Dianne Feinstein, Jerry Brown and Barack Obama have refused to state their support for legalizing the drug. But as most Americans...

...strong position as states tackle redistricting following the 2010 census. It won't hurt his presidential prospects, either. ☀ Barbara Boxer Targeted for defeat by Republicans, conservative groups, the business community and free-spending, secretly funded organizations,...

Although Republicans are in position to win big in races in midterm races across the USA, California is proving difficult terrain for the GOP.

The battle for control of the Senate focused on a handful of tossup races Tuesday, even as the House fight expanded by Democratic districts.

GOP Senate candidate Carly Fiorina was hospitalized for what her campaign said was an infection related to her recovery from breast cancer.

California Republican Senate candidate Carly Fiorina has been admitted to the hospital for an infection associated with surgery she had in her battle with breast cancer, her campaign said today in a statement.

The head of the GOP predicted ""an unprecedented wave"" on Election Day, even as polls in some states showed Democrats gaining ground.","Collection of all USATODAY.com coverage of Barbara Boxer., including articles, videos, photos, and quotes."
"Two good, new books are now shedding light on the controversial environmental lawsuit filed in Lago Agrio, Ecuador, in 2003, which culminated in a $18.2 billion judgment against Chevron CVX in February 2011, later reduced to $9.5 billion. But Steven Donziger, the plaintiffs lead U.S. lawyer, is alleging that one of the books defames him, and appears to be leading a smear campaign against its author.

The suit stems from contamination allegedly left behind by Texaco (acquired by Chevron in 2001) when it drilled for oil in the Amazon rainforest of eastern Ecuador from 1964 to 1992. Many environmentalists and human-rights advocates regard the case as a historic victory for third-world peoples.

It’s also the case, however, in which a Manhattan federal judge concluded last March, in a 485–page, 1842-footnote ruling, that Donziger achieved the historic judgment through bribery, fraud, obstruction of justice, witness tampering, and other crimes. The jurist, U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan, barred any American court from enforcing the Ecuadorian judgment, and barred Donziger from personally benefiting from it, even if some non-U.S. court ever does enforce it. Donziger denies wrongdoing and has appealed. (Chevron has virtually no assets in Ecuador, so the judgment is worthless unless the plaintiffs can persuade a court to honor it in a country where Chevron does have assets.)

Paul M. Barrett’s book, The Law of the Jungle: The $19 Billion Legal Battle Over Oil in the Rain Forest and the Lawyer Who’d Stop at Nothing to Win It (Crown Publishers, 304 pages, $26), is due for release on September 23, while Michael Goldhaber’s Kindle Single ebook, Crude Awakening: Chevron in Ecuador (RosettaBooks, 27,000 words, $2.99), came out last month.

Both authors are highly experienced, well-credentialed journalists. Barrett, an assistant managing editor and senior writer for Bloomberg BusinessWeek, graduated from Harvard College and Harvard Law School, while Goldhaber, the “The Global Lawyer” columnist for The American Lawyer, has degrees from Harvard College, Columbia Journalism School, and Yale Law School. The Law of the Jungle is Barrett’s fourth book (his last one, Glock: The Rise of America’s Gun, became a New York Times bestseller), while Crude Awakening is Goldhaber’s second, after A People’s History of the European Court of Human Rights.

The books are complementary, rather than redundant, because the authors have different aspirations. Barrett has written an accessible, fast-paced read for the generalist, providing both an overview of the whole environmental dispute and vivid portrait of Donziger, the larger-than-life enigma at the center of the litigation. Goldhaber’s more specialized work is aimed at lawyers and others in the field, focusing on the detective work that enabled Chevron to unearth Donziger’s alleged crimes, on the baroque intricacy of the alleged wrongdoing, and on broad legal questions presented by global human rights litigation generally. Goldhaber is a less mellifluous writer than Barrett, so his book will be a tougher read, even for lawyers. Still, in litigation, the devil is in the details, and Goldhaber presents more of those appalling details.

Both authors attended much of Chevron’s civil racketeering trial against Donziger in Manhattan last fall, and both appear to conclude that Donziger was guilty of almost all of the wrongdoing Chevron alleged. (For a summary of the key accusations, see my companion piece, “Where’s Preet?” also being published today.) At the same time, both authors—like Judge Kaplan himself, as he acknowledged in his ruling—remain troubled about the unresolved merits of the underlying dispute, i.e., the question of whether Texaco behaved improperly in Ecuador and whether Chevron, as a consequence, still owes recompense, notwithstanding Texaco’s prior environmental settlement with the Ecuadorian government in 1998. Goldhaber even pledges to donate his book royalties to “the indigenous peoples of Ecuador,” and closes his book by calling upon Chevron, “without honoring its corrupt adversaries or their false narratives, to make a similar gesture of good will for all residents of the region.”

Barrett wrote a very sympathetic cover story about Donziger for BusinessWeek in March 2011—one that Donziger’s public relations person, Karen Hinton, was so pleased with at the time that she distributed it to all the reporters covering the case. Barrett’s views have evolved since then, however, and the portrait of Donziger here is less forgiving. The book culminates in an exceedingly telling incident that plays out between Barrett and Donziger in a bistro near Donziger’s Upper West Side apartment late last year. To preserve suspense, I won’t give that one away.

Despite the focus on Donziger, Barrett also provides a valuable and, for the most part, scrupulously even-handed account of the context of the underlying case. He begins, for instance, with the memories of a Cofán Indian leader, whose life was turned upside down shortly after Texaco’s helicopters first began hovering over his homeland in 1964. “Before long, a multicolored sheen appeared on the surface of the streams where the Cofán fished and bathed and gathered drinking water,” Barrett writes. “Cofán children began to suffer from unfamiliar stomach ailments that neither the shaman’s roots, nor the missionaries’ medicine, could cure.” Later, two of the leader’s children died from diseases that the man believes were caused by oil contamination.

At the same time, Barrett suggests that the Republic of Ecuador shares plenty of responsibility for everything that happened, having invited Texaco into the country; having ignored the environmental problems as they were occurring; having been the majority partner in the drilling venture from 1977 onwards; and having, when taxes are taken into account, extracted 93 percent of the profits from the joint venture during its years of operation. Ecuador’s state-owned oil company, Petroecuador, also continued drilling in the region after Texaco pulled out 22 years ago, compiling an even worse environmental record than its former joint-venture partner, Barrett suggests, and complicating efforts to separate out Texaco’s responsibility today.

While Barrett does provide a basically fair overview, my subjective opinion is that he is sometimes too uncritical in permiting Donziger, when attacking Chevron, to gin up mountains out of molehills and to level unsubstantiated accusations. This enables Barrett to conclude that “both sides were doing business of one sort or another with the devil.”

But if Barrett does sometimes give Donziger’s bare accusations too much credence, it’s unlikely he will make the same mistake again in the future, because Donziger is now dishing out unsubstantiated smears at Barrett himself in an effort to dissuade people from reading or crediting his book.

In fact, both Goldhaber and Barrett deserve commendation for ever having enlisted for the project of writing about this case. It had to have been clear from the outset that anyone who did so conscientiously—a task that would necessarily include discussing the overwhelming evidence of Donziger’s use of mendacity and intimidation to achieve his goals—would end up being tarred with baseless attacks on their integrity emanating from Donziger’s camp. (A Google search of my own name—for I, too, have been writing about this case for the past four years—usually turns up at least two of these retaliatory, search-optimized, diatribes.)

Though Donziger’s team is also taking Goldhaber to task, it is Barrett who is getting pelted with most of the mud at the moment, doubtless because Donziger’s people recognize that his book, aimed at the general reader, stands the greater chance of scoring wide impact.

The attacks on Barrett began on July 31 with an 1650-word, unsigned broadside on The Chevron Pit, a web site that has, in the past at least, been controlled by Donziger and his public relations person, Karen Hinton, according to testimony and emails that emerged during the civil racketeering litigation. Hinton says she no longer works on that site, and it’s difficult to say authoritatively who controls it now since most of its posts are signed only “Admin.” and it identifies its staff only as “the team working to hold oil giant Chevron accountable for its human rights and environmental abuses in Ecuador.” (I’m not linking here to the Chevron Pit post attacking Barrett—or those attacking me, for that matter—in part because I think they’re defamatory, but also because Google takes such links into account in determining the prominence to give such blogposts in search results. Why Google still allows its results to be so easily manipulated by malevolent, anonymous smear campaigns is a topic for another day.)

In any case, the initial Chevron Pit assault was followed by an unsigned, 1200-word “critique” that Hinton emailed to reporters on September 3.

The broadsides claim that Barrett’s book is “riddled” or “replete” with “errors,” but neither gives specific, verifiable examples. Each accuses Barrett of suffering from “conflicts of interest,” but the specifics are vapid to the point of unintelligibility. The first alleged “blatant conflict” is that Barrett wrote the book while also continuing to write for Bloomberg BusinessWeek, an arrangement that his employer and publisher both knew about and approved of, and one that is obviously both benign and routine.

The second alleged conflict is that Barrett accepted the invitation of a U.S. House Foreign Affairs subcommittee to testify about the case last July. The calumniators speculate that Chevron arranged for the hearing to take place (which a spokesperson for Chevron denies), and then further speculate that Chevron arranged for Barrett to be called as a witness (which Chevron and Barrett both deny). A Chevron spokesman told me he was surprised—and chagrined—to discover that Barrett was testifying, since Barrett’s book suggests that Texaco behaved improperly in Ecuador, a proposition that is obviously inimical to Chevron’s core legal position. In an email Barrett tells me that he knows how the invitation came about: “A Latin American journalist I know has friends who work on the subcommittee staff. He told them about my book. When their hearing came up, they called me to ask if I would testify. That’s it.”

Next, and more seriously, the attacks accuse Barrett of bias—specifically, of having told unidentified people that he “planned to use his book to ‘take down’ Donziger.” In an email to me, Barrett says, “This is a lie. I never said this.”

Asked when, where, and to whom Barrett made these “explicit threats,” as the Pit post calls them, Hinton said that she was “not involved in writing” either the Chevron Pit post or the “critique” that she blast-emailed to reporters. She said she would forward my inquiries to Donziger.

In an emailed statement, Donziger said, first of all, that I should not be writing a review of the Barrett or Goldhaber books at all, because I, too, have a “conflict of interest,” in that he does not deem my coverage of the case to have been “balanced.” As for Barrett’s alleged “threat,” he says it was made to “a person on our legal team,” but “I am not going to provide more details at this point for various litigation-related reasons.” Donziger added that he had written a detailed letter to Barrett, his agent, and his publisher “outlining some of the defamatory statements in the book” which, he claims, “create exposure for Barrett and the publisher,” though he did not indicate which statements those were. (Matthew Martin, senior vice president and associate general counsel for Penguin Random House—Crown’s parent—said, “While we generally refrain from commenting on pending legal claims or litigation, I can tell you that Law of the Jungle was carefully and diligently researched over many years and we stand fully behind Paul Barrett’s reporting.” )

The Chevron Pit post also asserts that Barrett “never interviewed a single member of the legal team for the villagers,” and both broadsides fault Barrett for giving too little attention to the team’s key Ecuadorian leaders, Pablo Fajardo and Luis Yanza. The assertions are both inaccurate and highly misleading. As Barrett explains in the book itself, “Steve Donziger spoke to me at length for the initial [BusinessWeek] magazine profile [in March 2011] and in the months thereafter. When my attention turned to this book, however, he cut off communication and discouraged certain other people from cooperating.” In an interview with me, Barrett specifies that he had actually already booked interviews with Fajardo and Yanza, among others, and was at the Miami airport waiting for his flight to depart, when Donziger intervened and saw to it that those were cancelled.

Donziger admitted to me that he stopped speaking to Barrett—citing both qualms with Barrett’s reporting and legal advice from his attorney. He also admitted having “shared [his] thoughts” about speaking to Barrett with “members of his local team, including Fajardo and Yanza,” but said that they “decided independently to not cooperate with Barrett. . . . These sentient beings make their own decisions about their lives, including whether to conduct interviews with reporters like Barrett.”

But whatever their reasons for not talking to Barrett, there is no dispute that it was their decision—not Barrett’s. The calumniators are implying that Barrett failed to reach out to these people for their perspectives when in fact, as they well know, Barrett reached out, but the people in question refused to speak to him. That’s absurdly misleading.

Finally, the Chevron Pit blog poster asserts that he or she knows of “multiple reports” that “Chevron is quietly helping to promote” Barrett’s book. The post doesn’t link to any of those “reports,” though, and, for the reasons mentioned above, the allegation seems preposterous on its face. Barrett’s book is very sympathetic to the plight of the people Donziger represents, critical of Texaco and Chevron, and quite harsh—sometimes unduly so, in my view—toward Chevron’s counsel at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher. It likens Gibson Dunn at one point, for instance, to “a ‘cleaner,’” that is, “an underworld specialist in the art of tidying up bloody crime scenes.”

When I asked for more specifics about the alleged “reports” that Chevron was promoting Barrett’s book, Donziger provided none, except to claim that they emanated from somewhere in Ecuador. He then repeated the calumniators’ rank speculation that Chevron engineered Barrett’s testimony before the House committee.

The mendacity and intimidation evinced in these reckless attacks on Barrett are of a piece with the conduct that Judge Kaplan found to have marred so many key aspects of Donziger’s case against Chevron in Ecuador. Again and again, Donziger has undermined a plausible legal case with needless, transparent, and despicable lies.",Two clear-eyed books shed light on the murky suit over oil spilled in the Amazon. And a lawyer at the center of the case is attacking one of the authors.
"For a man who once weighed 980 pounds and had already lost 650 of them, the loss of 50 more — the amount that vanished after Paul Mason’s nine-and-a-half-hour operation last month — might not seem like a big deal.

But Mr. Mason, who at his heaviest was known informally as the world’s fattest man, had been all but crippled by those 50 pounds, loose skin that hung over his body like melted wax over a candlestick. And so its absence has made all the difference.

It means he can get out of his wheelchair and go for a walk. It means he can take a shower standing up. It means that his knees no longer ache, that he can slip easily in and out of bed without feeling like he has anvils strapped to his thighs, that he has sensation in his feet, and that when he puts his pants on he does not have to contend with an apron of extra flesh flopping from his waist to his thighs.

“It seems a bit weird,” Mr. Mason said recently. “I’d got so used to maneuvering my excess skin out of the way.”

It took a lot of planning and a great deal of good fortune for Mr. Mason, who is 54 and comes from Ipswich, England, to have the operation at all. Lenox Hill Hospital on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, where it was performed, waived all its fees. So did the four plastic surgeons who operated, and so did the general surgeon, the anesthesiologist and the nurses who took part.

Mr. Mason’s bills would probably have exceeded $250,000, said Dr. Jennifer Capla, the surgeon who led the team at Lenox Hill.

It took Mr. Mason a long time to get as fat as he was, and it has taken him a long time to try to shed all that weight and find a life approaching normalcy. Bullied, sexually abused and unloved as a child, he said he dulled his feelings with more and more food. Eventually he got into bed and kept eating until he became too heavy to get out. Finally, spurred by a sympathetic therapist, he had gastric bypass surgery, in England, overhauled his diet and dropped to 350 pounds.

This latest operation, in early May, was the culmination of two years of effort by Dr. Capla, a plastic surgeon in Manhattan who learned of Mr. Mason’s affliction when her mother, Judith Capla, also a doctor, saw news reports about him. Dr. Jennifer Capla specializes in loose-skin removal after extreme weight loss, but she had never operated on anyone whose weight loss was so extreme.

It was a complex case, and not only because of the logistics or the simple fact that there was more of Mr. Mason to remove than there usually is for patients in his position. His excessive weight had left him with a host of medical issues, including a history of blood clots, and Dr. Capla brought in three other plastic surgeons to assist in the operation: Dr. Wojciech Dec from Lenox Hill, and Dr. J. Peter Rubin and Dr. Joseph Michaels, former colleagues in Pittsburgh and Maryland.

The biggest challenge was presented by the many blood vessels in the skin to be removed. There were hundreds, each about four times normal size, Dr. Capla said, and they had to be identified and then individually cauterized and tied or clipped, a process that took hours. “If you miss just one, he could bleed out,” she said.

It took the doctors more than four hours to remove the first piece of skin, from the area around Mr. Mason’s midsection, and there was a feeling of triumph as they finally cut it away and laid it out on a table. The anesthesiologist monitoring Mr. Mason’s vital signs said that when that piece was removed, his CVP, which measures how hard the heart has to work to pump blood, fell instantly.

In the end, the surgeons excised about 25 pounds from Mr. Mason’s midsection and perhaps 25 to 30 from his legs, much of it concentrated in his right leg, which was so swollen with fluid that he was unable to walk more than a few steps. They went through about 140 suture packs, each representing about eight or nine sutures. “We’re talking about eight feet of incisions,” Dr. Capla said.

After he left the hospital, Mr. Mason recuperated for a few weeks in a Midtown Manhattan hotel room paid for by another benefactor, a businessman from Illinois.

The businessman, who did not want to be identified, told Mr. Mason that he was donating the money in honor of his late mother, who had also struggled with her weight, said Mr. Mason’s fiancée, Rebecca Mountain. (They met when she read about him online and got in touch with him through Facebook.) “His mom was really heavy and he felt a connection with what Paul was going through,” Ms. Mountain said.

Back at home now in Orange, Mass., where Mr. Mason has moved to be with Ms. Mountain, the couple still faces many obstacles.

Though her cat-furniture business is beginning to take off, Ms. Mountain said, she does all the work herself and she struggles to keep up with orders. Money is very tight, and there are issues surrounding Mr. Mason’s immigration status.

His visa is scheduled to run out in a few months. He and Ms. Mountain cannot get married and live together in the United States until she can prove to the authorities that she has the means to support him as well as herself, she said.

“Somehow or other he will find a way to stay, and then he can maybe take a part-time job in town,” she said.

“Stacking shelves, whatever I can do,” Mr. Mason said. “I don’t mind.”

Down the line, he hopes to have at least one more operation, to remove the flesh that still hangs from his upper arms. But that is in the future. At the moment Mr. Mason is just adjusting to his new self, emerging into a different life; one with more possibility.

He does not get as tired as he did just after the operation and is now walking his dog, Duke, in the garden every morning, something that was unthinkable before. He and Ms. Mountain have done some gardening, and are starting to make plans to grow vegetables and fruit.

The other day, they went to the movies. It seems like a small thing, but it wasn’t.

“I was able to sit in a cinema seat for the first time in 30 years and hold hands and cuddle, like couples do,” he said.

A version of this article appears in print on June 15, 2015, on page A15 of the New York edition with the headline: Down From 980 Pounds, With New Battles to Wage. Order Reprints| Today's Paper|Subscribe","For Paul Mason, who dropped 700 pounds, the last 50 made the biggest difference, when a team of surgeons in Manhattan removed his excess skin."
"The main difference between aggressive and conservative portfolios comes down to the balance between stocks and bonds. There's little difference between the stock portfolio of a 20-something and that of a retiree, other than the amount of stocks each owns.

Within equities, financial professionals urge investors to make sure to diversify among domestic and international stocks, since they often move in opposite directions. Also include small- and large-cap stocks to capture the performance of different company sizes.

But investors don't need to slice their equities too thinly with alternative investments. ""Alternatives are very confusing, and even a lot of advisors aren't that familiar with them,"" said Dory Rodriguez, wealth advisor with HighPoint Planning Partners.

Read MoreHow to solve the Social Security puzzle

Real estate is an exception, and many financial advisors recommend 5 percent to 10 percent allocation toward real estate investment trusts in most portfolios. However, REIT dividends are taxed as ordinary income, so hold them in tax-sheltered accounts, such as 401(k) plans and individual retirement accounts, to avoid the tax hit.

When it comes to bonds, a mix of corporate, Treasury and high-yield bonds diversifies across industries and interest-rate exposure.","Finding the right mix of stocks, bonds and other investments in a portfolio depends on a combination of age, needs and experience."
"Matt Spaccarelli, an unemployed student who won a small-claims fight with AT&T over its throttling, or slowing down, of his smartphone, wants to make it easier for anyone whose smartphone was throttled to fight the carrier in court. Over the weekend, he published a Web site containing the documentation he presented to a judge on Friday, which helped him win $850.

Mr. Spaccarelli filed the court case in mid-February and went to court with AT&T on Friday in Ventura Superior Court in Simi Valley, Calif. He claimed that AT&T had reduced the Internet transfer speeds of his iPhone to the point where it was so slow that it was unusable — in other words, severely limiting his “unlimited” data plan. The judge ruled in his favor.

On his Web site, www.taporc.com, Mr. Spaccarelli lists the forms a customer needs to go to small-claims court, as well a subpoena document that someone can use to request information from AT&T. He also includes documents describing what he read to the judge, as well as information about data speeds and government policies on networks.

“I don’t want people to think this dude just got lucky,” said Mr. Spaccarelli, emphasizing the importance of doing all your research before going to court.

Mr. Spaccarelli said he used these materials to help his brother, who has also been throttled by AT&T, file a court case on Monday night. He said he would be an expert witness for his brother, and for anyone who wanted to take AT&T to small-claims court, as long as they paid for his travel expenses.

“I said, ‘I’ll file it for you because I’m your brother,’” he said. “We’ll make it two-for-two and do it in L.A. County. Different county with a different judge, same evidence.”

AT&T, T-Mobile USA and Verizon each have data throttling policies that they enforce differently on customers with unlimited data plans. They say throttling is necessary to ensure that networks remain speedy and usable for the millions of customers switching from traditional cellphones to data-guzzling smartphones.","Matt Spaccarelli, an unemployed student who won a small-claims fight with AT&#038;T over its throttling, or slowing down, of his smartphone, wants to make it easier for anyone whose smartphone was throttled to fight the carrier in court. Over the weekend, he published a Web site containing all the documentation he presented to a judge when he presented his case on Friday and won $850."
"Who remembers the Scottish composer Ernest Bryson? He wrote a couple of forgotten symphonies and an even more forgotten opera called The Leper's Flute. But he has now found his place in history as the man who denounced Sir Edward Elgar as ""stupid"" and ""impertinent"".

It was all a bit of fuss about nothing much, according to letters found in the archive of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and now on show in the Picton reading room at the city's central library.

In 1924, officers of the Rodewald chamber music society wrote to Elgar, who by then had completed most of his greatest works, to invite him to become the society's president. Alfred Rodewald, a Liverpool businessman and musician who died in 1905, had founded and bankrolled the Liverpool Orchestral Society.

Elgar was not delighted by the invitation, apparently upset that the wishes of a close friend had been betrayed. ""I am much honoured by the invitation; I cannot accept the post of president,"" he replied. ""Alfred Rodewald was a very dear friend and if it were possible to carry on, under his name, some orchestral concerts I would be proud to be associated with the executive.

""Chamber music, in this case, is inadequate and it is a reproach to the musical taste of Liverpool that the orchestral concerts should have been allowed to disappear.""

The society then invited Bryson to take on the job Elgar had spurned and forwarded to him the great composer's letter. In his reply, Bryson accepted the presidency and then went in for a bit of self-righteous spluttering: ""I return Sir Edward Elgar's letter and do not understand why he should have seen fit to combine stupidity and impertinence in his reply to the society."" Ouch.

""The benefits of insulting the leading composer of the day are dubious but the correspondence with Elgar certainly makes interesting reading and says a lot about the way things were done back then,"" said Vasily Petrenko, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic's dynamic principal conductor, who helped launch Liverpool's year as capital of culture while leading his band from the top of a scissor lift.

Much of the archive has been collated by RLPO patron Vin Tyndall. The orchestra was then awarded a £50,000 heritage lottery grant to catalogue the collection, a process that took a full-time archivist and 30 volunteers two years to complete.

Items on show include programmes, autograph books (with the signatures of the Queen, Dickens, Paul McCartney and Rachmaninov), letters from Max Bruch, Sir Henry Wood and Sir Charles Hallé, and material relating to the all-woman McCullagh string quartet, founded in the 1920s. The archive also shows the rows did not only concern music: there was outrage when birth control campaigner Marie Stopes tried to book the Philharmonic Hall for a lecture.","Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra unveils archive of letters from composers Ernest Bryson and Edward Elgar, as well as historical collection of programmes and autograph books"
"If you're untroubled by dreams of falling and believe a floating sensation makes for a sound night's sleep, these daredevil pitches could be for you.

In the German Alps, campers can feel at one with nature in tents hung from tree branches high up in the forest canopy.

The only way to reach these unusual sleeping quarters, found in an activity park in Kappel, is with the assistance of a rope. Those that dare to do so are rewarded with majestic views of the Pfronten mountains, near the Austrian border, at a cost of £211 a night.

A second option for extreme campers is to spend the afternoon rock climbing before getting cosy halfway up a sheer 2000m rock face.

Campers can experience the ultimate in peace and quiet (provided there is no wind) on these suspended ""portaledges"", built around a sturdy frame, strong camping ropes... and that's about it.

Those attempting to sleep here can only carry the bare essentials up with them - a sleeping bag, rope and some basic dinner. There's no going back for your toothbrush on this mini-break, only available during the summer and for £753 per person.

The activity company that offers such adventurous camping, Waldseilgarten Höllschlucht (www.waldseilgarten-hoellschlucht.de), also organises a night's stay in igloos, with time set aside in the day to have a go at building your own.",Adventurous types can camp in the branches of a tree or mid-way up a cliff in the German Alps.
"Facebook has been in talks for months with U.S. government officials and wireless carriers with an eye toward unveiling an American version of an app that has caused controversy abroad, according to multiple people familiar with the matter.

The social media giant is trying to determine how to roll out its program, known as Free Basics, in the United States without triggering the regulatory scrutiny that effectively killed a version of the app in India earlier this year. If Facebook succeeds with its U.S. agenda for Free Basics — which has not been previously reported — it would mark a major victory for the company as it seeks to connect millions more to the Web, and to its own platform.

Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi met with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg in New Delhi Friday. The two discussed using Facebook as a tool to engage a wider audience in ""the service of humanity."" (YouTube: Narendra Modi)

The U.S. version of Free Basics would target low-income and rural Americans who cannot afford reliable, high-speed Internet at home or on smartphones. The app does not directly pay for users' mobile data. Rather, it allows users to stretch their data plans by offering, in partnership with wireless carriers, free Internet access to resources such as online news, health information and job leads.

Exactly what specific services would be offered in the U.S. app has not been determined. But the idea to bring Free Basics to the United States is likely to rekindle a long-running debate about the future of the Internet. On one side are those who view services such as Facebook's as a critical tool in connecting underserved populations to the Internet, in some cases for the first time. On the other side are those who argue that exempting services from data caps creates a multitiered playing field that favors businesses with the expertise and budgets to participate in such programs.

The fight over this tactic, known as “zero-rating,” has largely taken place overseas where local start-ups are mixing with globally established firms in still-nascent Internet economies. But a U.S. launch of Free Basics would bring the discussion to American shores in a major way.

Since at least the spring, Facebook has been trying to persuade numerous small and rural cellular service providers to support Free Basics, which is already available in 49 countries, and waive any data charges the app may incur. It has also floated the idea to White House officials involved with President Obama's technology agenda.

“While we have nothing to announce,” the company said in a statement, “Facebook’s mission is to connect the world and we’re always exploring ways to do that, including in the United States.”

The effort to offer a U.S.-based version of Free Basics is moving forward in fits and starts, said the people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the effort has not been publicly revealed.

In particular, the company wants to ensure that Free Basics will be viewed favorably by the U.S. government before it launches, thus avoiding a costly repeat of its experience in India.

Regulators there banned the app in February after consumer advocates argued Facebook was handpicking the services users could see and access on Free Basics, potentially disadvantaging any competing companies and nonprofit groups that were left out of the program.

In the wake of the uproar, Facebook updated its approach to Free Basics. It currently allows any third-party organization to offer its services as part of the program, provided that the organization's developers abide by terms that, for example, prohibit the use of high-definition images or video that could consume a great deal of mobile data.

U.S. Internet advocates have called on the Federal Communications Commission to regulate zero-rating under its net neutrality rules. The practice, they argue, risks tilting the online marketplace to benefit large, established firms, or the corporate partners of those firms.

“Zero-rating is pernicious, unfair and unnecessary,” said Susan Crawford, a law professor at Harvard who has advocated for strong regulation of the broadband industry. Permitting the practice would simply enable “the gameplaying of companies who have a strong interest in maintaining the status quo.”

The agency has not decided whether to take action. Earlier this year, FCC officials met with Internet providers including Comcast, T-Mobile and Verizon to study the issue. The agency's chairman, Tom Wheeler, told reporters last month that he is still “trying to make sure we understand” the full implications of the practice, despite months of deliberation.

“Things move at the pace that is appropriate,” he said. “I think we're doing a good job.”

Facebook has not attempted to strike a deal with national wireless carriers such as T-Mobile or AT&T, said the people familiar with the matter, over concerns that regulators may perceive the move as anti-competitive. Instead, it has pursued relationships with lesser-known carriers.

While Free Basics may give these wireless companies a new way to reach consumers, some analysts say Facebook's pitch could give those businesses pause. FCC scrutiny over zero-rating could raise legal and regulatory costs for these carriers as they seek to explain their role in the program in Washington, said Craig Moffett, a telecom analyst at MoffettNathanson. He added that carriers mulling a relationship with Facebook must also consider how the terms of that relationship might change in the future.

“There's a bigger question of opening a Pandora's box,” Moffett said. “You'd have to be concerned that Facebook might ultimately usurp the customer relationship and, at renewal time, demand to be paid rather than just carried [by the wireless company].""

Still, other policy advocates say that Free Basics could help close a persistent economic divide in the United States when it comes to connectivity. By making it easier for underserved populations to access civic and social services online, more Americans could join the ranks of those who benefit from high-speed Internet, said Nicol Turner-Lee, a vice president at the Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council.

“It wouldn't be a bad idea to bring that here, because we face many of the same challenges in historically disadvantaged communities” as developing countries do, said Turner-Lee.

Cost remains a significant factor in preventing some Americans, particularly minorities and the poor, from getting online. A recent study by the Pew Research Center found that 15 percent of adults have few options other than a cellphone for accessing the Internet. And 48 percent of those who depend on a smartphone to get online have reported having to cancel or suspend their wireless service because they can't afford it.

Others who have eschewed an Internet connection cite relevance and ease of use as reasons for not getting online. Sixty-eight percent of adults in Pew's survey said the Internet is a waste of time, too hard to use or some other related reason.

A program such as Free Basics could reverse some of these trends, Turner-Lee said, acting as a portal to access education, financial services or even Healthcare.gov, the federal health insurance marketplace, without the need to pay for mobile data. For needy populations, it could provide a financial leg up. For the skeptical, it may help demonstrate the benefits of an Internet connection. And for Obama, it may be a way to shore up some of his signature policy initiatives.

“This is another way to ensure that this administration has a legacy with some of those programs, if they become part of the Free Basics suite,” Turner-Lee said.

Wireless carriers have an incentive to participate in Free Basics as well, Facebook has said. Many may be able to convert Free Basics users into regular paying customers. About half of those who log on to the Internet for the first time as a result of Free Basics wind up paying for a mobile data plan within the first 30 days of use, according to Facebook.

While there often isn't a business case for building mobile Internet access in rural areas, Facebook could help improve that case, according to a trade group that represents multiple carriers that have spoken to Facebook about Free Basics.

""Facebook’s Free Basics is yet another way competitive carriers can improve the lives of rural Americans,"" the Competitive Carriers Association said, ""by increasing access to and adoption of broadband, and a partnership with Facebook would certainly further CCA’s mission.""",The company has spent the past half-year in conversations with officials.
"NORFOLK, Feb. 18 -- Fellow conservative religious leaders have expressed concern over and open criticism of Pat Robertson's habit of shooting from the lip on his daily religious news-and-talk television program, ""The 700 Club.""

The Christian Coalition founder and former GOP presidential candidate has said U.S. agents should assassinate Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and suggested that Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's stroke was divine retribution for the Israeli pullout from the Gaza Strip.

Some observers say Robertson, who will be 76 next month, courts controversy as a strategy to remain in the public eye and to keep his followers mobilized. Others say that he is important to the evangelical movement that he helped create when he established the Virginia Beach-based Christian Broadcasting Network in 1960, but that he needs to stop damaging it with his words.

He canceled a speech planned for Tuesday at the closing banquet of the National Religious Broadcasters convention in Dallas after NRB leaders said they were worried that his appearance could detract from the event.

""He is in a very visible leadership position, and comments such as recent ones related to Mr. Sharon and so many others are misinformed and presumptuous and border on arrogance,"" said David S. Dockery, president of Union University, a private college affiliated with the Tennessee Baptist Convention. ""It puts the evangelical movement in a bad light.""

Robertson, through a spokesman, declined to be interviewed.

He apologized after facing swift condemnation for his Jan. 5 statement that Sharon was punished for ""dividing God's land.""

Richard Land, president of the Southern Baptist Convention's ethics and religious liberty commission, has said he was ""appalled that Pat Robertson would claim to know the mind of God concerning whether particular tragic events . . . were the judgments of God.""

Barry Hankins, professor of history and church-state studies at Baylor University, said Robertson tries to interpret contemporary events as ""being part of the drama of God's activity in the world.""

Brian Britt, director of the religious studies program at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, said Robertson's remarks are not just ""off-the-wall"" but part of a strategy that earns him headlines.

When people attack Robertson, he wins sympathy for appearing to be an underdog, Britt said. ""It reinforces an image of Christianity as a persecuted religion, a religion that is being hounded by the secularists,"" he said.","Get Washington DC, Virginia, Maryland and national news. Get the latest/breaking news, featuring national security, science and courts. Read news headlines from the nation and from The Washington Post. Visit www.washingtonpost.com/nation today."
"Caitlyn Jenner (left) and Kim Kardashian West

01/02/2016 AT 09:30 AM EST

skipped the wild club night on New Year's Eve in favor of a low-key party with family and friends – including

The new mom shared photos from her New Year's Eve celebration on Instagram, showing her posing with friends Clara DiBello and Tracy Nguyen as well as sister

. Kardashian West even skipped the sexy New Year's Eve dress in favor of a black sweatshirt and French braids.

that the night involved pajamas and games: ""We rang in the New Year in our pajamas with family, friends and a competitive game of Taboo (and yes, the girls won)!""

A photo posted by Kim Kardashian West (@kimkardashian) on Jan 1, 2016 at 3:07am PST

A photo posted by Kim Kardashian West (@kimkardashian) on Jan 1, 2016 at 3:10am PST

Not everyone in the Kardashian-Jenner family was spending New Year's Eve at home.

spent the holiday with NBA boyfriend James Harden, where the pair

. Scott Disick also took the club route,

. Meanwhile, Kendall Jenner was

over the holiday. Kendall's mother, Kris Jenner,

with her boyfriend, Corey Gamble.

Earlier this week, Kardashian West revealed

, saying she'd like to ""shed the baby weight"" she gained while pregnant with Saint West and finish renovations on the family's home.

She added, ""I also want to plan a West family vacation – it's a project in itself to find the time!""

The holiday season hasn't just been about parties and vacations for the Kardashian family.",The night involved pajamas and board games
"The European Union’s top antitrust official doesn’t sound very happy with the information Google goog has so far given her after she charged the company with violating competition law.

“Google gave us a very substantial answer, and what we need to do is ask them for more data to have a comprehensive picture so they aren’t just giving us data that solely substantiates their position,” competition commissioner Margrethe Vestager said in a New York Times interview.

It is now just under 11 months since the European Commission issued a so-called statement of objections against Google, alleging that it has abused its position (it holds over 90% of the EU search market) to favor its own comparison shopping services.

Get Data Sheet, Fortune’s technology newsletter.

The company stands accused of boosting the prominence of its own service’s results over that of its rivals by displaying its own comparison shopping service at the top of its search results pages.

Google is now in the process of defending itself and trying to ward off sanctions by the commission that would force it to change its ways. Google CEO Sundar Pichai visited Vestager last month, with the case being a likely topic of conversation.

The commission is also investigating many other complaints against Google, notably to do with its control over the Android ecosystem and the way in which it operates in the ad industry. However, so far it has only issued charges over the comparison-shopping issue.

For more on the antitrust suit, watch:

Vestager described that case as a “huge task” for her directorate. A spokesman for the department declined to say which data it was that Google wasn’t offering up to Vestager’s liking, nor when the case was likely to see some kind of resolution.

A Google spokesman had not replied to a request for comment at the time of writing.",Margrethe Vestager said in an interview that the data Google has so far given in its defense is very selective.
"On September 30, the two decided to ride their personal watercraft to the Mexican side of the lake to see a historical church, Hartley said.

But she said the couple was confronted by three boats, and men -- believed to be linked to a Mexican drug gang -- began shooting at them when they tried to flee. She said she saw her husband shot and attempted to pull him on board her watercraft.

David Hartley's body has not been found, despite extensive searches by both U.S. and Mexican authorities.

Most recently, Mexican authorities suspended their search after the head of the lead investigator in the case was found on the side of the road.

On Tuesday, however, Mexican investigators conducted a re-enactment at the lake, State Department spokeswoman Virginia Staab said.

Young said the move to Colorado does not signal an end to their search for justice.

""We are not giving up. We will continue to call congressmen and lawmakers until they find David, and we will return immediately when they find his body,"" she said.

""Just because I'm going to Colorado doesn't mean I'm done,"" she said. ""You'll still hear from me. I'm still going to be out fighting for my husband and fighting for everyone on the border.""

Earlier this week, Hartley pleaded for help in finding her husband.

""I plea to the people who did this. To anybody who knows who did this,"" she said on CNN's ""AC360"" on Monday night. ""Just give me my husband back. I want to take him home and honor him. And I am sure somebody out there knows. Just help me bring my husband home.""","Tiffany Hartley, who reported that her husband was shot by gunmen in Mexico last month, is moving from Texas to Colorado with a trace of his body yet to be found.""This is a very difficult day for"
"Girl Scout cookie milk is in stores now. (Nestle Nesquik)

Now, you can dunk your Girl Scout cookies into Girl Scout cookie-flavored milk.

The unmistakably addictive flavor of two of the most popular cookies of all time have made their way into Nesquik milk. Girl Scout’s Thin Mints and Samoas are lending their signature sweetness to the On-the-Go beverage, available at select stores now.

We’ve seen Girl Scout ice cream, candy bars and coffee creamer but this may be the first calcium fortified cookie-flavored product out there. But at 300 calories per each 16-ounce bottle of the Caramel Coconut (Samoa), it’s about twice the calories for a similar serving of skim milk.

According to Nesquik's homepage, these drinkable treats are only around for a limited time.",Dunk your cookies into cookie flavored milk.
"01/09/2015 AT 02:35 PM EST

""Elastic Heart"" Wednesday, controversy ensued.

alum Maddie Ziegler dancing half-dressed in a bird cage. Detractors deemed the piece inappropriate, criticizing the clip for its sexual undertones – namely the physical contact between LaBeouf, 28, and 12-year-old Ziegler – that some believe

took to social media Wednesday to say sorry over the course of several Tweets:

""I anticipated some '[pedophilia]'!!!' Cries for this video. All I can say is Maddie and Shia are two of the only actors I felt could play … These two [warring] 'Sia' self states,""

: ""I apologize to those who feel triggered by #ElasticHeart My intention was to create some emotional content, not to upset anybody.""

While the clip – co-directed by Daniel Askill – picked up its fair share of flak, came to its defense, citing that it's art, not pedophilia.

Popular music site Consequence of Sound's Michelle Geslani

, writing: ""Interpretive dance is just that – interpretive. Also, as we've come to learn more about Sia and the kind of artist she is, I think it's safe to say that the art which she puts forth always has a deeper meaning. Skin doesn't always = Sex. Touching doesn't always = Lust. Dancing doesn't always indicate something carnal.""

As for the stars of the video, LaBeouf has yet to comment on the controversy (he just Tweeted the video the day of its release). Ziegler talked to

about working with the older

""I felt like I knew him when I met him. Before we started filming 'Elastic Heart,' he took my mom and I to eat, just to start to know each other and stuff. You have to get used to your dance partner. Even though we're battling and fighting against each other, we still have to know each other, you know? You can't just walk in and be like, 'Hey, let's start dancing with each other!'"" Ziegler

I anticipated some 'pedophelia!!!' Cries for this video. All I can say is Maddie and Shia are two of the only actors I felt could play

These two warring 'sia' self states.

I apologize to those who feel triggered by #ElasticHeart My intention was to create some emotional content, not to upset anybody.","""My intention was to create some emotional content, not upset anybody,"" the singer Tweeted"
"Michael G. Oxley, a former Ohio representative who helped write landmark anti-fraud legislation, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, after a wave of corporate scandals that brought down the Enron Corporation and WorldCom, died on Friday in McLean, Va. He was 71.

The cause was non-small cell lung cancer, a type of lung cancer seen in nonsmokers, said his wife, Patricia. Mr. Oxley was chairman of the Lung Cancer Alliance board of directors.

Mr. Oxley, a Republican, left Congress in 2007 after 25 years in the House, where he devoted most of his time to issues involving corporate oversight and insurance protection.

He led an effort to investigate Enron, the failed energy company, and helped create new accounting requirements in the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, which took effect in 2002. Senator Paul S. Sarbanes, Democrat of Maryland, also sponsored the legislation.

The law reshaped corporate oversight after accounting scandals in 2001 and 2002 at Enron, WorldCom and other major corporations exposed inadequate internal controls and auditors who had become too cozy with the companies whose books they examined. Those scandals and others wiped out retirement accounts and cost investors billions of dollars. Small companies later complained that the law brought added costs to comply with reporting requirements.

Pro-business conservatives argued that a board established to oversee the accounting industry and the industry’s own regulators had violated the separation of powers and challenged the law in court.

The Supreme Court in 2010 agreed that the law violated the Constitution’s separation of powers mandate. But its decision required only a slight change in allowing the removal of members of the oversight board.

In the House, Mr. Oxley was chairman of the financial services committee, which has jurisdiction over banking and Wall Street issues.

Michael Garver Oxley was born on Feb. 11, 1944, in Findlay, Ohio. He graduated from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, and received a law degree from Ohio State.

Mr. Oxley, a former F.B.I. agent, advocated giving the police greater ability to unscramble encrypted computer files. He was the main sponsor of legislation in the House requiring operators of commercial websites to restrict young people’s access to sexually explicit material.

He was an F.B.I. agent for three years before he was elected to the Ohio House in 1972. He won a special election to Congress in 1981 by 341 votes to fill a vacancy caused by the death of Tennyson Guyer.

Mr. Oxley rarely faced a close election after that.

After his retirement, Mr. Oxley became a lobbyist in the financial sector.

In addition to his wife, survivors include a son, Michael Chadd Oxley, and a grandson.

A version of this article appears in print on January 2, 2016, on page B6 of the New York edition with the headline: Michael G. Oxley, 71, Co-Author of Anti-Fraud Legislation . Order Reprints| Today's Paper|Subscribe","Mr. Oxley, a former Ohio representative helped write the Sarbanes-Oxley Act after a wave of corporate scandals that brought down the Enron Corporation and WorldCom."
"Stephen Colbert frets over news of a global bacon shortage on ""Colbert Report.""

Stephen Colbert was in rare form on Wednesday, offending a laundry list of religions with his political theories behind the pending bacon shortage and the movement to get people praying for a Romney win.

Not surprisingly, the bacon story came first. The expected dearth in the supply of America’s favorite breakfast meat has been all over the news, and Colbert isn’t buying the explanation that a drought is the cause.

“Just think about it -- who’s not supposed to eat bacon? Well, Jews first, but most of the Jews I know eat it anyway. No, I’m talking about the really observant Jews -- Muslims. They won’t even touch bacon. Which means this bacon shortage is nothing less than creeping Sharia law.”

And like the commentators whose opinions he channels, Colbert knows who’s at fault.

“You know who I blame? Barack Obama. I have been warning you for years about his kowtowing to Islamic extremists, and now the chicken schwarma is coming home to roost,” he said. The next thing you know, Cat Deeley is hosting ‘So You Think You Can Dervish.”

Which would be far from the most bizarre reality show on TV today.

But anyone worried that Colbert would spend the whole show on Islam didn’t need to worry. He soon turned the topic over to Christianity. More specifically, the “40 Days to Save America” website that asks pastors and congregations to commit to asking God for help electing their desired candidates, arguing that “prayer + fasting + action equals change”

“That’s amazing. Usually prayer plus fasting plus action equals passing out,” Colbert said.

The pastor behind the movement, Rick Scarborough, helped launch Rick Perry’s presidential campaign with a prayer rally. We all know how that turned out. But as Colbert noted: “Pastor Scarborough did credit the rally with ending the drought in Texas. So clearly his prayers work on natural disasters, which is a perfect match for the Romney campaign.”

“This prayer will help Mitt Romney win over undecided voters, especially the biggest undecided voter of them all -- God. I mean, he may be all-knowing, but he would still like to know a little bit more about Mitt’s tax returns,"" according to Colbert. ""In fact, God is three undecided voters – the father, son and holy spirit. And you have to figure the son is leaning Obama, what with the long hair and the loaves and fishes handouts to the poor. Get a job, hippie!”

But if Jesus is a long shot under that scenario, Colbert thinks this approach has a better shot with God, who as traditionally depicted fits the Romney demographic.

“He’s old, male, vengeful, and he lives in a gated community.”

But there's someone who doesn't connect with either Romney or Obama, at least when it comes to the bottom line. On Wednesday night's ""Late Show,"" David Letterman spoke with British Prime Minister David Cameron, who scoffed at the billion-plus budgets of American political campaigns.

""It's a really big difference between us,"" Cameron said of the campaign process. ""We don't allow political parties to advertise on television, so that massively cuts the cost.""

With applause from the ""Late Show"" audience, Cameron added, ""I've never uttered the words, 'I'm David Cameron, and I approve this message.'""

In honor of the gathering of the United Nations General Assembly in New York this week, Letterman then turned his focus to a Top Ten roundup on Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad -- specifically, ""words that almost rhyme with Mahmoud.""

""I'm sure in Iran, it's probably a very common name,"" the host began, ""But to us, it has an odd sound to our ear.""

So with the help of a rhyming dictionary and a ""special thesaurus,"" he offered such entries as ""muumuu,"" ""Brit Hume,"" ""mom nude,"" and his No. 1 pick, ""Mets booed.""","Stephen Colbert was in rare form on Wednesday, offending a laundry list of religions with his political theories behind the pending bacon shortage and the movement to get people praying for a Romney win.
Not surprisingly, the bacon story came first. The expected dearth in the su …"
"The latest winter storm to hit the U.S. East Coast grounded more than 6,000 flights Thursday, while hundreds of thousands in the ice-encrusted South remained without power.

“Snow has become a four-letter word,” said Tom McGarrigle, chairman of the Delaware County Council in suburban Philadelphia.

Washington, D.C., had at least 8 inches (203 millimeters), and federal offices and the city’s two main airports were closed. New York City had at least 8 inches.

At least 18 deaths, most of them in traffic accidents, were blamed on the storm as it made its way across the South and up the coast.

Among the victims was a pregnant woman who was struck and killed by a snowplow in New York City. Her baby was delivered in critical condition via cesarean section.

About 750,000 homes and businesses were left without power in Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina and Alabama, with scattered outages reported in the mid-Atlantic.

More than 200,000 households and businesses in the Atlanta area alone were waiting for the electricity to come back on. Temperatures were expected to drop below freezing again overnight.",Many New York streets deserted and Washington’s airports closed after heavy snowstorm. Follow the latest details here
"Actualizado nov 28, 2012 12:37 a.m. ET

México - El ex portero Miguel Calero presenta una inflamación, la cual estaba contemplada, por lo que se estudia la posibilidad de practicarle un procedimiento, pero en general su estado de salud se mantiene estable, tras la trombosis cerebral que sufrió el pasado domingo.

De acuerdo a un boletín del equipo Pachuca, se le realizó una tomografía la cual muestra una inflamación, contemplada por el neurocirujano Edgar Nathal, así como José Antonio Torres, jefe de los servicios médicos del cuadro hidalguense.

""Se muestra una inflamación, misma que será considerada por el cuerpo médico esta tarde noche y se determinará si se le practican maniobras de descompresión quirúrgica"", estableció

Asimismo, se explicó que ""lo anterior es un procedimiento de carácter preventivo, que el mismo cuerpo médico desde del inicio del tratamiento tenían considerado practicar"".

Calero sufrió una trombosis, por lo que fue trasladado en helicóptero a un hospital al sur de la capital del país, donde está internado.","M&#233;dico del club Pachuca sigue al pendiente de la
evoluci&#243;n de Miguel Calero"
"USA TODAY spins you through the league with keys to each teams' victory, injury information, fast facts and more for the NFL's Week 7:

Eli Manning threw two touchdown passes to lead the New York Giants to a 28-20 victory over Detroit and send the error-prone Lions to an NFL record-tying 24th straight road loss.

Justin Tuck swears this is all about trust. One week, the New York Giants defense ravages the Chicago Bears for 10 sacks. The next week, it dismantles the Houston Texans and holds the NFL's top-ranked rushing attack to a paltry 24 yards.

Every week, the Bruno Boys take a look at the top-10 defenses in terms of sacks and their opponents' ability to protect their signal callers.

USA TODAY spins you through the league with keys to each teams' victory, injury information, fast facts and more for the NFL's Week 6:

I don't want to be the one to rain on the parade of positivity about the Giants' safety play this year, but for all of the good things Antrel Rolle has done this season, he had two very notable gaffes in the contest against the Lions last week. The

...up crazy penalty yardage, the Cowboys will finally get it together enough to keep this one tight while Eli Manning just does his Eli Manning thing: handing off and managing the clock. Smells like under. Pick: Under Last week: 1-2 Season record: 8-11...

...High Offense is through the air, look for a healthy Moreno to go BOOM against the league's 31st-ranked rush defense. Eli Manning @ the Cowboys: After a sub-200-yard outing against the lowly Detroit Lions (yes, those Lions), expect Manning to be at his best...

...at Tennessee, he tutored Heath Shuler and Peyton Manning. During his tenor as Mississippi's coach, Cutcliffe coached Eli Manning. At Duke, he helped Thaddeus Lewis earn second team All-ACC honors twice. With that kind of resume, Cutcliffe is obviously qualified...

1 Carolina: Patrick Peterson, CB, LSU Notes: With young players at quarterback and defensive end, Carolina goes for the best available player and the best cornerback we've seen in college for a long time. 2 Buffalo: Andrew Luck, QB, Stanford Notes:

It was garbage time, the final minutes of an embarrassing 34-10 rout on Sunday that sent thousands streaming out of Reliant Stadium to get an early jump on the traffic jam and left the Houston Texans with a bushel of questions about their legitimacy as a playoff contender. But Brian Cushing wanted to keep playing.

Baseball could not have planned this better if the fix had been in. They have center stage to themselves tonight in an elimination game with two of the best pitches in baseball. Cliff Lee vs. David Price for the right to play the most iconic franchise in sports history. You can't make this stuff up.

Every Monday, we examine whether what we saw over the weekend was real or a fluke:

Eli Manning might have been one of the most vilified fantasy players heading into Sunday after his back-to-back zero-TD games the prior two weeks. Hopefully, though, you stuck with Manning, who responded with 297 yards and three touchdowns as one of the best quarterbacks of the week.

Gary Kubiak was as stunned as anybody. After a good week of practice and with the stakes of a big game in the wind, the Houston Texans coached never expected that he would be left to explain the complete collapse that occurred during a deflating 34-10 beat down from the New York Giants.","Collection of all USATODAY.com coverage of Eli Manning., including articles, videos, photos, and quotes."
"New York’s international graffiti mecca 5 Pointz was erased overnight when the paintings were buffed over on the orders of the property's owners.

The five-story warehouse complex in Queens, which has hosted a curated selection of graffiti since 2002, was a popular gathering place for art fans; its murals were a familiar sight to New York subway passengers as they passed through the Long Island City neighborhood. But in August, city officials granted Jerry and David Wolkoff, who own the building, permission to demolish the site.

The surprise overnight whitewash brought condemnation from artists, fans and volunteers who had gathered at the spot on Tuesday, many in tears.

“What’s super disrespectful is that the whole thing about 5 Pointz is: it’s legal painting,"" said 5 Pointz volunteer Rebekah Kennedy. ""For someone to come in and wash it away … that's the biggest vandal.""

She said that before the destruction, volunteers had been working on a way to preserve the art or the building as a landmark. “To just take it away is the biggest 'fuck you' that can happen,” Kennedy said.

On Tuesday afternoon, volunteers taped large pieces of white to the walls inside the building’s loading dock center, where halal cart workers were still driving in and out of the yard. People had taken markers to the signs in tribute: “We played by the rules,” read one. Another bore a quote from Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg address, which was delivered 150 years ago, today: “We are met on a great battlefield of that war.”

Owner Jerry Wolkoff defended the overnight destruction in an interview with NBC 4 New York. ""I can imagine going one piece, one piece, and going through hell, torture to everybody,"" he said. ""So I said, 'Let me do it one time and end this torture one time,’” he said. He compared the action to forcing a child to take medicine.

""In the new building we're going to let them come back, and it's going to be similar and better,"" Wolkoff said, explaining that the new building will have a 60-foot wraparound wall for graffiti. ""They're upset with me now, but it's the right thing for both of us.”

He later expanded his defence in an interview with New York magazine: ""I told the police to be there. The last thing I wanted was any confrontation. I didn't want any of them to be arrested. I have so much respect for them. It's my building, I can paint on it. I would feel terrible if someone got arrested.""

Comedy writer Joe Garden, who passes the spot on his way to work, called the destruction ""an abomination"" and said it ""really seems spiteful and unnecessary, verging on cruel"".

Confirmed 5 Pointz graffiti Mecca was painted over last night pic.twitter.com/tweDokQR2Y

Painting over 5 Pointz before tearing it down is one of the most artistically and culturally disrespectful moves I've seen in a while. Damn.

Danny Simmons, a gallery owner and artist who testified in a lawsuit brought by 5 Pointz representatives, said the building has been “a repository of hip-hop history and a place of beauty and wonder”. Simmons is the older brother of hip-hop mogul Russell, and Joseph, or Rev Run, of Run DMC, and all three were closely tied to the rise of hip-hop culture.

Danny Simmons said: “It’s been a major tourist attraction for the city – a place where young and old could go for free and let their imaginations run wild. It was an inspiration to art’s free spirit and spoke volumes to artists like myself about color and form. With the painting over and razing of this building, the arts and NYC has been sorely diminished. It will be missed, but the spirit of art for and by the people lives on.”

Artists have been painting on the property since the early 1990s, with permission from the Wolkoffs. But the owners decided in 2010 to demolish the building to make room for two luxury residential towers.

5 Pointz representatives, led by curator Jonathan Cohen, also known as Meres One, had been at odds with the Wolkoffs for several years after an artist was seriously injured in 2009 when an outdoor staircase broke. New York’s building department ordered the largest structure in the complex to close following the incident, but in mid-October the building was still standing.

Since the city granted the property owners permission to demolish the building, Meres and fellow curator Marie Cecile Flageul have been fighting a losing battle. With a band of other graffiti artists, 5 Pointz launched a lawsuit against the Wolkoffs, but federal district judge Frederic Block ruled last week in the Wolkoffs' favour.

On Saturday, the 5 Pointz crew held what would be the final rally to preserve the building. There were also plans to appeal Block’s decision, and petitions from around the world were submitted in support.

The decision to paint over the murals comes just after Banksy held a month-long New York residency in October, which ended with him writing a brief comment on his website to ""Save 5 Pointz.""","Artworks at Queens graffiti site buffed over at the behest of the property owners, who want to pull it down to build luxury condos"
"When Fox unveiled its 2014-15 schedule to advertisers in May, soon-to-be-former network head Kevin Reilly introduced one of its new sitcoms, Mulaney, as having “the makings of a Seinfeld for a new generation.” It was an eyebrow-raiser, partly because (1) talk about setting the bar high for the poor show and (2) how many shows over the past 25 years have even tried, let alone been able to legitimately claim, to be the next Seinfeld?

There’s a lot of talk around the show’s quarter-century anniversary (July 5) about its legacy, and sure, it has plenty, beyond its continuing ubiquity, quotability and popularity in reruns. You could argue that it allowed future sitcoms to assume a more sophisticated comedy audience (OK, though it’s not like Cheers was exactly Hee Haw). In New York magazine, Matt Zoller Seitz argues incisively that its influence was at least as much in drama as comedy, as its unlikeable-yet-much-loved characters “paved the way” for antiheroes like Tony Soprano.

And yet–as maybe befits a show that didn’t go soft and have its characters start families–Seinfeld doesn’t have nearly as many kids running around the neighborhood as its contemporaries or followers. Friends begat a zillion young-adult hangout comedies. The surrogate-family structure of Cheers is everywhere, as is the reality-TV influenced mock-realism of The Office and the machine-gun jokestream of The Simpsons. The X-Files, Lost, The Sopranos, American Idol have been relentlessly homaged and stolen from.

Seinfeld, on the other hand, is at best echoed, and only rarely well. Excepting Curb Your Enthusiasm–can Larry David be influenced by himself?–maybe the only current comedy that’s reproduced Seinfeld‘s gleeful mercenary approach to comedy is It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. For the most part, though, after 25 years, Seinfeld is like its quartet of incarcerated characters were at the end of its finale–alone in its world, sufficient unto itself.

That’s not a criticism of Seinfeld. It’s one more reason the show is great.

There’s a tendency in criticism, not just TV criticism, to define greatness by influence. Great artists don’t just paint canvases, they launch movements. Great musicians pass on their DNA–like The Velvet Underground, of whom it was said everyone who bought their first album started a band. Maybe it’s a way of quantifying what’s ultimately a subjective judgment: if you can point to a legacy, to followers, to a school, you’re saying that history agrees with your verdict.

Influence is one measure of greatness, but another, opposite one is inimitability. Some great art reproduces virally. And some is the product of a perspective (or in the case of Seinfeld and David, two) that nature can’t come up with twice. There will always be wild-eyed poets, but there was exactly one William Blake.

Which is why in many ways Seinfeld seems as different from anything on the air today as it did 25 years ago. (OK, 24 years ago–it took a while for Seinfeld to really become Seinfeld.) It has a comedian’s purity of focus on the sanctity of the joke above all–above sentiment, “relatability,” larger social meaning–that still feels bracingly we-don’t-give-a-damn. (Bryan Cranston’s dentist, who converted to Judaism out of no larger social agenda but simply “for the jokes” may have been the most echt-Seinfeldian of all Seinfeld bit characters.) Sex and the City mirrored its quartet structure and observed New York City minutely, but God help Seinfeld if it ever tapped out a what-it-all-means on its laptop. There are many sitcoms today of equal or greater ambition, but Louie and Girls, say, are still devoted to being about things: Jerry, George and company would sooner spend life in prison than wax philosophical about love or be the voice of anyone’s generation, even ironically.

And “no hugging, no learning”? Cosby-esque “learning” may be out of fashion but there’s plenty of hugging on the brilliant likes of Parks and Recreation. Arrested Development had a Seinfeldian darkness, but it still told you that family was more important than breakfast. (Jerry had a kitchen full of cereal to refute that argument.) Hell, even antihero dramas like Breaking Bad assume a moral universe of good and bad and judgment. George may not have poisoned his wedding envelopes, but his shrugging off Susan’s death was in its way colder and more gangster than anything Walter White did with Lily of the Valley.

People have had a lot of fun imagining how Seinfeld might be received today in the Outrage Dome of social media. College Humor, for instance, wondered what if would be like “If People Talked About Seinfeld Like They Talk About Girls.” It’s a funny bit, but in fact people did assail the show’s whiteness and privilege back then, its racial missteps like the Puerto Rican Day Parade episode and its alleged nihilism–there just weren’t as many platforms to do it from. The Twitter account Modern Seinfeld, likewise, imagines the show in the era of Instagram, but honestly, there’s no modernizing Seinfeld: it’s as audacious, timeless, and unparalleled as when it was made.

Which is why I don’t expect, or really want, ever to see a “Seinfeld for a new generation”: the show exists outside generations and time. Oh, and Mulaney? I’ve seen the pilot. It’s fine, and there are some superficial Seinfeld similarities (standup comedy segments, friends hanging out in the lead character’s apartment) but it probably needs time to find itself, just like a certain sitcom did 25 years ago. If it does–who knows?–it could become something that is like nothing else. This is the Zen koan of TV comedy: How do you become the next Seinfeld? By not being it.",Some TV shows are classics because of all the followers they influenced. Seinfeld is one great that's never truly been imitated.
"Alibaba said today it will spend $1 billion to buy control of the top e-commerce player in Southeast Asia, signalling a strategy to control the majority of markets around China.

The company said the move expands Alibaba’s footprint, and in effect the Western brands selling on its sites, to six countries in the region comprising 560 million people. Alibaba’s new president Michael Evans, a former Goldman Sachs banker tasked with growing Alibaba internationally, said the deal supported “our ecosystem expansion in Southeast Asia to better serve our customers.”

Lazada, a practical unknown in the West, was started by the Berlin-based Rocket Internet AG in 2011 to take advantage of Amazon’s weak presence in the region. Since then it’s grown via an Amazon-type warehouse model and, latterly, a third party selling site. The company says gross merchandise volume last year passed $1 billion, although it still posted losses due to the costs of expansion. Lazada runs sites in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

The draw for Alibaba was likely Lazada’s infrastructure investments in delivery and supply chain in the region that has been difficult for any e-commerce sellers because of weak transportation and payment systems.

Jack Ma has said Alibaba’s goal is to get half its revenue from overseas. Right now it has only tiny presences outside China and less than 10% of revenues come from abroad.

With its latest move for Southeast Asia, that should climb.

It’s not yet clear whether the move will face any regulatory or political opposition, against a background of increasing tension between China and its neighbors over territorial disputes in the South China Sea.",It gives Alibaba instant footprint across six countries.
"Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), center, with his sons, Tanner, left, and Dallin, right, photographed last week by a camera with an automatic timer on Biggarenn, an unoccupied island in the South Pacific. (Photo courtesy of the Office of Sen. Jeff Flake.)

Nearly four years after sneaking away to a deserted island in the North Pacific, Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) took a secret four-day trip during the Memorial Day congressional recess to the same region where he fulfilled his lifelong dream of spending a survivalist week alone.

But this time Flake took along his two youngest sons — and didn’t completely disconnect from the office.

Flake, 50, spent six terms in the House before winning his Senate seat last November and quickly joined the “Gang of Eight” senators that spent months negotiating a bipartisan deal to overhaul the nation’s immigration laws. Their plan was approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee last month, and the full Senate is expected to spend most of June debating the bill.

As if being a freshman senator deeply involved in the contentious fight over immigration isn’t enough for one guy, Flake, 50, and his wife, Cheryl, celebrated the marriage of their only daughter, Alexis, in early May.

The Flakes have five children and one young grandson from his oldest son’s marriage. When he launched his Senate bid nearly two years ago, Flake said he promised his two youngest sons, Tanner, 15, and Dallin, 13, that he would find the time to take them on a similar survivalist trip when the campaign was over. His office announced earlier this year that he planned to take the trip, but never disclosed the exact dates — mostly for security reasons. Flake didn’t publicly disclose the trip until he called a Washington Post reporter on Saturday afternoon.

“We came back a little thinner. Maybe a little wiser. We had an awesome time, it was great,” Flake said in the interview.

They also produced a video of the trip, which you can watch here:

Flake and his sons set off from Phoenix last Sunday on what would be a 10,400-mile round-trip journey. They flew first to Hawaii and then eventually to Kwajalein Island, a part of the Marshall Islands where the United States still has a lease for missile testing. From there, father and sons hopped on a friend’s fishing boat and traveled 62 miles to Biggarenn, an unoccupied island that Flake estimated was just 55 to 70 acres in size. The fishing boat left them behind.

“Tens of thousands of coconuts littered the island,” Flake said. “You just had to pick up the ones that were still ripe. We ate coconut and crab and fish.”

The Flakes brought along a lobster trap in hopes of capturing meatier fare, but lost it within the first few hours after it was attacked by a shark. They also carried two pumps to desalinate ocean water, requiring them to spend hours each night pumping for just a few gallons.

“For a dad it was a wonderful thing. No video games around, no television, no distractions, no texting,” Flake recalled. “To just sit there and pump water, that was my favorite time, frankly, on the island. Just talking. Just to have no distractions.”

Flake did, however, bring along a satellite phone — at his wife’s insistence — and aides said Flake received regular updates by phone, especially on the case of Yanira Maldonado, a Phoenix-area woman who was detained while traveling in Mexico after authorities said they found 12 pounds of marijuana under her bus seat. Flake spoke with Maldonado shortly after he returned from the trip Friday night, he said.

When he took his trip four years ago, Flake set up camp on Jabonwod, an island just a third of a mile long and 100 yards wide at high tide. He carried just a few items: A mask, fins and a pole-spear, a manual desalination pump, a magnifying glass to help start fires with the sun, a hammock for sleeping, a knife, hatchet, sunscreen, cooking pot, salt and pepper — and a satellite phone, just in case.

Later after he returned, Flake allowed The Washington Post to publish excerpts from his travel journal, in part to assuage any doubts about the trip, which occurred shortly after then-Gov. Mark Sanford (R-S.C.) secretly traveled to Argentina to see his girlfriend.

In his journal, Flake wrote about how he had long deferred his dream of escaping to a tiny island as he raised his children and entered elective politics.

“I have the best job in the world,” he wrote, “but still the islands beckon.”

Last time, he marveled at the sunsets and taught himself how to peel a coconut and used a permanent marker to write numbers on the shells of crabs he encountered.

This time, he said the most memorable moment was racing to shore with a fish on the end of his spear with sharks in close pursuit.

And the only political decision Flake made on the trip?

“That this ought to be mandatory” for senators, he said. “We’d all discover that no man is an island. There are a lot of metaphors — sharks and everything else you can come up with — but for me, it was just a great time to be alone with a couple of my boys.”

Correction: An earlier version of this post said Flake was in the South Pacific.

A transcript of an interview with Flake about his trip appears below. It has been slightly edited for clarity and space:

Ed O’Keefe: As a first-term senator, this trip must have been heaven?

Flake: Yeah, I did take a satellite phone, my wife insisted on that. Especially with the potential dangers of sharks. But there wasn’t much contact, it was great.

Was it the same island as before?

Flake: No, about 20 miles away across the lagoon from Jabonwod, called Baggarenn.

Same arrangements as before. The ambassador to the U.S. from the Marshall Islands is a friend. So one of his friends with a fishing boat took us out there, and they dropped us off and fished on their way back.

It’s on the biggest lagoon in the world. We traveled through the lagoon, I think 62 miles from Kwajalein to Baggarenn, which is an unoccupied island, probably 55 to 70 acres big.

Thousands of coconut trees, tens of thousands of coconuts littered the island. You just had to pick up the ones that were still ripe. We ate coconut and crab and fish. I took a lobster trap, but we set the lobster trap with a fish that we speared inside of it. Went back to it a half hour later and a shark was trying to get its nose in it. Went back a half hour later and the trap was gone. And we never saw the shark with the trap on its head either. It was good.

And your sons had a good time?

Flake: They did. When I came back nearly four years ago, it was August 2009, and obviously they were fascinated by the tales of it. We talked ever since then about going back.

My first thought after leaving the first time was, where can I get a cheeseburger? My second thought was this would be a lot more fun if I could have a few of my kids with me. And we talked about it during the Senate campaign and during the campaign, which was a two-year ordeal, I said that if we got through that we’d schedule time to get to the island.

Did you or the boys have any training in advance?

Flake: No. We had been to Hawaii, they’d spearfished a few times, and we’ve had no other training. I didn’t have any training the first time, I just hoped that my farm training would translate. It kind of roughly did.

They lit fires with a magnifying glass and a coconut husk and cooked coconuts and crab and fish over the fire. We slept in hammocks off the ground, and it’s not just a regular Boy Scout camp, it’s more survival. We didn’t take any food, nor water, just two pumps where you could desalinate the water. So every night we’d sit and pump a couple gallons of water.

I tell ya, for a dad it was a wonderful thing. No video games around, no television, no distractions, no texting. To just sit there and pump water, that was my favorite time, frankly on the island. Just talking. Just to have no distractions.

Did you keep a journal similar to the one you wrote in 2009 (and later had published in The Washington Post)?

Flake: Yeah. In the coming days I’ll be putting that out.

Why did you keep a journal the last time? I heard it has something to do with Mark Sanford’s disappearance at the time?

Flake: I didn’t give it much thought until I got back, and that was just a few months after the Sanford ordeal. A few members of Congress knew I had gone, Paul Ryan knew I had gone, and the Parliamentarian was helping me with the moon cycles, and he did those kinds of things.

And when it started leaking out, my wife said, you know that nobody’s going to believe you were out on the island alone, right? And that’s when I decided to go through the Post and just gave her my journal entries and the pictures I’d taken, and I thought that was better, so people knew more that they wouldn’t assume.

So how long was this trip?

Flake: Just about a week. It takes a while to get there, you fly to Hawaii, then to Majuro, then to Kwajalein. You go across the International Date Line and that messes you all up on what day it is or time it was. It was about a week, but four days on the island.

What major political decisions were you able to make while away from it all?

Flake: That this ought to be mandatory. We’d all discover that no man is an island. There are a lot of metaphors — sharks and everything else you can come up with — but for me, it was just a great time to be alone with a couple of my boys.

So ultimately, what will you remember most from this trip?

Flake: I don’t know which one, being out racing the shore with a fish on the end of your spear, with sharks chasing the fish on the end of the spear. That’s memorable. The most memorable I’m sure would be holding that fish on the end of the spear in the water while we got the fire going. And having the sharks come up about 20 feet from the fish where they couldn’t get it, coming out of the water to watch him. That was interesting for him. Those were interesting memories. Racing to shore with a fish on the end of the spear and sharks chasing you.

But for me, like I said, my most memorable is probably all the boys pumping water and talking, just the three of us, with no distractions. Part of it what would be the first meal they’d have when they got back, which was Costa Vida. Then listing their favorite meals. After eating coconut, crab and fish for four days, you appreciate good food.

And some of the playful things. You’ll see some of the pictures. Tanner convinced me, he threw in a yoga ball or medicine ball — or whatever they are — that he’d seen in the YouTube video. You bury it in the sand halfway and then jump up on it and do flips. He and Dallin did a lot of that.

Follow Ed O’Keefe on Twitter: @edatpost","The senator brought along his two youngest sons -- and a satellite phone, on which he received updates from staff."
"Celebrate the Queen’s Jubilee in style with quintessentially British beauty products.

With the Olympics fast approaching there’s no better time to sport Brit-inspired cosmetics.

It’s the perfect opportunity to try out trends such as postbox-red pouts, Union Jack-adorned nails and London skyline lashes.

Whether you’re sipping a cup of tea or nibbling a Victoria sponge, make sure your pillar box-red lippy has staying power.

Fill your lips in with a corresponding red lip pencil. This helps give them a dry “stain” for double-layered longevity.

A catwalk trick is to layer over a lightweight application of red shadow to mattify your hue.

When choosing your shade, pick a colour to complement the tone of your complexion.

Sky's the limit ... Paperself Paper Lashes

Hot, orange-based reds suit those with tanned or olive skin, while porcelain dolls should don cooler-toned, racy scarlet reds.

Blue-toned reds suit fair maidens and English rose types, such as the Duchess of Cambridge, Kate Middleton. Blue sounds odd for a red lipstick, but it means one that is more ink toned and has no orange or coral hues.

Cooler reds give the illusion of whiter teeth, while orangey reds tend to enhance ugly discolouring.

One will not be amused if one’s lipstick doesn’t live up to its hype.

Supple skin ... Kiehl's Creme de Corps Sportsaid edition moisturiser

Prepare your skin with Benefit’s “That Gal”, with its funky, patriotic packaging featuring Big Ben and the London Eye, £21.50, at Debenhams nationwide.

Every savvy girl knows if you want your make-up to stay put, pop some primer on as your base – one will NOT have her make-up slipping in the sun.

Keep skin super-supple with Kiehl’s Creme de Corps SportsAid edition moisturiser, available from July 1 from Selfridges and Kiehl’s, at £16 for 125ml, with £1 going to the charity that supports young sportsmen and women in achieving their ambitions.

Be Queen bee with Union Jack lashes from Shu Uemura, £50, or Paperself Paper Lashes with London Skyline print, £12, from asos.com (pictured on model). The intricate limited edition cut-out design will have you flying the flag for Britain.

Rule Britannia! ... Nail that look with Union Jack nail wraps or multi-coloured nail polishes

Nail this special occasion with jewelled fingers that sparkle and shine.

We love Nails Inc Jubilee crystal nail colour, £15, with multi-coloured red, blue and silver glitter. Pop it over a base colour of ruby red and expect it to twinkle like the crown jewels.

Try Nail Rock’s designer nail wraps. The United Kingdom design is perfect for any Pimms supping.

Keep hands soft and supple with Clarins’ 200ml Hand and Nail Treatment Cream.

Clarins give £1 from each sale to the Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust.

Thanks to Amy at allamycakes.com for props.",TRY out trends such as postbox-red pouts and Union Jack-adorned nails
"There is a debate within the Obama administration over whether to publicly blame Russia for the hack of the Democratic National Committee or to wait for the FBI to complete its investigation — a delay that has frustrated some lawmakers and national security officials.

The intelligence community has high confidence that Russian intelligence services hacked the Democratic National Committee but does not have the same level of confidence that Russia then leaked stolen committee emails to the anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks, several administration officials said. The release of the embarrassing material on the eve of the Democratic convention has been seen by some officials as an attempt to meddle in the U.S. presidential election.

“I really think we’ve reached the point where there ought to be a public accounting for what’s going on,” said Rep. Adam B. Schiff (D-Calif.), ranking member on the House Intelligence Committee, who has been briefed on the matter. “The American people have the right to know if a foreign power is trying to influence their elections.”

[U.S. investigating potential Russian effort to disrupt November elections]

White House officials and FBI Director James B. Comey have repeatedly said that they do not want to get ahead of the investigation, which covers suspected Russian hacks and attempted hacks of a variety of political organizations and state election systems. “Policy decisions regarding public attribution for these intrusions are contingent on the results of that investigation,” one senior administration official said in a statement.

Russian President Vladimir Putin says he doesn't know who was behind the hacking of the Democratic National Committee, but it was important the information had been made public. (Bloomberg)

The White House’s and some Cabinet officials’ insistence on awaiting the probe’s results has frustrated some officials at the FBI, the Justice Department and within the intelligence community, who favor holding Moscow accountable. The White House’s continued requests for more evidence, said one official, is “to delay — purposely delay” a public attribution.

The FBI, White House, Justice Department and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence declined to comment.

Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.), a member of the Homeland Security committee, said President Obama should publicly name Russia and do so before the November election. A failure to do so will only encourage further cyber intrusions and meddling in the U.S. election, he said.

“If the Obama administration has a reason for not clearly attributing these hacks to Russia, it contradicts their own cyber strategy,” Sasse said. “If they’re silent because it would invite response, that suggests that we’re operating from a position of weakness — in other words, we know that we need to aggressively deter cyberattacks, but we are too vulnerable to do it. Neither scenario is reassuring.”

Even as the administration awaits the FBI results, consideration has begun at the staff levels of potential ways the United States might respond. Options in the mix include the first use of a program to impose economic sanctions to deter significant network attacks or intrusions. Created last year by executive order, it permits the sanctioning of individuals overseas linked to malicious cyber acts that threatened the national security or foreign policy of the United States.

“Clearly trying to surreptitiously influence U.S. elections would be a pretty bold move,” said a second administration official, who, like others, spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the topic’s sensitivity. So sanctions might be an appropriate response, the official said.

[FBI investigating foreign hacks of state electoral systems]

The Post's Ellen Nakashima goes over the events, and discusses the two hacker groups responsible. (Jhaan Elker/The Washington Post)

The internal debate is rife with political and diplomatic concerns, including a fear that acting before November might appear unduly partisan — an effort to tip the balance toward Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton.

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump said Thursday that “it’s probably unlikely” that Russia is trying to interfere in the U.S. election. “I think maybe the Democrats are putting that out — who knows,” he told Larry King on RT America, a Kremlin-funded network.

U.S. intelligence agencies are also wary that a public attribution might disclose sources and methods, some officials said. However, one national security official noted, “that doesn’t necessarily mean they don’t want to hold [the Russians] accountable. They may just want that accountability to be less than public.”

The National Security Agency, for instance, could disrupt a Russian computer system in a way that leaves no doubt who did it and that warns the Russians “to knock it off,” one former intelligence official said. Or the CIA could leak documents that are embarrassing in some way to Russian President Vladi­mir Putin.

But there is also unease about how Putin might respond.

“This whole thing is very fraught with all sorts of issues in all sorts of directions,” the second security official said.

Administration officials say the Democratic National Committee hack was an act of political espionage, which, while not welcome, is an activity that all governments engage in, including the United States. By contrast, they say, it is the release of 20,000 hacked emails to WikiLeaks, an act that forced the resignation of the committee’s chairwoman, that raises concerns of interference in the 2016 election.

[Russian government hackers penetrated DNC systems]

Michael McFaul, a former U.S. ambassador to Russia, said he has no reason to doubt that Moscow’s apparent actions were an attempt to interfere in the U.S. election. “The Russians are good enough at this that they could [have the material passed to WikiLeaks] without WikiLeaks ever knowing that they were the source. And WikiLeaks, of course, has no interest in knowing and even has a policy of taking data anonymously. There’s no other explanation out there that is credible.”

The Obama administration has previously not publicly blamed a foreign government for hacking strictly for political intelligence. But some officials say the White House should have publicly rebuked China for its massive hack of the Office of Personnel Management. Though considered an act of intelligence-gathering, its scale was so large that it merited a “naming and shaming,” one official said.

What the White House does — or doesn’t — do is significant because its response will send a signal to governments around the world, analysts said. Russia has been testing limits in all areas: militarily in Ukraine and in cyberspace in Europe and the United States.

“What action will trigger what response — that is the strategic question in cyber deterrence,” said Zachary Goldman, a former senior Treasury Department official who worked on sanctions, terrorism and financial intelligence.

Evelyn Farkas, a former senior Pentagon official focused on Russia, Ukraine and Eurasia, said assuming a Moscow link to the WikiLeaks release, a response “at least as strong” as sanctions is warranted — and before November. “There’s a risk of waiting till after the election,” said Farkas, who stepped down last October and is now a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council. “If you want to have a chance of deterring, you have to move as quickly as possible. It sends a better signal to the world if we respond quickly. It shows that the president is still in control.”

But Sean Kanuck, who until May was the national intelligence officer for cyber issues with the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, said he is not sure the alleged Russian actions rise to a level that demands action. “If they actually manipulated the integrity of one of my electoral systems, it would warrant a national security response,” he said. “But just releasing DNC emails? Welcome to the new world. I would say that’s a law enforcement matter. The ‘doxing’ of a private entity is not a national security event.”",Administration officials say they will wait for the FBI to finish its investigation.
"Nasa's Cassini spacecraft, nearly 900 million miles from Earth, has turned its gaze away from Saturn and its entourage of moons to take a picture of its home planet. The image shows Earth as a very small, blue-tinged dot – paler and tinier than in other photos – overshadowed by the giant Saturn's rings in foreground. ""We can't see individual continents or people in this portrait of Earth, but this pale blue dot is a succinct summary of who we were on July 19,"" Linda Spilker, Cassini spacecraft lead scientist at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, said in a statement.Picture: AP Photo/NASA/JPL-Caltech",The best images taken on Nasa's Cassini spacecraft's mission.
"Model Kendall Jenner arrives at the 2014 Billboard Music Awards in Las Vegas, Nevada May 18, 2014. REUTERS/L.E. Baskow (UNITED STATES-Tags: ENTERTAINMENT)(BILLBOARDAWARDS-ARRIVALS) - RTR3PQOC

Kendal Jenner’s 19th birthday party was not for the faint of heart.

It seems the model takes after her older Kardashian sisters—meaning, she knows how to throw a wild party. The star-studded bash on Monday night was complete with a stripper who spanked the birthday girl in front of her guests.

TMZ posted a video of 19-year-old Jenner bent over as a stripper, who is dressed as a cop, spanks her.

Jenner wore gray pants and a teeny crop top for her party, and she was snapped wearing a sailor hat in several pics.

In another video posted by TMZ, Khloe Kardashian is seen getting cozy with her ex-boyfriend French Montana. The two were caught grinding to music and getting close.

Kardashian sent out an angry tweet shortly after the videos hit the web.

Kendall and I will find you!!! We will hunt you down and find you!!! You know who you are....

— Khloé (@khloekardashian) November 5, 2014",Kendall Jenner’s 19th birthday party was not for the faint of heart.
"Yet at dusk on Saturday, the 2 kilometers between the US-trained Golden Division and the medieval world of the so-called caliphate suddenly were aflame with the loathing and terror of the world's war on ISIS.

Tracer rounds flashed across the horizon; the sparks and thud of countless explosions rocked the tiny village of Bazwaya, split in two by the closing stages of this battle. Ferocious and constant, it came closer and closer to the Iraqi base where we filmed from a rooftop.

By the end of the fearsome exchange -- which fell silent after heavy artillery flew over our heads -- a staggering 14 Iraqi soldiers were dead, some of the worst losses sustained by the unit.

When Maj. Hussien Hussien's Golden Division unit piled in to Bazwaya, they arrived as veterans of the war on ISIS. Having fought in Ramadi and Falluja, Hussien has a series of scars on his right ear from a rocket-propelled grenade attack months earlier.

They are the literal tip of the spear in the global war on the militant group. Despite the risk of being flanked, the men defiantly hold a tiny strip of land jutting perilously into ISIS territory.

The Golden Division moved into the town a few days earlier, putting them within 2 or 3 kilometers of the area near the Mosul city limits known as Gogjali. Hussien aggressively takes on ISIS positions, using tanks to pile into the dust at night and fire on areas from which his outposts are harassed. We watch as a series of rounds hit distant buildings marked by flags. In the darkness, we cannot tell if the flags are white to denote civilians, or black to denote those accused of using them as human shields: ISIS.

Hussien and his men use videos filmed from sniper scopes and Google maps to target their prey. The coalition has liaisons nearby, but not the volume of technology required to fully map out ISIS across this huge front.

The young Iraqis who make up much of this force have gone through American training and are buoyant when we join them. One, nicknamed Ahmed Bullet (there are six Ahmeds in the unit and his trainers had to distinguish among them) jokes in limited English that he doesn't like Michael Jackson. But, he says before emptying his mounted machine gun into the desert, he does like US Special Forces.

These men have been in the fight against ISIS for months. Their main question as they enter this closing chapter of the war: What level of bloodshed will they have to cause to defeat the enemy?

The town of Bazwaya itself is still haunted by its recent occupiers. An old school was used to teach grenade tactics, with instructions written on the whiteboard. Its doorbells are marked by graffiti that bans ""the strike force"" from entering, and half-prepared food rots in the kitchen. Nobody left here slowly.

Elsewhere, a stolen Syrian army tank hides in the basement of a house, its ISIS driver having simply reversed it into the building basement to keep it out of the view of drones. A Predator had flown above moments earlier, a reminder of the Coalition's presence.

The town is split along its main road by a huge tunnel, wide and tall enough to drive a motorbike along. It was dug by an excavator and then torched by the Iraqi special forces. As we are there, soldiers discover newer tunnels, some with shelters attached.

At one outpost, Alpha Company has a snapshot of how resilient their foe can be. Capt. Ala, using his scope, can regularly see his adversary hundreds of meters away behind sandy berms. Mustafa Sniper, as he is known, checks the top of the berm, and suddenly several rounds crack through the air above their heads. ISIS fighters are using a truck that allows them to pop up over the berm, open fire, and then repeat the procedure from another position moments later.

The soldiers, visibly nervous owing to how close their adversary is, try to fire back, but the moving target slows progress. ""Where is the vehicle?"" one shouts, as he loads a heavy machine gun. The exchange continues for 10 minutes.

At dusk the unit takes its hardest blow. At one point tracer rounds race fiercely back and forth across the street we are based upon. It was impossible to tell which blast hit Ala's men, but several rockets struck a room where the unit slept, making the largest contribution to a death toll of 14 that night.

One witness described how the strength of the blast tore limbs from bodies. Another witness said he stumbled over body parts when he entered the room in the dark.

That night we observe the wounded rushed back and treated on a large carpet pad outdoors near the base. Many dead, in blankets in the back of pickup trucks, race past us. The Iraqi army, like many military services, does not want its casualties filmed.

The losses leave the unit part furious, part numb. Hussien races to the front to try to bolster the defenses. Ahmed Bullet walks silently around the base, his cheerful nature subdued. An argument erupts among some soldiers about which radio channel they were meant to be on.

Once the gunfire slows, Hussien returns to his men and tries to raise morale. He is handed the weapons of the fallen and asks for their body armor. He puts his hand on Ala's shoulder and tells his men: ""You guys are heroes, and none of you should be affected by this. Those suicide bombers are nothing.""

It is a moment of great loss, tempered by grief for those already gone in previous battles and the knowledge that this comes 2 kilometers from Mosul's city limits, with another 7 to go before the city center.",It is across the silence and dense dust of the berms between ISIS' Mosul and advancing Iraqi special forces that the final chapter of ISIS in Iraq will play out.
"When a wildfire that had flickered for days in the forests of northern Alberta suddenly changed course and started careening towards Fort McMurray this May, the city’s entire population was told to flee.

The order came just as Spike Baker was brewing a pale ale.

But there was little time to spare: the flames could be seen in the distance and a thick cloak of smoke had already enveloped some parts of the city, said Baker, the head brewer at Fort McMurray’s Wood Buffalo Brewing Company. “We just turned off the brew, left everything in the kettle and headed out the door.”

The apocalyptic scenes that followed were seen around the world. Nearly 90,000 people struggled to evacuate the city, crawling in bumper-to-bumper traffic as ash rained down and flames licked the highways.

Days after making it to safety, Baker remembered that he had left his last shipment – a pallet of peated malt from Scotland – sitting on the patio of the downtown brewery.

He gave little more thought to it as he returned to the fire-ravaged city some four weeks later. The blaze had torn a path of destruction through Fort McMurray, consuming more than 2,500 homes. The brewery was left standing, but had been badly scarred by ash and smoke. Two tanks of fully brewed beer had to be dumped, as did 500 litres of a half-done brew.

Baker expected that the pallet of malt would also have to be thrown out. “For that entire month, the entire town was incredibly smoky and when we came back we discovered that this malt had taken on a lot of that flavour.”

Lab tests came back with a surprise: the malt was safe to consume, but was completely altered by the fire.

The finding offered Baker a tantalising opportunity to create what he described as a one-of-a-kind time capsule in the form of a stiff drink.

“It’s so meaningful because everyone in this community was affected by the event and we’ve all been changed by it,” he said. “As was this malt and now we’re just able to capture that in a whisky.”

The whisky was first distilled last month, part of a process that will include five years of barrel ageing. “You can definitely taste the smoky notes to it but it is balanced with more of a sweet peat flavour to it, and then the campfire flavour has brought through spruce and mint.”

The whisky has been named the Beast, a nod to the nickname given to the blaze by the firefighters who fought it.

The brew is expected to yield some 200 bottles, most – if not all – of which will be donated to auctions and charities, said Baker. An auction of the first 10 bottles last month raised more than C$40,000 ($30,000) for local charities and attracted intense bidding, including by some who had lost their homes in the fire. “For us its not about remembering the devastation – although we’ll never forget that,” said Baker.

“It’s about remembering the togetherness of this community and how well everyone worked together to get out safely,” he said. “There’s so many stories of people just tossing keys to spare vehicles to absolute strangers or helping with broken-down vehicles. It was phenomenal.”",The May wildfire that raged in Alberta left Spike Baker’s peated malt infused with a smoky taste. Now he’s distilled a time capsule in the form of a stiff drink
"Reading Zadie Smith's gloriously undisciplined first novel, ''White Teeth,'' was like going to a rip-roaring party where you met so many great people it didn't matter that at 4 a.m. the beer suddenly ran out -- and some drunk knocked over the stereo. Before crashing to earth with its abrupt, tie-everything-together-in-knots ending, Smith's comic novel, published in 2000, soared higher than any other fiction debut had in years.

The narrative strategy of ''White Teeth'' was one of compulsive character generation. A hilarious overture about the bungled suicide attempt of Archie Jones (a charmingly defeatist doofus who suggested a British Homer Simpson) flowed into a satirical sketch of Archie's Jamaican bride, Clara Bowden, a Jehovah's Witness desperate to flee the family cult; this riff then prompted a wicked digression about Clara's cockney ex-boyfriend, Ryan Topps, a self-styled rebel whose scooter, alas, ''didn't do more than 22 m.p.h. downhill.'' And that was just the opening pages.

So what if she lacked a plot? Smith simply kept on going, crowding her stage with resentful Bangladeshi waiters, smug Jewish geneticists, adulterous music teachers, self-doubting Muslim separatists. All of these inventions were amusing; some were among the wittiest caricatures since Dickens. Moreover, because the novel's true subject was the improvised patchwork of North London, its sprawling structure became an accidental virtue. ''White Teeth'' wandered all over -- but in so doing, it brilliantly captured a sense of place.

The novel made Smith deservedly famous. Even she knew, though, that ''White Teeth'' lacked the shape of a masterpiece. She publicly disowned her firstborn, calling it the ''literary equivalent of a hyperactive, ginger-haired tap-dancing 10-year-old.'' Now the 26-year-old author has delivered a slimmer follow-up, ''The Autograph Man,'' that offers a corrective to the excesses of her debut. It may be, however, that Zadie Smith wasn't meant to behave. ''The Autograph Man'' is more entertaining than lots of novels, but it doesn't come close to the divine mess of ''White Teeth.''

In an apparent effort to button down, Smith has settled on a clear protagonist: Alex-Li Tandem, a half-Jewish, half-Chinese (and half-depressed) autograph trader from North London. Smith even gives Alex a plot, an amiable quest narrative. Her 27-year-old hero travels to New York to look for Kitty Alexander -- a reclusive 1950's starlet who has finally mailed Alex her signature, after years of failed entreaties. Alex reveres Kitty's old films; her frozen beauty is a ''sacred thing,'' arousing deeper feelings than sex with his girlfriend, Esther.

His unusual ethnicity aside, Alex is a safe choice for a character. He is the prevailing stereotype of his generation, the pop-culture-addled trivialist. When not selling autographs on the Internet, Alex rents videos. (''You watch too many films is one of the great modern sentences,'' Smith cleverly writes. ''It has in it a hint of understanding regarding what we were before and what we have become.'') The only unusual thing about Alex's immersion in cinematic imagery is that it's a deliberate emotional strategy -- a way of suppressing grief for his dead father.

Tracking down Kitty breaks Alex out of his Hollywood prison. Kitty, it turns out, is no Norma Desmond, clinging to faded glories; she's a sensible woman comfortable in her dying skin. Meeting her jolts Alex awake from his fantasies, inspiring a belated sense of engagement with the people around him.

It's satisfying to witness Alex overcome his intimacy issues. Yet Smith can't hide the fact that she's spinning a rather pat tale about a self-absorbed man who, soon after his sperm count starts dwindling, realizes he wants to be ''in the world.'' This is the same laddish parable Nick Hornby spent most of the last decade polishing.

Coming from Smith, this theme feels disappointingly myopic. After all, ''White Teeth'' was the first book in ages by a 20-something novelist who didn't write exclusively about mopey 20-somethings. It wasn't solely the length of ''White Teeth'' that evoked ''Middlemarch''; it was Smith's understanding that young people are only part of the story. ''White Teeth'' abounded in jaded, confused youths, but Smith wisely forced them to interact with older people who saw the world differently.

Perhaps that's why ''The Autograph Man'' feels so lightweight during its first half, in which Alex defends his celebrity obsession to his equally callow London friends. Most of these conversations simply float away, like the marijuana smoke often accompanying them. Smith tries to fill the emptiness of this chatter with jokes; explaining the laws of spliff-fueled dialogue, she drolly plays Moses: ''The one who is more stoned shall have the right -- for the period during which he is more stoned -- to tell the other man exactly what his problem is.''

If only these exchanges were so direct. In one typical chapter, Alex spars with Adam, a friend fascinated by cabala, the Jewish mystical tradition. Between tokes, Adam intones murky slogans: ''The godhead is incomplete. He needs us.'' Alex is unimpressed: ''That's a big job, my friend.'' Adam rightly criticizes Alex as shallow, but he's not exactly on a higher plane; whereas Alex seeks transcendence in a celebrity's inky scrawl, Adam hunts for ''shards'' of God in ''six chosen letters'' culled from the Torah. Both are fixated on symbols. This comparison is interesting, but Smith fails to develop the idea. Adam remains a static quote machine, and Alex never truly listens to him.","In Zadie Smith's second novel, the Chinese-Jewish-British protagonist worships an aging movie actress."
"The NBA is officially saying goodbye to North Carolina ... the 2017 All-Star Game will be moved to a state more friendly to the LGBT community.

The catalyst for the decision ... the North Carolina law that requires people to use bathrooms that correspond with their birth gender. The move to repeal the law failed.

The game -- which was originally scheduled for February 19, 2017 at Timer Warner Cable Arena in Charlotte -- will now be moved to another city ... as yet undetermined.

An NBA official says, ""We do not believe we can successfully host our All-Star festivities in Charlotte in the climate created by HB2.""

All hope isn't lost for basketball fans in Charlotte ... the NBA says they HOPE to reschedule the ASG for 2019 ... providing Charlotte lawmakers 86 the bill.",The NBA is officially saying goodbye to North Carolina ... the 2017 All-Star Game will be moved to a state more friendly to the LGBT community. The…
"If you want to get ahead in the art world, get a camera or get in front of one. All of the artists shortlisted for this year's Turner Prize use film or video and most of them star in their own work - most notoriously Tracey Emin, who enlivened the 1997 Turner circus by staggering drunk out of a post-award television debate declaring, ""I'm off to phone my mum.""

With film-makers picking up the prize in two out of the last three years, this list is proof again of how the ground has shifted in contemporary art.

Tate Gallery director, and chairman of the jury, Nicholas Serota defended the choice. ""There are always gripes. Yes, there are a lot of cameras and no painters, but remember last year a painter (Chris Ofili) won.""

But David Lee, editor of Art Review, one of the prize's fiercest critics, was scathing about the selection. ""Why Emin is on the list I'll never know. I never knew her appalling poetry and embroidery was so highly valued. I suppose it is only right that the Turner should now be dominated by flickering amateur videos. After all, it's the only thing that the fashionable young things want to see these days.

""The great thing about these video installations is that they always break down, which is a mercy as it saves you having to stare at them tediously for hours on end.""

Although the bete noire of the traditionalists, Emin - best known for her tent of names, Everyone I've Ever Slept With, and the wall hanging Mad Tracey From Margate, Everyone's Been There - is hugely influential among young artists, and jury member Sacha Craddock compared her to the legendary sculptor Louise Bourgeois.

This year's other mandatory controversy has been supplied by early favourite Steve McQueen, who snubbed the Turner two years ago and reputedly had to be talked into accepting his nomination this time. Fittingly for an artist with the same name as the film star, McQueen regularly raids Hollywood for inspiration, most notably in his re-enactment of Buster Keaton's classic window stunt from Steamboat Bill Jr.

The identical Wilson twins, Jane and Louise (Tracey Emin is also a twin), are the most striking choice though. Like McQueen their work is riddled with film references. Their spooky videos, shot in the abandoned Greenham Common missile base and the East German secret police headquarters, have echoes of cult television shows like The Prisoner.

The surprise element is Steven Pippin who has turned washing machines in a laundrette and a toilet bowl on the London to Brighton train into ingenious cameras.

Not since 1986, when the late film director Derek Jarman was beaten by Gilbert & George, has the medium of film so dominated a shortlist.

Ironically, the only highly tipped name not included was photographer Richard Billingham, whose unsettling portraits of his family and west Midlands low life have been praised for their raw truthfulness.

David Lee claimed this may have been because of the Tate's squeamishness about honouring a ""mere photographer"" rather than an artist. ""I wonder where they draw the line between photographer and conceptual artist. I think it has something to do with the size of the pictures. Artists are the ones with the huge blown-up prints.""

Critic Matthew Collings said it was inevitable that film-based artists should come out on top.

""The Turner Prize is not setting an agenda - it is simply reflecting what is going on. Over the last five years it has become an incredibly accurate barometer of the art world. And what is happening is that a lot of young artists are experimenting with film and video installations.

""Personally, I am not besotted with installation art and videos but it is quite interesting how many others are. There is quite a moronic trendiness around it and I am not sure how much of the work will last. I would prefer to look at a nice Picasso or a Jackson Pollock myself. Picking a lot of camera-based artists is not outrageous or evil or wrong, it just shows how everyone's visual references are set by TV. Even my old mum can read all its meanings.""

Guardian art critic Adrian Searle said the final shortlist had a ""horrible inevitability"" about it. ""That Jane and Louise Wilson are there, and that Steve McQueen at last accepted his nomination, came as a relief . . . The inclusion of Steven Pippin is the only real surprise.""

An exhibition of work by the the five shortlisted artists will open at the Tate Gallery in London on October 30. The winner of the £20,000 prize will be announced on November 30.",Traditionalists are scathing as camera artists dominate shortlist for the best of British
"BY Mark Feinsand DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER

Monday, November 15th 2010, 4:00 AM

Next month's winter meetings at Disney World are expected to be action-packed, with free agents such as Cliff Lee and Carl Crawford presumably taking their final steps in free agency.

Monday night, the 30 general managers will gather a few miles away in Orlando for the start of the GM meetings, and while no big deals are expected to be struck during the next three days, plenty of groundwork can be set to put the wheels in motion on both the trade and free-agent markets.

It was at the GM meetings last year in Chicago that the Tigers made it be known that Curtis Granderson was available, setting the stage for the Yankees' deal for the outfielder at the winter meetings in Indianapolis a month later.

There won't be much Lee talk, as agent Darek Braunecker said last week that he would likely skip the event altogether. Brian Cashman has already made a trip to Arkansas to visit Lee, and it appears that other teams will follow suit, making a trip to Orlando unnecessary for the agent.

""We're not going to have to go there to drum up interest,"" Braunecker said last week.

There will be plenty of talk about some marquee names on the trade market, led by Kansas City's Zack Greinke, San Diego's Adrian Gonzalez and Milwaukee's Prince Fielder.

While most of the talk won't center around the 2011 rosters, Cashman will certainly check in with the other 29 GMs to find out what players might be available on the trade market. Cashman has already started talks with the agents for Lee, Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera, while Andy Pettitte is still deciding whether to pitch one more season.","Next month's winter meetings at Disney World are expected to be action-packed, but there won't be much Cliff Lee talk, as agent Darek aunecker said last week that he would likely skip the event."
"BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – A sign at the Birmingham airport fell on a family Friday, killing a 10-year boy and injuring other family members.

Deputy Coroner Derrick Perryman said 10-year-old Luke Bresette was pronounced dead at Children's of Alabama. Two other children were being treated there, and the mother, Heather Bresette, was taken to University Hospital, where spokeswoman Nicole Wyatt said she was in critical condition. The coroner's office and the hospital did not disclose the family's hometown.

Firefighters estimated the arrival-departure sign weighed 300 to 400 pounds.

Albert Osorio, 46, of Birmingham told al.com that he was close by when the sign fell. He said a loud boom was followed by screams from the family and witnesses. Then he and five other passers-by lifted off the sign.

""The whole thing flipped down on those kids. It took all of us here to stand it up,"" he said.

Airport spokeswoman Toni Herrera-Bast said officials aren't sure how the sign fell. She said it happened about 1:30 p.m. Friday in a pre-security area of the airport. The airport continued operating while rescue workers tended to the family.

The airport completed the first phase of a more than $201 million modernization effort and opened newly renovated concourses last week.

TSA officials say airport crews are checking all of the other flight information signs to make sure they are secure. The workers have also placed barricades around all of the flight signs to keep passengers from getting too close to them, MyFoxAl.com reported.

A spokesperson for the airport, Toni Herrera-Bast, said airport officials don't know why the board fell, but they will investigate the matter.

Herrera-Bast said the airport was never closed to the public during the incident and all flights are still going on as normal.

Birmingham's Mayor William Bell released a statement about the incident, saying he has offered the city's ""full support to the Airport Authority as they investigate what has occurred this afternoon.""

Mayor Bell said he has asked the public safety staff to ""assist this family in their time of need in any way possible as they grapple with what has happened.""

Click for more from MyFoxAl.com",A coroner says one of four children injured when a sign fell at an Alabama airport has died.
"It's a dog-eat-dog world in most corporations. And it helps to have a best friend nearby.

Bringing your pet to work is still a fairly rare perk at most companies, but there are definitely benefits to doing so. A study in the International Journal of Workplace Health Management found that people who bring their dogs into the workplace are less stressed, and that sense of job satisfaction extends to people who come into contact with the pet.

""Dogs in the workplace can make a positive difference,"" wrote principal investigator Randolph T. Barker, Ph.D. and professor of management in the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Business. ""The differences in perceived stress between days the dog was present and absent were significant. The employees as a whole had higher job satisfaction than industry norms.""

Looking for a job where you can bring Fido along? DogFriendly keeps a running list of companies that are dog-friendly—or you could simply apply for a job at one of these businesses.

—By Chris Morris, Special to CNBC.com Posted 12 Feb. 2014","Bringing your pet to work is still a rare perk, but their are a growing number of companies including Google and Etsy that offer this fringe benefit."
"The idea for this story came, oddly enough, from the U.S. Secretary of Education. In a speech to reporters gathered for the Education Writers Association conference last month, Arne Duncan spoke about how technology continues to change how today’s students learn and specifically mentioned kindergarten classes that use iPads.

My colleague, Diane Rado, suggested the story to me when she returned from the speech. Here's the result.

My first interview with a preschool teacher who added the use of four iPads to his classroom repertoire this year intrigued me. But it wasn’t until I visited two classes – one with a roomful of preschoolers and another with kindergarten students – that I became convinced the story would fascinate readers too.

What parent hasn’t noticed how cell phones and computer screens enthrall their kids? And how a 2-year-old seems to intuitively know how to slide the icon to start a game? (Note of disclosure here: this reporter owns neither an iPad nor an iPhone and still keeps a daily calendar in my planner…my paper planner, that is.)

Q: What makes touchscreen tablets a fit for little fingers?A: The tablets have flat, wide screens with large colorful icons that little fingers can easily tap and swish across the screen. They also do not have a mouse. So, young children who don’t have the dexterity an older student might can still access the technology, educators and tech experts alike told me.

Q: Does every student get one?A: No. At least, not yet. While one school district in Maine made national headlines last month when it unveiled a plan to provide every kindergartner with an iPad, none of the dozen or so Chicago area districts that we consulted will give every kid their own tablet. Some opt for a classroom set of iPads that a teacher can reserve for a lesson and others keep two or four iPads in the room for student use.

Q: What about finger paints?A: They’re not going away, teachers told me time and again. The youngest students still learn best by exploring, discovering and playing with one another. iPads won’t replace books or block letters.

Rather, they’ll be one more tool for kids to use in the classroom. One teacher we interviewed takes pains to keep the four classroom iPads tucked away where students cannot see them unless they are used in a specific lesson. Once a day, for instance, he uses an iPad to look up the day’s weather with his students.

Q: Why is this topic – technology and the youngest students – such a hot button?A: I posed this question to Peter Pizzolongo with the National Association for the Education of Young Children.

He offered two insights: first, many educators worry about the rise of high-stakes testing pushing down more advanced curriculum to younger and younger grades. The presence of a computer in a preschool classroom – a scene more commonly found in advanced grades – may spark concerns that 4- and 5-year-olds will not have time for unwired and imaginative play.

But so long as the iPad does not limit a child’s creative play and comes at a developmentally appropriate time, Pizzolongo said it can be an appropriate learning tool.

Q: Coming soon to a school near you?A: Not necessarily, no. School principals and local school boards will determine whether and when to invest in touchscreen tablets for their youngest learners. While some schools are clamoring to get the iPads into classrooms, others are taking a wait-and-see approach. But one thing is clear, said Sandra Calvert, founder and executive director of the Child’s Digital Media Center: “Technology should not be seen as a replacement for teachers. …The teacher is the person who will make the platform work for kids and maximize what they can learn.”

Q: Now that you've read a little more, how does this strike you?

A: Share your thoughts in the comments!",How and why the Chicago Tribune started digging into a program to put iPads in pre-K and kindergarten classrooms
"No matter their loyalties, tennis fans agree on one absolute truth: Roger Federer is the most versatile, most complete, most polished player in the sport, and perhaps ever. His smooth serve, deadly forehand, picturesque backhand, crisp volleys and feather-light footwork make him the ideal model, a man who, win or lose, stands alone for his mastery of the game's techniques and intricacies.

That is, he did stand alone.

At this year's U.S. Open, where Mr. Federer and Rafael Nadal seem fated to play their first Grand Slam final in New York, there's more at stake in the game's greatest rivalry than a trophy. There's a race for supremacy in shotmaking, too. And Mr. Nadal, not long ago considered one-dimensional, is gaining ground. Quickly.

Rafael Nadal, who has won every Grand Slam besides the U.S. Open, will face Russia's Mikhail Youzhny in the semifinals on Saturday.

His transformation from a clay-court scrambler with a fabulous forehand into an all-surface menace who belts aces and punches winning volleys has caught many in tennis off guard.

""I completely underestimated his ability to improve,"" John McEnroe said.

When Mr. Nadal, 24, first began to garner attention for his clay-court prowess, Mr. McEnroe cast a suspicious glance on the young Spaniard's two-handed backhand. Mr. Nadal hits it with an abbreviated swing that relies largely on his right hand (Mr. Nadal is naturally right-handed, but plays with his left). ""That doesn't seem like a shot that's humanly possible on a regular basis,"" Mr. McEnroe thought. Then he saw it up close. At Wimbledon in 2008, he warmed up Mr. Nadal for his semifinal. Even in practice, Mr. McEnroe was in awe of the stroke's speed and precision. ""I was like, 'How did he get that type of power?' "" he said. Mr. Nadal won the title that year, beating Mr. Federer in a five-set drama.

The list of Mr. Nadal's improvements over the years is long. Some are subtle, like his default position on the court, which is now much closer to the baseline, rather than four or five feet behind it. Others are readily apparent. His biting slice backhand. His can't-miss overhead. His reflex half volleys, like the one he hit—at the beginning of a 360-degree spin—against Fernando Verdasco in the quarterfinals Thursday evening. Drop volleys, angled volleys and deep volleys are among his tricks, too. ""He's one of the best volleyers in the world now,"" Mr. McEnroe said.

At the U.S. Open, his serve has astounded. When Mr. Nadal won his first French Open title, in 2005, he was content to spin his serve into the court and punish his opponent during the rally that ensued. Now he strikes serves as fast as 135 mph and often ends points before a rally can begin.

So far this tournament, 40% of Mr. Nadal¹s serves have not been put back into play. Mr. Federer¹s percentage is slightly better (43%). Mr. Nadal has 15 more forehand winners than Mr. Federer, 51 more backhand winners and a higher winning percentage at the net (72% compared with 62% for Mr. Federer). To be fair to Mr. Federer, Mr. Nadal has played more overall points, which has given him a little room to pad his numbers. Neither man has lost a set so far. On Saturday, Mr. Nadal plays Mikhail Youzhny in the semifinals while Mr. Federer faces Novak Djokovic.

""Nadal's a kid who's not afraid to work and grind and make changes,"" said five-time U.S. open champion Jimmy Connors. ""I see the young guys play today and I enjoy watching them, but to have an attitude like that, it's a throwback, especially in a time where your success is based on your bank account.""

Mr. Nadal's ambition and rapidly evolving game are home grown. Though many tennis champions begin their rise under the tutelage of parents or relatives, most eventually seek expertise outside the family. Andre Agassi's father sent his son to Nick Bollettieri. So did Monica Seles's father. Mr. Federer has received expert coaching since childhood. Mr. Nadal, who never enrolled in a tennis academy, relies on his uncle, Toni.

As boy growing up on the island of Mallorca, Mr. Nadal hit both his forehand and backhand with two hands. Toni Nadal directed him to play left-handed. He put his nephew on poorly kept courts, so he would learn to adapt to bad bounces. He experimented—in fact, he still experiments. At his uncle's urging, Mr. Nadal recently tweaked his service grip, a tiny change that has produced startling results.

""This is a guy who is extremely ritualistic on court,"" said Jim Courier, the former world No. 1. ""I would think it impossible to get him to make even the slightest change midseason.""

Mr. McEnroe had a question about Mr. Nadal's development. ""Who the hell was Toni Nadal as a coach?"" he asked. ""It's absolutely brilliant what they've done, the progression. Half of this and you would have said he was an amazing coach.""

As versatile as Mr. Nadal has become, to call him Mr. Federer's stroke-for-stroke equal is still blasphemy in some quarters. Mr. Courier said Mr. Federer remained a more complete player. Tracy Austin, the former U.S. Open champion, agreed, though she said Mr. Nadal is ""catching up."" Roger Rasheed, the current coach of Gaël Monfils and the former coach of Lleyton Hewitt, said he admires Mr. Nadal's intensity, yet he hesitated to put him in Mr. Federer's class. ""Federer has more clubs in his bag,"" he said.

If Messrs. Nadal and Federer do meet in this year's U.S. Open final, the outcome could have much to do with the surface under their feet. Mr. Nadal has beaten Mr. Federer on hard courts before, most recently in the final of the 2009 Australian Open. The U.S. Open's courts, though, play faster. Mr. Nadal can adapt to speed, as he has proven at Wimbledon. There, though, Mr. Nadal's exceptional footwork and balance give him an advantage over most opponents, who have unsure footing on the slippery grass. ""On a hard court, everyone has good footing,"" said Mary Carillo, the CBS and ESPN commentator. ""It narrows the gap.""

Inside Arthur Ashe Stadium, Mr. Federer's footing is better than good. He has reached the final here six straight years and won the title five times. So far this tournament, he has played sublimely, even in swirling winds. Mr. McEnroe suggested the final could be the toughest test that either man has ever faced.

""This would be a big, big match for our sport,"" he said. ""It would tell us a lot about where Rafa stands and also what Roger's made of."" And, maybe, who has the most game in tennis.","Roger Federer once stood alone as the most polished player in tennis. Now, Rafael Nadal rivals Mr. Federer as a complete player."
"Greece, where the economy has been in free fall, “grew” only after adjusting for seasonal effects — a calculation made by economists at Barclays. The Greek government did not provide an official figure.

“I cannot imagine this is really a new spring,” said Fabio Fois, European economist at Barclays in London. Nor is news of technically defined growth likely to offer much consolation to ordinary Greeks. Not while one in five people in the work force are out of work.

Still, along with growth in Germany that was much better than expected, the data provided mild respite from the gloom that has pervaded Europe in recent days. Despite the figures, major stock indexes retreated Tuesday in Europe, and Spanish and Italian bond yields, or interest rates, edged up on news that those two countries’ economies continued to contract. Indexes in the United States, however, were modestly higher in afternoon trading.

The euro zone, by not slipping into recession in the first quarter of 2012, ran counter to expectations. Growth in the region was zero compared to the previous quarter, according to the figures, from Eurostat, the E.U. statistics agency.

“In the current context, zero growth in the euro zone in the first quarter is relatively good news,” Marie Diron, an economist who advises the consulting firm Ernst & Young, said in a statement. “It suggests that the economy is not falling off a cliff under the burden of fiscal austerity.”

In the fourth quarter of 2011, gross domestic product in the euro zone had declined 0.3 percent. A second consecutive quarter of decline would have met the general definition of a recession.

Germany’s economy expanded 0.5 percent in the first quarter, more than analysts expected. But France did not grow at all, Spain’s economy slipped 0.3 percent, and Italy experienced a 0.8 percent decline in output.

The divergence in the numbers, which officials adjusted for seasonal effects, showed that there remains a wide gulf between Northern and Southern Europe.

“Even if the euro zone as a whole narrowly escaped technical recession in the first quarter, there is no sign of a strong, sustained economic bounceback on the horizon,” Martin van Vliet, an economist at ING Bank, wrote in a note to clients. The data, he said, “offers scant consolation for the peripheral economies, where the recession is deepening and whose economic fortunes look bleak at best and downright depressing at worst.”

The growth numbers arrived hours before François Hollande, newly sworn in as French president, traveled to Berlin, where he was to meet with Chancellor Angela Merkel. She was likely to see the data as vindication of her position that growth must be the product of sound government finances and economic restructuring, not the stimulus advocated by Mr. Hollande.

The Greek economy has shrunk by more than a quarter since 2008, and continued to plunge at the beginning of the year without adjusting for seasonal effects, although at a slower velocity. While Greece’s official statisticians do not make such adjustments, statistics agencies in most countries adjust quarterly data to reflect the fact that economic activity typically picks up at the end of a year and slows at the beginning of the next.

Another euro zone trouble spot, Portugal, also performed less dismally than expected. Its economy shrank 0.1 percent in the first quarter from the previous quarter, compared with a 1 percent decline that analysts had forecast.

Portugal, which is seen as having done more than Greece to improve economic performance, may have benefited from stronger exports. But Mr. Fois of Barclays said a recovery probably remains distant.

“Expecting sustained growth in the short term would be a bit optimistic,” he said. “You still have a lot of fiscal austerity to come through.”

Germany has benefited from the European Central Bank’s low lending rate of 1 percent, a benchmark that is set with the euro zone as a whole in mind but is probably too low for German conditions.

While credit is tight in much of Europe, it is still available in Germany at inexpensive rates that have pushed up real estate prices in urban areas. German wages are also likely to rise as companies have trouble finding skilled workers, fueling inflation which is already above the official target of about 2 percent.

Higher wages and inflation in Germany are likely to trouble some policy makers and segments of the German public, but may be good news for other countries in Europe. They would have an easier time competing with Germany for investment, while higher wages might increase German demand for their products.

“Robust German demand is essential to help offset falling domestic activity in the peripheral countries,” Ms. Diron said.

Germany depends on trade with other euro zone members, and in coming months there is a risk its economy may suffer from problems in countries like Italy and Spain.

“The highly competitive German economy has not entered a recession,” Jörg Krämer, chief economist at Commerzbank, wrote in a note. “Still, it is unlikely to expand at the same pace in the next few months.”","The euro zone narrowly avoided recession at the beginning of 2012, after the German economy grew much more than expected."
"OF all the restaurant brainstorms of the last decade or so, few have seemed as silly to me as the effort to impress Americans with the joys of consuming snack-size portions from small plates. Spain has its tapas, the Middle East its mezze, Russia its zakouski, Korea its anju and so on. But Americans? Supersize this!

In their proper cultural context, small-plate restaurants make perfect sense. Tapas bars like Xunta in the East Village and Ñ in SoHo are great fun, for example. But when you try to transfer this idea to cuisines out of context, the result has been some pretty dopey restaurants.

And yet, even pronouncements like my own have exceptions, which brings me to Alta, just about the smartest small-plate restaurant I have seen in New York. The owners, Christopher Chesnutt and Ewa Olsen, do not have brainy restaurants in their background, though Mr. Chesnutt has been involved in successful kitsch joints like El Teddy's and Tortilla Flats. But at Alta the elements of food, wine and ambience all come together.

Mr. Chesnutt hired as chef Harrison Mosher, who had been a sous-chef at 71 Clinton Fresh Food. His assignment was to create a menu of small plates, using flavors and ingredients from around the Mediterranean, and this he has done cleverly.

Some of the dishes are traditional. A pile of tiny deep-fried smelts ($6), seasoned just enough with lemon and salt, would be right at home in any seaside Greek taverna. So would a salad of roasted beets with feta cheese ($6.50), though I doubt it would also be paired with orange and pistachios, so that you could gather in one perfect bite sweet beet, acidic orange, creamy cheese and crunchy nut. And I can't imagine the salad presented so carefully and beautifully. No doubt you would find savory lamb meatballs ($5) on the eastern shores of the Mediterranean, possibly served with fennel shavings and labneh, the yogurt cheese. But would you find skewers of pork belly ($7), each tender, layered cube interspersed with scallions, roasted peppers and hard-cooked quail eggs? Each mouthful is wonderful.

Unlike some overly conceptual restaurants, Alta requires no lecture on how to order. You simply plunge right in, order a few dishes (three will feed you well) and eat as they come. A small dish of Marcona almonds ($3) is perfect for nibbling as you scan the menu, and the list of wine and beers is smart and fairly priced, with more than a few interesting bottles for under $30.

When Mr. Mosher is at his best, each plate brings with it unexpected flavor combinations. Beautifully roasted piquillo peppers are stuffed with goat cheese ($7.50) and served over a pestolike sauce, an excellent marriage of pungencies. Calamari and haricots verts ($8) are cut into slender ""tagliarini,"" roasted together and given a spicy edge, while a generous bowl of cauliflower florets ($7), roasted until they caramelize, are blended with Manila clams, chorizo and raisins, which add surprising bursts of sweetness.

The menu also includes some bigger offerings, like a fabulously buttery sautéed skate with Manila clams ($10) or a mild but well-prepared shallot risotto ($11), dotted with cubes of grana Padano. But I would hate to lose the opportunity to try smaller plates, like smoky grilled octopus with parsley and an olive purée ($8) or buttery brandade ($9), airy as a codfish soufflé.

Mr. Mosher is not without overwrought moments. His smoked eggplant and labneh dip ($5) suffers from the addition of honey. Ginger adds a bizarre note to bouquerones ($5). Intriguing sweets like a lime-ginger tart ($5) and a pear marinated in white wine ($6) are almost undone by the crème fraîche that is scooped onto each dessert plate.

Though Alta has been open since September, it is a work in progress. Situated in the Greenwich Village town house that was formerly L-Ray and long ago Texarkana and Peter's Backyard, Alta has banished those ghosts to offer its own transporting experience. As you enter, you pass a long, inviting bar. You climb stairs to the second floor and pass through the small kitchen to a small, airy dining room facing out to the street.

Each meal at Alta was a natural, unforced pleasure. Inevitably, I imagine, some people will complain about small portions. All I can say is, they work for me.

64 West 10th Street, Greenwich Village; (212) 505-7777.

BEST DISHES Smelts; beet salad; pork belly skewers; piquillo peppers; calamari; cauliflower; skate; shallot risotto; octopus; brandade.

PRICE RANGE Small plates, $3 to $14; medium plates, $10 to $13.50.

HOURS Sunday, 6 to 10:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday, until 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday, until 1 a.m.

WHEELCHAIR ACCESS Steps at entrance. Stairs to restrooms.","Alta is just about the smartest small-plate restaurant I have seen in New York, full of natural, unforced pleasures."
"The anguished widow of a firefighter killed in a Brooklyn blaze bared her soul in an emotional note about her husband just hours after he died.

Lt. Gordon “Matt” Ambelas, 40, died after suffering smoke inhalation and third-degree burns while battling an electrical fire in Williamsburg on Saturday night. Hours later, his widow, Nanette, took to Facebook to share her grief.

“How do I say goodbye to you Matt,” Nanette wrote. “You were my everything and the rock of this family.. My heart will never heal and I will love you forever. I want more time!!!”

The social media post mentions their two daughters, Giovanna, 5, and Gabriella, 7.

The aftermath of a deadly fire.

Prince Amedeo of Belgium gets married. The festival of San Fermín...

The World Bodypainting Festival in Poertschach, Austria.

Celebratory Fourth of July fireworks across the nation.

The best photos of the day, celebrating the best country...

American citizens celebrate, Tokyo goes down the toilet, President Barack...

Cosmonauts do laundry, a baby walrus hangs out in Hamburg,...

Newly minted NYPD officers celebrate, protesters scream and shout, Muslims...

A soldier’s sweet homecoming, true tennis lovers, a stealthy cougar and...

A great white shark gets nosy … and close to...

A white tiger tries to predict a World Cup winner,...

A panda has a snack, a newborn dolphin goes for...

It’s been 100 years since World War I changed Europe...

Banana leaves become a religious fashion statement, a bear bathes,...

Elvis impersonators find relief, a puppy escapes a scary situation,...

Sex workers try to remain inconspicuous, a protester has a...

“My life and my children’s has forever been changed,” Nanette wrote. “I was lucky enough to call you my husband for almost 10 wonderful years and thank you for giving me two of the most special part of you. Gabriella and Giovanna had the best father in the world.”

Nanette goes on to say she “will raise our girls to make you proud.”

After sharing her grief online, Nanette spent much of the day Sunday making funeral arrangements.

Ambelas’ wake will be held Tuesday and Wednesday at Casey McCallum Rice Funeral Home on Nelson Avenue in Staten Island. The hours both days will be from 2 to 4 p.m. and 7 to 9 p.m.

The funeral will be held Thursday at 11 a.m. at St. Clare’s Church on Nelson Avenue in Staten Island.","She wants more time. The anguished widow of a firefighter killed in a Brooklyn blaze bared her soul in an emotional note about her husband just hours after he died. Lt. Gordon “Matt” Ambelas, 40, d..."
"Ill grandfather refused to go into hospital until his grandson was well enough to return home

A BLACK and white photograph of a shirtless grandfather cradling his baby grandson has taken the internet by storm for an unexpected reason.

In the image Allen Halstead and little Kolbie Gregware are looking into each other’s eyes and both are displaying their zipper scars following open heart surgery.

The shot highlights the brutality of life, as the pair are in the opposite stages of their lives but have already shared such a difficult experience.

Kolbie, 11 months old, had his first open heart surgery at four months old after being born with a heart defect, pulmonary vein stenosis, pulmonary hypertension, chronic lung disease, kidney disease and Down’s syndrome.

Brandy Gregware, Kolbie’s mother, said: “My dad has had two open heart surgeries,18 stents, pacemaker, deflator, artery disease, diabetic, massive stroke, to many to count mini heart attacks and has 10 per cent heart function. His last admission was at the heart failure hospital in Atlanta.

“They were able to put him a medicine that helps his heart beat a little stronger. Once the medicine is no longer effective we will be saying our goodbyes.”

Alabama-based photographer Sunshine Moody took the series of images after meeting the family in hospital when her own daughter was in the same neonatal intensive-care unit.

She offered to take free photos of the twins because she had missed out on producing some professional images of her daughter during the time she was unwell.

Sunshine told the Daily Mail: “We had set a time up to take them, but Kolbie took a turn for the worse and was sent to Egleston in Atlanta. So we postponed the shoot.

“Then in May, she reached out to me to do their photos for their upcoming birthday.

“The photoshoot itself was actually fun and her dad is a character. When it came time to take the photo, I wanted to catch the rawness of the situation but also the love you can clearly see that the two of them have for one another.”

Kolbie and his twin brother Kash, who requires spine surgery, are now 11 months old and Kolbie spent seven of those months in hospital.

During the youngster’s last admission to hospital he was on a life support machine for over two-and-a-half weeks due to being ill with HMPV.

Speaking about the image of her father and son, Brandy added: “I was in tears when I saw this picture! I’m in tears as I type this… It shows 2 fighting miracles.

“This past year has been extremely hard for our family because BOTH have been in and out of the hospital and us not knowing if they would make it home! There was several times my dad refused to go to the hospital til his Kolbie Lee came home.”",A BLACK and white photograph of a shirtless grandfather cradling his baby grandson has taken the internet by storm for an unexpected reason. In the image Allen Halstead and little Kolbie Gregware a…
"Perseus Books Group is planning to lay off about 30 employees of Consortium, a company based in St. Paul, that provides sales, marketing, distribution and bill-collecting services to 100 small independent publishers across the country, including prominent publishers like City Lights and Assouline. After acquiring Consortium in August, David Steinberger, the president and chief executive of Perseus, which includes imprints like Da Capo Press, Basic Books and Running Press, said it was not considering layoffs. When the reorganization takes place on March 1, distribution for clients of Consortium and Perseus will be come from the Perseus center in Jackson, Tenn.","Perseus will lay off about 30 employees from Consortium, which provides sales, marketing, distribution and bill-collecting services to independent publishers."
"Democratic presidential candidate Martin O’Malley surrendered — just like many other parents.

When his daughters were choosing their colleges, he let them have their way. He didn’t want to crush their dreams, and ended up with crushing debt.

Last week, O’Malley spelled out a proposal to help students graduate debt-free from public colleges and universities, by increasing Pell Grants and automatically enrolling borrowers in income-based repayment plans. One key part of his plan calls for helping students and parents refinance their debt at lower interest rates.

O’Malley knows of what he speaks. In announcing his proposals, he revealed his family has accumulated more than $339,200 in student loans, the bulk of which are parent PLUS loans. He and his wife borrowed the money to educate their two daughters, Grace, 24, who attended Georgetown University and is a public school teacher in Baltimore, and Tara, 23, who attended the College of Charleston in South Carolina and is now an administrative assistant for the United Nations Foundation in the District of Columbia. The couple still has two sons to get through college, William 17, and Jack, 12.

I can empathize with O’Malley’s dilemma. His father, a World War II veteran, graduated from Georgetown. His daughter pleaded to have the same opportunity, although his father went on the GI Bill. And once you allow the first to go out-of-state, it’s hard to deny the second.

We can second-guess the wisdom of their decision, and I do. But now that they’ve made it, I hope the O’Malleys — given their public platform — will use their experience as a cautionary tale that, for most families, it’s not OK to cave to an 18-year-old whose dreams of a particular college will create decades of debt.

“I don’t want to hold us up as a metaphor of every family,” O’Malley said. “We are very lucky in that both of us are working and hopefully will continue to work. I think one thing that is true for all of us as Americans, it’s not good for our country or our economy to saddle [families] with the sort of debt that we have. A lot of families don’t have the ability to go into that sort of debt.”

Total outstanding student loan debt has reached $1.3 trillion. When we talk about the student-loan crisis, we mostly focus on the amount of debt being accumulated by students. But there’s not enough emphasis on the amount parents are borrowing. PLUS loans for parents have reached almost $69 billion, according to Department of Education data.

“Better we have the debt than [our children] have the debt,” O’Malley said.

That’s a sentiment many parents hold. But even as public servants, the O’Malleys (Katie O’Malley is a Baltimore District Court judge) may be able to manage the debt load. Are other families really thinking through whether they can?

As Consumers Union points out, PLUS loans, which are also available for graduate students, have much higher borrowing limits. The organization, in a letter urging the Department of Education not to lower standards for PLUS loans, made some important observations.

“Loans to graduate students are made on the promise that they will see an increase in salary from their educational attainment that enables them to repay the loans they borrowed,” wrote Suzanne Martindale, a staff attorney for Consumers Union. “Parents, on the other hand, do not see an increase in their incomes from their children’s education. . . . They have no guarantee that their children will help pay the loans back, or will even finish school. For these reasons, allowing parents to borrow many thousands of dollars in PLUS loans raises unique concerns.”

We’ve heard promises on the campaign trail this year about helping families afford college. And we do need some legislative intervention so that many people won’t be priced out of a college education.

But we also need to press upon parents and their children that dreams can come true without going to colleges that result in a heavy debt load.

As we wrapped up our conversation, I asked O’Malley an obvious question. What’s the plan for their sons?

“I hope to make a compelling argument with them to choose more affordable options for their parents,” he said. “I may put your column under their pillows.”","For most families, it’s not OK to cave to an 18-year-old whose dreams of a particular college will create decades of debt, warns Michelle Singletary."
"There are close to 110 million smartphone users in the United States alone. And, according to a recent Price Grabber study, many of them plan to use their devices for holiday shopping.

The study polled 2,500 smarthphone users across the country. Of them, 32% said they planned to use shopping apps to use for the holidays; 42% said they planned to buy small- and big-ticket items through smartphones. 75% agreed they would do some form of shopping online.

This doesn’t come as much of a surprise to retailers — many have adjusted accordingly. Target, for example, will add QR codes to a selection of its toys so shoppers can scan and purchase in a few clicks. Others, like Best Buy, plan to assertively match the prices of their online competition, like Amazon.

Watch the video above to learn more. How will you be shopping this holiday season? Let us know in the comments.

Image courtesy of Flickr, ilamont.com","According to a PriceGrabber poll, smartphone apps will play a big part in people’s holiday shopping plans. Retailers are preparing to either combat or embrace the trend."
"More than 400,000 Californians will have their weekly federal unemployment benefits reduced by about 17.7 percent starting April 28 as a result of the federal budget cuts known as sequestration.

The Employment Development Department announced Wednesday how it will implement the cuts. The cuts will only affect federal benefits, which start after someone has exhausted their regular state benefits, which typically last up to 26 weeks. Federal benefits arrive in four consecutive stages known as tiers that total up to 47 weeks. The cuts won’t hit everyone receiving federal benefits at once.

“The cuts will not be implemented for unemployed individuals collecting benefits in the middle of a federal extension tier. The cuts will only be taken at that point when the individual first starts a federal extension claim or starts a new extension tier that begins on or after April 28, 2013,” EDD says. It says it will send claimants a notice at that time, giving the effective date of the benefit reduction and the amount.

The cut will reduce the maximum weekly benefit of $450 by about $79 and the average benefit of $296 by $52. EDD has a sequestration calculator here.

The cuts were supposed to take effect at the end of March and reduce benefits by 10.7 percent. But many states including California had trouble programming the necessary changes by that deadline and as a result must reduce benefits by a larger amount.

“It would have been better if they had done it earlier, and across the board,” rather than waiting to slice a person’s benefit until a new tier begins, says Maurice Emsellem of the National Employment Law Project. That would have spread the pain a little more evenly. He says 19 states implemented the cuts the first week of April. “For states that impose an across-the-board cut on April 28th, it comes to 12.8 percent, not 17.7 percent,” he says.

EDD emphasized that the cuts will not reduce state benefits, nor will they reduce the duration of federal benefits, only the amount. Federal jobless benefits are scheduled to expire entirely at the end of the year.

Recipients of extended benefits under the California Training Benefit and Trade Readjustment Assistance programs are exempt from cuts.

Jobless people should expect less help from EDD because sequestration will also reduce funds money the federal government gives states to administer unemployment programs. EDD said it urges customers “to use self-help tools whenever possible.”",CA will cut federal jobless benefits almost 18% starting April 28
"This argument has strengths and weaknesses, but surely its most audacious suggestion is that the court should give legal weight to Hobby Lobby’s religiously motivated “desire” to provide employees with health insurance — even though the health-care law guarantees that workers could still get coverage, through the health-care exchanges, if Hobby Lobby declined to provide it.

Sounds to me like Hobby Lobby’s religion requires the company — and only the company — to look out for its employees’ health needs. That sure is a highly specific religious duty.

No doubt Hobby Lobby provides this insurance out of a sincere intent to fulfill that duty. But I’ll bet the federal tax exemption for employer-paid health insurance plays a role, too.

Given that it benefits from this feature of the Internal Revenue Code, Hobby Lobby’s insistence on delivering health insurance to employees in precisely the manner its company conscience dictates strikes me as not only a matter of principle but also a subtle manifestation of the great American entitlement mentality.

I’ll leave it to the court to sort that out. The real question is: Why do we have to worry about thorny issues like this in the first place? We wouldn’t have to if nearly 150 million Americans weren’t covered through employer-paid health insurance.

Potential crises of corporate religious conscience are just the latest pitfall of the employer-based system, whose accidental origins lie in World War II wage controls that encouraged companies to compensate employees with health care and other “fringe benefits” instead of cash.

Workers risk losing benefits when they switch employers; the resulting “job lock” reduces labor-market flexibility. And the tax exemption encourages overconsumption of health care, which drives up costs for everyone.

On the surface, Obamacare reinforces the system through such devices as the insurance mandate for large employers such as Hobby Lobby. But in other ways, the 2010 law undermines it, such as by imposing an excise tax that offsets some of the tax subsidy for employer-paid benefits and by creating the exchanges as an alternative source of coverage.

Ezekiel Emanuel, a former top health-care adviser to President Obama, predicts in a new book that Obamacare’s incentives will cause large employers to cease offering health insurance; Emanuel thinks fewer than 20 percent of private-sector workers will still be getting it in 2025, down from nearly 60 percent now.

From Emanuel’s lips to God’s ears. Of all the reasons to cheer the reported fulfillment of the administration’s 7 million sign-up quota for the exchanges, one of the best is the prospect that this country might develop a robust individual health-insurance market — ending “job lock” for millions.

If Republicans were thinking straight, they’d be cheering, too. Yes, Obamacare is still very much a work in progress and could flop in a thousand different ways — including from the failure of many enrollees to actually make their insurance payments, as the GOP predicts.

Nevertheless, exchanges, or something like them, would be at the heart of any market-oriented Republican alternative. Indeed, then-GOP presidential nominee John McCain proposed in 2008 to eliminate the tax exemption for employer-paid benefits and use the savings to subsidize an individual market — albeit with a different and, Democrats said, weaker method of insuring people who have preexisting conditions than the one in Obamacare. Three Republican senators recently offered a similar proposal.

In 2008, Obama attacked McCain’s plan as a tax increase, just as Republicans today are shortsightedly attacking Obamacare’s excise tax on employer-paid benefits, among other things.

Better for Republicans to admit that, for all their current flaws, the exchanges could be the building blocks of a system that breaks the link between coverage and employment — and start offering ways to improve them.

Some on the right concede as much. As Avik Roy, a health-care expert at the conservative Manhattan Institute told John Harwood of the New York Times, “It’s a better world where people shop on their own.”

Sooner or later, the GOP as a whole will have to embrace such arguments. Maybe after the election.

Read more from Charles Lane’s archive, follow him on Twitter or subscribe to his updates on Facebook.",Obamacare starts to break the employer-health care lock. It’s about time.
"Rick Santorum shares Rocky Balboa's tough style and blue collar charm

Sylvester Stallone likes Rick Santorum. He gave his 1994 Senate campaign $1,000 (for the record, he gave $1,000 to Joe Biden, too). Perhaps the mumbling thespian sees something of himself in the Rickster? Both are Italian-Americans, both have worked hard to get where they are. Both are muscular conservatives (one literally, the other more intellectually). Both have played working class heroes. In the latest installment of the Rocky Balboa series, Stallone portrays Rocky as a post-9-11 dropout, living in a post-industrial Hell. Yet, Rocky steps the ring with a younger boxer and matches him blow for blow, round for round. He doesn’t win, but the bloodied old boy leaves the ring with his head held high to the chant of “Rock-y! Rock-y! Rock-y!” That right hook spoke for an entire generation of angry Americans.

Santorum finds himself in a similar underdog role, and there’s as much history resting on his shoulders as there is on Balboa’s. Following his photo-finish in Iowa, Conservatives have to reassess Santorum and decide whether or not he’s going to be a one hit wonder. They face a difficult choice. Rick has plenty of momentum but little money and manpower, making it difficult to win big states later on. But if Right-wingers abandon this newborn frontrunner for Gingrich or Perry, they could split the field and let Romney win by default. No wonder then that a group of social conservatives gathered in Texas yesterday “to unite and to come to a consensus on which Republican presidential candidate or candidates to support”. They need to make their minds up soon.

The factors against Santorum emerging as that consensus candidate aren’t limited to his campaign poverty. For starters, if you Google his name you come up with an obscenity invented by gay rights advocates in revenge for Santorum’s pro-family agenda. In many ways, this filthy neologism is a badge of honour, for it testifies as to how much the candidate gets under liberals’ skin. On the other hand, it’s a sore reminder of how Santorum more often divides than he unites. His conservatism has a rough edge that would alienate many moderate and independent voters were he nominated. He has opined that, “The political base of the Democratic Party is single mothers running households that look to the government for help,” and said, “What we should be teaching are the problems and holes and I think there are legitimate problems and holes in the theory of evolution.” Rick also believes that, “There are no Palestinians” and that the theory of manmade climate change is “patently absurd”. Where other candidates fear to tread, Santorum goes in with fists of steel.

This ought to endear him to conservatives, but even there he has some trouble. The Ron Paul and establishment wings of the party will never vote for Santorum – so that’s about 50 percent of every primary vote lost. But even some Tea Party types have convinced themselves that Santorum isn’t one of them. The morning after Iowa, the Telegraph’s own James Delingpole launched a scathing attack on Santorum as a “big government conservative”. He quoted this analysis by National Review’s Michael Tanner:

“Santorum’s voting record shows that he embraced George Bush–style ‘big-government conservatism.’ For example, he supported the Medicare prescription-drug benefit and No Child Left Behind. He never met an earmark that he didn’t like. In fact, it wasn’t just earmarks for his own state that he favored, which might be forgiven as pure electoral pragmatism, but earmarks for everyone, including the notorious ‘Bridge to Nowhere.’ … He voted against NAFTA and has long opposed free trade. He backed higher tariffs on everything from steel to honey … In fact, Santorum might be viewed as the mirror image of Ron Paul. If Ron Paul’s campaign has been based on the concept of simply having government leave us alone, Santorum rejects that entire concept. True liberty, he writes, is not “the freedom to be left alone,” but “the freedom to attend to one’s duties to God, to family, and to neighbors.” And he seems fully prepared to use the power of government to support his interpretation of those duties.”

One man’s statist is another man’s working class hero, and there’s a case for saying that Santorum is misunderstood by Delingpole and Tanner. The earmarks that Santorum liked (appropriations attached to congressional legislation) were probably liked by his constituents, too. The whole point of going to the Senate is to serve one’s state. Any Senator who put either the best interests of the national taxpayers first, or who sacrificed goodies on the altar of high mindedness, would be a fool. They also wouldn’t be re-elected. Maybe that’s why Ron Paul – who Tanner calls Santorum’s philosophical opposite – also loves earmarks.

Santorum and his voters define the goals of conservatism differently from Paul and Tanner. Free trade is all well and good, and generally provides the best conditions for prices and profit. But it doesn’t guarantee strong families or crime free communities. On the contrary, the mass migration of manufacturing jobs has made the American economy more efficient but its society less stable. Whole communities have been dispossessed. Families have been broken by despondency, addiction and the burdens of low paid menial labour. Much of this has happened in Pennsylvania, Santorum’s home state. For Rick to speak out against the amoral brutality of globalisation is, again, him just doing his job. But it is also natural that a family values conservative should wish to use the state to shield vulnerable people against the excesses of the free market. For what is conservative about maximising profit at the expense of human dignity? If this movement is prepared to step in to save the life of an unborn child, why won’t it do the same for a man’s livelihood?

Combine Santorum’s religiosity with his economic populism and you see the kind of coalition that might put him in the White House. One wing is the Christians who came out for Rick in Iowa – traditional Republican social conservatives. The other is Middle Americans who are feeling the pinch of recession and have been let down by Obama. Columnist David Brooks writes that these working class voters, “sense that the nation has gone astray: Marriage is in crisis; the work ethic is eroding; living standards are in danger; the elites have failed; the news media sends out messages that make it harder to raise decent children. They face greater challenges, and they are on their own.” If Ron Paul’s brand of liberty means being left to fend for yourself, these folks are already living it. What they are looking for is not less government but a government that shares their values and will fight their corner. For the record, Santorum did not support the 2008-2009 bailouts and is a straight-down-the-line Tea Partier when it comes to spending. But his candidacy has shown a unique sensitivity to the plight of ordinary men and women. That puts him at the opposite end of the spectrum to Obama, who has spent a lot of money on welfare boondoggles while simultaneously signing free trade bills with Asia and South America.

And this is why Santorum’s controversial public image could be more of a help than a hindrance. Some people find Rick aggressive and tactless. Others identify with his tough struggle against the Republican elite and the media. Like Rocky, he has entered the ring the underdog. Millions of Americans who feel unrepresented in Washington will be drawn to him. He is the grandson of a coal miner and the son of an Italian immigrant. He says what he believes, and much of what he believes matches the experience of working class voters. Big business is against them, government is against them. All they’ve got is God. Well, maybe now they’ve got Rick Santorum, too.","Sylvester Stallone likes Rick Santorum. He gave his 1994 Senate campaign $1,000 (for the record, he gave $1,000 to Joe Biden, too). Perhaps the mumbling thespian sees something of himself in the Rickster? Both are Italian-Americans, both have worked hard to get where they are. Both are muscular conservatives (one literally, the other more intellectually). [...]"
"Hers was an often repeated observation. Residents want peace, but they harbor no particular rooting interest in the army or the drug gangs or the paramilitaries composed of retired cops: All armies are lethal.

We scrambled up a hardscrabble path to the new police precinct that commands the hill like a medieval castle keep. Inside, three police officers in body armor nodded warily.

They pointed to one, two, three bullet holes in the glass windows of the precinct, each the size of a Ping-Pong ball; the police attack, and the gangs counterattack. The precinct wall is dominated by a painting of a knight kneeling and holding his sword, accompanied by these words: “You may die, but if you don’t fight, you’re already dead.”

The precinct commander walked in, a semiautomatic rifle strapped to his chest. “You should not stay here — go back to the Olympics,” he said. “Shooting is anytime.”

Officials cut several bus lines that run north to south during the Olympics, in hope of keeping gangs from invading the tourist zones of Copacabana and Ipanema and the central business district. Many tens of thousands of working-class Cariocas, as natives of Rio are known, spend two and a half to three hours commuting to distant jobs, journeys made far more arduous during the Games. Anderson’s mother lives in a favela. She is in her ninth decade and has never visited the white sand beaches of Copacabana and Ipanema.

The city’s public safety director talks about the disaster that could await when the Olympics end and soldiers withdraw from the tourist zones.

The next day, I talked with Carla Maria Avesani, a young professor at the Rio de Janeiro state university. She has a Ph.D. and runs a nutrition institute at the University of Rio de Janeiro. She serves on the board of a prestigious journal and writes for an international audience of academics. She studies how changes in diet help poor patients on dialysis and those with heart problems. It was her dream to work at a public university with a mission.

Now she and her fellow professors pool their Brazilian reais to buy computers and paper towels, and to fix doors. They try to figure out what to do about the broken elevator. Their university is broke, its pockets turned out.

She lives in an upper-middle-class neighborhood, with good restaurants and that Mediterranean climate. The evening atmosphere, with young couples hand in hand, calls to mind Rome, except with enormous rock faces nearby and an ocean lapping at your feet. She watched the opening ceremony, all the brilliant choreographies, and read her friends’ proud posts on Facebook.

She could not join them.

“It was a beautiful party; we Brazilians do wonderful parties,” Avesani said. “But to see the amount of money spent for stupid stadiums, I don’t want to celebrate when the state is broke and hospitals are closing and the poor are dying by the thousands.”

She paused. “It’s nice to see so many foreigners, and I want you to be happy. I want to be happy.”

She sighed. “I would be happiest now if the world sees how we are living. I feel absolutely offended by these Olympics.”

A version of this article appears in print on August 15, 2016, on page D8 of the New York edition with the headline: ‘The Rich Play, and We Die’. Order Reprints| Today's Paper|Subscribe",Rio de Janeiro residents have criticized Brazilian officials for spending money on the Olympics rather than tending to the country’s problems.
"THE path is wide, the terrain easy, yet I keep losing my footing, tripping over stones and my own feet because I can’t watch the trail. My eyes refuse to leave the white mountain filling the sky before me, the 24,786-foot Himalayan peak Annapurna III. It dominates the horizon as surely as a sunset does, but with millenniums-old glaciers ringing its crest like a necklace of diamonds, it feels more dazzling than even the brightest setting sun.

Ethan-Todras Whitehill for The New York Times

In the Kali Gandaki Valley. In recent years, a road has been built along the river.

Just over a third of the way through the legendary 150-mile Annapurna Circuit trek, circling the Annapurna massif in Nepal, I have finally reached a height where no smaller mountains obscure my sightlines to the peaks. Ahead, four days on, lies Thorong La, a daunting 17,769-foot pass, the high point of the circuit and start of the trail back down. But I’ve already reached euphoria. Annapurna III is too everything — tall, close, imposing, beautiful — to be true.

Everyone who’s been to Nepal tells you the Himalayas are big. But nobody prepared me for the reality of breathing hard at altitudes already near those of some Rocky Mountain peaks, only to see a mountain rise another full height of the Rockies above me.

If my fiancée, Jen, and I had driven this same route in a jeep, my memories now and forever after would be a blur of trees and far-off villages, the mountains beautiful but remote, hardly more vivid than those seen in nature documentaries or computer wallpaper. Instead, as we approach the base of Annapurna III after a week of walking, my head is swimming with images seen close up: swaying footbridges over thunderous gorges; rocky footpaths jammed with goats, donkeys and water buffalo; terraced rice paddies thrusting green shoots against the olive hillsides; narrow stone Gurung villages filled with shrieking children, chatty shopkeepers and the low hum of chanting monks seeping out of brightly colored Buddhist monasteries.

And the mountains. Day by day, we’ve hiked in the company of the Annapurnas, admiring them from a distance in their shifting costumes of sun and shadow, sighing each time they hid behind clouds and cheering when they emerged. They feel like our mountains, our friends. Our Annapurnas.

It is a shame, then, that by 2012 a road will have been built on this path, destroying this experience and, according to many, placing the last nail in the coffin of what was once the greatest trek on earth.

Many walks lay claim to the title of World’s Greatest Trek — the Milford Track in New Zealand, Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania and the Inca Trail in Peru are a few. But none of those are epics through valleys surrounded by five-mile-high peaks, staying every night in teahouses run by local villagers and stocked with good kitchens, cold beer and Snickers bars. The Annapurna Circuit marries natural grandeur, cultural immersion and relative luxury in a union found nowhere else.

The circuit is a tale of two river valleys: up the steep, lush Marsyangdi, then over the pass and down the wide, arid Kali Gandaki. But in recent years a road, usable by buses and four-wheel-drive jeep-like vehicles, was completed that runs up the Kali Gandaki to the base of the pass. On that side, most trekkers now opt to ride in the jeeps rather than walk in their dust, and as a result, the time needed to complete the circuit has shrunk from 17 days to 11. In the coming years, with the road now being built on the Marsyangdi side, the undeveloped portion of the trek will shrink again, to just four days.

Roads are the bane of trekkers, most of whom — myself included — want to visit places where only their own two feet can take them. On trekking blogs and message boards, purists are already mourning Annapurna’s demise. So when I walked the Annapurna Circuit this past October, I decided to test this trekking prejudice: with Jen, a guide and a porter, I would walk the 17-day trail, even if it meant mingling with jeeps, and find out first-hand if all the doomsaying was warranted.

Thorong La is the highest altitude reached by many trekkers in their lifetimes, a few hundred feet higher than Everest Base Camp and eclipsed on the popular-treks list only by Kilimanjaro’s 19,331 feet. October, after the usual monsoon months, is prime trekking season because it is typically the driest month.

For pretty much every trekker in Nepal, whether headed to Annapurna, Everest or any of the other fabulously scenic regions, the preparation starts in the Thamel neighborhood of Katmandu, where every third storefront overflows with knockoff trekking poles, nylon pants and packs at prices half to a third of those elsewhere. (Our guide, a 30-something, thin-mustached Gurkha, called it “Chinese North Face.”) Thamel has no sidewalks, so our every foray into its streets was a tooth-and-nail battle with rickshaws, cars and mopeds.

ETHAN TODRAS-WHITEHILL is a frequent contributor to the Travel section.","The Annapurna Circuit is one of the world’s great treks. But a road is coming in, and vehicles’ dust may cloud the experience."
"Jason and Justin Sablich are here to help you with your fantasy football team. The Sablich brothers will provide fantasy football advice throughout the season on this blog and on Twitter (@5thDownFantasy).

If you submit one of the 50 most accurate responses this week, you can win a prize from FantasyPros.com.

As fun as fantasy football is, it also serves up an unhealthy portion of frustration every Sunday. A lot of that has to do with things out of any fantasy owner’s control, like the N.F.L. schedule.

Week 13 is a crucial week for many of you, a week when playoff hopes will either be bolstered or blasted. If you have relied on San Diego Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers and receiver Vincent Jackson to get you where you are at this point, we do not have great news for you. The Chargers match up with the Jacksonville Jaguars on Monday night, a team that just fired its head coach (Jack Del Rio) and is 3-8, but that strikes fear into the hearts of fantasy passing attacks. They allow just 13 points per game to opposing quarterbacks and are the second toughest fantasy matchup for receivers. San Diego’s banged-up offensive line will not help matters for Rivers and Jackson, who are among our unfavorable matchup picks for Week 13.

View our Week 13 rankings here. Favorable/Unfavorable Quarterback Matchups

Tim Tebow (DEN) vs. Minnesota – After Tebow attempted the most rushes by a QB since 1950 against the Chargers last week (22), we’re not sure how much Tebow will throw in this one, but there won’t be a better week for Coach John Fox to open up the play book and let Tebow air it out. Nobody allows more fantasy points through the air than the depleted Vikings secondary (23 fantasy points per game) and they are dealing with yet another injury, with cornerback Asher Allen (questionable) sustaining a sprained AC joint against Atlanta last weekend.

Matt Hasselbeck (TEN) vs. Buffalo – The Bills have allowed a 27-point fantasy average to Mark Sanchez, Matt Moore and Tony Romo over the last three weeks, with each quarterback throwing for at least three touchdowns during those games. In addition, the team’s 31st-ranked pass rush continued to be nonexistent on Sunday as the unit failed to register a sack for the sixth time this season.

Eli Manning (NYG) vs. Green Bay – Manning was one of the bright spots for the Giants during their Monday night beat down in New Orleans, completing 70 percent of his passes and compiling 400-plus yards and two touchdowns. The undefeated Super Bowl champions are on deck, which is bad news for Giants fans but could be very good news for Manning owners since the Packers will offer a very similar situation as the Saints. Both Green Bay and New Orleans allow 20 fantasy points a week to quarterbacks and both feature high-powered offenses that should force the Giants into throwing mode in an attempt to keep up.

Matt Moore (MIA) vs. Oakland – Caleb Hanie’s 21-point fantasy day in Week 12 marks the fourth consecutive game that Oakland has yielded at least two touchdown passes to the position. The Raiders are considered the fourth best matchup a quarterback can have (21 FPPG).

Philip Rivers (SD) vs. Jacksonville – Rivers will find the Jaguars fourth-ranked defense extra challenging this week behind a patchwork offensive line that will be missing Pro Bowl standouts Marcus McNeill and Kris Dielman. Dielman’s backup, Scott Mruczkowski, will also be sidelined, and there are no guarantees that right guard Louis Vasquez makes it back from a high ankle sprain.

Ben Roethlisberger (PIT) vs. Cincinnati – It was only a couple of weeks ago that the Bengals limited Roethlisberger to a mediocre 13-point fantasy day (245 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT). It seems as though Cincinnati has gotten the best of this matchup of late, with Roethlisberger averaging just 223 passing yards in his last five games against the Bengals, with just three touchdowns.

Matt Ryan (ATL) vs. Houston – The Texans’ secondary hasn’t allowed a quarterback to post 20 or more fantasy points since Drew Brees back in Week 3. In fact, he’s the only QB to total at least 20 points against this unit all season. Ryan drops to low-end QB1 status for us this week (second worst QB matchup).

Ryan Fitzpatrick (BUF) vs. Tennessee – His surprise 264-yard, three-touchdown day against the Jets was most likely wasted on your bench. We’ll continue to view him as a QB2 this week up against a Titans secondary that has surrendered just two passing touchdowns in the last three weeks.

BenJarvus Green-Ellis (NE) vs. Indianapolis – Expecting a lot of rushing yards from the Patriots’ backfield is never a good idea, but Green-Ellis is coming off a two-score day, and another back who hasn’t seen many carries this season (DeAngelo Williams) posted 2 touchdowns on this defense last week. The Colts are tied for the most rushing touchdowns allowed this season with 12 and are allowing 24 fantasy points a game to the position (second best RB matchup).

LeGarrette Blount (TB) vs. Carolina – Blount is gunning for his third-consecutive 100-yard game this week and the matchup couldn’t be more favorable. Nobody allows more points on the ground than the Panthers, who have surrendered 53 standard fantasy points over the last two weeks to Kevin Smith and Donald Brown.

Jonathan Stewart (CAR) vs. Tampa Bay – Williams stole the show against Indianapolis with his first multiple-touchdown game since 2009, but you still have to like Stewart’s prospects a little more against the league’s third-worst rushing defense. Stewart continues to be the featured option out of the backfield on passing downs, and he actually had more yards than Williams on five fewer carries in Week 12 (70 to 69).

Frank Gore (SF) vs. St. Louis – Gore has disappeared of late, rushing for just 127 yards over the last three weeks (2.8 avg.). But he’ll get a crack at the league’s worst run defense this weekend, a team that gave up 228 yards to the previously struggling Beanie Wells in Week 12.

Beanie Wells (ARZ) vs. Dallas – With the return of the outstanding run-stopping linebacker Sean Lee, the Cowboys are getting tough on the run again (sixth worst RB matchup), limiting Fred Jackson and Reggie Bush to a 10-point fantasy average over the last two weeks. Wells certainly needs to be in lineups after last week’s performance, but a trip back to earth is likely considering that Dallas is 22 times tougher on ground attacks than the lowly Rams.

Michael Turner (ATL) vs. Houston – The Vikings cooled down ‘The Burner’ last week, holding him to 60 yards on 19 carries. This week, he’ll face an even stiffer challenge, as the Texans are 16 times tougher for RBs to score on from a fantasy perspective, allowing just 13 points a week on average.

Donald Brown (IND) vs. New England – Donald Brown turned in 80 yards and a touchdown against Carolina, despite the fact that Joseph Addai technically started the game. Unfortunately, a repeat isn’t likely against the Patriots, who have been tough against ground games of late. They’ve held opposing backs under the century mark in each of the last three weeks and have allowed just one rushing touchdown during that span.

Michael Bush (OAK) vs. Miami – Miami’s stout run defense held the red-hot DeMarco Murray in check on Thanksgiving Day (12 points). Murray’s mediocre Thursday still marked the first time a running back has reached double-digit fantasy points against this unit since Week 4. We like Bush as more of a high-end RB2 this week against the third worst matchup a running back can have.

Victor Cruz (NYG) vs. Green Bay – Fantasy’s fourth-ranked receiver through 11 games was the only other bright spot next to his quarterback in Monday’s night’s massacre, posting 157 yards and two touchdowns. Mario Manningham’s absence helped Cruz see a few more targets, but at this point, it doesn’t matter if Manningham is on the field or not. Cruz is leading the Giants in receptions (55), receiving yards (957) and receiving touchdowns (7) and is locked in as a WR1 this week against a Packers secondary that gives up the second most points to opposing receivers this season.

Michael Crabtree (SF) vs. St. Louis – Crabtree has recently been a serviceable WR3 despite the 49ers’ ultraconservative approach on offense, and he could be seeing a bump in targets this week with Braylon Edwards’s status in doubt because of a shoulder injury. That should mean good things against a Rams’ secondary that is allowing the seventh most fantasy points to the position.

Pierre Garcon (IND) vs. New England – Garcon got the Chris Gamble treatment against Carolina in Week 12 (3 receptions, 34 yards), and his numbers have been in the dumpster over the last three weeks. But his matchup this week against the league’s worst pass defense shouldn’t be ignored.

Jordy Nelson (GB) vs. Giants — Nelson had an unusually quiet day last week but a nice bounce-back performance should be expected. The Giants secondary was completely throttled by the Saints receivers Monday night, giving up 11 plays of at least 15 yards. The Giants allow the sixth most points to opposing receivers this season.

Mike Williams (TB) vs. Carolina – A late 59-yard touchdown pass to Reggie Wayne last Sunday marred an otherwise solid outing from the Carolina secondary. Opposing teams’ No. 1 receivers are averaging just five standard fantasy points through 11 games against Carolina, thanks in part to an improved season from top cornerback Chris Gamble.

Johnny Knox (CHI) vs. Kansas City – His recent uptick in production has been nice for the minority of owners that have actually started him the last two weeks (121 yard average, 2 TDs), but that could be coming to an end for at least this week. The Chiefs’ Brandon Flowers has been tough on wideouts over his last two games, holding Wes Welker and Mike Wallace to a 1.95 average.

Vincent Jackson (SD) vs. Jacksonville – Jackson’s up-and-down season continued last week as he was completely shut down by Denver’s secondary. The lackluster play from his offensive line played a big part as well, with Rivers struggling for time to look downfield. A similar situation is brewing against the second worst matchup for receivers, making him more of an WR2 option in Week 13.

Anquan Boldin (BAL) vs. Cleveland – The ultratalented rookie A.J. Green has been the only receiver this season to reach the century mark against cornerback Joe Haden and the Browns. Cleveland ranks as the worst matchup a receiver can have in 2011.

Favorable Jermichael Finley (GB) vs. Giants — The Giants (seventh best TE matchup) have had no answer for the position as of late, with Rob Gronkowski, Fred Davis and now Jimmy Graham posting a 15-point fantasy average over the last three weeks. The loss of linebacker Michael Boley in the middle has made the Giants even more vulnerable. Boley could return this week, which would take some of the shine off the situation, but we’d still consider Finley a high-end TE1 play.

Vernon Davis (SF) vs. St. Louis – Davis wins the worst tight end matchup award as the Rams are holding the position to just three fantasy points a game.

New England vs. Colts, Chicago vs. Chiefs, Dallas vs. Cardinals, Baltimore vs. Browns, Jets vs. Redskins Unfavorable

Giants vs. Packers, Detroit vs. Saints, New Orleans vs. Lions, Houston vs. Falcons, Green Bay vs. Giants","The Jaguars are 3-8, but in fantasy football, they are one of the toughest opponents for both quarterbacks and receivers. Philip Rivers and Vincent Jackson are among our unfavorable matchup picks for Week 13."
"There are no dogs in this picture. (Jae C. Hong - AP) I am sick of hearing about the dog.

This is not because I am a horrible cynophobe and once, at a formative age, was frightened by a poodle.

Nor is it because if I wanted to be followed everywhere by someone who panted and possessed a limited command of simple verbs, I would need to look no further than my dating life.

Nor is it because I have been on far too many car trips in the back seat with a flatulent dog, and the Romney Solution of placing him on top of the car to battle the elements is a lifelong fantasy.

In general, dogs are bad news. They are something you cry havoc and let slip. The best dog in literature greeted Odysseus by not slobbering on him too much and then quietly dying. The worst dog in literature is Cujo. In general, they fall somewhere in between. Clifford the big red? Clearly a communist. Snoopy? Seems to be suffering from multiple personalities. Cerberus? Three times as much bark as anyone wants.

And Seamus, the Romney setter. He reminds me of Snooki — not in appearance, just in the sense that we will never be rid of him, and I wish we were.

What about the other Romney dog stories — the one where he rescued a neighbor’s dog from drowning? Or the one where he threw another dog’s favorite ball into water and it sank out of sight and both Romney and the dog were deeply saddened? Well, maybe not that second one.

But for crying out loud, if this Seamus Romney story were a horse, it would have been flogged not only to death but also somewhere into the eighth circle of hell by now.

In general, a crate-gate is something you use to keep a dog out of the conversation, not an extended national debate about canine care.

Surely we have extracted every possible ounce of meaning from this tale by now. Gail Collins has inflicted this story on us more than 30 times — and counting.

If you know a man best by the way he treats his dog, we now know Mitt Romney better than we have ever known anyone before.

We have reached the point where Ann Romney now insists — to Diane Sawyer — that Seamus was delighted by the sight of his car-top carrier. And somehow this is news!

Of course, you could argue that it speaks to a larger problem. That is certainly what everyone who invokes it has been doing. “Every story told to humanize Mitt Romney,” they point out, “makes him seem weirder.”

“Most families, when you ask them for funny stories of car trips, don’t immediately leap to the one where the dog’s bowels explode on the car roof.”

A story in The Post Style section today where Mitt Romney’s friends stepped up to tell amusing anecdotes of his young life had the same effect. “At Stanford, he lured rival University of California students into a trap in which his buddies ‘shaved their heads and painted them red,’ according to a 1970 speech at Brigham Young University by his father, George Romney,” the story reported. “One night in Bayonne, in southern France, [George] Keele answered a knock on the door and saw two men, their faces hidden by sheets, ordering him in French to put his hands behind his back, turn around and not utter a word. Keele fled out the back door only to hear Romney, his mask removed, laughing uproariously in the house.”

This is one of those self-perpetuating problems. The more ardently you try to insist that you are cool and normal, the stranger you sound. This is one of those elections that seems to be about everything but the issues involved.

No wonder this story keeps dogging Mitt Romney’s heels.

It’s one thing to groom the potential first lady for the cameras. But first pets are getting top billing now too. Everything but the thing that matters.

Look, if we required our presidents to be normal human beings, that would exclude everybody worth having. Thomas Jefferson fed his bird from his lips and went through the Bible redacting passages with which he disagreed. Abraham Lincoln had a penchant for telling rude jokes. Weed out all the eccentric and you’re left with, at best, Millard Fillmore. And he had a strange name.

Can’t we put the dog down?

Or at least stick the issue in the back seat, where it belongs?",That’s where the issue belongs.
"PHILADELPHIA, Aug. 14— At the Eaton Corporation's forklift plant here, they used to call him Big Bad Leroy Brown after the words of Jim Croce's popular song, ''Bad, Bad Leroy Brown.'' That was because he is truly big, his first name is Leroy and in World War II he represented his outfit as a boxer.

Now Leroy Wright's chief avocation is teaching underprivileged boys how to box at a recreation center, and about the worst thing he does, he says, is swear at the fate that took away his job. He is a victim of a national economic phenomenon that has become increasingly pronounced in Philadelphia and other old industrial cities over the last decade: the loss of manufacturing jobs.

''I put in 15 years there,'' Mr. Wright said the other day outside the plant where he used to work. ''Now I'm 54 years old and trying to find something else. They're shutting down - phasing out - and leaving us. But I guess the roughest part will come in two weeks, when my unemployment payments run out.''

The phenomenon is national, though most pronounced in the Northeast and Middle West. Over the last decade, those in manufacturing jobs have declined as a proportion of the United States work force, from 29 percent to 23 percent.

Here, the city continues to enjoy a downtown resurgence that Philadelphians call their Renaissance, with new restaurants, hotels, office buildings and high-technology concerns flourishing.

But Philadelphia's manufacturing jobs represented only 17 percent of the total in 1980, down from 26 percent in 1970, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. And like many other old industrial cities, Philadelphia has lost both people and jobs. The population declined from 1.85 million to 1.69 million in 10 years, and from 1970 to 1979 the total number of jobs fell by 140,000.

Richard A. Doran, the city's Director of Commerce, said recently: ''The economic profile of the city as a whole indicates to me we have bottomed out and are experiencing a slight upturn.'' But the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported yesterday that Philadelphia lost 12,000 jobs in the second quarter of this year, 11,400 of them manufacturing jobs. May unemployment, the latest figure available for the city, was 7.8 percent, slightly higher than the national rate for the month of 7.6 percent.

According to the latest census, the broader Philadelphia metropolitan area was one of seven in the Northeast and Middle West to lose people in the last decade, and Philadelphia was one of only four major cities in the country to lose black population.

In the 10-year period, among the companies closing down or moving away were old Philadelphia mainstays like ESB-Exide, Philco Ford, Cuneo Eastern Press, the Budd Company's auto frame division, Midvale Heppenstall Steel and Bayuk Cigar. This year, the Container Corporation closed its folding-box division and Eaton and Cooper Industries' Plumb Tool division have decided to phase out manufacturing operations.

Among the more seriously affected by the exodus, some experts say, are the older industrial workers. Many of them have long records at one company, with pay scales built up over the years that they cannot hope to equal at another company. Their severance pay and any vested pension rights are often higher than those of younger workers. However, the dismissal often comes when costs for educating children and for medical care are close to a peak. 55 and Worried

They are workers like Mr. Wright, Richard White and Joseph Dushlek of the Eaton plant and Joseph Fry and Joseph Pedrick, who lost jobs when the Container plant closed, all of them in their 50's and homeowners, but worried about keeping their houses. The average age among the workers at Eaton is about 55, according to David Gracie, chaplain at Temple Univeristy and executive director of the nonprofit Center for Ethics and Public Policy, which is studying the effects of the closing.

John Dodds, coordinator of the Delaware Valley Coalition for Jobs, an organization supported by foundation grants and union contributions, agrees that the hardest blows often fall on older workers. However, he contends that the most serious social impact in the old Northeastern cities is the loss of opportunity for inner-city youths, who have the highest unemployment rate.

Mr. White and Mr. Dushlek are still working as Eaton phases out its local operations, which it will consolidate in existing plants in North Carolina and Virginia. Neither Mr. Wright, who was laid off a few months ago, nor Mr. Fry nor Mr. Pedrick has been able to find permanent subsequent employment.

All five, in interviews, voiced adamant opposition to moving South, where many of the Northeast's jobs have been going. They mentioned special family problems, worries about differences in pay scales or fears about job security.

''This is the home I waited for all my life, and I'm going to fight to keep it,'' said Mr. Pedrick, 55, who bought his comfortable rowhouse on Roosevelt Boulevard only three years ago. He received a sizable settlement in severance pay, but it has been going fast. He worked briefly on two jobs since the Container plant closed early this year, but now is out of work again. Those Who Can't Afford to Leave

George Sternlieb, the Rutgers University expert on urban problems, observed: ''The middle class and those desperately trying to improve themselves are leaving. What's left, basically, is people who can't afford to leave.''

Among those left behind, he said, blacks face a special problem because, among industrial workers, they ''tend to be the last hired and the first to be let go.'' Last year, the average unemployment rate for black adults was 12.9 percent nationwide and 20.4 percent here, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said.

For the older workers, those interviewed here said, layoffs create other special problems, among them the loss of company-financed medical insurance. Mr. Dushlek has a wife who ''uses the insurance a lot,'' he said, for the insulin shots she needs for diabetes, and Mr. Wright worries about his wife's multiple sclerosis.

''Moving her would be like a death sentence,'' he said. ''My daughter said, 'Daddy, how am I going to get through college?' '' said Mr. White, carrying his lunch pail outside the Eaton plant, which he will soon help to close after working there for 28 years.''I told her not to worry,'' he added, but he was shaking his head.

The flight of manufacturing, meanwhile, creates population losses that cannot be replaced by those who work in service industries, ''Our own surveys indicate that, particularly in Philadelphia, roughly 70 percent of the manufacturing jobs are held by people who live in the city,'' Mr. Sternlieb said, ''while only 30 percent of the office workers are city dwellers.''

The population and job drain from old industrial cities ''became a torrent in the last decade,'' according to Theodore Hershberg, director of the University of Pennsylvania's Center for Philadelphia Studies. Among reasons cited by both Mr. Hershberg and Mr. Sternlieb are higher costs of energy in the North, the greater age of plants and machinery and differences in pay scales.

And of the population decline, Mr. Sternlieb said: ''Philadelphia - any old industrial city - is not the land of opportunity for the industrial worker anymore, and very grudgingly workers are beginning to see that.''

He added: ''Within Philadelphia you've got a nice little city evolving, a post-industrial, swinging, sophisticated city, though there is going to be tremendous friction between the new and the old.''

Illustrations: photo of workers leaving Eaton plant in Philadelphia photo of Leroy Wright outside forklift plant","At the Eaton Corporation's forklift plant here, they used to call him Big Bad Leroy Brown after the words of Jim Croce's popular song, ''Bad, Bad Leroy Brown.'' That was because he is truly big, his first name is Leroy and in World War II he represented his outfit as a boxer.   Now Leroy Wright's chief avocation is teaching underprivileged boys how to box at a recreation center, and about the worst thing he does, he says, is swear at the fate that took away his job. He is a victim of a national economic phenomenon that has become increasingly pronounced in Philadelphia and other old industrial cities over the last decade: the loss of manufacturing jobs.   ''I put in 15 years there,'' Mr. Wright said the other day outside the plant where he used to work. ''Now I'm 54 years old and trying to find something else. They're shutting down - phasing out - and leaving us. But I guess the roughest part will come in two weeks, when my unemployment payments run out.''"
"A new report from the Institute for Government says civil servants don't know how to prepare for the Brexit talks and beg for more information

THERESA May must give departments more information about the Brexit process and who will be involved, or she will risk being unprepared for leaving the EU.

A new report from the Institute for Government says that Whitehall departments feel uncertain about what to do in the run up to the PM triggering Article 50 in March.

The think tank said that despite clear progress in preparing for negotiations, civil servants across Whitehall are uncertain of where to begin, and what to focus on.

“Departments need to know how they are going to be involved throughout the negotiations so they can put the necessary people in place and tailor their preparation accordingly,” it said.

All departments need to be starting their “post-Brexit planning” now, including on the opportunities that can be offered by leaving the EU – but need more information from Government before they can do so.

The Prime Minister said last week she would provide a “plan” for Brexit, despite repeated refusals to share more in case it compromised the UK’s negotiating position.

But the new report from the Institute for Government lays bare the confusion at the heart of Government as civil servants have no idea what kind of deal ministers want.

Many complained in the report that they have no idea what being “ready” for Article 50 means.

And Britain can’t wait to leave the EU before getting ready for life free of the bloc, the report ads.

The Great Repeal Bill, which Theresa May has promised will lift EU laws into UK ones, is likely to be more complicated than expected, the think tank said.

It warned said: “If the Government does not clearly set out its priorities, there is a risk that the civil service will fail either to deliver existing commitments or to plan properly for Brexit and life afterwards.”

Policy wonks repeated previous concerns that Whitehall does not have the “capacity or resources to deliver Brexit” due to budget cuts and prior commitments.

The Institute for Government said that the Government already has a pile of work to do, and Brexit will add huge amounts to the loads of civil servants.

“The Government must recognise that it is attempting to deliver Brexit with a civil service that is at its smallest in decades, and already managing a myriad of commitments,” the report said.

It called on ministers to give departments more detail or risk being ill-prepared for Brexit talks, and to “set out how it plans to keep Parliament informed… so it can be sure that any deal with the EU will be ratified by the UK Parliament.”","THERESA May must give departments more information about the Brexit process and who will be involved, or she will risk being unprepared for leaving the EU. A new report from the Institute for Gover…"
"Cpl. Rodolfo Hernandez, right, and other Korean War heroes decorated by President Harry S. Truman in April 1952.

Rodolfo Hernandez, who received the Medal of Honor for rushing into heavy fire while wounded and armed with only an inoperable rifle and bayonet and then killing six enemy soldiers during the Korean War, died on Saturday in Fayetteville, N.C. He was 82.

The Congressional Medal of Honor Society announced his death on its website. Mr. Hernandez was an Army corporal trying to hold a hill in May 1951 when his platoon was overwhelmed by attackers accompanied by heavy mortar, artillery and machine gun fire.

Corporal Hernandez had already been struck by grenade fragments and was bleeding heavily from a head wound when his commanding officer ordered his platoon to fall back. He continued firing until his rifle malfunctioned, then threw six grenades and charged at the opposing foxholes.

“I took my rifle and fixed the bayonet,” he was quoted as saying in “Beyond Glory: Medal of Honor Heroes in Their Own Words,” by Larry Smith, “and then I yelled, ‘Here I come!’ ”

He managed to kill six attackers before falling unconscious from grenade, bullet and bayonet wounds. His action allowed his unit to retake the hill.

Corporal Hernandez was so badly wounded that his comrades initially took him for dead. They were placing him in a body bag when someone noticed movement in his hands, said his wife, Denzil. His injuries were so extensive that he had to relearn how to walk, how to speak and how to write with his left hand (his right arm was permanently damaged).

By the time Corporal Hernandez received the Medal of Honor from President Harry S. Truman in the White House Rose Garden on April 12, 1952, he was able to speak a few words.

Rodolfo Hernandez was born on April 14, 1931, in Colton, Calif. His early education ended after the eighth grade, but he studied business administration at Fresno City College for three years after returning from the war. He eventually became a counselor for the Veterans Administration in Los Angeles and had three children with his first wife, Bertha. They divorced, and Mr. Hernandez retired from the V.A. in 1979 and moved to Fayetteville. He married Denzil in 1995.

Information on survivors was not immediately available.",Mr. Hernandez received the award for charging at the enemy in a daring assault while wounded and armed with an inoperable rifle and a bayonet when he was an Army corporal during the Korean War.
"The Texans' Mario Williams has averaged just under 10 sacks per season since entering the league as the No. 1 overall pick in 2006.

While the labor skirmish drones on, let's focus on one item in Monday's column that brought some email and Twitter chatter: the move of Mario Williams from defensive end in the Texans' former 4-3 defense to a rush outside linebacker in new defensive coordinator Wade Phillips' 3-4.

My whole point Monday was that the move wasn't that revolutionary. If Phillips thinks Williams can drop 20 or so pounds and play the rush spot DeMarcus Ware played with the Cowboys to great success, Phillips deserves the benefit of the doubt.

Many of you, including Ted D. of Katy, Texas, think I'm underrating Williams -- who has averaged 9.6 sacks a year over the past five seasons -- and he shouldn't have to move to a foreign position. Ted writes: ""Williams has never played the position. He's been excellent for the Texans at defensive end. Stats don't tell the whole story. I'm just afraid he's not suited to play in space the way Phillips is going to ask him to do.''

Let's examine what the phrase ""playing in space'' means. In some 3-4 schemes, the outside linebackers are asked to drop in coverage, but in reality they almost never do. If you watch Phillips' defense in Dallas (and, for that matter, in San Diego before then), the outside linebackers were pretty consistently lined up wide on the line of scrimmage, outside the defensive ends. There's this fear that Williams will be a lost sheep on the four or five snaps a game where (it is presumed, and I believe wrongly) he would have to drop and cover a tight end or back. But Phillips doesn't do that, and I'm sure he's not going to start now with Williams.

I asked my friend Aaron Schatz of FootballOutsiders.com, a site that studies tape of every NFL game, what he thought of the move, and to work up some stats on Williams and Ware to see how much each pressured the passer in recent seasons. ""To be honest,'' Schatz said, ""I don't think Mario Williams as outside linebacker is that crazy. The strongside linebacker [in Phillips' defense] only rarely drops into coverage and the weakside linebacker almost never drops into coverage. Last year, our game charters had Ware in coverage on six passes. That's it. [Antwan] Applewhite, the weakside linebacker in San Diego, was in coverage on just nine. Williams makes more sense there than as a five-technique end.'' The five-technique end has run and rush responsibilities and lines up on the outside shoulder of the offensive tackle.

According to the numbers crunched by FootballOutsiders.com, Ware got home more than Williams in the past three seasons, but both had good impact disrupting the quarterback. Ware had 47 sacks to Williams' 30, but they had an identical 120 hits and hurries of the passer.

When the Texans were getting ready to draft Williams in 2006, I remember speaking to owner Bob McNair about choosing between Reggie Bush, Vince Young and Williams for the number one pick in the draft. ""We've got to play Peyton Manning twice a year, and we've got to make sure we find a way to make it uncomfortable for him when he plays us,'' McNair said then. It takes more than one rusher to make it hard on Manning, to be sure, and the Texans absolutely must play better in the secondary; if I'm McNair, I'm telling Rick Smith he has carte blanche to go after accomplished cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha when the free-agent market opens, because a pass-rush without coverage is not going to be good enough.

But I'm anxious to see Williams make more of an impact than he has. Moving him from hand-in-the-ground defensive end to rangy outside 'backer is not a revolution. It could make him more of a force buzzing around quarterbacks than he's been. Williams is excited about dropping down to 265 or 260 and having a bigger impact at rush linebacker. That's a big reason -- along with new draftees J.J. Watt and Brooks Reed -- for Texans fans to be excited about the new defense.

Brett Favre recently said he is considering going into TV or coaching in the future.

• I THINK IT'LL TAKE HIM AWHILE TO FIND SOMETHING. ""The last few offseasons, we have been inundated with the Brett Favre saga. Now that the labor dispute is all over the NFL front page, discussing Favre would be a relief. What are your thoughts on Favre's comments about coaching or commentating?'' --Jonathan Borne, Timberville, Va.

I can't see him as a TV guy, though I do think he could do something in tandem with his good friend Steve Mariucci on NFL Network -- maybe a dissection of quarterback play every week or so, which would be interesting to see. I'd love to see Favre and Mariucci take a big play by a quarterback, then diagram it and figure out how it worked and what the quarterback's options were, and what Favre would have been thinking at the time. Ultimately, I could see him as a coach in southern Mississippi, like his dad Ervin was. He loves kids, and he'd be good teaching them.

• THE MARKET FOR NNAMDI. ""As always, great column. That said, what are your thoughts on Nnamdi Asomugha? It appears the Eagles are planning on making a big run at him, only drafting one cornerback, in what seem to be the team's most glaring need. I'd appreciate your thoughts, realizing that this bogus lockout is limiting your ability to gather information on player movements.'' --Adam, Philadelphia

That last statement is absolutely right. Teams are very, very careful to not tip their hands on free agents, for fear of being wrist-slapped (or worse) by the league. I could see five teams with big wallets going after him: Philadelphia, Houston, Dallas, Detroit and the Jets -- but the Jets ONLY if there's not going to be a salary cap in 2011. See, that's the difficult thing to forecast. If there's a cap, I can't see the Jets in the running, because paying two cornerbacks a combined $35 million a year (or some such lunatic number) would squeeze too many contributing players off their team. Detroit's probably a dark horse, but I wouldn't be surprised if the Ford family, which has to be as excited about its team as it's been since the prime Barry Sanders days, would authorize a big check for Asomugha.

• FAIR ENOUGH. ""While I agree with you that more NFL players should donate their brains to science, I think scientists should do the outreach, not the NFL or its teams. Major trust issues there, and I think that would turn off players from helping. But while we're on the topic, maybe you can get BU to do a study of NFL owners brains -- find out why earning hundreds of millions of dollars every year and having millions of loyal fans doesn't make them happy.'' --Brian, Boston

You make two very good points.

• MARK IS CLEVER, AND CORRECT. ""Are you sure the tweet from Collinsworth isn't a quote from 10 years ago about Michael Vick?'' --Mark, Miami

You make another very good point.

• BUT HOW MUCH BLAME DO YOU PUT ON HIM FOR THOSE RECORDS? ""Peter, a thought on why Jake Locker may have impressed the Titans despite his lower than desired collegiate accuracy: His record as a 4-year starter at Washington -- 4-9, 0-12, 4-7, 7-6. He knows how to be a leader on a struggling/rebuilding team.'' --Terrance Jakubowski, Los Angeles

I'm not sure if putting up poor accuracy marks and losing records like that is a credit to him. I might say he's been part of the problem. But that's a complicated question, obviously. We'll see if the Titans can turn their offense around with a guy who simply has to be more accurate throwing the ball than he was at Washington.

• GOOD QUESTION. ""I don't usually question Bill Belichick's draft strategy, but why wouldn't he make the trade you mentioned with the 49ers (taking a three this year and next for allowing the 49ers to move up)? Was there any real chance that Dowling wouldn't be there at 45? Most didn't even have Dowling as the top corner on the board at that point in the draft. Two threes may not be as much value as Belichick wanted, but it is certainly a good haul for moving back and still getting the player he wanted."" --Sam Finkelstein, Chicago

Obviously he didn't make it because he wanted more value if he was going to risk losing Ras-I Dowling. If he moved from 33 to 45, with the voracious draft-day appetite for cornerbacks, there's no way he could have been assured of getting Dowling.

• HE LIKES MIKE. ""Read your message from Mike McGuire regarding the bin Laden closure. What struck me most is that we talk about the lost lives in this war on terror, but we rarely give credence to lives changed. The part about Mike regretting missing his kids growing up particularly struck home as I spend a lot of my life on the road away from my family, and deal with a lot of guilt and sadness about it. The difference is my time away is for business, to make a buck and further a career, but what Mike and the rest of our soldiers are giving up is not for themselves, or even for their own families, but for the entire 300 million citizens of this country, and for much of the western world. So I can appreciate that dealing with that pain while facing life and death situations everyday must be 1,000 times more difficult. To miss out on his own life and that of his children is a sacrifice that is on par with what our fallen have given up. I hope that they all know we are in awe of our soldiers and behind them 100 percent, regardless of the politics that divide our country at times.'' --Chris, Atlanta

Thanks, Chris. I'm forwarding your letter, along with scores of others, to Mike this week. You can be sure he'll appreciate them.","While the labor skirmish drones on, let's focus on one item in Monday's column that brought some email and Twitter chatter: the move of Mario Williams from defensive end in the Texans' former 4-3 defense to a rush outside linebacker in new defensive coordinator Wade Phillips' 3-4."
"Dear Amy: My family and I live in a small town in the Midwest.

My daughter’s friend from high school and college, “Laura,” is getting married this summer.

My daughter is in the wedding party. Laura has been with her fiance since high school. They are a great couple, and everyone likes them.

While I was in Indianapolis on business last week, I clearly saw Laura walking hand in hand with an unknown man. They had their hands on each other, and stopped to kiss each other along the way.

I believe that she is having an affair with this man in the big city, almost 100 miles from our town.

Should I tell my daughter, tell anyone else — or bite my lip and go to the wedding in June, smiling, and feeling like a fraud?

Please don’t tell me that I didn’t see what I saw, or that I somehow misread what I saw with my own eyes, because there was no mistaking what I saw.

Upset: Because this bothers you so much, you could contact “Laura” directly. Tell her what you saw, and share your reaction to what you saw — if you must.

There is no reason to tell your daughter or anyone else about this.

There are a number of reasons why a bride-to-be might get together with another man before the wedding. This might not be an ongoing affair, but the ending of a relationship. You simply don’t know.

If Laura is having an affair and gets married, then she — not you — should feel like a fraud at her wedding.

Dear Amy: I’m a high school student who just finished my first phone interview. The scout was one of my dad’s patients and passed along the contact.

I think I did pretty well, except for one question. The interviewer (my dad’s patient) asked me a very basic math question.

I froze, used my calculator (which she probably heard over the phone), and took way too long to answer the question. I know it seems like not that big of a deal, but I’m so embarrassed! I’m worried she’ll think I’m an idiot; this reflects badly on my dad. I’m worried I’ll be put last on the list for the job!

What should I do? I don’t have an email address. I only have her phone number.

Unsure: It is very easy to get an email address. You can look up the person and her company name, call the company’s main number, or ask your father to help.

You should either email her or write a handwritten note, thanking her for the interview.

Even if you don’t discuss your math question, you absolutely must thank her in writing for the interview.

Simply say, “I’m worried that I blew the math question, but to be honest I was super-nervous and I totally froze! Thank you again for giving me the experience of interviewing; I’m sorry I was so nervous. I hope that won’t happen again.”

Most people have this experience, or one like it when first interviewing, and it does not reflect badly on you or your father. If you explain it well, it might even be to your advantage, because the woman who interviewed you would think — “Wow, this student is really honest. It’s refreshing to have someone just admit their mistake.”

Dear Amy: Which century are you living in? Not the 21st. You answered the question from “Overwhelmed,” saying that a man who supports his family is doing all he needs to do?

Come on, this daddy is indifferent to his baby. The new fathers I know in the 21st century bathe, diaper and can’t get enough of their child. Did you not print the entire letter? Are we missing something? Does this father doubt the kid is his? How about suggesting counseling to determine what is going on?

Or was this a ploy to see how many readers would respond to this incredibly dumb answer?

HS: “Overwhelmed” reported that her husband traveled extensively for his job and was rarely home. It was quite obvious (to me) that he had not bonded with his baby. The question of bonding is a timeless one and can affect mothers or fathers, if the parent doesn’t spend much time with the baby. I tried to offer practical advice and support to this overwhelmed young mother. Counseling would be a good idea, but with his schedule, that doesn’t sound practical.

Amy’s column appears seven days a week at washingtonpost.com/advice. Write to Amy Dickinson at askamy@tribpub.com or Ask Amy, Chicago Tribune, TT500, 435 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago, Ill. 60611.

2016 by the Chicago Tribune",Reader sees daughter’s engaged friend with another man and wonders if she should tell
"In past years, Ayyan Ali was deployed as one of the catwalk “showstoppers” at Fashion Pakistan Week, an annual three-day extravaganza that returned this week to a five-star hotel in Karachi.

But the last time the country’s most famous model was seen in public she was wearing an uncharacteristic black burqa as she shuffled into a court far from the gathering of her fellow fashionistas.

As one of the industry’s best-known faces, the 21-year-old has appeared in adverts for everything from ice cream to mobile phones. For the past two and a half weeks, however, Ali has been languishing in jail on money-laundering charges.

“People have been talking about nothing else,” said Frieha Altaf, a former model turned public relations supremo. “Some are unkind because they are jealous – everyone bitches about the beautiful people.”

Industry gossip has focused on what Ali was doing in the VIP departure lounge of Islamabad’s airport on 14 March with more than half a million dollars in her carry-on bag.

Some people are unkind because they are jealous – everyone bitches about the beautiful people

Caught by airport authorities, she was charged with attempting to illegally take more than the $10,000 cash limit out of the country. Ever since, she has been in Adiala, the central prison of the garrison city of Rawalpindi, where officials deny local press speculation that she is receiving special privileges. Private cells and extra comforts are made available only to government officials and “the highly educated”, said one officer.

Ayyan has been denied bail, to the outrage of her lawyer, Sardar Ishaq. “All agencies have interrogated her and she is no more required for any purpose whatsoever,” Ishaq said. “She is living with ordinary criminals – ladies involved in murder cases. It will ruin her life.”

Many in the fashion world fear she was manipulated. “My first reaction was there goes one more girl,” said Maheen Khan, the grande dame of Pakistan’s fashion industry. “A lot of these girls come from very protected families and can be very naive. I think of her as a victim.”

Suspicions were aroused after she reportedly told a customs court that she had received the money from a politically well-connected businessman. Khurram Latif Khosa, one of the lawyers working on Ali’s case, said the money had come from a legitimate property sale and she had no intention of taking it out of the country.

According to Khosa, the model had not yet checked into her flight and was waiting in the lounge to give the cash to her brother, who was going to take it on to Karachi. He said Ali was being unfairly treated by the press and courts because of her celebrity status.

He said: “We respect religious scholars, we respect so-called intellectuals but why don’t we respect in this society people who are promoting our culture? She is a cultural ambassador projecting an image of Pakistan which is liberal, progressive and can compete with anyone in the world.”

Altaf, the public relations guru, said Ali had the strength to not let the ordeal destroy her career, which had recently moved into music as well as promoting some of the country’s top brands.

“It takes guts as well as beauty to stand up and be a model in this country,” she said. “You have to have the strength to resist the pressure that comes from society, the social stigma, the questions people always have about you.”","Caught at Islamabad airport with over half a million dollars in cash, one of the country’s most famous faces is languishing in jail on money-laundering charges"
"A 16-year-old star athlete died earlier this month in Colorado, one day after his birthday, after he contracted a rare form of the plague, health department officials confirm to PEOPLE.

Taylor Gaes, a pitcher and quarterback at Poudre High School in Larimer County, died on June 8 on the way to the hospital, county health department spokesperson Katie O'Donnell told PEOPLE.

He contracted septicemic plague, she said, a highly fatal form of the disease which results when the bacteria enters the bloodstream directly.

It's believed that Gaes contracted the plague on Thursday, four days prior, O'Donnell explained.

""While the investigation is still ongoing, [Gaes] may have contracted the disease from fleas on a dead rodent or other animal on the family acreage,"" the health department said

Gaes displayed flu-like symptoms, including mild aches, but nothing serious for a teenage athlete, O'Donnell said. He even played in the Thursday night baseball game.

""We often talk about Taylor's potential as an athlete, but he was much more than that,"" his varsity baseball coach Russell Haigh

. ""He was a good friend to all of our players. He was a special young man.""

An excellent hitter, according to the

, Gaes was primed for real success as the varsity team's No. 2 pitcher and, at age 15, the starting first baseman, Haigh told the paper.

His family has asked for donations to the

, which pays youth baseball league entrance fees for kids. They've raised more than $2,100.

Gaes' teammates are wearing patches on their uniforms.

""They are doing well. That's not to say they do not have pain. Young men are amazingly resilient,"" Haigh told the

. ""I think it helps that they continue to play baseball. I think that's what Taylor would want them to do.""

The health department said in the release that it is coordinating with experts from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, the State Health Department and the Larimer County Coroner's office.

Gaes's death is the first confirmed case of plague in Larimer County since 1999, according to the release. An average of seven people contract the plague in the U.S. annually, predominantly in the West and Midwest, according to the release.

It's the third plague case in Larimer County in 30 years, O'Donnell said. ""It's very, very rare,"" she said and not transferable from human to human.

The public health concern now is that one of the many people who gathered at the Gaes family property for a recent memorial service may have come in contact with an infected flea or tick, O'Donnell said – it's something the Gaes family was very worried about, she said, that another child would get sick.

The service was held before the family knew how Gaes had died, she said.

O'Donnell said they're now at the ""very tail end"" of the incubation period and they haven't received any calls from people who've been to the property and now have flu-like symptoms.

That doesn't mean there have been no more contractions, she said. But the plague is treatable if caught early enough and this case's exposure should prompt people to speak with their doctors if they feel ill.","The pitcher and quarterback was remembered as ""a special young man"""
"(TARIQ CAMP, Iraq) — Iraq’s special forces completed a troop buildup around Fallujah on Sunday ahead of an operation to retake the Islamic State-held city west of Baghdad, a military officer said, as the militants attacked a newly-liberated town to the west.

Teaming up with paramilitary troops and backed by aerial support from the U.S.-led coalition, the government launched a large-scale offensive to dislodge ISIS militants from Fallujah a week ago.

The city, located about 40 miles (65 kilometers) west of Baghdad, is one of the last major ISIS strongholds in Iraq. The extremist group still controls territory in the country’s north and west, including Mosul, Iraq’s second largest city.

The last battalion from Iraq’s Special Forces Service arrived at dawn Sunday at the sprawling Tariq Camp outside Fallujah, said Maj. Dhia Thamir. He declined to comment on troop numbers or the timing of the expected assault.

He said troops have recaptured 80% of the territory around the city since the operation began and are currently battling ISIS to the northeast as they seek to tighten the siege ahead of a planned final push into the city center.

In a televised speech to parliament, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said the “current second phase of the Fallujah operation” will last less than 48 hours, after which the offensive to recapture the city will begin.

Al-Abadi called on residents of Fallujah to either leave the city or stay indoors. Government officials and aid groups estimate that more than 50,000 people remain inside the center of the Sunni majority city.

As he cleared his weapon and checked his Humvee at the camp, soldier Ali al-Shimmari said he was “totally ready” for the battle. “I phoned my family in the morning and asked them to pray for me to get back safe to them,” he added.

“I’m determined to end Daesh,” al-Shimmari continued, using the Arabic acronym for the group.

The militants meanwhile launched an attack Sunday on the town of Hit, 85 miles (140 kilometers) west of Baghdad, which was recaptured by government troops last month. A military officer said the extremists entered three neighborhoods and were engaged in heavy clashes with Iraqi forces backed by U.S.-led airstrikes.

By late afternoon, the forces had managed to push the militants out and were in control of the whole town. The officer was not authorized to release information so spoke on condition of anonymity.

Fallujah, which saw some of the heaviest fighting of the 2003-2011 U.S.-led military intervention, was the first city in Iraq to fall to ISIS. The extremists seized control of Fallujah in January 2014, six months before they swept across northern and western Iraq and declared a caliphate.

Associated Press writer Sinan Salaheddin in Baghdad contributed to this report.",The city is one of the last major ISIS strongholds in Iraq
"FORTUNE — Electronic Arts CEO John Riccitiello will step down on March 30, the video game publisher announced today.

In a statement to the press, EA EA said it was naming Larry Probst as executive chairman while it searches for a new leader. Probst was the Redwood City, Calif.-based firm’s CEO from 1991 to 2007, when Riccitiello took over. Probst has served as EA’s chairman since 1994.

EA also said its revenues and earnings per share will be at the low end or below its January guidance. The company reported lower revenues for the last three months of 2012 than it did for the same period a year earlier. EA had the top-selling video game in February with its action-horror title Dead Space 3. But U.S. retail sales of new video games fell for the fifteenth straight month, year over year. Sales of new video game hardware, software, and accessories fell 25% from a year earlier to $810 million in February, the NPD Group reported.

The publisher’s stock is trading at $18.71, down from $61.40 in 2007 when Riccitiello took over as CEO. EA will announce results for fiscal 2013 on May 7.

MORE: Apple up 5.4%, Samsung down 5% since Galaxy S4 event

Videogame makers and publishers are entering a period of uncertainty as technology alters the way consumers play. Increasingly, gadgets made by the likes of Apple AAPL and Google GOOG are eating into the profits of traditional console manufacturers like Nintendo NTDOY and Sony SNE . Game publishers EA and rival Activision Blizzard ATVI , in turn, have had mixed results trying to adapt. In addition, digital sales have begun threatening the once-steady retail business.

“We thank John for his contributions to EA,” said Probst in a prepared statement. “John has worked hard to lead the company through challenging transitions in our industry and was instrumental in driving our very significant growth in digital revenues.” The decision was described as mutual.

In a memo sent by Riccitiello to Probst, the outgoing chief highlighted the company’s growing digital business. At his direction, EA created an online games platform dubbed Origin to distribute titles over the Internet. The company, which controls lucrative franchises such as The Sims, Madden NFL, FIFA Soccer, and Need for Speed, has tried to find ways to make more of the considerable intellectual property it owns. Riccitiello also oversaw the acquisition of PopCap, a mobile games maker that created the popular Bejeweled.

But EA’s transition to a more digitally oriented business hasn’t gone smoothly. Earlier today, it announced that it had sold more than 1.1 million copies of its city-building PC game SimCity in the first two weeks it was available. About 54% of those sales were digital versions, downloaded via Origin.

MORE: Startups are about to blow up the textbook

But the launch was widely derided in the games press for severe technical difficulties. For days, players had trouble downloading the game because demand overwhelmed EA’s servers. The technical issues, which have not yet been entirely resolved, caused some reviewers to revisit their initial assessment, lowering high scores that can drive sales. EA announced it would give registered users a free title to make up for the problems.

In 2007, Riccitiello’s incoming mandate was to find ways to pare down the sometimes massive costs associated with developing mainstream titles. Budgets for high-profile games like EA’s Battlefield 3 can easily spiral into the hundreds of millions of dollars. He also vowed to find new revenue streams in comics, television, films, and toys.

Despite a few successes, Riccitiello had yet to score an outsized hit. Activision’s Skylanders franchise, which appeals to younger children, generated more than $600 million in the U.S. alone since its October 2011 launch, according to NPD. Activision previously announced that the franchise had surpassed $1 billion in global sales. In 2012, the combined sales of Skylanders Giants and Skylanders Spyro’s Adventure toys outsold the top action figure lines in the U.S. and Europe, including Beyblades, Star Wars, and Transformers, according to the company’s internal estimates.",Riccitiello steps down as video game publisher Electronic Arts has been struggling to adapt to a changing games market. Revenue and earnings per share will be at the low end of or below January guidance.
"Public health officials say “approximately 10 people” who had contact with the Ebola patient in Texas are considered at higher risk, though they emphasized Friday that none of these people had exhibited any Ebola symptoms.

“All of those individuals are doing well,” David Lakey, commissioner of the Texas Department of State Health Services, said in a conference call with reporters. “There’s no additional individuals who have symptoms consistent with Ebola at this time.”

Another 40 people are also still being monitored, but these people are considered low-risk, Lakey said.

The people being monitored include health-care workers and other members of the community who encountered Thomas Duncan, who earlier this week became first person diagnosed with Ebola in the United States.

Now that public health officials have been able to talk to everyone they considered at risk of possible contact, the overall number of people still being monitored has been cut in half since Thursday, when authorities said they were tracking 100 people.

The family that hosted Ebola patient Thomas Eric Duncan could be confined for three weeks. Health officials are reaching out to as many as 100 people who may have had contact with Duncan or someone who knows him. (AP)

“We’ve cast a wide net,” said Beth P. Bell, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s center for emerging and infectious diseases. “We have a very low bar for deciding to follow patients. We’re not suggesting by this that … we have a great deal of concern about all of these people, because the reality is we have a low level of concern about the vast majority of these people that we’re following.”

The process of figuring out who to track, which is called contact tracing, involved interviewing Duncan, as well as anyone who had gone into the Dallas apartment where he was staying.

Anyone considered a high-risk person needed to be observed closely over the coming days and weeks. The list is expected to shrink again going forward, but the danger to those at highest risk would not, at least for the time being.

“Everyone who worked in the ER that night, all the way down, were at risk,” said David Kuhar, an infection control medical officer at the CDC. “You cast as wide a net as possible and then you just whittle down, whittle down.”

The CDC team split up to track down anyone who may have been exposed. Half of them stayed at the hospital to look over a list of anyone known to have had contact with Duncan from the time his symptoms began, while others met with the people in the apartment where he had stayed.

Duncan had been staying with Louise Troh at her apartment since arriving in the U.S. from Liberia on Sept. 20. He began getting ill by Thursday, at which point he sought medical treatment at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas. Despite the fact that he said he had traveled from West Africa and had a fever and some abdominal pain, he was diagnosed with a low-grade virus and released.

His condition worsened in the days that followed, as he developed a worse fever and felt weak and cold, before he ultimately was brought back to the hospital Sunday in an ambulance. He was placed into isolation and diagnosed Tuesday.

A person with Ebola is only contagious when they are exhibiting symptoms, which means that Duncan may have been contagious for up to four days before he was placed in isolation.

[Related: Can you catch Ebola from an infected blanket?]

Troh, her son, a relative and a friend who had been living in the apartment at the time have been quarantined inside the home, with an official order barring them from leaving until at least Oct. 19. Duncan also had contact with the three-member ambulance team that transported him to the hospital and health-care workers at the hospital itself. No other patients at the hospital interacted with Duncan, Lakey said.

The apartment where Duncan was staying had not been cleaned until Friday afternoon, so the sheets he slept on as well as his other belongings had been sitting in sealed plastic bags in a separate room from the four quarantined people.

Authorities initially had trouble finding a company willing to do the cleaning, and once they found a company, there were new issues involving the permits allowing the company to dispose of items Duncan had touched.

“We were unable to accomplish that due to some permitting issues yesterday,” Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins, the top elected official in the county, said in the same phone call Friday afternoon. He said that the permits still had not been obtained to dispose of these items, but said the process was “underway.”

A hazardous materials team was at the Ivy Apartments on Friday afternoon, as officials said they intended to remove all of the the bagged or otherwise contaminated items. These items were placed in large waste drums as the family waited in another room.

Courtesy the city of Dallas, a look at Hazmat crews preparing to enter Ebola patient’s Vickery Meadow apartment pic.twitter.com/tkjdQIkWIJ

— Dallas Morning News (@dallasnews) October 3, 2014

“The focus is to get all the material and hazardous waste out of that apartment,” Sana Syed, a spokeswoman for the city of Dallas, told reporters outside the apartment complex.

Syed tweeted photos of the team that was taking things out of the apartment on Friday afternoon:

Another one preparing to go into the apartment. pic.twitter.com/PK9Rk2hMLC

— Sana Syed (@dallaspiosana) October 3, 2014

— Sana Syed (@dallaspiosana) October 3, 2014

First drum is in the trailer. pic.twitter.com/6PdSUMRCba

— Sana Syed (@dallaspiosana) October 3, 2014

— Sana Syed (@dallaspiosana) October 3, 2014

In addition, authorities said they still planned to move the four quarantined people to a different apartment.

“I’d like to see them moved to a place that includes its own washer-drier and is a more complete living arrangement than they have now,” Jenkins said. “We are working at that.”

Even as officials in Texas provided an update on the situation there, the World Health Organization announced that the Ebola death toll is up to 3,439 in West Africa. Eight of the deaths came in Nigeria, but the balance were in the Ebola-ravaged nations of Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea. Through the beginning of October, there have been 7,491 probable, confirmed and suspected cases in West Africa.

And for the first time during the deadliest Ebola outbreak in history, the WHO included the U.S. in its “Ebola Response Roadmap” update. The single U.S. case brings the worldwide total to 7,492.

“We recognize that even a single case of Ebola in the United States seems threatening,” Bell said. “But the simple truth is that we do know how to stop the Ebola spread between people.”

The White House sought to reassure the public that it was ready to combat the epidemic in West Africa as well as any other potential cases in the U.S.

“The United States is prepared to deal with this crisis, both at home and in the region,” Lisa Monaco, the assistant to the president for homeland security and counterterrorism, said during a briefing Friday. “Every Ebola outbreak in the past 40 years has been stopped. We know how to do this, and we will do it again.”

Howard University Hospital in Washington, D.C., said Friday that it had admitted a patient with Ebola-like symptoms who had recently traveled from Nigeria. There have been several other cases of people across the country being tested for the virus, but Duncan is the only one who has tested positive so far.

There have also been at least five Americans infected overseas returning to the U.S. for treatment. A freelance cameraman working for NBC News has tested positive and will be flown back to the United States for care, the network announced. Ashoka Mukpo, 33, is in the early stages of the infection, according to his father.

The U.S. Army announced Friday that it would send additional troops to West Africa to help combat the epidemic. With the additional forces, the Army will send about 3,200 soldiers to help supervise the construction of Ebola treatment units, support command operations and otherwise assist in the response.

Brady Dennis, J. Freedom du Lac and Abby Ohlheiser in Washington, D.C., and Abby Phillip and Amy Ellis Nutt in Dallas, Tex., contributed to this report.

[This post has been updated. First published: 2:36 p.m. Last updated: 5:20 p.m.]",Authorities are monitoring about 50 people who may have had contact with the Ebola patient in Texas.
"Veritiv CEO Mary Laschinger’s biggest fear is boredom.

That may seem like a surprising quality for someone who runs a company that bills itself as a “business to business distributor of packaging, facility, and printing supplies.” But consider the way her company was born: On an extraordinarily eventful day a little over two years ago, a $4 billion segment of International Paper Company (IPC) spun off, merged with its next largest competitor, and the resulting entity went public.

Yes, that all happened within a 24 hour period. Yes, that company is still around. And yes, it was all overseen by a woman most members of the business community had likely never heard of before.

Veritiv, the embodiment of Laschinger’s need to go, go, go, is a brand-new member of the Fortune 500. With nearly $9 billion in revenue and a market cap approaching $600 million, it is the largest packaging and distributions company in the U.S. by a long shot.

Laschinger is one of just 21 female CEOs of Fortune 500 companies, but it’s not just her gender that makes her stand out.

Having grown up on a dairy farm in Arkansaw, Wisconsin (no that’s not a typo), she has no Ivy League pedigree, no stories about being the only girl in her physics class. “When I graduated high school, I didn’t have enough self-confidence to go to college,” she says. Instead, she spent a few years in a tech school, after which she worked odd jobs.

Laschinger didn’t start college until she was 21. She says her primary goal was to avoid the boredom of her Midwestern town, which she describes as a place with more cows than people and more bars than restaurants.

Upon graduating from the University of Wisconsin at age 26, Laschinger went to work at Kimberly-Clark Corp. kmb as a production planner. She immediately found paper manufacturing “totally fascinating,” she says.

“They took me to this hundred-year-old paper mill, where they were turning trees into pulp and pulp into paper,” she says of her early days with Kimberly-Clark. “It smelled awful, but I thought, ‘Wow!'”

After Kimberly-Clark she moved on to James River Corp. and ultimately to International Paper, where she held a series of jobs across the organization. “I took lateral moves, a lot of them. At one point I went five years without a salary increase because I wanted to get the experience instead of focusing on going up in the organization,” she recalls, something she believes other executives should consider.

“I actually think that’s one of the detriments of people when they focus too much on getting to the next step instead of focusing on learning and developing skills,” she says.

Sign up: Click here to subscribe to the Broadsheet, Fortune’s daily newsletter on the world’s most powerful women.

Laschinger says the didn’t see herself in a CEO role initially because there was no one at the male-dominated company she felt she could be. It wasn’t until she became president of IPC’s European operations that she—and her superiors—understood that she could hold her own on a much larger stage.

“The Russian [partners] didn’t know what do with me,” she jokes of her early days on the continent. A Russian client of hers once told her that he never anticipated a world in which he would do business with either Americans or women. And yet here he was, making deals with a woman from Arkansaw, Wisconsin.

“I never backed down,” Laschinger says of the way she was able to gain his respect.

That’s also an accurate way of characterizing Laschinger’s leadership style, which she herself calls “tough but fair.” She prides herself on having high expectations and being a straight shooter (figuratively and literally: she has a nine-millimeter revolver and says she is a “pretty good shot”).

The single most important thing about being a female leader in the male-dominated world of distribution? “You need to have self-confidence,” she says, hearkening back to the days when she wasn’t sure enough of herself to go to college.

Laschinger seems to have plenty of it now—in herself and in Veritiv. “We’re building a new company and we can make it what we want to make it,” she says. “I just get excited thinking about it.”",Mary Laschinger is one of just 21 female CEOs on the list.
"Dr. Andre Perry is the founding dean of urban education at Davenport University in Grand Rapids, Mich. He is the author of The Garden Path: The Miseducation of a City.

Ivory Toldson is deputy director for the White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities.

Over the past five years, states have been overhauling how they fund public colleges and universities, tying revenue to student performance instead of enrollment. The goal is to motivate schools to improve the education they provide to students. But in reality, performance-based funding has undermined some colleges’ ability to do just that. These policies have limited higher-education options for low-income, first-generation and other types of at-risk college students. The consequences have been particularly severe among historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs), threatening their founding principle to provide higher learning for all types of students.

Without thoughtful planning, these policies will continue to erode HBCU’s ability to educate those young people who benefit most from college degrees.

Performance-based funding policies, like the Louisiana Grad Act, require that colleges meet certain goals in order to increase their tuition rates or receive more state funding. Some states track how quickly students gain credit hours or the percentage who receive a degree. Others judge schools based on how many graduates are employed a year later and their average wages. These are laudable goals, but to meet them, some schools have had to institute significant new restrictions on their admissions, including setting minimum ACT or SAT requirements. Some state governing boards, such as the Louisiana Board of Regents, have effectively eliminated remedial classes on college campuses.

These changes are a major blow for HBCUs, like Elizabeth City State University and Fort Valley State University. Many such schools often were founded as open admissions institutions with the mission of educating students of varied academic and social backgrounds. But performance-based funding undercuts that mission, making it financially risky to admit students who are less academically prepared. Further, eliminating remedial classes makes college inaccessible to many students and tying admissions to ACT- and SAT-test scores disadvantages black students. Even among high achievers, black students tend to score lower than white students on standardized tests for various reasons, including less access to test-prep services and self-defeating fears of reinforcing stereotypes. Standardized test scores are a poor predictor of college success. The National Association for College Admission Counseling recently released a research report that revealed students with strong high school GPAs and low standardized-test scores generally performed well in college, while students with low high school GPAs and high test scores generally performed poorly.

These state policy changes are limiting college options for some black students, forcing them into community colleges or for-profit colleges. Those schools often have low graduation rates and lack many benefits of four-year colleges, such as research faculty, Greek letter organizations, and extracurricular activities. Other students are forced to pay higher tuition and costs to attend open-admissions private colleges. Only four of the 34 open-admissions HBCUs are public, according to an analysis of the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System by the White House Initiative on HBCUs (WHIHBCU); the other 30 are private and more expensive.

The increased financial burden on students is especially problematic amid changes to the Pell Grant and PLUS loan programs. Across all HBCUs, nearly 73 percent of students qualify for the Federal Pell Grant because of financial need, according to the WHIHBCUs. But in 2011, Pell Grant awards were eliminated for summer semesters. That same year, the U.S. Department of Education began denying PLUS loans to parents with debts in collection or that were charged off. Since then, more than 70 percent of the PLUS loan application denials have been a result of delinquent debt that held by the original creditor, charged off, or in collection status. Recent negotiated changes, set to be enforced in 2015, relax the credit requirements. Many HBCU advocates have expressed optimism in the negotiated changes.

The colleges themselves are suffering financially, too. Most states have not restored funding to their colleges and universities at pre-recession levels. Fourteen HBCUs are receiving less revenue now than they received more than 10 years ago.

Source: WHIHBCU Data Dashboard, presented at the HBCU Week Conference

These new policies are severely hindering the ability of HBCUs to fulfill their founding missions. They were never meant to be distinguished by selectivity, elitism, or exclusion. HBCUs and their alums teach the world what inclusion should look and feel like. They make a college education accessible to young people who often have few other opportunities for improving their futures. But these policies restrict HBCU autonomy and student choice, inhibiting a powerful engine for inclusion that our society needs. By limiting the financial resources of these institutions and their students, we are undermining our national commitment to providing opportunities for personal advancement and prosperity to all.

Dear elite colleges, please stop recruiting students like me if you know we won’t get in

I studied business and programming, not English. I still can’t find a job

The education-reform movement is too white to do any good",New funding models undermine the founding mission of many HBCUs -- to provide education to all.
"I used to run with a GPS watch, and at the time it seemed like a technological marvel.

Made by Polar, Garmin, Nike and Timex, global positioning system watches track the distance you have run and your pace, including your average pace and your instantaneous pace. They beep at intervals, like every mile, if you want to train by doing some segments of your course at a faster pace. And when you are finished running, you can download all your data onto your computer.

But after a while, I noticed something disconcerting. My watch might record my run as, say, six miles, but according to Google Maps, the actual distance was more like 6.5 miles.

That kind of discrepancy, of course, plays havoc with your training. The pace calculated by the watch is much too slow, and the run becomes an exercise in frustration.

So I got another watch, from a different maker. It was just as bad, maybe worse. I returned it and got a third one, but that one seemed to be absolutely accurate only once, when I was running along the lakefront in Chicago, under a clear sky with no tall buildings and few trees nearby.

On Sunday, I tried a little experiment with friends who also have GPS watches. I started from my house, and Jen Davis and Martin Strauss started from her house; we met up along the way.

My route was 15.96 miles, according to Google Maps. My watch said it was 15.54. Jen’s watch, an older model, did much better. Her route was 19.1 miles. Her watch said 19.02.

Race organizers know this problem all too well. Douglas Thurston, operations director for the Competitor Group, which organizes Rock ’n’ Roll Marathons, a series of races across the country, braces himself for complaints with every race.

Runners who wore GPS watches start e-mailing him or posting comments on Facebook or Twitter afterward. The course was measured incorrectly, they will say. According to their GPS devices, it was too short.

Mr. Thurston has gotten so used to the complaints that he actually has a generic e-mail reply. No, it says, the course was not wrong. Your GPS device was.

“If someone wants to go to mat on it, I ask them to go to a 400-meter track and run on the inside lane for 12.5 laps. That’s 5,000 meters,” he said in an interview. Then, he tells the runner, check the distance on your GPS device. He guarantees it will not be 5,000 meters.

Martin illustrated this for me recently by running five times around a track at the University of Michigan, where he is a professor of mathematics and electrical engineering and computer science. When he downloaded the GPS data onto his computer, every loop around the track was a little different, and none were oval.

In fact, not one of his paths was even curved — they were short segments of lines connected to resemble an oval. Yet he had run in the same lane.

It seems clear enough that a GPS watch is not very accurate, yet online runners’ forums, like one at the Web site of Runners World, are filled with comments from confused athletes who rely on the devices. One poster, for example, ran a half marathon and wore a GPS watch that said the distance was 12.8 miles instead of 13.1.

“Many people are posting on the race’s Web site that theirs came up just as short,” the runner wrote. “I got a pretty stellar PR” — personal record — “and would hate to have a question mark hanging over it.”

Another wrote, “I did an out-and-back run on a rail trail: 5.25 miles out and 5.02 miles back. According to the GPS, I was running 40 m.p.h. for over two minutes.”

What’s wrong with those GPS devices? The problem, say their makers, is that people expect too much. The watches are very much a work in progress. “We all use pretty much the same technology,” said Corey Cornaccio, director of marketing at Polar. The technology is improving, but some inaccuracy remains. “People don’t understand that,” he said.",Discrepancies in recording distances and pace can be frustrating for those training for races.
"Good Monday morning. The stock market is having a lousy day in Europe and Asia, despite the weekend promise of the G20 to use “all policy tools – monetary, fiscal and structural” to boost the economy. The promise fell flat.

But despite short-term woes, Warren Buffett declared his faith in the U.S. economy’s long-term prospects. In his annual letter to shareholders released Saturday, the Omaha investor said: “It’s an election year, and candidates can’t stop speaking about our country’s problems (which, of course, only they can solve.) As a result of this negative drumbeat, many Americans believe that their children will not live as well as they themselves do. That view is dead wrong. The babies being born in America today are the luckiest crop in history.”

Buffett also was also optimistic about his big investment in IBM ibm , which has lost $2.6 billion since he made it. “We expect that the fair value of our investment in IBM common stock will recover and ultimately exceed our cost,” he said.

Meanwhile, HPE hpe CEO Meg Whitman blasted Chris Christie, after having been his finance co-chairman. Christie’s endorsement of Donald Trump, she said, “is an astonishing display of political opportunism. Donald Trump is unfit to be president.”

Polls suggest Whitman’s view is not shared by Republicans likely to vote in tomorrow’s primaries.

Subscribe to CEO Daily, Fortune’s daily newsletter on the top business news of the day.",Famed investor declares his faith in the U.S. economy.
"In the woodland, I find myself scrutinising the texture of bark with renewed interest. There is lattice work and knobbly bits galore. I see a face in a hornbeam: eyes, lips, mouth.

I experiment with aperture, to determine how much of the picture is in focus; to eliminate a fence I zoom in to crop. Editing in this manner requires a conscious effort, but will create much better pictures.

The “warm” setting on my camera lends the woodland shots a sepia quality and I learn to experiment with white balance, which I hadn’t realised was possible with a compact.

“Plenty of people come along with compacts,” says Daniel. “The only major difference will be the lack of control over the depth of field, but it’s not the end of the world.”

One avid clicker is chuffed with his stunning shot of a tree trunk covered in fungi; another has been experimenting with longer exposures by using her tripod for the first time.

Inspired, the following day I head off to a local wood. I choose my subjects carefully, cropping here, zooming there, before spotting a horse chestnut by a mossy trunk and the cross section of a felled tree that resembles a green dartboard. Later, as I download my images, I can see that the course has definitely brought my photos into better focus.

White Balance: This makes white actually look white under different lighting, and all colours will benefit from setting this. Auto white balance will estimate what the colours should be.

Use a tripod: Allows for longer shutter speeds and avoids compromising other settings to get a blur-free shot.

Composition: Imagine that the image is split into thirds and place your subject on one of these lines to give the picture balance and flow, which also guides the eye around the shot.

Aperture: The “f” number, controls your depth of field – what’s in focus in front of and behind your subject. A higher number means more in focus (landscapes with detail in the whole picture), a lower one blurs the background and helps subject stand out (portraits).

Compact cameras: Try a wide-angle lens, such as 5x zoom, starting at a 28mm equivalent. Digital SLRs: The kit lens supplied is a starting point, but also look for a zoom to around 300mm (i.e. 55-300mm).","Deborah King goes on a one-day photography course to learn how to take 
  better photos"
"The unicorns may be running out of room to fly.

Recently, there has been growing concern about the health of the private companies, mostly tech firms, that have been nicknamed unicorns because they have been valued at more than $1 billion. Fortune reported last month that a number of venture capitalists keep ‘dying unicorn’ lists, tallies of the highly valued startups that they expect to go under. And a number of these startups have recently come under attack for their business practices, accounting, or claims about their technology.

Meanwhile, the IPO market has been showing some cracks. First Data, one of the biggest IPOs of the year, ended up pricing below its range. Supermarket chain Albertsons decided to delay its IPO. And the stock performance of tech companies that have recently IPOed have been lackluster.

The result: Even if all the unicorns were originally on a path to becoming companies that generated gold at the end of the magical rainbow, it’s becoming increasingly clear that not all will complete the journey.

Of course, there are so many of these highly valued private companies in the first place because there was a sense that entrepreneurs would be keeping their companies private for longer. What’s more, many of the companies probably aren’t ready to go public.

“The proverbial IPO window is not open for all of these companies,” says Anand Sanwal, the CEO of CBInsights, which maintains a unicorn list. “The fundamentals of many of these companies are far from proven. They would get chewed up in the IPO market right now.”

But investors are eventually going to be looking for a way to cash out, especially for companies that have gone a few years since their last funding. And the IPO market is one of the primary methods to cash out. Startups also get acquired, another means for investors to collect. But given how big some of these companies have become, an IPO is more likely. As a result, more and more of the companies that were shy about going public may soon be looking to do so.

“We have to work past the erroneous mythos that ‘stay private longer’ was a good idea,” says venture capitalist Bill Gurley, of Benchmark, who has been warning that unicorns could be running into problems. “That one really bad piece of advice is going to cost the industry a ton of equity value. Many won’t be able to make the shift.”

The unicorns could make this shift, but the IPO market would have to have one of its best years ever for that to work. Here are the numbers: There are roughly 140 unicorns by the latest tallies, and just over 90 of them are based in the U.S. Based on their last recorded round of funding, those 90-plus unicorns are worth just over $310 billion. To reward early investors, most companies that go public usually do so at a higher valuation then what they were valued at when they last raised money. Add another 20%, which sounds reasonable now, but if the market gets hot again it could be much more than that, and we are up to around $375 billion.

Still, companies don’t sell all of their shares when they IPO. Over the past two decades, the average has been 35%. That means for all the U.S.-based unicorns to go public, IPO investors would have to buy $131 billion worth of newly issued shares.

That’s never happened in a single year. The best year ever for IPOs was 2000, according to data from research firm Dealogic. That year, new issues raised $105 billion. But the average for the IPO market over the past 20 years has been $56 billion. This year, the IPO market has slumped to just $35 billion, far less than what’s needed to satisfy all the unicorns’ dreams.

Then again, even if all the unicorns wanted to go public, it’s unlikely they would do so in the next year. It would probably be spread out over a few years. What’s more, most tech companies tend to sell a smaller portion of their ownership in an IPO than other companies, more like 20%. That brings the IPO ask from the unicorns down to $75 billion, which, spread out over a number of years, is possible.

Leslie Pfrang, who advises companies on IPOs at Class V Group, says the unicorn companies and their investors have nothing to worry about. She says there is plenty of capital out there for IPOs, even if a bunch of the unicorns all decided to stampede the IPO market at once.

But that’s only considering the unicorns. There are other companies looking to go public as well, some of them more established than startups. Private equity firms have lots of former leveraged buyouts – Albertsons is one of them – that they would like to take public. This doesn’t include the 68 companies that have already filed documents and are waiting to go public already, according to Dealogic. What’s more, there are more unicorns coming. CBInsights has a list of 50 other private companies, mostly based in the U.S., that are likely to soon get $1 billion valuations. The unicorn waiting line is getting longer.

The unicorns aren’t just tech companies, but a lot of them are. And if you look at just tech deals, $60 billion starts to look like a big number for the IPO market again, even over a few years. The tech IPO market peaked in 2000 at $44 billion, and it has never gotten back there, though last year was the closest it’s been. This year, 22 tech companies went public, raising just $7.6 billion.

Based on that, the current blessing of unicorns could have a very, very long wait.","For all of Silicon Valley's mega startups to go public, the IPO market would have to be blazing hot. It is not."
"A US police officer has become a viral video star after he was caught on a security camera doing the dance moves from the hit song ""Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae)"".

Officer Bryson Lystrup was at a 7-Eleven in Pleasant Grove, Utah, when he began dancing the moves to the hit song, ABC News America reports.

The manager of the 7-Eleven, Sunny Singh, gave the video to the Pleasant Grove Police Department who decided to name and shame the officer.

""WARNING: This video is a little hard to watch,"" the post read.

""Unfortunately it does involve one of our officers. We were alerted by the manager of a local convenience store about some suspicious behavior and the security video footage was obtained.

""To our community and to the internet as a whole, we apologize. We are looking at getting this officer some help ASAP. (His timing was way off).""

Mr Lystrup told KTVX News that the video was recorded last week when he walked into the store singing the song, and one of the employees asked him if he knew the dance.

""I was like, 'I know the dance,' so I did the dance, told them not to record it and I forgot about the surveillance cameras,"" he said.

""Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae)"", by 17-year-old rapper Silento, features instructions for its dance moves in the official video and has become a viral hit of the summer in the US.

Mr Lystrup said he hoped that his video helped show people that police are ""humans too"".

Do you have any news photos or videos?","A US police officer has become a viral video star after he was caught on a security camera doing the dance moves from the hit song ""Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae)""."
"This is a rush transcript from ""On the Record,"" July 28, 2011. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

GRETA VAN SUSTEREN, FOX NEWS HOST: Joining us is Senator John McCain, who has been taking on conservatives reluctant to raise the national debt ceiling. Good evening, sir. And you know, you're getting so much information coming out of the House tonight. I don't know how much to believe and how much not. But I will tell you, the latest report from one of my colleagues, Chad Pergram, is that Congressman Chaffetz, who's opposed to the Boehner bill, says, I think they'll call the vote tonight and it will pass. So that sounds at least like he's saying that Boehner has the votes, but this seems like voodoo at this point.

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN, R-ARIZ.: Well, I think he probably does. It's unfortunate, at least in my view, that he had such difficulty. But as you know, there are very strong feelings. There are members who were elected simply on the single issue of cutting spending and getting our mortgaging of our children and our grandchildren's future off of our backs. And so, obviously, they felt very strongly.

And so in answer to your question, I think he probably has the votes, but I think he may have to change his original proposal some -- I've heard maybe add the balanced budget amendment to it. I'm not sure that's true.

VAN SUSTEREN: Well, you've been very hard on these -- and it's generally sort of the new Republicans, the Tea Parties. You've been very hard on them. They ran on that. Do they not owe it to their constituents to say, ""Look, I'm running on this,"" and now when push comes to shove and they've got the vote, they don't -- don't they sort of have to keep their promises? They can't say, ""Oh, never mind.""

MCCAIN: No, absolutely they do, and I think many of them are. What I have criticized is the practice in the Senate of telling our constituents that there's some way that we're going to pass a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution in the United States Senate under its present numbers. That would require 67 votes. There is no way that that's going to happen.

And we control -- we Republicans control one third of the government, which obviously limits the amount that we can do. But to say to your constituents and our fellow citizens, Well, we can pass a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution -- we can't. We can't. There's not 67 votes there to do so.

And so let's be honest with the American people. We have to have a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution if we're ever really going to get spending under control. I was around when Gramm-Rudman had these strong and stringent requirements on spending, and then future Congress just declared an emergency and made that legislation null and void.

So I am a strong supporter of the balanced budget amendment. I will take second place to no one as far as being a fiscal conservative. I have voted for the balanced budget amendment 13 times. But I have to be honest with my constituents and tell them this Senate is not going to pass it, but we can't give up the fight.

VAN SUSTEREN: All right. So tonight -- I know that you're in the Senate, but you at least once were in the House. There's all this sort of effort to get these votes, to peel them off. What's going on behind closed doors? How does Speaker Boehner -- how does he get the votes?

MCCAIN: Well, I think he appeals, obviously, to his leadership. This is really -- his leadership of the Republicans in the House and being speaker is clearly at stake here, if he can't bring his people along. I think he is agreeing to make some changes in hopes that would pick up additional votes. I think he's trying to explain to them what I said, and that is, if they pass it through the House, it comes to the Senate, Harry Reid will, quote, ""table"" it, in other words, turn it down.

But now this -- the House of Representatives has acted in a meaningful and important way. They're cutting spending. They are raising the debt limit. There is no tax increases. So we have achieved a lot of the goals pretty much of what you can do controlling one third of the government.

And I think that Mitch McConnell's last option of a committee, bipartisan -- remember, we only have control of one third of the Congress, and yet this would be 50/50 Republicans and Democrats -- and that committee report out, required up or down vote on what they find, I think, and also a short-term increase in the debt limit, so we can go back and fight this again in a few months.

VAN SUSTEREN: All right, let me tell you the sort of the what I think some Americans are thinking, the ones who are really -- who really sent these members of Congress to vote for a balanced budget and to fight tooth and nail for it tonight -- is I suspect that some think that what's going on behind closed doors, as someone who ran on it, who now suddenly comes out and says, I'm a (INAUDIBLE) adopting your thinking that something is better than nothing and we move forward -- is they're going to think it's a little like when Senator Harry Reid wanted to get something out of Senator Ben Nelson. And suddenly -- I mean, there's (INAUDIBLE) the suspicion is, is that, you know, like, some congressmen (INAUDIBLE) bought off with something for his district.

MCCAIN: I know John Boehner. He would not engage in that practice.

VAN SUSTEREN: I mean, not -- I'm not saying there's anything wrong with it. But I'm saying...

MCCAIN: ... John Boehner wouldn't do it...

VAN SUSTEREN: ... they're wheeling and dealing. No wheeling and dealing tonight.

MCCAIN: ... simply because -- I think he's appealing to them on other grounds. If it came out that John Boehner behind closed doors -- and it would -- people like you have too many sources -- that he was doling out goodies, that would be terribly damaging.

Let me also point to one other benefit, that the House passes the Boehner bill, it comes to the Senate, and Harry Reid and Mitch McConnell and John Boehner then sit down and work something out.

Who's missing from this equation? The President of the United States! He has been completely divorced from the process. Last we heard from the president was Monday night, when he said he had to have tax increases as part of any legislation, and Harry Reid has already agreed not to have tax increases! The president is now a bystander. The President of the United States!

VAN SUSTEREN: What difference does it make?

MCCAIN: Talk about leading from behind!

VAN SUSTEREN: OK, suppose he's, quote, ""leading from behind."" If something's achieved, how does that matter?

MCCAIN: Because the President of the United States is elected to lead, Greta! The President of the United States -- every previous president I know has been not only active in the process but led in the process. That's the job of the president!

VAN SUSTEREN: Has he not been making phone calls? And is it considered leadership if he's dispatching Vice President Biden up to talk to people and if he's making phone calls and putting people in the same room?

VAN SUSTEREN: I mean, things that we not necessarily see. Is that leading or not?

VAN SUSTEREN: We got -- we got a primetime address the other night!

MCCAIN: You know what is really leading?

MCCAIN: Is to say, Here's my plan. Here's what I want us to do.

VAN SUSTEREN: Has he ever put any plan up?

VAN SUSTEREN: Well, why do they keep saying that he has a plan?

MCCAIN: He has lectured. He's lectured. Maybe -- remember Richard Nixon had a plan to end the Vietnam war? This is the best one since then!","Sen. John McCain sounds off on the debt debate, Boehner bill and putting country before ideology."
"Updated Jan 5, 2013 6:59 PM ET

The United States won the World Junior Hockey Championship on Saturday after Rocco Grimaldi scored twice and Vince Trocheck added an empty-net goal to clinch a 3-1 win over Sweden in the final.

Filip Sandberg put defending champion Sweden ahead on power play early in the second period, but Grimaldi then scored twice in a three-minute span to swing the game in the Americans' favor.

He powered from behind the net to score an equalizer from a narrow angle, and then redirected Jacob Trouba's slap shot from the blue line midway through second period.

''I was just happy (my goals) went in,'' Grimaldi said. ''Basically, I just threw it on the net (first one) and the second one just hit me in the chest and went in.''

Sweden pulled its goalie for an extra player with 1:42 left but failed to capitalize. Instead, Trocheck rounded off the win with 16.7 seconds left.

''I couldn't be more proud of our players and staff,'' U.S. coach Phil Housley said. ''And I'm also really happy for hockey fans in our country. This was a total team effort throughout the tournament. It was a very difficult challenge tonight against an excellent Swedish team.''

John Gibson made 26 saves for the victory and was the MVP of the tournament.

''We wouldn't have this if it wasn't for Gibby,'' said Trouba, who was selected best defenseman. ''We rode him all tournament, and he played phenomenal the whole tournament.''

''It feels great. I worry about the team first and winning a gold medal,'' Gibson said. ''I'll remember that more than MVP.''

Niklas Lundstrom had 31 saves for Sweden.

It was the third title for the Americans, who also won in 2004 and 2010.

''It's pretty special how a group of guys that don't play together for a whole year and then come together can form a gold medal-winning team,'' U.S. captain Jake McCabe said. ''I couldn't have asked for a better group of guys to win this with.''

Valeri Nichushkin scored an overtime winner to give Russia a victory over Canada in the bronze-medal match.

Canada trailed throughout the match, but Brett Ritchie scored an equalizer with 9 minutes left of the third period to force overtime.

In the extra 10-minute period, Nichushkin broke down the right flank on a solo effort and skated in front of the goal to score into the left corner after just 1:35.

Russia goalkeeper Andrei Makarov made 40 saves for the victory. Malcolm Subban stopped 19 shots for Canada.

It was the first time since 1998 that 15-time champion Canada finished without a medal at the event.",US skates past Sweden for title.
"(Reuters) – San Francisco became the first U.S. city to mandate six weeks of fully paid parental leave, requiring employers to shoulder much of the cost and exceeding federal and state benefit rules for private-sector employees, a city supervisor said on Tuesday.

The law, unanimously approved by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, grants six-week leave for fathers and mothers working for companies with 20 or more employees, nearly doubling the pay they are now eligible to collect under California law.

“Our country’s parental leave policies are woefully behind the rest of the world, and today San Francisco has taken the lead in pushing for better family leave policies for our workers,” Supervisor Scott Wiener said in a statement.

Better benefits for parents are part of campaigns across the nation aimed at combating rising income inequality. California’s governor on Monday signed into law a bill raising the state’s minimum wage from $10 to $15 an hour by the year 2023.

San Francisco already offers 12 weeks of fully paid parental leave to its approximately 30,000 city employees.

On Monday, New York’s governor signed a bill granting 12-week paid family leave for private-sector workers that will phase in by 2021. California and New Jersey provide up to six weeks of partial pay, while Rhode Island offers four, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Under the San Francisco policy, effective in 2017, employers must pay 45% of wages for as long as six weeks. The remaining 55 percent of weekly wages comes from a worker-funded state disability program.

Payments are calculated as a percentage of wages up to an annual ceiling of $106,740.

Supporters said it will enable new parents to spend more time with their babies, while opponents said it would hurt profits and cost jobs.

In 2014, about 5,000 San Francisco residents accessed the state’s program for paid family leave for an average of 5.4 weeks, according to state data.

For more about parental leave, watch:

Nationally, 12 percent of workers receive paid family leave through their employers, Wiener’s office said.

Technology companies in Silicon Valley have increased family leave benefits to help recruit and retain employees. Netflix Inc provides up to a year paid, while Facebook Inc provides four months and Microsoft Corp offers eight weeks.

Federal law provides up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave to care for a newborn or adopted child for employees at companies with 50 or more workers.",New parents will get double the pay under current state law.
"Kim Kardashian and Nicki Minaj

12/09/2015 AT 09:30 AM EST

More people are getting butt augmentation surgery than ever before.

provided by the American Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons, over 21,000 people underwent the procedure in 2014, marking an 86 percent increase from the previous year. And the ""booty boom"" trend seems to be continuing into 2015.

""I've seen a 20 percent increase over this past year,"" plastic surgeon

, who performs the most buttock enhancing procedures of any doctor in the Northeast, tells PEOPLE exclusively.

This year, Schulman performed over 300 butt augmentations, and credits

with making the elective surgery so popular.

""Kim Kardashian was huge for the 'booty boom,' "" he says. ""She put her butt out there for everyone to see and embraced it. I think stigma about curves has gone away [because of] people like Kim Kardashian,

While the middle Kardashian still reigns as the queen of most requested butt, her younger sister

is not far behind, along with Minaj, Vergara,

and – for those who desire a more athletic shape –

Another big cause of the ""booty boom"" has been the increase in popularity of social media and the rise of Instagram stars like

, says Schulman, who says Selter's butt is also a popular request.

The two most popular butt enhancing procedures are buttock implants and Brazilian Butt Lifts, both which cost upwards of $8,500.

Schulman recommends staying away from butt injections, which are not FDA approved, and are illegal within the United States.

""It can cause an inflammatory reaction or infection,"" he warns. ""Or it can be inadvertently injected into a blood vessel and cause death.""

If you are considering going under the knife to boost your derriere, Schulman emphasizes the importance of going to a board-certified plastic surgeon working in an approved medical setting.","""I think stigma about curves has gone away [because of] people like Kim Kardashian, Nicki Minaj and Sofia Vergara,"" Dr. Matthew Schulman tells PEOPLE"
"The Littleover Lodge Hotel in Derbyshire, U.K. (JC Hotels)

If there’s one thing more annoying than a militant vegan, it’s a hotel chef who brags on social media that he loves to slip a little meat into his unsuspecting customers’ vegan dishes.

It’s certainly no way to beef up your business. And it’s why Alex Lambert, the former head chef at the Littleover Lodge Hotel in Derby, England, will be munching on mutton sandwiches for the foreseeable future as he stands on the unemployment line — even though he now says he never did what he said he did.

This all began when Lambert, 30, got into a spitting contest with a vegan on Instagram. As reported in The Telegraph, he posted a very old joke that goes, “How do you know if someone is a vegan? Don’t worry, they will tell you.”

“A militant vegan saw this post,” Lambert said, “and began commenting, saying I should go get heart disease and I will be responsible for the death of my daughter by feeding her animal products.

“I lost my temper, which I think is understandable given her comments, and said something completely stupid with the sole intention of pissing her off. That is basically all it was.”

What he told the woman was that ""being a vegan is a minority,"" and that she ""should find a better way to spend your time, my personal favourite [sic] is feeding vegans animal products and them not knowing.""

To which she replied: ""Hope you get caught one day, would love to see that…. Enjoy the heart disease :)""

But that was just the appetizer. The main course was about to play out over a spate of increasingly hostile Instagram comments as vegans around the world took their turn lambasting the chef and the hotel. Many slammed the hotel with bad reviews and demanded a main dish: Lambert’s head, preferably on a platter, au jus.

The three-star hotel suspended Lambert, saying he had spoken “in a heated moment” and that “this practice has never taken place.”

But when the vegans demanded that he should be forced to eat more than just a little crow, the hotel fired him.

“We have investigated all accusations against Mr. Lambert and found no evidence suggesting that any of these practices have taken place within this hotel,” the management said in a statement.

“However, due to the comments made by Mr. Lambert regarding specific dietary requirements the company has decided to terminate his employment which has been done forthwith.”

Lambert’s remarks showed “absolute stupidity,” said Nicholas Crooks, the hotel's general manager.

“We cater to all dietary requirements, we run a proper and professional operation here and we feel as if we've been completely battered by this.”

So … well done, Alex. If nothing else, this will be food for thought.

“I have been a chef for nine years,” Lambert said. “I have never in this time done anything like feeding a vegan animal products or slipped in contaminated food.

“My job has always been my passion and something I have always taken very seriously. It was a stupid comment said out of anger.

“For the record I have no issue with vegans.”

Unfortunately for Lambert, vegans had a big issue with him.",The chef angered plenty of vegans and vegetarians after posting about his kitchen high jinks.
"Zoom Ziplines at Mountain Creek 200 Route 94, Vernon, NJ

The Hunter Mountain zipline in New York, pictured above, is the adrenaline equivalent of a sports car whipping around the Autobahn. Mountain Creek, on the other hand, is like a lazy Sunday drive in the family sedan on the Garden State Parkway.

With her helmet firmly affixed, Jen Reilly is safely strapped into a harness for her beginner ride at Zoom Ziplines in Vernon, NJ.

The former has a spartan, action-movie handlebar, but the latter straps you into a whole supporting contraption, with a big bar, two straps (preventing you from twisting or turning at all, which is a lot of the fun sometimes) and a granny-pants harness that basically turns into a seat when you’re zipping. It’s for the less-adventurous.

And unlike the others, this one starts you with a little baby zip (200 feet long) at ground level, to get you accustomed to the feeling — like a lame bunny slope.

From there, you hop into the ski resort’s stand-up gondola and climb 1,040 feet for the remaining three ziplines. Each one crosses over a lake, though not at particularly zooming speeds, so the whole experience is more of a unique-perspective sightseeing trip, but not a major adrenaline wave. Each ride lasts less than a minute.

Instead of getting to hurl your own body over the edge, you’re released by a mechanism, and instead of having to brace yourself for a manual stop, the resort uses a big spring-loaded device to catch you.

The young guides are friendly and attentive, albeit in a theme-park sort of way.

Aileen Schafer, 39, was initially nervous about zipping, despite having gone sky diving before. Later she described the zips as “calm, relaxing.”

“In my head, I was expecting to be a little more freaked out,” she says.

The only really scary part, as she and other guests agreed, was the 200-foot-long suspension bridge you cross on the way out. The bridge is secured, but it sways and bounces like a rejected prop from an Indiana Jones movie, making you feel like you’re going to tumble into the water, and take all the other bridge-crossers with you.

As a bonus bit of adventure, the tour ends with a ride in a Unimog truck, one of those open-air, all-terrain vehicles you always see in footage of the United Nations abroad. The bumpy trip back to the gondola takes you over mountainous terrain and, in the warmer months, even passes by some of the trick-riding pro- BMXers tearing up the mountain’s bike park.

The Post’s Tim Donnelly gets harnessed and helmeted at Big Bear Ziplines.

Info: Prices are $60 for adults, $49 for youths (off-peak rates); zoomziplines.com

Thrill rating: Starts with a baby zip at ground level.

Big Bear Ziplines 817 Violet Ave., Hyde Park, NY

If the Swiss Family Robinson were a modern family on the go, it probably would have commuted on something resembling the Big Bear Zipline course. The course doesn’t start high in the mountains like the others — the tallest is only 60 feet — but it does offer more chances to zip, with eight lines ranging from 200 to 1,400 feet long.

The course goes entirely through the woods, a huge swath of property the company rents near the Hudson River, providing a rustic, summercamp quality as you zoom over old stone walls and the occasional snake.

The run contains extra challenges, too: two Tarzan lines to swing down and two steep fireman’s ladders to climb up. It’s safe, but feels a little more DIY than the others: Lines are hooked to trees instead of steel posts, and we got to throw ourselves off the platforms, or kick off a tree for even more speed, and run up a ramp to stop zipping. Using your own body adds to the adrenaline of it all.

The vibe here is casual, with our guides — the chill combo of Myke Shealy and Una Parciasepe — playing up the fear factor a bit by making you fall backward or jump off the platform with no hands.

Then Donnelly goes a little Tarzan by zipping across lines hooked to trees at Big Bear Ziplines.

The tour builds you up to the big dog, the 1,400-foot finale that zips you over the forest floor at a tight speed, which gives a liberating feeling of pseudo-flying when you take your hands off the handle and spread out.

“I like the tree where we were able to climb up the tree to get speed,” says Mike Naughton, 48, of Mansfield, NJ, who was zipping for the first time after he and his wife, Helen, finally ginned up the courage. “I like the fast ones.”

Info: Prices are $99 per person; on weekends through October and on Halloween night, the course is offering a special nighttime Zombie Zip tour, featuring costumed characters and spooky decorations, which costs $119 to $125 per person; bigbearziplines.com

Thrill rating: It seems like you’re flying along the 1,400-foot line.

New York Zipline Adventure Tours 64 Klein Ave., Hunter, NY

“Are you nervous about dying?” asks guide Tim Parquez. He’s joking, but the thin wire standing between me and the mountain floor 600 feet below is barely perceptible. “Nah,” I say as I step up to the platform and lock in, looking out at the spectacular view across the mountaintops. “What a way to go.”

Our guides have driven us up here in a minibus — its radio blasting the “Superman” movie theme song — up a bumpy pathway to the tip of the mountain. During the winter, the area would be crawling with skiers and snowboarders, but on this warm day, it’s just our three tour guides and six civilians gazing out into the abyss, shaking in our shoulder harnesses.

This is the fastest — a promised speed of 50 mph — longest and tallest zipline in all of North America. So we get a lot of instruction in zipline form and safety beforehand.

“This is not Disney World,” says guide Michael Goyette. He tells us to pay attention and react, because this is supposed to be a high-adrenaline danger sport, not a dinky skyride.

Zipsters at Hunter Mountain take a footbridge back after flying over a big valley.

To maximize pants-wetting potential, the SkyRider tour starts you right off with the big one, a line that spans 3,200 feet across the mountain valley.

Goyette gives me a 3-2-1 countdown and yells, “Zip away!” I hurl myself over the edge and hang onto the bar for dear life. The instinct is to pull yourself up and clutch the bar like you’re Sandra Bullock in that “Gravity” trailer, but in reality, you’re still pretty safe even if you just hang there.

I curl my body up into the cannonball form (knees to my chest, head back) for maximum speed, taking a few moments to digest the view. And it is breathtaking, if I had any breath left that hadn’t been sucked out by this weird backward version of flying I’m experiencing. The majesty of the Catskills sucks me in so much, one of the guides has to shake the line to remind me to open up my body, to slow down — lest I fly into the backstop like a wild pitch. It takes barely a minute to get across the longest zip, but the terror makes it feel much faster.

The rest of the zips on the tour are shorter, but the views are great. One that speeds under the tree canopy gives the feeling of being on a Speeder chasing stormtroopers through Endor.

“It’s like no other experience. It puts you in a spot you can’t get to,” says Bradd Morse, founder of the company and a worldwide zipline pioneer. “You just get a bird’s-eye perspective of the world.”

Info: Prices range from $89 for the Mid-Mountain tour to $119 for the SkyRider tour; ziplinenewyork.com

Thrill rating: Zoom along at 50 mph — without a car!","Zoom Ziplines at Mountain Creek 200 Route 94, Vernon, NJThe Hunter Mountain zipline in New York, pictured above, is the adrenaline equivalent of a sports car whipping around the Autobahn.…"
"By Tom Charity, Special to CNN

updated 11:12 AM EST, Fri January 13, 2012

Lukas Haas and Mark Wahlberg star in ""Contraband.""

(CNN) -- This is the time of year when Hollywood traditionally gets back to basics, almost as if it's embarrassed by the number of worthy Oscar hopefuls clogging up the multiplexes.

Look on ""The Devil Inside,"" ""Contraband"" and even Steven Soderbergh's ""Haywire"" as a kind of collective cleanse as the studios attempt to flush out all the pretension and excess accrued from the holiday period.

As rudimentary as its name, ""Contraband"" is a straightforward crime thriller, its only claim to novelty hailing from the significant portion of the action set on board a tanker en route from New Orleans to Panama (and back again). Mark Wahlberg is (get this) the reluctant criminal: a married-with-kids security consultant forced to return to his first love when his brother-in-law panics and deep-sixes a cocaine shipment intended for a deliciously unreasonable Giovanni Ribisi.

Wahlberg's character, Farraday, is something of a legend in these circles. He and best buddy Ben Foster were the ""Lennon and McCartney of smuggling,"" we're told in the first scene, though it's up to us to work out which is which. In truth, Farraday seems more like a one-man band, the brains and the beauty, with the reliably unreliable Foster relegated to more of a Pete Best role.

Reworking the Icelandic film that he produced and starred in three years ago, ""Reykjavik-Rotterdam,"" Baltasar Kormakur has assembled a very decent cast that also includes Kate Beckinsale (as Mrs. Farraday), Lukas Haas, J.K. Simmons, David O'Hara and Diego Luna as a crazed Panamanian gangster. But there's not much here for any of them to sink their teeth into.

A sluggish first act only occasionally sputters into life, mostly when Ribisi is given the floor.

Things pick up when Farraday's plan starts to unravel.

Approaching the docks at full speed, the tanker nearly carves out a brand new Panama Canal. Then the ""funny money"" he and his contrabanditos mean to ship back to the land of the free proves laughably easy to detect. And of course there's Luna's lunatic to deal with. Even then, you might come across more action, and certainly meatier drama, in a typical episode of ""Breaking Bad.""

""The Hurt Locker"" cinematographer Barry Ackroyd does his best to inject some gritty realism into the proceedings, but several forced and farfetched plot developments might have been better served with the self-consciously flip, flash style pioneered by Luc Besson than the gloomy, low-key naturalistic approach. Not that I've nothing against a thriller taking itself seriously, but ""Contraband"" trades in too many clichés and contrivances to work up any genuine emotional engagement, and when it does threaten to do something risky or unpredictable, Kormakur immediately pulls his punches.

As usual, Wahlberg supplies the center of gravity and grounds the show with the kind of dogged determination that is his forte. But it's disappointing that for all the character's guile, Farraday's master stroke is stolen wholesale from a sequence in Sergio Leone's great underrated gangster saga ""Once Upon a Time in America"" -- which makes him a ripoff merchant at least as much as he's a smuggler.

Most popular stories right now","This is the time of year when Hollywood traditionally gets back to basics, almost as if it's embarrassed by the number of Oscar hopefuls clogging up multiplexes."
"It’s not often that an author announces his obsolescence on his very own book cover, but with “Play All,” the redoubtable Clive James has found a title that neatly demarcates how late he is to the party.

Maybe it doesn’t matter so much that this slim collection of critical essays is built around the experience of binge-watching shows on a DVD player, a platform that bids fair to join the VCR and the eight-track in the techno-landfill. Maybe it doesn’t matter that the author treats the venerable boxed set as a recent development that requires “a new critical language” to make sense of its “onrush of creativity.”

Maybe the only thing that matters is that Mr. James, who reviewed television for The Observer back in the 1970s and remains an enduring entertainment fixture in his British homeland, seems just now to be getting around to series that entered (and, in a few cases, departed) the cultural conversation years ago.

So if you were wondering what the author really thinks about “Band of Brothers” (2001) or “NYPD Blue” (1993-2005) or “Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip” (2006-7) or “The Wire” (2002-8) — or, hell, “Shogun” (1980) — this is the volume to slake your curiosity. If you needed someone to explain to you that Frank Underwood, the antihero of “House of Cards,” owes something to Machiavelli; that “Mad Men” is “shorthand for Madison Avenue men”; that movie spectacles ask us to “switch off our brains”; and that modern television has exploded “the old idea of a single auteur,” then by all means hunker down.

The rest of us will have to gather our rosebuds where we may. Recalling the amusingly unkind Mr. James who once compared Arnold Schwarzenegger to “a brown condom full of walnuts,” we are liable to get the same kick from learning that Steve Buscemi’s teeth are “designed for biting the head off a live chicken” and that “watching ‘The Pacific’ is like being shackled to the couch and forced to see ‘Pearl Harbor’ for a second time. It almost makes you sorry that the Japanese lost.”

Recalling the Clive James who has unapologetically commuted between high and low culture, between translating Dante and hanging out at the Playboy mansion, we might enjoy seeing him refract “Boardwalk Empire” through the old master glow of Raphael and pour the nectar of Nietzsche and Camus over Bubbles, the shopping-cart philosopher from “The Wire.”

But maybe now is the time to grapple with the Clive James of today: a game but seriously ill man whose “polite but insidious form of leukemia” was diagnosed six years ago. His condition is currently kept at bay through the miracles of pharmacology, and although Mr. James concedes that “I haven’t really got a chance,” he quickly adds, “I haven’t got an end date, either.”

So, with the extra time afforded him, Mr. James has been viewing everything he can get his hands on. It is, of course, possible to wish him many more years of happy viewing — on whatever platform — while insisting that he be held to the same standards as before. By that measure, the Mr. James of old would surely have thought twice before committing the phrase “screen magic” to paper and would have dialed back such fanboy gushings as “‘The Sopranos’ is at least three ‘Godfather’ movies plus ‘The Magnificent Ambersons’ and Abel Gance’s ‘Napoleon.’”

He might, too, have questioned such assertions as “There never was, and never will be, a successful entertainment fueled by pure cynicism,” or “This business of continuously good writing throughout the long run of a show really began with ‘The Rockford Files,’” or “There have always been funny women in real life, but on screen they were handicapped if they looked pretty, or even just normal.”

To that last charge, a ghost chorus of comic goddesses rises up: Carole Lombard, Lucille Ball, Katharine Hepburn, Kay Kendall. But why disturb their slumbers? This is the same Clive James who thinks that female performers, before whining too much, should consider how much less freedom they would have on Al Jazeera.

Write all this off to the generational blinders of a 76-year-old author, and then see if you have enough indulgence left to explain the author’s idolatry of Aaron Sorkin, who, in Mr. James’s mind, has provided “the most elaborately eloquent dialogue since the great days of Hollywood screwball comedy in the late 1930s and early 1940s,” and whose “West Wing” “reminded the world that America had intellectual capacity behind its economic muscle.” Was that capacity still in question? Only, perhaps, in the precincts of Mr. James’s Oxbridge worldview, where the specter of United States hegemony allows for such bizarre sentences as “This is America, whose culture insists that the love object not be objectified and that love, a thing of the spirit, must transcend lust, a thing of the mere body.”

Cotton Mather’s America, maybe. But prejudices, it seems, hang on as doggedly as critics, and critics are finally just people sitting doggedly on a couch. So it is that the most affecting moments of “Play All” come when the author is joined by his wife and daughters, all keeping the old man company as he sifts through his many hours of boxed sets. “We may well be the only people in the world,” Mr. James writes, “who have ever watched five episodes of ‘The Following’ in succession without succumbing to catatonia.”

He adds, “How you can do that much watching without using up the universe is a question we will get to later.”

200 pages. Yale University Press. $25.

A version of this review appears in print on August 23, 2016, on page C4 of the New York edition with the headline: A Pensive Philosopher, Finding Succor in Reruns. Today's Paper|Subscribe","In his new book, “Play All,” the author and former Observer critic ruminates on the television landscape, in some cases turning to series that are no longer on the air."
"During a Sunday morning service at Trinity Church last summer, a longtime parishioner looked around during the reading of the Gospel and counted the worshippers.

By her tally, there were 49 people in the pews of the historic lower Manhattan church — a meager turnout for the storied, 314-year-old parish.

She was puzzled, then, when the next week’s church bulletin reported attendance at 113.

Trinity’s rector, the Rev. James Cooper, had decided that tourists who wander in and out of the chapel should be counted as well, she was told.

“That’s just a little snapshot into the way he presents everything,” said the parishioner, who was also a member of the governing board until she resigned in protest. “Everything has a little bit of truth to it but a lot of deception around it.”

Playing fast and loose with the numbers, and official church records, is one of the many complaints that dog the man who heads the richest parish in the Anglican world, a church with at least $1 billion in Manhattan real estate.

Cooper was supposed to be the guardian angel of Trinity. Instead, former board members say his dictatorial style of leadership and grandiose ambitions have fomented insurrection in the staid Episcopal community. They accuse him of undermining Trinity’s mission of good works since taking over as rector in 2004.

Instead of helping the poor, Cooper’s helped himself — with demands for a $5.5 million SoHo townhouse, an allowance for his Florida condo, trips around the world including an African safari and a fat salary.

Rather than building an endowment, he is accused of wasting more than $1 million on development plans for a luxury condo tower that has been likened to a pipe dream and burning another $5 million on a publicity campaign.

Cooper, 67, whose compensation totaled $1.3 million in 2010, even added CEO to his title of rector. He began listing himself first on the annual directory of vestry members.

The atmosphere has become so poisonous that nearly half the 22 members of the vestry, or board, have been forced out or quit in recent months.

“You have diminished Trinity Church, and you have created a glaring atmosphere of deceit,” the longtime parishioner wrote in a letter resigning her position on the board.

Eight members of the vestry, which includes heavy hitters in finance, law and philanthropy, abruptly left in February and two quit months earlier. Four of them were critics of Cooper who resigned immediately after not being renominated to serve for another year by Cooper’s hand-picked committee.

The relationship between the board and Cooper became so tense that, over the summer, Cooper agreed to quietly step down but requested a generous retirement package first, according to interviews and documents obtained by The Post.

But Cooper then reconsidered, and the dissenting board members were powerless to remove him. Instead, some found themselves in his sights.

“When the fox ends up guarding the henhouse, it never ends well for the chickens,” ousted board member Thomas Flexner, global head of real estate for Citigroup, wrote in a Feb. 13 resignation letter. “But this is what has happened at Trinity.”

Cooper has his defenders. A current board member, Susan Berresford, said the 600-member church has “full confidence in the leadership of Trinity’s rector.”

“Even during these challenging economic times, Trinity’s ministries are strong, flourishing and addressing a full range of social and spiritual needs,” said Berresford, former president of the Ford Foundation.

Trinity Church opened its doors in 1698 at Broadway and Wall Street, chartered by King William III of England. Seven years later, Queen Anne gave the church a wide swath of land, 215 acres that stretched from Wall to Christopher streets and the banks of the Hudson.

George Washington and Alexander Hamilton worshipped at Trinity, and Hamilton is buried in its graveyard on Trinity Place.

The original church burned down in 1776 as the British took Manhattan, but was rebuilt twice. The current Gothic Revival brownstone church, with its distinctive spire, opened in 1846.

Today, Trinity’s holdings — in addition to the church and nearby St. Paul’s Chapel — include 14 commercial buildings in the Hudson Square area of Manhattan.

The revenue from the rents is some $200 million a year, which pays the operating expenses of the commercial properties and funds the operations of the church.

When Trinity leaders were looking for a new rector in 2003 to replace the Rev. Daniel Matthews, who retired, they wanted someone who could build a true endowment for their philanthropic work, former board members said.

The search committee considered Cooper, then the rector of Christ Episcopal Church in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. Cooper’s candidacy was originally rejected because some felt he was not up to the job, according to former board members.

But Cooper “wanted this job more than anybody else and put on a very hard sell,” according to one former director. Cooper was hired in 2004.

Among the perks Cooper negotiated was a lavish home in SoHo, a Federal-style townhouse built in the 1820s with a price tag of $5.5 million.

“He chose the residence and said this shall be the rectory,” a former board member said. “Not in recent history . . . has the church ever provided so extravagant a living arrangement for the rector, but that’s what he wanted.”

The church bought the property, located in a landmark district, and has sunk hundreds of thousands more into its upkeep and renovation, recently installing new windows to the tune of $100,000.

Cooper also convinced the church to pay him a cash housing allowance, which totaled $115,313 in 2010, ostensibly for the home he still owned in Florida.

His $1.3 million compensation package also included a salary of $346,391 and deferred compensation of $507,940, according to 2010 tax documents, the latest available.

Instead of concentrating on the endowment, Cooper began planning for a grand development on Trinity Place. He proposed tearing down two Trinity-owned buildings across from the church. One, a 25-story tower at 74 Trinity Place, housed the church offices, its preschool and a gathering place for parishioners.

Cooper wanted to build a luxury condominium tower, with church offices on the lower floors. He also looked at buying the adjacent American Stock Exchange and demolishing it, even though the building has long been considered for landmark status.

One former board member called the plan insensitive and too big for the area. Others questioned the need for such a development, which would involve borrowing hundreds of millions of dollars.

A board committee in June requested a detailed report on proposed uses of the complex, but it never materialized and the meeting minutes never reflected the request, charged Andrew Lynn, director of planning and regional development at the Port Authority, who quit the board.

“This manipulation of the minutes is part of a pattern, in which inconvenient issues raised by the vestry are air brushed out of the record,” Lynn wrote in a December missive.

Another former board member said Cooper spent years studying the condo development, “not at all paying attention to the principal focus of those that hired him, which was try to solve the problem and try to make the church more of a powerful force in the philanthropy world.”

Trinity has had a long tradition of global giving and has taken credit for being one of the early opponents of apartheid in South Africa. It gave millions to the activist Bishop Desmond Tutu.

But for years, Trinity’s grant program gave out only $2.7 million annually, despite having the resources to fund more causes, a former board member said.

More money was spent on church publicity in one year — $5 million — than grants.

Last year, Trinity doled out grants to causes including a jobs program in Bedford-Stuyvesant and to churches in Africa.

Cooper traveled to Africa on church business but found time to fit in at least one safari, with his family along, at Trinity’s expense. The church also paid for jaunts to Asia and Australia.

The longtime and respected head of the grants program, the Rev. James Callaway, was forced out by Cooper, according to a former board member.

Callaway refused to comment, and the church said he continues there as a program adviser.

The church, in response to questions from The Post, said Cooper “has taken steps to grow the liquid endowment” and is weighing a plan to repair its building at 74 Trinity Place or build a new one. Officials refused to comment on the safari. As for the Sunday Mass miscount, the church denied counting gawkers — or at least ones that don’t sit down.

“Ushers measure church attendance at services by people in the pews.”

Trinity Church is one of the largest landowners in Manhattan, with some 6 million square feet of commercial space. The holdings also include a chapel on Governors Island and a cemetery in northern Manhattan and numerous office buildings in the Hudson Square area.

74 Trinity Place 25 stories

A $5.5 million townhouse at 37 Charlton St. bought for rector the Rev. James Cooper

Selected Hudson Square commercial properties (the church owns 14) and notable tenants:

12 stories, 236,749 sq. ft.

2 stories, 38,055 sq. ft.

12 stories, 386,820 sq. ft.; 92YTribeca

9 stories, 291,064 sq. ft.","(Bloomberg via Getty Images) (Helayne Seidman) ( )During a Sunday morning service at Trinity Church last summer, a longtime parishioner looked around during the reading of the Gospel and counted th…"
"About a month after Dr. Elliot Pellman stepped down from the N.F.L.’s controversial committee on concussions, Major League Baseball announced on Tuesday that Pellman had been replaced as its chief medical director.

Gary Green, a professor of sports medicine at U.C.L.A. and baseball’s adviser on performance-enhancing drugs for the past seven years, will replace Pellman, according to a statement released by the commissioner’s office.

The chief medical director for baseball serves as the primary liaison between the commissioner’s office and club physicians and trainers. For example, when swine flu cases spread across the country last year, Pellman provided recommendations to teams on how to treat personnel and players.

The 277-word statement made little mention of Pellman, only saying that he would remain on in an advisory role.

“Dr. Green has been an outstanding asset to Major League Baseball as a consultant, and we are pleased that this expanded role will provide him an opportunity to make significant contributions to our game,” Commissioner Bud Selig said in the written statement.

Green will remain in his role as the chief adviser on issues related to performance-enhancing drugs. Pellman, who declined comment when reached by phone, will remain an adviser to the commissioner’s office.

Pellman, also the Jets’ team physician, wrote many of the N.F.L.’s 13 papers published in the journal Neurosurgery that recommended policies on concussions that were at odds with outside research findings and medical opinions.

In 2005, The New York Times reported that Pellman had exaggerated several aspects of his medical education and professional status in official biographical information and a résumé prepared for an appearance before a Congressional panel.","About a month after Dr. Elliot Pellman stepped down from the N.F.L.'s controversial committee on concussions, Major League Baseball announced on Tuesday that Pellman had been replaced as its chief medical director."
"'Dark Knight Rises' Christian Bale, Anne Hathaway Leave Paris

Following the decision to cancel the Paris premiere of ""

, hopped aboard a private jet yesterday at a private airport.

Warner Bros. has also canceled appearances by the cast scheduled for Mexico and Japan.

The film's director, Christopher Nolan, released a statement yesterday that read in part, ""Speaking on behalf of the cast and crew of 'The Dark Knight Rises', I would like to express our profound sorrow at the senseless tragedy that has befallen the entire Aurora community ... Nothing any of us can say could ever adequately express our feelings for the innocent victims of this appalling crime, but our thoughts are with them and their families.""","Following the decision to cancel the Paris premiere of ""The Dark Knight Rises,"" the movie's stars, Christian Bale and Anne Hathaway, hopped aboard a…"
"With most of the British press set against him, Thursday's TV appearance - which covered everything from immigration to economic policy -- was a rare opportunity for Miliband to talk to voters directly.

He duly used the opportunity to reject persistent criticism from some of his own lawmakers and the country's mostly right-wing press that his image as ""a geek"" made him an electoral liability, saying he didn't care what people said about him.

""The thing is they see you as a North London geek,"" Jeremy Paxman, a famously robust interviewer, told Miliband.

""Who cares? Who does?"" came the reply. ""You know, I don't care what the newspapers write about me.""

Miliband, 45, said he had been underestimated before.

""People have thrown a lot at me over four and a half years, but I'm a pretty resilient guy and I've been underestimated at every turn. People said I wouldn't become leader and I did. People said four years ago he can't become prime minister; I think I can.""

Read MoreThese charts will tell all you need to know about the UK election

Stuart Thomson, a public affairs consultant at Bircham Dyson Bell, said both men had got through the encounter without making a serious mistake, but that Cameron, the incumbent, had more to lose than Miliband, the challenger.

""There's no doubt that Miliband exceeded expectations but Cameron held his own,"" Thomson told Reuters. ""The debate has really started the firing gun on the election and all sides know they are in a real battle.""

Follow us on Twitter: @CNBCWorld","Prime Minister David Cameron won the first TV encounter of a close national election in Britain, an opinion poll showed."
"President Obama said Sunday that the United States will “go on the offensive” against Islamic State militants in the Middle East and that he will further outline his plans Wednesday in a speech.

“The next phase is us going on the offensive,” Obama said in an interview that aired Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

The president said that on Wednesday he will not announce the use of U.S. ground troops or a campaign equal to the war in Iraq, and that his goal is to make clear the mission is to deal with terror threats like those over the past several years. A senior Obama administration official told Fox News imminent, new military action in either Iraq or Syria was not expected to be announced in the speech.

Obama said he has the “authority he needs” to increase attacks on Islamic State targets without congressional approval, but he did not answer repeated questions about whether he will order air strikes on Islamic State targets in Syria.

A senior White House official told Fox News that Obama's primary aim in the Wednesday speech will be to update the American public on what the strategy is to deal with the militant group, saying the administration wants ""people to understand how he's approaching this.""

When Congress was on summer break, the president ordered strikes on the group’s military targets in Iraq, saying they were to protect U.S. personnel and requested by the Iraq government as part of a humanitarian effort to preserve infrastructure and save Iraqi minorities.

Obama said Sunday the upcoming effort is part of three-step plan that started with intelligence gathering and will include helping install a new Iraqi government.

“I’m confident we can get this done,” he said.

Obama acknowledged on ""Meet the Press"" that the Islamic State is unique because of its “territorial ambitions” in the Middle East.

""Over the course of months, we are going to be able to not just blunt the momentum of ISIL,"" he said, using an alternate name for the group. ""We are going to systematically degrade their capabilities. We're going to shrink the territory that they control. And ultimately we're going to defeat them.""

Reps. Peter King, D-N.Y., and Adam Smith, D-Wash., each told ABC’s “This Week” that the president should take swift action instead of trying to get congressional approval and getting bogged down in a prolonged debate.

“Getting the exact language through Congress would be extremely difficult,” Smith said, “though I think that’s what we ought to do.”

Obama will outline his plan after meeting Tuesday in the Oval Office with Capitol Hill leaders -- Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada; Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.; House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio; and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.

“What I'm going to ask the American people to understand is that this is a serious threat,” Obama told NBC. “We have the capacity to deal with it, and here's how we'll deal with it. This will require some resources above what's already in there.”

Obama also said that he has not seen any immediate intelligence of threats to the U.S. homeland.

The interview was conducted Saturday at the White House shortly after Obama returned from a NATO summit in Wales, where the Islamic State threat was a key topic of discussion. The speech will come one day before the 13th anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks.

Obama restated his opposition to sending U.S. ground troops to engage in direct combat with the militants, who have laid claim to large swaths of territory in Iraq, targeted religious and ethnic minority groups, and threatened U.S. personnel and interests in the region.

At Obama's direction, the U.S. military has conducted more than 130 air strikes against Islamic State militants in Iraq in the past month. In retaliation, the group recently beheaded two American journalists it had been holding hostage in Syria, where the organization also operates.

Lawmakers have pressed Obama to expand the air strikes into Syria. He has resisted so far, but said he has asked his military advisers for options for pursuing the group there.

In the interview, Obama said the U.S. would not go after the Islamic State group alone, but would operate as part of an international coalition and continue air strikes to support ground efforts that would be carried out by Iraqi and Kurdish troops.

At the NATO summit, the U.S. and nine allies agreed to take on the militants because of the threat they pose to member countries.

Obama's emerging strategy depends on cooperation and contributions from regional partners, including Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Turkey, in addition to the formation of a new government in Iraq.

Obama said he expected the Iraqi government to be formed this week.

Last month, while vacationing on the Massachusetts island of Martha's Vineyard, Obama was criticized for heading to the golf course minutes after he appeared in public to angrily denounce the Islamic State militants for the videotaped killing of American journalist James Foley.

Asked whether he wanted a do-over by new ""Meet the Press"" host Chuck Todd, Obama said that, while there will always be tough news somewhere, he ""should've anticipated the optics"" of immediately going to play golf after delivering that statement in which he said he had just gotten off the phone with Foley's parents.

But Obama said the more important question is whether he is getting the policies right and whether he is protecting the American people and, on that score, he said, ""I think I've done a very good job during the course of these last, close to six years.""

Fox News' Ed Henry and The Associated Press contributed to this report.",President Obama will tell Americans in a speech Wednesday his plans to combat Islamic State militants in the Middle East.
"Imagine the wear and tear that a professional basketball player’s leaps do to the body. Now imagine the wear and tear they might cause if that player were barefoot, or if he had to shoot foul shots with his entire weight balanced on his toes.

Dancers suffer a number of injuries, and because of the leaping in ballet, about 70 percent of them are in the legs and feet, estimates Heather Southwick, director of physical therapy at the Boston Ballet.

The force of landing is equal to about 12 times a dancer’s body weight, according to Pointe Magazine, an international magazine for ballet dancers. Dancers land on a flat ballet shoe, a toe shoe, or barefoot. “None of the footwear has any support in it,” says Southwick.

And ballet dancers are especially vulnerable to overuse injury, she adds. Five to six days a week, a professional dancer spends four or more hours in rehearsal and two to three hours in a performance. Dancers also take a 1½-hour class at least five days a week.

The “constitutional flexibility” of a dancer, advantageous in many ways, increases the risk of ankle strains and of the kneecap pulling out of place, says Dr. Lyle Micheli, director of sports medicine at Children’s Hospital Boston, and attending doctor for the Boston Ballet.

In the last three decades, Boston Ballet, one of the early US leaders in dance medicine, has used numerous methods for treating injuries. They range from the commonplace contrast baths (four minutes of warm water, followed by one minute of ice cold) to hasten healing, to the daily hands-on manipulation of overused joints like the ankle to restore range of motion, to newer innovations like the Graston technique to break down scar tissue and soft-tissue restrictions, therapeutic Kinesio taping of muscles to improve stability, and iontophoresis, a noninvasive method of delivering drugs with electrical current, to help with inflammation.

More important, says Southwick, is the shift in focus to injury prevention. Fatigue, weakness, and muscle imbalance play a role in injury, so the company’s health and wellness center is like a 24-hour gym, with an exercise bike and elliptical machine to improve endurance, Pilates and Gyrotonics equipment to develop core strength, and weights and other resistance training equipment.

Dancers are screened when they join the troupe and put on individual exercise programs to strengthen weaker muscles and address alignment issues. Strength-training and high-level balance work has significantly reduced the incidence of sprained ankles, once a common injury, Southwick says.

Dancers learn to articulate the foot and toes with the same maneuverability as the hand. Consciously lifting the arch and each toe from the floor independently strengthens the foot muscles, Southwick says. She urges dancers to come for treatment at the first twinge or sign of muscle weakness to stave off more serious, lasting injuries.

Boston Ballet soloist Dalay Parrondo (her leg is below) has staved off serious injury, though she’s faced a few stress injuries in one foot. “It is really important to take the time we need to prevent future injuries,” she says. “Good physical therapy definitely helps us to get back in shape, and extra exercises help us to get the strength we need before we go back to work.”","Imagine the wear and tear that a professional basketball player’s leaps do to the body. Now imagine the wear and tear it might cause if that player were barefoot, or if he had to shoot foul shots with his entire weight balanced on his toes.  Dancers suffer a number of injuries, and because of the leaping in ballet, about 70 percent of them are in the legs and feet, estimates Heather Southwick, director of physical therapy at the Boston Ballet. The force of landing is equal to about 12 times a dancer’s body weight, according to Pointe Magazine, an international magazine for ballet dancers. Dancers land on a flat ballet shoe, a toe shoe, or barefoot. “None of the footwear has any support in it,” says Southwick."
"Even with a good screening process, you may still run into problems with tenants. They may fail to pay their rent on time or cause damage to the property.

When they move in, have tenants sign a report indicating the condition of the property and appliances, Nuzzolese said. That way, you have documentation of any damage that was present before they arrived.

Your rental agreement should include the penalties you can impose if the tenant violates any part of the agreement, like getting three giant dogs when the apartment is supposed to be pet-free or installing an unauthorized satellite dish, Hall said. If the fines and fees aren't part of the rental agreement, you have no right to charge the tenant for these violations.

This is another area where it's important to understand your state and local laws. Each state has rules for how much time you must give your tenants to fix a problem before you can take legal action.

If it gets to the point where you need to evict a tenant, you take them to court, where a judge will look at the rental agreement and determine whether the tenant has violated it. If the judge orders the tenant be evicted, you cannot lock them out or force them from the property, Hall said. You must have the local police or sheriff's department remove the tenant.","Rental property investors could see big returns in 2016, but think about these factors before taking the plunge"
"An entire Russian helicopter unit based in Syria was wiped out in an Islamic State attack, satellite images appear to suggest.

The attack on 14 May targeted a strategically significant airbase in central Syria used by Russian forces, and again suggests Isis forces are trying to operate outside territory held by the terror group to undermine the regime of Bashar al-Assad.

On Monday more than 100 Syrians were killed in a series of suicide bombings in Tartous and Jableh, two coastal cities in a loyalist enclave that had previously escaped the violence that has devastated the rest of the country.

The military position in Syria is extremely fluid, with reports of a looming assault on Aleppo by 5,000 fighters from Jabhat al-Nusra, the Syrian franchise of al-Qaida.

Meanwhile, a US-backed Kurdish-Arabic alliance, the Syrian Democratic Forces, announced in a statement that it had started an assault on the countryside north of Raqqa, the citadel of IS in Syria.

The newly released satellite images suggest four helicopters and 20 lorries were destroyed in a series of fires inside the T4 base, also known as Tiyas, in eastern Homs.

The Russian military denied that it lost helicopters at the base as a result of an Isis attack. It was originally thought that the destruction was caused by an accidental fire. But Islamic State claimed responsibility and released an image claimed to show one of its fighters firing Grad rockets at T4.

A military analyst at Stratfor, Sim Tack, said: “What the imagery tells us is that first of all this was not an accidental explosion, as some of the rumours kept saying. It shows very clearly that there are several different sources of explosions across the airport, and it shows that the Russians took a quite a bad hit.”

The T4 airbase is described as one of the most important in Syria, and is near the historic city of Palmyra recaptured from Isis by Assad forces a month ago. The base is also near a strategic crossroads of routes that lead to Deir el-Zour, Raqqa, Damascus and other key cities.

It houses two fixed-wing attack squadrons, one composed of Su-24 aircraft and the other of Su-22 aircraft. These aircraft have carried out ground-attack missions across Syria, including the operations that eventually forced Isis out of Palmyra. In addition, the Syrian air force maintains six L-39 trainer aircraft and a few Mi-8/17 transport helicopters at the base.

Stratfor said Russian forces had deployed a contingent of attack helicopters to the T4 airbase at least since March, supporting the loyalist offensive to retake Palmyra that same month. Based on satellite imagery as well as video of the base, the Russian force consisted of approximately four Mi-24P gunships.

A Russian defence ministry spokesman, Igor Konashenkov, said: “The burnt air and auto equipment along with many craters from shell detonations have been there for several months. This is a result of heavy combat for this aerodrome between Syrian government forces and militants of terrorist groups.”

Britain’s defence secretary, Michael Fallon, made no reference to the apparent airbase attack in a report to MPs on the UK air campaign in Syria. He said that since military action had been authorised by MPs on 2 December, the UK had fired 43 missiles in Syria, and a further 760 in Iraq.

Related: Three out of four Syrians believe a political solution can end the war

Fallon stood by David Cameron’s claim that 70,000 moderate rebels were fighting in Syria, but included the Kurdish forces in this number.

Fallon stressed it would take many months to attack Raqqa, pointing out that previous assaults on Isis-held cities in Iraq had lasted eight months.

Fallon was pressed to explain how the US government could be so dependent on Kurds to take Raqqa, and yet was not willing to allow the Kurds to attend Geneva peace talks.

Fallon said the west would not work with Russia to coordinate the assault on Isis, but for the first time suggested there may be intelligence sharing to combat groups such as al-Nusra.",US intelligence company Stratfor says satellite images suggest four helicopters and 20 lorries destroyed at T4 base
"We call it Love Only One, a contest in which we dare 17 financial pros to try to beat the S&P 500 by picking one stock each. Every year we invite a dozen experts to say which stock they believe will outperform the market over the next 12 months and five others to name a likely laggard. When the year runs out, the winners receive return invitations. The rest make way for new contestants. In Pictures: Class Of 2010--They're Off! In Pictures: Class Of 2010--Short-Sellers The S&P 500 gained 7% in the 12 months through Oct. 31. All told, neither the bulls nor the bears in our class of 2008 beat the market. The 12 long picks delivered an average price increase of 6% with seven earning an invitation to play again this year. Contrary to their goal of picking dogs last October, the contest's short picks outperformed both the bulls and the S&P 500 with average price increases of 15%. Only one recommendation finished deep in the red, and only two earned a chance to return.

Despite winners among both bulls and bears, the Love Only One class of 2009 on the whole couldn't beat its S&P 500 benchmark. Better luck next year.

1: From Oct. 31, 2008 through Oct. 30, 2009; split- and spinoff-adjusted. 2: American Depositary Receipt. Source: Interactive Data via FactSet Research Systems.

Brian Chait, president of Lynx Capital Group, smacked a home run for last year's bears. A year ago he warned that Volkswagen ( VLKAF.PK - news - people ) would suffer from auto industry malaise. The ADR was down 73% in the year through October.

Chait returns for his fifth year and now holds the longevity title among current contestants. His 2010 short pick comes from the health care sector. Amylin Pharmaceuticals ( AMLN - news - people ), specializes in therapies for the treatment of diabetes and obesity. It is also, as Chait points out, in the inherently risky business of developing drugs, burning through cash and has never earned a profit. Amylin's debt to capital ratio is also 61%.

Keith Wirtz, chief investment officer at First Third Asset Management in Cincinnati, led all bulls by selecting oilfield equipment maker National Oilwell Varco ( NOV - news - people ), up 37%, 30 percentage points than the S&P 500. Over the past year, it has continued its solid track record of beating consensus earnings estimates. For 2010, Wirtz likes Bank of America ( BAC - news - people ). He is encouraged by the pending departure of Ken Lewis as chief executive and the bank's credit portfolio to stabilize. Wirtz believes BofA could rise to $28 in 2010 from a recent $16.

The runner-up among the bulls is Robert Millen, a longtime bull and chairman and portfolio manager at Jensen Investment Management. Millen is back for his fourth year after recommending Waters Corp. ( WAT - news - people ), a maker of lab equipment and supplies that was up 31% the past year. Millen's pick this year is C.R. Bard, a maker of health care products. Millen thinks the company is a bargain trading near a 10-year low on a forward P/E basis, despite its status as an industry innovator with a solid market share and stable top- and bottom-line numbers.

Michael Balkin, a member of the Small Cap Growth team at William Blair and Co., earned a return invitation with his pick of DG FastChannel, which increased 18% over the past year. He's sticking with DG for another year, believing it has room to run thanks to a leading proprietary network that allows advertisers to deliver ads to TVs, radios and mobile devices. He believes the transition to high- definition ads, along with an improving economy, will create a nice tailwind.

Five of our eight Love Only One newcomers this year are bulls. Among them is Noah Blackstein, a global growth fund manager at Canada's Dynamic Funds, who picks Apple ( AAPL - news - people ). He expects earnings significantly higher than the consensus estimate as the company introduces the iPhone to new telecom carriers and rolls out new products, like the much anticipated Apple tablet computer. The iPhone also supports Mac computer sales by acquainting consumers with the Mac operating system in a much larger way than the iPod did.

""I believe the stock will follow the earnings higher,"" Blackstein says.

John Eade, president of Argus Research Co., favors Corinthian Colleges ( COCO - news - people ), which offers short-term diploma and degree programs at over 100 schools in the U.S. and Canada. The for-profit company is an industry leader with attractive growth prospects yet is trading at a discount to peers, according to Eade. Meanwhile, the company stands to benefit from consolidation within the education business, he believes.

Keith McCullough, chief executive of Research Edge, named sports apparel and footwear maker Under Armour ( UA - news - people ) as his stock to watch through next October. Analysts expect sales to grow an average 13% over the next few years, and McCullough adds that it appears to have the plan, people and infrastructure to achieve such feats. Analysts covering the stock also submitted 2010 earnings estimates that McCullough believes are 20% too low.

Matthew Harrigan, an analyst at Wunderlich Securities expects Regal Entertainment ( RGC - news - people ) to outperform in the near term. Regal's circuit of theatres generated over $2.6 billion in sales in 2008, and Harrigan is looking for the strong box office showing to continue in 2010. He also sees upside from the transition to digital cinema and in particular 3-D movies in particular. Investors may find appeal in the company's dividend yield, currently over 6%, and double-digit cash flow margin.

Fred Buonocore of CJS Securities, a firm that specializes in identifying promising small-caps, sees potential in Rand Logistics ( RLOGU - news - people ), a bulk shipping service in the Great Lakes region. High barriers to entry, such as government restrictions on foreign competition and the prohibitive cost of bringing new cargo ships into the market, are among the reasons he favors Rand. In good times shipping demand tends to outweigh supply, and in tough ones Rand's broad mix of shipments enables it to hedge against losses, Buonocore says.

Among our three new bears is Craig Maurer, an analyst at Calyon Securities, who is down on Capital One Financial ( COF - news - people ). His concern focuses on the impact the Credit Card Act of 2009 will have on the company. This new law limits credit card issuers' ability to raise interest rates and change the fees charged to consumers. Maurer believes that Capital One will see an increase in delinquencies and a big decrease in fee income.

Michael Judd, president of Greenwich Consulting picks Georgia Gulf ( GGC - news - people ) as a loser. The company manufactures and markets chlorovinyls, a material needed for products such as PVC and vinyl siding. Judd expects that Georgia Gulf will continue to be hit by a lack of demand from residential and commercial construction.

Our final newcomer among short-sellers is Robert Summers of Pali Capital Research. His target is food and drug giant Safeway ( SWY - news - people ). Summers expects unemployment will rise in the first half of 2010 and will remain elevated for some time afterward. This will put pressure on Safeway as consumers pinch their grocery budgets. Consensus 2010 earnings for Safeway are $1.90 per share, according to Thomson IBES. Summers thinks that target will prove difficult, perhaps impossible, for Safeway to achieve.

Our contestants are charged with either beating or lagging the S&P 500 in the coming year. Whoever succeeds gets asked back for another year. Brian Chait has been at this since 2005.

Prices as of Oct. 30. Source: Interactive Data via FactSet Research Systems.

In Pictures: Class Of 2010--They're Off!

In Pictures: Class Of 2010--Short-Sellers",Investment professionals pick their one favorite stock.
"The big news from Milan this week was the appointment of Lars Nilsson, formerly of Bill Blass and Nina Ricci, as Ferré's creative director.

Neither the backing of key retailers nor the support of leading society figures could spare Lars Nilsson, the designer for Bill Blass, the pain of being fired on Wednesday.

Yesterday, the Bill Blass, Ltd. company fired its head designer, Lars Nilsson, who had presented his third collection for the 33-year-old firm on Tuesday.

Judging from how hesitantly he approached the runway at the finale of his first show for Bill Blass yesterday, it seems that Lars Nilsson belongs to the school of the unassuming.",News about Lars Nilsson. Commentary and archival information about Lars Nilsson from The New York Times.
"Many social reformers have long said that low academic achievement among inner-city children cannot be improved significantly without moving their families to better neighborhoods, but new reports released today that draw on a unique set of data throw cold water on that theory.

Researchers examining what happened to 4,248 families that were randomly given or denied federal housing vouchers to move out of their high-poverty neighborhoods found no significant difference about seven years later between the achievement of children who moved to more middle-class neighborhoods and those who didn't.

Although some children had more stable lives and better academic results after the moves, the researchers said, on average there was no improvement. Boys and brighter students appeared to have more behavioral problems in their new schools, the studies found.

""Research has in fact found surprisingly little convincing evidence that neighborhoods play a key role in children's educational success,"" says one of the two reports on the Web site of the Hoover Institution's journal Education Next.

Experts often debate the factors in student achievement. Many point to teacher quality, others to parental involvement and others to economic and cultural issues.

Some critics, and the researchers themselves, suggest that the new neighborhoods may not have been good enough to make a difference. Under the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's Moving to Opportunity program, one group of families received vouchers that could be used only to move to neighborhoods with poverty rates below 10 percent, one group got vouchers without that restriction and one group did not receive vouchers. Families with the restricted vouchers moved to neighborhoods with poverty rates averaging 12.6 percent lower than those of similar families that did not move, but not the most affluent suburbs with the highest-performing schools.

""There is a wide body of evidence going back several decades to suggest that low-income students perform better in middle-class schools,"" said Richard D. Kahlenberg, senior fellow at the Washington-based Century Foundation. ""But, in practice, Moving to Opportunity was more like moving to mediocrity.""

Harvard University sociologist William Julius Wilson said that although the families that were studied moved to neighborhoods that weren't as poor, they still had many disadvantages. Three-fifths of the families relocated to neighborhoods that were still ""highly racially segregated,"" he said, and ""as many as 41 percent of those who entered low-poverty neighborhoods subsequently moved back to more-disadvantaged neighborhoods.""

The authors of one of the new reports were Lisa Sanbonmatsu, a postdoctoral fellow at the National Bureau of Economic Research; Jeffrey Kling, a Brookings Institution economist; Greg J. Duncan, an education and social policy professor at Northwestern University; and Jeanne Brooks-Gunn, a child development and education professor at Columbia University.

They cite several possible explanations why students' performance did not improve when their families moved to less poverty-stricken neighborhoods in the Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles and New York areas. Some families returned to poorer neighborhoods after sampling a more middle-class environment. ""For many families who remained in their new tracts, the poverty rate in their neighborhood increased around them,"" the researchers said.

Stefanie DeLuca, a Johns Hopkins University sociologist who wrote the second report based on interviews of Moving to Opportunity families in Baltimore, said many of the parents had little faith that better teaching in better schools would help their children. They felt it was up to their children to make education work.","Many social reformers have long said that low academic achievement among inner-city children cannot be improved significantly without moving their families to better neighborhoods, but new reports released today that draw on a unique set of data throw cold water on that theory."
"From Sacramento — Go ahead: Accuse me of shooting the wounded. But it may be that the body already is dead.

I'm referring to the California Republican Party.

How alive could the state GOP be after suffering the pounding it took on Nov. 2, a day of historic party triumph elsewhere across America?

""It's not just wounded, it's in a coma,"" says Republican Lt. Gov. Abel Maldonado.

Maldonado was one of several Republican victims on election day. He lost the lieutenant governor's race to Democratic San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom.

I wouldn't be belaboring the obvious about the party's sorry shape except for a news release that caught my eye from veteran Republican consultant Kevin Spillane. He was senior strategist for Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Steve Cooley's campaign for attorney general.

Cooley was the biggest Republican vote-getter in California, which isn't saying much. At last count he was narrowly trailing Democratic San Francisco Dist. Atty. Kamala Harris by half a percentage point in their seesaw battle.

Most surprisingly, Cooley was beaten badly — by 14 points — in his home county, where he had won three district attorney races by landslides.

Why couldn't Cooley carry L.A.? Spillane points out that local races, unlike state contests, are nonpartisan. Local candidates don't list party affiliations.

""Cooley has been elected and reelected D.A. as an individual,"" Spillane wrote. ""The moment the word 'Republican' appeared on the ballot next to [his] name in heavily Democratic Los Angeles County, it was a huge anchor that dragged him down, exacerbated by the collapse of the GOP ticket in the final week of the campaign.""

GOP gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman wound up getting trounced by Democratic Atty. Gen. Jerry Brown.

It was the GOP as Republican ""anchor"" that raised my eyebrows.

Spillane added that the election results validated an October poll by the Public Policy Institute of California that found ""Republican"" to be a bad brand name in this left-leaning state.

The voters' impressions of the Republican Party were 2 to 1 negative: 31% favorable, 62% unfavorable. Even among registered Republicans — less than a third of the electorate — only 55% had a favorable impression of the GOP; 39% looked on it unfavorably.

Those numbers were basically reaffirmed in election day exit polling conducted for news organizations. The voters' opinions of the Republican Party were 33% favorable, 61% unfavorable. For the Democratic Party: 50% favorable, 45% unfavorable.",Go ahead: Accuse me of shooting the wounded. But it may be that the body already is dead.I'm referring to the California Republican Party.How alive could the state GOP be after suffering the
"Burglars ransacked the rented French Riviera villa of Jenson Button and his wife, Jessica — possibly after pumping anesthetic gas through air conditioning vents, according to reps for the Formula One driver.

Button and his wife were on vacation with friends in St. Tropez on Monday when thieves broke in as they slept, making off with jewelry. Among the items reported as stolen was Jessica Button's engagement ring.

Button's representatives said in a statement Friday that police have told them such thefts have become a growing problem, with thieves pumping in the gas to give them free rein in the properties.

No one was hurt, but the statement said the couple was ''unsurprisingly shaken'' by events.

The 35-year-old former world champion, who drives for McLaren Honda, married his model wife in Hawaii in December.","LONDON (AP)  Burglars have ransacked the rented French Riviera villa of Formula One driver Jenson Button and his wife, Jessica - possibly after pumping anesthetic gas through air conditioning vents."
"Raf Simons, the creative director of Dior, has spoken of his shamed predecessor John Galliano for the first time, saying he believes his work is no longer ""relevant"" as it restricts women.

BY Bibby Sowray | 14 November 2012

Since taking the helm at Dior earlier this year, Raf Simons has kept schtum when it comes to discussing his disgraced predecessor, John Galliano - until now, that is.

Speaking in the latest issue of Vogue Australia, the Belgian designer has revealed that he no longer sees Galliano's work at the iconic design house as ""relevant"".

IN PICTURES: Dior spring/summer 2013

""I have so much respect for John [Galliano]'s technical skill and the fantasy, it's just something that I don't find relevant now, especially when it restricts a woman, because in every other area they have so much freedom,"" he said.

Whilst Simons is known, and indeed loved, for his minimalist approach when it comes to cut and colour, Galliano is famed for his elaborate, extroverted creations, many of which made for exciting catwalk shows but often did not translate in terms of wearability.

READ: Raf Simons brings Dior back into the limelight

Simons' first two collections for the famed French fashion house - couture autumn/winter 2012 and spring/summer 2013 - both received critical acclaim, and he's been praised for his ability to fuse Dior's traditional ideals with contemporary styling, bringing the house up to date without losing any of its unique charm or history.

He also discussed his departure from Jil Sander, the label he headed up before leaving to take up the coveted position at Dior.

""I felt more like a psychiatrist than a designer in the end, just to keep my team's spirits up,"" he said, before also revealing that he was in fact in discussions with Dior's CEO Bernard Arnault for ""months"" before the announcement of his appointment was made public.","Raf Simons, the creative director of Dior, has spoken of his shamed predecessor John Galliano for the first time, saying he believes his work is no longer ""relevant"" as it restricts women."
"After yesterday’s tweetstorm, many music fans thought Taylor Swift owed Nicki Minaj an apology — and, lo and behold, she gave her one.

I thought I was being called out. I missed the point, I misunderstood, then misspoke. I'm sorry, Nicki. @NICKIMINAJ

— Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13) July 23, 2015

Half the internet was up in arms yesterday after Taylor responded to Nicki’s tweets about her VMAs snub for Anaconda with a barb, accusing Nicki of being anti-women.

@NICKIMINAJ I've done nothing but love & support you. It's unlike you to pit women against each other. Maybe one of the men took your slot..

— Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13) July 21, 2015

In her apology tweet, Taylor keeps it short and sweet: she thought Nicki was referring to her (and her Video of the Year-nominated video Bad Blood) directly, she was wrong, and she’s sorry.

Shortly after, Nicki responded with a tweet accepting Taylor’s apology:

The good news? We can stop making Bad Blood jokes ad nauseum. But hopefully, the conversation doesn’t stop with these tweets. We’d like to see a larger dialogue around Nicki’s thoughts about gender and race in the music industry — a dialogue that Taylor can contribute to and learn from.","Now we can all stop making 'Bad Blood' jokes, right?"
"Goal: To go high enough to do a 360 and see Lake Merritt and Highway 580.

11:08 am – Take off number one, no looking back…. wish me luck.

11:08:09 am – I did it! I made it about 15 feet up before I came crashing down. It’s a beautiful day, not too much wind and very little clouds.. check out my view of Lake Merritt.

11:13 am – Since the wind is low today, I’m going to practice some landings. I’m at point A, I see point B, I think I can make this happen.

11:13:06 am – So close. I stayed pretty low and landed about five feet from my mark. It’s amazing how much wind my propellers make. Not to self, a pile of leaves is not a good mark. #BetterLuckNextTime

11:18 am – Well I practices a few more times and I finally made it to the mark. I think It’s time to fly high again, that’s so much more fun than precision practice.

11:20 am – Looks like I got a little ahead of myself. I went the highest I’ve gone ever in my life on this last fly. It was a little wobbly up there and the wind picked up and carried me further away from my starting spot than I wanted, but the 360 view of Oakland is rad.

11:22 am – ok, I need some time to catch my breath. I’m going to try to fly from point A to point B and land standing up.

11:24 am – Well, I made it there and then decided to try and make it back. The whole flying backward thing is going to take some getting use to. I did land on all fours however, just not very gracefully.

11:29 am – So remember that gracefully thing I was talking about, yeah… I’m going to have to spend some time on that. I went pretty high on this fly but had a tough crash and burn upon landing. At least my lights still work, that one was tough.

11:32 am – That’s it.. I’m all out of battery. Lights flickering, and my propellers are taking a bit to start spinning. I’m going to play it safe and not take off again today. Until next time, check out this view looking back toward the Lake Merritt neighborhood.","Date: October 10, 2013 Place: Oakland Goal: To go high enough to do a 360 and see Lake Merritt and Highway 580. 11:08 am - Take off number one, no looking back…. wish me luck. 11:08:09 am - I did i..."
"Just when you think you grasp what’s going on, someone starts talking about “suspect classes” and “Article III” and “complementary authorities,” and you’re lost again.

Today, however, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, in her hesitant but steely way, offered up perhaps the most easily understood analogy of the season to describe the two-tiered marriage system that has taken root in our country: “The full marriage, and then this sort of skim-milk marriage.”

FULL COVERAGE: Same-sex marriage ban

The courtroom erupted in laughter. Everyone knows skim milk--that thin, blue-tinged liquid that bears no resemblance to what comes from a cow--is awful.

A “skim milk” marriage is one that doesn’t seem whole, one that’s recognized, say, in California, but not by the federal government.

My gay married neighbors in Venice Beach can file a joint state tax return, but unlike my straight married neighbors, are not allowed to file a joint federal tax return. They miss out on the deductions to which heterosexual married couples are entitled.

The case challenging the Defense of Marriage Act was brought by Edith Windsor, an 83-year-old New York widow who inherited a large estate when her spouse died. Had her spouse been a man rather than a woman, she would have faced no estate tax. There was nothing low-fat about the bill she got from the feds: $363,000.

Ginsburg’s observation was a response to the argument put forth by Paul D. Clement, the attorney hired by a group of House Republicans to defend DOMA. (They did so because the president thinks the measure is unconstitutional and refused to defend it. The man who signed DOMA into law in 1996, President Bill Clinton, also thinks it’s unconstitutional. The first half of the hearing was taken up with arguments about whether the House Republicans even had the standing to represent the feds in the case).

DOMA, Clement said, prevents states from “opening up an additional class of beneficiaries,” i.e. married gay couples “that get additional federal benefits.”

Ginsburg took exception to the phrase “additional benefits,” noting that her colleague, Justice Anthony Kennedy, the presumed swing vote in the gay-marriage cases, had just said that there are at least 1,100 federal statutes that affect married couples.

“They’re not a question of additional benefits,” she said. “I mean, they touch every aspect of life. Your partner is sick. Social Security. I mean, it’s pervasive. It’s not as though, well, there’s this little federal sphere and it’s only a tax question.”

Petraeus apology for affair doesn't go far enough

Prayers at Lancaster council meetings are ruled constitutional

Photographer says Rob Kardashian struck her, stole memory card",It is not always easy to follow  the audio transcript  of the last two days&rsquo; Supreme Court  arguments over gay marriage.
"People were exhausted, but also rattled and worried.

""We were shell-shocked,"" one source said.

The poor reviews were piling up — declaring CNBC the biggest loser of the night — and the moderators Carl Quintanilla and Becky Quick knew more would be published by the time the flight landed in New York.

So for some flyers, it was a sleepless night. But there was some laughter and some liquor to lighten the mood — and some speculation about how high the ratings would be.

At 12:30 p.m. Thursday they found out: 14 million people watched, easily making the much-derided debate the most-watched program in CNBC's 30-year history. Because advertisers paid $250,000 apiece, it was ""also the most profitable night in the network's history,"" an NBCUniversal executive crowed.

There was simultaneous crowing and cringing on Thursday. Employees who spoke on condition of anonymity for this story wished for a ""do-over"" and pointed fingers of blame for the chaotic production. Some pointed all the way up to CNBC president Mark Hoffman, who was also aboard Wednesday night's charter.

""Everyone feels pretty embarrassed,"" one veteran staffer said.

Now there are even calls for changes to future primary debates and predictions that CNBC won't be in the running to host a debate four years from now.

Related: GOP candidates plot debate revolt against RNC

Related: Seething GOP candidates escalate their CNBC grievances

But some of the same CNBC employees also said they were proud that the moderators had pointedly challenged the GOP candidates and potentially changed the course of the presidential race.

And there's been some media bashing inside the network, just as there was media bashing by the candidates on stage on Wednesday night. Some staffers at CNBC feel that outside journalists have unfairly ganged up on the network rather than focusing on the candidates' misstatements and grandstanding moments.

After the debate, staffers wondered aloud: Will people remember the gripes about Quintanilla, Quick and John Harwood? Will they remember the audience's boos and the analysts' comments that CNBC ""lost control"" of the debate?

They second-guessed the opening question of the debate, when Quintanilla asked each candidate, ""What is your biggest weakness and what are you doing to address it?"" Did it start the debate off on the wrong track?

There was also disappointment about Quick's handling of Donald Trump. Toward the end of the debate she asked a question about Mark Zuckerberg that was accurate, but then said ""my apologies"" to Trump when he disputed it.

If there was introspection in the air during the overnight flight, the network isn't saying. The only statement CNBC released was one sentence right after the debate, around the same time the RNC joined candidates in condemning the debate questioning and said CNBC should be ""ashamed.""

""People who want to be President of the United States should be able to answer tough questions,"" CNBC spokesman Brian Steel said in an email.

There certainly wasn't much introspection on the air Thursday. Quick and co-host Joe Kernen were back in New York for the 6 am start of the network's morning show ""Squawk Box,"" which covered debate highlights but not the media controversy. (Marco Rubio and Chris Christie did share their criticisms during interviews, however.)

As the day went on, there was less and less talk about the debate on CNBC. According to one of the employees, producers were given internal guidance to move on.

At CNBC's sister news outlets MSNBC and NBC News, producers were advised not to ""pile on"" the moderator controversy, according to people there.

When it came to production of the debate, CNBC was on its own. The network collaborates with NBC News, but it operates independently. In NBC's halls on Thursday, there was chatter about whether the debate would've benefited if NBC's political reporters and managers had been involved.

There was no official debrief between the moderators, producers and management on Thursday. Key people were either busy anchoring their newscasts or navigating the fallout from the debate.

By Thursday night CNBC's web site was dominated by market stories again. The main debate story, ""here's who won...and who lost"" only mentioned the moderator controversies in passing.

CNNMoney (New York) October 30, 2015: 11:51 AM ET","CNBC employees crowed about their GOP debate ratings but cringed at the near-unanimous criticism of it. ""We were shell-shocked,"" one source said."
"The demotion of Pluto in 2006 to “dwarf planet” status posed a dilemma to lovers of astronomy. Generations have grown up thinking of Pluto as a first-team player in the solar system, made extra beguiling by its most remote status. But confidence in the scientific method demanded that such romantic notions be banished. If it is too small and its solar orbit too wonky, the decision of the International Astronomical Union must be respected. If Pluto remained a planet, scores of parvenu planetoids deeper in space might be eligible for upgrades. Rules are rules. Now Nasa’s New Horizons mission proves that Pluto has lost none of its allure. Images that take hours to reach Earth, travelling at the speed of light, enthral and inspire. No less impressive is the technical achievement of the mission: a probe despatched across 4.7bn km that arrives at its destination at the appointed hour, with a precision rate of 99.9%. It is a reminder of what humanity can achieve with sufficient patience, investment, collaborative effort and rational inquiry – a tribute to scientific methodology at a time when enlightenment values sometimes feel under siege. Better still, the data beamed back by New Horizons, revealing a level of climatic and geological sophistication previously unattributed to Pluto, raises hopes that it may yet achieve promotion back to the first tier of planets. We would heartily welcome that move. But only, of course, if the evidence supports it.",Editorial: Nasa’s New Horizons mission is a tribute to scientific methodology at a time when enlightenment values sometimes feel under siege
"updated 7:22 PM EST, Sat December 20, 2014

(CNN) -- Federal authorities have accused a New York man of defrauding investors out of millions of dollars and using the misappropriated funds to pay for a lavish lifestyle -- luxury cars for himself and something a bit more unusual for his wife.

Authorities say Whileon Chay spent more than $150,000 in order to have his deceased spouse cryogenically frozen. She died in ""in or about 2009,"" according to the indictment.

Cryogenic freezing has been portrayed as a way to preserve living or dead people in order to revive them in the future, according to the Cryonics Institute.

The indictment, unsealed on Friday in Manhattan federal court, accuses Chay of soliciting more than $5 million from investors in commodities pools, which supposedly were primarily engaged in foreign exchange trading.

Chay, 38, lost more than $2 million in commodities trading and in 2011 fled the United States for Lima, Peru, according to a release from the Manhattan U.S. Attorney's Office.

""Whileon Chay deceived investors about the commodities pools he managed, claiming to be a successful trader when he in fact was losing millions and misappropriating investors' money for his own use,"" said U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara in a statement.

Chay has been charged with mail and wire fraud, which each carry a maximum term of 20 years in prison. He also was charged with commodities fraud, which has a maximum of 10 years.

According to Bharara's office, Chay promised investors approximate annual return rates of 24% and claimed that ""[t]here is no risk in this activity.""

""[W]e have never had a loosing [sic] month,"" he told investors, according to the release.

The U.S. Commodities Futures Trading Commission had previously sued Chay and his company, 4X Solutions, Inc.",Prosecutors: Man accused of defrauding investors used some money to cryogenically freeze dead wife.
"I have learned to correct my family frankly but kindly when they overstep my parenting, and my husband (wisely) just seethes quietly. But it is stressful, and we feel like we can’t leave the room lest our kids be scolded for something unexpected; and when my kids are stressed, their behavior worsens. Not to mention the pressure we feel for our kids to be on their best behavior 24/7.

For the past three years, we have limited visits with my family to three days, for our sanity. The prospect of a week-long visit is already making me anxious. We plan to schedule some outings away from my family and will stay in an appropriately sized and outfitted house (outdoor pool, big yard, games, etc.).

Is there anything else I can do to make this a better situation for everyone? Is it wise to have a “family conference” at the beginning of the trip to set expectations, or send an e-mail (I write better than I speak), or say something in person beforehand? Or should I just cross my fingers, focus on my breathing and let things play out?

Why not all of the above, plus?

Yes, be frank but kind when your family oversteps; yes, minimize the time your kids and family are alone together; yes, plan to be out of the house for hours at a stretch; yes, practice deep breathing; yes, say something beforehand: “I know the kids are high-energy and can wear people down. I will absorb as much of that as I can. All I ask is that you let me handle it. In fact, please tell me when you’ve hit your limit with them. Thanks in advance.”

Plus: Consider a shorter stay. Just because your parents planned a week doesn’t mean you have to stay a week.

Plus: Consider going the philosophical route. What, exactly, has you so stressed out: Are you feeling judged as a parent by your parents and brother? For that, I suggest a mantra: “I don’t need their approval.” Are you worried the scolding will harm your kids? For that, there’s perspective. Your kids probably won’t like your folks a whole lot, but they’ll withstand these infrequent grumpy corrections. Are you annoyed that the scolding revs up your kids, thereby making your already tough kid-wrangling job even tougher? That’s a nuisance, yes, but one that expires when the vacation does.

And so on. Bringing us to this: Your family may be the source of the scolding and impatience with little-kid energy, but the pressure originates inside you.

You can de-fang it all — the pressure, the grumps, the dread, the trip itself — by choosing not even to try to present a seamless, seven-day performance of best behavior. It’s not going to happen anyway, so it’ll be a “better situation for everyone” if you don’t give yourself the doomed assignment of prostrating yourself to make it so.

Hi, Carolyn: A good friend of mine, married for four years, has confided in me that she’s being hit on by a male co-worker, and has reciprocal feelings. Based on the handful of anecdotes she has shared, it seems like they are one ill-advised after-work cocktail from making a major mistake.

So, what am I supposed to do? Talking to my friend’s husband is out of the question — my loyalty is to her. Issuing judgment and trying to talk her out of her desires seems doomed to failure, and she may resent me for it later. I have asked her point-blank what sort of feedback she wants from me, and she says she has no idea. She seems to mention it at all because she just wants someone to talk to about it, I guess. My conscience is having a hard time standing by while this unfolds. What do you think?

“Doomed to failure”? Cop out. “She may resent me”? Cop out.

I’m stunned you haven’t once said, “Gah! What are you doing?” It isn’t “issuing judgment” to try to grab someone’s belt loop when she’s leaning too far off a cliff. It’s just the kind of honesty — and integrity — that reminds us all why we bother to make and maintain good friendships. She trusts you. Be the one who says what she won’t want to hear, that a moment of weakness can dog her the rest of her life. If she resents that, so be it.

Write to Carolyn Hax, Style, 1150 15th St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20071, or tellme@washpost.com. Get her column delivered to your inbox each morning at http://bit.ly/haxpost.",A clash of parenting styles has parents of high-energy kids expecting the worst on a family vacation.
"Your Twitter rants could soon get longer – 9,860 characters longer, that is.

According to Re/code, Twitter is considering expanding tweets to 10,000 characters. The change is internally referred to as “Beyond 140,” and there’s no official date set for its launch.

However, there is a catch to those longer tweets – users can write up to 10,000 characters, but only the first 140 will be appear on the Twitter timeline.

Since the micro-blogging website’s conception, users have been limited to a 140-character limit on their tweets. While Twitter has expanded users’ media options – such as the ability to post multiple photos in one tweet – the character limit has never changed, much to the annoyance of many users.

“It’s the No. 1 request we get from folks. They want to be able to say what’s on their mind and be themselves,” Twitter product manager Sachin Agarwal told The Verge when the company removed its 140 character limit from direct messages in August.

Not all Twitter users are excited about the proposed change to the platform. Some fear expanding tweets to 10,000 characters is overkill.

Twitter is weighing a 10,000-character limit for tweets, Record reports. Then it will take 25 hours a day to get through my timeline

— HowardKurtz (@HowardKurtz) January 5, 2016

My money says Tweet length will not increase to 10,000 characters, mainly because it would destroy Twitter. Let me explain. First of all….

— Lance Ulanoff (@LanceUlanoff) January 5, 2016

I honestly don't understand the appeal of a 10,000 character limit vs. no limit at all

— Ezra Klein (@ezraklein) January 5, 2016

If tweets do get longer, perhaps Jack Dorsey will also reconsider Kim Kardashian’s request.","Your Twitter rants could soon get longer – 9,860 characters longer, that is. According to Re/code, Twitter is considering expanding tweets to 10,000 characters. The change is internally referred to..."
"Gabriel Hammond is a fund manager from central casting. Raised in a posh Washington, D.C. suburb, he got a degree from Johns Hopkins, spent two years at Goldman Sachs and then set up his own fund firm (current assets under management: $250 million). The one kink in his story is that Hammond, 29, doesn’t dabble in growth stocks or distressed debt. His game is rusty metal tubes buried deep underground. Hammond’s Dallas firm, Alerian Capital Management, taps into oil and natural gas pipelines via tax-advantaged vehicles called master limited partnerships, or MLPs.

Every day 280,000 miles of pipelines shuttle 63 billion cubic feet of natural gas around the U.S. About a quarter of them are held as MLPs. A separate 100,000- mile network hauls 20 million barrels of crude daily, with 70% in MLP hands.

The 50 exchange-listed MLP pipelines and storage units have a combined value of $120 billion. There’s more capital en route. The U.S. is expected to put another $100 billion into its natural gas infrastructure over the next decade. The pipelines’ income streams should hold up even if energy prices drop. That’s because they get so much per pound shipped, not per dollar of product.

“These companies are all toll-road business models,” says Hammond. “They’re agnostic about whether crude oil is at $30 or $115 a barrel.”

The partnerships are typically formed when big companies decide to raise cash by hiving off hard assets. Once public, MLPs trade like stocks. The twist is that they’re partnerships, which means they pass on earnings and depreciation to investors. Come tax time, that means investors typically pay ordinary income taxes on about one-fifth of distributions, which have grown 8% to 10% annually in recent years.

The other 80% of distributions are considered nontaxable returns of capital that reduce a partner’s cost basis. That means they turn into future capital gains, taxed either much later (when the investor sells the shares) or never, if it winds up in his estate and enjoys the capital gains step-up at death. There are some further subtleties (the tax treatment of partnerships is bizarrely complicated), but the bottom line is that investors holding MLPs that own depreciating assets are taxed leniently.

The downside of investing directly in MLPs is complexity. Pipeline partnerships are a particular problem because they must calculate, and investors must report, gains and losses in each state they traverse. The resulting K-1 tax forms are so cumbersome that many financial advisers suggest bothering with MLPs only for six-figure investments.

A simpler alternative is to own the exchange-traded iShares in one of two industry stalwarts, Kinder Morgan and Enbridge. These trade, and are taxed, like ETFs and require no K-1 filings. Kinder Morgan is the largest MLP by market cap at $15.2 billion; Enbridge is valued at $4.8 billion. They are precisely the sort of workhorse pipelines that Hammond favors ( see table).

In 1997, in Hammond’s freshman year at college, he put $2,000 earned as a swimming instructor into his first online brokerage account and started trading. The tech bust was raging by the time he graduated in 2001 with a double major in economics and international relations. Yet Hammond’s account had ballooned to $17,000, thanks to blue chips like Caterpillar and Altria.

After graduating, Hammond, who maintains his swimmer’s physique on a diet that includes a gallon of egg whites a week, took a job as an energy analyst at Goldman Sachs in New York. It turned out to be a front-row seat for Enron’s collapse and the shock waves it sent through the pipeline industry. “Companies were selling assets to stave off bankruptcy,” recalls Hammond.

As firms like El Paso and Dynegy raced to raise capital, some spun off pipelines into MLPs. When it was over, Hammond was the only one in Goldman’s energy and power group interested in covering the partnerships.

In the 15 years since tax changes had paved the way for modern MLPs, a mere 15 had been launched and had a combined value of $20 billion by 2003. In the market recovery that followed Enron’s collapse, however, the partnerships started to draw yield-hungry investors. Hammond was convinced the MLP business was poised for a growth spurt, like the one REITs had enjoyed a decade and a half earlier.

He began putting together Alerian in July 2004 and trading MLPs with $5 million under management from Hans Utsch, a portfolio manager at Federated Investors, whom Hammond had met at a luncheon. Hammond struggled just to pay the bills but earned 15% his first half-year in operation. That was good enough to lure investments from two Wall Street firms, which declined to be named.

A year after Alerian’s launch Hammond had $50 million under management. His timing was outstanding. In the four years after he set up Alerian, the MLP sector’s market cap tripled and Alerian’s total returns came in at 20% annually. In June 2006 Hammond’s little firm launched the Alerian Master Limited Partnership Index, the first to track MLPs. A year later he added BearLinx Alerian MLP Select, an exchange-traded note that trades like an ETF and tracks the firm’s MLP index.

Despite MLPs’ hefty returns over the past decade, tax-exempt institutions have shied away from investing directly in them because of tax complications. (It’s similarly a bad idea to hold MLPshares in a tax-deferred account.) But they are a fine choice, he says, for retail investors in high tax brackets who can stomach the paperwork.

MLP distributions average 7.5% of market prices today, or 3.6 percentage points more than yields on ten-year Treasurys. That compares with a historical average of only 2.25 points over Treasurys, says Stephen Maresca, an MLP analyst at UBS. No surprise, he’s a bull on the sector.

Subscribe to Forbes and Save. Click Here.",You want a piece of the energy business that won’t get hurt if oil crashes? Take Gabriel Hammond’s advice and own some buried steel.
"Let's all go ""Off the Record"" for a minute. Let's talk about us. We sure know how to rally in an emergency, whether that emergency be the American response to Pearl Harbor in the Pacific, Hitler in Germany or the first responders in the seconds, minutes, days and months after 9/11, or even last week, the firefighters in Boston.

In an emergency, no one tops Americans. We all work together. And how about now? I don't know about you, but I'm proud of America's response to missing Flight 370 with 239 passengers on board and their heartbroken families, 99 percent of whom aren't even Americans. But we care. We're there helping.

That's our Navy. They get lots of credit -- long hours, pouring heart and soul into this. President Obama and the Pentagon, they get credit, too. They never said ""No."" They said ""Go."" And how about the American people, the taxpayers. This is a giant debt, but the taxpayers don't say no. They don't say it's too expensive. We say ""Go.""

Says a lot about us, doesn't it? We claw each other's eyes out in a political fight, but in an emergency, in the time of deep sadness, we're all on board. That's America. Everyone can take a bow tonight. That's my ""Off the Record"" comment.","Greta's 'Off the Record' commentary, 4/1/14: When it comes to coming together and responding to crisis situations, no one outdoes the United States"
"Ketamine, sweet ketamine, answer to our glutamatergic dreams. In the long November night of the soul, in the ever-dark downpour of depression, it turns out that there might be a better umbrella than Prozac and Zoloft and Paxil and their serotonin-loving ilk.

Of course, when it comes to antidepressants, nobody really knows anything, anyway, so why not go with ketamine, a mild hallucinogen known to club freaks as Special K?

Yes, yes, break out the male Wistar rats and the injection needles -- researchers at the National Institute of Mental Health announced a study recently in which 18 chronically depressed patients infused with low dosages of ketamine improved within two hours. Seventy-one percent improved within a day, and nearly 30 percent were depression-free by that time. In 24 hours! These were people who had been dealing with depression from three to 47 years. They had failed to respond to just about every drug on the market.

Most of them stayed depression-free for up to a week.

Chronic depression, one of the most common, debilitating diseases known to mankind, blown away like a flower petal on a passing breeze.

Is it not the modern nirvana, the utopia of a neurotic generation, the idea that the demons lurking in the nether regions of the cerebral cortex could just . . . evaporate? Reigning there in the wet muck of the Freudian dark, the gargoyles of the mind took ketamine like a hit of kryptonite.

Doesn't it make Prozac and friends look like punks? The subsequent news stories focused on the speed -- antidepressants generally take two weeks or longer to work -- but the true breakthrough, scientists say, is that ketamine seems to do something entirely new. It focuses on glutamate, a chemical neurotransmitter that is involved in electrical flow among brain cells. It has not been targeted by any other antidepressant medication.

Think of depression as a leaky water faucet in the kitchen of the mind. Prozac and friends start working on the problem back at the water plant and, in about half of the cases, eventually find the problem.

In this trial, glutamate (and the ""glutamatergic system"") was shown to be a wrench-toting plumber who makes house calls. It got right to the problem.

""It's not quite the director of the orchestra, but it's involved with many other systems in the brain than other antidepressants,"" said Carlos A. Zarate Jr., chief of the mood disorders research unit at NIMH, and lead author of the study.

""It's early, but this is exciting because this gives us a new target, and it's a heck of a first move on it,"" said J. Raymond DePaulo Jr., chief of the Department of Psychiatry at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and one of the nation's preeminent researchers on depression. He was not involved in the ketamine trials. ""This is working on . . . a different set of chemicals. It says the malfunction may be in several different parts of the brain. Ketamine has problems with potential negative effects, but we could create 100 drugs to hit this target of glutamate.""

If, you know, that is where the demon actually resides.","Get style news headlines from The Washington Post, including entertainment news, comics, horoscopes, crossword, TV, Dear Abby.  arts/theater, Sunday Source and weekend section.  Washington Post columnists, movie/book reviews, Carolyn Hax, Tom Shales."
"6 Q’s About the News Use the photo and related article to answer basic news questions.

Use the photo and related article to answer basic news questions.

WHO are the Nobel Peace Prize recipients you can name?

WHAT did President Obama say about war and peace in his acceptance speech for the 2009 award?

WHERE was the prize given?

WHEN was the prize first established?

WHY was the choice of Mr. Obama controversial?

HOW do you feel about Mr. Obama receiving this prize? HOW do you feel about what he said in his acceptance speech?",6 Qs About the News &#124; What did Mr. Obama say about war and peace in his acceptance speech?
"By Tom Charity, Special to CNN

updated 11:19 AM EDT, Sat October 13, 2012

(CNN) -- We'll have to wait a couple more months, safely after the election, to see Kathryn Bigelow's film about the hunt for Osama bin Laden, ""Zero Dark Thirty."" But in the meantime, director and star Ben Affleck and screenwriter Chris Terrio have found a positive spin on one of the least auspicious episodes in American foreign policy, the Iranian hostage drama that probably doomed Jimmy Carter's bid for a second term in 1980.

The movie quickly and smartly fills in the back story, reminding us how Western powers propped up the monarchy in Iran until the Islamic revolution of 1979, a popular uprising that gave vent to anti-American fury in the region. Fifty-two U.S. citizens were captured in the American Embassy in Tehran -- but six escaped undetected in the melee and found refuge in the home of the Canadian ambassador. The challenge then for the CIA: how to get them out from under the noses of the ayatollahs.

Enter Tony Mendez (Affleck), an ""exfiltration"" specialist (who knew?) who doesn't think much of the State Department's plan to send in bikes and road maps. Challenged to come up with something better, he concocts an improbable scheme about a phony movie: posing as a Hollywood producer, he'll connect with the six under the guise of scouting locations. It's far-fetched, but that's the beauty of it. Who would make up something like that? Anyway it's the best bad idea they've got.

Artfully recreating the look and feel of '70s suspense films by accentuating the grain and resisting the impulse to blow stuff up every 10 minutes, Affleck has crafted a compelling middlebrow thriller that probably wouldn't have stood out from the crowd in that period, but which is easily one of the must-sees in 2012 -- a shoo-in for Oscar consideration.

It's a well-paced and gripping entertainment certainly, even if you might roll your eyes at the contrived race-against-the-clock climax. More unexpectedly, and winningly, Affleck opens up a second front, a very droll insider satire on Hollywood hubris when Mendez enlists a makeup artist and producer to beef up his cover story.

John Goodman and Alan Arkin work up a delicious comic double act, daintily skewering the rampant egomania of the movie business as well as its endless capacity for self-denial. ""If I'm doing a fake movie, it's going to be a fake hit!"" declares Arkin's Lester Siegel before reluctantly lending his name to a bottom-drawer sci-fi adventure script -- ""Argo"" -- which calls for a vaguely Middle Eastern cosmos.

It's the very opposite kind of movie to the one Affleck makes. There's nothing showy or spectacular about his filmmaking. He puts the emphasis squarely on story and situation. He may not probe his characters very deeply, but they're believable victims of dire circumstance. He also casts very well: Bryan Cranston as Mendez's CIA boss, Victor Garber as the Canadian ambassador, Christopher Denham as the most skeptical and reluctant of the hostages. They're all absolutely on point.

Affleck himself turns in a quietly impressive movie star performance. Tony Mendez is a kind of anti-Bourne, comfortable with his anonymity, living off his wits, not his fists. Smart, courageous and modest -- that's a rare combination in a man, and in movies, too.

Most popular stories right now","Ben Affleck has crafted a compelling thriller with ""Argo,"" about the Iranian hostage crisis."
"The U.S. will boost the number of refugees it accepts from around the world to 100,000 annually, up from 70,000 now, as part of an effort to help Europe cope with a migration crisis, Secretary of State John Kerry said.

The increase would include at least 10,000 Syrian refugees that the White House has proposed admitting to the U.S. next year,...","The U.S. will boost the number of refugees it accepts in the coming years to 100,000 annually, from 70,000 now, as part of an effort to help Europe cope with a migration crisis, Secretary of State John Kerry said."
"We continue our Presidential Geography series, a one-by-one examination of each state’s political landscape and how it’s changing. Here is a look at Wyoming, the Cowboy State. FiveThirtyEight spoke with Erich Frankland, a political science professor at Casper College, and James D. King, a political science professor at the University of Wyoming.

Early on in Wednesday’s presidential debate, President Obama and Mitt Romney began sparring over energy, where to get it and how to achieve energy independence. It was probably at that point when the ears of Wyomingites perked up.

With just under 570,000 residents, Wyoming is the smallest state by population. Less than one-fifth of 1 percent of Americans live in Wyoming.

But Wyoming is also the 10th largest state in land area, and that land is filled with oil, natural gas and coal — especially coal. Wyoming is the nation’s top coal producer, accounting for 40 percent of all the coal mined in the United States in 2011. Wyoming is also one of the nation’s top natural gas producers and top oil producers.

Mining accounts for almost 1 in 10 Wyoming jobs, and — as is the case in West Virginia — the perception that the Democratic Party is hostile to coal has hurt the party in Wyoming. But Wyoming’s pro-coal position is just one of many characteristics that make the state a Republican bastion.

Wyoming is among the least diverse states. It is the top gun-owning state. Wyoming is also one of the least urban states. The biggest city, Cheyenne, isn’t very big; about 60,000 people live there. The state’s second-largest city is Casper, which has about 56,000 residents.

“Regardless of what the Census Bureau might call urban,” Mr. King said, “there really is not an urban area in Wyoming.”

It’s all a recipe for a reliably red state: according to Gallup’s State of the States survey, 59 percent of Wyomingites lean Republican and just 26 percent lean Democratic, placing it second behind Utah in Republican support. Wyoming was where Mr. Obama made his worst showing in 2008. He received less than 33 percent of the vote there.

Wyoming once had a fairly defined partisan landscape. In the south, blue-collar workers like those who built the Union Pacific Railroad favored Democrats, and the southern string of counties in Wyoming leaned left. In fact, Wyoming was once a national bellwether. From 1900 through 1940, Wyoming picked the winning presidential candidate in every election.

But those days are long gone. Wyoming is now a sea of red. There are now “degrees of Republicanism rather than Republican regions versus Democratic regions,” Mr. King said.

The northeast is probably the most Republican-leaning part of the state. It is also the state’s largest coal-producing area, mostly due to Campbell County. Counties in the southwest, which are also uniformly Republican, are heavily Mormon. Nine percent of Wyoming’s population are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The state is tied with Nevada for the third-highest percentage of Mormons in the country.

There are just two blue islands in the state. Mr. Obama won 61 percent of the vote in Teton County, in northwest Wyoming, where Jackson Hole has attracted affluent liberals from out of state. Mr. Obama also carried Albany County, home to the University of Wyoming in Laramie.

Hispanics, at 9 percent of the population, are the largest minority in Wyoming. They are concentrated in the southern and eastern part of state, Mr. Frankland said. Over the last decade and a half, many Hispanics have come to Wyoming for jobs in agriculture (Wyoming’s third largest industry) and tourism (the state’s second biggest industry). Yellowstone National Park and Jackson Hole each attract millions of visitors a year.

Over the last three presidential elections, Natrona County has become more Republican-leaning and an improved barometer for the statewide vote. In 2008, it matched the state almost exactly. Although the shift could be statistical noise, Natrona County was three percentage points more Democratic than Wyoming over all in 2000, two points more Democratic in 2004 and one point more Republican than the state as a whole in 2008.

Mr. Romney is a 100 percent favorite to carry Wyoming’s three electoral votes. Wyoming has not favored a Democratic presidential candidate since 1964.

At the state-level, however, moderate Democratic governors have been very competitive. Former Gov. Dave Freudenthal, a Democrat who served from 2003 to 2011, had the highest approval ratings in the nation at one point. Wyoming’s electorate is small enough that moderate and charismatic Democrats can overcome the state’s partisan gravity.

But currently Republicans have a thorough hold on Wyoming, and the state’s main ideological fault line doesn’t even involve Democrats. It divides the relatively socially moderate, libertarian wing of the Republican Party and the more conservative side, Mr. Frankland said.

In the Wyoming Republican Party, “there’s a real divide between the libertarians and the social conservatives,” Mr. Frankland said. “And so we’ve had battles here in the state over abortion and other issues. The libertarian side seems to win out usually, but it’s an ongoing struggle within the Republican Party.”",A look at the political landscape of Wyoming.
"BY Erin Durkin DAILY NEWS WRITER

Sunday, October 2nd 2011, 1:12 PM

The Brooklyn activist who led the resistance to the Atlantic Yards project has angered his new neighbors with a construction project of his own.

Daniel Goldstein, whose Prospect Heights condo was seized by eminent domain to make way for the new Nets arena and 16-tower project, bought a new home in Park Slope earlier this year - and neighbors are seething over his plans to build an addition.

Next-door neighbor Kathryn Roake, 59, says Goldstein's 18-foot, three-story addition to the back of his building will block the light to her beloved fruit and vegetable garden.

""I was so horrified,"" said Roake, who has lived in her 15th St. home for 21 years. ""It's going to block all the sunlight to my garden and the back of my house.

""That was the whole reason why we bought , was I wanted a garden,"" said Roake, who grows rhubarb, blackberries, and currants, and keeps bees. ""It's going to wreck the garden.""

Goldstein, a co-founder of the activist group Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn, got a $3 million settlement from developer Bruce Ratner to move out last year. The state had seized his Pacific St. condo after he lost a long legal battle to stop the project.

Roake said that soon after the house next to hers was bought for $812,000 in May, she started seeing architects and builders scoping out the place and learned about plans for the addition.

Besides wreaking havoc on her garden, the structure will block the light to her kitchen windows, said Roake - and she's afraid construction work will damage her walls and foundation.

Neighbors wrote a letter to Goldstein and his wife this summer, but said they got no response.

""I respectfully request that you reconsider your plans. It would be more pleasant and less expensive than 6 year lawsuits, stop work orders and Building Department violations,"" they wrote.

Johanna Frost, 63, who lives with her elderly mother on the other side of the house, joined in the letter. She said she's worried about structural damage from the project.

""It would be nice if they discussed it with us since it's going to really affect us,"" she said. ""It's just a lot of aggravation that we don't need.""

Goldstein did not respond to requests for comment.",The ooklyn activist who led the resistance to the Atlantic Yards project has angered his new neighbors with a construction project of his own.
"Sixteen-year-old competitive swimmer Grace Lesce looked up at her doctors during a two month checkup, following the nearly 11-hour surgery to reshape and expand her skull, and asked her most burning question — when could she get back in the pool?

“You can go back anytime,” said Dr. Mark Souweidane, director of Pediatric Neurosurgery at New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Komansky Center for Children’s Health, after examining her head.

“Like tomorrow?” Grace asked with a huge smile.

Her other doctor, Dr. Jeffrey Ascherman, chief of Plastic Surgery at NY-Presbyterian/Columbia Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital, assented, but told her to go easy.

“Everything’s going in the direction it’s supposed to,” he said.

Grace, who lives in Fanwood, N.J., was born with the bones in her skull prematurely fused in a rare condition called craniosynostosis. When Grace was just six months old, Souweidane first operated on her, reconstructing her elongated and misshapen skull to accommodate her growing brain. She needed several subsequent ear surgeries, but soon thrived.

She started swimming competitively at age 8, and joined the year-round team at the Fanwood-Scotch Plains YMCA. In 2013, she came within a second of a national qualifying time for the 100-meter breast stroke.

However, last summer she started getting intense headaches, which worsened and made it difficult for her to practice.

“It would be throughout the day but it would just get worse at night. For about six months it got really bad,” she said.

She returned to Souweidane, and he determined that there was not enough space in her skull to accommodate pressure on her brain — the fused bone plates had limited her head’s growth.

It was a difficult diagnosis, because Grace did not have signs of pressure on the back of her eyes, Souweidane said — but an MRI showed her brain was cramped.

He explained that the brain’s structures can be described as rooms with open windows. “If there’s not enough room then some of the brain can kind of push through those windows, and you can see that on the MRI scan to some degree,” he said.

Souweidane recommended major surgery to reconstruct Grace’s cranial vault, and teamed up with plastic surgeon Ascherman. The pair do about two surgeries a month together. They operated on Grace on March 21 at Weill Cornell.

“I mentally prepared myself, and told myself, ‘Don’t be nervous,’ because I didn’t want to make my parents nervous,” said Grace.

“I just went through it, like, ‘Go with the flow.’”

One of the most difficult things for Grace was getting her head shaved before the surgery, but a friend came up with a fun way for her to prepare to cut her long, pretty brown locks — a hair-dyeing party.

“We all dyed our hair different colors. I did mine blond, bleach blond, about ten inches. Other people did crazy colors, like pink and green and blue — it was just fun,” Grace said.

Swim team parents collected T-shirts with notes and good-luck wishes from their kids and made a quilt, which Grace brought with her to the hospital.

Grace went in to surgery early, around 6 a.m., said her dad, Louis Lesce. Other patients came in and left, new patients arrived in the afternoon and exited, but the Lesces kept waiting.

“The doctors were both very good about coming out every few hours and letting us know what was happening and that she was doing well,” he said.

Souweidane and Ascherman’s plan was to bring Grace’s forehead forward and lower, as well as eliminate an indentation above her eyebrows, giving her brain more space. The surgery was more challenging because of her age — any gaps in the bone won’t just fill in on their own, Ascherman said. They had to split some of her bones in half so they could fill in the entire space.

Ascherman first made a zig-zag incision across the top of Grace’s scalp and brought it forward to expose the bone down to her eyes. Then Souweidane cut and removed the appropriate bones — and Ascherman put her skull back together as they had planned, using absorbable plates and screws.

The first few weeks of Grace’s recovery were very painful, but as the pain subsided, she was relieved to find her headaches had disappeared. “As the pain went away it got a lot easier,” she said. “And it was just like a breeze from there.”

Both doctors plan to attend one of her swim meets this summer, and Grace is really excited for them to see her in her element.

“I love them. They’re not like regular doctors,” she said. “They’re really fun, and they’re into their patients.”","SIXTEEN-YEAR-OLD competitive swimmer Grace Lesce looked up at her doctors during a two month checkup, following the nearly 11-hour surgery to reshape and expand her skull, and asked her most burning question — when could she get back in the pool?"
"By David Jackson, USA TODAY

FORT DRUM, N.Y. — Vice President Biden said Wednesday that it is ""much too premature"" to judge the Obama administration's policy in Afghanistan, but he said this week's release of classified war documents increased public skepticism.

""I'm sure it does raise concern with the American people,"" Biden told USA TODAY during an interview here, after greeting troops returning from Iraq. ""I don't blame them for being confused.""

Biden said the White House won't be able to assess whether President Obama's decision to send 30,000 more servicemembers to Afghanistan is working until December, when a formal review is due. ""We will know by then whether or not the approach we're taking is bearing fruit,"" he said.

Asked whether the U.S. would send more troops if the strategy isn't working, Biden said: ""I do not believe so.""

Biden emphasized that the administration must do a good job continuing to explain the current plan. ""No war can be sustained without the informed consent of the American people,"" he said.

Most Americans continue to support the war as part of a broader mission to wipe out al-Qaeda. Support has eroded, however. In a Gallup Poll two weeks ago, six in 10 said the war was going badly for the United States.

The release of nearly 77,000 classified reports to the website WikiLeaks.org probably didn't help, Biden said. The reports bolstered concerns that the war is unwinnable and our Pakistani allies unreliable.

Biden said the documents, covering 2004-09, related mostly to events during the Bush administration. ""There's a war that was neglected for basically eight years, six years at least,"" he said.

In Congress, some Democrats aren't willing to wait for Obama's policies to pan out. On Tuesday, when the House passed $33 billion for war funding, 102 Democrats voted ""no.""

Biden said there will be some Democrats and Republicans who oppose continued U.S. presence in Afghanistan. ""I'm not criticizing them,"" he said. ""I respect their view.""

You share in the USA TODAY community, so please keep your comments smart and civil. Don't attack other readers personally, and keep your language decent. Use the ""Report Abuse"" button to make a difference.","Vice President Biden said it is much too premature to judge the policy in Afghanistan, but he said the release of war documents hiked concern."
"Obama wants India for Security Council

New Delhi, India (CNN) -- In another major sign of growing ties between India and the United States, President Barack Obama on Monday backed a permanent seat for India in the U.N. Security Council.

""In the years ahead, I look forward to a reformed U.N. Security Council that includes India as a permanent member,"" he said in an address to the Indian parliament.

The statement came as Obama made a wide-ranging address that envisioned closer economic and security ties between the United States and India, standing ""shoulder to shoulder"" with the world's largest democracy.

In a swift reaction, Pakistan said it is discounting the possibility of such a development. The Foreign Ministry said that ""India's aspirations for recognition as a global power notwithstanding, there are reasons enough to discredit this proposed direction of the process of UNSC reforms.""

It cites ""India's conduct in relations with its neighbors and its continued flagrant violations of Security Council resolutions on Jammu and Kashmir,"" a disputed region that the nuclear rivals have fought about.

Ben Rhodes, a top White House aide, told reporters before the speech that the Obama administration wants to ""send as clear a statement as possible"" that the United States sees India as a ""rising player"" on the international stage.

But Rhodes said the United States is ""not getting into"" details about the time frame in which the United States would like to see India get the permanent seat and whether it will push to get India veto power as well.

Rhodes, a senior staffer on the National Security Council, said the president's endorsement ""speaks volumes"" about U.S. support for India and the administration will let the key details be ""hashed out"" by the United Nations itself.

At present, there are five permanent members -- the United States, Russia, China, Britain, and France. All have veto power.

Actually getting India a permanent seat will not be easy. Obama administration officials acknowledged that they and previous administrations have supported Japan, Germany and Brazil at various times for permanent seats on the Security Council without any success so far.

Before Monday's announcement was made, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh alluded to the deal during a joint news conference before Obama's speech to parliament in which he highlighted the close cooperation on major issues typically confronted by the United Nations.

""As states possessing nuclear weapons, we have today put forth a common vision of a world without nuclear weapons, and decided to lead global efforts for non-proliferation and universal and non-discriminatory global nuclear disarmament,"" Singh said.

""This is a historic and bold bilateral initiative. We have also decided to strengthen cooperation to tackle nuclear terrorism, and we welcome U.S. participation in the Global Center for Nuclear Energy Partnership, which will be set up in India.""

Pakistan, noting that reform is a ""difficult process and will take significant time,"" said it hopes that the United States ""will take a moral view and not base itself on any temporary expediency or exigencies of power politics.""

""Pakistan believes that U.S endorsement of India's bid for its permanent seat in the Security Council adds to the complexity of the process of reforms of the Council,"" the Foreign Ministry's written statement said.

""Pakistan's position on U.N. Security Council's reforms is based on principles. Any reform of the Council that contradicts the very fundamental principles of the U.N. Charter -- including the principle of sovereign equality; of equal rights and self-determination; and the principle of collective security -- would gravely undermine the system of international relations based on the U.N. Charter principles.""

Obama, who mourned the deaths of American citizens in the November 2008 terror attacks in Mumbai and the killings of Indian citizens in the September, 11, 2001, strikes in the United States, said the shared bond is prompting both countries to work together to fight terrorism.

He addressed the conflict in Afghanistan and Pakistan in his speech.

""America's fight against al Qaeda and its terrorist affiliates is why we persevere in Afghanistan, where major development assistance from India has improved the lives of the Afghan people.""

He said the United States is working with Pakistan to address the threat of terror networks, such as those in Pakistan that were responsible for the Mumbai attacks, and it welcomes ""dialogue"" between the governments in New Delhi and Islamabad.

""The Pakistani government increasingly recognizes that these networks are not just a threat outside of Pakistan -- they are a threat to the Pakistani people, who have suffered greatly at the hands of violent extremists,"" said Obama.

""And we will continue to insist to Pakistan's leaders that terrorist safe-havens within their borders are unacceptable, and that the terrorists behind the Mumbai attacks be brought to justice. We must also recognize that all of us have an interest in both an Afghanistan and a Pakistan that is stable, prosperous and democratic -- and India has an interest in that as well.""

Obama said India and the United States ""are now ready to begin implementing our civil nuclear agreement,"" a measure he called a ""landmark"" deal. At the same time, he talked about the importance of reducing the spread of nuclear weapons.

""The United States and India can pursue our goal of securing the world's vulnerable nuclear material. We can make it clear that even as every nation has the right to peaceful nuclear energy, every nation must also meet its international obligations -- and that includes the Islamic Republic of Iran.""

Obama also said Monday that ""the world cannot remain silent"" as ""peaceful democratic movements are suppressed,"" citing the government of Myanmar, also known as Burma.

""For it is unacceptable to gun down peaceful protesters and incarcerate political prisoners decade after decade. It is unacceptable to hold the aspirations of an entire people hostage to the greed and paranoia of a bankrupt regime. It is unacceptable to steal an election, as the regime in Burma has done again for all the world to see,"" he said.

He said India shouldn't avoid condemning human rights violations.

""If I can be frank, in international fora, India has often shied away from some of these issues. But speaking up for those who cannot do so for themselves is not interfering in the affairs of other countries. It's not violating the rights of sovereign nations. It's staying true to our democratic principles. ""

Obama hailed Mahatma Gandhi, who used peaceful non-violence to help India gain its independence, and he noted Gandhi's influence on Martin Luther King and the non-violent resistance that typified the American civil rights movement.

""I am mindful that I might not be standing before you today, as president of the United States, had it not been for Gandhi and the message he shared and inspired with America and the world,"" the president said.

Obama lauded India's rise on the world stage, saying that ""for Asia and around the world, India is not simply emerging; India has already emerged"" and he said the country is unleashing an ""economic marvel."" He envisions, he said, U.S.-Indian relations as ""one of the defining partnerships of the 21st century.""

He said India has overcome critics who say the country was too poor, vast and diverse to succeed, citing its Green Revolution and investments in science and technology.

""The world sees the results, from the supercomputers you build to the Indian flag that you put on the moon.""

Obama praised India's democratic institutions: its free electoral system, independent judiciary, the rule of law, and free press. He said India and the United States have a unique link because they are democracies and free-market economies.

""When Indians vote, the whole world watches. Thousands of political parties. Hundreds of thousands of polling centers. Millions of candidates and poll workers, and 700 million voters. There's nothing like it on the planet. There is so much that countries transitioning to democracy could learn from India's experience; so much expertise that India can share with the world. That, too, is what's possible when the world's largest democracy embraces its role as a global leader,"" he said.

Noting the country's rise as a world power, Obama said he sees the United States cooperating with India in various international and regional alliances. He praised India's role in the climate change negotiations and its role as a top contributor in U.N. peacekeeping missions.

Obama talked about the two countries pursuing joint research efforts, such as starting green jobs. He talked about reducing barriers to foreign investments, helping India improve weather forecasting before monsoons and aiding families in saving water.

He mentioned improved food processing and sharing India's knowledge with African farmers, with support for India's efforts to battle disease and increase educational exchanges.","In another major sign of growing ties between India and the United States, President Barack Obama on Monday backed a permanent seat for India in the U.N. Security Council."
"Culture Connoisseurs consistently offer thought-provoking, timely comments on the arts, lifestyle and entertainment.

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You must be logged in to recommend a comment.",“Zombies” ride bikes; nurses pop balloons; shepherds defend grazing rights; jockeys compete in a water buffalo race; and more.
"11d ago By Oliver Teves, Associated Press

MANILA, Philippines A cruise ship with 1,000 people on board that had drifted for 24 hours after being disabled by a fire was headed toward Malaysia following repairs, the Philippine coast guard said Saturday.

Scoop - New Zealand News

that are, frankly, rather important.” He warned also that the government’s over-riding responsibility was to manage the New Zealand economy soundly, and extravagant or overly costly solutions would not fly. “That limits political soft choices,” Groser said.

Scoop - New Zealand News

Lynch April 12 (BusinessDesk) - Michael Hill International Ltd., the listed jewellery chain, posted flat same store sales as New Zealand, Canada and the US markets made up for shrinking sales in Australia, its largest market. Total sales rose 5.1 percent to

gases - for example, one New Zealand Unit confers the right to emit two tonnes of carbon. International agreements require New Zealand to buy emission units from another country if our carbon emissions exceed agreed targets. Submissions on the consultation

flood relief assistance. ""We are organising several container loads of food rations and clothing for the flood victims from New Zealand. ""These will be distributed to the needy upon arrival and VHP Fiji is thankful that the Prime Minister has allowed all such

13d ago By Josh Roberts, SmarterTravel.com

We're taking you behind the scenes for a look at the filming locations used to bring this fantasy epic to life.

By Nick Perry, Associated Press

It's a sticky black sandwich spread that much of New Zealand adores, though detractors liken it to axle grease. And when it runs out, it's Marmageddon.","Collection of all USATODAY.com coverage of New Zealand, including articles, videos, photos, and quotes."
"The wife of Ahmad Khan Rahami, the man charged with planting bombs in New York and New Jersey, has returned to the U.S., law-enforcement officials said Thursday, as investigators continued pressing to figure out who, if anyone, knew about the bomb plan.

Asia Bibi Rahami arrived in New York late Wednesday night, officials said. She had left the U.S. in June, traveling to Pakistan. As the bomb plot unfolded this weekend, she was en route back to the U.S., according to officials.

As part of the New York bombing investigation, officials said, U.S. investigators had placed her name on a no-fly list, so she was stopped in the U.A.E., a transit point for her journey back to the U.S. Officials said Mrs. Rahami sought out Federal Bureau of Investigation agents based in U.A.E. and gave them a statement. The officials described her as cooperative and helpful.

The investigation began Saturday night when one of the bombs Mr. Rahami allegedly built exploded on a street in the Manhattan neighborhood of Chelsea, wounding 31 people. An unexploded bomb was found four blocks away. Earlier that day, a pipe bomb exploded near a 5 kilometer race in Seaside Park, N.J., and Sunday night, a set of pipe bombs was discovered in a backpack outside the Elizabeth, N.J., train station. None of the New Jersey bombs injured anyone.

Fingerprint, cellphone, and other evidence tie the bombs to Mr. Rahami, officials have said.

What Mrs. Rahami knew about her husband’s activities in the period leading up to the attacks is a key area of interest for counterterrorism investigators, who are also intensely focused on what his family and close friends in New Jersey saw or heard him doing in the weeks and days before the attacks, according to officials.

Mr. Rahami’s father has said he had “no idea’’ what his son was planning, though in 2014 he called his son a “terrorist’’ and told investigators he was concerned he was hanging out with a dangerous crowd.

Two days before the attack, a video was recorded on a phone belonging to one of Mr. Rahami’s relatives showing him lighting incendiary material in the family’s backyard, according to court charging papers. Officials have said the relative was one of his sisters.

Mr. Rahami has been mostly unconscious since a Monday morning gunfight with police officers who found him sleeping in a doorway in Linden, N.J. Officials said Thursday he had suffered more injuries than previously disclosed—he was shot seven times and has been intubated for much of his hospital treatment, unable to speak with investigators.

That shootout with police began when officers approached Mr. Rahami sleeping in the doorway of a bar. As they neared, he pulled out a gun and began firing. The officers returned fire, with Mr. Rahami firing back as he walked away, officials said. One officer was struck in his bullet-resistant vest, while another suffered cuts to his head from broken glass.

Officials said Thursday that Mr. Rahami bought his handgun at a gun store near Roanoke, Va., using an identification with an address in that area, where he has relatives. He passed a background check to get that weapon, officials said.

Investigators are still trying to determine exactly what those around him knew about his planning and whether anyone helped or trained him. Officials have said they have found no evidence so far of any other conspirators in the bomb plot, but that the investigation is fluid.

Another central question for the FBI is whether Mr. Rahami’s travel to Afghanistan and Pakistan—he stayed in the region for a year, stretching from 2013 to 2014—played a role in his radicalization and movement toward violence.

The FBI opened an inquiry into Mr. Rahami in 2014 but closed it two months later after failing to find any incriminating evidence against him, law enforcement officials have said.

Write to Pervaiz Shallwani at pervaiz.shallwani@wsj.com and Devlin Barrett at devlin.barrett@wsj.com","The wife of Ahmad Rahami, the man charged with detonating bombs in New York and New Jersey, has returned the U.S. days after she voluntarily went to federal agents in the United Arab Emirates and gave them a statement, law-enforcement officials said."
"...by winning the slopestyle with an amazing spin-to-win run of 10s and 12s. Kazuhiro Kokubo beat Iouri Podladtchikov and Louie Vito to claim victory in the halfpipe. Please note: Your comment may be held in moderation for approval by an administrator to prevent...

...MEDAL AT THE OLYMPIC GAMES Scotty Lago is a member of the 2010 U.S. Olympic Snowboarding team along with Shaun White and Louie Vito. Previously, he was best known for being the last world quarter piper champion. Today, all eyes are on him as he enters his...

...(SUI) stepped it up with a mind-blowing run that included a backside 1260 double cork in the middle of his run. Then Louie Vito (USA) topped Iouri by nailing three double corks in his first run, taking the lead by a mere fraction of a point. But it was Kazuhiro...

STRATTON, Vt. — In his first competition since winning the bronze medal at the 2010 Olympics in the halfpipe competition, Seabrook's Scotty Lago competed in the slopestyle and halfpipe events at the 2010 Burton US Open Snowboarding Championships, where

...stepped things up a notch with a mind-blowing run that included a backside 1260 double cork in the middle of his run. Louie Vito then topped Podladtchikov by nailing three double corks in his first run, taking the lead by a mere fraction of a point. But it...

Shaun White's big night has been followed by his big day in the sun, literally. The scarlet-maned director of the boards has been generating buzz around the world, so here's a quick question-and-answer session by USA TODAY's Sal Ruibal on the gold medal winner and his fellow American snowboarders.

Even when Shaun White isn't putting on a show, he's still putting on a show. White blew away the competition during the qualifying rounds of snowboard superpiope Thursday night at the Winter X-Games.

The U.S. Olympic snowboard team announced Monday includes some of the biggest names in the sport. The U.S. is going to need them to sustain the momentum the team has built since the sport made its Olympic debut in 1998.

For the USA's top two ice dancing teams, winning an Olympic medal in Vancouver is a possibility. For two teenagers, it's their turn to take the stage in women's figure skating, the marquee event of the Winter Games.

With Penn State poised to finally win one in the Big Ten, Jordan Taylor emerged to bail out No. 19 Wisconsin and add to the Nittany Lions' misery. Taylor scored the last eight points of regulation to tie the game, then went on to score 10 more in overtime as the Badgers beat the Nittany Lions 79-71 on Sunday.

The newest U.S. Snowboard halfpipe team for the Vancouver Games looks a lot like the 2002 and 2006 teams, which is not a bad thing. Returning from the dominant 2006 men's and women's teams are men's gold medal winner Shaun White and women's gold medalist Hanah Teter plus women's silver medalist Gretchen Bleiler. From the 2002 squad that won four of six medals in Park City is women's gold medalist Kelly Clark.

Defending men's Olympic halfpipe champion Shaun White resumed his winning ways in the U.S. Snowboarding Grand Prix Olympic qualifying series with a big win in Friday night's snowy event in Park City.

01/21/2010 12:14 AM By Meri-Jo Borzilleri, Special for USA TODAY

At the top of the massive halfpipe here, the nation's best snowboarders are getting ready to drop in and duke it out for U.S. Olympic team slots.

01/21/2010 12:06 AM By Meri-Jo Borzilleri Special to, USA TODAY

At the top of the massive halfpipe here, the nation's best snowboarders are getting ready to drop in and duke it out for U.S. Olympic team slots.","Collection of all USATODAY.com coverage of Louie Vito., including articles, videos, photos, and quotes."
"March 12: President Obama delivers remarks at the dedication of Abraham Lincoln Hall at the National Defense University in Washington. (AP photo)

Nearly 65,000 people have signed an online petition protesting President Obama's scheduled May 17 commencement address at the University of Notre Dame, saying the president's views on abortion and stem cell research ""directly contradict"" Roman Catholic teachings.

""It is an outrage and a scandal that 'Our Lady's University,' one of the premier Catholic universities in the United States, would bestow such an honor on President Obama given his clear support for policies and laws that directly contradict fundamental Catholic teachings on life and marriage,"" the petition at notredamescandal.com reads.

The Cardinal Newman Society, an advocacy group for strengthening ideals at the nation's 224 Catholic colleges and universities, created the Web site to end what it calls the ""travesty"" of Obama's selection. The petition, which had garnered 64,051 signatures as of midday Tuesday, asserts that thousands of other ""accomplished leaders"" in business, law or education would have been more appropriate selections. The group says it is sending the list to an independent firm Wednesday to ensure that there are no duplicate names.

""Instead Notre Dame has chosen prestige over principles, popularity over morality,"" the petition reads. ""Whatever may be President Obama's admirable qualities, this honor comes on the heels of some of the most anti-life actions of any American president, including expanding federal funding for abortions and inviting taxpayer-funded research on stem cells from human embryos.""

David Constanzo, communications director for the Cardinal Newman Society, said Notre Dame's tradition of inviting sitting U.S. presidents to its commencement should be rethought.

""There is a time when policies need to be reconsidered in light of the fact that the individual invited may have a history of standing in direct opposition to some of the most prominent aspects of our faith -- the biggest case in point is that of the pro-life agenda,"" Constanzo said. ""The obligation of Notre Dame as a Catholic institution is to follow the directives of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, who clearly stated in 2004 that Catholic institutions should not honor those who act in defiance of our fundamental moral principles.""

Meanwhile, the Bishop of Fort Wayne-South Bend has indicated he will not attend the commencement ceremony.

""President Obama has recently reaffirmed, and has now placed in public policy, his long-stated unwillingness to hold human life as sacred,"" Bishop John D'Arcy said in a statement issued Tuesday. ""While claiming to separate politics from science, he has in fact separated science from ethics and has brought the American government, for the first time in history, into supporting direct destruction of innocent human life.""

D'Arcy said he learned that Obama had accepted Notre Dame's invitation just before White House officials announced the move on Friday.

""I wish no disrespect to our president, I pray for him and wish him well,"" the statement continued. ""I have always revered the Office of the Presidency. But a bishop must teach the Catholic faith 'in season and out of season,' and he teaches not only by his words -- but by his actions.""

George Weigel, a Catholic theologian and distinguished senior fellow of the Ethics and Public Policy Center, said the invitation is not a ""neutral act"" and will significantly damage Notre Dame's reputation in Catholic circles following Obama's decision to reverse restrictions on embryonic stem cell research and for family planning groups that provide abortions.

""I think Notre Dame should not have issued the invitation,"" Weigel told FOXNews.com. ""This is a colossal mess. This is their mess to fix right now, but they should know that they have forfeited an enormous amount of credibility as an institution that takes moral reasoning seriously.""

Weigel said he was not surprised by the outpouring of criticism following the university's announcement on Friday that Obama would become sixth U.S. president to speak at its commencement. Obama will also become the ninth U.S. president to receive an honorary degree from the university.

""Major donors have the most effective leverage in situations like this,"" Weigel said. ""I hope the donors are paying attention.""

Asked if Notre Dame is considering rescinding its invitation to Obama, university spokesman Dennis Brown said Tuesday: ""I can't foresee that occurring. We made an invitation to the president and he's accepted. We expected criticism and it's nothing beyond what we expected.""

The White House did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

In a statement issued Monday, the Rev. John Jenkins, Notre Dame's president, said Obama will be honored as an ""inspiring leader"" at the commencement.

""Of course, this does not mean we support all of his positions,"" Jenkins said. ""The invitation to President Obama to be our Commencement speaker should not be taken as condoning or endorsing his positions on specific issues regarding the protection of human life, including abortion and embryonic stem cell research. Yet, we see his visit as a basis for further positive engagement.""

But Ralph McInerny, a philosophy professor at Notre Dame for more than 50 years, likened the invitation as a ""deliberate thumbing of the collective nose"" at the Roman Catholic Church.

""By inviting Barack Obama to be the 2009 commencement speaker, Notre Dame has forfeited its right to call itself a Catholic university,"" McInerny wrote in a column for The Catholic Thing. ""It invites an official rebuke. May it come.""","Nearly 65,000 people have signed an online petition protesting President Obama's scheduled commencement address at the University of Notre Dame, citing the president's views on abortion and stem cell research that"
"Updated APR 12, 2014 8:39p ET

The Clippers tuned up for the playoffs with a clinic on scoring in transition, whether it was going coast-to-coast for layups or ferocious dunks.

The display produced a 117-101 victory over the Sacramento Kings on Saturday, giving the Clippers their franchise record-tying 56th win of the regular season. Blake Griffin had 27 points and nine assists, DeAndre Jordan had 21 points and nine rebounds, and Chris Paul added 17 points and 10 assists.

""We're still playing for something,"" Paul said. ""We can keep building confidence on defense. We're at our best when we're running and getting stops.""

J.J. Redick had 13 points and Matt Barnes scored 12 in helping the Clippers improve to 33-7 at Staples Center, breaking the franchise record for home victories in a season.

""When we got stops, got out and moved the ball from side to side, we were able to get what we wanted,"" Griffin said. ""That's the key for us, just playing our offense and not letting what they do dictate our game.""

Los Angeles completed a season sweep of the Kings and has won seven straight against them at home.

""I just hated our defense,"" Sacramento coach Mike Malone said.

DeMarcus Cousins had his seventh straight double-double with 32 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Kings, who lost their fifth in a row in their last road game of the season. Rudy Gay scored 16 points, and former Clipper Reggie Evans had 14 points and 14 rebounds.

Cousins and Ben McLemore combined to score 24 of the Kings' 32 points in the third quarter, including their last 20. McLemore hit consecutive 3-pointers, the second one just beating the clock at the end of the period, to leave the Kings trailing 85-79 going into the fourth.

""We couldn't get any stops,"" Malone said. ""Defensively, they just got whatever they wanted. It was just layup after layup after layup.""

McLemore finished with 14 points, hitting all six of his free throws, before getting his second technical and being ejected with 10:51 left in the game.

""That's the crazy thing about it,"" he said. ""I've never gotten kicked out of a game in my life.""

The Kings closed within two on a three-point play by Cousins in the fourth. The Clippers answered with a 12-2 run to go up 103-91, capped by Jamal Crawford's back-to-back 3-pointers. He landed in the lap of courtside fans after the first one.

""Those two 3s Mal hit were backbreakers,"" Paul said.

Crawford returned after missing five straight games with a sore left Achilles' tendon. He finished with 10 points in 20 minutes.

""I felt good, rusty obviously, but my teammates did a good job getting me easy looks,"" he said.

Los Angeles outscored the Kings 25-5 on fastbreak points and 54-42 in the paint.

""When a team lives in your paint, especially a good team like they are, you're going to have a hard time beating them,"" Malone said.

NOTES: Clippers F Danny Granger sat out his seventh straight game because of a strained left hamstring. ... Kings G Isaiah Thomas missed his 10th straight game with a right quad contusion. ... Sacramento fell to 11-30 on the road and 7-19 against the West away from home. ... The Kings topped the 100-point mark for the first time in five games.",Clippers beat Kings 117-101 for 56th win
"Photo: Jason Henry, Special To The Chronicle

Crashing waves form tide pools on the rocks at the north end of the beach creating a home to a variety of interesting creatures at Natural Bridges State Beach in Santa Cruz, Calif., Thursday, April 9, 2015.

Crashing waves form tide pools on the rocks at the north end of the beach creating a home to a variety of interesting creatures at Natural Bridges State Beach in Santa Cruz, Calif., Thursday, April 9, 2015.

Body of UC Santa Cruz student swept into ocean by wave is found

The body of one of two missing college students from the Bay Area was found washed up on a Santa Cruz County beach near where they where knocked off a rock and swept into the ocean last week, officials said Tuesday.

A biker was riding on the bluffs above Strawberry Beach in Wilder State Ranch on Monday when he saw what he believed to be a body near the surf line on the beach and called police, according to the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office.

The body was recovered and later identified as Shireen Ahsan, a 19-year-old missing UC Santa Cruz sophomore from Palo Alto, officials said.

Ahsan, along with 25-year-old Ahmad Nourzaie, a senior from San Jose, and another student were knocked from a rock they were standing on during a hike near Bonny Doon in unincorporated Santa Cruz County on Jan. 18, officials said. While the other student was able to swim to safety, Nourzaie and Ahsan disappeared in the surf, officials said.

A search for the students was later suspended. On Tuesday, the search for Nourzaie resumed, according to the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office.

Hamed Aleaziz is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: haleaziz@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @haleaziz","The body of one of two missing college students from the Bay Area was found washed up on a Santa Cruz County beach near where they where knocked off a rock and swept into the ocean last week, officials said Tuesday.  A biker was riding on the bluffs above Strawberry Beach in Wilder State Ranch on Monday when he saw what he believed to be a body near the surf line on the beach and called police, according to the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office.  Ahsan, along with 25-year-old Ahmad Nourzaie, a senior from San Jose, and another student were knocked from a rock they were standing on during a hike near Bonny Doon in unincorporated Santa Cruz County on Jan. 18, officials said."
"WHAT IS IT? A retractable hardtop version of McLaren’s ferocious 12C.

HOW MUCH? $268,250 base, $321,080 as tested including sport exhaust ($6,330), navigation with Meridian sound system ($7,200) and Volcano Yellow paint ($5,400).

WHAT MAKES IT RUN? 3.8-liter V-8 with twin turbochargers (616 horsepower, 443 pound-feet of torque), 7-speed dual-clutch automated manual transmission.

HOW’S THE WARRANTY? Coverage for three years with unlimited mileage. That’s right: on mileage, the warranty beats Hyundai’s.

IS IT THIRSTY? Rated at 15 m.p.g. in the city and 22 on the highway, the 12C prioritizes performance over fuel economy.

Turbochargers make wonderful noises. A turbocharger is a lot like a miniature jet engine, but most car companies seem to think that drivers don’t want to hear the LaGuardia taxiway as they’re merging onto the highway.

That’s a shame. I used to have a Saab 9000 Turbo with a low-restriction air intake, and its dominant aural signature was the Lilliputian Top Gun dogfight that erupted beneath the hood every time the turbocharger spooled up. Unfortunately, modern cars don’t much let you hear their turbos at work.

Well, except for one: McLaren 12C, you’re first in line, cleared for takeoff.

Squeeze the throttle on the retractable-hardtop 12C Spider and a symphony of howls and gurgles erupts from the mid-mounted, twin-turbocharged V-8 as unsuspecting air is belligerently funneled into the hungry maw of an 8,500 r.p.m. monster. The turbos issue a high-pitched whine under throttle, then dump excess boost with a breathy exhale. Maximum boost is a formidable 29 pounds per square inch, a statistic that helps to explain how a 3.8-liter V-8 generates a staggering 616 horsepower.

The Spider seemed decidedly more vocal than the coupe I drove last year, so I asked McLaren if anything was changed to uncork the intake cacophony. As a matter of fact, yes, there was. The 12C’s Intake Sound Generator — programmable by the driver — is more aggressive, increasing the decibel level as the driver moves up through Normal, Sport and Track powertrain modes.

So then, what’s an Intake Sound Generator? I asked McLaren’s new chief executive, Mike Flewitt, who explained: “It’s basically a tube with a valve in it, so it lets the sound pass through without carbon dioxide getting into the cabin. But it’s not creating anything that isn’t really there.”

Mr. Flewitt did not mention BMW, but the latest M5 augments its V-8’s soundtrack by playing engine noises through the car’s sound system. The 12C isn’t doing that. It’s more akin to sticking your head under the hood, while you’re driving, to take a listen.

Of course, if you want even more visceral exposure to the engine, you can wait 17 seconds for the hardtop Spider to transform into open-air roadster. The Spider uses the same carbon-fiber tub as the coupe, so the power roof exacts a weight penalty of only 88 pounds, for a still-svelte total of 3,033 pounds. The 0-to-60 m.p.h. time remains unchanged at 3.1 seconds, but over a quarter-mile those 88 pounds will slow you down, from a 10.6-second elapsed time to 10.8 seconds. (Trap speed drops from 136 m.p.h. to a still-impressive 134.) I think I could probably live with that. The Spider also gains a bonus auxiliary trunk — the area where the top stows doubles as storage space if the roof’s up.

As for demerits, the main drawback seems to be that the seam in the middle of the hardtop turns into a channel that funnels rainwater onto your head when you exit the car. The solution, which I’m sure many Spider owners will embrace, is to live in Malibu.

I drove in steady New England rain during my time with the 12C, which meant that I became frustratingly familiar with the car’s traction-control system. On a wet road, the 12C has the power to effortlessly spin those giant rear tires at 45 m.p.h. But find a stretch of dry pavement, and a 12C coupe is one of the few cars that can outpace a 12C Spider. And even then, not by much.

It seems that the traditional tradeoff between coupe and convertible, wherein the droptop is an overweight, cowl-flexing Fat Elvis version of the coupe, no longer applies to certain carefully designed two-seaters, the 12C chief among them. In choosing between the two 12Cs, you’d find a Meyer-Briggs personality test more relevant than a stopwatch. Are you the type of person who’s out on the Miley Cyrus side of the extroversion spectrum, the kind of person who’s ready for the attention that comes with a roofless McLaren?

I’m not sure I require that level of hedonism. Roof up, windows down, a dry road and turbos singing: that sounds good to me. EZRA DYER","The retractable-hardtop McLaren 12C Spider offers a symphony of howls and gurgles from its mid-mounted, twin-turbocharged V-8, and a staggering 616 horsepower."
"MOSCOW — With his droopy eyeglasses and boxy suits, Alisher B. Usmanov is at no risk of being mistaken for a Silicon Valley venture capitalist. But the Russian steel tycoon is poised to make billions of dollars from the initial public stock offering of Facebook this week — in the same league as many of that social networking company’s early backers.

Mr. Usmanov, an industrial and media magnate who has demonstrated a keen ability to take advantage of the opportunities that appear in a financial disaster, is reaping the rewards of an ambitious bet on Facebook made amid the global economic recession in 2009.

As other investors were demanding tough terms, he said in an interview this week, he and his Russian business associates were willing to buy almost 10 percent of the company while giving up the voting rights on those shares to Facebook’s founder and chief executive, Mark Zuckerberg.

Now the Russian-led investments of less than $900 million, made through two entities, Mail.ru and Digital Sky Technologies, will be worth more than $6 billion, based on the midpoint of the $34 to $38 price range that Facebook’s bankers have set for the stock.

Mr. Usmanov, 58, who got his start in the plastic bag business and was reared in a remote part of the Soviet Union, said he learned the benefits of acting boldly during the ruble crisis of 1998.

“I have a theory of crisis that you must employ crisis to create additional margin,” he said this week in a telephone interview. “You need to understand when the moment of growth is coming, and invest just before that.”

Mr. Zuckerberg turned to the Russian investors in 2009 at a meeting quietly brokered by Goldman Sachs. Other sources of financing had slowed because of the crisis. And, because of the popularity of online social games in Russia, investors here had a keen sense of the value of social networking sites and were willing to pay more than others for a stake in Facebook.

The Russians were also willing to accept another condition important to Mr. Zuckerberg. Despite owning 10 percent of Facebook, they would get no voting rights or seat on the board. They would also have no say in the site’s policies on privacy or political organizing — preserving independence that has become especially important as Facebook has played a major role in domestic politics in Russia.

Mr. Usmanov, who is close to the Kremlin, has not hesitated to use his media properties to support the government. Last December, he fired the publisher and editor at one of Russia’s most respected newsmagazines, Kommersant Vlast, after it published detailed accounts of bald falsification in national elections. Mr. Usmanov said he fired the executive not for the political coverage per se, but for printing a picture of a ballot defaced with an obscenity insulting Vladimir V. Putin, then prime minister of Russia and now president.

But Mr. Usmanov said the Russian venture into Facebook was purely commercial. “Americans started investing abroad after 100 years of capitalism at home,” he said. “We are doing it after 20 years.”

The precise details of the Russian ownership in Facebook are difficult to assess. The investments were made over two years though the Russian Internet company Mail.ru and the investment fund Digital Sky Technologies, also known as D.S.T., which is run by the venture capitalist Yuri Milner. Although Mr. Usmanov was the leading backer, other investors were involved.

Mr. Milner met with Zuckerberg in 2009 before the first investment, though Mr. Usmanov has never met him.

Mr. Milner said his focus on social networking reflected insights gained from watching the Russian Internet market develop in the last few years. In 2005, D.S.T. began investing in Internet companies in Russia and Eastern Europe, where, as in parts of Asia, people took to social games and the trading of virtual goods faster than in the United States.

The print media market was already weak, a legacy of the Soviet breakup and political controls on national newspapers, leaving a freer space for crowdsourced media like social networks.

Mr. Milner said that this led to an understanding that social networking business models involving tiny payments from large numbers of users had vast potential in emerging markets.

“At the time, I was probably the best-informed person in the world about social networking monetization,” he said.

Russia remains one of the few major markets today where Facebook does not dominate social networking, because of the strength of local companies like VKontakte and Moi Mir. (Other markets where Facebook is weak include South Korea, where it is gaining, and China, where government firewalls block the site because of its potential to be used in organizing dissent.)

Mr. Usmanov said that, after the series of investments from 2009 until 2011, he and Mr. Milner owned about 9 percent of Facebook at one point, but now own about 6 percent and will hold about 4.5 percent after the initial public offering. The other shares they originally controlled have gone to other investors, clients of D.S.T. and corporate entities.

Evelyn M. Rusli contributed reporting from New York.",Alisher B. Usmanov’s investments in the social media giant could be worth at least $6 billion when the company goes public.
"What if Tony and Maria had met on Facebook? If Anita Twittered, would she feel tweety? Those are some of the questions posed by “Web Site Story,” a video parody of “West Side Story” that’s making the virtual rounds.

The video was written and directed by Sam Reich, the president of original content for CollegeHumor.com (where other theater-related offerings include “Waterworld the Musical” and “Food Court Musical.”). The music and dancing in the slickly produced piece mimic “West Side Story” almost note for note.

“I was a theater nerd with a love for Sondheim,” said Mr. Reich, who as a teenager played Action from “West Side Story” as part of a high school musical review.

Instead of star-crossed romance on the streets of New York, Mr. Reich’s version follows a group of people who love Web sites, including Hulu, Google Earth and Twitter. Read more…",“West Side Story” meets Twitter in a parody video from CollegeHumor.com.
"This just in: USC is still guilty.

They were caught, they were cheaters and they couldn’t go to a bowl game last season, and won’t go again this season.

It has nothing to do with the University of Miami’s problems other than the fact that the joker who worked as the Hurricanes' former athletic director provides an immediate guffaw.

And no one needs a good guffaw like the USC football fan who just can’t seem to get past the fact his football program was tagged for cheating.

Dee is now being labeled a “hypocrite"" for lecturing USC on its wrongdoings as chairman of the NCAA’s Infractions Committee while serving as Miami AD, but anyone who participates in name-calling from USC is one as well.

Dee’s involvement with USC is a nice piece of trivia, but USC’s problems were its own, and no matter who sat as chairman, the school was due for a spanking.

USC has maintained from the start that the NCAA was too heavy-handed, and with developments at Ohio State and Miami, it’s an argument that won’t die any time soon.

But the NCAA didn’t know what was taking place at Ohio State and Miami at the time it dealt with USC -- Dee failing to mention it to the NCAA -- and so it treated USC’s problems as if they were the very worst thing going on in college football.

No one likes to be punished; USC fans the worst of all.

But this has been good for USC, Pete Carroll no longer walking on water at the end of his run and Athletic Director Mike Garrett replaced by Pat Haden.

It also provided some USC fans with a tailgating break, their weekends again their own as the Trojans play their practice games.

And the practice games have allowed Lane Kiffin to develop without the overbearing pressure of winning every quarter every Saturday. He’s been given time to find his place in college football again and become a respected head coach, and he might really be a good one.

Who knows, but I’m not sure he would have been allowed to mature if stuck in the college spotlight with Garrett looking over his shoulder. He’s been given two years to ready USC's program for another championship run without having to explain why it fell short of the big bowl game to end up in El Paso or some other outpost.

Many USC fans have never gotten past the point where they had it all, blaming the NCAA for ruining their party.

Garrett said it best on behalf of all Trojans a few hours after the NCAA had lowered the boom on USC: “... Nothing but a lot of envy ... hey wish they were all Trojans.’’

Later new AD Haden would say over and over again in appeal that USC had made a great case for leniency, but that comment from Garrett had to hang heavy in the air with the NCAA.

It was funny reading some of the comments below many of the stories detailing Miami’s problems Wednesday, and Dee’s involvement as AD.

The best was this one: “So can someone explain to me again why USC is in trouble?’’

The implication was obvious; look what USC did in comparison to Miami.

I’m sure there are prisons full with similar comments, and while I’m not suggesting that's where we send emailers, I would guess there are criminals wondering why they’re doing 20 years when the guy in the next cell obviously has done far worse.

Miami could take a major NCAA hit

Pac 12's Larry Scott, those connected to USC, react to Miami report

How do the allegations against Miami affect former AD Paul Dee?

Top photo: USC running back Reggie Bush, left, is congratulated by quarterback Matt Leinart after scoring a touchdown against Fresno State in 2005. Bush was at the center of an NCAA investigation that led to sanctions being imposed on the USC football program. Credit: Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times. Right photo: Former USC Athletic Director Mike Garrett poses in front of his Heisman Trophy at USC's Heritage Hall. Credit: Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times","T.J. Simers: Miami has problems, but USC still cheated"
"Russian divers recovered a giant piece of the Chelyabinsk meteorite from a lake in Central Russia on Wednesday.

“I’m surprised they found a piece that was so big,” said geologist Denton Ebel from the American Museum of Natural History to the Daily News. “The other pieces that I’ve seen are very small and this is huge compared to those.”

Last February, the fiery space rock exploded over the nation's Ural Mountains with the force of 20 to 30 Hiroshima atomic bombs. The shockwave injured more than 1,600 people and caused millions of dollars in property damage in the nearby industrial city of Chelyabinsk, shattering windows and knocking down walls.

PHOTOS: FALLING METEORS HIT RUSSIA

""People 30 miles away went outside to see what the light was about and were knocked off their porches,"" Bill Cooke, leader of the Meteoroid Environment Office at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, told The News at the time.

It was the largest recorded strike since 1908 when a meteor crashed into a remote, wooded area of Tunguska, Siberia. This particular chunk of the meteorite — the largest recovered — crashed to the bottom of Chebarkul Lake.

""It acted as kind of a wake-up call that we need to start thinking of planetary protection seriously. No one got killed — that’s amazing,"" Ebel said.

RELATED: SOCHI OLYMPIC CHAMPIONS TO GET METEORITE GOLD MEDALS

Scientists weighed the near-Earth asteroid chunk on a large steelyard balance on site that put its weight at 1,256 pounds, before it split off into three separate pieces.

Sergei Zamozdra, a professor from Chelyabinsk State University, confirmed to local media near the lake that the piece was, in fact, part of the meteorite.

""It's got thick burn-off, the rust is clearly seen and it's got a big number of indents,"" Zamozdra said, as reported by the Interfax news agency. ""This chunk is most probably one of the Top 10 biggest meteorite fragments ever found.""

RELATED: WATCH: FALLING METEOR PROMPTS PANIC IN CENTRAL RUSSIA

""It is beautiful! It's gorgeous. Its size is approximately like this,"" Nikolai Mizulin of the Aleut Company said to the Associated Press, stretching his arms out wide. ""It has traces of melting, and it looks like the other fragments that we have retrieved earlier.""

On a mobile device? Watch the video here.",Russian divers recovered a huge piece of the Chelyabinsk meteorite from a lake in Central Russia on Wednesday.
"The upfronts–TV networks’ schedule announcements for advertisers–are back, and If there’s one thing that stays the same at them each year, it’s talking about change. Fox is trying to ditch pilot season and program series year-round; broadcasters are experimenting with limited-run series and seasons of differing lengths; and every old legacy network is figuring out its place in the world of cable, streaming, and Aereo.

NBC too is trying something new this year: being in first place! For the first time since its Friends-era heyday, the network is ending the season tops in viewers among 18 to 49. (I know, measuring success among that age range is unfair–it gets less fair each year I get older!–but that’s what advertisers pay for, and this isn’t a charity.) The upfronts are all about puffing out your chest and looking big, so you’re going to boast, especially if your corporate logo is a peacock. “We’re number one, you’ve heard it a lot of times,” network head Robert Greenblatt told advertisers. “Get ready, you’re going to hear it a lot more.”

So that’s great for them. But unlike in the glory days of the ’80s, ’90s, and turn of the aughts, NBC isn’t doing great great. The network did have a respectable new drama hit in The Blacklist, the network has held its lead in late night, and The Voice still brings in the eyeballs, if fewer. But some of its success has to do with football, which is seasonal, and the Olympics, which doesn’t come around next year. And it’s ended up number one partly by default, simply doing less badly than the other broadcasters this season. Maybe fittingly, even the grandeur of the event seemed diminished; it was not, as in some years past, at one of Manhattan’s great theater palaces, but the charm-free Javits Center, located, as emcee Seth Meyers put it, “In the heart of Manhattan’s stabbing district.”

So number one or not, NBC is cleaning house (Parks and Recreation and Parenthood are gone after next year). It’s readying a lot of new shows for next season: 16 so far, depending how you count them. For the first time in ages, it has no comedy block at 8 p.m. Thursdays, maybe recognizing that comedy is not exactly the network’s strong suit anymore. (Meyers joked that he was behind on his TV watching, “So nobody tell me whether Sean Saved the World.”)

Another familiar development here: most of the stuff that sounds really compelling (at least potentially) won’t come around until midseason–for instance, the Tina Fey and Robert Carlock comedy Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, starring Ellie Kemper. (The sitcom, about a woman rescued from a cult after years separated from civilization, was easily the best and most intriguing preview NBC showed this morning. You’ll have to keep waiting for it!) What NBC does have scheduled for fall looks–mind you, this is judging only by the promotional trailers–looks aggressively meh. Among them:

A to Z: Or How I Met How I Met Your Mother‘s Mother, a romantic comedy starring HIMYM’s Cristin Milioti and Mad Men‘s Ben Feldman (both nipples intact!) as the hopeless romantic who falls in love with her at first sight.

Marry Me: Another romantic comedy, this time with Ken Marino and Casey Wilson as a couple trying to get their relationship on track after a botched engagement proposal. Like the stars, not sure if the premise sustains a series, but NBC really believes you want to see a romantic comedy next fall!

Bad Judge: Kate Walsh follows up her naughty-widow Fargo role with a naughty-judge role in a comedy about hard-drinking jurisprudence.

State of Affairs: Katherine Heigl and Alfre Woodard take national security very, very seriously.

The Mysteries of Laura: The unconvincing trailer for this cop show starring Debra Messing features Tom Jones’ “She’s a Lady,” which also pretty much seems to be the premise of the show. She’s a woman with kids and a personal life but also a homicide cop–who’d have thought it!

Constantine: Based on a comic-book franchise, this companion to the supernatural Grimm on Friday nights stars Matt Ryan as a master of the occult fighting threats from Hell.

We’ll have to see what the finished products look like, but on the face of it these shows seem to be solidly within NBC’s current brand, namely, “Not too groundbreaking, but eh, it looks professional.” Which, to be fair, has done better for NBC–with The Blacklist and various shows with “Chicago” in the title–than radical departures like Community, which just radically departed. NBC’s ambitions may simply be the least-worst broadcast network, but these days, that strategy can just get you to number one.","After a decade of painful ratings, NBC is about to finish the current season number one. At its presentation for advertisers, it unveiled more of the not-too-ambitious fare than got it there."
"Orville Redenbacher in 1987. A woman claiming to be his granddaughter was busted in Indiana on Sunday for drunk driving and fighting with cops.

She's the bad kernel of the family.

A great-granddaughter of prim snack kingpin Orville Redenbacher is in an Indiana prison after she was popped by police for drunk driving and assaulting cops and nurses at a hospital.

Jordan Jones, 22, told a judge in Valparaiso on Tuesday morning that her college is paid for by a trust fund set up by her grandfather, the late popcorn magnate, who died in 1995, the Post-Tribune newspaper reported.

Jones was arrested Sunday morning after she called police around 4 a.m. to say her car had become stuck on some train tracks.

A train eventually hit the 2003 Pontiac Sunfire, but Jones, who was locked out of the car, was not hurt.

When cops arrived, they cuffed Jones for drunk driving, the newspaper reported.

In the back of the squad car, the popcorn heiress became increasingly salty, cops said, and started bashing her head against the divider until she knocked herself out.

At an emergency room later, Jones attacked and injured two cops and a nurse trying to stitch her forehead, the newspaper reported.

It eventually took eight people to restrain her, police said. Blood tests showed Jones' blood alcohol content was 0.23, nearly triple the legal limit to drive.

She was charged with battery, resisting arrest and battery by bodily waste.

Her status as an heiress to a snack food fortune came out at Tuesday’s hearing after she requested a public attorney.

A Redenbacher family member confirmed to the Daily News that Jones was Orville's great-granddaughter.

A judge denied the request and set her bail at $7,500, the Post-Tribune reported.

She’s due back in court in February.

A spokesperson for food giant ConAgra told the Daily News that a request for comment had been forwarded to the Redenbacher family.

Jones' bust comes less than six months after the city of Valparaiso erected a statue of the bow-tied Redenbacher to honor his memory.","Jordan Jones, 22, was arrested Sunday after her car was hit by a train. She told a judge her education was paid for by a trust set up by the late popcorn magnate."
"By Sue Kirchhoff and Barbara Hagenbaugh, USA TODAY

WASHINGTON — The stimulus law signed by President Bush on Wednesday provides what he called a ""booster shot"" to the economy, but the medicine might not be strong enough to ward off a recession.

The $168 billion package of personal tax rebates and business tax cuts will likely help shore up consumer spending later this year, economists say. That could minimize the pain of a possible downturn. But it won't resolve longer-term issues bedeviling the economy, such as a free fall in home sales and prices and a credit crunch that has persisted despite aggressive Federal Reserve interest rate cuts.

""A lot of Americans are worried about their economic future. … Growth has clearly slowed,"" Bush said at a White House ceremony.

Also Wednesday, presidential hopeful Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., unveiled a long-term plan to spend $210 billion to create jobs in construction and environmental industries.

The nation isn't in an official recession, but growth has slowed dramatically. The economy expanded at an anemic 0.6% annual rate in the final three months of 2007. The unemployment rate has ticked up from 4.5% to 4.9%.

The stimulus law aims to bolster consumer spending, more than two-thirds of economic activity, via rebates to Americans, from seniors on Social Security to more affluent earners.

People who had income of at least $3,000 in 2007 (wages, Social Security or disability payments) but paid little, if any, income tax, would be eligible for a rebate of $300 for an individual, or $600 for a couple.

Those who paid 2007 income taxes would get rebates of $600 to $1,200. Rebates phase out for individuals with more than $75,000 in adjusted gross income, and couples with more than $150,000. Those qualifying for a rebate are eligible for another $300 per child.

The White House hopes to start sending out rebate checks in May. A key issue is how much of the rebate money will be spent.

Consumers spent about two-thirds of rebate checks doled out in 2001, according to a study published by the National Bureau of Economic Research. Lower-income consumers were more likely to spend, not save, the money.

The authors argue the rebates of $300 or $600 per family played a big part in ending the eight-month-long recession, which concluded in November 2001 and is considered one of the most mild in U.S. history.

A number of economists say consumers are unlikely to spend as much this time around. In 2001, the rebates were accompanied by tax cuts, leading consumers to expect more money in their bank accounts over a longer period and making them more likely to spend, says Global Insight U.S. research director Nigel Gault.

Still, the economic consulting firm expects consumers will spend half the checks within the first year. ""It's enough to make quite a substantial difference,"" he says. ""The timing could be very good.""

A recent survey of 1,000 consumers by the International Council of Shopping Centers and UBS Securities found 43% would use the money to pay off debt, 26% said they would save it and 24% said they would spend it. The rest said they will not be eligible for a rebate.

""Lenders will see the money before retailers,"" ICSC chief economist Michael Niemira says. ""But still, about $25 billion will head into the spending stream, and that is positive.""

The stimulus law also includes business provisions. Effective for 2008, companies with less than $800,000 in annual capital investments can write off the first $250,000. That's up from a prior limit of $128,000. Firms are also eligible to write off a ""bonus"" 50% of new investment this year. Dorothy Coleman of the National Association of Manufacturers says firms boosted investment after a similar measure in 2003.

""If a company is anticipating investing at some point in the near future … this is a powerful incentive to do it in 2008,"" Coleman says.

Global Insight's Gault says the impact of the provisions will be ""very, very little."" Firms must still feel confident enough to spend the money.

Jason Furman, director of the Hamilton Project at the Brookings Institution, says Congress must still address issues like long-term unemployment. More than a million jobless workers will exhaust their benefits between now and June. Lawmakers should also step up efforts to aid homeowners who are falling behind on their mortgages, Furman says.

""The goal of the stimulus bill was to increase the deficit to expand overall demand,"" Furman says. ""I don't think we should do another stimulus bill for the sake of the aggregate economy.""

Conversation guidelines: USA TODAY welcomes your thoughts, stories and information related to this article. Please stay on topic and be respectful of others. Keep the conversation appropriate for interested readers across the map.","The nation isn't in an official recession, but growth has slowed dramatically. The economy expanded at an anemic 0.6% annual rate in the final three months of 2007. The unemployment rate has ticked up from 4.5% to 4.9%."
"South Sudan has reportedly expelled a UN official investigating human rights in the country over ""unjustified"" reports.

The country accuses the UN official of ""reporting on human rights issues that she could not verify and has been publishing without justifications,"" Al Jazeera reports.

""This is unethical,"" Barnaba Marial Benjamin, a South Sudan government spokesman, told the news agency.

The official is not being named, but the UN peacekeeping mission in South Sudan confirmed that she has been expelled, Al Jazeera reports.

""The order is in breach of the legal obligations of the government of the Republic of South Sudan under the Charter of the United Nations,"" Hilde Johnson, special representative of the UN to South Sudan, told Al Jazeera.

Benjamin would not elaborate on what reports were considered unjustified.

Click for more from Al Jazeera.",South Sudan has reportedly expelled a UN official investigating human rights in the country over unjustified reports.
"New York City is always shifting, as new people arrive with suitcases stuffed with hope and ambition, replacing others who have packed up and moved on.

It’s now a distant memory, but the transience of our city was once a collective experience. For some 300 years, on every May 1, practically all city dwellers would chuck their belongings onto pushcarts and horse-drawn carriages and haul them to a new home.

But when housing shortages gripped the city in the 1940s and rent control as we know it was implemented, Moving Day — a Colonial holdover grounded in the English celebration of May Day — faded into oblivion. And while we no longer move en masse, the majority of New Yorkers continue to rent, and move, frequently.

As many of us know, the experience is rarely enjoyable. There is the physical exertion of packing and unpacking; the disappointment of finding broken dinner china or cracked piano legs, and that feeling of dismay when you survey your worldly goods reduced to a truck full of cardboard boxes. It would certainly be a relief to simply walk out of your old house and have it replicated, down to the order of your spice rack, somewhere new. And it turns out that for those who are willing to pay, Walt Disney was right after all: Dreams do come true.

In recent years, a number of companies have cropped up that promise to ease the hardships of moving, for a price. Don’t like the screeching sound of packing tape as it is forcefully unfurled from its roll? FlatRate Elite, the luxury division of FlatRate Moving, offers a “low-noise” version for up to $150 additional per move. Hate to call the cable and gas companies to inform them of a new address? The company offers a liaison that will do it for you for just $500 a day.

Would you rather just decamp entirely, swapping the sweltering city for frozen margaritas on the beach? NouvelleView will act as your proxy, for $180 an hour, managing everything from taking an inventory of your home, to creating a budget and interviewing moving companies.

“We oversee every aspect, from the initial strategic plan to seeing that every box is unpacked,” said Pamela Muller, a principal and an owner of NouvelleView, which charges $6,000 to $9,000 for an average-size job; its most lucrative client rang up $25,000 worth of services.

To Stephanie T. Foster, an experienced mover, and a fixture on the society circuit as a trustee of the Asia Society and a managing director of the Metropolitan Opera, NouvelleView is “a godsend.” As with many of us, her moves have often been “hideous experiences,” she said. “Haven’t you heard the phrase ‘death, taxes and moving?’ “

Mrs. Foster, who worked for nearly two decades on Wall Street, began using NouvelleView in 2009, shortly after marrying the financier John Foster. The couple were relocating to a new apartment together and undertaking the complicated process of combining their furniture.

“My husband had the ideal bachelor set up,” Mrs. Foster said. “He collected Ming dynasty furniture, so in his dining room he had a wooden throne,” for which he had built a special platform and even installed lighting. “I told him, ‘Darling, if you can sit on the chair comfortably then it can come with us, otherwise it has to be put in storage.’ “ The chair, which dated to the 17th century, failed to pass the comfort test and was soon placed, along with other pieces from his collection, in special temperature-controlled storage.

NouvelleView, which doesn’t actually move anything but rather just coordinates the move, also itemized and cataloged all the Fosters’ belongings, providing the couple with a digital record. “It is extremely helpful, not like having boxes in a dark basement that are stuffed with 50 dining room dishes and a lamp shade,” Mrs. Foster said. “This is a complete inventory, so you know exactly what you have, and if you move to a new home, you can say to yourself, ‘Ah, I could use that piece here, it would fit perfectly.’ ”

Most of NouvelleView’s clientele hire a traditional moving company to handle the bulk of the items, and then specialty movers to pack up the fine art and collectibles. Ms. Muller says she is now working with a client who is moving out of a six-bedroom home and paying $40,000 for the regular movers, $42,000 to the fine arts movers and then the additional NouvelleView fee.

Fine arts movers are notoriously costly. “I always say to clients that we are the most expensive in the business,” said Michael Jaque, a director at the shipping company Gander & White. For residential moves, the company’s prices range from $15,000 up to $100,000. “Most clients think that packing and moving can be done in one day,” he said, “but the reality is that even with a small two-bedroom, the minimum is usually 5 to 10 days.”

For those who want extra care taken with their property but don’t have the stomach to shell out $100,000, FlatRate Elite uses an à la carte menu: Clients can buy services like a carpenter to build custom crates, with prices starting at $120 apiece, or a car service to drive them to their new home for a minimum of $200. The company also takes photos of bookshelves and kitchen cabinets, so that when it unpacks customers’ things at the new home, it can put them back in the same exact order it found them.

“It isn’t like someone who loads up a truck with delicate oil paintings and then lets it sit there moldering away,” said Sara Cassis, who hired the company several times. Frequent movers, Mrs. Cassis, who is a partner in a women’s clothing line, and her husband, John, a health care venture capitalist, are using FlatRate Elite for an upcoming move to a three-bedroom apartment near the United Nations, from their current home on Central Park South.

Cassio Alves, of San Francisco, an estate manager for a celebrity author whom he declined to name, also uses FlatRate Elite for his employer’s moves. “I deal with a lot of art handlers, but they have a very specific expertise,” he said. “When I do a move, I move art pieces and antique furniture to dresses and underwear, and I need someone that can handle all of that.” Mr. Alves paid $6,500 to $9,250 when moving two- and three-bedroom apartments for his employer.

It is little surprise that high-end moving companies and other ancillary services are growing in lock step with the city’s increasing stock of luxury condominiums. But while some may point to the trend as yet another sign of a frothy, overheated market, there is a practical side.

Next time your lease runs out and you face a dreaded move, perk up. For just a few thousand dollars more, you can hire someone else to do all the heavy lifting and then some.

A version of this article appears in print on July 13, 2014, on page RE1 of the New York edition with the headline: Your Move, Their Headache. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe","In recent years, a number of companies have cropped up that promise to ease the hardships of moving, for a price."
"Unlike Ferguson, North Charleston or Baltimore, no one was killed or injured here. This is an affluent, mostly white area without a history of serious racial tension.

But the expressions of anger and the demands for change on Monday night in McKinney, Texas, recalled scenes from elsewhere in the US: hundreds of demonstrators protested then marched to the spot where three days earlier a police officer shoved a teenage girl in a bathing suit to the ground, swore and pointed a gun at two unarmed boys.

The officer’s response to a minor fracas at a pool party was so intense that a bystander’s video of Eric Casebolt’s actions turned the weekend event into the latest episode of the broiling controversy over police aggression in their encounters with black people.

The footage posted online had only attracted significant media attention the day before, but the community moved so quickly that about 500 people attended the rally, which began at an elementary school in the city on the northern edge of Dallas. The chants demanding reform and accountability and the “Black Lives Matter” T-shirts and placards underlined the reality that this event was an heir to the outrage that had boiled up in other cities – the latest waypoint for a movement.

Casebolt, who had been with the police department in McKinney for a decade, was placed on administrative leave on Sunday for his role in the incident.

“It may not be Baltimore but folks are going to come out and protest when it’s blatantly wrong,” said Hillis Davis, a 52-year-old from the nearby city of Frisco.

Elbert Denkins, a 44-year-old who works for the US navy, said he came “to support my neighbourhood and everybody who’s involved with it because it’s happening everywhere, it needs to stop”.

He said the wave of protests against the police was empowering. “I think they’re getting some confidence to come out here and not be afraid any more. At one point in time nobody really wanted to say anything. They were like: ‘You know what, they’re going to take care of it’,” he said.

“[But police are] doing it with adults a lot, now children – 14-year-old, 15-year-old celebrating that school is out, at a swimming pool party. That’s just ridiculous. Us coming out here to support this is letting the city of McKinney, north Dallas, wherever they may be, know we’re not going to tolerate it.”

A handful of pro-police demonstrators turned up, one with a banner reading: “This is not a Selma audition”. Meanwhile, claims about the origins of the disturbance were propagated on social media: that dozens of uninvited guests crashed the party, drank, smoked weed, had sex and generally acted like hooligans; that residents fear more trouble; and that the large-scale police response was not an over-reaction.

An interview was posted on YouTube with a woman named Tatiana, one of the party’s organisers, who said that a fight broke out after she and her friends were racially abused by a white woman. Tatiana claimed she was told to go back to her “section 8 home”, a reference to low-rent housing projects that has a particular resonance in this growing city of 150,000 people, 30 miles north of Dallas.

In 2009, the city was sued by a non-profit organisation for allegedly refusing to develop low-income housing on its west side, preferring it be built on the poorer east side. The swimming pool’s location, in the Craig Ranch subdivision in the west of the city, is a good approximation of the suburban American dream: modern, spacious, immaculately manicured and with mansions even a Beverly Hills resident might deem excessively large, available for under $500,000 (£325,000). Census figures show it is about 75% white.

A black teenager who said he was at the party offered the theory that a pool security guard did not realise there were two parties at the pool – one predominantly white, and one black. “He only picked on the black people, saying: ‘Where’s your keycard?’” the boy said.

Jahda Bakari said she went to help Dajerria Becton after Casebolt grabbed her and wrestled her down, face-first. “After he threw the girl to the ground I tried helping her then he punched me in the face,” the 13-year-old said. “I think it was based on race mostly as he was only targeting the black people.”

However, Maurice Gray, a black 41-year-old who said his wife and five children were at the party, disagreed. He said he had lived in the area for three and a half years without encountering any problems with the police and that their response spiralled out of control because of one man’s incompetence rather than any institutional racism.

“These pool parties have been going on for a while. It’s not like this is not normal,” he said. “[People are] trying to make it a race thing but it’s just right and wrong … one officer just kind of went rogue,” he said.

After making the 25-minute walk from the school, accompanied by police who had closed off roads, protesters massed in front of the locked entrance to the pool, which is reached through a building with an aesthetic of country-club-meets-alpine-chalet. Dozens of residents stood outside their homes taking images with their cellphones.

Brian Hettish seemed taken aback by the drama. “Nothing happens here, like, ever. I mean, last year this place was voted best place to live in America. This isn’t a race thing,” the 20-year-old said.

But normality was suspended on Monday night. While demonstrators stood on the grass where the video was filmed and agitated for change, there was no one in the water, save for a plastic turtle float that bobbed gently on the surface. “Pool is temporarily closed for treatment,” said a sign at the gate.","McKinney may be a largely white and affluent suburb, but residents are divided over whether that makes it immune from police racism"
"Oracle filed a multibillion-dollar copyright lawsuit against Google because Oracle failed in its own attempts to enter the smartphone market, a Google attorney said in closing arguments on Monday.

In a retrial in federal court in San Francisco, Oracle has claimed Google’s Android smartphone operating system violated its copyright on parts of Java, a development platform. Alphabet’s Google unit said it should be able to use Java without paying a fee under the fair-use provision of copyright law.

A trial in 2012 ended in a deadlocked jury, and if the current jury rules against Google on fair use, then it would consider Oracle’s request for about $9 billion in damages.

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The case has been closely watched by software developers, who fear an Oracle victory could spur more software copyright lawsuits.

However, investors see little risk for Google because the company could afford to pay a onetime fine, and the possibility of an injunction that would force Google to pay ongoing royalties to Oracle appears remote.

In court on Monday, Google attorney Robert Van Nest played a video of a speech by Oracle chairman Larry Ellison praising “our friends at Google” for building devices that use Java. Ellison then suggested Oracle should also build similar hardware.

But Oracle was never able to build a smartphone of its own, Van Nest said, so it decided to accuse Google of unfair copying instead.

“They now want all the credit and a whole lot of money,” Van Nest said. “That’s not fair.”

But Oracle attorney Peter Bicks said it was Google that needed a quick way to build a viable smartphone, and purposefully decided to use Java without a license.

Bicks presented internal Google documents, in which company executives contemplated being “out of business in 10 years” if they did not quickly enter the mobile market.

“They knew they were breaking the rules, they knew they were taking short cuts, and they knew it was wrong,” Bicks said.",Yet investors see little risk for Google.
"Entries are piling up for a slogan contest being held this year by the North American Manure Expo.

The trade show, now in its 13th year, showcases the latest technology in manure handling, treatment and application. It's being held in July in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania.

An official event slogan has already been settled on: ""2015 Manure Expo: Manure than you can Handle!"" It will appear on the front of a T-shirt.

But contestants are vying to land a spot on the back of the T-shirt, which event organizers say will display 10 of the ""crappiest"" also-rans. Writers of the 10 alternate slogans get a free T-shirt.

Many entries, predictably, contain a vulgar substitute for ""manure.""

Here are 10 (printable) entries from the approximately 200, that were submitted by Thursday:

— Manure Expo, where nobody stands behind their product.

— You provide the creek. We provide the paddle.

— Keep your friends close, and your manure further.

— The future of what's left behind!

— We do doo. Do you?

— Manure Happens (to be Nutritious!)

— Been there, Spread that ... @ the North American Manure Expo

— Proud survivor of North American Manure Expo ... It got deep.

— Heaping piles of fun!

— North American crap shoot.",Entries are piling up for a slogan contest being held this year by the North American Manure Expo.
"Walk into room S-211 of the U.S. Capitol and one can imagine Lyndon Baines Johnson slung deep into an armchair, feet propped up on the desk, chain-smoking and dialing a coalition of northeast senators to cajole them to back a bill he was trying to maneuver through the Senate.

S-211 of the Capitol is known today as the LBJ Room. That's the suite Johnson used when he was Senate Majority Leader and ran the chamber with an iron fist.

In Johnson's day, S-211 was ""backstage."" This is where Johnson hatched parliamentary tactics and honed agreements with recalcitrant lawmakers far away from the public eye.

But S-211 was anything but backstage Wednesday.

Over the past few days, backstage has been the offices of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev. That's where Democratic lawmakers and White House officials crafted a $789 billion stimulus bill to billion stimulus bill designed to resuscitate a languid economy a languid economy.

The irony is that they converted what was once LBJ's sanctum into the very public space where lawmakers met Wednesday in a rare, tribal ritual exclusive to Washington: the conference committee.

The House approved one version of the bill. The Senate, another. So House and Senate members must caucus in a conference committee to negotiate a definitive version of the legislation to send to the president for his signature.

So for the conference committee, several hundred aides, journalists and Members of Congress squeezed into S-211, dialing through BlackBerries and sifting through large, accordion binders.

In the center of the room, Congressional workers lined up five card tables side-by-side and covered them with a royal blue drop cloth They positioned ten bottles of Deer Park Water and accompanying glasses around the tables next to placards bearing the names Mr. Rangel, Mr. Camp and Mr. Baucus.

The conference committee was scheduled to start at 3 p.m.. But the minutes ticked by and the room baked from the crowd. At 3:45, the head of the conference committee, Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii, made an announcement.

""I have just been advised that the leadership of the House has gathered to be briefed on the bill. We will have to shift this to later in the day,"" Inouye explained in his deep baritone.

Groans echoed around the room. And like they were running an evacuation drill, the aides, journalists and lawmakers emptied out of S-211.

For 45 minutes, the LBJ Room was the epicenter of the Beltway universe. But in less than 30 seconds, it morphed into a backwater outpost. The card tables, placards and water bottles, relics of the most important place in Washington moments ago.

Whispers raced through the Capitol. Was the stimulus bill in trouble? Was there a snag? One of the negotiators, Rep. Jerry Lewis, R-Calif., attempted to portray the Democrats as being in ""disarray.""

""It startles me that they're having a meeting that they can't agree on in the first place,"" said Lewis.

The Democratic leadership team wanted to brief its members on what would be in the final version of the legislation and smooth out some rough spots with lawmakers who would be unhappy with what was stripped from the package. One senior House aide confided that the 3 pm meeting time was a ""huge lift.""

Some House Democrats weren't pleased with the bill.

""They said that there was a deal that didn't exist,"" said Rep. Jose Serrano, D-N.Y.

Members of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) appeared frustrated about cuts to the Neighborhood Stabilization Fund.

The House approved $4.2 billion for the fund. But the Senate zeroed that money out in its bill.

CBC member Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., laughed when asked by a reporter if the Senate had ""jammed"" the House.

""You are not going to get me to answer that one,"" said Cummings.

But despite the misgivings, lawmakers finally started the conference committee around 5:35 p.m. And Harry Reid suggested that just holding the meeting was significant.

""This is the first, open conference we've had in 15 years,"" Reid said.

He then turned to the Republicans at the table.

""You did all of your conferences in secret,"" Reid added.

But Jerry Lewis asked Daniel Inouye whether this was a true conference or just for show.

""It's astonishing to have my friend from Hawaii come and sit here for 45 minutes while others are negotiating something down the hallway,"" Lewis said.

One by one, each negotiator spoke about the bill. But Inouye prohibited any of the conferees from offering any amendments to alter the package. The legislation was already written and wheeled in on carts as the conference committee started. The exercise was essentially a press conference where lawmakers from both sides spoke for or against the bill.

Almost exactly an hour after he gaveled the meeting into session, Inouye ended it. And Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., told reporters the deal was sealed.

The throng again departed the overstuffed LBJ Room. During the conference committee, House Appropriations Committee Chairman Dave Obey, D-Wis., remarked on the irony of meeting in the cramped quarters that once served as LBJ's office.

""The Congress can spend $600 million for a visitor's center and still not have a room big enough for a conference and everyone who wants to watch this puzzle factory at work,"" Obey snorted.

A Democratic aide volunteered this nugget: ""That's because the only way to get a bill done is behind closed doors.""

A principle not lost on the man for whom the conference committee room was named, Lyndon Baines Johnson.

Chad Pergram covers Congress for FOX News. He's won an Edward R. Murrow Award and the Joan Barone Award for his reporting on Capitol Hill.","Congressional leaders converted what was once LBJ's sanctum into the very public space where lawmakers met Wednesday in a rare, tribal ritual exclusive to Washington: the conference committee"
"The Army mistakenly sent letters addressed ""Dear John Doe"" to 7,000 family members of soldiers who died in Iraq and Afghanistan, unleashing calls from troubled relatives and prompting a formal apology yesterday from the Army's top general.

""The indication that anyone would perceive that a hero is not significant, that they would not direct this personally to them, is shattering,"" said Merrilee Carlson, whose son, Sgt. Michael Carlson, died in Baqubah, Iraq, on Jan. 24, 2005. ""While it's a simple mistake, it's a very tragic mistake,"" said Carlson, who learned of the letter from other families and expected to receive one yesterday.

The letters, mailed late last month by the Army's Casualty and Mortuary Affairs Operation Center in Alexandria, contained information about private organizations that assist families of the fallen. But in what the Army called a printing error by a contractor, the letters did not contain specific names and addresses; instead, they had the placeholder greeting ""Dear John Doe.""

Army Chief of Staff Gen. George W. Casey Jr. is sending a personal apology letter to the 7,000 family members, Army spokesman Paul Boyce said yesterday. ""Obviously, this is insensitive, and we wanted to apologize,"" said Boyce, adding that the Army became aware of what he called the ""glitch"" when several families began contacting the service in recent days.

""There are no words to adequately apologize for this mistake or for the hurt it may have caused,"" Brig. Gen. Reuben D. Jones, the Army adjutant general, wrote yesterday in a statement.

At the same time, he said, ""it is important the original intent of the letter is not lost. The organizations mentioned are dedicated to honoring loved ones and recognizing their sacrifice and commitment.""

Carlson said she is contacting other Army Gold Star mothers -- a designation for mothers of troops who died in military service -- to warn them about the letter and explain that it was a mistake. ""The Army treasures its heroes, and they will work hard to make sure it never happens again,"" said Carlson, president of Families United for Our Troops and Their Mission, a Washington-based nonprofit coalition that includes family members of fallen troops and supports the mission of building democracy in the Middle East.","Get Washington DC,Virginia,Maryland and national news. Get the latest/breaking news,featuring national security,science and courts. Read news headlines from the nation and from The Washington Post. Visit www.washingtonpost.com/nation today."
"In recent weeks I have been ridiculed, derided, mocked and I believe even spit upon -- though I was very near Wall Street at the time and it might have been rain-drops -- for my prediction this past summer that Rick Perry would win the GOP nomination and beat President Obama in 2012.

Last night I swear I thought my pet hound was mocking me too.

Political predictions sometimes are dead on -- as I was in my 2006 prediction of Obama taking it all -- and sometimes not so much.

So it was with special interest I caught some of the press tour Governor Perry did across the morning shows this today. With great humility, he was engaging, able to laugh at his own gaffe and in all sincerity he came across as likable.

When I made the prediction this summer, I didn't personally realize his extremely limited experience in the debate world. I wasn't even aware that he'd only participated in four debates in the last decade. He doubled that number within less than a month of being on the trail.

But being President isn't about debates; it's about discretion, discernment and decisions.

The five reasons I asserted that Governor Perry would have the best shot at beating Obama were simple ones: He decisively created more jobs than Obama. He greatly respects and tries to encourage small businesses. He has a clear understanding of federalism and what states shouldn't be forced into. He has solid core convictions that replicate most of America. And he could unite the core conservative Democrats, Republicans and Independents across the nation on economic, social and defense policy.

All five of those reasons remain -- even now -- solidly relevant and valid.

However, he's certainly nowhere near where I thought he'd be by now. But before all the pundits completely write him off, let me proffer the four things he's got to do to get back in the game.

4. Remain humble, human and likable: Self-deprecating humor worked amazingly well for President Bush. Everyone watching politics at present (which is very few compared to the votes to be cast next year) already dislikes the fact that Mitt Romney is stiff and unflinching. Americans also don't mind a candidate being flawed. Hey... the nation elected Bill Clinton, twice!

3. Turn the gaffe into a theme: And in a way he already has. Gov. Perry had repeatedly said in stump speeches how much he wants to make Washington ""inconsequential to the lives of everyday Americans."" This is a red-meat applause line that gets the Tea Party, small government Democrats and Republicans charged. But there's a whole theme of ""Forget Washington"" ideas that could make for valid points of policy.

2. Stay on offense: The Wall Street Journal raved about both his energy and tax/economic plans. He's got tremendous skill on protecting the border and a high degree of knowledge on national security. He also represents the codes of morality, values and conscience that the nation seeks in a leader, and no divorce, sex harassment, or issue flip-flop scandals to stare down.

1. Fight like mad, for the future of America: The people of this nation will forgive many flaws. What they wish to see in their leader is an all out advocate for welfare of the nation, coupled with the discipline of constitutional roots. So give it them. Take on Obama, show them the future with job creation under a Perry economy. Pledge to keep your watchful eye on terrorists and other harmful elements. Do your best 24 hours a day to make the American PEOPLE, their economic success, and their family's safety the goal of your presidency, and do it until you drop.

In the end, winning the Presidency is about winning a very long marathon. I'm not sure if my prediction about Rick Perry will come true. But the reasons I gave for his narrative being the best one to face President Obama in the general election still hold. After all, which person would you vote for in the general election: the guy who lost two million jobs for the nation, or the guy who created nearly half of all new jobs in the nation over that same period of time? And, who wants to get Washington D.C.'s influence out of your life so badly that he literally forgot part of that bureaucratic nightmare called the Federal Government?

Kevin McCullough is the nationally syndicated host of ""The Kevin McCullough Show"" weekdays (7-9am EST) & ""Baldwin/McCullough Radio"" Saturdays (9-11pm EST) on 289 stations. His newest best-selling hardcover from Thomas Nelson Publishers, ""No He Can't: How Barack Obama is Dismantling Hope and Change"" is in stores now.","In recent weeks I have been ridiculed, derided, mocked, and I believe even spit upon for my prediction this past summer that Rick Perry would win the GOP nomination and beat President Obama in 2012."
"Remember back when 4G LTE came out and we were all amazed by the super-fast Internet speeds we could get on our phones? Well just wait until you get a look at what you’re going to get with 5G connectivity. AT&T on Friday unveiled its 5G network roadmap for 2016 and if all goes according to plan, the carrier could launch services on a limited basis starting this year.

5G is the next generation of wireless data technology that will deliver speeds 100 times faster than today’s 4G LTE services by using technologies such as millimeter waves, network function virtualization (NFV), and software-defined networking (SDN). Tests will begin in AT&T labs in the second quarter this year while outdoor tests of 5G will take place over the summer.

“Customers will see speeds measured in gigabits per second, not megabits,” AT&T crows. “For reference, at one gigabit per second, you can download a TV show in less than 3 seconds. Customers will also see much lower latency with 5G. Latency, for example, is how long it takes after you press play on a video app for the video to start streaming on your device. We expect 5G latency in the range of 1 to 5 milliseconds.”

Of course, having a 1Gbps connection won’t be of much use if you’re only allowed to use 5GB per month before getting nailed with overage fees. It’s probably safe to assume 5G networks will have significantly higher data caps than what they have now but this is definitely something to keep an eye on when services roll out.

AT&T tells us that “an early use of 5G’s underlying technology could be delivering broadband to homes and businesses” while explaining that “it’s possible that we could have limited commercial availability this year depending on the trials.”

Check out the company’s full press release at this link.","Remember back when 4G LTE came out and we were all amazed by the super-fast Internet speeds we could get on our phones? Well just wait until you get a look at what you’re going to get with 5G connectivity. AT&T on Friday unveiled its 5G network roadmap for 2016 and if all goes according to plan, the carrier could launch services on a limited basis starting this year."
"Dick LeBeau, one of the most revered defensive coordinators in the NFL who is regarded as the architect of the zone blitz that is copied by so many other teams, has agreed to mutually part ways with the Steelers.

LeBeau just completed his 11th season in his second tour of duty with the Steelers, but he was asked to resign after meeting for several days with the Steelers coach, Mike Tomlin.

“I’m resigning, I’m not retiring,” LeBeau said in an interview with the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette after the story was first reported by the Urbana Daily Citizen. “It was a lot of great days, a lot of great years. It’s time to go in a different direction.”

During his tenure with the Steelers, LeBeau’s defense ranked No1 overall in the league five times and in the top five 10 times.

The likely successor to the 77-year-old is linebackers coach Keith Butler, who has been with the team since 2003 and been given several indications over the years he will be the next defensive coordinator. The Steelers have blocked opportunities for Butler to interview with other teams by increasing his pay and giving him a three-year contract when most other assistant coaches get two-year deals.

“It happens,” said LeBeau, a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame who spent 56 years in the league as a player and coach “It’s like I’m starting brand new. In this business you can end up in that position.”

LeBeau said he did not know if he will continue to coach in the NFL. “I don’t even know, but I’m not retiring,” LeBeau said. “There might not be anyone interested.”","Dick LeBeau, arguably the most revered defensive co-ordinator in the NFL, has parted ways with the Steelers"
"She left a broken home on the Jersey Shore at 17 and came to New York City to work the nightclubs as a rhythm and blues singer. Now, at 22, she is the unwitting, and as yet unseen, star of the seamy drama that is the downfall of Gov. Eliot Spitzer of New York.

Kristen, the prostitute described in a federal affidavit as having had a rendezvous with Mr. Spitzer on Feb. 13 at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, has spent the last few days in her ninth-floor apartment in the Flatiron district of Manhattan. On Monday, she made a brief appearance in federal court, where a lawyer was appointed to represent her. She is expected to be a witness in the case against four people charged with operating a prostitution ring called the Emperor’s Club V.I.P.

In a series of telephone interviews on Tuesday night, she said she had slept very little over the past week, with all the stress of the case.

“I just don’t want to be thought of as a monster,” the woman said as she told the tiniest tidbits of her story.

Born Ashley Youmans but now known as Ashley Alexandra Dupré, she spoke softly and with good humor as she added with significant understatement: “This has been a very difficult time. It is complicated.”

She has not been charged. The lawyer appointed to represent her, Don D. Buchwald, told a magistrate judge in court on Monday that she had been subpoenaed to testify in a grand jury investigation. Asked to swear that she had accurately filled out and signed a financial affidavit, she responded affirmatively.

A person with knowledge of the Emperor’s Club operation confirmed that the woman interviewed by The New York Times was the woman identified as Kristen in the affidavit. Mr. Buchwald confirmed various details of Ms. Dupré’s background but would not discuss the contents of the affidavit.

Ms. Dupré said by telephone Tuesday night that she was worried about how she would pay her rent since the man she was living with “walked out on me” after she discovered he had fathered two children. She said she was considering working at a friend’s restaurant or, once her apartment lease expires, moving back with her family in New Jersey “to relax.”

She did not say when she had started working for the Emperor’s Club, or how often she had liaisons arranged through the ring. Asked when she met Governor Spitzer and how many times they had seen each other, Ms. Dupré said she had no comment.

As of Wednesday morning, Ms. Dupré’s MySpace page recounted her “odyssey to New York from New Jersey through North Carolina, Miami, D.C., Virginia and Austin, Texas;” public records show that she lived in Monmouth County, N.J., in 2001, and in North Carolina in 2003. She owns a company, created in 2005, called Pasche New York, which her lawyer said was an entertainment business designed to further her singing career.

Music is her first love, and on the MySpace page, Ms. Dupré mentions Patsy Cline, Frank Sinatra, Christina Aguilera and Lauryn Hill among a long list of influences, including her brother, Kyle. (She also lists Whitney Houston, Madonna, Mary J. Blige and Amy Winehouse as her top MySpace friends.) In the interview, she said she saw the Rolling Stones perform at Radio City Music Hall on their last tour after a friend gave her two tickets. “They were amazing,” she said.

On MySpace, her page says: “I am all about my music and my music is all about me. It flows from what I’ve been through, what I’ve seen and how I feel.”

She left “a broken family” at age 17, having been abused, according to the MySpace page, and has used drugs and “been broke and homeless.”

“Learned what it was like to have everything and lose it, again and again,” she writes. “Learned what it was like to wake up one day and have the people you care about most gone.

“But I made it,” she continues. “I’m still here and I love who I am. If I never went through the hard times, I would not be able to appreciate the good ones. Cliché, yes, but I know it’s true.”

Ms. Dupré’s mother, Carolyn Capalbo, 46, said that after her daughter finished sophomore year in high school, Ms. Dupré moved to North Carolina. “She was a young kid with typical teenage rebellion issues, but we are extremely close now,” Ms. Capalbo said in a telephone interview Wednesday.

In 2006, Ms. Dupré changed her legal name, according to records in Monmouth County Superior Court, from Ashley R. Youmans to Ashley Rae Maika DiPietro, taking her stepfather’s surname since she regarded him as “the only father I have known.” But in the interview, she referred to herself as Ashley Alexandra Dupré, which is how she is known on MySpace.

On the Web page is a recording of what she describes as her latest track, “What We Want,” a hip-hop-inflected rhythm-and-blues tune that asks, “Can you handle me, boy?” and uses some dated slang, calling someone her “boo.”

“I know what you want, you got what I want,” she sings in the chorus. “I know what you need. Can you handle me?”

Her MySpace biography says she started singing professionally after a musician she was living with heard her singing the Aretha Franklin hit “Respect” in the shower and burst into the bathroom with his lead guitarist. She says she toured and recorded with them, then moved to Manhattan in 2004 and “spent the first two years getting to know the music scene, networking in clubs and connecting with the industry.

“Now it’s all about my music, it’s all about expressing me.”

In the affidavit, the woman the Emperor’s Club called Kristen is described as “an American, petite, very pretty brunette, 5 feet 5 inches, and 105 pounds.” She apparently was booked at about $1,000 an hour, placing her in the middle of the seven-diamond scale by which the prostitutes were paid up to $4,300 an hour.

Ms. Capalbo said that she was “shell-shocked” when her daughter called in the middle of last week and told her she had been working as an escort and was now in trouble with the law. She said she was not sure that Ms. Dupré realized who Mr. Spitzer was when he was her client.

“She is a very bright girl who can handle someone like the governor,” Ms. Capalbo said. “But she also is a 22-year-old, not a 32-year-old or a 42-year-old, and she obviously got involved in something much larger than her.”","Ashley Alexandra Dupré, 22, the woman called Kristen in an affidavit describing her rendezvous with Eliot Spitzer, said in an interview, “I just don’t want to be thought of as a monster.”"
"As Americans gather with their families at Christmastime, we should pause to remember four who are not coming home for the holidays.

James Foley will not be with his family in New Hampshire. Steven Sotloff will not be going home to Florida. And Peter Kassig will not be at the table in Indiana. The three men — two journalists and an aid worker — were beheaded this year by the Islamic State terror group, which had taken them hostage in Syria. A fourth American, a female aid worker, remains held by Islamic State captors.

Dana Milbank writes about political theater in the nation’s capital. He joined the Post as a political reporter in 2000.

Those responsible for this suffering and death are the barbarians who seized these Americans — pure and simple. But it’s also undeniable that their hope of a homecoming was set back by a well-intentioned U.S. policy that doesn’t allow their loved ones to negotiate for their safe return.

Of the 23 known Islamic State hostages, the 15 who have been freed — four French, three Spaniards, two Danes, an Italian, a German, a Belgian, a Swede, a Swiss and a Peruvian — generally came from countries known to allow ransom. The six killed (a Russian and two Brits in addition to the Americans) came from countries that generally don’t. (One Briton is known to remain in captivity along with the American, whose family has requested that she not be identified.)

In theory, the no-ransom policy makes sense as part of an overall strategy that says no negotiations with terrorists. But in practice, American purity in this area is neither real (the United States often cuts deals with terrorists and their sponsors) nor productive.

James Foley’s mother, Diane, told ABC News after her son’s death that she had been threatened with prosecution by U.S. officials, including one on the White House’s National Security Council, if she tried to raise money to pay her son’s ransom. “I was surprised there was so little compassion,” she said. “We were told we could do nothing.”

The Obama administration, which attempted a military rescue of Foley and others, expects to complete this spring a review of its hostage policy and has sent letters to hostages’ families seeking their input. An NSC spokeswoman said the review “does not include reconsideration of ransoms” but that the administration is seeking to do what it can “within the bounds of the law to assist families to bring their loved ones home.”

There’s no call for the United States to go as far as European countries, which officially deny paying ransom but which quietly have paid tens of millions of dollars to free hostages. Still, the U.S. alternative — attempting rescue raids for hostages (one in Syria and two in Yemen) — has been both deadly and fruitless.

What the Obama administration could do, rather, is to drop any suggestion that families and would-be donors could be turned into criminals for trying to save their kin and fellow Americans. If the government isn’t willing to pursue hostage negotiations, it could at least help families and other private parties make diplomatic connections so they could give it a try. Such an approach involving the Qatari government succeeded in winning the release of Peter Theo Curtis, an American writer who had been held in Syria by the al-Nusra Front, a group affiliated with al-Qaeda.

The administration has argued that paying ransom and bargaining with terrorists would make Americans more vulnerable to hostage-taking. But the hard-line stance clearly hasn’t stopped terrorists from seizing Americans; it means only that these Americans are more likely to die. It’s also unpersuasive for the Obama administration to claim an absolute position against dealing with terrorists. The administration just traded five high-value Taliban leaders for the release of captive U.S. soldier Bowe Bergdahl. In Iran, the Obama administration didn’t object when three American hikers and a Canadian Iranian correspondent for Newsweek were released after paying bail of as much as $500,000. Paying bail to a state sponsor of terrorism for the release of a prisoner is not far from paying ransom to a terrorist group for the release of a hostage.

Just last week, the administration agreed to release three imprisoned Cuban spies in a swap with Havana — also labeled a state sponsor of terrorism — for a U.S. intelligence agent and the “humanitarian” release of political prisoner Alan Gross. Around the same time, Sony Pictures Entertainment bowed to threats of violence made by North Korea, pulling its provocative film “The Interview” and surrendering a reported $90 million (it has since opted for a “limited release”).

Sony’s buckling to terrorist threats dwarfs the modest hopes of the families of hostages to attempt to buy the freedom of their loved ones. Such efforts won’t always work, of course; the Islamic State had demanded €100 million euros for Foley, a preposterous sum that suggests it didn’t expect payment. But it would be humane to abandon a policy that compounds the suffering of hostages’ parents by punishing them for trying to help their children.

Read more from Dana Milbank’s archive, follow him on Twitter or subscribe to his updates on Facebook.",A hardline stance hasn’t stopped terrorists from seizing Americans.
"It's important for swimmers to minimize the amount of contaminants in the water by showering beforehand.

(CNN) -- Catherine Garceau doesn't go to the pool anymore. The former Olympic swimmer has trained at many fitness centers over the years that smelled strongly of chlorine. While most would assume that means the water is clean, Garceau now knows it's just the opposite.

After winning bronze in 2000 with the Canadian synchronized swimming team in Sydney, Australia, Garceau was a ""mess."" Her digestive system was in turmoil, she had chronic bronchitis and she suffered from frequent migraines.

Garceau retired in 2002 and began looking into holistic medicine. Experts suggested detoxifying her body to rid it of chemicals, including what fellow teammates used to jokingly refer to as ""eau de chlorine -- the swimmer's perfume.""

""As part of my journey to determine the factors that affected my health, I delved into the possible effects of chlorine and discovered some shocking facts,"" Garceau writes in the appendix of her upcoming book, ""Heart of Bronze.""

Catherine Garceau retired from competitive swimming in 2002 and began looking into holistic medicine.

Outdoor pool season is ending in many parts of the country, and competitive swimmers are heading indoors for their workouts and team meets. But how safe are the waters they're diving into? Researchers are examining the longterm effects of the chemicals in pool water.

Chlorine inactivates most disease-causing germs within a fraction of a second. That's why it's found in our drinking water as well as 95% of pools in the United States, said Dr. Tom Lachocki, the CEO of the National Swimming Pool Foundation.

As Lachocki points out, access to clean water is what often separates first and third world countries. Without chlorine, swimmers are at risk of contracting many dangerous waterborne illnesses. But the chemical compounds formed in pools have some scientists worried.

""When you open up a tap and pour yourself a glass of water, you don't normally put someone's backside in it,"" Lachocki said. ""But in a pool there are people getting into that water. Every time a person gets in they're adding contaminants.""

Those contaminants -- sweat, hair, urine, makeup, sunscreen, etc. -- combine with chlorine to form chloramines, said pool consultant and researcher Alan Lewis. Chloramines are what bathers smell when they enter a pool area; a strong smell indicates too many ""disinfectant byproducts,"" or DBPs, in the water.

Indoor pools create an additional a danger because of the enclosed atmosphere. Volatile chemicals from the water are transferred, often via vigorous activity like a swim team's kicks, to the air. Without a proper ventilation system, the chemicals can hang around to be inhaled by coaches, lifeguards or spectators.

Some DBPs, like chloroform, are known as trihalomethanes, and are considered carcinogenic, Lewis said. They've been linked specifically to bladder and colorectal cancer.

Dr. Alfred Bernard is a professor of toxicology at the Catholic University of Louvain in Brussels and one of the world's leading researchers on aquatic environments. He has published a series of studies documenting the effects of chlorine and its byproducts in swimming pools.

There's an opportunity to throw the baby out with the bathwater.Tom Lachocki, CEO of NSPF

In June, Bernard published a study in the International Journal of Andrology linking chlorine with testicular damage. Swimming in indoor, chlorinated pools during childhood was shown to reduce levels of serum inhibin B and total testosterone, both indicators of sperm count and mobility. Bernard notes in the study summary that the ""highly permeable scrotum"" allows chlorine to be absorbed into the body.

Bernard has also substantiated previous studies' claims of a link between swimming in indoor chlorinated pools and the development of asthma and recurrent bronchitis in children. His 2007 study showed airway and lung permeability changes in children who had participated in an infant swimming group.

Reading these studies, it's easy to forget that swimming itself is a great aerobic exercise that puts less stress on your joints than activities like running. In fact, it's a sport often recommended for children with asthma because the humid, moist environment makes it easier for athletes to inhale and the breathing techniques can improve lung function.

""There's an opportunity to throw the baby out with the bathwater,"" Lachocki said. ""Is chlorine perfect? The answer is no. [But] it's fabulous, and if anyone comes up with something better they'll be a millionaire.""

Dr. Ernest ""Chip"" Blatchley studies water disinfection systems with his team at Purdue University in Indiana. In their research, the team analyzes DBPs and other chemicals formed when chlorine and contaminants mix in pools. A swimmer himself, Blatchley believes the answer lies in finding a better system for water disinfection.

""The fact that these chemicals are being formed is, to me, a cause for concern,"" Blatchley said. ""A lot of this chemistry is just not known, and we need to do a better job at defining that chemistry.""

Blatchley is currently studying the effects of UV radiation on pool water. Other alternatives include ozone or salt water pools. But even salt water pools contain chlorine -- the salt is used to generate chlorine in the water instead of a pool operator adding chlorine directly. While it reduces the danger of storing chemicals in the facility, the water chemistry is very similar, he said.

Perhaps the simplest solutions, Blatchley and Lachocki agree, can come from pool operators and patrons. Chlorine is effective when used in proper amounts and tested regularly. The National Swimming Pool Foundation offers training for professional and personal pool owners.

It's also important for swimmers to minimize the amount of contaminants in the water. Almost 85% of the urea found on human skin can be dispelled by showering with soap before getting in the pool.

""It's a public education thing,"" Blatchley said. ""Swimmers and the general public need to recognize that there's a link between their hygiene habits and the health of everyone who uses the pool.""

And of course, the other preventive measure is common sense (although you'd be surprised how many people admit to doing it).

""If you don't pee or poop in the pool, that's cool too,"" Lachocki said.",Researchers are trying to determine the longterm effects of the chemicals in pool water.
"In a conference call on Tuesday, 75 to 100 Republicans who had offered to back the politician better known for his acting career were urged to raise roughly $50,000 each for the financial underpinnings of a Thompson bid that has been in the making for months. Five people closely involved in the emerging campaign discussed the plans in interviews Wednesday but asked not to be identified because they were not authorized to talk publicly about the details.

Participants on the call said Mr. Thompson was enthusiastic about becoming an alternative to current contenders led by former Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani of New York, Senator John McCain of Arizona and former Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts. They said he was not ready to formally announce without evidence that he could draw the necessary financial support.

“You have to raise money to be competitive even if you are Fred Thompson,” said Representative Zach Wamp, a Tennessee Republican who has led an effort to draft Mr. Thompson.

In another development on Wednesday, Mr. Thompson asked to be released from his role on “Law & Order” on NBC, The Associated Press reported. The show’s executive producer, Dick Wolf, said Mr. Thompson had told him that he “has not made a firm decision about his political future” but that he was concerned about “the creative and scheduling constraints of the upcoming season.”

By joining the race late, Mr. Thompson may face questions about his ability to compete against the top-tier Republican candidates who have already raised at least $10 million each. He will also not participate in the Republican debate in New Hampshire on Tuesday.

Tony Fabrizio, a Republican pollster and strategist who is not working for any candidate, said he was “surprised and a little sad” that Mr. Thompson had not declared himself a full-fledged candidate. Mr. Thompson has faced questions about his political commitment stemming from his days in the Senate.

“Thompson will be competing against three guys who have been running flat out for months and working their tails off for well over a year,” Mr. Fabrizio said. “If you’re not going to get in this race and double-time on work, effort and commitment, how do you expect to win? You need to send signals that say, ‘I’m here and I’m going to win.’ “

Although Mr. Thompson planned in the coming days to create what is known as a “testing the waters” committee that would allow him to raise and spend money, members of Mr. Thompson’s inner circle said that if the next few weeks were encouraging, he could officially enter the race as early as July.

“Fred Thompson is doing everything he has to do to gauge support to come to a final decision in a timely manner,” said Mark Corallo, who has been acting as his spokesman.

The intense interest in Mr. Thompson’s trajectory reflected concern in the rival Republican camps about his possible appeal across the South, among conservative and evangelical voters, who might be attracted to his mainstream conservative stances, like opposition to abortion and strong support for states’ rights.

“There are still a lot of undecided voters in South Carolina, and Fred Thompson comes with enormous appeal — I’d call it Ronald Reagan-like appeal,” said Katon Dawson, the chairman of the Republican Party in South Carolina, which holds one of the first presidential primaries. Allies of Mr. Thompson said they were confident he would attract big-name contributors and present and former office holders now supporting other candidates. But potential competitors questioned his ability to make such inroads.

Kevin Madden, a spokesman for Mr. Romney, disputed that Mr. Thompson might peel away conservative and evangelical voters whom the former Massachusetts governor has been courting. Mr. Madden noted that Mr. Romney might make his own gains in Thompson country when he appears Saturday as the keynote speaker at the Tennessee Republican Statesmen’s Dinner in Nashville.

“The governor looks at these events as opportunities — it could be a Romney crowd by the end of the night,” Mr. Madden said.

Anthony Carbonetti, an adviser to Mr. Giuliani, called Mr. Thompson “a good senator who was entitled to run.” But Mr. Carbonetti played down any concern in the Giuliani campaign that Mr. Thompson would run strongly among voters who are deeply concerned about national security and want a candidate who is socially conservative as well. Mr. Giuliani supports abortion rights.

Mr. Thompson, who was Republican counsel to the Watergate committee, served in the Senate for eight years before retiring in 2002 and was an ally of Mr. McCain’s. Mr. Thompson’s support for the campaign finance measure authored by his colleague from Arizona has brought criticism from conservatives, who have also raised some questions about his anti-abortion credentials.

For the past few months, Mr. Thompson has been running something of a shadow campaign, courting potential contributors, giving selected interviews and speeches, weighing in on conservative blogs and lining up staff members. At the same time, he has continued on the television show and as a commentator on ABC radio as a replacement for Paul Harvey. In April, he announced that he was in remission from lymphoma, a cancer he has had for more than two years.

The testing-the-waters group, to be formed as Friends of Fred Thompson Inc., allows him to take his political activities to another level but does not commit him entirely. It also frees him to gauge his support while leaving time for him to sort out his lucrative acting and commentating careers, which would have to be curtailed if he became a candidate or create equal-time issues.

The committee being set up does not yet fall under the Federal Election Commission reporting requirements, but if he enters the race all financial activity would have to be reported by mid-October.

With that in mind, Thompson advisers said the budding campaign would follow conventional campaign rules, including a $2,300 limit per individual contribution for the primary. Allies said that on the conference call, backers were urged to collect at least $46,000, or maximum donations from 20 individuals each. Advisers said several already had larger commitments.

“Money is a good test of whether the interest is as real as it seems,” one Thompson adviser said.

A version of this article appears in print on , on Page A1 of the New York edition with the headline: Stir in G.O.P. As Ex-Senator Moves to Run. Order Reprints| Today's Paper|Subscribe",Fred D. Thompson could shake up a field of candidates that has failed to strike a chord with the Republican base.
"Homer Bailey tried his Texas aw-shucks darnedest to give the Giants their due.

""Man,"" he said, ""that's a tough lineup to pitch to, with a tough rotation. I'm just fortunate, I guess.""

That quote was Bailey's only real mistake Tuesday night. The way he was throwing 97-mph bull's-eyes in the ninth inning, the impotent Giants were an easy mark, and nobody with any baseball sense should be shocked that the 27-year-old right-hander no-hit them in a 3-0 Reds victory.

""He just overpowered us,"" manager Bruce Bochy said after the Giants were one Gregor Blanco walk from being the victim of a perfect game at Great American Ball Park. ""That was impressive. He had a great fastball. He used it and it went right through us.""

In 2001, Bochy's Padres were no-hit twice, by the Cardinals' Bud Smith and the Marlins' A.J. Burnett.

""This one was probably the easiest,"" Bochy said. ""We were really just overmatched all night. When you're as overpowering as he was, and the way he was locating it, you have your work cut out for you. But you still think you can find a way to get a few hits.""

The Giants were no-hit for the 16th time in franchise history and the first time since Kevin Millwood of Philadelphia in 2003.

This was old hat for Bailey. He threw his second no-hitter in a span of 19 starts. He whitewashed the Pirates in his penultimate start of 2012. Nobody in the majors had one in between, making Bailey the first to accomplish such a repeat since another Texan did it in 1974 and 1975: Nolan Ryan.

Bailey threw four 97-mph fastballs to his final hitter, Blanco, who rolled a meek groundball to third. The 27,509 fans who had grown louder than usual as early as the sixth inning went eerily silent for a few seconds as they grasped what they were about to see: a Todd Frazier throw to Joey Votto to complete the no-hitter.

Bailey raised his arms as his teammates mobbed him in the kind of scene they had envisioned on this field when Bailey started Game 3 of the 2012 Division Series, the Hunter Pence speech game. Bailey allowed one hit (a Marco Scutaro single) over seven innings in that game, but the Giants won in 10 innings to start the first of their two big postseason comebacks.

On Tuesday, Bailey said he began thinking no-hitter in the sixth inning, then recalled a conversation he had with Votto during spring training.

""We were in the bathroom before a game,"" Bailey said. ""Joey said, 'You think you can throw another no-hitter?' I said, 'You think you can win another MVP?' and he said, 'Yes.' ""

Bailey's stuff against the Giants was no joke. He struck out nine - one more than losing pitcher Tim Lincecum - and did not require one exceptional defensive play. Andres Torres had the two hardest-hit balls, a fly to right in the third inning and a liner to center in the eighth that hung in the air long enough for Shin-Soo Choo to catch it.

Bailey was perfect until his 3-2 fastball to Blanco leading off the seventh inning tailed inside, drawing groans from the crowd but no complaints from Bailey, who said it was ball four and credited home-plate umpire Adrian Johnson for not expanding or contracting his strike zone all night.

Scutaro bounced out, sending Blanco to second before Buster Posey plopped a ball in front of Votto well off the line. Bailey was late covering the bag, so Votto threw to Frazier, who easily tagged out Blanco. Had Blanco been safe, the official scorer would have had to judge whether Votto or Bailey could have beaten Posey to the bag. If the scorer decided neither could, it might have been ruled a hit.

As the Reds celebrated the no-hitter, the Giants dressed in a deadly silent clubhouse and voiced a common theme. Hopefully, they said, this team finally hit rock-bottom. The Giants have in the NL West: The loss dropped them into sole possession of last place for the first time this year.

Asked what the Giants could do now, Brandon Crawford said with no irony, ""Get some hits.

""If we had an answer, we'd go out and do it. We'll come back tomorrow and play another game.""

On Tuesday, the Reds' Homer Bailey became the 11th pitcher to throw a no-hitter against the San Francisco Giants. A look at the first 10:

Henry Schulman is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: hschulman@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @hankschulman","The way he was throwing 97-mph bull's-eyes in the ninth inning, the impotent Giants were an easy mark, and nobody with any baseball sense should be shocked that the 27-year-old right-hander no-hit them in a 3-0 Reds victory.  In 2001, Bochy's Padres were no-hit twice, by the Cardinals' Bud Smith and the Marlins' A.J. Burnett.  The 27,509 fans who had grown louder than usual as early as the sixth inning went eerily silent for a few seconds as they grasped what they were about to see: a Todd Frazier throw to Joey Votto to complete the no-hitter.  Bailey raised his arms as his teammates mobbed him in the kind of scene they had envisioned on this field when Bailey started Game 3 of the 2012 Division Series, the Hunter Pence speech game.  Bailey allowed one hit (a Marco Scutaro single) over seven innings in that game, but the Giants won in 10 innings to start the first of their two big postseason comebacks.  On Tuesday, Bailey said he began thinking no-hitter in the sixth inning, then recalled a conversation he had with Votto during spring training.  Andres Torres had the two hardest-hit balls, a fly to right in the third inning and a liner to center in the eighth that hung in the air long enough for Shin-Soo Choo to catch it.  Bailey was perfect until his 3-2 fastball to Blanco leading off the seventh inning tailed inside, drawing groans from the crowd but no complaints from Bailey, who said it was ball four and credited home-plate umpire Adrian Johnson for not expanding or contracting his strike zone all night.  S.F. On Tuesday, the Reds' Homer Bailey became the 11th pitcher to throw a no-hitter against the San Francisco Giants."
"A U.S. anti-money laundering official on Tuesday added his voice to the chorus of regulators who have voiced their desire to see individuals pursued for wrongdoing, not just the companies at which the wrongdoing occurred. Kendall Day, head of asset forfeiture and money laundering in the U.S. Department of Justice’s criminal division, said at a […]","A U.S. anti-money laundering official on Tuesday added his voice to the chorus of regulators who have voiced their desire to see individuals pursued for wrongdoing, not just the companies at which the wrongdoing occurred. Two recent cases show, however that compliance officer liability is nuanced."
"Nonprofits don’t need to be complete digital masterminds to find success, but they do need to apply a digital lens to their work to stay relevant — especially if they want to rake in donations.

The proof is in the 2016 M+R Benchmarks Study, an annual report published by communications agency M+R and the Nonprofit Technology Network, which will be released in full on Wednesday.

The analysis of more than 100 leading nonprofits, 2.8 billion emails and 69.4 million subscribers shows that nonprofits still heavily rely on email to promote their causes, when they should be giving more attention to mobile and social media.

In 2015 alone, nonprofits sent the average email subscriber a staggering 49 messages to gain their attention, but email open rates, click-through rates and response rates all declined over the past year.

Though engagement via email is down for nonprofits, there is one place where email excels: raising money. Email revenue grew by 25% in 2015, accounting for 29% of all online revenue last year.

About 13% of the $481 million in online donations in 2015 came from mobile.

It indicates a larger shift in how younger generations are connecting with the causes they care about: through their phones. About 13% of the $481 million in online donations raised by leading organizations in 2015 came from mobile (overall giving, the study found, increased by 19%).

Social media, meanwhile, remains a strong way for nonprofits to reach supporters — and while that may seem obvious, many legacy organizations can be reluctant to allocate resources to social strategies.

But it's paying off for those that do. Over a 12-month period, the nonprofits surveyed — including Planned Parenthood, Oxfam America, GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders, the U.S. Humane Society and the U.S. Fund for UNICEF — saw an average of 29% growth of support on Facebook and a 25% growth of support on Twitter.

Check out more essential findings from the upcoming report in the exclusive infographic below.

This piece has been updated for clarification.

Have something to add to this story? Share it in the comments.","Nonprofits, take note: Email may be out, but mobile and social are in."
"CLEVELAND On the floor and corridors of the basketball arena hosting the Republican National Convention, in restaurants and bars, hotel lobbies and conference rooms across Cleveland, the talk was of the rise of Donald Trump, whose unlikely presidential candidacy has caused seismic fractures in the Republican Party.

While the venues changed, the question didn't: Where do we go from here?

This was the week that Trump was officially nominated as the Republicans' 2016 presidential candidate and was effectively given control of a party whose leaders have criticized him for his incendiary rhetoric, personal attacks on fellow Republicans, and tendency to stray from decades-old party orthodoxy.

He packed the convention hall with his grassroots army of supporters, who seemed almost completely disinterested in his policy positions, even though they could reshape the party for years to come on core issues like trade, immigration and foreign policy.

Those who were interested - party veterans, lawmakers, donors and lobbyists - found little clarity in any of the speeches delivered from the convention stage or in conversations with members of the Trump campaign.

Are we still a party that embraces free trade and free markets, they asked. Are we still committed to ending abortion rights? Do we want to create a path to legal status for undocumented immigrants or ship all of them out of the country?

Paul Ryan, speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives and the most powerful elected Republican, acknowledged that Trump has transformed his party. But he hedged on whether he believes Trump's impact will be lasting or simply a temporary phenomenon that will dissipate if he loses on Nov. 8.

“I don’t know the answer to that question. I really have no idea,” Ryan said at an event in Cleveland. Trump had changed the party, he said, but “how specifically and in what direction, I don’t know.”

Even after two days of speeches, Utah delegate Matt Throckmorton was still trying to figure out what a Trump presidency would mean for the Republican Party.

""What happens next?” asked Throckmorton.

In many way the uncertainty about Trump reflects the conflict within the Republican electorate. The party has struggled to find consensus on a number of key issues, according to Reuters/Ipsos polling during the 2016 campaign season.

For example, when asked in March about international trade, the same number of Republicans said it “creates jobs” as said it “causes job losses.”

When asked about abortion in June, the number of Republicans who wanted it to be illegal “in all cases” was matched by those who wanted it to be legal “in most cases.”

Trump had his biggest stage on Thursday night, when he officially accepted the party's nomination, to spell out his vision of where he would take the Republican Party if he won the presidency.

But his speech, rich in rhetoric, offered scant detail beyond sweeping promises to put ""America first.""

“If this Trump speech - and this GOP platform - defines what a Republican is today, then it's hard to say I'm one. Hard for a lot of us,” tweeted Tony Fratto, a White House spokesman under President George W Bush.

A week earlier, Republican activists were celebrating the adoption of a deeply conservative political platform that condemned gay marriage and opposed abortion with no exceptions, among other things.

Trump’s lineup of speakers at the convention this week barely referenced it.

""It's a little bit frightening,"" said Chris Herrod, another Utah delegate, explaining that the platform was one of the main ways delegates could help shape party policy. ""And he seems to have an attitude of just completely disregarding it.""

Trump campaign spokeswoman Hope Hicks said Trump was ""the future of the Republican Party.""

Away from the floor, some anti-Trump Republicans were quietly debating whether it would be better in the long-term interests of the party to lose the White House in November.

“This week we’re having some real anguished discussions,” said Vin Weber, a former congressman from Minnesota. “People are falling in line” with Trump, Weber said, “but what does this party believe?""

Take trade, for example. Republicans have long been the party of free trade, but Trump has said current trade deals have impoverished American workers and wants to renegotiate them or in some cases block them altogether, like President Barack Obama's signature Trans-Pacific Partnership.

Newt Gingrich, a former House speaker and a close Trump ally, worked to ease fears that a Trump administration would derail the U.S. economy by scrapping trade alliances.

“He has no interest in breaking up the world market,” Gingrich told a group of diplomats, adding that Trump was, in fact, committed to free trade with some added protections for American companies.

“Now how Trump will work this out, I have no idea,” Gingrich added.

Some attendees at the convention expressed the hope that Trump would align himself with many of their cherished conservative values but admitted they just didn't know what he would do once he was in office.

They would have found little solace in Gingrich's remarks to the diplomats.

""You will not know what he’s doing every morning, because he will not know what he’s doing every morning,” Gingrich told them, suggesting a Trump presidency would be similar to his candidacy - reactive, spontaneous and centered almost entirely around Trump’s instincts.

But Trump's instincts are sometimes at odds with key elements of the party.

For example, he has been more accepting of gay rights and has see-sawed on abortion rights, first defending them and then saying he opposes abortion.

“Conservatives are prepared to believe Trump might be wrong 20, 25, maybe 30 percent of the time,” Richard Viguerie, a veteran Republican activist, told Reuters at an anti-abortion event. But, Trump's opponent, Democrat Hillary Clinton, “will be wrong 100 percent of the time.”

Asked if Trump supported the conservative social values espoused in the platform, he laughed. “Well, I don’t know,” he said. “We’ll have to wait and see.”

Some lawmakers at the convention dismissed some of Trump’s most provocative proposals, like his vow to deport an estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants, as unlikely to be implemented.

“Full-blown deportation is not going to sell politically and I don’t think a Republican Congress, or any Congress, would stand by and watch it happen,” Representative Tom Cole of Oklahoma told a group of convention attendees.

Some Republicans believe should Trump lose, the party will simply return to its more traditional conservative principles.

“The Republican Party is bigger than any one candidate, even a presidential candidate,” said Frank Luntz, a Republican pollster.

But Trump supporters said those Republicans were in denial and that Trump had permanently wrested control of the party away from the establishment elites.

“Where’s Mitt Romney, where are the Bushes?” said Mary Lou McCoy, who had traveled to Cleveland from Buffalo, New York, referring to the 2012 Republican nominee and the Bush political dynasty. “The people have spoken.”

(Reporting by James Oliphant, Emily Stephenson and Michelle Conlin in Cleveland and Chris Kahn in New York; Writing by James Oliphant, editing by Paul Thomasch and Ross Colvin)","On the floor and corridors of the basketball arena hosting the Republican National Convention, in restaurants and bars, hotel lobbies and conference rooms across Cleveland, the talk was of the rise of Donald Trump, whose unlikely presidential candidacy has caused seismic fractures in the Republican Party."
"Dana Cowin, who has been the editor in chief of Food & Wine magazine for 21 years, is stepping aside. But she will maintain a connection with Food & Wine.

Her new post, as of mid-January, will be chief creative officer of Chefs Club International, the parent of Chefs Club by Food & Wine, a restaurant group with locations in Manhattan and Aspen, Colo. The restaurants are showcases for prominent chefs, notably those selected as “Best New Chefs” by the magazine.

Ms. Cowin, 55, said she had not considered leaving the magazine until Stephane De Baets, the president of Chefs Club International, suggested she come on board. “I’m surprised that I could find something new that’s this exciting,” Ms. Cowin said.

In a statement to employees of Food & Wine, Norman Pearlstine and Evelyn Webster, executive vice presidents of Time Inc., said that Ms. Cowin was staying on until she closes the March issue, in January, and that she would assist in recruiting her successor. Ms. Webster said the company was pleased to be able to continue working with Ms. Cowin at Chefs Club.

Chefs Club began in Aspen in 2012. Mr. De Baets, a money manager based in Bangkok, organized it at the St. Regis hotel there, which he bought for an Asian investor. Aspen is also where Food & Wine magazine holds its annual June festival, a huge gathering of chefs and food lovers, which is where the connection among Aspen, the magazine and Chefs Club developed. The magazine, owned by Time Inc. since September 2013, receives a licensing fee from Chefs Club.

At the Manhattan headquarters of Chefs Club in the Puck Building in NoLIta, which opened last year, Ms. Cowin joins Didier Elena, who worked with Alain Ducasse, the renowned chef, and is the culinary director; Matthew Aita, the executive chef who was at Le Philosophe; and Louise Vongerichten, who is in charge of business development and is a daughter of another famous chef, Jean-Georges Vongerichten. Mr. De Baets has plans for expanding Chefs Club globally.

A version of this article appears in print on November 18, 2015, on page B7 of the New York edition with the headline: Food & Wine Editor Departs for Chefs Club Restaurant Group. Order Reprints| Today's Paper|Subscribe",She will retain a connection to the publication as chief creative officer of Chefs Club International.
"Amanda Bynes -- My Puppy Dog is DEAD

Horrible, terrible, tragic, heartbreaking news about

... she's no longer with the living.

Bynes tweeted the gloomy news moments ago, saying, ""Sad day....Little Angel is in heaven now. RIP I love you.""

This morning, Bynes announced Little Angel went missing sometime yesterday -- and begged her Twitter followers to help her locate the young pup.

Get TMZ Breaking News alerts to your inbox","Horrible, terrible, tragic, heartbreaking news about Amanda Bynes missing 4-month-old Pomeranian Little Angel ... she's no longer with the living.Bynes…"
"STOCKHOLM—The prospect of early elections is looming again in Sweden after an uneasy truce between the minority government of Prime Minister Stefan Lofven and its main political rivals showed increasing signs of collapse.

The new turbulence began last Friday when the leaders of four allied center-right parties abandoned a deal they made with Mr....",The prospect of early elections is looming again in Sweden after an uneasy truce between the minority government of Prime Minister Stefan Lofven and his main political rivals showed increasing signs of collapse.
"On the Nationals’ draft board the night of June 4, 2012, the name Michael Wacha sat in the middle of their top 30 prospects. Scouting director Kris Kline had twice watched the 6-foot-6 right-hander from Texas A&M pitch in person. The first came at Pepperdine – “probably the fastest college game I ever saw,” Kline said. The second came when Wacha lost a showdown against Oklahoma State stud lefty Andrew Heaney, whom the Marlins would pick ninth.

When Kline watched Wacha, he saw a big leaguer in the making. His arm angle created downward action to his high-90s fastball and devastating changeup. Wacha’s curveball was so-so and he rarely threw it. The Nationals’ area scout in Texas, Jimmy Gonzalez, had come to know Wacha and believed his makeup was first-rate. The Nationals would have been pleased to pick him.

But as their pick, No. 16 overall, approached, another name remained ahead of Wacha’s. “They were almost back-to-back on our board, or at least very close,” Kline said. “We actually had Giolito higher.”

The Nationals, like the other 18 teams who picked before the St. Louis Cardinals that night, passed on Wacha. They instead selected Lucas Giolito, a 17-year-old high school right-hander from California with a 100-mph fastball and an elbow injury. Three picks later, with the draft choice they gained as compensation for Albert Pujols leaving in free agency, the Cardinals took Wacha.

Tonight, not even 17 months after the Cardinals drafted him, Wacha will carry a 0.43 postseason ERA into his start in Game 2 of the World Series. Before you start banging your palm into your forehead, know this first: Even as Wacha has become the most compelling figure of the postseason and earned the NLCS MVP award, the Nationals have no doubts.

“If I had to make the same decision again and [General Manager Mike Rizzo] had to make the decision again,” Kline said, “we would take Lucas.”

Wacha, of course, has made a more immediate impact. Wacha may have been the most impressive pitcher in the Grapefruit League this spring. Wacha toggled between Class AAA, the St. Louis rotation the bullpen all season. In September, he caught fire. In his final regular-season start, he almost no-hit the Nationals. In his first playoff start, he almost no-hit the Pirates. In 21 postseason innings, Wacha has 22 strikeouts and has allowed 12 base runners.

Watching on television, Kline has seen a pitcher similar to the one he scouted at Texas A&M. Wacha’s fastball kisses 98 miles per hour now, a notch or two higher than in college. His curveball has improved – “I would call it average or maybe a tick above,” Kline said – but Wacha still uses mostly his fastball and changeup.

“I don’t think anybody can say they knew Wacha would be in the big leagues this fast,” Kline said. “If they did, they were lying. It’s great for the kid. It’s great for baseball.”

In Giolito, the Nationals believe a longer wait will yield a greater reward. “Lucas was going to be the first player taken in the draft if he was 100 percent healthy,” Kline said.

The Nationals knew Giolito would probably need Tommy John surgery shortly after they drafted him, but they didn’t care. The Nationals had successfully rehabbed Jordan Zimmermann, Stephen Strasburg and others from ligament-replacement operations, and they were confident their process would allow Giolito to fulfill his vast promise.

He has already started to. Giolitio underwent surgery late in the 2012 season and, after arduous rehab, made his minor league debut this year. Between the Gulf Coast League and rookie ball in Auburn, Giolito faced 147 batters and struck out 39 in 36 2/3 innings. He just turned 19, still three years younger than Wacha.

“If you saw him in the instructional league, you would be saying we probably made the right choice – in the end,” Kline said. “The first three pitches he threw all came out at 100.”

Those in the Nationals organization who have watched Giolito pitch speak about him as if they have found religion. Reliever Ryan Mattheus saw Giolito throw in a GCL game as he rehabbed his own injury this summer in Viera. “Big time stuff!” he wrote on Twitter. “Wow!” Kline said his fastball and curve are both above-average major league pitches. Not projected to be above-average. Right now.

Kline said Giolito’s delivery is actually similar to Wacha’s in the way he uses his height – he’s 6-foot-6, too – to make life miserable on hitters. “It’s like Lucas is handing the ball to the catcher,” Kline said.

“The stuff he throws out of that arm, and the body, the way he leverages the ball is exciting,” pitching coordinator Spin Williams said this summer.

Before Rick Schu became the Nationals’ hitting coach, he roved around the Nationals’ farm system as their hitting coordinator. One day, he was looking at data that had been collected from a pitch-tracking device from an intrasquad game in Viera. Schu noticed a 98-mph pitch from Giolito that had moved from a hitter’s belt to his shins, and it had been labeled as a four-seam fastball. Schu called coaches to ask if there had been a glitch. Nope, came the response. That was really the pitch.

Kline will watch Wacha tonight without even a twinge of regret. Regardless of how Giolito develops, this story will not be about blame. Baseball’s draft is too fickle in nature. Some picks made before No. 16 may not make it out of A ball. Time will reveal the winners and losers.

But we already know the Cardinals are a winner, which makes it hard not to wonder, what if? If Wacha wins again tonight, 18 fan bases will be wishing their team had scooped up Wacha before the Cardinals had a chance. The Nationals are not worried. They believe one season, in the not-too-distant future, 15 fan bases will watch Giolito on the October stage and think the same thing about him.",The Nationals insist they have no regrets about passing up on Cardinals phenom Michael Wacha.
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New! View your recent comments by article. Read more.","Leader calls for detente, but with conditions South Korea’s new president will find hard to accept."
"When Silicon Valley heard that Bravo was filming a reality show about tech start-ups, it reacted with the sort of disdain it usually reserves for government inquiries about data privacy policies. The general response to the show seemed along the lines of, “We’re serious people here working seriously hard to improve the world, and we resent any depictions that might undermine that.”

The rejection of “Start-Ups: Silicon Valley,” which had as executive producer Randi Zuckerberg, carried over into the ratings. They started small and got smaller. About 700,000 viewers watched the premiere, according to Nielsen data furnished by Bravo, but instead of building from that, the audience sank. The average for the first six shows was only 517,000. By this point, with the final episodes ready to be broadcast, Bravo seems to have more or less given up. A spokeswoman for the network declined to comment.

The seventh episode will appear Tuesday at 7 p.m., an hour when any self-respecting tech entrepreneur is still at work and the rest of the world is putting the kids to bed. The eighth and final episode will be shown on Wednesday, which seems to indicate a desire by Bravo to clear the decks and move on. Only one of the cast members has updated his show blog this month. Even the Twitter feed from the $15,000-a-month San Francisco crash pad inhabited by several cast members has been meager.

Another Bravo series, “LOLwork,” depicting the Seattle tech entrepreneur Ben Huh and his silly-cat-photos empire, has not done very well either. But Silicon Valley has not escaped the limelight forever. HBO has reportedly picked up a Mike Judge show called — it must have taken five seconds to come up with this — “Silicon Valley.” According to Deadline.com, “Silicon Valley is set in the high tech gold rush of modern Silicon Valley, where the people most qualified to succeed are the least capable of handling success.” I have a feeling Silicon Valley is not going to like this one either.

Last month, The Wall Street Journal revealed that Bravo was planning a new tech reality show, based this time in Manhattan. Perhaps it is not a coincidence that Kim Taylor, the “Start-Ups” cast member who created a fashion company called Shonova (slogan: “What to wear everywhere that matters”) just moved to New York. Ms. Taylor didn’t confirm whether she was talking with the new show, also to be produced by Ms. Zuckerberg, but said this: “I don’t think you’ll see the unabashed hatred here that you did in Silicon Valley. I think they’ll see the bigger picture.”

In any case, she noted, doing Version 2.0 is firmly in the tech tradition.","Failure is exalted in Silicon Valley as a learning experience, just so long as it's not happening right now. ""Start-Ups: Silicon Valley,"" Bravo's much-criticized reality TV series, was a failure with viewers but that might not be the end of the story."
"Nevertheless, I'm often surprised by how little people, even those supposedly within the Christian tradition, actually know about what is called Holy Week and its culmination on Easter Sunday. At a time when our culture is roiled by questions of identity and ethics (and tolerance) that have profound religious implications, it's worth pausing to explore this crucial holiday -- and the awareness of the human condition, in all its sadness and glory, that it engenders.

After all, Holy Week calls mostly to those who incline their minds and hearts in its direction with seriousness of intent. Still, the fuss must puzzle those looking on, wondering what it all means. Why do Christians make so much of this springtime week, and make so much of Easter weekend?

There is a phrase that many never come across, even among Christians: Easter Triduum. This refers to the three days of Easter that begin with Good Friday, proceed through Holy Saturday, and conclude with Easter Sunday. It's definitely a progression, although the word itself -- triduum -- can refer to any three days of prayer.

Easter Triduum has a kind of major prologue in Maundy Thursday, the day when, by tradition, Jesus celebrated the Last Supper with his disciples in the upper room in Jerusalem on the night before he was crucified. The idea of Holy Communion begins with this meal, which was a Passover meal.

Jesus, of course, was Jewish, as were all his disciples. He was never trying to erase Judaism and found a new religion. His work involved modifying and extending Judaism in fresh ways.

On Maundy Thursday, Christians sometimes practice the washing of feet, recalling that Jesus washed the very dusty feet of his disciples at the Last Supper as a way of demonstrating profound humility -- showing that he was himself a servant -- and modeling a kind of ideal behavior.

Good Friday isn't, in fact, so good. It's the day of the crucifixion, when Jesus was scourged and beaten, forced to carry his cross to Golgotha, the ""place of the skull,"" and nailed to the cross itself for what must have been an agonizing death. The actual scene of the Crucifixion varies from gospel to gospel, as do his last words, assembled into the so-called ""seven last words"" of Jesus by adding up fragments from different gospels.

Some of these words are quotations, as when Jesus asked God why he has abandoned him: This is a quote from the 22nd Psalm, which opens: ""My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?"" Good Friday is a day of death, sacrifice, displacement, fear.

Holy Saturday is probably the least understood day of the Easter Triduum. It's a passageway between the darkness of the crucifixion and the bright hope of Easter. This day occupies an anxious space in human experience, when the certain knowledge of something dreadful isn't quite erased -- can't be erased -- simply by hope. It's a day of depression, a day of suspension.

Then comes Easter, with the aura of the resurrection. I'm always moved by the deep symbolism of this mythic moment, when the body of Christ becomes what is called a ""glorified body."" This was not, as I've said elsewhere, the Great Resuscitation, although that's part of it, too. Resurrection implies a total transformation, something beyond the physical realm.

It's very important that almost nobody who encounters Jesus after the resurrection can really recognize him, know him, or understand him as the same person who was with them before he was crucified. Easter embraces the great mystery of resurrection, with its promise of transformation -- a shift from one form to another, and a change that moves well beyond any literal understanding.

The three days of Easter, the Triduum, occur only once a year on the calendar. But the really interesting thing is that we all experience the pattern of the three days again and again. We find ourselves emptied out in small ways, nailed to our own trees in life, embarrassed or broken by life.

It was the Buddha who famously observed that life is suffering. Good Friday embodies the Christian version of that truth. Jesus suffered in the way all of us must suffer. We must all die, perhaps less ignominiously but just as certainly. Our friends and families must die. We all experience illness, loss, sadness, a loss of confidence, darkness. This is simply part of the human experience.

We dive again and again into Holy Saturday, too -- a period of transition, when the bleakness of suffering is perhaps slightly behind us but nothing restorative seems in view. We know well this in-between time; it's an anxious passage, with only a glimmer on the horizon of potential hope.

And we've all been resurrected, again and again, perhaps in tiny ways. This is the joy of Easter, and it's not something reserved for one day on the calendar. It's there whenever we experience what T.S. Eliot once called the ""timeless moment,"" which can only occur -- paradoxically -- in time itself. It's a mystical point where timelessness intersects with time.

I suspect we all experience the Triduum frequently, sometimes more than once in a single day. But the ritual enactment of these three days of the Easter season reminds all of those who practice Christianity -- and perhaps those who don't -- that we should expect to move through darkness into light. It's a pattern that describes a kind of spiritual progression. It's good cause for celebration, too: and one that won't easily be co-opted by secular culture.

​Read CNNOpinion's new Flipboard magazine.

Follow us on Twitter @CNNOpinion.","At a time when religious identity, ethics and tolerance are roiling the culture, it's worth re-examining the meaning of the days leading to Easter"
"A Nashville detention center, from which nearly half of the inmates escaped on Monday night, has a troubled history that includes allegations of sexual abuse and a wrongful death lawsuit.

Eight teenagers were still at large on Tuesday, after 32 youngsters got into the yard at Woodland Hills Youth Development Center late on Monday, then escaped through a weak spot in the facility’s fence.

This breakout is the latest blemish for Woodland Hills Youth Development Center and the beleaguered agency that operates it – Tennessee’s department of children’s services (DCS).

Woodland Hills, which holds 78 teen boys between the ages of 14 and 19, has in recent years been the subject of a wrongful death lawsuit, sex abuse allegations and a smaller breakout attempt earlier this year.

“Right now, it’s not clear if this is a clear breakout, or if some kids just saw the opportunity to do something and did it rashly,” DCS spokesman Rob Johnson told the Guardian. Tennessee highway patrol and metro police helped the department of children’s services (DCS) with the the round-up, as did some of the escaped teens’ parents, who turned their children in.

Johnson said internal affairs is looking into the circumstances of the breakout.

Six or seven teenagers broke out of their bedrooms in May before staffers convinced them to return to their rooms. In May 2013, Nashville news station WSMV published videos and photos of Woodland Hills guards sleeping on the job.

Tennessee agreed to pay a $250,000 settlement in May for a wrongful death lawsuit brought by the father of Kendall Oates, an 18-year-old who died in May 2012. Oates suffered from a seizure disorder and may have lain sick or dead in his room for hours before security noticed him, according to an investigation into the facility by The Tennessean.

A 2010 investigation by the paper showed that sex abuse allegations have plagued the facility, which had some of the highest rates of sexual victimization of any US juvenile center, according to a Department of Justice 2010 report.

State lawmakers wrote a scathing audit of the DCS in January, though new hdead Jim Henry insists the agency is making tremendous progress since the former commissioner, Kate O’Day, resigned in a wash of controversy.

Attorney Everette Parrish has represented youngsters at Woodland Hills, as well as the state’s other two youth development centers, in constitutional and civil rights cases since 2008. Parrish believes DCS needs more resources to improve the juvenile justice system and said the agency is doing all it can to provide treatment and security for the teenagers.

“I know what the problem is. It is the guards, and the structure in which the guards are either not trained or insufficient or not attentive – not aware,” said Parish. “That’s obvious, it doesn’t take an attorney to figure that out. They are not mistreated in the center. If they were, that’s what I hear about and what I address.”

He said that the decades-old facility should have known how to keep kids secure in the facility. “Here are the facts: if you want to improve the system, give DCS more resources,” said Parrish.

Woodland Hills is a level four facility, the highest level of security possible for juveniles besides adult prison or jail.

Laurence Steinberg, author of Age of Opportunity: Lessons from the New Science of Adolescence and a psychology professor at Temple University, said in an email that adolescents are more more focused on the immediate potential rewards of things like an escape and are less likely to think about the long-term consequences of such an act.

“I think, based on our research on risky decision-making, that adolescents would generate a much shorter list of possible risks than adults would, so their assessment is more likely to be incomplete,” Steinberg said. “Adolescents also make decisions more impulsively, so they probably would not spend as much time thinking through the risks and, more important, thinking about how best to avoid them.”","Eight teenagers still at large after 32 managed to escape Woodland Hills, the latest scandal to hit the beleaguered facility"
"The police were searching on Friday for a man who they believed fatally shot a 21-year-old man and his mother outside their Staten Island home, the authorities said.

The suspect, Anthony Morales, was a neighbor of the two victims, Anthony Rivera and Idelle Rivera, who were shot on Thursday outside the Mariner’s Harbor Houses, a public housing complex, the police said. Investigators said they believed that Mr. Morales, 49, and Mr. Rivera, who worked on cars, had had a dispute over Mr. Morales’s car and money the suspect thought he was owed.

The men had a confrontation about 6 p.m. outside 14 Roxbury Street in the Mariner’s Harbor neighborhood, the police said. Mr. Rivera tried to brush off Mr. Morales, who replied that he had made a “wrong move,” law enforcement officials said. He pulled out a gun and opened fire, officials said.

Mr. Rivera was struck three times, and when his mother, 47, left the family’s first-floor apartment to see what was going on, she was shot once in the forehead, officials said. They were both taken to Richmond University Medical Center, where they were pronounced dead.

A third person, a 22-year-old man, was also struck multiple times, the police said. He was taken to Richmond University Medical Center, where he was listed in critical but stable condition.

“Right now, I’m hurting so bad I can’t speak,” Tony Pena, Ms. Rivera’s husband and Mr. Rivera’s father, said on Friday morning, breaking into tears. “He did nothing wrong to anyone,” he said of his son. “All he did was work on cars out here.”

Mr. Pena, 56, said that he and his wife had come to New York from Puerto Rico, and they had been married for 28 years. The family has lived in the apartment on Roxbury Street for 15 years. “She was a great, great mother, a great, great grandmother,” Mr. Pena said. “She always helps people out.”

Mr. Pena said that he was a truck driver and that he taught his sons, Anthony and his older brother Ariel, how to work on cars. And Anthony, he said, was passionate about it.

Around the Mariner’s Houses, a complex of 22 buildings spread across 21 acres, neighbors recognized Mr. Rivera as the young man always seen tinkering on cars in the street. “Always underneath a car, this kid — every day, winter, summer,” said Eddy Mendoza, 53, whose youngest son graduated from Paul Richmond High School with him.

Mr. Rivera was set to start a new job working as a security guard on Friday, his father said. But on Thursday, Mr. Rivera had spent the day working on the brakes of his Honda Civic on Roxbury Street. That is where he was when Mr. Morales approached.

Investigators said they believed the two men had a dispute that was about five years old; it appeared that Mr. Morales thought Mr. Rivera owed him $15,000, law enforcement officials said. Mr. Pena said his son had complained about run-ins with Mr. Morales.

“He told me, ‘This guy is always blaming me for everything that happens to his car, I have nothing to do with his car,’” Mr. Pena said. “My kids never wanted to deal with him because he was always harassing them. I told them to ignore him.”

Mr. Morales was driving a black Hyundai Elantra, a compact car, with a Pennsylvania license plate. The police said that Mr. Morales had a criminal history, with most encounters in the 1980s. He was arrested on charges that included burglary, criminal possession of a controlled substance, menacing, resisting arrest and fare evasion, the police said.

Mr. Pena said he struggled to understand how whatever tension existed between Mr. Morales and his son had escalated to such a devastating point. “I never spoke to that guy in my entire life,” he said. “I don’t know why he would do something like this.”",Investigators said they believed the shooting outside the Mariner’s Harbor Houses occurred after a confrontation over a car and money the suspect thought he was owed.
"Bayer AG’s offer to buy Monsanto Co., on the heels of two other giant agricultural deals, would put a significant share of the corn-seed and pesticide market in the hands of just three companies, raising concerns among U.S. farmers and legislators about more expensive products and fewer choices.

Germany’s Bayer on Thursday said it had approached St. Louis-based Monsanto about a possible deal. Details weren’t disclosed, but the bid would likely be above Monsanto’s current market valuation of $42 billion, making it the...","Bayer’s offer to buy Monsanto, on the heels of two other giant agricultural deals, would put a significant share of the corn-seed and pesticide market in the hands of just three companies, raising concerns among U.S. farmers and legislators about more expensive products and fewer choices."
"Emily Weinstein is learning to bake with the food writer and cookbook author Dorie Greenspan. This week, Sarabeth Levine, of Sarabeth’s Kitchen, steps in as a special guest instructor, per Dorie’s suggestion. She is an expert in all things pie. Dorie will return next week.

LESSON 3: PEACH OR APPLE PIE (From “Sarabeth’s Bakery: From My Hands to Yours,” coming in October)

“Don’t be afraid of it, it’s just food!” said Sarabeth Levine, owner of Sarabeth’s Kitchen, when the dough developed a hairline fracture as she rolled it out. She patched it with a scrap. “No problem.”

We were standing in her big open kitchen at Chelsea Market in Manhattan, where she was teaching me how to make her rustic apple streusel pie. With folds of dough drawn up around the filling, topped off with a few handfuls of crumbs, its aesthetic was more free-spirited, forgiving, than other pies. “I want you to go home and be able to reproduce what I do,” she said. “It should look like the way I make it.”

The phrase “easy as pie” must refer to eating pie, not baking it — or at least, baking it in an attractive manner. I’ve made three in a row now — three tries, three pies — one apple and two peach, each eliciting the same response from friends when I bemoan the messiness of the crust: “It’s meant to be rustic!”

I realize there is such a thing as a beautifully messy pie, a top crust whose perfection lies in its bumps and uneven browns and golds. But mine just looked sort of messy, period. It was the difference between a designer taking a pair of scissors to a shirt, and me doing it myself at home. Not the same. My pies not only didn’t resemble Sarabeth’s example, they were too rustic to even really be related. They were distant cousins, maybe, from the old country.

Now this was not my first try at pie making. I tried making it two years ago, with help from my father, as part of a series I wrote on this blog about learning to cook. But this was my first solo try, in my own kitchen. I stood at my counter and created the mise en place — “I still do this, even after all these years,” Sarabeth told me — and made the dough, which, to my delight, looked exactly like hers.

This small victory was satisfying enough to send me sailing into Part 2 of the recipe: slicing the four pounds of tart Granny Smith apples into clean half moons while the dough chilled in the refrigerator.

As I neared the end of apple slicing, I took out the dough — it had been chilling for far longer than an hour and I thought it might need to loosen up. Then I made the streusel topping and did some dishes to make room on the counter. Without thinking about it 30 minutes went by. This was not smart. But I didn’t know that until I scattered flour on the counter and rolled out the dough, which was a bit wet.

After rolling it out, not too hard, not too soft, to what I thought appeared to be the prescribed 15 inches, I moved it to the pan, which it filled, but just barely. It was clear there would not be enough to fold up around the mound of apples I added next. Facing two options — bake the pie or toss the pie — I decided to just bake it, figuring the best way to salvage it was to hastily triple the streusel topping and spread it over the top. The finished pie was sweet in a way I knew was wrong — all that extra sugar topping — but tasty enough. It was not, however, Sarabeth’s pie.

And so I tried again, but with peaches that had just ripened to a beautiful state of juiciness. I took care with pie No. 2 to make sure the dough was cold enough when I rolled it out. I also measured its diameter this time, making sure there would be extra to drape over the filling. The pie turned out far better than the first, but it still wasn’t quite right. I hadn’t used enough peaches, and so the top was slightly concave. Also, it lacked sweetness, which left the flavor a bit flat. This surprised me — I should have tasted the peaches first and adjusted the sugar.

For the third and final pie, this time made with late-summer peaches, I used twice as many pieces of fruit. I followed every step to the letter. I even pulled out measuring tape and checked the depth of the rolled out dough. The pie had a nice, subtle domed shape, but the juice from the peaches crept up at the edges, subsuming the edge of the crust, forming a sticky, rich-hued halo.

Looks-wise, it was still rustic, not as effortless and neat looking as Sarabeth’s, but I had made my peace with this pie. And flavor-wise, it was delicious, the way you intuitively expect good pie to taste.

This makes a large batch of dough. Divide it in half and use both halves, or freeze one portion to use another time.

Source: Adapted From “Sarabeth’s Bakery: From My Hands to Yours” by Sarabeth Levine (Rizzoli, 2010)

Be sure to slice the apples thin so that they cook in the amount of time needed to bake the crust — this isn’t a chunky filling.

Source: Adapted From “Sarabeth’s Bakery: From My Hands to Yours” by Sarabeth Levine (Rizzoli, 2010)

Source: Adapted From “Sarabeth’s Bakery: From My Hands to Yours” by Sarabeth Levine (Rizzoli, 2010)",Emily Weinstein learns how to bake a pie.
"Little Poppy Walmsley had miracle escape while feeding the ducks in her local park

A TWO-year-old girl nearly drowned after plunging into a pond at a beauty spot when she mistook a thin layer of slimy aquatic fern on the water for GRASS.

Little Poppy Walmsley had a lucky escape after stepping out onto the small lake which was covered in a thick blanket of green vegetation stretching across the entire water.

Her terrified dad Damien Walmsley, 26, watched in horror as his daughter got into difficulty at Brough Park in Leek, Staffs., at around 2.30pm on July 22.

Luckily, the quick-thinking father-of-two managed to grab Poppy’s foot and pull her out before she sank beneath the surface of the swampy waters.

Now Damien, of Leek, is calling on his local council to take action to prevent a tragedy from happening at the pond.

Today Damien, who works as a quality engineer at JCB, said: “We were at the park feeding the ducks.

“We’ve been there a few times before. Poppy is very advanced for her age and she likes to explore different places.

“She walked towards the pond and I said ‘Hang on, let me take a picture’ and I looked down for a split second to get my phone out of my pocket.

“The next thing I knew, I looked up and saw Poppy step on the pond.

“She must have thought it was grass. You can sort of see why because none of the water is visible.

“Next thing she fell in and was fully submerged. I managed to grab her foot and pull her out. She went completely under. I was terrified.

“A woman in her 50s saw the whole thing happen and she told me the same thing happened to her granddaughter a few weeks before.

“She was shaking but laughed it off. I took her to the doctor and thankfully she was fine. My daughter really had a lucky escape.”

Staffordshire Moorlands District Council – which owns the park – has since brought in beetles to try to remove the green fern.

The authority has also put up warning signs around the pool.

Damien, who lives with Poppy’s mum Hayley Porter, 33, and his stepdaughter Jaime, ten, added: “I wonder what would have happened if we had been playing hide and seek and I would not have seen her go under.

“The pool needs a fence around it or draining.

“Warning signs have been put up around the pond since the incident – but toddlers can’t read signs.

“I went straight to the council after it happened and they told me they had received various complaints about the pond and that they had a team removing the moss everyday, which can’t be true.”

The council said the authority has brought in weevils to try to combat the ‘non hazardous but nuisance aquatic fern’.

Conservative councillor Brian Johnson, cabinet member for parks, said: “The water in the smaller pond looks like grass and it is an issue.

“Work to combat the problem in an ecological way has begun by introducing Weevils.

“I would encourage parents to keep a close eye on their children when visiting the area.

“The last thing we want to do is go health and safety crazy by putting up a fence, or even worse fence off that part of the park.

“If the Weevils do not work reasonably quickly then we will go back to the drawing board.”",A TWO-year-old girl nearly drowned after plunging into a pond at a beauty spot when she mistook a thin layer of slimy aquatic fern on the water for GRASS. Little Poppy Walmsley had a lucky escape a…
"Dr. Kermit Gosnell (Yong Kim/Associated Press)

Tim Graham absorbs his fair share of media in his job as director of media analysis at the Alexandria, Va.-based Media Research Center and as senior editor of its publishing outfit, NewsBusters. The formula goes pretty much like this: Watch, read, listen, groan—and write up lightning-quick blog posts exposing the excesses of mainstream media organizations. If Chris Matthews says something slightly excessive; if Brian Williams says something that’s not quite right; if PBS misfires — NewsBusters is there to commemorate the occasion.

Yet as Graham points out, catching stupid outbursts isn’t necessarily the core of the MRC/NewsBusters mission. MRC Founder and President L. Brent Bozell III, says Graham, has instructed his staffers to tease out something else. “Brent has been insistent with us that we are to focus on omissions, which is tough,” says Graham. “Sometimes he’ll say, ‘Is this an omission?’ And we’ll say no.’…Omissions that carry the most weight is when it is total.”

And that totality, argues Graham, is precisely how the media has not reacted to Kermit Gosnell, the 72-year-old abortion provider who is now on trial for murder stemming from the deaths of seven babies and a woman who was a patient at his West Philadelphia clinic. A massive grand jury report spells out the horrific nature of the case.

After the release of that grand jury report—back in January 2011—Bozell was already alleging media lapses: “Apparently, just about nobody in the national media really cares about who dies at an abortion clinic, whether it’s a child or a mother. But kill a killer of babies – and that’s headline news. That’s why tens of thousands clog the streets to protest – not just the killing, but the radio silence.”

And recently, with the Gosnell trial underway, Bozell & Co. continue stacking up the blog posts, lamenting how the big broadcast networks and other outlets refuse to put this story on a national pedestal. Though it’s hard to exactly “break” the media story of the Kermit Gosnell trial, MRC/NewsBusters has been at the forefront of what now looks like a journalistic upheaval. The Washington Post has gone on record lamenting that it didn’t send a reporter to the trial sooner. The Atlantic’s Conor Friedersdorf has ruled that this is a front-page story, anywhere. Twitter is exploding with talk of the case and the media.

Several outlets continue in silence—at least vis-a-vis this blog—about their coverage calculus vis-a-vis Gosnell. No surprise there. Over nearly two years in this position, the Erik Wemple Blog has sampled a great deal of what comes out of the MRC/NewsBusters operation. Much of the time, it’s ticky-tack stuff — some fool misspeaks, another moron takes to Twitter, another lame-o imprudently generalizes about something. And then sometimes, it’s a bona fide media question.

On those occasions, the Erik Wemple Blog brings the matter to the attention of any allegedly offending news organization or journalist. At that point, a pretty common transaction unfolds. We are not at liberty to quote news organizations or journalists, but we can say that, when presented with questions that have their origins in MRC/NewsBusters research, the typical response is something along the lines of ”Get out of my face with this agenda-driven stuff, and come back when you have a real story.” In fairness, we do get similar responses to research from the watchdog on the other end of the “mediological” spectrum – Media Matters for America.

Reading through NewsBusters content yields the impression that the outfit suspects that lefty bias lies at the root of most mass-media screwups. In the Gosnell case, however, a fascinating debate has developed over whether it’s bias or, perhaps, the media’s indifference to stories about the disadvantaged and isolated people in low-income communities.

Says Graham: “I am always willing to entertain, as a conservative media critic and as a former White House reporter, that there are many reasons why you don’t do a story.” But, says Graham, “our first job is to say it’s not being covered.” The first job of the media, it would appear, is to hunker down.","Complaints about the coverage of the Kermit Gosnell trial have gone mainstream, with the help of NewsBusters."
"It’s a storied stereotype that women love to talk. They call each other up on the phone, go out for coffee dates, they gossip, they gab. But when it comes to talking about themselves, women are far less likely than men to speak up.

According to Jessi Smith, a Montana State University psychology researcher and professor, “Men are not reluctant to talk about themselves and will sometimes exaggerate or inflate things like their grade point average or how big that fish was that they caught. Women, on the other hand, are much more modest and humble.”

While modesty and humility are not the worst attributes to exhibit, the anxiety women suffer when asked to talk about themselves can hurt them in the most reasonable of circumstances — a job interview, for instance. And sadly, the women that do brag get punished for it. Smith’s findings are in a recently published study entitled ”Women’s Bragging Rights: Overcoming Modesty Norms to Facilitate Women’s Self-Promotion.”

“If you say an accomplishment but you change the gender of the person saying it [to female], she’s not liked.” Smith said Thursday on The Takeaway. “Both men and women don’t like her. They think she’s smart but they don’t want to be her friend and they don’t want to allocate resources or rewards to her.”

Here’s the kicker: “So, in some ways, women are smart enough to have figured out over time that when they violate the modesty norm, it doesn’t feel good and people aren’t going to respond favorably to them.”

Ann Friedman in Pacific Standard magazine found similar conclusions.

“It’s not that women don’t want to succeed,” she wrote. “It’s that, despite their education and experience, they’ve internalized messages about their lack of qualification.”

Smith set out to reverse the anxiety that cultural norms inflict on women who try to talk about themselves. In a study she conducted with Meghan Huntoon, she found that women had no problem talking about their accomplishments if there was something else to attribute their anxiety to.

Smith said this was a classic example of the misattribution paradigm where if you give people an external justification for any anxiety they’re feeling, they will blame their anxiety on that external justification. This doesn’t mean we should introduce something new for women to feel anxious about. Instead, how can we use Smith’s findings to get quiet women to talk about themselves? Especially when it’s necessary for landing a job, negotiating a salary or asking for a raise?

People in authority need to implement practices that make it normal for women to promote their accomplishments, Smith said.

To hiring managers, Smith added, “Instead of saying, ‘Tell us about the great work you’ve done,’ say ‘Please tell us the big projects that you’ve completed this year.’”

And to those who’ve already won the job but are in pursuit of fair compensation, Friedman says confidence is necessary.

“Those who are paid higher have usually negotiated harder,” Friedman wrote in the Columbia Journalism Review. “Especially if you’re at the stage in your career where you’re going to define your future earning potential, negotiation is not optional.”

If negotiating a salary sounds intimidating, Smith assures that it’s going to be.

“Cultural shifts take time,” she said. “So while we wait, our results also suggest that people should be proactive and promote the accomplishments of their female friends and colleagues to their bosses.”",A recently published study suggests women are much more modest than men when it comes to bragging about themselves.
"NEW YORK (Reuters) - Americans stood in silence to remember the nearly 3,000 people killed in the September 11 attacks on Tuesday as Osama bin Laden resurfaced to praise the suicide hijackers who carried them out six years ago to the day.

New Yorkers observed silent moments at the very times jets crashed into the World Trade Center towers and when each tower collapsed. Ceremonies took place also at the Pentagon and at a Pennsylvania field where the third and fourth planes crashed.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates vowed revenge on anyone who might attack the United States.

""The enemies of America, the enemies of our values and our liberty, will never again rest easy for we will hunt them down relentlessly and without reservation,"" he said in Washington outside the section of the Pentagon that was struck.

Bin Laden, the al Qaeda leader behind the attacks, defied the United States with a new audiotape. On it, he praised ""the 19 champions"" who hijacked the U.S. planes and crashed them.

In New York, bagpipes played, accompanied by a steady drum beat, in a park neighboring the former disaster site known as Ground Zero, which is now a busy construction zone. Church bells pealed to mark the moment.

""Six years have passed, and our place is still by your side,"" New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg told the gathered family and friends of those who died.

Rain fell on the somber ceremony, where many wore funereal black to remember the 2,750 killed when the towers fell. Their names were read aloud, taking hours, in what has become an annual tradition. Continued...","By Edith Honan

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Americans stood in silence to remember the nearly 3,000 people killed in the September 11 attacks on Tuesday as Osama bin Laden resurfaced to praise the suicide hijackers who carried them out six years a"
"Natalia has found a family — a mother, father and little brother. She'll leave a life of foster care in Colombia to join them in suburban Orange County this fall.

I wrote a column about Natalia in January, when the 11-year-old visited Los Angeles with Kidsave, a Culver City group that brings parent-less children here from Colombia and tries to link them with adoptive families.

Natalia spent a month in Pacific Palisades with Rhona and Kenny Rosenblatt, Kidsave volunteers who ferried her to social events where prospective parents turned out to size up the visiting kids.

But Natalia drew no inquiries.

One family, who'd seen her photo on Kidsave's website and flown out from back East to meet her, abruptly canceled an outing and returned home after spending two days with Natalia here.

""She's such a lovely and loving little girl,"" her host mother Rhona Rosenblatt told me then, appealing for a column. ""I know there's family out there for her, if we just get the word out.""

Jeff Howell read that column and it struck a chord; he emailed it to his wife. They had spent years exploring ways to expand their family. He's a lawyer, his wife Valeria Pereira-Howell is a dentist, and their 6-year-old son Zen had been hankering for a sibling.

""We started out thinking, like everybody else, we're going to get a newborn,"" Jeff Howell said. They considered open adoption, international adoption, adoption from foster care. There were risks and rewards with every option, but nothing felt just right.

The column drew them to the last Kidsave outing for that winter group, a scrapbooking session at Runyon Park. They didn't have much time to spend with Natalia; several other families had shown up to meet her. ""We barely even got a chance to talk,"" Jeff said.

They left having written off adoption. ""We figured we'd volunteer to host a child this summer,"" he said, a dry run for future prospects. But Kidsave volunteers saw the spark between the Howell family and Natalia.

""You look at them and it seems like they belong. You can't exactly put it into words,"" Rosenblatt said, ""but you can feel the connection.""

They arranged a string of get-togethers: a trip to Newport Beach, dinner at the Rosenblatts', an outing in Santa Monica. And by week's end, their deal was clinched.

""It was just the perfect fit for us,"" Jeff Howell said. ""We thought, why wait? If we were trying to write down exactly what we were looking for, it would be Natalia.""

Jeff and Valeria both speak Spanish and have lived in South America. He majored in Latin American studies in college; she was born and raised in Brazil and remembers the angst of moving to America.

And Natalia's a good match for their sports-loving son. Her first time on roller blades, Jeff Howell said, she skated along the beachfront path ""for miles, smiling the whole time.""

It wasn't just those calculations, but something deeper that moved them forward.

""A feeling,"" he said. ""Definitely a feeling.... Automatically, right away, there seemed to be this level of trust between us. Something that you don't feel every day. You know what I mean?""

I don't, not really. The chemistry of creating a family has always seemed mystical to me.","Natalia has found a family &mdash; a mother, father and little brother. She'll leave a life of foster care in  Colombia  to join them in suburban Orange County this fall."
"As I report in The Big Topic on Campus: Racial ‘Microaggressions’, “microaggressions” is a term that has long been used by race theorists and sociologists, and is now increasingly popping up in blogs, social media campaigns, art and academic papers. Young people are using the term to describe the subtle ways that racial, ethnic, gender and other stereotypes can play out painfully in an increasingly diverse culture.

Even when behavior considered microaggressions is not overt, the episodes can have a lasting impact Take, for example, a multimedia project and performance that students at Harvard University produced called “I, Too, Am Harvard.” The project was based on interviews with black students who described feeling marginalized on campus, often a result of subtle or indirect comments like “You’re lucky to be black … so easy to get into college.”

We interviewed several students involved in the project. Here’s Kimiko Matsuda-Lawrence, a writer and director, sharing her experience.

A few weeks ago, following my piece on whether American millennials were “post-racial” (*spoiler alert – it turns out they are not) we asked readers to share their experiences with race on college campuses in blog comments and on Twitter with the hashtag #TellNYT.

A selection of the submissions from students included similar concerns about microaggressions:

People have told me that being Latina was what got me into @Columbia. Never mind my academic or personal achievements #TellNYT

— Andrea Garcia-Vargas (@AndreaGarVar) February 27, 2014

Prop 209 severely diminishes amt of minorities at @UCBerkeley, bc Cali disregards racial historical context of applicants #TellNYT

— Pierce Gordon (@piercegordon1) February 26, 2014

Experiencing race on campus is not always about overt racism but even benign ways race is marked is an experience of difference #TellNYT

— Edmond Chang (@edmondchang) February 27, 2014

Listening to other white students explain why it’s okay for them to use the N-word in a “nice way” #TellNYT

— Bess Farris (@BessFarris) February 27, 2014

What about you? Have you experienced microaggressions at school, at work or among friends? How did you respond? Do you think young people are being too sensitive, or are they justified in pointing out how they feel? I look forward to reading your comments below. You can also follow me on Twitter @tanzinavega and use the hashtag #TellNYT to share your thoughts.",When is a question not as innocent as the questioner thought? What are the limits of tolerance and the boundaries of ignorance? Readers and students told us their stories and their perspectives.
"PARIS, Jan. 3— The most obvious difference between terrorism in Italy and terrorism in Iran is that in Italy the Red Brigades are trying to destroy the power of government, while factions in the Teheran Government are trying to consolidate power by holding hostages. In both cases, however, the primary purpose of the crimes is to affect internal politics. Revenge and bargaining for the status of prisoners or for billions of dollars are only secondary points.

That is why it is so difficult to deal with these situations. The point is rightly made that giving in or paying ransom will only whet appetites. But since the aim of the terrorists is to achieve something far beyond their actual reach, beyond the capacity of those who care about the victims to provide, there just isn't any basis for a deal, not even in surrender. The murder of the police general Enrico Galvaligi in Italy seems to be linked to information given by the kidnapped judge, Giovanni d'Urso. Both men have been important figures in Italy's antiterrorist campaign. Now, the Red Brigade kidnappers say they are not interested in negotiating for d'Urso's release. Whatever the Rome Government might have offered, the Brigades apparently do not want to risk revealing how many critical secrets they have already learned and may use for further attacks. It's not a matter of trying to defend their jailed comrades, a terrorist communique said, ''but of striking blows ten times harder and more terrible in the ranks of the enemy.'' But ''the enemy'' in this case is the Italian state, Italian society itself. It cannot be brought down by the small groups involved, however heinous their behavior, so long as they lack at least the passive support of large numbers of people - and it is now clear they have no chance of winning it. The most they can hope to provoke is disgust for ineffective authority, but that will not bring the revolutionary collapse they seek. In Iran, the revolution has already taken place and the issue is who will wind up in control. American hostages are not the stakes in this fight among Iranians, but the pawns. There were signs from the beginning that seizure of the U.S. Embassy in November l979 had very little to do with the admission of the late Shah to a hospital in the U.S. It came almost immediately after then Premier Mehdi Bazargan and then Foreign Minister Ibrahim Yazdi returned to Teheran from a meeting with National Security Adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski in Algiers. Brzezinski had told the Iranians that the U.S. had nothing against nationalism and religion as such, and therefore was prepared to seek conciliation with the new regime. A book on the history of American relations with Iran now provides a good deal more evidence that the motive for the embassy takeover was precisely to prevent any such improvement of relations and to bring down the Bazargan-Yazdi Government. In his study entitled ''Paved With Good Intentions,'' Barry Rubin, a Georgetown University expert on the Middle East, quotes Dr. Hadi Modaressi, described as a ''leading clergyman close to Khomeini'': ''We wish and we welcome military aggression against us because it strengthens the revolution and rallies the masses around it,'' Modaressi said in a radio interview. He added that the U.S. Embassy was seized to challenge the international order and build the struggle against counterrevolutionary forces at home. Rubin explains that three times before, the mullahs had risen in Iran only to lose power to temporary allies, and they did not intend to be squeezed out again. So it has not been in the hostage-takers' interest either to release or to kill their victims, since either move would have ended the value of the crisis in domestic infighting. Now, particularly after the destruc- tion of the Iran-Iraq war, it would be in the interest of other Iranian factions to resolve the incident, which continues to isolate the regime. But these lay factions, not necessarily moderate, have not yet been able to gain the upper hand. The swirl of revolution so far has made it unlikely that any of the competing groups will succeed in consolidating power so long as Khomeini is doing his intricate balancing act among the rivals who enshrined him. There is simply no way, with dollars or with force, that the U.S. can now settle this battle among Iranian revolutionaries. Billions, and the offer of ''nonintervention'' itself, is in fact a kind of political intervention without assurance of results. If Teheran accepts release of its blocked assets in return for release of hostages, it will be a face-saving way out of its own dilemma. If Teheran refuses, it must be accepted, however bitterly, that the U.S. can do nothing but wait for the Iranians to settle their own disputes, for no sacrifice of money, men or moral principle would advance America's cause. In Italy and in Iran, desperate people are trying to use the lives of others for political ambitions they can only dream of achieving through widespread panic and instability. There is no way to bargain with them. The only answer is continued, firm protection of social stability and international order.","The most obvious difference between terrorism in Italy and terrorism in Iran is that in Italy the Red Brigades are trying to destroy the power of government, while factions in the Teheran Government are trying to consolidate power by holding hostages. In both cases, however, the primary purpose of the crimes is to affect internal politics. Revenge and bargaining for the status of prisoners or for billions of dollars are only secondary points."
"HAIFA, Israel – The increasingly volatile situation on the Israel-Syria border and the fear of many Israeli Druze that their Syrian brethren are about to be attacked by the Al Qaeda-linked forces sparked a deadly lynch mob attack on an Israeli military ambulance in the Golan Heights region this week that claimed the life of a Syrian being transported for humanitarian medical treatment.

The attack, condemned by Israeli Druze leaders and across the Israeli political spectrum, was the second on an Israeli military ambulance in 24 hours. One of the two patients in the ambulance died and two Israeli soldiers were hospitalized as a result of the unprecedented violence which took place near Majdal Shams. A small number of mainly young Israeli Druze are furious that people they suspect may be injured Syrian fighters are being given medical care in Israel, even as marauding Jihadist forces look set to descend on their endangered relatives in Syria. Syria’s Druze have long backed President Assad and are therefore viewed as likely targets for revenge by the Jihadist groups.

“The IDF has not assisted the al-Nusra Brigade in any way in the last four years, but rather provides medical aid for wounded Syrians that arrive at the Israeli border and will continue to do so,” a spokesperson for the Israel Defense Forces told FoxNews.com.

Israel appears determined not to be drawn into Syria’s internal conflict fearing any action as likely to serve as a rallying point for the many disparate radical Islamic groups fighting on the other side of its northern border.

“I call on the leaders of the Druze community - which is a magnificent community with which we have brotherhood - to calm things down and say to every Druze citizen in Israel, ‘Respect the law, respect the soldiers, do not take the law into their own hands’”, said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaking at a conference on Tuesday.

“This is our moment of truth,” Sheikh Muafaq Tarif, the spiritual leader of the Israeli Druze urged his followers. “The Druze religion and tradition opposes any physical harm, especially against wounded people.” Sheikh Tarif added that incidents such as the ambulance attack “harm our interests and those of our Druze brothers over the border.”

In an apparent bid to pour fuel on the flames however, pro-Assad Syrian television described those who attacked the ambulance as “our heroic countrymen”.

Israel’s Druze community has made it clear it doesn’t intend to stand idly by and watch as close relatives are attacked by the Al Nusra Front, and others, in the villages on the Syrian side of the border. Only last week more than 20 Druze were massacred in a village in the Idlib province of northern Syria, while “several hundred [were] forced to convert to Sunni Islam,” according to the BBC.

The Jerusalem Post suggested that Al Nusra, together with as many as seven other Jihadist terror groups, has formed a new Islamist fighting force called Jaish al-Fatah (the Army of Conquest). They have surrounded a number of Syrian Druze villages close to the Israeli border and fears are growing of a potential bloodbath since President Assad’s forces withdrew from the region leaving the Druze undefended.

Significant sums have already been raised by Israeli Druze in order to help their Syrian relatives defend themselves.

“The [Israeli Druze] have collected money from all our citizens in every village and have collected 10 million shekels [more than $2.65 million],” Ayoob Kara, Israel’s Deputy Minister of Regional Cooperation and the country’s most senior Druze politician, told FoxNews.com. “We have good relationships inside and outside of Israel and could use the money for anything the [Syrian Druze] need. I don’t want to say what that would be though, because this could be a problem for them on the other side.”

“The Lebanese Druze have managed to smuggle some light weapons,” the Jordan Times reported at the weekend, “but advanced sophisticated weaponry is needed to match that used by the Jihadi Salafists who could repeat in Syria against the Druze the same abominable atrocities that their colleagues perpetrated in Mosul against the Christians.”

The Druze are seen as heretics by radical Islamists, their religion including elements of Christianity, Judaism, Ismailism, and Hinduism, as well as the teachings of Ancient Greek philosophers such as Aristotle and Plato. Syria is home to the biggest Druze community of around 700,000, while Israel (140,000), Lebanon (215,000) and Jordan (32,000), also have sizeable communities.

“What the youths did at Majdal Shams has caused big problems for the Syrian Druze and for us in Israel as well,” Ayoob Kara conceded. “But I am sure that we will overcome this because the relationship between the Druze and the State of Israel is so strong - and will grow stronger. There isn’t a better partner for the Jews in the Middle East than the Druze nation.”

Paul Alster is an Israel-based journalist. Follow him on Twitter @paul_alster and visit his website: www.paulalster.com.

Paul Alster is an Israel-based journalist. Follow him on Twitter @paul_alster and visit his website: www.paulalster.com.",The increasingly volatile situation on the Israel-Syria border and the fear of many Israeli Druze that their Syrian brethren are about to be attacked by the Al Qaeda-linked forces sparked a deadly lynch mob attack on an Israeli military ambulance in the Golan Heights region this week that claimed the life of a Syrian being transported for humanitarian medical treatment.
"Denver Broncos quarterback Mark Sanchez, San Francisco Giants pitcher Jake Peavy and former major league hurler Roy Oswalt were cheated out of millions of dollars as part of a Ponzi-like scheme by an investment adviser, Bloomberg reported Tuesday. The adviser, Ash Narayan, gained the players’ trust after appealing to their Christian faith and interest in charitable works, according to an SEC lawsuit that’s been filed against him in a Dallas federal court.

Promising low-risk, conservative investment strategies, Narayan instead put the athletes’ money into Ticket Reserve Inc., a company that allowed fans to reserve face-value tickets to sporting events in which the teams had not yet been determined. Narayan — who served on the company’s board of directors, owned more than 3 million shares of company stock and was its primary fundraiser — invested the players’ money even though he knew the company’s finances were unstable, Bloomberg writes.

“To be sure our revenue sucks. Our balance sheet is a disaster,” the company’s chief executive wrote to Narayan in a May 2014 email that the SEC uncovered.

According to a 2014 story in Crain’s Chicago Business, Ticket Reserve “was forced out of business when two sellers falsely claimed to be selling 250 Super Bowl tickets, resulting in a class action lawsuit against the company.”

In May, the shareholders of a Texas-based investment group also sued Ticket Reserve’s executives in Chicago, alleging that the company deceived the investors about its finances. Here’s the Cook County record:

The shareholders say the officers mismanaged Ticket Reserve’s finances and wasted corporate assets by taking on “excessive debt” with unreasonable terms they knew they could not manage as well as “paying undisclosed finder’s fees, issuing company stock, issuing options to purchase additional company stock and executing promissory notes to (Narayan) for procurement of investors and lenders.”

Further, the complaint says directors failed to disclose or intentionally misrepresented information about the company’s finances as well as the compensation for Narayan, including a $1 million promissory note payable by Ticket Reserve.

Update: Howard M. Privette, an attorney with Greenberg Gross in Costa Mesa, Calif., is the lead lawyer representing Narayan in the SEC case, and he released the following statement Tuesday evening:

“Mr. Narayan has worked cooperatively with the SEC from Day 1 on this matter, and is disappointed that the SEC chose to bring this action. Mr. Narayan has always sought to act in his clients’ best interests. Accordingly, he will continue to work with the SEC to ensure that this matter is resolved in the most favorable manner for those clients.”",SEC says investor preyed upon their Christian beliefs.
"If you’ve been following nutrition (or Silicon Valley) news, you’ve probably heard of Soylent, the milky meal replacement boasting all the nutrients you need—in portable, swiggable form. Soylent CEO and founder Rob Rhinehart, who I interviewed a year ago, created Soylent because he thinks eating is “inefficient” and because he’s just not that interested in food. Apparently he’s not alone: His drink has earned a fan following, with packs of Soylent selling on Ebay for $115. And it’s also earned some competition: Ambronite.

What makes Ambronite different: Soylent is made of powdered supplements whereas Ambronite is an all-natural, organic meal-drink that uses pulverized real-food ingredients, says co-founder Simo Suoheimo, who lives in Finland. Ambronite’s 20 blended ingredients include oats, walnuts, apple, spirulina, and seabuckthorn, and everything is organic, non-GMO, gluten-free, and with no artificial ingredients. One serving has 500 calories (you can always use just half), only four grams of natural sugar, 50% of your daily total fiber needs, and over half of your protein intake.

Like the Soylent guys, Ambronite’s creators developed their product because they’re busy businessmen who were eating too much junk between meetings. “We wanted to make a product that has the best ingredients the planet has to offer,” says Suoheimo. Unlike Rhinehart, though, Suoheimo says he loves cooking and he loves food.

“This is not me giving you a multivitamin and saying you’re all set,” Suoheimo says. “I am giving you the best, real ingredients out there, based on what we know about nutrition now.” Instead of regularly replacing full meals with Ambronite, Suoheimo hopes his drink will replace things like protein bars, which are full of processed ingredients and sweeteners.

What it tastes like: Ambronite starts as a greenish powder, and it’s recommended you blend or shake it well. On my first try, I simply added the powder to a glass of water and attempted to blend it with a coffee stirrer. Bad idea. It was chunky, and tasted like nothing other than a hint of fishy spirulina. The second time, my editor brought me a bottle of freshly squeezed orange juice. I poured in the green powder and shook it until it looked like a smoothie. This time, it wasn’t so bad. In fact, it was really pretty good—though still a bit chewy.

I had some colleagues try it too. “It tastes like a smoothie I made myself,” said my coworker Kelly Conniff, commenting on the texture. Another coworker was truly surprised it didn’t taste terrible.

“This is not a chocolate smoothie,” says Suoheimo. “We are really proud of these ingredients and we want you to taste them.”

Although I enjoyed it mixed in with orange juice, the sugar from juice kind of defeat the purpose of drinking something so healthy. Blending it with a frozen banana and some water might be better. Suoheimo says some customers use the powder in their baking or mixed into their curry.

Where it’s available: Ambronite is still crowdfunding, although they reached their goal of $50,000 in less than a week. People pre-ordering online can get 10 meals of Ambronite for $89, which includes shipping to the United States.

The bottom line: Though I am forever an advocate for eating whole, real food, I’m not turning my nose up at Ambronite just yet. Real ingredients over supplements is always the way to go, so I’m glad they’ve ditched the fake stuff. The team also relies on nutrition experts from the University of Helsinki, an institution known for it’s dedication to food science. Still, there are no studies that show drinking your daily nutrients leads to better health, and there are other reasons for sitting down and sharing a meal that matter beyond your nutritional intake. I’ll probably be sticking to food that doesn’t come in a pouch, but if you want to try Ambronite for yourself, go for it. Just make sure you blend it really well.",Drinkable nutrition is the next big thing
"TIME CAPSULE A row of mid-1950s Chevys in a field in Pierce, Neb. The town is bracing for the arrival of up to 10,000 bidders and spectators for the auction of the Lambrecht collection. More Photos »

PIERCE, NEB. — For decades, a 10-acre tangle of trees in the corner of a corn and soybean field did its best to hide the legends of Pierce County.

But word got out. You could see a few of the cars from County Road 854 and a few more from the second green and third tee of the neighboring golf course. The sheriff lost count of how many times he was called to the farm to roust radiator thieves or chrome scavengers, and to chase away tire-kickers.

“They were parked in the trees, door handle to door handle, bumper to bumper,” Deb Bruegman said as she served beers in the clubhouse of the nine-hole course. “The trees grew up in and amongst and around them.”

Still, few people were prepared for what emerged from the woods in late July, when a construction crew uprooted the cottonwoods, maples and ash trees and carried their mostly hidden treasures into the sunlight. Rearranged nearby in nine neat rows, each longer than a football field, were nearly 500 cars and trucks including American classics from the 1950s, ’60s and ’70s: Bel Airs and Corvairs, Apaches and Impalas, even a Corvette Pace Car model.

All were the legacy of Ray Lambrecht, the local Chevrolet dealer for 50 years until he retired in 1996. Now 95, he and his wife, Mildred, 92, still live across the street.

The Lambrecht collection includes about 50 so-called survivors, cars still considered new despite their age. They were never sold, never titled and, with fewer than 20 miles on their odometers, barely driven. The best of these were stored indoors. While many of these new-old cars still have shipping plastic on the seats, their windshields are layered with decades of grime and bat droppings.

There’s a 1958 Chevy Cameo pickup with 1.3 miles. A ’64 Impala with 4 miles. A ’77 Vega with 6 miles. A ’78 Corvette — the Indy Pace Car — with 4 miles.

Among those who buy and sell vintage cars, there is a special thrill in unearthing a “barn find” — a car tucked away in good condition and largely forgotten, only to surface years later — and the trove here is surely one of the largest such discoveries.

“To a collector, it’s a field of dreams,” said Yvette VanDerBrink, the Minnesota auctioneer who plans to sell the collection on Sept. 28-29 after a day of previews.

Authorities in Pierce, a town of 1,700 125 miles northwest of Omaha, are bracing for the arrival of up to 10,000 bidders and spectators whose appetites have been whetted by news reports, online chatter and tantalizing photos of dusty Chevys.

Ms. VanDerBrink called the collection an urban legend — albeit a rural one — come true, the rare white buffalo of car auctions. By Thursday, over 700 bidders had registered from 50 states and several countries; more than 800 potential buyers had already bid $500,000 online. “To find untouched cars is truly the holy grail,” she said. “There’s a lot of mystery here.”

But there was nothing mysterious about the origins of the collection. In 1946, Army Sgt. Ray Lambrecht returned to Nebraska from the Aleutian Islands and married Mildred Heckman. They’d met six years earlier, when his brother married her cousin, but delayed their own wedding until the end of World War II.

Mr. Lambrecht went to work for his uncle, Ernest Lambrecht, at the Lambrecht Chevrolet Company in Pierce. He built the house where he and Mildred live, and he built a new dealership — its grand opening announced by elephants wearing Chevrolet banners.

Not long after, when Ernest Lambrecht fell ill, the newlyweds took over, developing an unusual business model and a novel retirement plan.

“He loved to sell new cars,” Ms. VanDerBrink said. “He didn’t sell his trade-ins — he wouldn’t let you buy them. You had to buy the latest and greatest Chevrolet.”

Mr. Lambrecht didn’t finance his inventory; he bought cars outright from Chevrolet, according to his daughter, Jeannie Lambrecht Stillwell, who lives near Orlando, Fla., and serves as family spokeswoman. When the latest models were trucked in, her father stored the new cars he hadn’t sold and stocked up on those he thought would eventually become valuable.","The Lambrecht collection, featuring hundreds of American classics hidden for decades in a field in Pierce County, Neb., will go on sale this month."
"Don't want to miss out on the latest in politics? Start each day with The Post Politics Hour. Join in each weekday morning at 11 a.m. as a member of The Washington Post's team of White House and Congressional reporters answers questions about the latest in buzz in Washington and The Post's coverage of political news.

Washington Post national political reporter/Washington Sketch columnist Dana Milbank was online Friday, June 2, at 11 a.m. ET to discuss the latest in political news.

Read Dana Milbank 's Washington Sketch columns.

Political analysis from Post reporters and interviews with top newsmakers. Listen live on Washington Post Radio or subscribe to a podcast of the show.

Good morning, ladies, gentlemen and Michael Chertoff.

As you are all no doubt now aware, this was the week in which the Department of Homeland Security decided to counterterrorism funding for New York City and the National Capital area, concluding that DC is a ""low-risk"" city and that there's no need for special protection for the Empire State Building, Statue of Liberty and Brooklyn Bridge. The money is instead going to Omaha, Milwaukee, Kansas City, St. Louis, and five cities in Florida.

To those of you from the heartland, please write in and tell me what you intend to do with your windfall -- more than $100 million taken away from DC and NY. And for those of you who live here or in New York, please tell me what you think places like Omaha and Wyoming should do with our homeland security money.

washingtonpost.com: Flash: DHS Disputes Al-Qaeda's 5-Star Rating of Two U.S. Cities , ( Post, June 2,2006 )

Washington, D.C.: I enjoyed your column this morning, although I'm feeling a certain sense of weltschmerz about living in a ""low-risk city.""

Can you tell me how many points a jurisdiction got for voting for President Bush in the DHS assessment of terror targets?

Seriously, what are the differences in the factors used by the Rand Corporation and those used by DHS in assessing the risk to various jurisdictions?

I recognize ""weltschmerz"" as a word from the national spelling bee yesterday. In this usage I believe the proper definition is ""idiotic bureaucracy.""

I did a little analysis of the ""political risk"" involved in assigning the grant money. Sen. Jim Talent (R-Mo.) got some nice help in KC and St. Louis, while Jeb Bush got quite a bonanza in Florida. But the administration cut loose Sens. Rick Satorum (R-Pa.) with big cuts in Pittsburgh and Philly, and Mike DeWine (R), whose Ohio took a beating.

The truth is the ""risk"" component -- supposedly 2/3 of the criteria -- was obviously swamped by the other 1/3, in which the administration decides which proposals tickle its fancy.

Washington, D.C.: I'd suggest that Omaha spend that money building something worth protecting - and then protect it.

Dana Milbank: That's a thought.

In fairness, Omaha has an excellent stockyard. I understand they plan to build a moat around it like they did to protect the Washington Monument from truck bombs. The question now is how all the cattle are going to get past the moat so they can be auctioned.

Dallas, Tex.: Morning, Dana! Can we talk a little Texas politics for just a bit? Now that we have Alito, predict the decision due in June on the Texas gerrymandering/redistricting case, please. Also, have you heard of Kinky Freedman? Don't you think he'd just be the crown jewel of Texas politicians?

I attended the oral argument for that one, and the justices (not just Alito) seemed mighty skeptical of the case challenging the DeLay-led redistricting, so I'd be surprised if they knock it down.

Have I HEARD of Kinky Friedman? I worship him. Any guy who forms a country band called Kinky Friedman and the Texas Jewboys deserves to be governor of Texas. And any Texas gubernatorial candidate running on the slogan ""How Hard Can It Be?"" deserves to follow his predecessor to the White House.

Windfall: All I know is I'm moving to D.C. where it's safe!

Dana Milbank: We welcome all you hicks from the sticks, as the New York Post puts it. I expect they'll take down the barriers on Pennsylvania Ave outside the White House and get rid of the roadblocks near the Capitol now, seeing as it's so safe here. They're also likely to conclude that it's now safe to eat on the Metro.

New York, N.Y.: I think Louisville and Kansas City should erect a statue to Tracy Henke. I personally will donate 5,000 pigeons to those places.

Dana Milbank: This is an excellent suggestion. Henke, for those who do not know, is the DHS official who oversaw the grantmaking arrangement. Turns out KC and St. Louis, both in her native Missouri, are big winners in the terrorism sweepstakes. Who wudda thunk it? The cities can use the counterterrorism funds to screen all the pigeons for bird flu.

New York, N.Y.: Found this list of what DHS might be wanting to protect (from DailyKos):

Alexandria, Indiana: The World's Largest Ball of Paint ($12 million)

Niland, California: Salvation Mountain ($16 million)

Alamo Heights, Texas: Barney Smith's Toilet Seat Art Museum ($10 million)

Dedham, Massachusetts: The Museum of Bad Art ($31 million)

Key West, Florida: The Chicken Store ($7.5 million)

Alliance, Nebraska: Carhenge ($25 million)

And Soap Lake, Washington: The Giant Lava Lamp ($143 million)

Dana Milbank: That's classified! How did you get it?

I'm calling General Hayden. Or actually, could the NSC folks who are monitoring this chat just send him the transcript? Thanks.

Henke and numbers: Tracy Henke has been criticized in the past for playing ""funny buggers"" (as the Aussies say) with statistics and forcing career bureaucrats who don't want to push her spin into early retirement. Do we need another Katrina-esque disaster to prove that good spin does not equal good governance?

I don't know how you got ""funny buggers"" through the Post's obscenity filter. Well done.

As for the extremely fair Ms. Henke, I have no wish to embarrass her further. But here's what my colleague Al Kamen wrote a couple of months ago:

President Bush's recess appointment in January of Tracy A. Henke to be assistant secretary of the Office of Grants and Training (G&T) at the Department of Homeland Security irked Senate Democrats.

Henke had caused a ruckus last year when she demanded that a Justice Department report on racial disparities in police treatment of blacks in traffic cases be taken out of a news release. A respected career employee was demoted after protesting the move.

But indications are that Henke's working hard and handling her new post -- an important job to make sure scarce anti-terrorism money is spent effectively across the country -- with appropriate priorities.

Take this e-mail she sent to staff members last week:

""Another item I mentioned during the All-Hands meeting was the need to seek suggestions on how we can neatly encapsulate what we do at G&T to help others understand (inside and out of the department),"" Henke wrote. She went on to say that when she was at the Justice Department her job included handing out money, being a contact beacon for states and local communities and helping victims of crime. ""I used the 'Santa Claus, Batman and Mother Teresa' analogy"" to sum up the functions.

But here's the problem. ""Mother Teresa won't work for G&T,"" she wrote. ""I requested that you think about and submit suggestions for another analogy to fill in the blank 'Santa Claus, Batman and ______.' This analogy is not for publication, but to be used in conversation to assist individuals in understanding the great work, activities and possibilities of G&T. Several of you have sent suggestions. Thank you for your interest and great ideas.

""To make certain that everyone has the opportunity to participate and to be involved,"" she wrote, ""I have asked Anne Voigt [an aide] to chair a short-term committee to work on this for me. If you could please e-mail your suggestions to Anne . . . she will assemble the options. I ask that if you are interested in helping her, please e-mail her your name by COB on Tuesday, March 7. She will put the names in a hat (bowl or anything else we can find) and we will pick the other individuals to serve on the short-term committee with her.

""This committee will narrow the options down to no more than three and we will then have an all-hands vote to select the 'Santa Claus, Batman and ?' The individual whose suggestion is selected will be invited to lunch with me,"" she wrote, ""my treat.""

Feel safer already, don't you?

Arlington, Va.: Now that DHS has declared DC safe, would it be possible for the White House reopen the road south of the White House that was supposedly closed for security reasons but is used for extensive staff parking? The dirty secret in Washington is security closures equal additional staff parking.

Dana Milbank: Good idea. In fact, they should tear down that iron fence at the White House and let us all picnic there, as we did back in the 19th century. Also, because it is so safe, we should encourage the vice president to reduce traffic congestion by taking the bus up Mass Ave to his home at the Naval Observatory, unless he wants to borrow one of the president's bicycles.

Cincinnati: A better question to ask those in the ""sticks"", which is worth protecting: DC where no one can get it right, nor shows any inclination to try to get it right, be they politician or MSM member; or Omaha and its great steaks. You would probably not like the answers.

Dana Milbank: Ooooh, that hurts.

Cincinnati lost $1.2 million, or 21% of its counterterrorism money under the new DHS plan, and based on your attitude I would support that cut. Apparently the money was being used to protect Procter & Gamble's Kibbles 'n Bits factory.

Louisville, Ky.: I'll have you know that we are prime targets for terrorism here because not only do we have Churchill Downs, but we also have...

Dana Milbank: Well, there is the Louisville Slugger facility. But y'all could just hit the terrorists with baseball bats, couldn't you?

Rockville, Maryland: ""I worship him.""

I could vote for him. But I don't want to go back to Texas to do it.

Dana Milbank: You're not kidding. Dallas took a 43% hit under the new DHS arrangement, while Houston lost 10% and San Antonio 25%.

If only Kinky were running for mayor of Charlotte (up 64%).

Madison, Wis.: Since we're a Blue State, we don't expect to get much money. But, if we got some, we'd put a giant dome over Milwaukee. Then we could have Summerfest in January, if we wanted. Plus, protect ourselves from stuff falling out of the sky.

Dana Milbank: I was wondering why Milwaukee got 35% for next year, or $2.2 million. This explains it. But the state has to be to heat the dome; the feds only supply the dome itself.

Washington, D.C.: Froomkin cites you and your editors as unable to attach the word 'LIE' to George W. Bush in his column yesterday.

Is it true that you wrote the word but your editor switched it the synonym, mendacity, less than truthful or the everlasting beauty that is 'unartful'?

Dana Milbank: Here's what Dan wrote yesterday:

""How hard is it for reporters to call what Bush says a lie? Consider Dana Milbank 's near-legendary front-page Washington Post story from October 2002, headlined: ""For Bush, Facts Are Malleable.""

Milbank wrote that some of Bush's statements ""were dubious, if not wrong""; that Bush's ""rhetoric has taken some flights of fancy""; that he was guilty of ""distortions and exaggerations""; that he had ""taken some liberties,"" ""omitted qualifiers,"" and made assertions that ""simply outpace the facts.""

But you won't find the word lie in there anywhere. It just won't get by the editors.""

I think that's unfair to the Post's editors. The fact is the word ""lie"" implies that you know what's in somebody's mind. For example, if what Patrick Fitzgerald has told us is true, Scooter Libby ""lied"" to the grand jury, because he had to have known what he was saying was false. The president four years ago may well have known what he was saying was false, but that's not provable. I try to stick to what's demonstrably true, and leave the rest to the bloggers.

Greenville, S.C.: What did a hick state like mine end up with? I ask - since we're sitting on everyone's nuclear waste.

Dana Milbank: Oh, dear. I'm sorry to say South Carolina didn't even make the list! You aren't urban enough. But, as thanks for watching our nuclear waste, you get a total of $14.7 million in overall counterterrorism funds, which amounts to $3.45 per person (Virginia, at the bottom, gets $2.23).

And thank you for all you do with our spent uranium.

The Heartla, ND: I hear the DHS is looking into building a moat around the Grand Canyon.

But the part about them setting up whitewater rafting tours is an out-and-out lie.

Washington, DC: Reply to Cincinnati:

And, who, may I ask, sends all these people you find worthless to Washington? Not those of us who live here and don't have voting representation in Congress.

I second the idea of making the VP take the bus. It would clear up some of the traffic congestion in the neighborhood. Maybe just close up the bunker to save money.

Dana Milbank: Couldn't say it any better.

Tulsa, Okla.: 168 people died in the Oklahoma City bombing 11 years ago. Were they less worthy of protection from terror than New Yorkers?

Dana Milbank: Oklahoma City is taking a 26% cut under the new DHS plan. And, let me see, Tulsa, Tulsa, Tulsa. Nope, didn't make the list.

Is there any possibility the president will intervene and reallocate the homeland security money? The priorities are so disgraceful that it would be genuinely funny were not the stakes so serious. Are there really people at DHS who can defend these grants with a straight face?

Dana Milbank: Well, Tom Davis of Northern Virginia, who chairs the House Government Reform committee, has announced he's having a hearing. And Peter King of New York, who chairs the House Homeland Security Committee, is mad as a hornet. So there's hope.

Virginia Beach, Va.: What kind of staffer is Henke? Is she a political appointee? Or a person who actually has real life experience in the job she is doing?

Dana Milbank: She has had extensive real-life experience working for John Ashcroft.

Washington, D.C.: I, for one, am sleeping better, just knowing that the Wal-mart in Missouri will be safe and protected.

If only the terrorists knew that they could have struck a crippling symbolic blow so powerful it would have caused the US to surrender, renounce Britney Spears' music, and join the mighty caliphate, all by blowing up one rural Wal-mart...

It's just too terrible to contemplate. Thank you, DHS, for ensuring this day will never come.

Sorry for being Lou Dobbesian in my obsession with the DHS story today, but even in a city accustomed to daily outrages, this one is really special.

Interested citizen: Are you going to take any real questions today?

Dana Milbank: I'm afraid not. Have a nice weekend, and luxuriate in your newfound sense of safety-- except for those of you in Omaha, who should put duct tape on your windows.

Editor's Note: washingtonpost.com moderators retain editorial control over Live Online discussions and choose the most relevant questions for guests and hosts; guests and hosts can decline to answer questions. washingtonpost.com is not responsible for any content posted by third parties.",Washington Post national political reporter and Washington Sketch columnist Dana Milbank discusses the latest buzz in Washington and The Post's coverage of political news.
"Technology companies are incorporating 3D technology into an ever-expanding array of devices, including camcorders, television sets and home cinemas. But the glasses still look nerdy and consumers have so far been reluctant to bring the technology into their homes.

Toshiba's new glasses-free TV could change that. But with competing technologies and pricing still high, will 3D products ever really take off? The world's tech giants certainly think so.

Sony's personal 3D viewer is undoubtedly the most futuristic-looking of the 3D products on display at the recent IFA technology fair in Berlin. Mounted on the viewer's head, it looks like it has come straight off the Star Trek set. It rests rather heavily on the nose and the device, aimed at gamers and film fans, comes with built-in surround-sound headphones.

3D TVs, made by Panasonic, LG, Samsung, Toshiba and others, come in different shapes and forms , with glasses to match. Active shutter-glass (SG) type sets compete with passive film patterned retarder (FPR) types.

In SG technology, glasses contain a liquid crystal layer which becomes dark when electricity is applied. They are controlled by a transmitter that sends a signal allowing the glasses to darken alternatively over the eyes, synchronized with the screen's refresh rate.

FPR technology allows only left and right images to be seen, showing a different image for each eye; both images are combined in the brain, generating a 3D effect and the technology does not use electricity.

Sony uses SG technology, which it says delivers clear and crisp images. It argues there is a clear difference in picture quality with products using FPR technology, used by LG among others.

For those who want to look cool watching 3D, a range of designer 3D glasses by the likes of Lacoste and Calvin Klein is available. Pricing is similar to that of a regular pair of designer glasses, but with a curved lens, the companies argue their glasses are better for 3D viewing than many of the other heavy-framed models.

Toshiba's no-glasses 3D TV was one of the hottest topics of discussion at the IFA fair. Toshiba's 3D televisions, launched in Europe at IFA , create the illusion of depth without the need to wear special glasses by sending images of different perspectives to the right and others to the left eye.

Two bendy gymnasts at the Panasonic stand provided a handy opportunity to test the company's full HD 3D camcorders. The 3D digital camera will shoot 2D photos and HD video, Panasonic said. With its 3D still and video capabilities, the camera will allow users to take 3D photos and 3D HD videos.

Technology companies argue that the relative scarcity of 3D content is delaying its adoption. As a result, they are incorporating technology which can convert 2D images into 3D format into their TV sets

LG demonstrated a 2D-to-3D game converter at the IFA fair. ""Small and medium-sized game companies will be able to offer 3D versions of their existing 2D games without major investments in human resources, cost or time.

Meanwhile, smartphone users will reap the benefits of being able to convert their 2D games into 3D anytime, anywhere free of charge,"" LG said in a statement accompanying the release.

Laptops and tablets are increasingly geared towards 3D gaming as well, with Toshiba presenting a gaming notebook ""to satisfy even the most demanding gamers.""",3D glasses still look nerdy and consumers have so far been reluctant to bring 3D tech into their homes.
"While backstage at 2013's Capital FM Summertime Ball in London, Taylor Swift told The Sun of the careers she would have chosen if she never pursued music, which include interior design, police work, or simply critiquing televised police work from the comfort of her own home.

Swift backed up her claim by listing some of her favorite shows, such as ""Criminal Minds,"" ""Law and Order"" and ""CSI."" ""I’ve never seen 'The Wire' but I’ll get into that next,” she added.",Try not to commit any heinous crimes around her.
"COLUMBUS, Ohio (Oct. 24) - Crude prices tumbled Friday and a gallon of gasoline fell below year-ago levels for the first time in 2008, even as OPEC announced a huge production cut in an attempt to halt the declines.

Crude prices have now fallen 56 percent from the highs reached in July, and more than $41 per barrel in just the last month.

Gathered in Vienna, Austria, on Friday to stanch plunging oil prices, OPEC announced it would slash oil production by 1.5 million barrels a day.

Oil prices plunged more than 5 percent.

Investors paid little heed to OPEC attempts to limit supply, instead focusing on global demand as financial markets spiraled downward in Asia, Europe and then the United States.

Light, sweet crude for December delivery fell $3.69 to settle at $64.15 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices had fallen as low as $62.85 earlier in the day.

The continuing decline in oil prices, even in the face of OPEC production cuts, only cemented bearish sentiment on the oil market.

""All OPEC confirmed for the market is how weak demand is,"" oil trader and analyst Stephen Schork said.

Supporting that view was a report released Friday by the U.S. Department of Transportation that showed the largest monthly decline in miles driven in 66 years.

In the month after gas prices peaked at $4.11 per gallon, Americans drove 5.6 percent less, or 15 billion fewer miles, in August 2008 compared with August 2007 — the biggest single monthly decline since the data was first collected regularly in 1942.

Americans have drastically altered driving habits, if they are driving at all, amid a severe economic downturn. They have cut discretionary trips, and are carpooling and using public transportation more.

A Labor Department report released this month showed that the number of people who have become unemployed over the last year has risen by 2.2 million to 9.5 million.

From November through August, Americans drove 78.1 billion fewer miles than they did over the same 10-month period a year earlier. The decline is most evident in rural interstate travel where travel is down more than 4 percent compared with a 2 percent decline in urban miles traveled, according to the agency.

The Transportation Department said the biggest decline in driving was in Florida where miles traveled fell by 9.7 percent. Driving in the south Atlantic region, including Florida, fell 7.4 percent, the most of any region in the country.

And the latest weekly report from the U.S. Department of Energy shows that demand for crude has fallen in 38 of the past 42 weeks. U.S. demand is down nearly 10 percent during the past four weeks compared with last year.

That has translated into rapidly declining prices at the pump.

On Friday, for the first time this year, the average retail price of gasoline fell below what it was on the same day in 2007.

A gallon of regular gas fell 4 cents overnight to a new national average of $2.78, according to auto club AAA, the Oil Price Information Service and Wright Express. That's nearly a dollar less than what was paid last month and 4 cents below gas prices one year ago on Oct. 24.

Gas prices are off from their July peak by about a third compared with the price of crude, which has been more than halved.

There is a lag between the two prices as oil being traded now will not be delivered until next month. That oil must be refined, or turned into gasoline, and then shipped to filling stations.

As for the oil being priced on markets today, oil traders are increasingly gauging future demand on dour financial markets.

Gasoline prices are all but certain to follow that downward trend.

Fred Rozell, retail pricing director at Oil Price Information Service, said prices have room to drop another 20 to 30 cents.

Schork said he could see oil prices falling to $50 a barrel, even though he believes prices will eventually stabilize between $70 and $90.

""We're still in a hangover from the $150 party,"" he said.

The decline also has come on the back of a strengthening dollar. Investors often buy commodities like crude oil to hedge against a weakening dollar, and sell those investments when the dollar rebounds.

It also means that nations with rapidly growing economies such as China and India will pay more for fuel, which could force them to cut back.

On Friday, there was ample evidence of global economic volatility.

Wall Street joined world stock markets in a pullback Friday, with the Dow Jones industrials dropping 175 points and all the major indexes falling more than 2 percent.

Japan's Nikkei stock average fell a staggering 9.60 percent. In Europe, Germany's benchmark DAX index was down 7.1 percent, France's CAC40 dropped 5.7 percent while Britain's FTSE 100 sank 6.8 percent after the government said its gross domestic product fell 0.5 percent in the third quarter, putting the country on the brink of recession.

In other Nymex trading, heating oil futures fell 8.32 cents to $1.95 a gallon, while gasoline futures fell 10 cents to $1.47 a gallon. Natural gas for November delivery fell 18 cents to $6.23 per 1,000 cubic feet.

In London, November Brent crude fell $3.87 to $62.05 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.

AP writers Louise Watt in London, George Jahn in Vienna, Austria, and Alex Kennedy in Singapore contributed to this report.","Crude tumbled Friday and the price for a gallon of gasoline fell below year-ago levels for the first time in 2008, even as OPEC announced a huge production cut in an attempt to halt the declines."
"College GameDay signs are an essential part of college football Saturdays. The jokes! The school spirit! The meanness! The jokes!

Here are some of the best from Week 4 in Tallahassee for Florida State vs. Clemson:

1. 'Not sure if serious ... or just Clemson football'

4. 'MY UNC GOAT'S A TRADER HE'S A GATOR'

This make absolutely no sense and neither does Jason Kirk's attempt to explain it, but maybe read it anyway because it's funny.

See a better sign? Tweet us a photo at @USATODAYsports. We'll add it below and give you credit!",College GameDay is a time to show off clever signs. Here are the best from Week 4 in Tallahassee.
"HONESDALE, Pa. THE latest revolutionary innovation to jolt the world of children's magazines originated in this town of 5,500, nestled in the snowcapped hills and barn— dotted vales of the northern Poconos. After 35 years, Highlights for Children has reinvented its cover.

This change might not, on its face, seem to be all that dramatic. Nevertheless, Highlights for Children - which mails 1,250,000 magazines 11 months a year to children's homes and to schools, libraries, doctors' and dentists' offices - is not given to changing things all that often, and its readers have said they like it that way.

Currently there are more than 20 other national magazines for preteen-age children in America -not including religious publications, special-interest and regional magazines, as well as offerings from Canada. They have more than nine million subscribers. As many as 30 million children read them in homes, schools and libraries, according to experts in the field, and eight new national children's publications have been launched since 1975.

It is a field where parents are inclined to throw up their hands in befuddlement at the receipt of each new subscription solicitation for yet another magazine.

They range from the simplicity of Cobblestone, a year-old history magazine started on a shoestring by two New Hampshire grade-school teachers, to the zaniness of Wow, a magazine for 5-to 8-year-olds that self-destructs as children cut up its colorful cardboard pages and fold them into automobiles, airplanes and polar bears. Some of the magazines are still reeling from the advent of television, and others, like Sesame Street Magazine, and its sister publication, the science magazine 3-2-1 Contact, are products of the television age.

In a time when some of these competitors have adopted the slickpaper graphics and the specialization techniques of adult magazines, Highlights for Children continues in content and philosophy much as it was at its founding in 1946. Intended to develop the reading and thinking skills of 3- to 12-year olds, it accepts no advertising, has no newsstand sales, has wholly separate editorial and business offices (situated, in fact, in different states) and mails its magazines at the higher for-profit postal rate, unlike many of its highcirculation, nonprofit competitors.

These elements, its broad age appeal and its strong position make it as stable a starting place as any in surveying the array of offerings in the children's-magazine field. It is a genre where publishers are chasing fads, going after sales with grabby covers, and seeking circulation and advertising by resorting to specialization. Also, there is growing concern about spiraling publishing costs and postal rates.

Highlights for Children, however, is the kind of magazine where editors fret over, and forbid, things that they believe will make it hard for children to learn to read. For instance, the name George Washington must always appear in its entirety on one line; words are not hyphenated at the end of lines in articles for younger children, and trendy headline type is shunned because, its editors believe, it tends to confuse young readers.

The new January issue carries, for the first time in the magazine's history, a bright, six-color, illustrated cover. Inside are the same homely features that a generation of children have studied and daydreamed over: ''Hidden Pictures,'' ''The Timbertoes,'' ''Goofus and Gallant,'' ''Headwork'' and ''Tricks and Teasers.''

A recent survey taken by the magazine shows that many parents who originally read the magazine as children are now giving it to their own children. The magazine was started in June 1946 by Dr. Garry Cleveland Myers and his wife, Caroline Clark Myers; he was 62 years old at the time, and she was 58. Dr. Myers was a Columbia University-trained psychologist, a pioneer in child development.

It was 15 years before they were able to pay themselves full-time salaries. ''Twice, it was only faith that kept the magazine from going out of business,'' said Kent L. Brown Jr., the magazine's editor, who is the Myerses' grandson. ''It's only by dumb luck that we stayed solvent in those days,'' said Mr. Brown, who edits the magazine in a restored 1857 Federal-style Honesdale mansion with high-columned porches, 16-foot ceilings and a central oak stairway.

Highlights For Children is now the flagship of a di-versified educational-publishing enterprise that takes in $21 million a year in gross revenues, subsuming the Essential Learning Products Division, the Zaner-Bloser Company (a publisher of handwriting books and materials) and a 15,000-circulation quarterly, The Newsletter of Parenting.

While some editors of the other magazines speak admiringly of Highlights for Children, others criticize what they view as its ''stodginess'' and call it ''out of pace with today's urban children.''

''Our readers like what we are, and we know what we are, even if we're not in style,'' said Walter B. Barbe, the magazine's editor in chief. ''Life magazine forgot what it was - but we haven't.''

But what of the other children's magazines? The following is an overview of the current crop of publications. The circulation figures printed are the latest averages available from the publishers. Special-interest and regional publications are not included. Nor are religious magazines or those read by young children even though they're primarily intended for an older age group - like Mad Magazine, or Seventeen. Highlights for Children

Founded: 1946. Age range: 3-12. Circulation: 1,250,000. $39.95 for three years, 11 issues per year. Highlights for Children, 2300 West Fifth Avenue, P.O. Box 269, Columbus, Ohio 43216. Cricket

Founded: 1973. Age range: 6-12; most readers are 8-10. Circulation: 140,000-160,000. $15 for one year, 12 issues per year. Cricket, Box 2670, Boulder, Colo. 80302.","dotted vales of the northern Poconos. After 35 years, Highlights for Children has reinvented its cover.   This change might not, on its face, seem to be all that dramatic.  Nevertheless, Highlights for Children - which mails 1,250,000 magazines 11 months a year to children's homes and to schools, libraries, doctors' and dentists' offices - is not given to changing things all that often, and its readers have said they like it that way.   Currently there are more than 20 other national magazines for preteen-age children in America -not including religious publications, special-interest and regional magazines, as well as offerings from Canada. They have more than nine million subscribers.  As many as 30 million children read them in homes, schools and libraries, according to experts in the field, and eight new national children's publications have been launched since 1975."
"In addition to its own editorials, USA TODAY publishes a variety of opinions from outside writers. On political and policy matters, we publish opinions from across the political spectrum.

Roughly half of our columns come from our Board of Contributors, a group whose interests range from education to religion to sports to the economy. Their charge is to chronicle American culture by telling the stories, large and small, that collectively make us what we are.

We also publish weekly columns by Al Neuharth, USA TODAY's founder, and DeWayne Wickham, who writes primarily on matters of race but on other subjects as well. That leaves plenty of room for other views from across the nation by well-known and lesser-known names alike.

* How to submit a column

After years of silently suffering claimed professional indignities, JetBlue flight attendant Steven Slater grabbed two beers and slid to freedom. Or so he thought. Less than 24 hours after his headline-making exit, he was in custody on felony charges of reckless endangerment, trespassing and criminal mischief. His

is scheduled for this month. But of all the conversations inspired by his actions, one is conspicuously absent: Even those who applaud him seem totally unfazed by the fact that he also is being treated as an alleged felon.

For much of American history, criminal law was driven largely by what is known as the ""harm principle"" — the idea (inherited from John Stuart Mill) that government should interfere with people's liberty only when necessary to prevent harm to others. But in this day and age, depending on how you look at it, either every act that could conceivably injure another interest now qualifies as criminally harmful, or the criminal law has become completely unmoored from the harm principle itself.

When it comes to the criminal law, the harm principle is an important restraining mechanism: It's what keeps the government from punishing aimlessly for conduct unlikely to result in any material injury or danger. Even some behaviors that might result in damage — such as school bullying or illegal downloading — might in many cases be more effectively addressed outside of the criminal justice system. Without the harm principle, we end up in a world in which 7-year-olds are reduced to tears by health inspectors shuttering their curbside lemonade stands, preteens get handcuffed for eating french fries on the Metro, or juveniles are treated like sex offenders for exchanging racy text messages.

Such omnivorous criminalization is not good — not for Slater and not for society. It is bad for Slater because, by all accounts, for almost 20 years he was a solid worker, but now he faces time in prison for a ""crime"" that the vast majority of people find funny and harmless. Fighting criminal charges can easily deplete a defendant's finances, and a felony conviction could impair his future employability, deny him civil rights such as the ability to vote or serve on a jury, and cut off access to benefits related to health, housing and education. Slater's dramatic resignation might be Warholian entertainment now, but it will not be as funny in 10 years if he slips from being a productive member of society to an unemployable, alienated individual hardened by time in prison. The district attorney should justify the decision to take that risk, especially because Slater's employer, JetBlue, recognized the humor of the situation in a casual news release acknowledging that Slater's actions might "" feed your inner Office Space.""

Cannibalistic criminalization is also bad for the rest of us. Because harm prevention seems an unconvincing justification for this prosecution, perhaps the district attorney is motivated by another philosophy, such as the desire to deter others from engaging in the same kind of behavior. We are, after all, in the midst of an economic crisis, and the very fact that Slater appears to have tapped such a deep vein of resentment might suggest that failure to punish him would invite others to follow suit.

Disgruntled workers have become a familiar motif in the news cycle. Just a week before Slater theatrically bailed out, Omar Thornton killed eight of his co-workers in Connecticut after he was given the choice of quitting or being fired when he was allegedly caught stealing from his workplace. But does anyone really think prosecution of a Steven Slater would have stopped that? Can prosecutors really not tell the difference? If anything, maybe a few more harmless emergency exits would relieve some of the pressure that matures into genuinely horrifying emergencies borne of anger, frustration and aggression.

Perhaps most significantly, Slater is not the only one who pays a price for labeling his actions criminal. Per capita expenditure on the criminal justice system increased more than 300% from 1982 to 2003, from $158 to $638, and total spending has risen fivefold. There has been a 420% increase in spending on police, a 660% increase on spending for corrections and a 503% increase in spending on the judiciary. Today, the criminal justice system is draining our local governments, which fund half of all justice system expenses, to the tune of roughly $110 billion. States and the federal government spend an impressive $70 billion and $35 billion, respectively. Adjusted for inflation, criminal justice spending at the 1982 rate would amount to $66 billion; instead, we spend three times that.

At the same time, cities and localities are hemorrhaging core services — cutting public transportation, street lighting and school funding, not to mention curtailing police services for actual harm-causing offenses such as burglary or theft. Even if there is some merit in punishing Slater criminally, we should remember that every penny spent investigating, prosecuting and supervising him is a penny taken away from investigating, prosecuting and supervising more serious criminals — not to mention funding education, health, housing and other programs that might actually improve the plight of most individuals.

You know the old aphorism: To a man with a hammer, everything looks like a nail. If we are going to start seeing every transgression as a crime, then, especially in this economy, we should remember that the criminal justice system isn't free.

Erin Murphy is a professor at New York University School of Law.

You share in the USA TODAY community, so please keep your comments smart and civil. Don't attack other readers personally, and keep your language decent. Use the ""Report Abuse"" button to make a difference.",The hapless JetBlue flight attendant harmed no one. But prosecutors today seem all too eager to criminalize every bad act.
"The homeless man killed by Los Angeles police officers on Sunday in a deadly incident caught on video was a convicted bank robber and a French national, according to a new report Tuesday.

Identified as Charley Saturmin Robinet, he had been accused of robbing a bank and pistol-whipping a teller in 2000 before he and other suspects led police on a chase, according to the Los Angeles Times, whose report cited federal prison records and anonymous sources close to the investigation. The 39-year-old was sentenced to 15 years in prison and released last May.

Officers on Sunday were responding to a suspected robbery call on Skid Row when police say a confrontation with the man turned into a struggle involving one of the officer’s weapons before shots rang out. A bystander caught the altercation on video, and L.A. Police Chief Charlie Beck said an officer and sergeant’s body cameras provided a “unique perspective,” without alluding to what is shown.

Read more at The Los Angeles Times.",A new report identifies the man as a bank robber and French national
"Former Florida governor Jeb Bush is “moving forward” on a potential 2016 White House run and it appears more likely he will enter the Republican field, according to his son, who is himself running for office in Texas.

George P Bush, who is running for Texas land commissioner, told ABC on Sunday his father was “still assessing” a presidential bid, but suggested it was more likely that he would seek the White House this time. The ex-governor declined to run for president in 2012, despite encouragement from Republicans.

“I think it’s more than likely that he’s giving this a serious thought and moving …and moving forward,” said the younger Bush.

Asked if that meant it was “more than likely that he’ll run”, Bush said: “That he’ll run. If you had asked me a few years back … I would have said it was less likely.”

Jeb Bush, the brother of former President George W Bush and the son of former President George HW Bush, would stand out in what could be a crowded Republican field in 2016. He has headlined fundraisers for Republican candidates and committees and helped campaigns for governor in Iowa, South Carolina and Nevada, three of the first four states to hold presidential primaries.

Family considerations could play a factor in his decision. In an interview with the Associated Press this month, Jeb Bush said his wife, Columba, was “supportive” of a potential presidential campaign and his mother, former first lady Barbara Bush, was now “neutral, trending in a different direction”.

Barbara Bush declared last year there had been “enough Bushes” in the White House.

“But that doesn’t mean that I don’t understand the challenges that this brings,” Jeb Bush said. “This is ultimately my decision with as much consideration as I can to take into account the people that I really love.”

George P Bush said his family would be “100%” behind his father if he decides to run.","George P Bush, running for Texas land commissioner, says former Florida governor ‘giving this a serious thought’"
"""Untitled"" (1981) by Cindy Sherman sold for $3.9 million at Christie's in New York in 2011. Photograph: Metro Pictures via Bloomberg

""Untitled"" (1981) by Cindy Sherman sold for $3.9 million at Christie's in New York in 2011. Photograph: Metro Pictures via Bloomberg

Most people buy art because they love to look at it, but there's always the hope that the payoff will go beyond aesthetics. The prices of photographer Cindy Sherman's works have risen 11-fold in 15 years, according to Artnet, while Gerhard Richter's paintings are 37 times more expensive. Damien Hirst's works are up 22-fold, while works by Jean-Michel Basquiat and Andy Warhol have both risen 19-fold.

Investing in the right artist, however, can be a crapshoot, and owning artwork can involve substantial hassles. Many collectors must worry about insurance premiums, art dealers, thieves, taxes and most of all, the fickleness of the art world.

Dorit Straus knows all about these complications from three decades working with collectors at the Chubb Group of Insurance Companies, where she is now the insurer’s worldwide fine art manager. Bloomberg.com’s Ben Steverman spoke with Straus, an archaeologist by training, about the challenges of owning art. Edited excerpts of their interview follow.

Q: Is art an asset class like stocks and bonds?

A: There is some merit to that line of thought. A lot of people have a large portion of their assets in their art collections and they may not know it. It’s certainly important for financial planners to discuss this issue.

There are lots of downsides to art as investment. There are costs of maintaining art. The physical condition of your stock or fund doesn’t matter, but you have to make sure your work of art is in pristine condition, particularly in today’s economy.

My advice to most people: Art is not a commodity. It's an aesthetic object. If it turns out that you have made money on your initial investment, that’s great, but the most important thing is your appreciation of the art. I know that's kind of corny.

Q: I imagine it's difficult to predict which artworks are going to increase in value.

A: Correct, because there’s no one art market. It’s a question of fashion. That’s not to say people haven’t made a lot of money on art. I see it every day looking at the collections we insure.

Whether you're buying for investment or aesthetic purposes, I recommend people get the advice of art advisers. The art market is capricious and you have to find the right buyer at the right time. A lot of our clients -- major collectors -- put works up for sale and they don’t sell. These are good works of art.

Art advisers and art dealers do establish a market. I don’t know about the idea that people, on their own, are discovering new artists in the hope those artists will turn into the next Damien Hirst. You may not be able to unload it at all.

Q: What do art collectors need to know when it comes to protecting their works?

A: Insurance is not all about price. It’s about terms and conditions. Look at the financial strength of the companies. What is the track record of that insurance company and how do they pay claims?

The insurance company can be very helpful to you. We have as much of an interest in protecting the art as the owner. It’s good for the client to have the company come in and look at how the art is protected in your home.

Also, when you’re moving art between homes or selling it, improper packing can result in damage. We’d rather help you deal with that by directing people to the right packers and shippers.

[Chubb and other insurers sell special art policies because basic homeowners' insurance usually covers just $1,000 to $2,000 in art, with added coverage available for up to $200,000 per item, according to the Insurance Information Institute. Homeowners' policies generally won't provide extra services offered in special policies, including advice on storage, coverage of appreciation or loss in value of the art, and damage caused by earthquakes, floods and transportation of pieces.]

Water damage is something most people don't think of. You read a lot about heists. What you don’t read in the paper is when a penthouse roof is inundated with water, which seeps into the walls and a beautiful painting is turned into mush. You have all sorts of situations involving weather. The climate has changed. Fires are a big cause of loss. We have a special program for wildfire protection.

Q: How have the economic disruptions of the last few years affected the art market?

A: In 2009 and most of 2010, people were not buying and selling in the open market. People were afraid to put things up for auction because if it didn’t sell, it would mar the salability of the item. A lot of these deals were done more privately.

Eventually things did turn around. The contemporary art market is rebounding at the top level. You’ve had an international influx of people with a lot of money -- the Russians, the Chinese and other Far Eastern people.

There are still a lot of things that are not selling. The middle and lower market is still tough.

Q: Owning art can complicate estate planning. Do you have any advice?

A: I would suggest a really good inventory. Bring in an outside expert like an appraiser. Valuations may fluctuate. You may have three children that have gotten paintings of unequal value, and that might create a dispute within the family.

The tax implications are definitely something to think about. Art is not taxed at the [low] 15 percent capital gains rate, so I'd suggest one find an estate attorney that knows about tax rules and art. See whether it's important to set up some sort of foundation or trust.

The other thing to think about is whether any philanthropy should be included in the estate planning. Understand that every cultural institution has a different mission. Your painting may not be what that institution wants.","Most people buy art because they love to look at it, but there's always the hope that the payoff will go beyond aesthetics. The prices of photographer Cindy Sherman's works have risen 11-fold in 15 years, according to Artnet, while Gerhard Richter's paintings are 37 times more expensive. Damien Hirst's works are up 22-fold, while works by Jean-Michel Basquiat and Andy Warhol have both risen 19-fold."
"Hillary Rodham Clinton is skipping a gathering of politically active progressives next month that would have put her on the same stage with her Democratic challengers -- and likely set up unwelcome comparisons with liberal heroine Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.)

Clinton sent regrets for Netroots Nation, a three-day political conference that is a draw for some of the most ardent progressive activists, because she has previously scheduled speaking events in Iowa and Arkansas, her campaign said.

""Our campaign looks forward to earning the support of the Democrats participating in this conference but Hillary Clinton has scheduling conflicts which will prevent her from attending,” campaign spokesman Jesse Ferguson said. “She wishes them the best on their conference.""

Clinton is far and away the Democratic front-runner, with 75 percent of Democratic support in a Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll out this week. But she has struggled to gain the enthusiastic backing of the far left, despite running a very left-leaning campaign so far.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), whose strongly progressive campaign platform and straight-ahead style is drawing large crowds, will attend the conference in Phoenix. So will former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley, who has tried to capitalize on any far-left disaffection by campaigning as a progressive champion and calling Clinton late to the cause.

Sanders and O’Malley will participate in a candidate forum that Clinton was also invited to attend, Netroots spokeswoman Mary Rickles said. Sanders captured 15 percent support in the same WSJ/NBC poll, and O'Malley 2 percent. That suggests Sanders is heir to much of the progressive fervor for Warren, who disappointed some on the left by declining to challenge Clinton for the 2016 nomination.

Warren will also attend the conference. Her fire-breathing attacks on Wall Street made her one of the stars of last year’s Netroot Nations, and she draws large and enthusiastic crowds wherever she speaks. Although she has made no move to reconsider her decision to stay out of the race, Warren still poses a hazard for Clinton. The zeal of Warren's supporters points up the perception, still prevalent on the left, that Clinton is a privileged intimate of the very wealthy.

“I don’t know what her schedule planning is, but I certainly hoped that she would make it,” Rickles said, noting that both Sanders and O’Malley will attend the same Iowa Democratic Party event as Clinton on July 17.

Clinton, however, is committed to an Arkansas Democratic Party dinner on July 18, the day of the scheduled candidate panel.

Asked whether Clinton might be staying away at least in part because she may not feel welcome, Rickles said no. Attendees include some Democrats who support Clinton and some who do not, she said.

“Our people want to hear from her and ask her questions. I expect there will be some attendees who are disappointed she is not there,” Rickles said. “We would welcome her if she’s able to change her schedule.”

Clinton has attended a Netroots event once in 2007. She and then-Sen. Barack Obama were among the Democratic prospects who participated in a similar candidate forum ahead of the 2008 primaries, Rickles said.

About 3,000 activists are expected to attend the 2015 convention.

Anne Gearan is a national politics correspondent for The Washington Post.","An appearance could have led to unwelcome comparisons, but her campaign said it was scheduling that will keep her away."
"Updated: Tuesday, November 3, 2015, 3:04 PM

There is controversy in the “Stars” for Demi Lovato.

The indie pop group Sleigh Bells alleges that the former Disney star sampled the band's songs ""Infinity Guitars"" and ""Riot Rhythms"" in her new song off of the album, ""Confident.""

Though Lovato has yet to respond publicly to the accusations over “Stars,” her producers deny the accusations.

""We did not use any samples in Demi Lovato's song 'Stars.' Demi was also not involved with the production. She only wrote top line,"" producers Carl Falk and Rami told EW in a statement.

This isn't the first time Lovato has been accused of ripping off other musicians.

In July, the 23-year-old pop princess drew criticism from Katy Perry fans that said her ""Cool for the Summer"" was a knockoff of Perry's ""I Kissed a Girl.""

The former Disney star later took to Twitter to address the comparisons.

""Sounds nothing like it and with all the advances we've made in the LGBT community I think more than one female artist can kiss a girl and like it,"" she tweeted at the time.","Sleigh Bells alleges that the former Disney star sampled their music in her new song ""Stars"" off of the album, ""Confident."""
"BY Shari Weiss DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Tuesday, June 21st 2011, 1:19 PM

Nearly one year after their wedding, Megan Fox and Brian Austin Green have returned to the site of their Hawaiian nuptials.

The couple, who will celebrate their first anniversary on Friday, has spent the last few days vacationing in Kona, Hawaii.

Fox, 25, has been seen on the beach in several sexy bikinis, including a hot pink two-piece and one with a floral print.

With just his bathing suit bottoms on, the 37-year-old actor revealed he has more tattoos than his inked up wife.

'90210' STARS - WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

But the trip, which also included Green's 9-year-old son, Kassius, wasn't all for pleasure.

Fox was also in the Aloha State for the Maui Film Festival, which ran from last Wednesday through Sunday.

At the opening night festivities, the actress told E! Online that she and Green were contemplating renewing their vows in the fall.

""I didn't think that I was into it until my relationship with Brian,"" she said.

Green and Fox traveled to New York in April. (Andrew H. Walker/Getty)

Fox added that, as a Cancer, Green is ""very sensitive and very emotional.""

""He's very all about feelings and relationships and he cries about everything,"" she said. ""He'll want to do it so I'll do it for him.""

And what is he doing for her? Swimming with dolphins, just like they did as newlyweds.

""My husband is terrified of sharks but we're going to do it anyway,"" Fox told E! ""Sharks don't usually go where there are tons of dolphins so we can do it.""","Nearly one year after their wedding, Megan Fox and ian Austin Green have returned to the site of their Hawaiian nuptials."
"This summer, the Faceman along with a flock of other '80s icons has cometh again. As The A-Team and The Karate Kid remakes ricochet and roundhouse their way across movie screens mashing the MacGyver-spoofing MacGruber in their wake time is ripe for revisiting what made the originals so memorable: the fashions, of course. USA TODAY looks at where mullets, Mohawks and other motifs of the era are now.","Collection of all USATODAY.com coverage of Matthew Bellamy, including articles, videos, photos, and quotes."
"■ Strauss’s “Salome” Boston Symphony Orchestra and vocal soloists, conducted by Andris Nelsons.

■ Frank Martin’s “Le Vin Herbé” (“The Love Potion”). BostonLyric Opera.

■ Erich Korngold’s “Die Tote Stadt” Odyssey Opera.

■ Sir John Stevenson’s “They play’d, in air the trembling music floats” Programmed for the inaugural 1815 performance of the Handel and Haydn Society and reprised by the men of the H&H Chorus at the opening concert of the Society’s bicentennial season. Conducted by Harry Christophers.

■ Georg Friedrich Haas’s Quartet No. 3, “In iij. Noct.” Performed in complete darkness by Lili Sarayrah and Lauren Cauley (violins), Alexina Hawkins (viola), and Lauren Radnofsky (cello). Bang on a Can Summer Music Festival at MASS MoCA.

The year in classical music included a new BSO music director and an anniversary for the Handel and Haydn Society.

■ Shostakovich’s complete Preludes and Fugues, Part 1 Alexander Melnikov (piano). Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum.

■ Bartok’s Violin Sonata No. 1 Christian Tetzlaff (violin), Lars Vogt (piano). Celebrity Series.

■ Brahms’s Violin Sonata No. 3 in D minor Stefan Jackiw (violin), Anna Polonsky (piano). Rockport Chamber Music Festival.

■ Jerome Kern’s “All the Things You Are” Leon Fleisher (piano), performed in an unannounced appearance at the season finale of the Yellow Barn Music Festival.

■ Schubert’s “Arpeggione” Sonata Recorded by Lawrence Wolfe (bass), presented by Zhou Hongbin, Shanghai Oriental Art Center (see essay)",Jeremy Eichler picks 10 memorable moments from a year’s listening.
"Agent Drew Rosenhaus continued to hype the potential return of imprisoned receiver Plaxico Burress to the NFL this year.

Burress is expected to be freed in June after a two-year sentence for a weapons conviction. He has said he expects to return to the NFL, and Rosenhaus said Burress will be ready to thrive upon his return.

Said the agent on Twitter:

""He is doing great! He is running & lifting weights 5 days a week. He looks in terrific shape. He is in great spirits and is excited to be reunited with his family on June 6th. We talked at length about his future in the NFL & he can't wait to get back on the football field in 2011! He is mentally & physically strong right now and is looking forward to the future! He has set some great goals for his life on and off the field. Get ready to see him do some amazing things this year in all areas!""

The MVP of Super Bowl XLII, Burress will be 34 on Aug. 12.

See photos of: NFL, Plaxico Burress

To report corrections and clarifications, contact Standards Editor

. For publication consideration in the newspaper, send comments to

. Include name, phone number, city and state for verification. To view our corrections, go to",Agent: Plaxico Burress will 'do some amazing things this year' - The Huddle: Football News from the NFL - USATODAY.com
"NATO launches its largest-ever operation in Afghanistan, Operation Achilles. British, U.S. and other coalition forces combine with elements of the Afghanistan National Security Forces (ANSF) to clear out the Taliban from Helmand province. The operation ends on May 30, 2007, with 35 NATO and ANSF forces killed. The operation also captured 28 Taliban insurgents and killed 750-1,000 insurgents.

Image: British commandos withdraw after a sunrise attack on Taliban positions near Kajaki in Helmand province. By John Moore, Getty Images",The Longest War: Interactive Timeline of the Afghan conflict
"John Boehner (left) and Paul Ryan

Ron Sachs/CNP/Zuma; IM LO SCALZO/EPA

10/29/2015 AT 12:30 PM EDT

was elected speaker of the House on Thursday, ending

's tenure in the top-ranking position.

Ryan, 45, who was officially nominated for the job by House Republicans on Wednesday, earned the votes of 236 members of the House of Representatives.

The former vice presidential candidate told reporters after the internal GOP vote Wednesday, ""We are not going to have a House that looks like it's looked the last two years. We are going to move forward. We are going to unify. Our party has lost its vision, and we are going to replace it with a vision.""

Boehner, 65, announced his resignation from Congress on Sept. 25, after renewed calls for him to step down. ""It had become clear to me that this prolonged leadership turmoil would do irreparable harm to the institution,"" he said at the time.

House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy announced his run for House speaker shortly thereafter, and was thought to be a shoo-in before he dropped out suddenly following a

he made about the Benghazi committee.

Ryan at first resisted the call to run for the position, saying he would consider it only if

were met, including a revamp of House rules ""so that everyone can be a more effective representative.""

Boehner delivered his farewell address before the vote on Thursday, tissue box in hand. ""I leave with no regrets, no burdens,"" he told his colleagues and friends, according to

. ""If anything, I leave the way I started: just a regular guy, humbled by the chance to do a big job.""

Boehner then welcomed Ryan to the job by saying, ""There's a difference between being asked to do something and being called to do something. Paul is being called to serve with grace and with energy, and I wish him and his family all the best.""

The Ohio Republican also teared up Wednesday during his final House Leadership meeting in his office, reports

during the meeting in his soon-to-be office.","""I leave the way I started: just a regular guy, humbled by the chance to do a big job,"" John Boehner said on his final day as House speaker"
"On one of those cold late-March afternoons, we found ourselves at a mostly empty Salvadoran restaurant across the street from the African American Museum of Nassau County.

The green team and the red team were going at it in a thrilling game of barefoot beach-sand soccer on the two flat-screen televisions. Sitting above the liquor bottles on the bar were various figurines — a Buddha, an elephant, Shrek. There were a few male customers conversing in Spanish who seemed more interested in the two waitresses in form-fitting black outfits than the soccer on Fox Deportes.

It felt like a thoroughly agreeable place to decamp and hang around for a while, but there’s never enough time. So there was shrimp and rice stew for lunch, much shouting from the announcer on Fox Deportes, and then it was time to move on.

Salvadoran Buddha aside, it felt like a fairly representative scene on Long Island today. It’s not as if suburbia began on Long Island. Kenneth T. Jackson’s classic “Crabgrass Frontier” traces it back to the king of Persia in 539 B.C. But if the modern, automobile-centric, mass-produced suburb was defined by Levittown, the largest development built by a single builder, Long Island still looms large in the landscape that now defines America.

Of course, once you think you know that landscape, it’s gone or changed. In the 1870s, these general environs were the site of the most ambitiously planned suburb of the 19th century, designed for a population “desirable in every respect as neighbors, taxpayers and citizens.” It ended up as one of the great real estate failures of its time.

The notion of some perfectible suburban-exurban idyll persists, but whatever simplistic, monochromatic image lingers from the 19th or 20th century becomes ever less relevant. In 2000, minorities made up almost a quarter of Nassau and Suffolk Counties. Just 10 years later, they represented almost a third of the population of 2.8 million. Hispanics were 15.5 percent. Long Island’s vitality is inseparable from its immigrants.

In some ways, there is not much new under the sun. As early as the 1940s, existing communities were bracing against invasions of uncouth suburban hordes certain to undermine their way of life. Much is made of the suddenly tenuous economics of once-comfortable suburbs, but John Cheever, the bard of the most genteel suburban good life, described his fictional suburban village of Shady Hill in 1954 as hanging “morally and economically from a thread.” If you’re looking for really desperate housewives (and house husbands), try looking there.

But images die hard, and in our corner of the world, New York City sucks up so much of the light that what is outside can fade almost to black — the burbs, upstate, Jersey, as if that tells us much. Sometimes — Indian Point, possible gas drilling anywhere near the New York City watershed, Chris Christie’s surly star power — it all feels as if it’s one story. Usually, it’s the city here, everyone else there.

For almost seven years, doing this column twice weekly has been both a blissful and a hectic mad dash from the Jersey Shore to the Litchfield Hills, from Trenton to Hartford, from Bound Brook, N.J., to Point Lookout, N.Y., trying to reflect the places and people at the near and distant edges of the city’s orbit, who increasingly fall off the screen in the winner-take-all news lottery. Charlie Sheen, sure. Flooded Catskill villages, probably not.

It has felt like a thoroughly agreeable place to decamp and hang around, but there’s never enough time, so this is my last column. In our dwindling journalistic universe, it’s been a chance to try to make sense of the last great fisherman of the Hamptons, the most noble pit bull in Hoboken, graduation night at Sing Sing, kosher gasoline in Teaneck and the struggles of New York’s farmers.

So a fond shout-out to the critters of our realm: moose! wild parakeets! Champ, the sea serpent of Lake Champlain! Heartfelt thanks to humble purveyors of chili, burgers and dogs: Hubba’s in Port Chester! the Red Rooster in Brewster! Rutt’s Hut in Clifton! Best wishes to the rebbe of Woodstock, to the Tims and Rocky the Horse in Montclair, Lydia Alcock’s $23 quadrillion Visa bill, the Greenwich Wiffle Ball War and Nina Sankovitch of Westport, Conn., who read a whole book every day from Oct. 28, 2008, to Oct. 28, 2009, and now, of course, has written one about it.

I’m going to keep covering similar turf at a less frenzied pace and often at greater length, so if you have ideas, please continue to send them on. And remember: Whatever happens, we’ll always have Xanadu.","A Salvadoran restaurant in Nassau County seemed pretty representative for Long Island, where, as so many places, the idea of life outside the big city is fluid."
"Job interviews are mysterious things. You go on one and are convinced you nailed it. And then you hear . . . crickets. But you and the interviewers got along so well! You thought you had a connection! And yet they ride off into the sunset, never to be heard from again.

Now, interview-ghosting is rude, inconsiderate and totally unprofessional, but there isn’t much you can do about it. You can, however, make sure your interview game is on point and avoid some of the most common (but not necessarily the most predictable) mistakes. We spoke to human resources executive Greg Giangrande (a k a Go to Greg, who answers your most pressing work-related questions here in The Post each week). He gave us five interview missteps to avoid like the plague.

You were inflexible when scheduling the interview. The actual interview is only a small part of the larger interview process: Every interaction leading up to it counts, and speaks volumes about what type of person you are. So when you’re actually scheduling the interview, make sure you’re demonstrating that you’re flexible and available. “It’s really annoying if you’re not gracious and accommodating,” says Giangrande. “If you’re unable to accommodate the times that they’re suggesting, you need to be responsive and flexible in suggesting other times.”

You showed up too early. Hey, wait, showing up early is a good thing, right? Sure — unless you’re really early (a half-hour to an hour) and having the reception desk call your interviewer repeatedly, as if your interviewer has nothing else at all planned that day. If you’re super-early, it’s better to just go sit in a nearby coffee shop with a book, then head back to the reception desk five to 10 minutes before the appointment. Obviously, the opposite of this is true too. “If you’re more than five minutes late, and there isn’t a phone call before you were late with some explanation about why the tardiness is beyond your control — that’s a killer,” says Giangrande.

You acted like a jerk in the reception area. Everyone knows it’s important to be polite to receptionists; they are the gatekeepers to the company. But the need for good behavior extends to the reception area in general. “When you’re in the reception area, you’re on the interview,” says Giangrande. “You could walk in and be cheerful [to the receptionist] and then act like an idiot, talking on the phone loudly with your friends and slouching in your seat. That’s going to make a very poor impression. How you conduct yourself in this area is how you should conduct the interview.”

You parroted your resume. In an actual interview, your resume should be considered a conversation starter, but definitely not a script. The meeting is an opportunity for the interviewer to learn more about you than the bullet points on a piece of paper, and if you’re unable to give them anything more than that, it will set off alarms. “If you don’t engage in a conversation — an interaction — and you make it difficult to extract information from you, I’ll shut down an interview after 10 minutes,” says Giangrande.

You didn’t ask any questions. “Do you have any questions?” might seem like a mere formality to wrap up the interview, but this isn’t the case. A smart question should be seen as a must, not a maybe. “If you ask a question or two, it demonstrates curiosity, preparation, and that you were listening during the conversation,” says Giangrande. “There’s no way everything you could want to know about the company was answered. This is an opportunity for you to extend the interview and take it wherever you want to go. Ask something that demonstrates you’ve done your research.” Just don’t go nuts with the questions — one or two is great, anything more than three is pushing it.",Job interviews are mysterious things. You go on one and are convinced you nailed it. And then you hear . . . crickets. But you and the interviewers got along so well! You thought you had a connecti…
"Matthew Keys, the journalist convicted of giving Anonymous access to the Los Angeles Times website, has been sentenced to two years in prison.

Heading into the trial, prosecutors had initially asked for five years. The maximum sentence for all three counts he was found guilty of was 25 years behind bars.

MORE FROM VOCATIV: CDC Confirms Zika Virus Causes Rare Birth Defects

In 2010, Keys either left or was fired from Sacramento's Fox 40 news, whose parent company, now known as Tribune Media, also owned the LA Times. The FBI says he then gave credentials for the site's content management system to self-designated Anonymous hacktivists, one of whom changed one story, headlined ""Pressure builds in House to pass tax-cut package,"" to ""Pressure builds in House to elect CHIPPY 1337,"" an inside joke. The story's subhead was similarly altered, and the byline, instead of naming Times reporter Lisa Mascaro, read ""CHIPPYS NO 1 FAN.""

Photos related to the case:

Anonymous-linked journalist sentenced to 2 years in prison

Matthew Keys, deputy social media editor for Reuters.com, is seen in his online profile in this undated photo. A federal grand jury has indicted Keys for conspiring with members of the Anonymous hacking collective to break into the computers of his former employer, Tribune Co. The alleged incident occurred before he joined Thomson Reuters Corp, the indictment filed on Thursday indicated. REUTERS/Staff (UNITED STATES - Tags: MEDIA BUSINESS LAW)

A quick note on today, and a special thank you to all of you who have tirelessly supported me - https://t.co/l3WNg3NmWP

This whole process has been exhausting.

2 years. We plan on filing a motion to stay the sentence.

Still here. Still going to work hard to bring you important stories that matter -- as long as I can.

When we do appea, we're not only going to work to reverse the conviction but try to change this absurd computer law, as best we can.

An aside, I was not expecting to be called a terrorist in court. But it happened!

What has happened to @matthewkeyslive today is not justice. 2 years is absurd & accomplishes nothing. Does punishment fit crime? No.

In retrospect, perhaps affluenza would have been a better defense than innocence.

In any case, the sentence is what it is. I’m innocent, and I hope that we can make some headway in the appeals process.

What you won’t see in the DOJ press release: That same judge praised my contributions to the journalism industry. Read the record.

Interesting how @MatthewKeysLive was sentenced to prison, but the actual hackers never were. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Imagine if Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak had experimented with Blue Boxes in Sacramento circa 2011. Felony convictions. No Apple.

@MatthewKeysLive really sorry to hear about this. This is not what justice is supposed to be about.

That defacement lasted only about 40 minutes. According to an FBI report, Keys' actions cost the Tribune an estimated 333 work hours and $17,650.40 to repair, though the Tribune later estimated it experienced nearly $1 million in damages.

MORE FROM VOCATIV: ISIS: Brothers Were Behind Attacks In Both Brussels And France

On Oct. 7, 2015, Keys was found guilty of violating the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA), a controversial 1986 anti-hacking law that broadly criminalizes ""unauthorized access"" of a computer, over the Times defacement. Keys, an active Twitter user, was quick to voice his displeasure.

The person who actually altered the Times article, who used the username ""Sharpie,"" has never been charged.

A few hours before his sentencing, Keys posted on Medium that he was ""innocent"" and called the CFAA an ""antiquated and draconian computer law that governs us all.""

MORE FROM VOCATIV: How STIs May Have Forced Cavemen To Be Monogamous

At the sentencing, Dan Gaines, former senior deputy online editor at the Times, referred to the defaced website as an attack on the Fourth Estate, and painted news sites' credibility as a vital public service, according to Motherboard contributing editor Sarah Jeong, who attended.

The post Anonymous-Linked Journalist Sentenced To Two Years In Prison appeared first on Vocativ.​

More from AOL.com: Sources: At least 4 sexually abused by Dennis Hastert America's poor die much younger than its rich, but the gap is smaller in New York City Memphis homicide rate nearly doubles that of Chicago this year","Heading into the trial, prosecutors had asked for five years. The maximum sentence for all three counts he was found guilty of was 25 years behind bars."
"Inside a shipping container apartment in Amsterdam. 2007 AFP

""A lot of us young professionals in the area would stuff as many people as possible in for lower rent – so that was the goal,"" said Davies as she walked through the site pointing out features designed to satisfy the needs of twenty-somethings. ""Everyone has their own bathroom, takes care of their own space, but they [also] have their kitchen, living, dining, [and] common area to hang out in at night.""

Each floor has a six-bedroom apartment. When SeaUA is complete it will house 18 people, one person per container.

""If I built the same traditional brick building with this many units, I'd be in the $200 per square foot [price range] now I am in the $100s.” said Price, who is the principal architect. “That's a big game-changer because that can offset costs over time and keep rents stable.""

Shipping containers are cheaper than traditional building materials. Second-hand, they can cost as little as $2,000. There is also a glut of inventory: more than 700,000 containers are sitting empty across the country.

""It is cheaper to actually build a new one in China and ship new things [to the USA] than to send it back empty,"" said Price.",Innovative architects turn to shipping containers for affordable housing solutions.
"At the first public opportunity to comment on the Smithsonian’s plan to reimagine the area around its iconic Castle, more than 80 people offered ideas, ranging from emotional pleas to preserve Haupt Garden to questions about how the institution will pay for the project.

Smithsonian employees, staff from the National Capital Planning Commission and architects from Bjarke Ingels Group gathered Tuesday in the red-stone administration building for the start of a 45-day public comment period. The meeting, required by the National Environmental Policy Act and the National Historic Preservation Act, allowed the Smithsonian to outline its preferred design – the $2 billion proposal unveiled last month by Ingels – as well as three alternatives.

The preferred version, which could take as long as 20 years to complete, includes long-delayed renovations to the administration building (known as the Castle), as well as the addition of two underground levels of visitor amenities, including a cafe, a store, an auditorium and restrooms. The new spaces would connect to the S. Dillon Ripley Center, the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery and the National Museum of African Art, which are underground. In addition, the Sackler and African Art Museum would get new mall-facing entrances, making it easier for visitors to find them.

Many in the audience seemed skeptical of the project and worried that its modern design would destroy the beautiful Victorian garden behind the Castle.

“I love the Victorian garden,” Smithsonian employee Russell Cashdollar said to applause from the audience. “Surrounded by the Arts and Industries Building and the Castle, it is perfection. It is a national treasure.”

Ann Trowbridge, the Smithsonian’s associate director of facilities and master planning who served as the program’s emcee, said the details about the garden – its exact design, the type of plantings it will feature, and more – have yet to be decided.

“If we don’t have a spectacular garden at the end of this project, we will not have been successful,” she said.

As required by law, the Smithsonian offered three variations of its plan. The first would include only basic repair and maintenance to the Castle’s mechanical systems. That alternative is meant to serve as a baseline to compare the effects of the other versions.

The second option – described as offering “minimal improvements” – includes replacing the Castle’s mechanical infrastructure and providing some seismic upgrades and renovations to the historic building. It would also repair the garden roof of the underground Sackler and African Art Museum galleries, but not dramatically improve the visibility of their entrances or connect them to the Castle and other buildings.

The third option closely resembles the Smithsonian’s preferred choice, but it does not include the sloping garden roof that would allow for visitors in the new underground space to see views of the expanded garden. It also does not include new gallery space for the Hirshhorn Museum.

Trowbridge said that the Smithsonian is not asking members of the public to choose the design they like, but instead to comment on the ideas outlined in all of them.

“We welcome all comments, not just about one (alternative) or the other,” she said. “We are looking for feedback.”

While the potential loss of the contemplative garden was a recurring theme, several members of the audience questioned the need to connect the various facilities. Alex Liebowitz asked what the institution meant by “improving access.” “The hidden agenda here, or maybe not so hidden, is they don’t think the Sackler and African Art Museum get enough visitors,” he said after the two-hour session ended. “They think if you have a more visible entrance, maybe they will attract more people.”

Judy Scott Feldman, president of the National Coalition to Save Our Mall, asked officials to consider their plan in the context of the entire Mall and to not turn their backs on that important public space.

“I’m all for comprehensive planning,” Feldman said. “The design seems introspective … and concerned with the buildings to the south of the Mall but not really looking north. Can you open up the options to include the mall itself?”

Trowbridge said that with about 70 percent of visitors coming from the Mall, that was not an issue.

“We are always oriented to the mall,” she said.

The public has until Jan. 30 to submit comments via the website that the Smithsonian has created for the project (www.southmallcampus.si.edu) or by writing to the institution. The Smithsonian and the National Capital Planning Commission will use the feedback to focus their analysis of the project — from its effects on traffic and storm-water management to views and visitor experiences.

An environmental assessment will be made public in the spring, giving people a second opportunity to comment on the project. The Smithsonian would like to present a final plan to the NCPC for approval next fall. Although some of the smaller components might begin shortly, major construction on the Castle is not expected to begin until 2021 at the earliest.

Peggy McGlone joined the Washington Post in 2014 as its local arts reporter. Prior to that, she covered the arts for The Star-Ledger in New Jersey for more than a decade.",The first public meeting included three alternatives plans for the Smithsonian's museums and gardens along Independence Avenue. The public has until Jan. 30 to submit comments.
"In their 1999 book, “The Trust: The Private and Powerful Family Behind The New York Times,” Susan E. Tifft and Alex S. Jones said that Mr. Sulzberger had long had his eye on Mr. Mattson as president of the company.

“He liked Mattson’s straightforward approach to problems, his encyclopedic grasp of business and production details, his stability and dedication, and his firm, decisive manner,” the authors wrote. “He also knew that Mattson had the hands-on operational experience he considered essential to lead a company of growing complexity.”

Mr. Mattson’s first major coup as The Times’s executive vice president and general manager was to negotiate a landmark 1974 agreement with the printers’ union. It was the death knell for 19th-century Linotype machines, which cast type in hot lead, and opened a new era of computerized-electronic typesetting at the paper. In exchange, The Times guaranteed lifetime employment for 800 printers, whose jobs disappeared through attrition.

The 11-year agreement, with Local 6 of the International Typographical Union — it also covered The Daily News and its 600 printers — gradually ended restrictive and wasteful union work rules that duplicated many printing tasks, and it enabled The Times to cut costs sharply at a time of stagnant circulation and advertising revenues in a national recession, which had hit New York City particularly hard.

In the mid-1970s Mr. Mattson, working closely with Mr. Sulzberger and Mr. Rosenthal, introduced striking and profitable changes in the newspaper’s appearance and content, switching from eight news columns on a page to six, and expanding the weekday Times from two sections to four. The six-column measure gave the paper an airier, more open and modern look, making it easier to read. But the changes were not just cosmetic.

The four-section paper was a radical transformation. The first part carried foreign and national news, while two sections were given to metropolitan and business-financial news. The fourth inaugurated a cornucopia of feature sections that were different for each weekday: Sports on Mondays; Science on Tuesdays; Living on Wednesdays; a Home section on Thursdays; and Weekend, an arts and entertainment section, on Fridays.

The Times also introduced four Sunday regional sections aimed at New York City’s affluent suburbs in New Jersey, Long Island, Westchester County and Connecticut.

The changes spurred advertising and feature articles on suburban localities, and on food, gardening, entertaining and other topics. Some critics said pieces on penthouse deck furniture and high-end cooking undercut the paper’s reputation for serious journalism, but defenders said they took no space away from regular news and brightened the tone of The Times.

In any case, the sections proved popular with readers and advertisers, and some media historians called them collectively the most important redesign of the paper since its purchase by Adolph Ochs in 1896.

In 1976, Mr. Mattson announced plans to computerize The Times’s newsroom, and over the next two years writers and editors surrendered typewriters for bulky computer terminals that sped the processing of news.

The last major labor-management dispute negotiated by Mr. Mattson was an 88-day pressmen’s strike in 1978 over demands by The Times, The News and The New York Post to cut the number of workers operating their presses. It ended with smaller staff reductions than the newspapers had sought and cost $150 million in advertising and circulation revenues. But the papers won concessions that insured long-term profitability and eventual control over their own pressroom operations.

Mr. Mattson brought another long-planned project to fruition in 1980: a national edition of The Times, edited in New York and transmitted by satellite to Chicago for same-day distribution in the Midwest. Two years later, The Times began beaming its national edition to California for same-day distribution to major cities in 13 Western states. Two decades later, the national edition accounted for more than half the print paper’s circulation.

Mr. Mattson was named president when Mr. Sulzberger gave up the title in 1979 and formally took over the chief operating officer’s duties that he had been handling for years. He went on to diversify company holdings with dozens of broadcast, newspaper and magazine properties in the 1980s.

Before retiring, he was a forceful advocate of The Times’s purchase of The Boston Globe in 1993 for $1.1 billion, a transaction much criticized in leaner years. (In 2013, The Times sold The Globe and its other New England media properties to John W. Henry, principal owner of the Boston Red Sox, for $70 million.)

“Walt was a wonderful business partner for my father,” Arthur Ochs Sulzberger Jr., The Times’s current publisher and chairman, said in an email on Friday. “He was kind and always straightforward, which Dad greatly valued, as did I in the few years we overlapped in management at The Times.”

Walter Edward Mattson Jr. was born in Erie, Pa., on June 6, 1932, to Walter Mattson and the former Florence Anderson. As a boy, he delivered papers for an uncle’s weekly in Erie. His father worked for the National Biscuit Company and was transferred to various cities, including Portland, Me., where Walter Jr. graduated from Deering High School in 1949.

After two years in the Marine Corps, he worked nights as a printer at The Portland Press Herald while attending Portland Junior College and then Portland University, where he received a bachelor’s degree in business and accounting in 1955.

He married Geraldine Anne Horsman in 1953. Besides his wife, he is survived by two sons, Stephen and William; a daughter, Carol Heylmun; a sister, Norene Hastings; eight grandchildren, and one great-grandchild.

In the mid-1950s Mr. Mattson was an advertising manager for a newspaper in Oakmont, Pa., and a production assistant at The Boston Herald Traveler. After earning an electrical engineering degree from Northeastern University in 1959, he joined The Times in 1960 as an assistant production manager. He became a vice president in 1970, attended summer advanced management programs at Harvard Business School and within three years was general manager, in charge of all business, marketing, circulation, personnel and production operations.

Mr. Mattson oversaw years of solid profit growth in the 1980s, although The Times’s financial performance weakened late in the decade. In 1992, seven months after Arthur Sulzberger Jr. succeeded his father as publisher of The Times, Mr. Mattson stepped down as president and was named vice chairman. He worked with the younger Mr. Sulzberger on strategic planning before retiring in 1993.

Mr. Mattson had a home in Sarasota and had for many years lived in Stamford, Conn. Since 2013, he and his wife had lived at the Plymouth Harbor retirement community in Sarasota. He was a member of the Times company’s board of directors in the 1980s and early 1990s.

A version of this article appears in print on December 31, 2016, on Page A21 of the New York edition with the headline: Walter E. Mattson, Former Times President, Dies at 84. Order Reprints| Today's Paper|Subscribe","Mr. Mattson, a production executive who had once been a printer, helped transform the newspaper with innovative labor agreements and new technologies."
"The French law, introduced in 2010, also covers balaclavas and hoods but has been criticised as targeting Muslim women. Photograph: Gonzalo Fuentes/Reuters

Judges at the European court of human rights (ECHR) have upheld France's burqa ban, accepting Paris's argument that it encouraged citizens to ""live together"".

The law, introduced in 2010, makes it illegal for anyone to cover their face in a public place. While it also covers balaclavas and hoods, the ban has been criticised as targeting Muslim women.

The case was brought by an unnamed 24-year-old French citizen of Pakistani origin, who wears both the burqa, covering her entire head and body, and the niqab, leaving only her eyes uncovered.

She was represented by solicitors from Birmingham in the UK, who claimed the outlawing of the full-face veil was contrary to six articles of the European convention. They argued it was ""inhumane and degrading, against the right of respect for family and private life, freedom of thought, conscience and religion, freedom of speech and discriminatory"".

The French government asked the court to throw out the case, claiming that the law was not aimed at the burqa or veil but any covering of the face in a public place, and also applied to hoods and helmets when not worn on a motor vehicle.

The court heard that out of an estimated five million Muslims living in France – the exact figure is unknown as it is illegal to gather data by religion or ethnic group – only about 1,900 women were estimated to be affected by the ban, according to 2009 research. French officials told the judges this figure had since dropped by half ""thanks to a major public information campaign"".

The complainant, named only by the initials SAS, was described as a ""perfect French citizen with an university education …who speaks of her republic with passion"".

Her lawyer Tony Muman told the ECHR last November: ""She's a patriot"" adding that she had suffered ""absolutely no pressure"" from her family or relatives to cover herself. While she was prepared to uncover her face for identity checks, she insisted on the right to wear the full-face veil, Muman said.

The European judges decided otherwise, declaring that the preservation of a certain idea of ""living together"" was the ""legitimate aim"" of the French authorities.

Isabelle Niedlispacher, representing the Belgian government, which introduced a similar ban in 2011 and which was party to the French defence, declared both the burqa and niqab ""incompatible"" with the rule of law.

Aside from questions of security and equality, she added: ""It's about social communication, the right to interact with someone by looking them in the face and about not disappearing under a piece of clothing.""

The French and Belgian laws were aimed at ""helping everyone to integrate"", Niedlispacher added.

The ECHR has already upheld France's ban on headscarves in educational establishments, and its regulation requiring the removal of scarves, veils and turbans for security checks.

Tuesday's legal decision came a few days after France's highest court, the cour de cassation, upheld the firing of a creche worker for ""serious misconduct"" after she arrived for work wearing a veil. The woman has said she will appeal to the ECHR.",European judges declare that preservation of a certain idea of 'living together' was legitimate aim of French authorities.
"The lecture at the Norman, Okla., high school was intended to heal the racial divides, a student said.

The discussion’s premise: White people are racist. All of them.

Following that discussion, an Oklahoma teacher is under fire and a high school is mired in the debate about how teachers should inject themselves into controversial conversations about race in the United States.

NBC affiliate KFOR reported on the controversy last week after receiving a recording from an offended student at Norman North High School.

In the recording, the teacher shows a YouTube clip about imperialism. A man in the video uses white-out on a globe to illustrate how European influence spread across the world.

In the recording, the teacher asks: “Am I racist? And I say yeah. I don’t want to be. It’s not like I choose to be racist, but do I do things because of the way I was raised.”

“To be white is to be racist, period,” the teacher says.

[Yesterday’s Ku Klux Klan members are today’s police officers, councilwoman says]

The offended student told KFOR in an interview that she felt picked on because she is white. The station didn’t name the student or the teacher.

“Half of my family is Hispanic, so I just felt like, you know, him calling me racist just because I’m white. … I mean, where’s your proof in that,” she said. “I felt like he was encouraging people to kind of pick on people for being white.”

“You start telling someone something over and over again that’s an opinion, and they start taking it as fact,” she said.

As word of the lecture spread, some have criticized the teacher’s tactics.

“Why is it okay to demonize one race to children that you are supposed to be teaching a curriculum to,” the girl’s father asked in an interview with KFOR.

Students who support the teacher walked out of the high school in protest on Tuesday. Student organizers released a statement that the school district shared with media outlets.

“What has been reported in the news doesn’t accurately portray what happened in our philosophy class, nor does it reflect what we believe in at our school,” said a student who organized the demonstration and participated in the lecture but was not identified by the school district. “The information was taken out of context and we believe it is important to have serious and thoughtful discussions about institutional racism in order to change history and promote inclusivity.”

The school district has not said whether the teacher is facing disciplinary action. In a statement, Superintendent Joe Siano said the conversation, while important, could have been handled better.

[A black pedestrian was stopped by police. A bystander recorded his ‘humiliating’ arrest.]

“Racism is an important topic that we discuss in our schools,” Siano said in the statement emailed to The Washington Post. “While discussing a variety of philosophical perspectives on culture, race and ethics, a teacher was attempting to convey to students in an elective philosophy course a perspective that had been shared at a university lecture he had attended.

“We regret that the discussion was poorly handled. When the district was notified of this concern it was immediately addressed. We are committed to ensuring inclusiveness in our schools.”

Scott Rogers, a former blogger for Conservative Voice, suggested the teacher went too far and told his Twitter followers the educator should be fired.

The incident illustrates the tightrope teachers walk between engaging students in the important issues of the day and staying neutral in a room filled with impressionable youths.

Implicit bias — the belief that we all have unconscious opinions about race, gender and ethnicity that subtly affect our actions — has been discussed in police stations, school rooms and on CNN. The nation has been grappling with the issue as it debates whether officers are more likely to use deadly force against minorities and whether teachers discipline black students more severely.

For teachers, racial bias can be an engaging, relevant civics lesson as much as it is a prescient social issue, educators and experts say. But conversations about race in an educational setting are delicate.

Still, the conversations are happening in schools whether teachers are involved or not.

Over the summer, students at a private school in Florida drew scorn when they had an Instagram debate about which was a more respectful way to use a racial slur for black people. Last month in Montana, two students made national headlines when one wore a shirt that said “White Power” on the front and another’s had the word “Redneck” and a picture of the Confederate battle flag.

[‘Learn your manners,’ a white man wrote to his black neighbor. This was the response.]

For Teaching Tolerance, a project of the Southern Poverty Law Center, teacher Kathleen Melville wrote a blog post titled “Talking With Students About Ferguson and Racism” about the difficulty — and the necessity — of discussing race in U.S. high schools.

“Talking about race is not entirely new to my ninth-grade students, but it’s definitely not a comfortable topic, at least not at school. As I get to know my students at the beginning of the year, I notice how they tiptoe around the issue. One student uses the term “white people” and then immediately apologizes to me: “Sorry, Miss. No offense. I mean Caucasian.” Another student mentions the demographics of a neighborhood, saying there are a lot of white people, and someone else responds, ‘Oooh! Don’t say that! That’s racist!’ …

“This work with students does not come easily. The sanctioned curriculum avoids it and many administrators frown on it. But we need schools that give teachers wide latitude to tailor curricula to students’ needs.”

A teen was brutally beaten after making pro-police statements. His mom says it’s a hate crime.

Why this white pastor is not saying ‘all lives matter’

‘I’m going to hit him’: Dash-cam video shows officers tried to run over man before shooting him 14 times

The first thing cancer patients saw when they got to this hospital: An ad for a funeral home",An offended student who recorded the lecture said she felt picked on because she's white.
"She was one of a kind, Janet Reno.

The first woman to serve as Attorney General of the United States has died at age 78, suffering the debilitating effects of Parkinson’s Disease. Only one person in the nation’s history occupied the office longer, and that was back in the days of wooden whaling ships. Reno held the top law enforcement post through the Clinton administration, 1993 to 2001, which is quite remarkable when you realize that the president and his inner circle had little use for her.

I had a feeling that might be the case when she was appointed, for I knew Reno better than the folks I was covering at the White House. They had stumbled onto her as the answer to a big mess they had created. After letting it be known in Washington that they intended to name the first woman A.G., they were forced to withdraw the nomination of Zoe Baird over her failure to pay taxes on household help. The so-called “Nannygate” scandal deepened when Clinton’s second choice, Judge Kimba Wood, turned out to have similar problems.

Reno was the veteran State Attorney for Miami-Dade County in South Florida, and one thing you could be sure about was that Janet Reno was scandal-free.

But that did not mean she was uninteresting. Reno came from one of South Florida’s most memorable families, which is saying something. Henry Reno covered the cops for the Miami Herald back in the days when Miami was openly mobbed up, but unlike some later figures from the cops beat—Gene Miller, for instance, and Edna Buchanan—Henry Olaf Reno, a Danish immigrant, was never more colorful than the stories he covered. His wife, Jane Wood Reno, was the flamboyant one. While Henry was at work, Jane built a house for the family with her bare hands at the edge of the Everglades, on a homestead where she raised peacocks—the louder and more annoying to neighbors, the better. Janet, one of four Reno children, never married and never left that house, except to go to college and to run the Department of Justice. It was still home when she passed away.

Her keen intellect and organizational skills brought her to the attention of Miami’s top lawyers, beginning with Talbot “Sandy” D’Allemberte, a friend and mentor who recommended her for the role of deputy to Dade County State Attorney Richard Gerstein. When Gerstein stepped down after a long reign, Reno moved into the role, a job known in most places as District Attorney, where she became known for her awkward demeanor, complete honesty, and sphinx-like silence.

When I was hired as a new reporter at the Miami Herald in 1985, my editor ordered me on Day Two to call Janet Reno for a comment on a story. “And don’t let her get off the phone without giving us a quote!” he said sternly.

I dialed the phone. As she always did, Reno came on the line. “No comment,” she barked.

“Um, can you tell me if your office is pursuing the case?”

“Could you say what factors would go into a decision to go forward?”

Panicking as I tried to think of another question, I could feel her impatience through the line. “Is that it?” she asked.

“Uh, erm, are there any reasons why you would not go forward?”

“I’m not going to answer that.”

“Do you have any other questions?”

“Well,” I said in desperation, “is there anything I could ask you that you would answer?”

I hung up the phone and steeled myself to look over at the city desk. There was my editor, smiling broadly at the prank he had played.

No one ever got Janet Reno to do or say anything that she didn’t want to do or say. That could be her best quality, as when she amazed the country by stepping up after the disaster at the Branch Davidian compound in Waco and taking full responsibility for a raid gone horribly, tragically wrong. It could be galling, too, as it was to the Clinton loyalists who seethed as she first appointed a special prosecutor to investigate the president, then doubled down by continuing the inquiry under the relentless Kenneth Starr.

Washington would have been glad to see her go before she did. But she was as immoveable as that limestone house her mom built almost a century ago.

The last time I saw her she was running a lonely campaign for governor of Florida, driving herself around the state in a red pickup truck. I interviewed her for a story about the race. I think she knew she wouldn’t win; she was up against a Clintonesque glad-hander and slick talker with the entire Democratic establishment lined up behind him. If she cared, she didn’t show it. I told about the time my editor hazed me by calling her for a quote. She smiled.",The attorney general has died at the age of 78
"New York Police Department officers wait in line to enter the wake of officer Rafael Ramos at Christ Tabernacle Church, in the Glendale section of Queens, Friday, Dec. 26, 2014, in New York. Ramos was killed Dec. 20 along with his partner, Officer Wenjian Liu, as they sat in their patrol car on a Brooklyn street. The shooter, Ismaaiyl Brinsley, later killed himself.

New York Police Department officers wait in line to enter the wake...

New York City police officers carry the casket of New York Police Department officer Rafael Ramos at his wake at Christ Tabernacle Church, in the Glendale section of Queens, where he was a member, Friday, Dec. 26, 2014, in New York. Ramos was killed Dec. 20 along with his partner, Officer Wenjian Liu, as they sat in their patrol car in Brooklyn. The shooter, Ismaaiyl Brinsley, later killed himself.

New York City police officers carry the casket of New York Police...

Pei Xia Chen, right, widow of slain New York City police officer Wenjian Liu, is comforted by family member Kevin Lee at the Stephen Siller Tunnels to Towers Foundation headquarters on the Staten Island borough of New York, Friday, Dec. 26, 2014. The Tunnels to Towers Foundation announced they will raise money to pay off the home mortgages for the widows of Liu and Ramos. The officers were killed in Brooklyn by Ismaaiyl Brinsley on Saturday. NYC LOCALS OUT

Pei Xia Chen, right, widow of slain New York City police officer...

Mourners stand at a barricade near Christ Tabernacle Church, in the Glendale section of Queens, as the casket of New York Police Department officer Rafael Ramos arrives for his wake, Friday, Dec. 26, 2014, in New York. Ramos was killed Dec. 20 along with his partner, Officer Wenjian Liu, as they sat in their patrol car on a Brooklyn street. The shooter, Ismaaiyl Brinsley, later killed himself.

Mourners stand at a barricade near Christ Tabernacle Church, in the...

Mourners stand at a barricade near Christ Tabernacle Church, in the Glendale section of Queens, as the casket of New York Police Department officer Rafael Ramos arrives for his wake, Friday, Dec. 26, 2014, in New York. Ramos was killed Dec. 20 along with his partner, Officer Wenjian Liu, as they sat in their patrol car on a Brooklyn street. The shooter, Ismaaiyl Brinsley, later killed himself.

Mourners stand at a barricade near Christ Tabernacle Church, in the...

The casket of New York Police Department officer Rafael Ramos arrives to his wake at Christ Tabernacle Church in the Glendale section of Queens, where he was member, Friday, Dec. 26, 2014, in New York. Ramos was killed Dec. 20 along with his partner, Officer Wenjian Liu, as they sat in their patrol car on a Brooklyn street. The shooter, Ismaaiyl Brinsley, later killed himself.

The casket of New York Police Department officer Rafael Ramos...

The casket of New York Police Department officer Rafael Ramos arrives to his wake at Christ Tabernacle Church in the Glendale section of Queens, where he was member, Friday, Dec. 26, 2014, in New York. Ramos was killed Dec. 20 along with his partner, Officer Wenjian Liu, as they sat in their patrol car on a Brooklyn street. The shooter, Ismaaiyl Brinsley, later killed himself.

The casket of New York Police Department officer Rafael Ramos...

New York Police Department officers stand guard at the wake of officer Rafael Ramos at Christ Tabernacle Church, in the Glendale section of Queens, where he was a longstanding and deeply committed member, Friday, Dec. 26, 2014, in New York. Ramos was killed Dec. 20 along with his partner, Officer Wenjian Liu, as they sat in their patrol car on a Brooklyn street. The shooter, Ismaaiyl Brinsley, later killed himself.

New York Police Department officers stand guard at the wake of...

The casket of New York Police Department officer Rafael Ramos arrives to his wake at Christ Tabernacle Church, in the Glendale section of Queens, where he was member, Friday, Dec. 26, 2014, in New York. Ramos was killed Dec. 20 along with his partner, Officer Wenjian Liu, as they sat in their patrol car in Brooklyn. The shooter, Ismaaiyl Brinsley, later killed himself.

The casket of New York Police Department officer Rafael Ramos...

The casket of New York Police Department officer Rafael Ramos arrives to his wake at Christ Tabernacle Church, in the Glendale section of Queens, where he was member, Friday, Dec. 26, 2014, in New York. Ramos was killed Dec. 20 along with his partner, Officer Wenjian Liu, as they sat in their patrol car on a Brooklyn street. The shooter, Ismaaiyl Brinsley, later killed himself.

The casket of New York Police Department officer Rafael Ramos...

The casket of New York Police Department officer Rafael Ramos arrives to his wake at Christ Tabernacle Church, in the Glendale section of Queens, where he was member, Friday, Dec. 26, 2014, in New York. Ramos was killed Dec. 20 along with his partner, Officer Wenjian Liu, as they sat in their patrol car in Brooklyn. The shooter, Ismaaiyl Brinsley, later killed himself.

The casket of New York Police Department officer Rafael Ramos...

FILE - This combination made from photos provided by the New York Police Department shows officers Rafael Ramos, left, and Wenjian Liu. Authorities say Ismaaiyl Brinsley, who vowed online to shoot two ""pigs"" in retaliation for the police chokehold death of Eric Garner, ambushed Ramos and Liu in a patrol car Saturday, Dec. 20, 2014, and fatally shot them in broad daylight before running to a subway station and killing himself. The killing of the officers highlighted shortcomings in the warning systems that were used.

FILE - This combination made from photos provided by the New York...

Patrolman's Benevolent Association president Patrick Lynch shakes the hand of an officer outside the wake of officer Rafael Ramos at Christ Tabernacle Church, in the Glendale section of Queens, Friday, Dec. 26, 2014, in New York. Ramos was killed Dec. 20 along with his partner, Officer Wenjian Liu, as they sat in their patrol car on a Brooklyn street. The shooter, Ismaaiyl Brinsley, later killed himself.

Patrolman's Benevolent Association president Patrick Lynch shakes...

New York Police Department Commissioner Bill Bratton departs from the wake of officer Rafael Ramos at Christ Tabernacle Church, in the Glendale section of Queens, Friday, Dec. 26, 2014, in New York. Ramos was killed Dec. 20 along with his partner, Officer Wenjian Liu, as they sat in their patrol car on a Brooklyn street. The shooter, Ismaaiyl Brinsley, later killed himself.

New York Police Department Commissioner Bill Bratton departs from...","NEW YORK (AP) — Thousands of uniformed police officers from New York City and around the country gathered Friday at the solemn, eight-hour wake of a city policeman who was killed along with his partner in a brazen daytime shooting a week ago.  ""Dad, I'm forever grateful of the sacrifices you made to provide for me and Jaden,"" Ramos' son, Justin, said during the wake, referring to his younger brother, as officers gathered in the street watched on giant television screens.  Gunman Ismaaiyl Brinsley, before he attacked Ramos and Liu, had referenced in online posts the high-profile killings by white police officers of unarmed black men, specifically Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, and Eric Garner on Staten Island.  Since the deaths, police in New York say they have arrested seven people accused of threatening officers."
"Saturday, July 14th 2001, 2:22AM

Ah, summer, those lazy, hazy, crazy days of blueberries, fireflies, and guest preachers in the pulpit - like the Rev. John Galloway, making his annual appearance at the storied Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church.

""I've been doing this for several years now,"" he said after batting last Sunday for the vacationing senior pastor, the Rev. Tom Tewell, a longtime friend. Galloway, who once was an associate pastor at Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church, now is the senior pastor of the Wayne (Pa.) Presbyterian Church.

""I enjoy it enormously,"" Galloway said, ""and I like to think I'm doing Tom a favor.""

For sure. All over the city, pastors, priests and rabbis count on stand-ins - either from their own sanctuaries or from out of town - to fill the pulpit while they are away.

But more and more at larger churches and synagogues, they don't need to look farther than their own ordained aides.

Some pastors, among them the Rev. Anthony Trufant of Emmanuel Baptist Church, in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn, use guest preachers only on special occasions. During the summer, he calls on his inhouse talent.

""I've got seven associates champing at the bit,"" Trufant says. ""They like to preach and they're good.""

The same is true at famed Marble Collegiate, the Reform Church landmark in midtown Manhattan, where senior pastor Arthur Caliandro - in Maine this week - calls on aides. One is a resident Catholic nun, Sister Carole Perry, who will preach Sept. 2, the last summer speaker.

Rabbi Ronald Sobel at Temple Emanu-El, on Fifth Ave., goes with a strict summer rotation among his three associates - officiating today is Rabbi Amy Ehrlich.

""It's their chance to star, and they're not about to blow it,"" an official said. ""They don't get that many chances to shine, and they spend a lot of time preparing. You hear some great sermons.""

Sermons are not the big deal in Catholic churches, where the liturgical focus is on the Eucharist. But because only a priest can celebrate the Mass, and because of a shortage of priests in many neighborhoods, vacation scheduling can get tricky.

""In some cases, priests double up on duty or ask friends from other parishes, even from other countries,"" says one Bronx priest, who added that he has been so desperate in past years that he has asked worshipers to help him recruit stand-ins.

Pope John Paul, incidentally, does not take a full month, although he does spend his summers at the papal villa in Castelgandolfo, outside Rome. But he spends a lot of it working.

(Actually, he is midway through his real vacation, in a chalet in the Italian Alps, where he has gone for several summers and where he always stays 12 days.)

Guidelines for priests in the Archdiocese of New York and the Diocese of Brooklyn and Queens suggest one month's vacation, which generally is the rule for all faiths.

""Believe me, pastors need it,"" says Caliandro, who gets 13 Sundays off every year. ""You need the time to think, write, read, rest - just get away from the pressure and demands.""

Even so, some clergy accept speaking engagements even on their Sundays off - Caliandro just preached in Ludington, Mich., and Tewell spoke in Ocean Grove, N.J.

Sometimes, there are unexpected bonuses. Galloway provides one of them.

""The first time I spoke [at Fifth Avenue Presbyterian],"" he says, ""I realized there was no air conditioning. It was so hot that I gave one of the associate ministers $1 and told him to start an air conditioning fund.""

Every year since then, he has handed $1 to every church official at his summer service. ""There were 10 last Sunday, and I gave each of them $1,"" he said.

One result: Inspired by him, Fifth Avenue began a real air conditioning fund.

""I'm going to keep coming back,"" Galloway said, ""until I feel comfortable in the pulpit.""

He means climatically - he already feels comfortable in every other respect.","Ah, summer, those lazy, hazy, crazy days of blueberries, fireflies, and guest preachers in the pulpit - like the Rev. John Galloway, making his annual appearance at the storied Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church. ""I've been doing this for several years now,""he said after batting last Sunday for the vacationing senior pastor, the Rev. Tom Tewell, a longtime friend. Galloway, who once was an associate pastor at Madison"
"The planet now harbors a strain of the famous bacterium Escherichia coli (e. coli) that can chew up plants and excrete biodiesel. It's a step on a long road to create organisms like algae, bacteria or yeasts that more directly turn energy inputs--sunlight, sugars, carbon dioxide, oxygen--into fuels and chemicals.

Scientists with the Department of Energy's Joint BioEnergy Institute (JBEI) recently published a paper in the journal Nature explaining how they engineered the e. coli strain to spit out fatty esters (basically biodiesel), alcohols and waxes from sugar. They tweaked the e. coli so that it produces more fat than it normally would in a form it normally wouldn't, and they also made sure the bugs didn't eat their own fatty production. Then they engineered the bugs so they produced enzymes that break down the tough sugars found in cell walls that traditional biofuel production can't get to at all. Cellulosic approaches are having only moderate success with this process.

Ideally, this new discovery would lead to a tiny, self-contained oil well: In comes plants, out comes fuels or chemicals. The JBEI scientists teamed with scientists from LS9, the company founded by Harvard geneticist George Church (see ""Going To Church"") that is hoping to make a business out of this kind of thing.

That's the hard part. These stunning benchtop biofuels breakthroughs are published with some regularity. But no one has been able yet to turn these breakthroughs into industrial processes that can produce something useful on a large scale at reasonable cost. LS9 and others argue this simplified process is the way to do it. Maybe. But while these bugs will do amazing tricks when coddled in a cozy lab, they can get extremely uncooperative when put in a giant factory.

Two years ago numerous cellulosic biofuel companies trumpeted their breakthroughs to the world. For the most part, these companies haven't had as much to brag about since then, as they move toward pilot-scale production and their processes and bugs go from a lab to scaled-down factory.

The industry pushed for and got a federal mandate for advanced biofuels like cellulosic ethanol, but so far it hasn't been able to meet it. This year the U.S. was supposed to produce 100 million gallons of the stuff. But with no hope of hitting the target--there are no commercial facilities up and running--the mandate was recently lifted.

To read more of Jonathan Fahey's stories, click here. Contact the writer at jfahey@forbes.com.

Biofuels Battle: Chemistry Vs. Biology

A Cagey Bet On Cleantech",Scientists have engineered a new bacteria strain that spits out biodiesel.
"Certain business catchphrases become so commonplace that they seem as if they must be true. But how do you measure the cultural signals behind such truisms?

For insight into whether data may now have more cultural currency than oil, I turned to a tool from Google that charts the yearly frequency of words and phrases contained in millions of books. Called the Google Books Ngram Viewer, it is an outgrowth of the company’s efforts to scan the world’s books. (Ngram is a technical term in which “N” stands for the number of words in a sequence; a single word like “America” is a one-gram while “the United States of America” is a five-gram.)

I started my data-versus-oil quest with casual one-gram queries about the two words. The tool produced a chart showing that the word “data” appeared more often than “oil” in English-language texts as far back as 1953, and that its frequency followed a steep upward trajectory into the late 1980s. Of course, in the world of actual commerce, oil may have greater value than raw data. But in terms of book mentions, at least, the word-use graph suggests that data isn’t simply the new oil. It’s more like a decades-old front-runner.

“The appreciation of the importance of data has been emerging for decades, hand in hand with the computers that allow us to analyze it,” says Erez Aiden, a computer scientist who helped create the word-frequency tool and is now an assistant professor at the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. “Maybe data has been the new oil for a little longer than we think.”

The analysis of large, complex data sets — or “Big Data” — to predict phenomena is becoming ubiquitous. But Google’s tool is an example of data analysis over a much larger time scale — an approach called “Long Data” — to find and follow cultural shifts. And it is ushering in a quantitative approach to understanding human history.

Now Mr. Aiden and his data science co-researcher, Jean-Baptiste Michel, have written a book, “Uncharted: Big Data as a Lens on Human Culture” (Riverhead Books), scheduled to be published this month. It recounts how, as graduate students at Harvard, they came up with the idea for measuring historical shifts in language and then took the concept to Google.

The two have since used this system to analyze centuries of word use, examining the spread of scientific concepts, technological innovations, political repression and even celebrity fame. To detect censorship in Germany under the Nazis, for instance, they tracked the mentions and omissions of well-known artists — reporting that Marc Chagall’s full name surfaced only once from 1936 to 1943 in the German book records, even as this Jewish painter’s name appeared with increasing frequency in English texts.

“Digitized data is really powerful when it becomes long enough over time so you can see trends in society and culture that you could not see before,” says Mr. Michel, who recently started a data science company, Quantified Labs. “You are getting a whole new vantage point on something.”

Of course, computational analysis of word frequency isn’t meant as a replacement for primary sources and records. It’s simply an instrument to allow researchers to more easily investigate panoramic views of history.

Mr. Michel and Mr. Aiden began seriously contemplating the idea of an automated word-frequency calculator in 2006, while working on a laborious analysis of changes to English grammar; that involved a research team painstakingly analyzing and quantifying how irregular verbs changed over time in Old and Middle English texts. It led them to imagine a kind of “robot historian” that could make the process more efficient by reading millions of books at once and tabulating the occurrence of words and phrases.

“We wanted to create a scientific measuring instrument, something like a telescope, but instead of pointing it at a star, you point it at human culture,” Mr. Michel recalls. The pair approached Peter Norvig, the director of research at Google, with a pie-in-the-sky proposal: to mine Google’s library of digital books so they could apply automated quantitative analysis to the typically qualitative study of history.

According to the book, Mr. Norvig was intrigued. But he challenged the graduate students by asking how such a system could work without violating copyright.

After some thought, Mr. Aiden and Mr. Michel proposed creating a kind of “shadow data set” that would contain frequency statistics on the most common words or phrases in the digitized books — but would not contain the books’ actual texts.

The pair developed a prototype interface, called Bookworm, to prove their idea. Soon after, engineers at Google, including Jon Orwant and Will Brockman, built a public, web-based version of the tool.

“We were in,” Mr. Aiden and Mr. Michel write in the book. “Suddenly we had access to the biggest collection of words in history.”

Today, the Ngram Viewer contains words taken from about 7.5 million books, representing an estimated 6 percent of all books ever published. Academic researchers can tap into the data to conduct rigorous studies of linguistic shifts across decades or centuries. Members of the public may simply have fun watching how certain lingo rises and falls over time.

The system can also conduct quantitative checks on popular perceptions.

Consider our current notion that we live in a time when technology is evolving faster than ever. Mr. Aiden and Mr. Michel tested this belief by comparing the dates of invention of 147 technologies with the rates at which those innovations spread through English texts. They found that early 19th-century inventions, for instance, took 65 years to begin making a cultural impact, while turn-of-the-20th-century innovations took only 26 years. Their conclusion: the time it takes for society to learn about an invention has been shrinking by about 2.5 years every decade.

“You see it very quantitatively, going back centuries, the increasing speed with which technology is adopted,” Mr. Aiden says.

Still, they caution armchair linguists that the Ngram Viewer is a scientific tool whose results can be misinterpreted.

Witness a simple two-gram query for “fax machine.” Their book describes how the fax seems to pop up, “almost instantaneously, in the 1980s, soaring immediately to peak popularity.” But the machine was actually invented in the 1840s, the book reports. Back then it was called the “telefax.”

Certain concepts may persevere, even as the names for technologies change to suit the lexicon of their time.","How often have certain words or phrases appeared in books over time? A web tool offers answers, and insights into human history."
"Last January, when Kurdish forces ended the Islamic State’s five-month siege of Kobani, a contested town in Rojava, a semi-autonomous region on the Syrian and Turkish border, the local population rejoiced.

The scene today is very different, says photographer Lorenzo Meloni, who, alongside his Magnum Photos colleague Moises Saman, photographed the region earlier this month. “During the war, the enthusiasm for every victory over the Islamic State generated widespread satisfaction and gratification,” he explains. “Today, however, the city is mostly destroyed. Many people have lost their homes. The unemployment rate is abysmal and although the reconstruction process has already began, it will take a long time and a lot of money before the city returns to a semblance of normality.” As a result, many residents, especially younger people and families, are now contemplating leaving their homes behind for the chance of a new and better life in Europe.

As Kobani has mostly disappeared from the headlines – despite a renewed ISIS offensive to retake the city – the impact of the war in Syria and parts of Iraq is being felt on European shores, as thousands of displaced people are looking to start over. “We seem to forget that what will happen in this part of the world will be decisive for the whole of the Middle East and the Mediterranean area,” says Meloni.

Both photographers had a desire to document the conditions on the ground six months after Kobani’s liberation. “This is a topic that’s usually forgotten,” says Meloni. “The idea was to give two points of view, each using our own language.”

For Saman, the project was an opportunity to gauge the impact of a collaboration on a news story, which he usually covers alone. It was also a chance for him to continue four years’ worth of work on the Arab Spring. “I felt that the Kurdish story was a natural continuation of my work in the region,” he says. “Although the Arab Spring was predominantly an Arab phenomenon, its fallout — namely the civil war in Syria and the rise of the Islamic State in both Syria and Iraq — has profoundly affected Kurdish populations.”

The Kurdish pushback against ISIS forces is deeply linked to the Kurds’ dream of autonomy, with many Kurds of Iraq and Turkey speaking of this battle “as if it were part of their own struggle,” says Saman. And while it remains one of the few success stories against the totalitarian so-called Islamic Caliphate, it’s also a source of tension in the region. In Serekaniye (the Kurdish name for Ras al-Ayn), both photographers could sense increasing Arab-Kurdish tensions. “[We] began to see emptied Arab villages, some of which showed signs of having burned down,” says Saman. “This only increased as we approached Tell Abyad, a predominately Arab town that the [Kurdish People’s Protection Units] recently won back from ISIS. That Arab-Kurdish tension was noticeable all the way until we reached Kobani.”

Both photographers hope that their work will shed light on the Kurds’ growing sense of transnational identity, which is set against the backdrop of a ruinous civil war. And, more importantly, it may help the rest of the world realize that “what happens in Rojava affects us directly,” says Meloni. “Or, at least, it should.”

Moises Saman and Lorenzo Meloni are photographers represented by Magnum Photos.

Alice Gabriner, who edited this photo essay, is TIME’s International Photo Editor.

Olivier Laurent is the editor of TIME LightBox. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram @olivierclaurent

Follow TIME LightBox on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.","Moises Saman, Lorenzo Meloni document the Kurds' sense of transnational identity"
"By John Kiesewetter, The Cincinnati Enquirer

The musician filed for divorce from his wife of nearly 15 years on Tuesday, citing irreconcilable differences.

By Barrett J. Brunsman, The Cincinnati Enquirer

Randall Ralston, who coached basketball at five local high schools and in a youth league, was sentenced to nine years in prison Monday morning on charges he had unlawful sex with several girls.

By Joe Milicia, Associated Press Writer

Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin said more than one person has whispered in her ear in Ohio that John McCain needs ""to take the gloves off"" in his campaign against Democrat Barack Obama. Before a friendly crowd of Republican fundraisers Friday, the Alaska governor did that herself.

By Joe Milicia, Associated Press Writer

Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin said more than one person has whispered in her ear in Ohio that John McCain needs ""to take the gloves off"" in his campaign against Democrat Barack Obama. Before a friendly crowd of Republican fundraisers Friday, the Alaska governor did that herself.","Collection of all USATODAY.com coverage of Indian Hill, including articles, videos, photos, and quotes."
"(CNN) – Republican legislators on Sunday questioned the motives behind the Obama administration’s initial description of the September attack on the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya, after Friday briefings on Capitol Hill from the former CIA director.

Asked whether the Obama administration’s initial description of the attacks as “spontaneous” was an attempt to avoid a discussion about terrorist groups being involved, Sen. Roy Blunt said, “Until you hear a better explanation, that's the only conclusion you could reach.” – Follow the Ticker on Twitter: @PoliticalTicker

“You have to have a really good reason why you don't give the American people the information you had, unless you think you're somehow going to really endanger the people that are in other parts of the world,” the Missouri Republican said on CNN’s “State of the Union.”

The attacks resulted in the deaths of four Americans, including the U.S. ambassador to Libya. David Petraeus, who recently resigned as director of the CIA, said in closed-door congressional briefings on Friday that the attack was planned and launched by terrorists affiliated with al Qaeda, according to lawmakers and those who attended. He downplayed the use of the word “spontaneous,” according to these accounts.

Susan Rice, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, has faced sharp criticism from Republicans for describing the attack as “spontaneous” in appearances on Sunday talk shows the week of the attack. The questions have included why she was the administration’s spokesperson on the matter and why references to terrorism were removed - and by whom - from the declassified talking points she used in her appearances.

Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina has joined with fellow Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona in saying he would not support a promotion for Rice. They say they don’t buy the suggestion that the “spontaneous protest” explanation was part of the public narrative so that al Qaeda would be unaware of the U.S. intelligence community’s suspicions.

“Isn't it kind of off - if the reason is to take al Qaeda out of the equation to make sure that al Qaeda doesn't know that we're onto them - that the story they told helps the president enormously three weeks before the election?” he asked on NBC. “Because I don't buy that for one bit, that doesn't make sense to me.”

Graham and McCain have said they would block Rice’s nomination to serve as secretary of state, should she be nominated. Rice is seen to be a possible successor to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who has said she does not want to serve through President Barack Obama’s second term but will stay in her post until a candidate is ready.

Obama fiercely defended Rice at a news conference on Wednesday but did not say who his top choices for the position are.

""If Sen. McCain and Sen. Graham and others want to go after someone, they should go after me,"" Obama said. ""When they go after the U.N. ambassador, apparently because they think she's an easy target, then they've got a problem with me.""

Graham has said that there are “a lot of other qualified people” who could be chosen and that Rice’s comments following the Benghazi attacks cause him to distrust her. ""The reason I don't trust her is that I think she knew better, and if she didn't know better, she shouldn't be the voice of America,"" Graham said.

Sunday on “Meet The Press,” he said that if her name is advanced, “I'm going to listen to what Susan Rice has to say, put her entire record in context - but I’m not going to give her a plus for passing on a narrative that was misleading to the American people, whether she knew it was misleading or not.”

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, chairwoman of the Senate Select Intelligence Committee, said on NBC, “I don't know who we were protecting” by removing references to terrorism from the talking points.

“I do know that the answer given to us is we didn't want to name a group until we had some certainty,” Feinstein, a Democrat, continued. “Well, where this went awry is, anybody that brings weapons and mortars and RPGs (rocket-propelled grenades) and breaks into an asset of the United States is a terrorist in my view.”

Rep. Mike Rogers, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, echoed Blunt’s sentiment.

“I know the narrative was wrong and the intelligence was right,” he said, also on NBC. “The narrative as it went, from at least the CIA and other intelligence agencies, was accurate, as we know today, was an act of terrorism.”

Rogers, a Republican, said it appears references to terrorism were removed from the talking points, but not by the intelligence community. “When asked, there was no one in the professional intelligence community (who) could tell us who changed what,” he said.

Rogers added, “This isn't just about parsing words and who was right. There was some policy decisions made based on the narrative that was not consistent with the intelligence that we had. That's my concern.”","(CNN) -- Republican legislators on Sunday questioned the motives behind the Obama administration’s initial description of the September attack on the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya, after Friday briefings on Capitol Hill from the former CIA director."
"Occupy protests turn violent in Oakland

Are you there? Share your photos and videos.

(CNN) -- Authorities made a series of arrests at Occupy Wall Street protests in California and Georgia on Tuesday and Wednesday, with clashes in one city that involved tear gas being used on demonstrators.

Police said they fired the tear gas on protesters in Oakland, California, after the crowd threw paint and other objects at officers.

Plumes of smoke could be seen in the city as about 500 people defied calls to leave an area of downtown Oakland on Tuesday, according to police. Protesters had camped for weeks in several areas in the city, including near City Hall, police said.

""The city remains committed to respecting free speech as well as maintaining the city's responsibility to protect public health and safety,"" Oakland police said in a statement.

Oakland resident Andrew Johnson said he decided to leave when police threatened arrests, soon after hearing explosions as tear gas canisters were fired into the air.

""I think at first it was a pretty inspiring sight,"" he said of the protesters. ""It was inspiring to see people so impassioned. But when the police action began, it was a pretty unnerving sight. Just to see that energy turn into panic and anger was unsettling.""

In Atlanta, police arrested demonstrators at a downtown park overnight. The arrests came after Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed said he sent ministers to the park ""to see if we can find a way to resolve this amicably.""

Reed told CNN affiliate WSB that concerns were increased when a man in the park was seen with an assault rifle. ""We could not determine whether the weapon was loaded and could not get additional information on the weapon,"" he said.

Authorities ordered people to leave the park around midnight Tuesday, WSB said, going from tent to tent with flashlights. Arrests began taking place about 12:45 a.m.

Organizers had asked protesters to be peaceful if police took action, and most were, WSB said. Many gathered in the center of the park, locked arms and sang ""We Shall Overcome,"" as police led them one by one to waiting buses.

A protester at the park said he was scared. ""It's very intimidating,"" said Malcolm McKenzie. ""I believe what we're doing is right, but we're going to jail. It hurts to see America do this to people who want change.""

It was unclear how many people were arrested in the two cities. CNN affiliate KGO reported that at least 85 people were arrested during an early morning raid in one part of Oakland and there were other arrests throughout the day. In Atlanta, WSB reported 53 were arrested.

In Oakland early Tuesday, police dismantled a tent camp set up by protesters in a city park.

The overnight camping had to end because of health and safety concerns, Oakland police said in a statement.

""There were a series of safety conditions, including numerous reports of fighting, assault and threatening/intimidating behavior"" at the camp, police said in a statement. Medical responders could not get to the scene to provide medical care on at least two occasions, and fire and police also could not get through.

""Sanitation conditions worsened with frequent instances of public urination and defecation, as well as improper food storage,"" the police statement said. ""The existing rodent problem in the park was exacerbated, and authorities were unable to control it because of the campers' presence. Graffiti, litter and vandalism also posed problems, police said.

After the camp was dispersed, the protesters reconvened for demonstrations later in the day, the affiliates said, prompting the new clashes.

Video from the Oakland clashes showed a chaotic scene, with protesters running from clouds of tear gas.

Oakland and Atlanta are two of many cities worldwide dealing with the Occupy Wall Street protests, the leaderless movement that started in New York in September.

Demonstrators have typically railed against what they describe as corporate greed, arrogance and power, as well as repeatedly stated their assertion that the nation's wealthiest 1% hold inordinate sway over the remaining 99% of the population.

CNN's Nick Valencia, Jessica Jordan and Rich Phillips contributed to this report","Authorities made a series of arrests at Occupy protests in California and Georgia overnight, with clashes in one city that involved tear gas being used."
"California head coach Sonny Dykes, center, runs off the field with his team at the end of an NCAA college football game against Southern California Saturday, Oct. 31, 2015, in Berkeley, Calif. USC won the game 27-21. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)

With one regular-season game left, Cal’s bowl picture is becoming clearer.

The Cactus Bowl, which is contracted with the No. 7 Pac-12 team and the No. 6 Big 12 team, remains the Bears’ lone option among their conference’s seven tie-in games. If the Cactus Bowl doesn’t select Cal, Sonny Dykes’ program could earn an at-large berth to a wide range of games.

It is important to note that the conference’s top four four bowls — Rose, Alamo, Holiday and Foster Farms — have the right to dip down a slot it they’d prefer that team to the one aligned with them. But the final three — Sun, Las Vegas and Cactus — must then pick the teams slated to them based on conference order of finish.

Cal’s regular-season finale Saturday against Arizona State will help dictate which team will play in Phoenix on Jan. 2. If the Sun Devils win, the Cactus Bowl must take them. But a Bears victory would leave the programs with identical conference records and fourth in their respective divisions.

The selection committee would have an intriguing decision to make. Would it go with Arizona State, the safe pick for ticket sales considering the Sun Devils are local? Or would it opt for a Cal team that could bring in tourism revenue?

If the Bears don’t make the Cactus Bowl, they could go to any of these eight bowls:

Dec. 19, Cure Bowl (Orlando)

Dec. 19, New Mexico Bowl (Albuquerque)

Dec. 23, Poinsettia Bowl (San Diego)

Dec. 24, Hawaii Bowl (Honolulu)

Dec. 26, Heart of Dallas Bowl (Dallas)

Dec. 26, Independence Bowl (Shreveport, La.)

Dec. 29, Armed Forces Bowl (Fort Worth)

Dec. 29, Arizona Bowl (Tucson)

Figuring out where Cal would land among those eight is difficult to project, given that there are no guidelines for the order of their selections. But the Bears are almost certain to find a spot with 41 bowl games.

Take a look at where Cal (6-5, 3-5 Pac-12) was picked in the latest projections. With the Bears bowl eligible, we’ll continue to keep you updated until selections are announced Dec. 6.

Camping World Independence Bowl (Dec. 26, Shreveport, Louisiana): Cal vs. Buffalo

Cactus Bowl (Jan. 2, Phoenix): Cal vs. Air Force

Cactus Bowl (Jan. 2, Phoenix): Cal vs. Texas Tech

Cactus Bowl (Jan. 2, Phoenix): Cal vs. Kansas State

Cactus Bowl (Jan. 2, Phoenix): Cal vs. New Mexico

Camping World Independence Bowl (Dec. 26, Shreveport, Louisiana): Cal vs. Duke

Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl (Dec. 29, Fort Worth, Texas): Cal vs. Air Force

Camping World Independence Bowl (Dec. 26, Shreveport, Louisiana): Cal vs. Duke

Here is a stats comparison for Cal-ASU.

Cal’s freshmen powered their Monday night rout of Sam Houston State.

You could’ve found everything you needed to know about that Cal-Sam Houston State matchup here.

Cal is banged up entering its regular-season finale.

Can the Bears clean things up for ASU?

Cal is pursuing three-star guard Jordan Schakel hard.

Jared Goff came in at No. 3 in ESPN’s latest Pac-12 quarterback power rankings.

ESPN reviewed last weekend’s Pac-12 results.

Connor Letourneau is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: cletourneau@sfchronicle.com . Twitter: @Con_Chron","With one regular-season game left, Cal’s bowl picture is becoming clearer. The Cactus Bowl, which is contracted with the No. 7 Pac-12 team and the No. 6 Big 12 team, remains the Bears’ lone option ..."
"The Canadian Museum of Civilization in Gatineau, Que., has officially become the Canadian Museum of History Thursday.

The legislation rebranding the museum passed third reading in the Senate Wednesday. On Thursday, it received royal assent, Heritage Minister Shelly Glover announced on Twitter.

Very happy that the Canadian Museum of History Act just received Royal Assent. Thanks to @JamesMoore_org for all your work on this project.

The federal government has tied the rebranding to its plans to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Confederation in 2017.

While the name change is official, the changes to the museum itself and its promotional material are not expected to happen overnight.

The Canadian Museum of Civilization opened in Gatineau, Que., across from Ottawa, in 1989. (CBC)

The museum is expected to include displays on major milestones since Confederation, including the Last Spike from construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway, Montreal Canadiens legend Maurice (Rocket) Richard's hockey jersey and items from Terry Fox's Marathon of Hope. But the main exhibit isn't expected to be ready until closer to 2017.

The Museum of Civilization's First Peoples Hall, a permanent exhibit of aboriginal artifacts from across Canada, is expected to remain where it is, as will areas such as the children's museum and the IMAX theatre.","The Canadian Museum of Civilization in Gatineau, Que., has become the Canadian Museum of History today after receiving royal assent Thursday."
"The gilded opulence of a Buenos Aires ballroom, the hidden tunnels beneath Jerusalem’s Wailing Wall, and the cavernous innards of the biggest gasometers in Europe are some of the off-limits sites that can be glimpsed around the world this autumn, thanks to the growing phenomenon of the Open House weekend.

The initiative, which began in London in 1992 and celebrates its 22nd edition this week, has since spawned a global network of over 20 cities, from Barcelona to Brisbane, Tel Aviv to Thessaloniki, joined in the last couple years by Gdynia in Poland and the Cypriot capital of Nicosia. The combined programme now includes thousands of buildings and locations, from the lavish halls of embassies and parliaments, to the industrial heft of cement factories and sewage treatment plants, as well as micro-flats and self-build housing schemes, with the number of participating cities expanding year upon year.

“They’re like feral cats, they just keep on arriving,” says Victoria Thornton, who founded the initiative as a “mad idea” to get people more interested in their surroundings, beginning by knocking on doors and pestering building owners herself. The London weekend has since ballooned into a city-wide festival of more than 800 locations, manned by an enthusiastic army of 2,000 volunteers.

This year, the old crowd-drawing favourites of the Foreign Office, Bank of England and Gherkin are joined by the Cheesegrater tower by Rogers Stirk Harbour and Partners. Each are expected to attract over 5,000 visitors, lured by the thrill of waltzing past security barriers and peering behind locked doors.

For architectural anoraks, the international programme offers new excuses for far-flung pilgrimages, including some rarely opened buildings by Mies van der Rohe and Frank Lloyd Wright in Chicago and an Alvar Aalto-themed jog across Helsinki – a 10km route for design disciples that ended up with a rewarding steam in the Finnish maestro’s home sauna.

Vienna staged a particularly diverse line-up, including a trio of gargantuan 1940s grain stores shaped like scaled-up houses and stuffed with a tangled network of pipes and chutes, along with a luxurious apartment designed by Adolf Loos in 1913, now home to a popular pensioners’ bridge club. The socialist slab of the Karl-Marx-Hof tenement complex also opened its doors, alongside more recent Baugruppen co-housing schemes. “In Austria we are very nosey,” says organiser Iris Kaltenegger. “We really like to see how our neighbours live.”

Rome’s weekend, which was held in May, offered a rare glimpse inside the imposing Palazzo della Civiltà Romana, a cubic Colosseum of sparkling white arches in the fascist satellite city of EUR, as well as a group of majestic 1930s gasometers in Testaccio. New York’s annual highlight, meanwhile, is Eero Saarinen’s defunct TWA Terminal at JFK airport, a long abandoned 1960s concrete hymn to the drama of flight, which its owners are threatening to turn into a hotel.

It’s the discussion of such issues that Open House aims to bring to the fore. “It’s not supposed to be aimed at tourists or cultural promotion,” says Thornton. The event must be run by an independent organisation in each city, and not be affiliated to municipal departments or tourist boards. “It’s about getting residents back out on their streets and looking at their own city. It should prompt these conversations and make people start demanding something better.”

It is a politicised call to arms taken up by some of the more divided cities to stage the event, including Jerusalem and Nicosia. Aviva Levinson founded Houses From Within, the Israeli version of Open House, in 2007, with her architect husband, Alon Bin Nun. “We see it as a great model for encouraging a debate about the city in a secular, civilian way of thinking, against the volume of religious extremism here,” she says. The programme ranges from Moshe Safdie-designed housing in the Jewish quarter to Palestinian sites in the east of the capital.

In Nicosia, which held its first Open House weekend in May last year, the event treads carefully between the desires of both Greek and Turkish Cypriots. “We try to promote the reunion of the two communities,” says co-ordinator Andreas Kourouklaris, “by opening up the historic buildings that were constructed when Nicosia was one, and the people lived in harmony.” Enrapt in the ethereal light of the 14th-century Hamam Omerye or the Saint John chapel, it might be easy to find a momentary salve for contemporary political turmoil.

Next year will see the event extended to Prague and Cork, Belfast and Monterrey. The organiser of the latter, Daniel Fernández, was inspired by visiting the event in Barcelona while studying there. “I thought it was a great idea, not just for locals to visit their city’s buildings,” he says, “but as a tool to show real estate developers, politicians, business people and citizens what architecture is – and why we should protect those architectural gems that we have.”","From London to Brisbane to Buenos Aires, architecture enthusiasts all over the globe get set to nose around in the world’s greatest buildings for free, writes Oliver Wainwright"
"Derrick Rose isn’t saying the Knicks can go 82-0. But the point guard’s rosy view of the new-look roster is he’s now part of a team equipped to go toe to toe with any opponent in the NBA.

“I just love the group,” Rose told Slam Magazine. “I think we have a chance to win every game, and in the league, that is rare.”

Rose, 27, acquired from the Bulls in a stunning mid-June trade, excitedly reeled off the teammates whose offseason prep has impressed him: Carmelo Anthony, Courtney Lee, his Los Angeles workout partners Kristaps Porzingis, Brandon Jennings and Sasha Vujacic, as well as Chicago-reunion center Joakim Noah.

“I don’t think Jo touched the ball yet. He’s the only 7-footer that really worries about his body like that,” Rose joked.

Rose also shared his enthusiasm for Phil Jackson’s entire Garden renaissance project, even if he forgot to name-drop new coach Jeff Hornacek.

“I think everybody’s on the same page,” Rose told the magazine. “I love the culture that Phil is creating. Just the organization, the franchise. I love everybody that works for them. They seem like they’re very excited, their spirits are up, and I think that rubs off on people.”",Derrick Rose isn’t saying the Knicks can go 82-0. But the point guard’s rosy view of the new-look roster is he’s now part of a team equipped to go toe to toe with any opponent in …
"Designer Marc Jacobs calls her 'rare'; Vogue's executive fashion director Candy Pratts Price says she is 'one cool girl', while fashion photographer and former flame Mario Sorrenti describes how her career 'exploded'.

Kate Moss on her John Galliano wedding dress

In this exclusive video by American Vogue, fashion insiders share their favourite thoughts about the British supermodel to the setting of her wedding to The Kills guitarist Jamie Hince, which took place in July this year.

Behind-the-scenes footage reveals the laughter and poses maintained during the special photoshoots for the spread on Moss's wedding in US Vogue's September issue, all under the expert eye of Kate's close friend and revered photographer, Mario Testino.

See more on the American Vogue site","Sit back as American Vogue asked some of Kate Moss's closest collaborators to share what they love most about the model, and go behind the scenes on the wedding photo shoot with Mario Testino."
"New drugs that boost the immune system’s ability to fight tumors may be one of the greatest medical advances in years, cancer doctors say, pulling some patients from death’s door and keeping them in remission for years.

But the truth is that this happens for only a minority of patients. Now, doctors say, there is a new imperative to develop a test that will identify in advance which patients will benefit, sparing others the cost and possible side effects.

The drugs currently cost about $150,000 a year per patient — even more for higher doses used in some cases — and the health system is eventually expected to spend billions or even tens of billions of dollars on the drugs each year.

“We don’t want to give these to 100 percent of the patients if only 59 percent or 20 percent will benefit,” said Dr. David R. Gandara, a professor and lung cancer specialist at the University of California, Davis. Being able to test for a biomarker that could predict the drugs’ efficacy “would make this new class of drugs easier on the wallet, the national health wallet,” he said.

But developing such a test has proved tricky so far, for ethical as well as scientific reasons. Some doctors said it would be unfair to withhold the new drugs from patients based on a test if there was still even a slight chance that the drugs would help.

“We don’t want to be wrong, because these medicines have an effect that, in some cases, is durable for years,” said Dr. Jedd D. Wolchok, chief of the melanoma and immunotherapeutics service at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. “We don’t want to have an imperfect biomarker.”

The need for such biomarkers is illustrated in a study led by Dr. Wolchok that is to be presented on Sunday in Chicago at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology. The study is being published online by the New England Journal of Medicine.

The 945-patient study shows that the combination of two immune-boosting drugs from Bristol-Myers Squibb — Opdivo and Yervoy — is more effective than either drug alone in treating advanced melanoma. Patients treated with both drugs went a median of 11.5 months before their disease worsened, a longer reprieve than the 6.9 months for those who received only Opdivo and 2.9 months for those who took Yervoy.

But the combination also caused serious side effects like diarrhea and colitis in 55 percent of patients, compared with only 16.3 percent for Opdivo alone and 27.3 percent for Yervoy alone.

Dr. Antoni Ribas, a melanoma specialist at the University of California, Los Angeles, who was not involved in the study, said Opdivo alone might be just as good as the combination for many patients, with far fewer side effects, but that a biomarker test was needed.

“The combination is outstanding, but we have to figure out who needs the combination as opposed to the single agent,” he said.

The main test being explored is for PD-L1, a protein produced by cancer cells that, in effect, orders the immune system to stand down and not attack.

The Merck drug Keytruda, Opdivo and other similar treatments work by keeping this “stand down” order from being received by the immune cells. So it makes sense that the drugs work best against tumors that are issuing such an order and that it may not work at all against tumors that are not issuing the order.

Studies by Bristol-Myers and Merck as well as Roche, which is also developing such a drug, have shown that there was a much greater success rate using the drugs to treat tumors that were positive for PD-L1.

Still, at least a small number of patients whose tumors do not produce meaningful amounts of PD-L1 also seem to benefit from these drugs. So some doctors say it is wrong to withhold the drugs from patients whose tumors test negative for PD-L1.

In the melanoma study, patients whose tumors were positive for PD-L1 did as well on Opdivo alone as with the combination, as measured by the delay before their cancer worsened. One implication might be that those patients should get only Opdivo, while others should get the combination.

But Dr. Michael B. Atkins, deputy director of the Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center in Washington, said that even for PD-L1-positive tumors, the combination was better at shrinking the abnormalities.

“The biomarker isn’t good enough to make any decisions on it,” said Dr. Atkins, who was not involved in the study.

PD-L1 is not the only possible biomarker. Scientists are finding that the drugs work best against tumors with lots of mutations. Researchers reported on Friday that a genetic signature could identify a small subset of patients with colorectal and other types of cancer who would be likely to benefit from Keytruda.

Dr. Ribas and colleagues suggest examining tumor samples to see if immune cells are present. The drugs appear to work best when immune cells are already in or near the tumor, ready to attack when the “stand down” order is lifted by a drug. If the immune cells are not present, then merely lifting the order may not be enough.

Merck is working with a diagnostic company, NanoString Technologies, to develop a test that measures activity levels in genes associated with immune response.

A downside for drug companies is that a test can narrow the market for a drug.

Shares of Bristol-Myers fell nearly 7 percent on Friday based on what would seem to be positive clinical trial results showing that Opdivo could prolong the lives of patients with the most common form of lung cancer.

But there was a big survival difference in patients with PD-L1-positive tumors and patients whose tumors test negative for the protein. For those with PD-L1-negative tumors, there was no real difference between Opdivo and the generic chemotherapy drug docetaxel. This information dashed investors’ hopes that Opdivo might be used by all patients with that form of lung cancer.

Opdivo did cause fewer side effects than docetaxel, but insurers might not be willing to pay so much more for that reason alone.

Docetaxel costs $6,000 for six cycles of treatment; Opdivo used for the same length of time costs about $60,000, said Dr. Patrick W. Cobb, an oncologist in Billings, Mont.

“The cost of treating these patients will be far higher than in the past,” Dr. Cobb said on a webinar sponsored by Kantar Health, a consulting firm. “We really need a way of determining which patients are likely to benefit from these agents.”","Identifying which patients are likely to benefit from expensive treatments such as Opdivo, Yervoy and Keytruda could save money and prevent side effects."
"Big columns of ice are ideal for keeping drinks cold after they have already been stirred or shaken and are at their ideal level of dilution. The spear is an aesthetically pleasing option if you want a single piece of ice, in lieu of a stack of cubes, in a tall glass.

How to make them: Break out the scissors. Mr. Joly and Mr. Solomon suggest modifying an existing ice-cube mold, like the easy-to-cut silicone Tovolo Perfect Cube trays ($13 for two, tovolo.com). Measure the glass you're using against the tray and cut out the ribs to create one long spear.

Finely crushed ice is great for creating frosty tiki drinks, swizzles and smashes—and creates a pretty drink when packed high in a julep cup or double Old-Fashioned glass.

How to make them: Get what's known as a Lewis bag, a canvas sack that you pack with ice and then hit with an accompanying wooden mallet or muddler ($20 for bag, muddler and shaker, after5catalog.com). The canvas should wick away some of the wetness, producing a drier ice. Don't get too aggressive—crush to the point where you still have some irregular chunks, like the size of rock sugar, but not Sno Cone-fine.

This shape is the backbone of a great cocktail—stir or shake with these. Drop one or two large cubes in a rocks glass or double Old-Fashioned glass if you're sipping a spirit like whiskey or drinking something like an Old Fashioned or a Negroni. Stack a few in a highball glass or slighter narrower Collins glass for long drinks.

How to make them: Buy a set of Tovolo King Cube Extra Large Silicone Ice Cube Trays, which make two-inch cubes ($9, tovolo.com). These fit well in rocks glasses. Or try the smaller Tovolo Perfect Cube trays, which produce cubes that are just over 1 inch square.

Like a large cube, a sphere also melts slower than most ice. If you take your Scotch over rocks, try pouring it over a sphere. ""If you want a slight bit of dilution and temperature drop, [large cubes and spheres] do the trick without washing out and ruining your spirit,"" Mr. Joly said.

How to make them: The Taisin ice-ball maker melts and molds ice into seamless globes; molds range from 30mm to 80mm (from $200, japantrendshop.com). A cheaper option is Muji's ice-ball maker, which consists of two conjoining silicone semi-spherical halves, with a hole at the top for pouring in water ($12, muji.us).

A large chunk of ice is like a blank canvas. With the right tools you can shape them into large cubes, spheres or spears to fit different size glasses. And unlike premade molds, having a piece carved from a large block will convey a more natural, organic feeling.

How to make them: If you have enough room in your freezer, fill a small cooler with water, pop the lid on and freeze the entire thing. Take the cooler out before the water freezes all the way to the bottom—as the ice expands it should force the air bubbles and impurities down. Once out of the freezer, let your ice rest for at least 15 to 20 minutes at room temperature. Otherwise it will be brittle and prone to shattering.

Get your tools: try the Heavy Duty Pitchfork Ice Pick ($52, cocktailkingdom.com), and a rubber mallet. Carve on a stable surface lined with a polyethylene cutting board to prevent punching holes in what's underneath.

Start by scoring the surface of the block with an ice pick marking the cuts you'd like to make. Then using a rubber mallet, slowly drive the ice pick into the ice at various points along the scored line. The ice will start to separate along the line the more holes you make, and the deeper you go.","From shards to spheres, using the right shape can turn great drinks into extraordinary ones."
"In recent columns: Scientology gets a congressman to help christen its new D.C. church. Sasha and Malia at the Miley Cyrus show. OMG, Andre Agassi did meth AND wore a toupee? Looks like January Jones is maybe dating a Hill staffer. White House florist accidentally leaks news of her new job on Facebook. Elizabeth Kucinich has a new job, still looks great. Mel Gibson welcomes eighth child (first by his new Russian girlfriend).

Amy Argetsinger: Good morning everyone. Ever have one of those days when you suddenly feel (1) old and (2) unsuccessful? That's what it's like when you wake up to find that a college classmate is the new attorney general of Virginia. But enough about me...

Jungle land: One of my friends was directly across from Rahm Emanuel at Monday's Springsteen concert.

He and his fam were on one side of the stage, she was on the other, so whenever she looked at the stage he was in the background. According to her, he dances a lot like a demented three year old -- her description was something like ""he kept his hands in his pockets most of the night, but was still twitching his upper body side to side or sometimes twisting at the waist and knees.""

I've been to Springsteen shows before, and people dance badly, but she'd used the word ""violently"" somewhere in there and that sounds a little amazing.

Roxanne Roberts: You know, even if he's a really bad dancer, I have to give him credit for at least trying. So many D.C. types sit on their hands and barely move, so I like a Chief of Staff who even TRIES to dance.

Baltimore, Md. : Use of the word ""starlet:"" That's the noun you employed to describe January Jones in an item earlier this week. Frankly, I think that's quite demeaning, given that Ms. Jones is the female lead in Mad Men, the most critically acclaimed TV series of past three years. ""Starlet,"" to me, conjures up images of those wannabe movie stars who, in the old days, would shed their tops at the Cannes Film Festival and run up and down on the beach. I think ""actor"" is the word that applies to Jones. Thanks.

Amy Argetsinger: Okay. Fair enough. I don't think ""starlet"" is pejorative, but what does anyone else think? Anyone see her on the cover of GQ? For all her impressive acting credentials, those were kind of starlety photos.

Washington, D.C.: Hello ladies, Not sure if you have any influence over this, but can you please, please, please ask whoever is in charge of your new page 2 home to either move Doonesbury farther up on the page, or back to the comics section? Even running in color, and knowing to look for it, I consistently miss it.

I read your column, scan the other articles on the page, and then jump straight to page 3. I think my brain sees it as one of those little ads or something.

Please, welcome Doonesbury back into your fold!

Amy Argetsinger: Thanks for your thoughts. For starters, we have no control over this. I know a lot of readers aren't pleased to find Doonesbury lower on the page. However, I can't say that it ever really made sense to have it within the confines of our column. It suggested that we were somehow responsible for the comic, and it also constrained our space. But please take your thoughts to the email set up for editors to receive feedback on the paper's redesign -- ideas@washpost.com.

Vienna, Va.: Hey ladies... I was watching the news the other day and saw Chris Cooley featured, and since he's injured and all, did you know he was into the arts? He showed some of his own paintings and even the equipment for his own pottery-making in his garage. What a dreamy guy. Will you ladies be in town for Tgiving?

Amy Argetsinger: Cooley -- what a guy! I just saw his twitpic of him on his pottery wheel. Link to follow.

Washington, D.C.: Okay, I don't get how someone like Mel's Russian GF goes from Timothy Dalton to him to. . .whoever's next.

How do some women do it? What is their secret and why don't I know it?

Roxanne Roberts: You know it and have probably passed without realizing it's the key to....lots of child support. You zero on a wealthy/famous man, pretend to find him fascinating and sexy, and stroke his ego. You decide you love the life he can give you, put up with a fair amount of crap until he marries you/fathers your child, and don't get caught up in messy emotions. It's a job, and some women do it very, very well.

washingtonpost.com: Twitpic: Chris Cooley has plenty of time to throw pots.

Arlington, Va.: I've lived in the D.C. area for 15 years and my list of celebrity/slightly-famous people that I've met is pretty short: Fred Gandy, Bill Clinton (after he was president), David Gergen, and Fran Drescher (I heard her laugh while dining at Galileo before I noticed her). That's not a very long list. Am I hangin' out at very un-hip places, or is my list about average?

Amy Argetsinger: I don't know. That's about average, I'd say. You say you're living in the ""DC area,"" which suggests some time in the suburbs, which removes you from the high-density star neighborhoods. It's also possible that you're like me -- completely unobservant. I lived in Venice/Santa Monica for a year, while working just adjacent to Beverly Hills, and I never noticed anyone (except Zach Braff that one time in the grocery store) unless someone nudged me and said, ""Look, Jon Lovitz!"" or whatever.

Cleveland Park, Washington, D.C.: ""Ever have one of those days when you suddenly feel (1) old and (2) unsuccessful? That's what it's like when you wake up to find that a college classmate is the new attorney general of Virginia.""

Would it make you feel any better if I told you that a guy a few years behind me in high school was an astronaut?

Roxanne Roberts: That's how I felt when I realized Condoleezza Rice was born the EXACT day as I was. Her resume: presidential adviser, university provost, Secretary of State, concert pianist. Mine: Reporter, cookie decorator, crazy cat lady.

Washington, D.C.: While Andre Agassi's drug revelations are bizarre, why is crystal meth even be a tested drug? Isn't the whole point to test for drugs that might enhance a player's performance? No one can seriously argue that crystal meth, pot, heroin, or most other street drugs could boost a top athlete's performance, can they?

Amy Argetsinger: Crystal meth is a form of amphetamine -- really revs you up and can definitely affect one's performance. I've heard of people who got into it specifically because it was supposed to give them more energy for their work-outs.

Amy Argetsinger: Waaaayyyy down at the bottom of page two.

A college classmate is the new attorney general of Virginia.: Only in Bizarro World Virginia. The guy is a nut. Nothing to be proud of. Sorry.

Bethesda, Md.: The word ""starlet"" does have a pejorative connotation. Young, essentially talentless, and almost famous. I don't know if Ms. Jones fits that description.

Amy Argetsinger: Official definition: Young actress being coached and promoted as a future star.

Wait ...: So January Jones hits it off with a senate staffer and dines with him in D.C.? How can a lowly lawyer at an agency hit it off with a star? I don't even need January Jones caliber. I'll take that cute dorky guy from Big Bang Theory.

2. Guts. He asked, she rewarded his nerve.

3. Novelty. She gets hit on by everyone in Hollywood, toys with political type until she gets bored.

college classmate is the new attorney general of Virginia. : You think you feel bad? I went to college with Eric Heiden. My chances of being elected Attorney General of Virginia are infinitely higher than winning an Olympic Speedskating gold medal.

Amy Argetsinger: That's a good one. Hey, you going to run in 2013?

Starlet: Cleavage-y cover of GQ definitely = starlet. Jennifer Aniston would qualify also, except that she's too old to be a starlet.

Roxanne Roberts: Oh, I forgot that Ms. Jones's breasts starred on the cover of this month's GQ.

Another definition of starlet: An actress starring on a hit TV show called ""that girl on 'Mad Men' "" because most people don't know her name.

Serial Celebrity Significant Others: Washington DC does ask an interesting question. There is that very strange phenomenon of non-famous women who serially date/marry famous people. Case in point, I noted the passing this week of Michelle ""Palimony"" Triola, who sued Lee Marvin after he dumped her and established the legal concept of out of wedlock alimony. In her obit it said she had been the long time girlfriend of Dick Van Dyke.

Amy Argetsinger: I'm very sorry for the passing of Michelle Triola Marvin and for the sadness of her loved ones -- but I was delighted to read the obituaries, which took us back to an odd little bit of '70s pop culture. As a little kid, that was a pretty eye-opening story to follow -- Michelle with her totally unglamorous aviator-frame glasses, suing an actor I had never heard of at that point (so in later years, watching ""Cat Ballou"" or ""The Dirty Dozen,"" I'm always thinking, ""hey, he's THAT guy...""), and this thing called ""palimony""! And the idea of unmarried people living together! Totally new to me at the time. And she took his name! And her quote about how from now on, ""if a man wants to leave his toothbrush at my house, he bloody well better marry me."" And yet in an incredible coda, she then goes to shack up with another famous guy -- Dick Van Dyke -- for 30 years! Fascinating.

Hey, you going to run in 2013? : I'd like to, but first I have to convince my husband to move to Dixie (we're east coast lefty Jews) and then I'd have to clean up my sex-drugs-rock and roll past. At least my bar membership is up to date.

Amy Argetsinger: All right. Clock is ticking, so get on it.

Jon Stewart was a couple of years behind me at W&M: I was at least as funny as him at parties!

Amy Argetsinger: That's a good one too. At U-Va., Tina Fey was two years behind me. No One Knew Her. We've all scoured our brains and everyone else's.

Falls Church, Va.: Did you ladies catch ""This Is It""? I loved it and would like to Thank the people that put it out there for us to see. Three generations of my family saw the movie (together) over the weekend. What a bargain! There is no way we could have afforded concert tickets. I might go see it again, if I can find time in my busy schedule.

Amy Argetsinger: Really? Chris Richards' review of it -- a total pan -- convinced me I don't need to bother. (link to follow).... Anyone else?

How do some women do it? What is their secret and why don't I know it?: Pamela Harriman was well-known for this, in spite of having a dumpy figure as a young woman and zero interest in sex, apparently. She just had an amazing way of making a man, even a powerful one, feel special and really understood. Your colleague Richard Cohen wrote about this aspect of her some years ago when she was ambassador to France, possibly shortly after her death.

Roxanne Roberts: No great courtesan has ""zero"" interest in sex. They are great students of what their men like and become expert at it. Harriman's genius was her ability to do the same thing outside the bedroom.

washingtonpost.com: 'This Is It' doesn't do justice to M.J.'s magic (Washington Post, Oct. 29)

washingtonpost.com: Wale and D.C. Hip-Hop: Can it Break the Hold of Go-Go? (Washington Post, Oct. 18)

Beautiful Silver Spring, Md.: Amy and Roxanne, you have a highly respected gossip column in a print publication that remains relatively healthy (compared to the rest of them), no doubt due in part to the interest you drum up in its pages. This is no small achievement. Seriously. Now please give us a Wale update in advance of the release of ""Attention Deficit"" next Tuesday.

Amy Argetsinger: Chris Richards (again!) did a fine job with that three weeks ago. Link to his Wale story to follow...

Meanwhile, here's what Allison Stewart said about his new single, ""The Letter,"" in yesterday's paper:

""This 'Attention: Deficit' outtake begins as an open letter to the president, in which Wale lectures Obama on his smoking habit and tries to wangle an invitation to the White House. It inexplicably devolves into a séance with Tupac, in which Wale wonders how the Biggie feud is going. Equally inexplicably, John Mayer is on it.""

Washington, DC: I was also at the Springsteen show, four people back from the stage, in the pit. Clarence pointed and winked at me once and I was so over-the-moon about it, I didn't even notice Rahm. Does this make me a hopelessly inadequate celeb sighter?

Amy Argetsinger: You'll have many other opportunities to see Rahm, so, no.

Washington, D.C.;: My guess is that January Jones does not get hit on often. She's gorgeous and so men are probably intimidated. Only in D.C. land of ""If I told you I'd have to kill you"" boasters would a guy probably have the cojones to ask her out. And even then, I still bet the guy was super nervous.

Rahm Emanuel studied ballet: So he should bust a pretty good move.

Springfield, Va.: I'm seriously messed up. I found Andre's toupee revelation far more startling than the crystal meth. It seems like every athlete, actor, musician, model, etc. has experimented or done - some - kind of drug but the toupee thing really threw me. Not to mention that he looked worlds better after shaving his head (I even thought so at the time!).

Roxanne Roberts: What did you do when you discovered the truth? Shampoo? Shave?

Washington, D.C.: ""Starlet"" does seem like something left over from the Hollywood studio days. You know, when our grandmothers were going to the cinema and the WP classifieds listed ""Help Wanted: Female"" and ""Help Wanted: Male"" entries.

But with what do we replace ""starlet""? (Please, let's do.) And what is the male equivalent?

Amy Argetsinger: ""Red carpet luminary""? Or something like that? Because it seems the red carpet scene tells us more about the star system these days than anything else. (Link to follow to my Deep Thoughts about red carpet.)

Good question, though, what is the male equivalent? If there isn't one, can we devise one? Can we use ""starlet"" to describe a guy? Why not?

washingtonpost.com: Arriving Stars Play Sought-After Role (Washington Post, Feb. 23)

Starlet: I think Starlet has always been slightly pejorative, unless applied to someone completely new to the acting biz. A quick perusal of IMDb reveals no serious dramatic actresses named ""January,"" although someone named ""January Darling"" did star in ""Strip for Pain.""

Amy Argetsinger: I think it's been noted already that ""January Jones"" is the most porny name ever given to someone not working in porn.

Star-let it be: I'm fine with ""starlet,"" but I wonder when actresses became actors? What's wrong with the word actress? ""Actor in a Female Role"" or whatever the Academy calls it is just too much and makes me think if Hoffman in Tootsie or Travolta in Hairspray.

Amy Argetsinger: I know. It's interesting to me that everyone in Hollywood got really snippy a few years ago about the term ""actress,"" wanting to call everyone ""actor"" -- and yet no one blinks at the fact that we've still got separate-but-equal categories for awards. What's that about?

Falls Church, Va. - Again: I just read the review and disagree. I didn't expect to see a concert. I expected to see a glimpse of what he and his crew were planning for the concert. It was great to see him dance and hear him sing. The revamped Thriller tease was incredible. MJ talking about saving our planet and the accompanying video were very moving.

Will it win an Oscar? I don't know and don't care. It was just a great stroll down memory lane with the family.

Sarasota, Fla.: re: old and unsuccessful

My brother, who is only 18 months older, never graduated high school. Got the old GED and joined the Army. Turns out he's brilliant but was just lazy. He now makes more money each year than I will see in a lifetime. I have a degree and my task today is picking up the dog poo in the back yard.

Amy Argetsinger: There's dignity in every job.

Serial Celebrity Girlfriends: Loree Rodkin (Hollywood jewelry designer) is another. She was gf to a bunch of actors and rock stars, there were even songs written about her! Then she became a manager of young struggling actors, then she started designing jewelry. I think Michelle O. likes her work. She's another person who could give lessons.

Roxanne Roberts: Ambition is the key, I think.

Fmr. Ballerina Here: Most of the ballet dancers I knew were horrible club dancers. Two different skill sets ... you can learn both, but there is a reason there aren't many Ballet dancers on ""So You Think You Can Dance."" The one ballet dancer they had was not a great ballet dancer by any stretch of the imagination.

celebrity classmates: I went to college with Vince Flynn, and had him in a couple of English classes. Really nice guy, with an incredible memory (he has dyslexia so things had to be read to him--it was amazing to sit in a writing workshop with the guy and have him recite back to me something I wrote on page 2 of a 10 page paper). Can't stand his books, frankly, but I don't begrudge him his fame. He worked his butt off for it.

Amy Argetsinger: Okay, I just had to Google Vince Flynn... Anyway, that's interesting.

Roxanne Roberts' Resume: What, you omitted ""Wait Wait Don't Tell Me""? the greatest show on broadcast media? Madam, please don't sell yourself short!

Roxanne Roberts: Yeah, that's awesome but a group effort of which I play a small but very happy role. Not Secretary of State on the resume caliber, but awesome.

Starlet: is condescending as heck. How about actor?

Roxanne Roberts: Only if they can act. Many starlets cannot. January can.

Classmates, Washington, D.C.: One of my Harvard Law School classmates was Michelle Robinson Obama. Personally, I wouldn't want her or Barack's jobs right now!

Judge Smails: re: ""There's dignity in every job."" Yes, and the world needs ditch diggers, too.

Albany, N.Y.: In Response to: In recent columns: Scientology gets a congressman to help christen its new D.C. church.

I am pretty excited about this. Thank you for mentioning it.

Amy Argetsinger: That was a pretty huge event. Shut down 16th Street.

To Michelle's Harvard Classmate: Hang on - details, details. Your fellow chatters need details. Was she impressive then? Did you see a bright future for her? Did you ever hang out? Get drunk in a bar? Who was she dating then?

Amy Argetsinger: Yeah, come on!

Reston, Va.: Regardless of whether 'starlet' is pejorative, I hardly think January Jones is a 'star'. She has the potential to be a star, but being the lead on a critically acclaimed show that hardly anyone watches, doesn't really qualify.

Amy Argetsinger: Fair point. Everyone you know watches ""Mad Men"" -- but only about 2 million people across the country. That's about one tenth the drawing power of ""NCIS: Los Angeles,"" actually.

starlet ... aka ...: asterisk? from Latin asteriscus, from Greek asterikos ""little star"". most starlets do end up as asterisks eventually, in any case ...

Amy Argetsinger: Hmmm, let's keep playing with this.

January: Maybe she just really liked the guy. I don't think she's been high-profile long enough to fully realize that how/who she dates is now part of her job description and her romantic life will be arranged by her PR firm.

Amy Argetsinger: Well, she did date Ashton Kutcher when he was already a big deal.

""Ambition is the key"": I would argue that willingness to sell yourself out is the key. How many of these women dated these guys and weren't into them at all...or were treated like crap, but put up with it because the guys were famous/rich?

I'm guessing that these same women wouldn't date a grocery store cashier, even if he was the best guy around -- considerate and good looking and totally compatible in every way. It's all about the money and the power these women are searching for.

And that's my cranky answer for the day...see what too much cough medicine does?

Roxanne Roberts: Well, that's between the woman and the wallet, isn't it? Many folks consider it a fair exchange of goods and services. One of my favorite lines on the subject: ""Women who marry for money earn every penny of it.""

Born same day as Condi: I was born the day Dulles Airport opened. So, I constantly compare myself to IAD. Makes me feel better when they add terminals/buildings - like I'm allowed to gain weight. Plus, it explains my difficulty in meeting schedules and finding parking.

Most porn-y name: I expect we're all familiar with the sleep-over game of ""name of your first pet"" + ""street you grew up on"" = your ""porn star name,"" right? Signed: Pixie Demarest.

Amy Argetsinger: Be careful playing this game, everyone -- I'm convinced it's a trick to make you cough up your bank account password.

Starlets: Recently I watched two movies. One was ""The Princess Bride"" in which the opening credits read ""And introducing Robin Wright"" and ""Star Trek: Wrath of Kahn"" introducing ""Kirstie Alley as Savak"". Does that mean at the time they were starlets?

Roxanne Roberts: My porn name: Vanilla Thomas. I always considered it a missed opportunity.

Kensington, Md: I'm a little confused about the combo of Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin cohosting the Oscars this year. It seems to me there comedy styles are very different. Any thoughts?

Amy Argetsinger: Oh, I don't think so. They'll dovetail pretty well. They've each hosted Saturday Night Live, like, a dozen times. It will be a total mind meld.

High School: A girl I went to school with from elementary school through high school played in the WNBA and is now a sportscaster for ESPN. I am unemployed. Actually, I think I like my life better.

Amy Argetsinger: As the Steve Phillips story taught us: Parents, don't let your daughters go work for ESPN.

A solution to the D.C. School Problems: While reading the latest, I was struck by an answer to all of Michelle Rhee's problems - HIRE TONY DANZA! Since we've heard nothing about his stint teaching for the reality show, he must be doing a great job!

Amy Argetsinger: Oh my lord. That's brilliant! I have to assume he's lying low right now, waiting to step in when she leaves the job.

Ballet dancers: Ballet dancers are, nine times out of 10, horrible dancers when it comes to non-choreographed stuff. It's a sliding scale, too. The better they are at ballet, the worse they are are just busting a move.

Roxanne Roberts: Then Rahm must have been great at ballet.

But I don't know if I really buy that: I've been at parties with ballet dancers off duty, and they are magical on the dance floor to almost any song.

Agassi: While drug use was interesting, so too was the toupee/hairpiece revelations.

Kudos to Bruce Willis who goes without. Who are some other favorite hairpiece-wearing men and why, why, why do we love them?

Amy Argetsinger: Um, yeah, let's name all the incredibly attractive men with hairpieces.

Here's the thing: If you know it's a hairpiece, then it's not really attractive.

Classmates: : Meryl Streep. I saw her first college dramatic performance in Strindberg's ""Miss Julie"" -- obvious even then that she had ""it.""

Amy Argetsinger: Wow. That's pretty enviable.

re success & etc: I'd rather hang out with y'all then Condi or the AG.

Y'all would be a lot more fun.

How's Mr. Modhi doing? Inquiring (yet non-stalker-ing) minds want to know.

Amy Argetsinger: We've actually had some sightings of Mr. Kalpen Modi reported to us in recent weeks -- out at restaurants with friends -- but at this point, the guy lives here, works here, so we're giving him some space; no real news in him going out unless he's dancing on the tables or making out in the corner or punching someone out at the bar(and you all will let us know if that happens, right? reliablesource@washpost.com)

Born same day as IAD opened: How did you feel when the TSA set up shop and started frisking airline passengers? Do you require your guests to remove their shoes?

HLSA again: I didn't really know Michelle well at the time, but yes, even then she was a very impressive figure. A stunning, nearly-six-foot tall woman stands out in a crowd, especially in a crowd of Harvard Law wonks. But more than that, she was quite well-known as an activist for the poor and very engaged - and public - about her passion for public interest law.

Sarasota, Fla.: The marrying/dating up thing doesn't just apply to women. Ivana Trump married that nobody Italian model. Even my public defender friend married a senior VP/board member of a major company he met while she was picking up some classes at the same university. But my friend is really nice, so he has that going for him. But guess who paid for law school ...

Amy Argetsinger: Hey, well, well done, then.

Brooklyn, N.Y.: ""old and unsuccessful?""

How about finding yourself living in a foreign country, unemployed and seeing a former high school classmate on the cover of a cereal box in a super market.

Amy Argetsinger: Okay, break this down for us. This is an overseas brand of cereal? Is your classmate famous in the U.S.? Or only famous overseas? (Or is Brooklyn a foreign country to you?) Why don't you just tell us who this is?

Re Dulles: But does everyone hate you? Like, they have to deal with you, so they do it begrudgingly and then complain about you to everyone? (Though they'll reluctantly concede that you have ONE nice feature (like the access road), but they still hate you.)

Roxanne Roberts: And they don't understand why you insist on using stupid little buses that somehow seem to take FOREVER? Not that they bother me, or anything.

Ted Danson = hairpiece: He's been pretty open about it over the years, which is why I even know about it. A fine looking man, with or without hair.

Amy Argetsinger: True. But he doesn't wear a rug anymore, does he?

Forget Baldwin and Martin: I read that the original request was for Ben Stiller and Robert Downey, Jr. Now that would have been a show! Of course, Ricky Gervais says he will never be asked because they want everything rehearsed and scripted, while he thinks you should just drink a lot and show up.

Amy Argetsinger: Or so claims Deadline Hollywood. It would have been good.

former high school classmate on the cover of a cereal box in a super market: I thought the missing kids' pictures were on milk cartons.

Men marrying up: Larry Fortensky and Liz Taylor. Danny Moder and Julia Roberts.

Amy Argetsinger: Yes. It happens.

Good toupees: Sean Connery must have worn a hair piece in the Hunt for Red October. He even made that look good.

Amy Argetsinger: Yeah, good point.

Speaking of hairpieces and Alec Baldwin: His rug looks pretty good.

Amy Argetsinger: You talking about that chest rug?

Old and unsuccessful: My dad went to high school with Stanley Kubrick. My mother went to high school with Beverly Sills. I went to law school a few years BEFORE President Obama. Beat that, folks!

Amy Argetsinger: No, only counts if you were in school with him.

Try Swarthmore: Oh, don't get me started. My alumni magazine makes me depressed every time I get it. The accomplishments of people who went to my school are Onion-level things: ""Joe won a Nobel Prize in Physics this year, and he also started a nonprofit to feed AIDS orphans, and won the Bloondin Prize for best professor at Harvard.""

Seriously, at least two of three of those in every class. Sigh.

New York, N.Y.: Regarding Brad Sherman at the Scientology DC opening:

Brad Sherman said through a rep that he has appeared at events for ""over 100"" religious groups, and ""this does not give me the time to evaluate each of their organizational structures or doctrines because I am also showing up at hundreds of events for nonreligious organizations.""

But he praised Scientology as a positive force for human rights and religious freedom. That's big praise. Doesn't he have a staff? Besides the France case, there are many civil cases going on in the U.S. right now, and criminal cases are currently going ahead in Belgium and Italy. Is Sherman just gullible, or what?

Amy Argetsinger: Just putting it out there... There has indeed been a lot of prominent investigative journalism about Scientology.

Star sightings: I have lived in Venice/Santa Monica for three years and I have only seen a handful of stars. This is star-central so I think seeing any celebs in the D.C. area is pretty good. I did serve Pink and her husband once. It wasn't as exciting as my rapidly pumping heart thought it would be when I gave them their menus. They didn't even tip well. Gosh!

Amy Argetsinger: Sorry about that!

Most accomplished serial relationship-ist: The great Tom Lehrer introduced his song ""Alma"" thusly: ""Last December 13th, there appeared in the newspapers the juiciest, spiciest, raciest obituary that has ever been my pleasure to read. It was that of a lady name Alma Mahler Gropius Werfel who had, in her lifetime, managed to acquire as lovers practically all of the top creative men in central Europe..""

Wikipedia says she was a Viennese-born socialite well known in her youth for her beauty and vivacity(1879-1964).

Roxanne Roberts: I bet she had moves.

Celebrity Sightings, Boston: Hey all -- I had the luck of nearly running into (LITERALLY RUNNING, I WAS RUNNING) into Justin Timberlake last week. They're filming a movie about the founders of Facebook (sounds laaaame), so he and Jesse Eisenberg have been around the area. They've been filming at the Thirsty Scholar, a pub 2 blocks from my house, and in Medford, MA (3 blocks from my sister's house)... apparently Medford is dirt cheap to rent space, so they're trying to make it look like Harvard. (And to explain, I'm training for a marathon and was wearing all black running at night... woops. No one saw me coming and I was distracted by the set and just kept going until I was 5 feel from JT!)

ALSO -- Bruce Willis was in my office building a while back filming for the Surrogates, and he's HOT in person. YEAH to bald men.

Amy Argetsinger: But... you didn't actually see Timberlake, did you? The local stories I'm seeing say he wasn't involved in the shoot up there; I think his character didn't get involved until after Facebook's Harvard years.

Baldwin/Martin: I'm excited about this. Not Daniel Craig level excited, but still.

As long as they are allowed to be their quirky selves it could work.

Amy Argetsinger: I have high hopes.

Old and unsuccessful: The great Tom Lehrer said it best: ""It is a sobering thought that when Mozart was my age he had been dead for two years.""

Amy Argetsinger: Some of you have been asking about an incident that happened at the Post last week. I'll refer you to Gene Weingarten's very lucid thoughts on the topic. Link to follow.

Men Marrying Up...: Barack Obama for one? Sure, he looks like the catch now, but it is clear when they met that she was kind of out of his league.

Fellow Swattie!: That chatter is not kidding about the Swarthmore alumni magazine. Sheesh -- those class notes are not to be read on a low self-esteem day.

Mr. Modhi: A perfect gentleman. I had the opportunity to meet and photograph him at a professional event last week. He was quite cordial.

Amy Argetsinger: Glad to hear it.

Mel : All this coverage of Crazy Mel's new baby and his Morticia Adams doppleganger girlfriend has me nostalgic for the days when he was hot. I must've watched ""Tequila Sunrise"" a billion times.

Amy Argetsinger: That movie is something else, huh? Just saw it last year.

Star/Starlet: Star, Mandy Moore/Starlett, LiLo

Star, Jessica Simpleton/Starlett, Ashlee, I mean, come on, how do you get fired from Melrose place?

Roxanne Roberts: Oh, you are far too generous.

New York : Grammar school with Sean Combs, High School with ""Mikey"" from the life cereal commercials and college with Chris O'Donnell. All were in my class(s) at the time.

Amy Argetsinger: Oh, that is a trifecta. Well done. But I guess that's what it's like growing up in New York.

ARGHHH: Are you saying that the hottie I saw was NOT JT? I did also see Jesse Eisenberg, but was more excited about my supposed JT-sighting. UGHHHHHHHHH.

Amy Argetsinger: I could be wrong but... it's sounding like it probably wasn't him.

Mark Sanford brush: My sister attended Furman University with (now) governor Mark Sanford. She said he was a schmoozy kind of guy, involved in campus government, but definitely not a womanizer -- she's convinced the affair is an indication of fatigue and possibly mental illness. I think it's interesting that he looks much, much older than her -- the cost of a public life and public scandal.

Amy Argetsinger: Yeah, politics ages you. Scandal ages you even more.

Cleopatra slept with Caesar and Marc Antony: The gold standard for moves!

Roxanne Roberts: And with that thought, ladies and gentlemen, we will have to sign off for today.

Send you tips, moves and hairpiece sightings to reliablesource@washpost.com. Same time, next week.

E-mail and bookmark Reliable Source Blog.

Editor's Note: washingtonpost.com moderators retain editorial control over Discussions and choose the most relevant questions for guests and hosts; guests and hosts can decline to answer questions. washingtonpost.com is not responsible for any content posted by third parties.","Washington Post columnists Amy Argetsinger and Roxanne Roberts discuss your favorite gossip, recent celebrity sightings and their recent columns."
"Alex Wong / Getty Images

Senate majority leader Harry Reid speaks at a press conference in Washington on Sept. 26, 2011

Stepping back from the brink, Senate leaders on Monday night struck a deal to avert a government shutdown, passing a measure that will fund the government through mid-November and keep money flowing to the cash-strapped Federal Emergency Management Agency, enabling it to continue providing relief to disaster-stricken regions and sparing the public from another drawn-out budget battle.

To everyone’s dismay, but few people’s surprise, Congress had stumbled into yet another showdown that could have partially shuttered the federal government and deprived disaster-wracked regions of federal aid if the Republican-controlled House and Democratic Senate were unable to resist inflicting a disaster of their own making. But FEMA on Monday indicated that it had sufficient cash reserves to sustain itself through the end of the fiscal year, on Friday. The revelation broke an impasse over whether an emergency cash injection to the agency should be offset by spending cuts, as House Republicans insisted, and paved the way for Senate leaders to sidestep the looming crisis.

Hours later, in a 79-to-12 vote, the Senate approved a stopgap bill to fund the government through Nov. 18. “It’s a win for everybody,” Democratic leader Harry Reid said. Mitch McConnell, Reid’s Republican counterpart, called the agreement “a reasonable way to keep the government operational.” The deal includes a short-term continuing resolution to fund the government into next week to buy time for the House — whose members are on recess this week — to approve the deal. The lower chamber could elect to pass the shorter-term bill without forcing its members to return to Washington early.

After a weekend that yielded no tangible progress, the Senate returned on Monday for a planned cloture vote on a Democratic bill that would apportion enough money for emergency disaster relief without offsetting spending cuts. But it was unclear whether Reid had the 60 votes needed to advance the legislation. A symbolic vote on Reid’s plan failed 54 to 35 on Monday night.

In some ways, the crisis wasn’t resolved so much as postponed. The latest round of budget brinkmanship — the third in six months — underscored the depths of congressional dysfunction. It was a low-speed, low-stakes train wreck over how to fund the government for the first seven weeks of the new fiscal year, which starts this weekend. Disaster-relief funding is a nonpartisan topic, and the money at issue was paltry. The money the two sides were squabbling over represents just 0.04 % of the federal budget.

The dispute followed a familiar pattern. Late last week, House Republican leaders passed a measure with some $1.5 billion in cuts to green-technology programs. Weary of being steamrolled by Speaker John Boehner and his intransigent Tea Party hard-liners, Senate Democrats balked at the cuts and tabled the House bill in a 59-to-36 vote. The House, apparently satisfied that it had done its part, bolted for a planned break, leaving Reid to try to thread through his competing measure.

Moderates in both parties urged compromise on what should have been a relatively simple procedural vote to keep the government running. “It is embarrassing,” Virginia Senator Mark Warner, a Democrat, said of the impasse on Sunday. Republican Massachusetts Senator Scott Brown, who is likely to back Reid’s bill, said in a statement, “The gridlock and partisanship in Washington right now is disgusting. With economic instability in the United States and around the world, it’s unacceptable for Congress to add more uncertainty to the marketplace by threatening another government shutdown.” He continued, “This latest episode of partisan politics threatens to hold back relief from those who need it most. It’s time for people on both sides to stop bickering and work together on policies that will get our economy going.”

On Monday, Democrats blistered Republicans for arguing that disaster relief should be offset by spending cuts — an idea that Louisiana Senator Mary Landrieu dubbed the “Cantor doctrine.” On the Senate floor, Democratic majority whip Dick Durbin lamented yet another “cussing match over shutting down the government.” House Republicans argued that their way was fiscally prudent and blamed Democrats for casting doubt over whether cities and states slammed by natural disasters would be afforded the resources to heal themselves.

And despite the damage a shutdown could wreak on the already tarnished reputations of both parties, it was hardly a given that it could be averted. After a Tea Party mutiny derailed the House’s first attempt at the bill, Boehner opted to placate his right flank by inserting additional cuts. Meanwhile, Democrats suggested that they viewed the skirmish as a chance to show some spine. Liberals have been itching for a confrontation, President Obama has adopted a tougher tone in recent weeks, and disaster aid is an issue with which the party feels it can paint Republicans as extremists in the throes of a spending-cut spasm that most economists consider damaging to the fragile economy.

Amid stubbornly high unemployment and wildly fluctuating financial markets, the saber rattling was in some respects a new nadir for Capitol Hill. The veneer of comity and cooperation ushered in after the debt-ceiling fiasco has vanished — and with it the fleeting hopes that the so-called deficit-reduction supercommittee would seize the moment to forge a bipartisan agreement to put the U.S. on a path toward fiscal sustainability. If Congress descends into hysterics over nonpartisan issues like disaster relief, it’s hard to see how it can tackle contentious topics like tax and entitlement reform. As the latest round of budget brinkmanship shows, Congress has a 12% approval rating for a reason.","Updated: 8:40 p.m. E.T. Stepping back from the brink, Senate leaders on Monday night struck a deal to avert a government shutdown, passing a measure that will fund the government through mid-November and keep money flowing to the cash-strapped Federal Emergency Management Agency, enabling it to ..."
"Susan Cameron Age: 55 (born Oct. 31, 1958) Hometown: Born in Schenectady, N.Y., raised in Fort Lauderdale Education: University of Florida, BS in business, 1980. Bellamine University, MBA, 1984 Boards: RR Donnelley, Tupperware

Happily retired and in full R&R mode, Susan Cameron was the last person anyone imagined would go back to work and lead a colossal acquisition. After seven years at the helm of the second-largest U.S. tobacco company, Reynolds American RAI , Cameron had moved on to a new life, a new husband, and even a new name. (She had been Susan Ivey before taking husband Russell’s surname.)

But one day last October she answered her phone and found an old colleague on the line. It was Tom Wajnert, Reynolds’s chairman of the board. “We’re about to go through some interesting times,” Wajnert (pronounced WY-nert) said.

“Oh, Tom, I’m having a great time in retirement,” Cameron replied. “Russell and I are traveling, seeing the kids, and we’re fully deployed.” Cameron had quit for good, she thought.

But like a smoker who forgoes a healthier life for a short-term fix, she caved in to temptation. After rejoining Reynolds’s board of directors in January, Cameron, 55, returned to the CEO position on May 1. She replaced her successor, Daan Delen, who had spent more than a year trying to buy Lorillard LO , the No. 3 U.S. cigarette manufacturer, and failed to get the job done.

In mid-July, 10 weeks after her return, Reynolds announced its plan to buy Lorillard for $27.4 billion. The deal is history-making, and not just for its size: It is the largest acquisition ever led by a female CEO. It’s also an extraordinarily complex transaction: Britain’s British American Tobacco (BAT), which owns 42% of Reynolds, is providing $4.7 billion in financing, and U.K.-based Imperial Tobacco—also led by a female CEO, Alison Cooper—is acquiring three famous Reynolds brands: Winston, Salem, and Kool. The sale of those brands is intended to help get the Lorillard deal approved by antitrust authorities.

CAMERON AND NORTH CAROLINA GOVERNOR PAT MCCRORY AT A PRESS CONFERENCE ANNOUNCING 200 NEW JOBS TO PRODUCE VUSE E-CIGARETTES.PHOTO: WALT UNKS–AP

Sitting in her office in Winston-Salem, N.C. (yes, Reynolds is selling its hometown’s namesake brands to the Brits), Cameron seems nothing like other tobacco bosses. Back in 2001, when she became CEO of Brown & Williamson, BAT’s U.S. division, she was the first woman to lead a major cigarette business; in 2004, when Reynolds and B&W combined, she was tapped to take charge.

She’s also nothing like those Big Tobacco CEOs who 20 years ago testified before Congress about the hazards of smoking and came across as chief executive deniers. “Smoking harms people,” says Cameron, articulating the word as she draws on a Vuse, Reynolds’s new electronic cigarette. Today’s tobacco chiefs are more candid about the dangers of the products they sell, but, says Wajnert, “Susan has been more open and aggressive than most people in the industry.” He adds, “We all feel the same way. Cigarettes are deadly. They kill people. But at the same time, it’s a legal product.”

Cameron is no fool about her own health. She kicked her habit of smoking conventional cigarettes a decade ago, and then she switched to a Reynolds product called Eclipse, which heats tobacco without burning. Now she is a champion of “vaping”—a term that has not yet made it into Merriam-Webster but means “inhaling with a vaporizer.” It is what people do with those battery-operated e-cigarettes, like Vuse, that heat nicotine-laced liquid into vapor. Without toxic tobacco or tar, they are still addictive and not necessarily safe—conflicting research comes out daily. Yet e-cigarettes have taken the market by storm and already add up to a $2.5 billion industry. As she rolls out Vuse nationally this year, Cameron wants Reynolds to become, she says, “the vaper authority.”

If e-cigarettes are “a game changer,” as Cameron says, in the long-declining cigarette industry, why is she doubling down on tobacco by buying Lorillard? “It’s transformational,” the CEO says about the deal. In addition to Newport, Lorillard sells Blu eCigs, currently the No. 1 e-cigarette in U.S. sales. Cameron plans to sell Blu to Imperial in order to clear antitrust scrutiny. But, she contends, the rich cash flow from Newport, America’s top menthol brand, will help Reynolds ramp up in the e-cigarette category and compete more effectively against Marlboro maker Altria, which is moving into the e-cigarette business this year. After Reynolds buys Lorillard, Altria (formerly Philip Morris) will remain the world’s largest cigarette seller, with 52% of U.S. sales. Reynolds’s share will go from 27% to 33% of the $112 billion U.S. market; Imperial’s will rise from 3% to 10%.

“For seven years in London, I had no line authority. Influence without line authority is an excellent skill. But it’ even better with authority.”

It’s certainly a rare breed of leader who can run a tobacco company and feel good about it. Cameron describes her career choice as “philosophical.” When she graduated from the University of Florida in 1980, she recalls, “I liked cigarettes, alcohol, and cosmetics,” and she wanted a job relating to one of those things. Instead, she got stuck selling office products in Louisville. “I hated it.” There, in Louisville, she had trouble finding her favorite cigarettes, Barclay Menthol, in stores. “I called up the company and said, ‘You need a sales rep, and I would like to work for you.’” A couple of weeks later Brown & Williamson hired her.

Cameron was a natural—one of the few women on the B&W sales force. To buddy up to customers, she changed her preppy style of dress, permed her hair, and learned all about basketball, Kentucky’s favorite sport. She rose quickly, moved into brand management, and oversaw the launch of ultraslim Capri cigarettes, and she got an offer to move abroad to work for BAT, the parent company. She jumped at the opportunity and ended up spending nine years in London and Hong Kong. “My dream was to be the global marketing director,” she says.

Cameron was living in London, loving her work, and hoping to stay abroad when BAT brass asked her to return home to fix B&W’s portfolio of declining U.S. brands. “I went back to the U.S. in a downward move,” says Cameron, whose globetrotting has bestowed upon her a way of speaking that’s peculiar, particularly in North Carolina. “My pronunciation is in the middle of the Atlantic,” she says, adding that Russell, the former BAT executive she wed in 2009, is a Brit, and with him came three British stepsons. (When Wajnert first met Cameron in 2004, her accent reminded him of “some sort of film star,” he says.)

Cameron had no desire to stay in the U.S. or to ever move up to CEO. (This is a stunningly common trait on the Fortune Most Powerful Women list; CEOs Ginni Rometty of IBM IBM and Ellen Kullman of DuPont DD , among others, almost passed on promotions early in their careers, only to be pushed to lean in by their bosses or husbands.) But then BAT asked her to take command of B&W, the U.S. unit, as CEO. She accepted, and to her surprise, she liked being in charge. “For seven years in London, I had no line authority,” she says. “Influence without line authority is an excellent skill. But it’s even better with authority.” Two years later BAT decided to sell its U.S. business to Reynolds, which had spun off from Nabisco, and making Cameron CEO of the combined company was part of the deal.

So again she took the promotion, this time with a mandate to improve profits. “Anybody can get the costs out,” says Cameron, who set a bigger goal to transform the business. She replaced the senior team, changed the pay system, and focused the investment. She poured marketing and R&D dollars into Camel, Pall Mall, and Natural American Spirit, while eliminating 700 SKUs, or stock-keeping units (much as Procter & Gamble PG CEO A.G. Lafley is doing as he cleans up his brand pantry). “Moving beyond cigarettes was important,” says Cameron, who bought American Snuff, which makes Grizzly and Kodiak smokeless tobacco. She expanded Camel into snus (smokeless tobacco pouches) and dissolvable tobacco strips and lozenges. Cameron is the only Big Tobacco boss who has bought a nicotine-replacement-therapy company.

By the time her seven-year run as CEO ended in 2011, Reynolds’s revenues were flat, at $8.5 billion, but growing brands had replaced losers. And operating profits had nearly doubled.

Cameron was feeling pretty good when, in late 2009, she told the Reynolds board she wanted to retire in a year or so. The board looked outside for succession candidates but decided on Daan Delen, an industry veteran who was leading Reynolds’s core tobacco business. Only now do we know that when Cameron passed the baton to him in 2011, she left one big piece of unfinished business: She and the Reynolds board had talked for years about wanting to acquire Lorillard but never got around to acting on it.

Murray Kessler, Lorillard’s CEO, recalls Delen coming to him in the fall of 2012 with an approach that was, he says, “very conceptual.” A second visit by another Reynolds executive left Kessler frustrated—the Reynolds team had no clear plan to execute such a deal. Reynolds chairman Wajnert insists that Delen decided on his own to retire, but clearly Wajnert and his fellow directors decided they needed someone who could sell the dream of combining America’s No. 2 and No. 3 tobacco companies. So Wajnert called Cameron.

Returning to Reynolds after three years of sleeping eight hours a night and doing Pilates three times weekly was a shock for Cameron. “I was drinking from a fire hose,” she says—living out of suitcases and buying a new house in her few spare hours. With no time to waste, Cameron focused on the Lorillard deal and her mission to persuade Kessler, Lorillard’s chief, to sell his company to Reynolds. “There was a step change,” says Kessler, as soon as Cameron was back in charge. What changed? “Value and certainty,” he says. “The value was different, and the structure was different. For me, it was a much more compelling proposition.”

Getting Kessler’s buy-in was only one piece of the acquisition challenge. Cameron also wanted to secure financing from BAT, whose CEO, conveniently, she had known for more than 20 years. She and Nicandro Durante had worked side by side in London, and he says he considered her “the ideal person to navigate through this deal.” Still, to make the deal palatable to antitrust regulators, she had to get Imperial to buy several major brands. “It was tough, tough, tough,” says Kessler, who watched Cameron skillfully unite disparate parties. One weekend in early July, Cameron’s CFO, Tom Adams, was in the office for 14 hours straight, stymied by the difficult negotiations with Imperial, and he emailed the boss at 1:30 a.m. Cameron was in bed with the TV on and her phone’s text-message alert turned up loud. She promptly popped an email to Imperial CEO Alison Cooper as the sun was rising in England. “We’ve got to get this done,” Cameron recalls writing.

“We’re quite tough negotiators,” says Cooper, who is No. 2 on Fortune’s list of Most Powerful Women in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. She talked with Cameron a half-dozen or so times en route to a $7.1 billion purchase, and says she found Cameron always “focused” and “constructive.”

IMPERIAL TOBACCO CEO ALISON COOPERPHOTO: CHRIS RATCLIFFE—GETTY IMAGES

So Cameron’s and Cooper’s companies will be facing off on several fronts—Newport vs. Kool, Camel vs. Winston, Vuse vs. Blu—if regulators approve the deal for Reynolds to buy Lorillard. Getting this intricate transaction through Federal Trade Commission scrutiny figures to be more difficult than the Reynolds-B&W deal 10 years ago. That combination involved two weak players with declining brands in a market with declining cigarette prices. By contrast, Reynolds and Lorillard are two strong companies with growing brands in an environment of rising cigarette prices. And even though Altria will remain No. 1 with Marlboro, buying Lorillard would make Reynolds the owner of two of America’s three top premium cigarette brands. And those two brands, Camel and Newport, are particularly popular among twentysomethings.

Cameron is hoping to get a regulatory greenlight on the deal by mid-2015. But she’s already devising her new plan for Reynolds to transform the industry. She wants to invest aggressively in products “that have the potential to reduce harm,” she says. Since she doesn’t know if e-cigarettes are harmless (and the extent of FDA regulation is so far unclear), she says Reynolds will not behave like the category’s upstarts—she won’t sell bubblegum- and fruit-flavored Vuse products that might attract kids. “There is no upside in selling anything to consumers under age 18,” she says.

What about pot? Is she tempted to experiment in the burgeoning marijuana market? “Smoking pot,” she says, “is potentially worse than smoking tobacco.” Really? “Yes, it’s dreadful. You’re combusting marijuana leaves.” (She smoked pot, she admits, but hasn’t in 35 years. “I did inhale.”) But she is open to opportunities. “If marijuana becomes legal on a national basis, we’d evaluate it.”

Being open to opportunities is something that has worked well for Cameron throughout her rollicking career. Upon her return to Reynolds in May, she signed a contract for two years, at an annual salary of $1.3 million—plus a bonus tied to her finding a successor—but she’s willing to stay three years if the board needs her. “Obviously, I want to complete the transaction,” she says, meaning that she will make sure that Reynolds and Lorillard are fully integrated. “My husband calls this a detour on our way to our retirement,” she says, no doubt hoping that he is as adaptable as she is.

This story is from the October 6, 2014 issue of Fortune.",The Reynolds CEO came out of retirement to lead the largest acquisition ever by a woman. Now she's betting on cigarettes without tobacco.
"By Michael McCarthy, USA TODAY

Gatorade said Friday it was ending its sponsorship relationship with embattled golf star

. That makes Gatorade the third sponsor to drop Woods since revelations of his marital infidelity. The others:

""We no longer see a role for Tiger in our marketing efforts and have ended our relationship,"" Gatorade spokeswoman Jennifer Schmit said in a statement. ""However, our partnership with the Tiger Woods Foundation will continue. We wish him all the best.""

Gatorade previously discontinued its Gatorade Tiger Focus sports drink. The company said at the time the decision had nothing to do with the sex scandal swirling around Woods.

Sponsors have moved unusually fast to distance themselves from the former endorsement king of Madison Avenue since Woods crashed his SUV in the wee hours of Nov. 27 setting off a media frenzy involving his admissions involving extramarital affairs.

Accenture was the first to drop Woods on Dec. 13, stating he was no longer the ""right representative"" for the company. AT&T followed suit on New Year's Eve saying it will remove its corporate logo from his golf bag if and when he returns to competition. Other sponsors such as Nike, EA Sports, Upper Deck, NetJets, TLC Vision and the planned Tiger Woods resort in Dubai have stood by him. Procter & Gamble's Gillette and Swiss watchmaker Tag Heuer have played it safe by putting image on ice in their ad campaigns.

Most of Woods' remaining corporate sponsors seem to be laying low until he emerges from rehabilitation and rejoins the PGA Tour. Not a single sponsor has run a prime-time commercial starring Woods since Nov. 29, according to Aaron Lewis of Nielsen.

""Our advertising strategy with Tiger really hasn't changed. When he returns to competitive play and starts winning tournaments again, we will run advertisements touting new products featuring Tiger and some of his significant victories,"" says Upper Deck spokesman Terry Melia. ""If he is not playing, we won't.""

CNBC sports business reporter Darren Rovell tweeted Friday that Gillette would be the ""odds-on favorite"" to drop Woods next followed by Tag Heuer.

You share in the USA TODAY community, so please keep your comments smart and civil. Don't attack other readers personally, and keep your language decent. Use the ""Report Abuse"" button to make a difference.",Gatorade said Friday it was ending its sponsorship relationship with embattled golf star Tiger Woods. That makes Gatorade the third sponsor to drop Woods since since revelations of his marital infidelity. The others: Accenture and AT&T.
"NEW YORK — Re-electrifying a show in its dying days, ballet sensation Misty Copeland brings considerable charisma and elegant physicality to her Broadway debut as a gamine beauty queen in the 1944 musical “On the Town.”

As you might expect of a theater novice, Copeland’s acting abilities conform to only a narrow range of accomplishment, oscillating between charm and vivacity. And judging from the few bars she’s called on to sing in one number, “Do Do Re Do,” the voice is most assuredly still a work in progress.

Peter Marks joined the Washington Post as its chief theater critic in 2002. Prior to that he worked for nine years at the New York Times, on the culture, metropolitan and national desks, and spent about four years as its off-Broadway drama critic.

But as for the real skill that landed her for a fortnight on the stage of the Lyric Theatre on West 42nd Street, well, on that count we’re in far more scintillating territory. Dancing up a gymnastic storm in the first-act number introducing her as the New York City subway system’s “Miss Turnstiles,” and executing a sultry pas-de-deux in Act 2 with the evening’s romantic lead, Tony Yazbeck, Copeland merges her technique seamlessly with Leonard Bernstein’s stylishly jazzy music. Her radiant appeal is a match for a musical, with book and lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green, that’s all about the vitality of a city and the young people who make sure it never sleeps.

This richly melodic if overly manic revival of “On the Town,” directed by John Rando and choreographed, lusciously, by Joshua Bergasse, had its official opening on Broadway in October in the 1,900-seat Lyric — a house that has proven to be far too big for it — and has been struggling to find an audience ever since. (Its producers have been a patient lot.)

Copeland, whose recent promotion to principal dancer at American Ballet Theatre makes her the first African American woman to achieve that distinction, signed on to replace the New York City Ballet’s Megan Fairchild as Ivy Smith, the Miss Turnstiles who is pursued by a sailor on a one-day shore leave with two of his buddies. As it turns out, her participation will be short-lived, as “On the Town” has announced that it will close Sept. 6.

It’s too bad the dancer won’t have time to explore more deeply the matrix of elements that go into inhabiting a character in musical theater. The Lyric audience was more than happy to be in her presence, and you suspect that more ticketbuyers would line up to see her; the occupancy rate in the auditorium Tuesday night was far higher than when I saw the production last fall.

Copeland could put the additional experience to good use, because her portrayal at this point exhibits some of the limitations shared by other ballet stars who have taken to theater stages. In the work of Copeland, like that of Fairchild in “On the Town” and Tiler Peck in the Kennedy Center’s world premiere of “Little Dancer” last year, you tend to get a sustained projection of one emotion, rather than a more textured embodiment of a human. (These dancer-actresses seem to wear sunny stage personas as a kind of self-protection.) This, for all I know, has to do with the rigors of ballet training and an ingraining emphasis on other aspects of performance.

One ballet star who has managed of late to more successfully balance the technical and emotional demands of musical theater is Robert Fairchild, Tiler’s husband and Megan’s brother. In “An American in Paris,” currently at the Palace Theatre, he creates a suave character who moves with athletic grace, but also conveys a winning measure of vulnerability.

Let’s hope Copeland ventures into this new terrain again. An enthusiastic cheering section is primed for it to happen.

Music by Leonard Bernstein, book and lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green. Directed by John Rando. Choreography, Joshua Bergasse; sets and projections, Beowulf Boritt; costumes, Jess Goldstein; music direction, James Moore; sound, Kai Harada. With Alysha Umphress, Jay Armstrong Johnson, Clyde Alves and Elizabeth Stanley. Through Sept. 6 at Lyric Theatre, 213 W. 42nd St. Call 877-250-2929 or visit ticketmaster.com.","Of course, the dancing is terrific, but the singing? A work in progress."
"The four-month manhunt for one of the most wanted men in the world ended Friday in gunfire and explosions as police captured the sole surviving suspect involved in the Paris terror attacks.

Islamic extremist Salah Abdeslam was shot in the leg and caught alive during a harrowing police raid in the Brussels suburb of Molenbeek, officials said.

As the dramatic capture unfolded, helmeted police with riot shields cordoned off the area, and two explosions were heard.

EVIDENCE OF PARIS ATTACK SUSPECT FOUND IN RAIDED APARTMENT

A spokesman for the Belgium federal prosecutor’s office said three members of a family that sheltered Abdeslam were also detained and other arrests could follow.

“This evening is a huge success in the battle against terrorism,” Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel said at a news conference with President François Hollande of France, saying the arrest was the product of a joint operation.

RIFLE-WIELDING SUSPECT KILLED IN BELGIAN RAID WAS ALGERIAN

Hollande said France will seek the extradition of Abdeslam and believes Belgium will respond quickly.

Video from Belgian network VTM showed heavily armed police picking a man wearing a white hoodie off the ground and dragging him into an unmarked car. It was unclear whether it is Abdeslam.

Abdeslam, who was not armed, did not surrender and was shot in the leg, federal prosecutors said.

The 26-year-old was a childhood friend of the suspected ringleader of the ISIS-orchestrated Nov. 13 massacre in the French capital, in which heavily armed attackers targeted cafes, a concert and a soccer stadium — killing 130 people.

The Belgian-born French citizen is suspected of helping plan the attack, buying detonators, and driving a car carrying a group of gunmen who took part in the attack.

After the bloodbath, Abdeslam shed his suicide vest and fled. He slipped through a police dragnet to return to Brussels and eluded capture for months, despite being the target of an international manhunt.

Most of the attackers died in Paris, including Abdeslam’s brother Brahim, who blew himself up.

Abdelhamid Abaaoud, the group’s suspected leader, was killed in an intense pre-dawn gun battle with French police five days after the carnage.

Dozens of people in Brussels have been arrested in connection to terrorist activities since the attack, according to the federal prosecutor’s office.

Belgian authorities found Abdeslam’s fingerprints in an apartment raided earlier this week. During a shootout with police at that site, one of the fugitive’s suspected accomplices, Mohamed Belkaid, was killed, Belgian prosecutors said. But two men escaped from the apartment, one of whom appears to have been Abdeslam.

President Obama congratulated the leaders of Belgium and France for the arrest, in phone calls with both men, the White House said in a statement.

French and Belgian authorities said Friday that “there will be more arrests in the future” to combat European terrorism linked to ISIS in Syria.

One person was killed during Tuesday's raid in anothe apartment in Brussels, where they later found fingerprints and DNA belonging to Salah Abdeslam.

“We are dealing with extensive networks in several countries,” Hollande said.",“Europe’s most wanted man” Salah Abdeslam was captured in a raid outside of Brussels.
"Ryan Palmer can't imagine the emotions if he were to win The Barclays a week after his father died. Bae Sang-moon would love nothing more than to play in the Presidents Cup at home in South Korea before he starts his mandatory military service. Jason Day is one round away from being in the race for No. 1 in the world.

The FedEx Cup playoffs suddenly are about a lot more than a $10 million bonus at the end.

Bae and Day traded birdies through the third round Saturday at Plainfield Country Club. Their best-ball score would have been 56. On their own, each had a 7-under 63 and were tied for the lead going at 11-under 199, one shot ahead of Bubba Watson (67).

Bae has to start his two-year military stint when he returns to South Korea. With a victory on Sunday, he would be assured a spot on the International team for the Presidents Cup, which is being held in his home country for the first time and will be the biggest golf event in South Korea.

""I have a really tough situation right now, but I don't think about it anymore, actually,"" he said. ""I have to go back. So that is a few weeks later. So I just want to play good golf this week and really want to play Presidents Cup in my country.""

The emotion comes from Palmer, who hasn't had a top 10 in the last three months. He is playing a week after his 71-year-old father died just north of Amarillo, Texas, when his SUV overturned. Palmer has found peaceful moments on the golf course, and while dropping two shots late in his round Saturday, he had a 65 and was two shots behind.

At times, Palmer caught himself wondering what it would mean to win with a family grieving at home.

""But then I just kind of come back saying, `OK, let's just hit this shot, let's not get too ahead of ourselves yet.' I don't know what it's going to be like if it happens,"" Palmer said after a 65. ""I can't put into words what it would mean for sure.""

Day, just like he did on the par 5s at Whistling Straits when he won his first major two weeks ago, cracked a 343-yard drive down the middle on the 601-yard 16th hole, and then hit a 4-iron to 18 feet and holed it for eagle to tie for the lead.

Day and Bae made bogey from the rough on the 17th, and both got up-and-down for birdie on the reachable 18th.

A victory by the 27-year-old Australian would be his fourth win of the year, tying him with Jordan Spieth for most on the PGA Tour this year, and allow him to join the race for No. 1 going into the final month of the tour season. Spieth, who missed the cut, will lose the No. 1 spot to Rory McIlroy.

""I'm shooting for my fourth win of the season, so I can't really get ahead of myself,"" Day said. ""I've just got to not be satisfied with the score that I'm at. I've just got to keep pushing, because the moment that you're satisfied with a score is the moment that you mentally kind of take a break and you start making mistakes.""

Still, Bae might have the most at stake.

He had been able to avoid his mandatory military service through his PGA Tour career until it was determined that he spent too much time in South Korea last year. He appealed the decision at the start of the year, and the military courts ruled a month ago that he had to serve. Bae accepted the decision, though he remains in America to finish out the FedEx Cup. It was not clear when the military service starts, or if he could even play Oct. 8-11 in the Presidents Cup.

And if Bae gets to the Tour Championship and captures the FedEx Cup, the $10 million might be a secondary award. Bae also would receive a five-year exemption, which would come in handy when he returns from the military.

The FedEx Cup trophy is a long way off. So is the trophy for The Barclays.

British Open champion Zach Johnson and Henrik Stenson each had 67 and joined Palmer at 9-under 201. Former PGA champion Jason Dufner had a 69 and was four shots behind. Ten players were separated by five shots going into the final round.

Palmer can only hope for the same soothing feeling golf has given him this week. The problems he has had driving the ball seem to have gone away. So has the irritation from hitting bad shots. Golf has been a refuge this week. His caddie, James Edmondson, also was close to Palmer's father. Edmondson and Palmer's agent, Mike Chisum, were with him in Amarillo and all week in New Jersey.

""Them being here this week has been huge for me to just kind of keep my mind off of it,"" Palmer said. ""When I get inside the ropes, I get those four hours to not thin a whole lot about it and really try to play golf with some peace and comfort.""",Bae Sang-moon is making the most of his final weeks before he starts mandatory military service in South Korea.
"(CNN) -- We all know the Schoolhouse Rock song about how a bill becomes a law. You know, ""I'm just a bill, yes, I'm only a bill, and I'm sitting here on Capitol Hill""? If Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and his Republican counterpart, Mitch McConnell, can come up with a deal Tuesday to end this governmental gridlock, a number of things will have to happen in fast forward to beat the Thursday deadline to lift the debt ceiling.

1. The Senate has to pass a bill -- quickly

Conservatives might oppose it -- and another filibuster-type stall tactic could drag the process on for days. Sixty ayes are needed to end floor debate.

2. The House has to pass the same bill

No matter what the Senate agrees to, the House also must agree for this to get to the finish line. It's not at all clear that conservatives in the House will sign onto a proposal they dislike.

Some still want to pass a bill with major changes to Obamacare, not merely the minor ones reportedly included in the Senate plan under discussion, and many are committed to spending reforms and are looking for a long-term deal to lock in those changes.

""One thing we don't want to see is another patch where in a couple weeks later we're in the same spot again,"" Rep. Steve Scalise, R-Louisiana, said Tuesday on CNN's ""New Day.""

""The President will have to agree to sit at the table and start negotiating on the long-term issues,"" he said. ""We've been saying this for two weeks. We're ready to do it.""

It's possible that a compromise bill could pass with a coalition of moderate Republicans and the House's Democratic minority, which has happened before on compromise deals on the so-called ""fiscal cliff"" tax increases and spending cuts and emergency aid to Superstorm Sandy victims.

But House Speaker John Boehner would have to allow a vote first. He's under intense pressure from the right not to make concessions to Democrats. And while he has said he will not allow the nation to default on its debts, it's less clear he would sidestep his party's more conservative wing to bring a shutdown-ending deal to a floor vote.

Finally, if we do have a vote, we could see the House and Senate batting amendments back and forth, much as they did before the shutdown, and that could push approval of the legislation past the debt ceiling deadline.

For Senate leaders, bitter history morphs into working relationship on deal

3. The President has to sign it

Once the chambers sign off, whenever that might happen, there's still that other question: Will President Obama accept the concessions made by both sides? Yeah, they didn't teach you this verse in the ""'I'm just a bill"" song.

Obama has signaled that he is willing to accept a short-term debt-ceiling deal and to negotiate on issues important to Republicans, but not without an agreement to reopen the government.

But before it gets to that, Tuesday will bring:

As if there have not been enough meetings or rumors of meetings or postponed meetings, Tuesday will start off with, you guessed it: more meetings. House parties will meet first, followed by lunch meetings by Senate parties. A good clue on early progress will come first from House Republicans. They should be the first to get in front of cameras.

The President is expected to pop up on several local TV stations Tuesday, no doubt with markets in key congressional districts. Also, there's a midday White House media briefing that may give hints on how Obama feels about developments. If both parties get close to a deal, expect the White House to give definitive word on whether or not the President would sign off on it.

Whatever happens Tuesday, expect the markets to react. Economists say the closer we get to the debt ceiling deadline, the more this uncertainty can affect the markets. Early reports indicate that the Asian markets are responding positively to the news of progress. But domestic banks are reportedly coming up with contingency plans in case Congress goes past the deadline. Any news Tuesday is bound to change things.

CNN's Steve Almasy contributed to this report.","Shutdown showdown: If there's a deal, what next?"
"Welcome back to The Bachelorette, where Desiree Hartsock has narrowed the field of suitor-contestants from 25 to three. Drew, Brooks and Chris are still in the running to be America’s Next Top Bachelor and, perhaps, Des’ future fiancé. But before we can watch a young man propose to a woman he barely knows — because he signed up for a reality show on a drunken whim (guessing!) — we must first survive the gauntlet known as The Men Tell All. Tonight, we will see the Jilted Lover, the Confronted Cheater, the Scorned Single Father — and more of the various species that populate The Bachelorette. There will be tears, jeers and protestations of guilt and innocence, but mostly there will be a lot of sighing and watch-checking, because this is a two hour show with 20 minutes of content. We watched, so you could watch Royal Baby news.

Here’s what happened when The Men Tell All:

The Creepiest: Chris Harrison and Des decided to crash a Bachelorett-viewing party, but instead of knocking on the door, they lurk outside and stare in the windows.

Least Realistic: Chris and Des crash two more parties. None of which involve people watching the show alone in the dark, pants-less, eating Pringles with one hand and drinking merlot with the other. Which, I assume, is how the majority of Americans in my living room watch this show.

(MORE: The Bachelorette Watch: Hometown Dates)

Most Proven Results: To continue their party-crashing, Chris (the host, not the contestant) and Des head to New York City to prove to viewers that this show’s meat grinder-like process has a track record of occasionally ending up in marriages. They meet up with all three couples that have emerged from the show’s many, many, many seasons. First, they meet Ashley and JP; then Jason and Molly from Season Three, with their new baby; and, finally, Trista (without Ryan in sight) from way back in Season One.

Worst Advice: Former Bachelorettes Emily Maynard and Ali Fedotowsky return to the show that made them (in)famous to give Des some tips for surviving the dreaded Men Tell All firing line. Don’t listen to them Des: one chose Jef and the other dumped Roberto.

Biggest Duh Moment: Federal prosecutor Michael tells the gathered audience that the men actually get along great, and for some reason the cameras focused on the conflicts.

Most Impressive: James is able to laugh off an entire clip reel featuring him getting slammed by pretty much everyone in the house for five minutes straight. Probably safest to assume he’s drunk.

Truest Line: Jonathan – who you may remember as the clearly drunk dude who kept trying to take Des to the Fantasy Suite during the first episode – thanked the audience for not booing him. And Michael zinged, “They didn’t remember you.”

Least Shocking Moment: Strangely, Bryan – who was ousted from the show when it turned out that he had a secret girlfriend at home – didn’t show up to get yelled at on national television some more.

First in the Hot Seat: Ben, the single dad who trotted his adorable son out of the limo and immediately made everyone hate him. He rightly gets booed.

The Men Tell All Milestone Reached #1: Ben is the first to remind us that he wasn’t on the show to make friends.

The Men Tell All Milestone Reached #2: Brandon told Ben that he didn’t belong on the show because he wasn’t there for the right reasons.

Biggest Reveal: Ben’s baby mama approached one of the other contestants in Vegas (where all 100 percent completely legitimate things happen) and told him that Ben was a terrible father who cheated on his girlfriend. Ben denied it all, though.

Most Impressive Camera Work: While sitting in the hot seat, professing his attempted love of Des and defending his actions on the show, James claims he was being “prosecuted” — and the camera never cut to Michael.

Most Tedious Exchange: With James on the hot seat, the conversation naturally turned to his ouster in a heated and monotonous exchange between Kasey, Mikey and James. Here’s the recap: Blah-blah integrity, blah-blah character, blah-blah eyebrow waxing, blah-blah right reasons, blah-blah sincerity, blah-blah The Bachelor. It went on for approximately ten hours with Emily Maynard even breaking ranks to tweet about how incredibly long the argument went on.

Hottest Hot Seat: The Venezuelan soccer player Juan Pablo took the title of Fan Favorite despite rarely being on camera. The audience is also stacked with women wearing “I HEART JUAN PABLO” shirts. Should we start our campaign now to make Juan Pablo the next Bachelor?

Worst Use Of Bronzer: Zak was spray-tanned to one degree shy of Oompa Loompa, setting off his white teeth to the point that Chris Harrison almost had to put on sunglasses to interview him. If you’ve seen that episode of Friends where Ross gets his teeth whitened you will have a general idea of the effect.

(MORE: When Worlds Collide: 10 Classic TV Crossovers)

Weirdest Keepsake: Zak wrote Des a poem in invisible ink.

Biggest Missed Opportunity: Chris gets Zak in the hot seat and fails to ask him some pressing questions: What is a drilling-fluid engineer? And what does it have to do with sno-cones?

Best Roll: Des called Jonathan a disgrace to all men and no one called her out for unnecessary roughness. Then Jonathan apologized for starting her journey off on the wrong foot. Des then called out Ben for his arrogance. And he apologized. Then she accused James of manipulating her. And he apologized (sort of).

Most Awkward Moment: Zak announces that he wrote a song and Des blurts, “Oh no!” and then has to sit there awkwardly as he sings a mournful tune about moving on while surrounded by candles. Several women in the audience tear up. Which is embarrassing for everyone involved.

Truest Statement: Des said that Zak has “always been a positive light.” She’s talking about his teeth, right?

Best Reason To Come Back Next Week: The most dramatic finale in Bachelorette history, a line even Chris Harrison couldn’t say with a straight face, while swearing it to be true …this time. For real. He really means it. Stop laughing.

MORE: Emmys 2013: The Complete List of Nominees MORE: The Best TV Shows of 2013 (So Far)",We watched because we had to
"Former Alaska governor Sarah Palin is following her daughter’s lead in criticizing Obama’s invitation to a Texas teen detained for bringing a kit clock to school.

A homemade clock crafted by 14-year-old Ahmed Mohamed looked nothing like a clock, the one-time vice president candidate said on Facebook sharing a photo of its jumbled parts.

“That’s a clock, and I’m the queen of England,” Palin wrote Saturday.

While a world of scientists and engineers rallied around the MacArthur High School student, Palin dismissed the Irving teenager as only “an evidently obstinate-answering student” who deserved to be arrested by authorities — unlike kids who accidently bring squirt guns to school or leave ammo in their vehicles after hunting.

""Kids humiliated and intimidated for innocent actions like those real examples are often marked the rest of their lives and made to feel really rotten,"" she wrote.

Formal charges were not filed against Mohamed after teachers called police upon seeing Mohamed’s DIY clock.

The clock “obviously could be seen by conscientious teachers as a dangerous wired-up bomb-looking contraption,” Palin wrote.

She compared an image of Mohamed’s hard case pencil box stuffed with tangled clock parts to a pile of pencil pouches and said the two looked nothing alike.

Palin’s rant follows Bristol Palin’s own blog post Friday recommending Obama stay clear of Mohamed’s ordeal to avoid stirring up “racial strife.”

Bristol’s mom then accused Obama of playing the “cool savior” card by chiming in to Twitter to invite the teen to the White House.

""Cool clock, Ahmed. Want to bring it to the White House?"" Obama tweeted Wednesday. ""We should inspire more kids like you to like science. It's what makes America great.""

“President Obama's practice of jumping in cases prematurely to interject himself as the cool savior, wanting so badly to attach himself to the issue-of-the-day, got old years ago,” Palin added.

Mohamed accepted Obama’s invitation and plans to visit the White House in October.",Ex-Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin is following her daughter’s lead in criticizing Obama’s White House invitation to a Texas teen.
"Michael Turner Strikes Deal in DUI Case ... Avoids Jail

struck a pretty sweet deal in his DUI case -- and if he stays out of trouble, he won't have to spend a single minute behind bars ... TMZ has learned.

We broke the story ... the former

in Georgia hours after a Monday Night Football game back in September.

Now, we've learned ... he hammered out a deal with prosecutors in which he agreed to plead guilty to reckless driving and speeding ... and in exchange, the DUI was dropped.

Turner was sentenced to 1 year probation and 30 days of community service. He was also ordered to complete a risk reduction program and submit to random drug testing.

Turner's rep, Michael Goldman, tells TMZ, ""Michael is glad we can finally put this matter behind us. He's also very excited for the next chapter of his football career and remaining a pillar in his community.""","NFL running back Michael Turner struck a pretty sweet deal in his DUI case -- and if he stays out of trouble, he won't have to spend a single minute…"
"June 18, 2014: Washington Redskins head coach Jay Gruden, left, talks with wide receiver DeSean Jackson, right, during NFL football minicamp in Ashburn, Va. (AP)The Associated Press

FILE - In this Sept. 23, 2012, file photo, Washington Redskins punter Sav Rocca carries a football in his helmet before an NFL football game against the Cincinnati Bengals in Landover, Md. The U.S. Patent Office ruled Wednesday, June 18, 2014, that the Washington Redskins nickname is ""disparaging of Native Americans"" and that the team's federal trademarks for the name must be canceled. The ruling comes after a campaign to change the name has gained momentum over the past year. (AP Photo/Nick Wass, File)The Associated Press

FILE - In this Sept. 24, 2012, file photo, the Washington Redskins and Cincinnati Bengals face off during the first half of an NFL football game in Landover, Md. The U.S. Patent Office ruled Wednesday, June 18, 2014, that the Washington Redskins nickname is ""disparaging of Native Americans"" and that the team's federal trademarks for the name must be canceled. The ruling comes after a campaign to change the name has gained momentum over the past year. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)The Associated Press

FILE - In this June 17, 2014, file photo, Washington Redskins helmets sit on the field during an NFL football minicamp in Ashburn, Va. The U.S. Patent Office ruled Wednesday, June 18, 2014, that the Washington Redskins nickname is ""disparaging of Native Americans"" and that the team's federal trademarks for the name must be canceled. The ruling comes after a campaign to change the name has gained momentum over the past year. (AP Photo/Nick Wass, File)The Associated Press

Washington Redskins quarterback Robert Griffin III speaks with the media after NFL football minicamp, Wednesday, June 18, 2014, in Ashburn, Va. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)The Associated Press

WASHINGTON – From an immediate, practical viewpoint, the ruling by a trademark board that the Washington Redskins have a ""disparaging"" nickname doesn't mean much. The team doesn't have to change a thing, and the matter will likely be tied up in courts for years.

From an emotional, intangible standpoint, however, the decision issued Wednesday by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office is another boost for those who have been advocating change, increasing the financial and political pressure for a movement that has gained significant momentum over the last year and a half.

""I am a huge fan of the Washington football team, and I am also a huge fan of changing the name of the Washington football team,"" D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray said. ""This is yet another step in that direction.""

By a 2-1 vote, the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board sided with five Native Americans in a dispute that has been working its way through legal channels for more than two decades. It's a cascade in what has become a steady, almost daily, stream of developments that have called the name into question, with political, religious and sports figures -- including President Barack Obama -- weighing in on the topic.

""Even though it doesn't have a practical effect right now for the team, the timing is right in the middle of when this tide of different players and Senators and people are talking about it,"" said Brad Newberg, a copyright law expert in Virginia. ""It's probably not the best timing from the team's perspective.""

The Redskins quickly announced they will appeal, and the team's name will continue to have trademark protection while the matter makes its way through the courts. A similar ruling by the board in 1999 was overturned on a technicality in 2003.

""We've seen this story before,"" Redskins attorney Bob Raskopf said. ""And just like last time, today's ruling will have no effect at all on the team's ownership of and right to use the Redskins name and logo. We are confident we will prevail once again.""

Raskopf also cited polls and anecdotal evidence that suggest most Native Americans support the name. Team owner Dan Snyder has long argued that the name is used with respect and honor, and is a source of pride among many American Indians.

""There's no momentum in the place that momentum matters,"" Raskopf said. ""And that's in Native America.""

The ruling involves six uses of the Redskins name trademarked by the team from 1967 to 1990. It does not apply to the team's American Indian head logo.

If it stands, the team still will be free to use the name, but it will be more difficult for the team to go after others who print the Redskins name on sweatshirts, jerseys or other gear without permission.

""Joe in Peoria is going to have a pretty good argument that he could put the `Redskins' name on some T-shirt,"" Newberg said.

Newberg estimated that the ruling, if upheld, could cost the team tens of millions of dollars per year. Forbes magazine puts the value of the Redskins franchise at $1.7 billion and says $145 million of that is attributable to the team's brand.

The board exercised its authority under a section of the Trademark Act of 1946 that disallows trademarks that may disparage others or bring them into contempt or disrepute. Over the years, the courts have rejected arguments that the First Amendment guarantees the right to register any name as a trademark.

In reaching its decision, the board drew on the testimony of three experts in linguistics and lexicography, and combed through old dictionaries, books, newspapers, magazines and even vintage movie quotes to examine the history of ""redskin,"" looking specifically at whether it was considered disparaging at the time the trademarks were issued.

Earlier this year, the agency rejected trademark requests for ""Redskins Hog Rinds"" and ""Washington Redskin Potatoes."" It also turned down an Asian-American rock band called The Slants and the Jewish humor magazine Heeb.

Courts overturned the board's 1999 ruling in part because the plaintiffs waited too long to voice their objections after the original trademarks were issued. The case was relaunched in 2006 by a younger group of Native Americans who only recently became adults and would not have been able to file a case earlier.

Until recently, the trademark case often stood alone in the campaign to draw attention to the issue. Now it's just part of an ongoing narrative.

On Saturday, a major sector of the United Church of Christ voted to urge its 40,000 members to boycott the Redskins. On Capitol Hill, half the Senate recently wrote letters to the NFL urging a change because ""racism and bigotry have no place in professional sports.""

Seattle Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman spoke out against the name in the context of the NBA's decision to ban Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling for life for making racial comments. Obama said last year that he would think about changing the name if he owned the team. Mayor Gray suggested Wednesday that the name will almost certainly have to change if the team ever wants to build a new stadium in the city.

Snyder, who has vowed repeatedly never to abandon the name, declined to comment as he walked off the field after a practice Wednesday. He recently created a foundation to give financial support to American Indian tribes, but that failed to mollify his critics.

""If the most basic sense of morality, decency and civility has not yet convinced the Washington team and the NFL to stop using this hateful slur, then hopefully today's patent ruling will, if only because it imperils the ability of the team's billionaire owner to keep profiting off the denigration and dehumanization of Native Americans,"" Oneida Indian representative Ray Halbritter and National Congress of American Indians Executive Director Jackie Pata, two of the leading voices in the campaign to change the name, said in a statement.","From an immediate, practical viewpoint, the ruling by a trademark board that the Washington Redskins have a disparaging nickname doesn't mean much."
"Whether at Detroit, Delhi, Chicago or Toronto, the 2014 motor show season has served up its share of delectable designs. Call it all a prelude, however, to the Geneva motor show, the industry’s traditional platform for flexing its most outré styling instincts. Geneva is where tiny hypercar companies trot out their latest unobtanium, boutique design consultancies drum up commissions and major carmakers try to prove they’re not lumbering leviathans, but rather hotbeds of imagination. Herewith, a catalogue of some of the metal making its way to Geneva, where press previews take place on 3 and 4 March. (Photo: Jaguar Land Rover)",An early look at some of the metal making its way to Switzerland next month.
"Blind, a stunning Norwegian film about complete loss of vision, immediately cottons on to its rich paradox of subject and medium. How do you visualise not seeing? Ingrid, the character played by the pale, ghostly and beautiful Ellen Dorrit Petersen, has been suddenly afflicted in adulthood, and is too stricken with fear to step outside her sparsely furnished flat.

What she can remember is the experience of knowing the world visually. And she has an imagination that runs riot, even before we discover that she’s a writer, given to flights of fancy which the film brings into gradual, ticklish focus. For starters, she’s often unsure if her husband, Morten (Henrik Rafaelson) is present or not – hiding silently in her proximity or sneaking around. The insecurities of any newly blind person, her susceptibility to being tricked, ignored, injured by everyday objects or even cheated on by a spouse, are the key themes in this radically first-person view of being not-sighted.

Eskil Vogt makes his feature debut here, and even outdoes his ingenious work as a screenwriter on Reprise (2006) and Oslo, August 31st (2011), where he was something like Charlie Kaufman to Joachim Trier’s Spike Jonze. He has that Kaufman knack of dreaming up conceits that are witty and unsettling at once, playful and profound. The images in his film, coolly shot by Dogtooth's Thimios Bakatakis and outstandingly edited, are unstable, unreliable, and shift without warning – not just images, in fact, but whole characters.

A Swedish single mother called Elin, played with moving confusion by Vera Vitali, and her sad, porn-obsessed neighbour (Marius Kolbenstvedt) certainly seem like autonomous people, at least until Elin finds herself in the grip of sudden, inexplicable blackouts which feel like Ingrid’s malicious doing. We have no idea, at this point, how she’s pulling the strings, or why. Ingrid's husband and Elin initiate an online chat, or rather, Ingrid imagines that they do. We realise that the main couple’s childlessness is a factor. Is this why Elin has a son? Or is it a daughter? The film literally changes its mind, oscillating between the possibilities.

Ingrid is clearly grappling with a fear of being left without family, but also the daunting responsibility of being a blind parent. She sends Elin, her very possible figment, out into the world, to be ridiculous on her behalf, with badly applied make-up and grotesque combinations of party frocks, and to suffer humiliations at the hands of men.

Vogt gives us a brilliantly slippery handle on the rules of this rather twisted game, but also makes it real, in that it’s coming from a place of authentic terror, anxiety and loneliness in Ingrid’s head. Intellectually exciting though his film’s gambits are, they feel like acts of tremendous imaginative empathy – lightbulbs in the dark.",This twisty Norwegian thriller about a newly blind woman is an enthralling exercise in imaginative empathy
"For eight years, Parks, a working-class woman, toiled at the Stockton Sewing Co. in Michigan, making dishrags, for low wages. But on March 1, 1965, she abruptly quit to join U.S. Rep. John Conyers' staff in Detroit. The voting rights movement in the South, led by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., coupled with the assassination of Malcolm X that February, had re-energized her appetite for direct political action.

On Sunday, March 7, Parks was at home in Detroit watching the ABC television premiere of ""Judgment at Nuremberg"" when the broadcast was suddenly interrupted by a news flash from Selma, Alabama.

A peaceful throng of voting rights activists had marched onto the steel-arched Edmund Pettus Bridge that spanned the Alabama River, only to be brutally assaulted by police and Alabama state troopers, most of them wearing gas masks. Before being arrested and beaten these protesters had been headed to the state capital in Montgomery, a distance of 54 miles, to demand federal protection of blacks' right to vote.

That Sunday afternoon, 25-year-old John Lewis, then chairman of Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and today a U.S. congressman from Georgia's 5th District, had been tear-gassed and billy clubbed as he tried to cross the bridge. The sight of him being beaten sickened Parks.

Troopers attack during the first Selma march on March 7, 1965. John Lewis, in the foreground, was among those beaten.

Lewis had emerged as the bravest and youngest of the major civil rights leaders of the Kennedy-Johnson era, even speaking at the March on Washington in 1963. As a Freedom Rider in the South, he was arrested 24 times, and proud of it. Therefore on March 9, to protest ""Bloody Sunday,"" as the incident became known, Parks walked down Detroit's wide Woodward Avenue in full solidarity with Brother Lewis and the others arrested in Selma. ""The Edmund Pettus Bridge for me was wrought in symbolism,"" Parks recalled years later. ""The photos taken that day made me think of the bridge as a battlefield, like at Lexington and Concord. It was the start of a turning point.""

So when King -- who had been in Atlanta for ""Bloody Sunday"" -- telegrammed Parks about returning to Alabama to take part in a third mass march from Selma to Montgomery, her immediate answer was ""Why, of course."" Once back in Montgomery in late March at King's request, Parks looked around to see what had changed since the '50s. ""One of the first things I did was look at the buses,"" she told me in 1997. ""And yes -- they were integrated. ... That felt good.""

On March 25, Parks, the ""Mother of the Movement,"" spoke eloquently in Montgomery though her soft voice was barely audible over the crackling speakers. Per usual, King stole the show that day with a rousing piece of oratory. ""We are on the move,"" the Nobel Peace Prize-winning preacher shouted, ""and no wave of racism will stop us!""

That evening King flew back to Atlanta in high spirits, deeming the third Selma-to-Montgomery march an unqualified success. Yet Parks, near broke, took a bus back to Atlanta the next day, deeply depressed. There was too much white hatred still in Montgomery to feel victorious. Her great fear was that Selma was only a stride forward, in basketball parlance, not a slam-dunk. America was still poisoned by the curse of institutional racism.

The fight for voting rights was just beginning. True ballot-box equality was still a long way off. Even after President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act of 1965 that summer, Parks remained somewhat skeptical. She knew Southern white bigots would concoct evil new ways to disenfranchise black people.

As America reflects on the significance of the 50th anniversary of Selma this weekend, it's important to honor the martyrs of ""Bloody Sunday"" in a lasting way. Certainly, the fact that Barack Obama, an African-American, is U.S. President proves that Lewis didn't get his head dented in vain. But the recent egregious findings of the Department of Justice following the Michael Brown case as well as other incidents resulting in the deaths of unarmed men of color still give us reason to pause.

""I remember feeling something was not right,"" Parks recalled shortly after the third Selma march. ""Even though the march was over, I felt that everything was not right.""

One thing ""not right"" on the 50th anniversary of the Selma marches is the sad fact that the Edmund Pettus Bridge hasn't been renamed the John Lewis Bridge. Continuing to honor Pettus -- a Confederate general, U.S. senator and white supremacist -- is insulting to America's civil rights heroes. When the bridge was built in 1940, Jim Crow ruled Alabama. Dallas County blacks had no say in the bridge being named to honor a Reconstruction-era white supremacist.

Thankfully a group of conscientious students has recently started a petition drive to rid the iconic bridge of Pettus' name. But let's go further than just removing Pettus' name; let's rename the bridge for someone who deserves our admiration.

I'm not a historian who thinks Confederate memorials should be boarded up. Places such as Jefferson Davis' Beauvoir estate along the Mississippi Gulf Coast and the pedestaled statue of Robert E. Lee in New Orleans (turning his back to the North) need historic preservation. But the Edmund Pettus Bridge -- which in 2013 was declared a National Historic Landmark -- isn't symbolic of the Civil War in a meaningful way. It is, however, the modern-day battlefield where the voting rights movement was born. There is no more fitting tribute to the death of Jim Crow than to rename the ""Bloody Sunday"" bridge after Lewis.

I urge President Barack Obama, the National Park Service, the state of Alabama and the city of Selma to ""do the right thing."" Like the Statue of Liberty, the John Lewis Bridge would become a sacred place for visitors to reflect on noble American traditions -- in this case, peaceful protest and voting rights.

The ""We Shall Overcome"" year of 1965 would, at last, be given its historical due in Selma. ""I'm with the kids,"" the Rev. Joseph Lowery, a close associate of King's, recently said in supporting the Edmund Pettus Bridge being redesignated. ""Let's change it.""

Read CNNOpinion's new Flipboard magazine.

Follow us on Twitter @CNNOpinion.

Join us on Facebook.com/CNNOpinion. ​","The site where the battle for voting rights was fought should be named for John Lewis, Douglas Brinkley says."
"HONG KONG — Hillary Clinton's message of support for five women detained in China after campaigning against sexual harassment and domestic violence has buoyed the beleaguered movement, a friend of those imprisoned told NBC News Thursday.

""As one of our members said, '[Clinton] should say something or she should stop calling herself a feminist',"" the fellow campaigner said on condition of anonymity. ""I feel a strong power now inspiring us to move on, her words are really important for us.""

On Monday, the likely 2016 U.S. presidential candidate called the detentions ""inexcusable"" in a tweet.

The plight of the five imprisoned women — Li Tingting, 25, Wu Rongrong, 30, Zheng Churan, 25, Wei Tingting, 26, and Wang Man, 33 — has become a source of international outrage. The five, all members of China Feminist Action League, were arrested March 6, two days before International Women's Day.

On Wednesday, police in Beijing recommended that charges be brought against five activists who had been planning national campaigns against sexual harassment and domestic violence.

The pro-government Global Times newspaper blasted the former U.S. secretary of state in a Thursday editorial entitled: ""Defending women's rights is no excuse to hold street protests at will.""

It described her tweet a ""a typical Western intervention"" and accused her and Western countries of ""trying to make the case political.""

Calls by NBC News to the Haidian prosecutor's office and Public Security Bureau went unanswered. However, Wei Zhili, the boyfriend of Zheng Churan confirmed to NBC News that the charges of ""disturbing order"" had been submitted to the prosecutor's office.

""It's really a hard time for us these days,"" Wei added.

NBC News' Eric Baculinao and researcher Julia Zhou contributed to this report.

First published April 9 2015, 6:34 AM",HONG KONG — Hillary Clinton's message of support for five women detained in China after campaigning against sexual harassment and domestic violence has buoye...
"Demonstrators in Amman, the capital, and elsewhere protested a government proposal to raise fuel prices at the pump and for gas used in cooking.

JERUSALEM — Violent protests broke out across Jordan on Tuesday night after the government announced an increase in fuel prices, inciting what appeared to be an unparalleled show of anger directed at the king after months of mounting tension in the strategically important and politically fragile kingdom.

Demonstrators burned tires, smashed traffic lights and blocked roads in several Jordanian cities. Riot police officers tried to quell some of the crowds with tear gas. There were calls for a general strike on Wednesday.

In Dhiban, a city of 15,000 south of the capital, Amman, protesters burned pictures of King Abdullah II, witnesses said. In Salt, which has been a site of popular discontent, protesters destroyed two cars outside the prime minister’s home, which was empty. And in Amman, thousands of demonstrators filled the circle outside the Interior Ministry near midnight, chanting, “The people want the fall of the regime,” echoing similar chants in Egypt and Tunisia, where the Arab Spring began.

“The anger and frustration from the people is at its peak all over the kingship,” Murad Adailah, a member of the Muslim Brotherhood’s political wing, Islamic Action Front, said from outside the Interior Ministry. “This is unprecedented. The level of the slogans are the highest. This is the highest peak of tension that I’ve seen since the beginning of the Arab Spring.”

The eruption comes as King Abdullah has struggled to contain a growing and increasingly diverse opposition by introducing electoral reforms ahead of balloting scheduled for January and by establishing a constitutional court.

Critics have rejected these initiatives as half steps — they complain that the court, for example, is neutered because the king appoints its judges — and the monarchy has jailed dozens of activists on charges including incitement to change the Constitution and to overthrow the government, which can carry the death penalty. In October, the king dissolved Parliament and appointed Jordan’s fourth prime minister in a year.

Facing a $3 billion deficit, attributed largely to the disappearance of financial aid from gulf states, the government tried to reduce fuel subsidies — effectively raising prices — by 10 percent in September, only to reverse itself a day later after thousands took to the streets. Late Tuesday, the cabinet again announced a drop in subsidies that would result in increases of 14 percent on prices at the pump and more than 50 percent in gas used for cooking, leading to what Mr. Adailah said were more than 100 demonstrations across the kingdom.

Jordan is an important ally of the United States, helping to preserve its peace treaty with Israel and offering crucial intelligence support in Iraq and on terrorism. But its stability has long been precarious, with its population of six million divided between Palestinian refugees and natives, known as East Bankers, and frequent spillover from the fighting across its borders in Iraq and Syria.

About 200,000 refugees from the civil war in Syria have flooded into the country in recent months, further taxing economic and natural resources. Jordan’s divisions had for some time shielded it from the kind of unified opposition that brought down leaders in Egypt and Tunisia, but now, activists are saying, frustration has become a unifying force.

Nathan Thrall, an analyst with the International Crisis Group, a research organization that works to prevent conflicts, said that when the Arab Spring revolutions began in Tunisia, Libya and Egypt, he considered the chance of something similar happening in Jordan to be remote. Now, Mr. Thrall said, he and other experts see it as far more likely, if still a long shot.

“If people realize that things will develop in a negative way and they will not be able to make ends meet, they will take matters into their own hands,” said Labib Kamhawi, a political activist and analyst who is scheduled to appear in court this month on charges of sedition, defamation, threatening national unity and disrespecting government institutions, based on comments he made on television in July. “As things become more crucial and more challenging for the regime, the measures used will be tougher and more sinister.”

Zaki Bani Irsheid, vice chairman of the Muslim Brotherhood, long Jordan’s leading opposition force, said in an interview before the latest flare of discontent that throughout the past two years his faction had expanded alliances with the extremists known as Salafists, unions and the loose-knit, largely secular protest movement known as the Hirak.

An employee of The New York Times contributed reporting from Amman, Jordan.","Demonstrators burned tires, smashed traffic lights and blocked roads in an unparalleled show of anger at a government proposal to increase fuel prices."
"Part of complete coverage on

Connector of the Day: Ringo Starr

London, England (CNN) -- The Vatican may have forgiven the Beatles over the weekend for their ""satanic"" messages -- but Ringo Starr, the legendary band's drummer, says he couldn't care less.

In a tribute published to mark the 40th anniversary of the breakup of the band, who singer John Lennon once claimed were ""more popular than Jesus,"" the Vatican newspaper ""L'Osservatore Romano"" said it had forgiven them and called them a ""precious jewel.""

But Starr told CNN: ""Didn't the Vatican say we were satanic or possibly satanic -- and they've still forgiven us? I think the Vatican, they've got more to talk about than the Beatles.""

Starr was speaking to CNN's Becky Anderson about the launch of his latest solo album called ""Y Not,"" which was released in January.

Did you know McCartney had trouble learning the guitar? Find out why in our interactive

""I was sitting around in LA and I went on the synth and just got some rhythm patterns with some chords I enjoyed and then drummed to that,"" Starr said.

""We had no song and we just played something and kept it moving and that's how it all happened.""

Take the CNN Challenge: Beatles quiz

The album is Starr's 15th album as a solo artist.

Starr also responded to allegations that he had asked his fans to ""back off"" and explained why he no longer signs autographs.

""I just said to fans that I'm not signing anymore,"" Starr said.

""That what it was, it wasn't back off, I'm not a vicious man. I don't sign anymore, people say sign this and I just say no.""

Most popular stories right now","The Vatican may have forgiven the Beatles over the weekend for their ""satanic"" messages -- but Ringo Starr, the legendary band's drummer, says he couldn't care less."
"Donald Trump has run into plenty of opposition in Silicon Valley, with another potential ally turning into an opponent Tuesday night. Hewlett Packard Enterprise Chief Executive Meg Whitman, a Republican, said she would support Hillary Clinton.

She criticized Mr. Trump for taking what she called reckless, uninformed positions on the economy, immigration, the economy and foreign policy.

“To vote Republican out of party loyalty alone would be to endorse a candidacy that I believe has exploited anger, grievance, xenophobia and racial division,” she wrote in a statement the company distributed. “Donald Trump’s demagoguery has undermined the fabric of our national character.”

Ms. Whitman, former chief executive of eBay Inc., spent a record $140 million of her own money in a failed bid as a Republican candidate for California governor in 2010, losing to Democrat Jerry Brown. She had previously hinted at possible support of Ms. Clinton, in moves that include expressions of support for Mitt Romney, who has criticized Mr. Trump.

She described herself in the statement as a “proud Republican,” who nevertheless has concluded that Ms. Clinton is the better choice.

“I urge all Republicans to reject Donald Trump this November,” she wrote.

Ms. Whitman was a top fundraiser for 2012 nominee Mitt Romney’s campaign, donating $100,000 to his super PAC that year, and she served as chairwoman of former presidential candidate and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s finance team earlier in the cycle.

Ms. Whitman’s declaration of support for Mrs. Clinton comes as Mr. Trump confronts the roughest patch of his presidential campaign. Mrs. Clinton won her first endorsement from a Republican member of Congress on Tuesday, and Maria Comella, a former top aide to Mr. Christie, now a top Trump ally, also said she would vote for Mrs. Clinton.

—Rebecca Ballhaus contributed to this article.","Hewlett Packard Enterprise Chief Executive Meg Whitman, a Republican, said she would support Democrat  for president."
"Oh, Kimmy Gibbler — The loveable, mischievous next door neighbor in our favorite '90s sitcom, ""Full House"" has returned.

As commotion continues to bubble over news of the ""Fuller House"" reunion show on Netflix, it seems all us '90s kids (and parents) can't get of this star-studded blast from the past.

While of course we know what the Olsen twins, Candace Cameron Bure, and John Stamos are up to now, we're left wondering — what in the world has Kimmy Gibbler been up to?

Well folks, Kimmy (aka Andrea Barber) still looks pretty much the same...which is fabulous, of course.

In a 2013 ""where are they now""

with Katie Couric, Candace Cameron Bure explains that Barber is the exact opposite of her precocious, trouble-making persona of Kimmy Gibbler. What's even better? Barber and Bure are still best friends in real life!

, Barber left show business after ""Full House"" ended in 1995, and went on to an impressive pursuit of academics.

Barber earned a B.A. in English from Whittier College, and a M.A. in Women's Studies from the University of York in England. She then returned to her alma mater to work at Whittier College's Office of International Programs.

In 2002, Barber married Jeremy Rytky and has two

Aside from reprising her role as Kimmy Gibbler in the Netflix ""Fuller House"" 2016 reunion, looks like Barber is an avid runner, too.

Remember Kimmy Gibbler from 'Full House?' See what she looks like now

FULL HOUSE - 'The Perfect Couple' - Airdate: December 14, 1993. (Photo by ABC Photo Archives/ABC via Getty Images)BOB SAGET;DAVE COULIER

Lori Loughlin (Aunt Becky) with former 'Full House' co-stars Candace Cameron Bure (D.J.) and Jodie Sweetin (Stephanie) and captioned the photo, ""It's looking like a Full House kinda night.""

FULL HOUSE - Cast Gallery - August 8, 1989. (Photo by ABC Photo Archives/ABC via Getty Images)DAVE COULIER;JODIE SWEETIN;MARY-KATE/ASHLEY OLSEN;BOB SAGET;CANDACE CAMERON;JOHN STAMOS

FULL HOUSE - 'The Perfect Couple' - Airdate: December 14, 1993. (Photo by ABC Photo Archives/ABC via Getty Images)BOB SAGET;DAVE COULIER;LORI LOUGHLIN;JOHN STAMOS

FULL HOUSE - 'I've Got A Secret' - October 18, 1994. (Photo by ABC Photo Archives/ABC via Getty Images)DAVE COULIER;DOT JONES

FULL HOUSE - 'Air Jesse' - February 7, 1995. (Photo by ABC Photo Archives/ABC via Getty Images)BOB SAGET;DAVE COULIER;BUDDY THE WONDERDOG;DYLAN/BLAKE TUOMY-WILHOIT;JOHN STAMOS

FULL HOUSE - 'Air Jesse' - February 7, 1995. (Photo by ABC Photo Archives/ABC via Getty Images)DAVE COULIER;BOB SAGET;JOHN STAMOS

FULL HOUSE - 'Michelle Rides Again - Part I' - May 23, 1995. (Photo by ABC Photo Archives/ABC via Getty Images)JOHN STAMOS;BOB SAGET;DAVE COULIER;BIFF MANARD

FULL HOUSE - 'Arrest Ye Merry Gentlemen' - December 13, 1994. (Photo by ABC Photo Archives/ABC via Getty Images)DAVE COULIER;MARY-KATE/ASHLEY OLSEN;JOHN STAMOS;DYLAN/BLAKE TUOMY-WILHOIT;BOB SAGET;MICKEY ROONEY;JODIE SWEETIN;MARY-KATE/ASHLEY OLSEN;CANDACE CAMERON;LORI LOUGHLIN

FULL HOUSE - 'On The Road Again' - November 8, 1994. (Photo by ABC Photo Archives/ABC via Getty Images)BOB SAGET;DAVE COULIER

FULL HOUSE - Cast Gallery - August 22, 1994. (Photo by ABC Photo Archives/ABC via Getty Images)DAVE COULIER;BOB SAGET;JODIE SWEETIN;MARY-KATE OLSEN;ANDREA BARBER;BLAKE TUOMY-WILHOIT;LORI LOUGHLIN;JOHN STAMOS;DYLAN TUOMY-WILHOIT

FULL HOUSE - 'Breaking Away' - October 4, 1994. (Photo by ABC Photo Archives/ABC via Getty Images)DYLAN/BLAKE TUOMY-WILHOIT;DAVE COULIER;JOHN STAMOS

FULL HOUSE - 'I've Got A Secret' - October 18, 1994. (Photo by ABC Photo Archives/ABC via Getty Images)BOB SAGET;JOHN STAMOS;DAVE COULIER

UNITED STATES - SEPTEMBER 27: FULL HOUSE - On location in San Francisco - Season Eight - 9/27/94, Pictured, from left: Dave Coulier (Joey), Bob Saget (Danny), Jodie Sweetin (Stephanie), Mary Kate Olsen (Michelle), Candace Cameron (D.J.), Andrea Barber (Kimmy), Blake Tuomy-Wilhoit (Nicky), Lori Loughlin (Rebecca), Dylan Tuomy-Wilhoit (Alex), John Stamos (Jesse). , (Photo by Craig Sjodin/ABC via Getty Images)

UNITED STATES - SEPTEMBER 27: FULL HOUSE - Cast gallery - Season Eight - 9/27/94, Pictured, from left: Andrea Barber (Kimmy), Dave Coulier (Joey), Ashley Olsen (Michelle), Candace Cameron (D.J.), Bob Saget (Danny), Blake/Dylan Tuomy-Wilhoit (Nicky/Alex), Jodie Sweetin (Stephanie), Lori Loughlin (Rebecca), John Stamos (Jesse), (Photo by Craig Sjodin/ABC via Getty Images)

FULL HOUSE - 'Another Opening, Another No Show' - Airdate: November 2, 1993. (Photo by ABC Photo Archives/ABC via Getty Images)CANDACE CAMERON;LORI LOUGHLIN;DAVE COULIER

FULL HOUSE - 'The Prying Game' - Airdate: November 16, 1993. (Photo by ABC Photo Archives/ABC via Getty Images)JOHN STAMOS;DAVE COULIER

FULL HOUSE - 'The Prying Game' - Airdate: November 16, 1993. (Photo by ABC Photo Archives/ABC via Getty Images)DAVE COULIER;DYLAN/BLAKE TUOMY-WILHOIT

FULL HOUSE - 'Fast Friends' - Airdate: October 12, 1993. (Photo by ABC Photo Archives/ABC via Getty Images)DAVE COULIER;JOHN STAMOS

FULL HOUSE - 'Wrong-Way Tanner' - Airdate: September 28, 1993. (Photo by ABC Photo Archives/ABC via Getty Images)DAVE COULIER;MARY-KATE OLSEN

FULL HOUSE - 'The Long Goodbye' - Airdate: September 29, 1992. (Photo by ABC Photo Archives/ABC via Getty Images)DAVE COULIER;BOB SAGET

FULL HOUSE - 'Come Fly With Me' - Airdate: September 22, 1992. (Photo by ABC Photo Archives/ABC via Getty Images)CYD STRITTMATTER;JODIE SWEETIN;MARY-KATE/ASHLEY OLSEN;BOB SAGET;DAVE COULIER;JOHN STAMOS

THE VIEW - Actor and comedian Jay Mohr guest co-hosts; Guests include Full House actors John Stamos, Bob Saget and Dave Coulier reunite; Anthony Bourdain (ABC's 'The Taste'); La La Anthony (author, The Love Playbook) today, Wednesday, January 29, 2014 on ABC's 'The View.' 'The View' airs Monday-Friday (11:00 am-12:00 pm, ET) on the ABC Television Network. (Photo by Heidi Gutman/ABC via Getty Images) JOHN STAMOS, BOB SAGET

UNITED STATES - SEPTEMBER 22: FULL HOUSE - 'Our Very First Show' - Pilot - Season One - 9/22/87, Bob Saget played widower Danny Tanner, the father of three girls, Michelle (pictured, played by twins Mary Kate/Ashley Olsen), Stephanie, and D.J., who had the girls' Uncle Jesse and close friend Joey Gladstone move in to help raise them. , (Photo by ABC Photo Archives/ABC via Getty Images)

UNITED STATES - SEPTEMBER 22: FULL HOUSE - 'Our Very First Show' - Pilot - Season One - 9/22/87, Pictured, from left: Mary Kate/Ashley Olsen, Jodie Sweetin and Candace Cameron played sisters Michelle, Stephanie and D.J. Tanner, who were raised by their father, Danny, their Uncle Jesse, and a family friend, Joey Gladstone, after the death of their mother., (Photo by ABC Photo Archives/ABC via Getty Images)

UNITED STATES - SEPTEMBER 22: FULL HOUSE - 'Our Very First Show' - Pilot - Season One - Gallery - 9/22/87, Bob Saget (right) played widower Danny Tanner, the father of three girls, from left: Stephanie (Jodie Sweetin), D.J. (Candace Cameron) and Michelle (played by twins Mary Kate/Ashley Olsen), who had the girls' Uncle Jesse (John Stamos, left) and friend, Joey Gladstone (Dave Coulier) move in to help raise them. , (Photo by ABC Photo Archives/ABC via Getty Images)

UNITED STATES - SEPTEMBER 22: FULL HOUSE - 'Our Very First Show' - Pilot - Season One - Cast Gallery - 9/22/87, Bob Saget (bottom right) played widower Danny Tanner, the father of three girls, from left: Michelle (played by twins Mary Kate/Ashley Olsen), D.J. (Candace Cameron) and Stephanie (Jodie Sweetin), who had his friend, Joey Gladstone (Dave Coulier, left) and the girls' Uncle Jesse (John Stamos) move in to help raise them., (Photo by Bob D'Amico/ABC via Getty Images)

UNITED STATES - APRIL 11: FULL HOUSE - Olsen twins gallery - Season One - 4/11/88, Ashley Olsen (left) and her twin sister, Mary Kate, played Michelle Tanner, the youngest of three daughters of widower Danny Tanner., (Photo by Bob D'Amico/ABC via Getty Images)

UNITED STATES - SEPTEMBER 22: FULL HOUSE - 'Our Very First Show' - Pilot - Season One -Gallery - 9/22/87, Widower Danny Tanner, the father of three girls, Michelle (pictured, played by twins Mary Kate/Ashley Olsen), Stephanie and D.J., had his friend, Joey Gladstone (Dave Coulier, left) and the girls' Uncle Jesse (John Stamos) move in to help raise them. , (Photo by ABC Photo Archives/ABC via Getty Images)","Kimmy Gibbler, aka Andrea Barber, is reprising her role in the upcoming Netflix series 'Fuller House'"
"AN NHS worker who broke almost every bone in her body in a horror motorbike smash suffered such horrific facial injuries she no longer RECOGNISED herself.

Beth Skerratt was knocked off her bike by a car in 2012 and suffered a severe head injury, a smashed jaw, cheekbones, nose and eye sockets.

The 29-year-old, from Stoke-on-Trent, Staffs, was forced to have reconstructive surgery which permanently changed the shape of her nose and jawline.

It also made her whole face shorter and no longer symmetrical and left her with scarring on her neck.

Beth, who was 25 at the time of the accident, said: “Although I don’t remember much from the crash, the physical and mental impact has really taken its toll.”

Beth, who has now received a £170,000 payout, added: “My face shape completely changed, I don’t look like I used to.

“That took a lot of getting used to – to look in the mirror and see someone else – and is something I struggled with.

“It is your face, you grow up looking at it every day, so to have it changed through no fault of my own – that was hard.

“The crash put my life on hold.

“I was at the stage where I was ready to move in with my boyfriend, everything was going great.

“Then I had to spend months living on my parents’ couch because I couldn’t get up the stairs, and my relationship broke down due to the crash – my life completely changed.

“My personality changed so much. I am not the same person I was before.”

Beth was thrown from the bike while travelling to Chester along the A51 in Tarvin, Cheshire, in October 2012 after a female Citroen Picasso driver failed to spot her and pulled out of a junction into her path.

The impact fractured nearly every bone in Beth’s body and she broke both wrists and her right leg in two places and suffered numerous fractures to her jaw, cheekbones, nose and eye sockets.

Beth, who was airlifted to Aintree Hospital in Liverpool where she was in intensive care for a week, also suffered a head injury which has left her still unable to remember the accident.

She spent seven more days at Aintree Hospital before spending a further fortnight at Stoke City Hospital for surgery to insert metal plates into her jaw and right leg to realign the fractured bones.

Beth was forced to take 12 months off work and spent three months bedbound before re-learning how to walk by at first using a frame.

She also underwent months of rehabilitation and physiotherapy but still suffers constant pain in her right leg, concentration and memory problems and a reduced sense of smell and taste.

The 29-year-old was recently awarded £170,000 in compensation from the other driver’s insurance company after bringing a claim against the woman, who admitted full liability.

Beth said: “I was planning on being a lifelong motorcyclist – ever since I was 15 that was what I had been aiming for.

“I have not been back on a bike since.

“I have trouble remembering any of the crash and I still have memory problems now – I struggle to focus or concentrate on the things I’m doing which can be very frustrating and tiring.

“I can have a conversation with someone and not remember in 30 minutes later.

“The constant pain I feel in my right leg makes it really difficult to move around or do physical activities.”

Louise Riley, a serious injury solicitor at Fletchers Solicitors, who handled Beth’s case, said: “This has been an incredibly difficult time for Beth, made even more tough by the fact she doesn’t remember much of what happened.

“This case really emphasises the need for drivers to be extra careful when pulling out of junctions to make sure there isn’t a biker in their path, so accidents like this can be avoided.”

A spokesman for Cheshire Police confirmed the Citroen driver completed a driver awareness course and there was no further investigation.

We pay for your stories! Do you have a story for The Sun Online news team? Email us at tips@the-sun.co.uk or call 0207 782 4368.",AN NHS worker who broke almost every bone in her body in a horror motorbike smash suffered such horrific facial injuries she no longer RECOGNISED herself. Beth Skerratt was knocked off her bike by …
"­As Cole Porter sang, “I love Paris in the winter when it drizzles / I love Paris in the summer when it sizzles.” I am in the drizzle camp, and I’m lucky: Rain erupts all year long, sending the pigeons flapping and the crowds darting under cafe awnings. The 21st-century bustle subsides, and the Paris of the past — damp gardens, Beaux-Arts townhouses, Art Nouveau Métro canopies — emerges into the foreground. It’s perfect weather to revisit the city’s prophets, painters, poets and mystics.

And departed spirits. Just outside my door in the Bastille neighborhood is the Café des Anges, a symbol of both the city’s suffering and resilience. During the horrifying terrorist attacks of Nov. 13, several regulars were murdered while celebrating a birthday at a nearby restaurant. But the cafe reopened within days, and I find myself regularly at the counter, sipping espressos among the morning crowds.

Nov. 13 did nothing to diminish my affection for North African and Islamic culture, which pervade Paris city life: Moroccan restaurants, Algerian pop music, corner hammams, water-pipe lounges, exhibitions of the Institut du Monde Arabe.

Architecturally, the influence is most vivid at the Grande Mosquée de Paris, an Arabo-Andalusian marvel in the heart of the Latin Quarter. Constructed in the 1920s by artisans from North Africa, the whitewashed walls and green tile roofs of the vast mosque complex also enfold a courtyard cafe and indoor restaurant. Both are favorites of Parisians of all faiths and stripes. Entering the keyhole-shaped doorway, I feel Paris fall away and find myself amid striped banquettes and a ceiling painted with geometric patterns. Steaming plates of couscous and glasses of mint tea complete the journey.

Arcaded passageways are welcome companions on a rainy day. I like the ones enclosing the 17th-century Place des Vosges and its manicured greenery. Footfalls echo as you pass the Victor Hugo museum and multiple art galleries. Two always merit a stop: the gallery of Nikki Diana Marquardt, a former assistant to Man Ray, and Galerie Mark Hachem, which features contemporary Middle Eastern artists. Carette is also worth a visit. There’s nothing cool about this dowdy tea salon. It’s a place to bring your aunt — especially if she is a hot-chocolate addict. Served in a silvery teapot, it pours out in a lava-like wave. It wakes me up every time.

Sun would destroy the shadowy ambience of the Musée National Gustave Moreau. Moreau, a 19th-century painter obsessed with Greek myth, biblical tales and Shakespeare, filled his creaking townhouse with strange, gloppy canvases depicting Salome, Eve, Moses, Hamlet, Pericles, the angel of death and additional otherworldly characters. A winding staircase carries you higher and higher, like Jacob’s ladder, into his mysterious universe.

By night, the stone fireplace in Robert et Louise, a rustic restaurant, is a favorite spot to devour flame-grilled meats. Fat sizzles, smoke billows, and beef, lamb, duck or whatever I fancy appears before me in this cozy carne-copia.

Down the street, I finish my evening at the zinc counter of La Belle Hortense, alongside regulars like Basile the novelist and Philippe the professor. The bar sells wine and books. The bartender Cendrillon — French for “Cinderella” — pours Côtes du Rhône, and a 3-euro folio paperback edition of Baudelaire’s “Les Fleurs du Mal” offers poetic intoxication. “Comes the Charming Evening …” begins one Paris work. Soon I am drifting along the lines of his imagery, deeper and deeper into the Parisian night.","From Madrid to Istanbul, our contributors reveal the hidden delights of their European homes: jewel-box gardens, neighborhood cafes, secret coves."
"President Obama and top campaign staffers made it clear this weekend they will not apologize for saying the financial company Bain Capital outsourced jobs under Mitt Romney’s leadership, despite Romney saying that’s not true.

The president made the statement during an interview Saturday with WAVY-TV in Virginia. The station is scheduled to air the interview Sunday night, but it can be seen now on WAVY’s website.

“We won’t be apologizing,” Obama said. “Mr. Romney claims he's Mr. Fix-It for the economy because of his business experience, so I think voters entirely, legitimately want to know what is exactly his business experience.""

The question did not directly address Romney’s call Friday for an apology after Obama deputy campaign manager Stephanie Cutter suggested that Romney in Securities and Exchange Commission filings misrepresented his position at Bain Capital, particularly when he officially left, which she said would either be a “felony” or a misrepresentation to Americans.

“He’s not going to get an apology,” Cutter said Sunday of CBS’ “Face the Nation.”

Cutter's faced off on the show with Romney campaign adviser Kevin Madden, who said he was troubled by the fact “the president would direct his campaign to label someone like Romney … as a felon.”

He also said news agency fact-checkers have repeatedly found that records accurately show his candidate left Bain in 1999.

“Yet the Obama campaign and even the president himself continue to pursue these inaccurate statements,” Madden said.

Though Cutter stood by her comments on Romney, top Obama campaign adviser David Axelrod earlier in the day attempted to clarify the remarks.

“She didn’t say he’s a felon,” Axelrod said on CNN’s “State of the Union.”

Romney on Friday also challenged Obama to ""rein in"" his campaign team and called the comment ""absurd"" and ""beneath the dignity of the presidency.""

During the TV interview, the president also tried to deflect criticism that he has attacked the Republican candidate for running a firm that made money and created jobs.

""As the head of a private equity firm, [Romney’s] job was to maximize profits and help investors,” Obama said. “There is nothing wrong with that. On the other hand, that company also was investing in companies that were called by The Washington Post 'the pioneers of outsourcing.' Mr. Romney is now claiming he wasn't there at the time except his filings with the SEC listing says he was the CEO, chairman and president of the company.”

During a campaign stop in Virginia, the president continued his attack on Romney and Bain, saying, “I don’t want a pioneer in outsourcing. I want some in-sourcing. I want to bring companies back.”","President Obama says he will not apologize for him and his campaign saying the financial company Bain Capital outsourced jobs under his Mitt Romney’s leadership, despite Romney saying that’s not true."
"is warning that an imminent terrorist attack in Kenya is possible.

The warning said likely targets include places that foreigners congregate, including shopping malls and night clubs. The embassy issued the warning from what it called credible information.

The U.S. did not specify who might carry out such an attack, but the warning comes a week after Kenyan troops pushed into Somalia to attack al-Shabab militants. Al-Shabab carried out attacks in July in Uganda which killed 76 people.",The U.S. Embassy  is warning that an imminent terrorist attack in Kenya is possible.
"Tim Wolfe, the president of the University of Missouri, is waging the fight of his professional life this week as protests continue over racism and discrimination on campus.

“It is clear to us that change is needed,” Wolfe said in a statement on Sunday, which stated that he was “open to listening to all sides” and would “share next steps as soon as they are confirmed”.

Related: Missouri governor expresses racism concerns as black college players strike

But as night fell on Sunday and temperatures dropped to nearly freezing, 200 or so protesters assembled in prayer on a lawn of the University of Missouri’s flagship campus, dozens of them planning to camp overnight in the frigid air and one of their fellow demonstrators, Jonathan Butler, now a full week into a hunger strike at his home.

Butler, a graduate student activist with the group Concerned Student 1950 – which takes its name from the year the university accepted its first black student – has demanded Wolfe resign over his handling of a series of racist incidents at the university.

Black players from the Missouri Tigers football team – which generates enormous revenue for the school – said on Saturday they would not participate in team activities until Wolfe steps down.

On Sunday the Tigers’ white coach, Gary Pinkel, tweeted his support for the strikers.

Meanwhile, the Steering Committee of the Forum on Graduate Rights and the Coalition of Graduate Workers – which represent grad student workers – announced that they are asking 2,800 graduate student workers to stage a walkout on Monday and Tuesday. Multiple departments and dozens of faculty and staff publicly said they would back up the grad students.

An unknown number of faculty members are even planning to walk out themselves and will reportedly hold “teach-in” sessions with their students alongside the encampment.

The Missouri University System board of curators – who have the power to fire Wolfe – will be meeting in a previously unscheduled session on Monday.

Two Republican Missouri lawmakers have called for Wolfe’s removal, and on Sunday, Missouri’s Democratic governor, Jay Nixon, said the university must act to address concerns over “racism and intolerance”.

Nixon said the university must be “a place where all students can pursue their dreams in an environment of respect, tolerance and inclusion”.

Wolfe has not indicated he has any intention of stepping down, but said in his statement on Sunday that the university is working to draw up a plan by April to promote diversity and tolerance and that “the majority of items listed on the Concerned Student 1950 list of demands were already included in the draft of the strategy”. Concerned Student 1950 has demanded, among other things, that Wolfe “acknowledge his white male privilege”, that he is immediately removed, and that the school adopt a mandatory racial-awareness program and hire more black faculty and staff.

Related: Mizzou's black players should be proud: they have put values over football

But it is unclear who, if anyone, will be going to work as normal on Monday morning at Mizzou, in offices, on the athletic fields, or in the classrooms.

The graduate students certainly won’t be – and, though their contribution to campus life might be less financially valued than the football program’s, Wolfe can buy himself a few days until the Tigers’ Saturday game before the football players’ strike is fully felt. Not so with the grad students walking out on Monday morning.

Connor Lewis, a doctoral candidate in the department of history and one of the organizing co-chairs of the Forum on Graduate Rights, told the Guardian that graduate student teaching and research assistants were being asked to engage in “a withdrawal of labor, of any section they are teaching or any regularly scheduled work” at least through Tuesday.

Lewis says he personally didn’t think that after the “football players got involved, that was it” for Wolfe. “He can survive a lot of things, but he can’t afford the football players not playing a nationally televised game against a prominent opponent.”

But Lewis said that the graduate steering committee “made a decision to put additional pressure, so he could realize that kind of statement, or non-statement, is simply inadequate”.

For months, black student groups have complained of racial slurs and other slights on the overwhelmingly white, 35,000-student flagship campus of the four-college system. Frustrations flared during a homecoming parade on 10 October when black protesters blocked Wolfe’s car and he would not get out and talk to them. They were removed by police.

The protests began after the student government president, Payton Head, who is black, said in September that people in a passing pickup truck shouted racial slurs at him. In early October, members of a black student organization said slurs were hurled at them by an apparently drunken white student. And a swastika drawn in feces was found in a dormitory bathroom.

Two trucks flying Confederate flags drove past the site on Sunday afternoon, a move many saw as an attempt at intimidation.

The athletes have not explicitly said whether they would boycott the team’s three remaining games this season. The Tigers’ next game is Saturday against Brigham Young University at Arrowhead Stadium, the home of the NFL’s Kansas City Chiefs, and canceling it could cost the school more than $1mn.

“The athletes of color on the University of Missouri football team truly believe ‘Injustice Anywhere is a threat to Justice Everywhere,”’ the players said in a statement. “We will no longer participate in any football related activities until President Tim Wolfe resigns or is removed due to his negligence toward marginalized students’ experience. WE ARE UNITED!!!!!”

As Wolfe’s options seemed to narrow on Sunday evening, a tent city grew in opposition to his presidency in Mel Carnahan Quad, adjacent to the Mizzou Law School.

The grouping of approximately two dozen tents was “quadruple” the size of the previous night’s encampment, according to one observer who helped organize the nightly 10pm prayer circle. Even over the course of a few hours, the tent city grew noticeably. Teams of young people showed up erecting new tents, and covering groups of other tents together under heavy tarps. A dozen heat lamps dotted in between them, fueled by gas tanks. Christmas lights illuminated the village, and hot food was cooking.

Jonathan Butler did not appear to be in attendance, and sources who know him said he was resting at home.

Meanwhile, dozens of volunteers – white and black, young and old, ranging from male jocks to elderly grandmothers – stopped by to bring the protesters donations of food, water, and heaps of blankets. Any activist or supporter of any race was welcome to come into the tent city, which looked like a cross between Occupy Wall Street’s Zuccotti Park, Ferguson and something from Burning Man.

But one group was not welcome: journalists.

Over the course of several hours, every person who came out from the tent city said they were “unauthorized to speak to the media” or gave a similar message. One young man said: “Our last press conference was Wednesday. We will decide if and when we will have another. If we do, it will only be on our terms, when we decide, and we will decide what questions we will answer.”

The only time this member of the media was able to get near the assembled protesters was when they left the encampment, next to a giant statue of the Mizzou Tiger mascot, to create a prayer circle of about 200 people. It was then, to a great cheer of applause, several members of the Tigers arrived. They, too, did not talk to the press, but were able to offer the odd fistbump.

A center circle of activists held hands in a circle, facing outward while reciting prayers surrounded by about 10 rings of people holding hands facing inwards towards them. The prayers ranged from generic calls for grace to specific calls for the evil of racism to be expunged from Mizzou by removing Wolfe.

“This is our time to move forward,” one protester offered in prayer, before a call was made for everyone to turn to their neighbor, hug them, and tell them they love them (even if they were a member of the media) and a passionate young woman led a call-and-response chant that “we have nothing to lose but our chains”.

The Associated Press contributed to this report",Graduate students walk out as support for protests over racial intolerance at school grows but president Tim Wolfe will not step down despite calls to resign
"The sun has risen over Soshanguve. It is winter in South Africa, which – if you are living in a poorly insulated, unheated house on the arid, elevated plains north of Pretoria – means cold and sleepless nights. Morning brings warmth and, these days, politicians.

On Wednesday, South Africa will go to the polls. Up to 26 million registered voters will decide who they want as mayors and local councillors – and possibly redraw the political map of the country when they do it.

For the first time since taking power in 1994, the African National Congress (ANC) may win less than 60% of the votes. The party may even lose control of the biggest cities. Surveys show the opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) – which calls for a total renewal of South African politics, but has so far had difficulty breaking out of its stronghold in the west of the country – ahead in the most important cities.

ANC officials have dismissed the polls. In Pretoria, Thoko Didiza, the ANC mayoral candidate, said she was confident of victory. “My campaign is going very well,” the 51-year-old former minister told the Guardian.

The DA candidate in the city saw things differently. “This is the moment when we break the mould,” said Solly Msimanga, 36.

Related: South Africa: prosecutors head off new attempt to put Jacob Zuma on trial

The stakes are undoubtedly high. Losing control of cities such as Pretoria and Johannesburg would deal an enormous blow to the prestige of the ANC and deepen already profound unease about the leadership of Jacob Zuma, president of South Africa and of the party.

The ANC would also lose immense influence over the daily lives of around 14 million people and annual budgets of $10bn (£7.5bn). It would come as a profound psychological shock to many ANC officials. One recently told supporters that the party, which led the struggle against the apartheid regime through the 1970s and 1980s, had been “anointed by God”.

Pretoria, also known as Tshwane, is a city that sprawls. The contrast between life in the vast, high-walled mansions of wealthy neighbourhoods such as Waterkloof and in the townships is immense. There is chronic substance abuse and some of the highest levels of violent crime in the world.

But despite youth unemployment rates touching 36%, there is opportunity too, and the city attracts tens of thousands of migrants from rural areas and neighbouring countries every year. Many live in desperate squatter camps on the rim of Pretoria.

Related: ​South Africa's 'Teflon president' survives another day, but scandal will stick eventually

Soshanguve was established by the apartheid regime on an almost empty, flat plateau north of the city. Over 20 years, successive ANC administrations have built homes, streets and parks, and provided basic utilities. It is solid ANC territory, as was clear when Didiza’s convoy rolled into the centre of the township.

Local party functionaries warmed up the crowd with protest songs that have been ANC standards for more than 30 years. One refers to the armoured trucks used by apartheid police forces to brutally control the townships. The references were lost on Portia Chake, who didn’t understand the old slang name for the vehicles, but the 34-year-old knew the words to a second chant: “You can arrest us, beat us and we will never lie down.”

Didiza, wearing a T-shirt celebrating the foundation of the ANC 104 years ago, ran through her campaign speech, listing the achievements of the party. This strategy was predictable, experts said. “The ANC have been in power since 1994 and will naturally claim credit for all improvements since then. And there certainly has been a dramatic improvement in most people’s lives over the period as a whole,” said Gareth Newman, an expert in governance at the Institute for Security Studies (ISS) in Pretoria.

“But from 2009 the statistics don’t look so good. In fact, in some areas there is deterioration,” he added. Public protests have been multiplying. Four-fifths are non-violent, but there are still five or six violent demonstrations every day.

The ANC has many problems. One is infighting. Didiza’s nomination as candidate in Pretoria sparked lethal riots in Soshanguve and surrounding neighbourhoods. The outburst was now “all over”, said an aide. Then there are severe economic problems at the national level and successive controversies surrounding Zuma, whose approval ratings have slumped.

At a DA meeting in a poor area in central Pretoria, many potential voters said they would vote for the opposition party to protest against graft in government and in the ANC. “They have become thieves,” said Esme Mofokeng, a 44-year-old who has voted for the ANC in every previous poll. Zuma has been accused of alleged improper relations with a hugely wealthy business family and has been ordered to pay back state funds spent on improvements to his own home.

Related: Mandela’s rainbow nation has gone from hero to zero. Can it reclaim his legacy? | Peter Hain

Didiza said voters she had met on the campaign trail were either unbothered by the charges against the party and Zuma, or did not believe them. Her view is backed up by pollsters who say the ANC’s record on delivery of basic services is key. While often of poor quality, houses, schools and clinics have been built and land rights continue to be a major concern.

Most expect the ANC to hold on to power, but with a reduced majority. “We are not really yet at a real tipping point, but we can expect a further decline in support. It will probably dip into the 50s for the first time in the democratic era,” said Newman, of the ISS.

The DA has its own problems. It is accused by critics of primarily representing the interests of South Africa’s white minority, but few neutral observers deny that the DA’s reputation for competent administration is broadly deserved. However, that may not be enough – just yet – to bring it to power.

Dio Kabelo, a 29-year-old in Soshanguve, explained why the ANC would get his vote. “I was born in the ANC. It means my life, it means freedom,” he said.","In a Pretoria township, Jacob Zuma’s ANC is shoring up support before Wednesday’s election. But is the political map being redrawn?"
"Jonah Hill in The Wolf of Wall Street

08/20/2016 AT 03:25 PM EDT

had some serious side effects from the prop cocaine used on the set of

The actor sat down with

to discuss his latest release,

While discussing his dual experiences in both comedy and drama, Hill talked about one of his favorite films,

. And at one point, Simmons asks how actors fake having a cocaine high.

""You just do,"" Hill told Simmons in the

. ""I did so much fake cocaine in

, I got bronchitis for three weeks. I had to be hospitalized.""

Hill went on to say this fake cocaine – comprising vitamin D powder – made him feel a different type of high.

""It's vitamin powder, but it doesn't matter because if you ingest ... that much matter into your lungs, you will get very sick. And we were just literally doing fake coke for, like seven months every day.""

And he felt a new sense of power with the powder-snorting routine.

""I never had more Vitamin D in my entire life,"" he said. ""I think I could've lifted a car over my f--king head.""",Jonah Hill said even vitamin powder can cause some unfortunate side effects
"Like this story? Share it with Yahoo! Buzz

Just as the majority of USA TODAY On Politics advised they should, lawmakers in Congress have voted to lower the pay of the next secretary of State so that Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's appointment to that job would not violate the Constitution's ""Emoluments Clause.""

To recap: That clause says that no member of Congress can be appointed to any ""civil office"" for which the pay has been increased while that person has been in Congress.

President Bush earlier this year authorized raising the secretary of State's pay to $191,300 a year from $186,600.

So, on Wednesday, Congress applied the same solution first used when then-senator William Saxbe was nominated in 1973 to be attorney general by then-president Nixon. It lowered the secretary of State's salary to its previous level. The solution was also applied when then-president Clinton named then-senator Lloyd Bentsen to be his Treasury Secretary in 1993.

There's no need to feel too bad for Clinton. Senators now make $169,300. So she's still getting a 10.2% raise.

And, no, we're not seriously saying that the results of our Dec. 4 ""quick question"" influenced the members of Congress. But now that the decision's been made:

By posting a comment, you affirm that you are 13 years of age or older.","The news, the people, the road to Election Day."
"(CNN) -- Dr. Maria Siemionow, head of plastic surgery at the famed Cleveland Clinic, led a surgical team that recently performed the first face transplant in the United States.

Cleveland Clinic doctors spent 22 hours reconstructing a patient's face.

Siemionow and CNN chief medical correspondent Sanjay Gupta talked with CNN's Larry King about the reconstructive procedure and the prognosis for the patient. The following is an edited transcript of the interview.

Larry King: Dr. Siemionow, what caused the patient to need a new face?

Dr. Maria Siemionow: The patient has a severe deformity of the face after trauma and was missing a nose and missing cheekbones and a large part of the skin and the front of the face, upper lip, lower eyelids. There was a large part of the skin and bone components which were missing, and practically the patient was missing the front of the face.

King: Did you have to find the perfect donor?

Siemionow: No. That's not what were looking for. We were looking for a possibility of reconstructing this patient's face in a way that it would replace the missing components and that we would be able, also, to give back this patient's function, which is probably the most important idea behind this procedure. Interactive: Learn more about the procedure »

King: So what was the transplant?

Siemionow: Well, the transplant was the transfer of the transplanted face, which included (a) large amount -- about 80 percent of the entire face of the patient. It included skin components, bone components, the entire nose, cheekbones, a palette and upper lip and also included the eyelids -- the lower eyelids. Watch Siemionow discuss the procedure »

King: From another doctor's standpoint, Dr. Gupta -- and I know that you're not a plastic surgeon, but a brain surgeon -- what was the most amazing thing about this to you?

Sanjay Gupta: The face is one of the most complicated areas of the body. I mean, it's responsible for your facial expression, your ability to eat, your ability to breathe, your ability to speak, obviously. Being able to take all those really, really functional areas that are made up of so many nerves, so many blood vessels -- not to mention the cosmetic aspects of it -- and making it all come together and work in some sort of functional form is pretty remarkable.

King: Doctor, has the patient seen her new face?

Siemionow: No, the patient has not seen her face, but she touched her face, and she was very happy. She, for the first time a few days ago, just went with her fingers over her face. She felt that she has a nose. She was feeling her lip, and she was very happy.

King: How long did it take (to do the surgery)?

Siemionow: It took 22 hours -- 22 hours of many team members of different subspecialties working together, from one afternoon one day into the late afternoon the second day.

Gupta: It strikes me that you found the perfect recipient, someone who's a good candidate for this operation. Four years, though, it took, Dr. Siemionow. Is that how rare this type of procedure will be?

Siemionow: Yes. Well, you know, we discussed it very extensively, that you want to be sure that in our approach we were looking only at potential candidates who would be a patient who had already exhausted all conventional means of reconstruction. I think it's very important because you would like to be sure that the patient is not undergoing such a serious procedure without being helped in conventional means before.

However, it is very difficult to reconstruct certain parts of the face, including, for example, lips or including eyelids. Even reconstruction of the entire nose is difficult.

There are plastic surgeons who are doing wonderful reconstructive procedures, but they are also done in several attempts. This takes time and patients suffering and the results not always are presentable.","Dr. Maria Siemionow, head of plastic surgery at the famed Cleveland Clinic, led a surgical team that recently performed the first face transplant in the United States."
"Prior to his highly publicized stint as CEO of J.C. Penney, Johnson led Apple's retail division, and spearheaded its retail store strategy and Genius Bar, widely regarded as the most successful retail operation in the world. However, Apple is not, at least not yet, an Enjoy partner. (Though Johnson said ""stay tuned."")

Read MoreLululemon & Ugg's unlikely customers

If consumers have Apple devices they need help with, a separate Enjoy service is available for electronics you already own. Consumers can book a visit from an Enjoy expert for $99, with the average visit lasting an hour.

The employment model is unique as well. The experts are salaried employees with benefits, who set their own hours and have equity in the company. Enjoy said there are about 60 experts currently on the payroll.

Enjoy has raised more than $30 million to date from well-known investors such as Marc Andreessen at Andreessen Horowitz, Brook Byers of Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, and Fred Harman at Oak Investment Partners.

Over his long career in retail and technology including his jobs at Mervyn's, Target, Apple and J.C. Penney, Johnson has made both allies and foes, and he's been successfully right and woefully wrong. Many say he is bold, unafraid of taking risks and passionate about ideas he believes are transformative.

While many describe Johnson as a pioneer, others have less-flattering characterizations stemming largely from his dramatic, and failed, strategy at J.C. Penney that cost the retailer half of its market share. Johnson continued to shy away from discussing his tenure at the department store with CNBC.

""Penney's was a very challenging time for me personally, for the company, but I haven't talked about it in two years. The only place I have talked about it has been from an educational perspective at Stanford Business School or Harvard Business School and you can go on YouTube and read about it. But it's a long story and I'm not going to talk about it today,"" said Johnson, adding that there were ""a ton"" of lessons learned on both sides.

(UPDATED: This story has been updated to includes details of an interview with Enjoy founder Ron Johnson.)","After being out of the spotlight for more than two years, Ron Johnson is back, working on what he describes is a whole new platform for commerce."
"Many folks affiliated with the Milwaukee Brewers were asking that question Monday (Jan. 12) with the announcement that right-hander Jeff D'Amico would undergo arthroscopic surgery Wednesday (Jan. 14) to repair a torn labrum in his pitching shoulder.

Depending on the severity of the tear, D'Amico, one of the Brewers' starting pitchers, is expected to miss at least the first two months of the 1998 season. The unfortunate part is that D'Amico originally injured the shoulder last July, but the decision was made to undergo a rehabilitation program rather than have surgery.

""I can only tell you what happened,"" said Brewers general manager Sal Bando. ""I don't know who's to blame, if anybody is.""

To get an understanding of what happened when D'Amico went on the disabled list last July, Bando reviewed club medical records. He learned that D'Amico originally was diagnosed with a labrum tear after a magnetic resonance imaging test, but the medical opinion was changed to biceps tendinitis the next day.

""That's the part that upsets me,"" said Bando. ""I was curious about why the opinion was changed. I was told that reading an MRI can be a subjective thing.""

Ted Gertel, the Brewers' orthopedic specialist last season, said he would have to review records to be certain, but his recollection was that ""there always was the possibility"" of a labrum tear.

""A lot of athletes with shoulder pathology don't need surgery,"" said Gertel. ""You always consider conservative methods of treatment before opting for surgery.

""We decided the most prudent decision was to follow a conservative program, and he responded well to the rehab. He was able to get back and pitch without pain. Everyone was optimistic at that point. If he was having a problem, we would have taken care of it right away.""

After a six-week rehabilitation program, D'Amico returned to the mound for the Brewers in early September. But he was anything but effective in six starts, going 1-3 with a 5.91 earned run average while allowing an alarming 10 home runs in 32 innings.

Because D'Amico did not complain of any shoulder pain during that period, his poor performance did not raise any red flags in the Brewers' front office.

""What you react to is the symptoms of the player, not the results,"" said Bando. ""If he would have had any complaints, we would have looked into it.

""I don't think it bothered him because he had rehabbed it for six weeks and made the shoulder stronger. Every year at the end of the season we go over every player's physical condition, and Jeff said he felt OK.""

Trainer John Adam recently pressed the matter with D'Amico, however, and his response was that ""he didn't feel that bad,"" said Adam.

""I think his inexperience showed in not coming forward with more information,"" Adam said of the 22-year-old D'Amico. ""An older player probably would have said something.""

D'Amico resumed his standard conditioning program in the off-season, but didn't try to throw a baseball until Jan. 4. After five tosses, he had to stop due to severe pain in the front of his shoulder.

D'Amico was sent to California orthopedic specialist Lewis Yocum, who immediately diagnosed a labrum tear after performing another MRI. D'Amico then was scheduled for surgery by Angelo Mattalino at his office in Scottsdale, Ariz.

Due to the combination of the original diagnosis being changed, D'Amico's hesitancy to report any discomfort after returning to action and the club's acceptance of the situation, an injury that could have been repaired six months ago will not be attended to until Wednesday. The result is an unexpected hole in the Brewers' starting rotation.

""I wish he would have picked a ball up sooner, but he wasn't having any problems with the shoulder,"" said Bando, who now must fill two spots in the rotation. ""It didn't hurt until he tried to throw.""

NOTES, QUOTES, ANECDOTES The Brewers announced that Mattalino will be the Brewers' orthopedic specialist this season, moving to Milwaukee to replace Gertel. Bando said the D'Amico situation was not the reason for the change.

""We were going to do it anyway,"" said Bando, who did not mention that many of his injured players had been going to Yocum and Mattalino to have their surgeries.

Asked about the change, Gertel said, ""I'm going in a different direction. My practice got so busy and (being the Brewers' orthopedist) is almost a full-time job. The Brewers had a lot of demands.""

The Brewers announced their most ambitious winter caravan ever, with manager Phil Garner and four sets of players criss-crossing the state to make stops in 25 cities over a five-day period at the end of the month.

Center fielder Marquis Grissom, acquired over the winter from Cleveland, will take part on the goodwill tour, along with pitchers Steve Woodard, Scott Karl, Paul Wagner and Mike Myers and infielder Mark Loretta and catcher Jesse Levis.

The groups will visit schools, hospitals, nursing homes and malls as well as participating in luncheons and dinners in several cities.

""It's always a lot of fun, and it's always pretty cold,"" noted Loretta, who will be traveling from his home in California to take part.

The tour will conclude with a pair of events in Milwaukee -- the annual Diamond Celebration awards dinner on Jan. 30 and the Brewers Celebrity Bowling Tournament the following day. The bowling tourney, which benefits the Boys and Girls Clubs in the area, will be chaired by third baseman Jeff Cirillo.

The Brewers have begun selling tickets for Opening Day, their first in the National League. They will open their 1998 home season against Montreal at County Stadium on April 7 at 1 p.m.

ROSTER REPORT With 16 players already signed on the 40-man roster, the Brewers have three players eligible for salary arbitration -- outfielders Jeromy Burnitz and Marc Newfield and right-hander Jose Mercedes. Newfield has little leverage, having missed most of the 1997 season due to shoulder surgery.

FREE AGENCY UPDATE -- Right-handed pitcher Doug Jones (re-signed), outfielder Darrin Jackson (signed a minor-league contract). The Brewers cut free their other free agents -- right-handed pitcher Pete Harnisch, left-handed pitcher Mark Davis and infielder Jeff Huson. Huson (who signed with the Rockies) was claimed off Colorado's Triple-A roster by Seattle in the Rule 5 draft, Davis signed a minor-league deal with the Diamondbacks and Harnisch is still available.

MEDICAL WATCH -- First baseman John Jaha (recovering from June shoulder injury), outfielder Marc Newfield (recovering from August rotator cuff surgery), right-handed pitcher Steve Woodard (therapy for strained side).

WINTER WATCH -- The Brewers have invited 13 non-roster players to their big-league spring training, including nine pitchers. One of those pitchers is right-hander Kyle Peterson, the club's first-round draft pick out of Stanford in 1997.

The other pitchers invited are right-handers Tim VanEgmond, Bobby Chouinard, Bronswell Patrick, Johnny Ruffin, Mike Misuraca and Rick Greene, and lefties Brad Woodall and Enrique Burgos. Of that group, only VanEgmond and Misuraca were in the Brewers' system last season.

Position players invited to big-league camp were infielders Eddie Zosky, Pablo Martinez and Eddy Diaz, and catcher Jeff Alfano. Zosky, Martinez and Diaz will battle for a utility infield spot on the Brewers' roster.",MILWAUKEE BREWERS team notebook
"For its annual art exhibition, Discerning Eye chose six selectors: two artists, Anita Taylor and sculptor Peter Randall-Page; two critics, Mark Lawson and Norbert Lynton; and two collectors, Alan Grieve, who runs the Jerwood Foundation, and me. I am an enthusiastic private collector, mainly of mid-20th-century British art; it has been one of the great joys of the past 10 years for me. But in the end, Discerning Eye needed a bit of crumpet, however old, and I suspect more people will come to see my facelift than anything else. In past years the panel has included Brian Sewell, Lord Palumbo, Lord Gowrie and the Prince of Wales.

We six selectors met on a cold, wet day last September. We were positioned behind two trestle tables in a grim basement and asked what tickled our fancies. The works, a staggering 2,400 of them, were presented to us by half a dozen quite dazzling young men, all artists themselves.

The bonus of male beauty apart, much of the art was a joy and quite often two or three of us would be trying to bag the same picture. Mark mainly wanted what I wanted. It was quite comforting to find Peter Randall-Page and Norbert Lynton wanted the same as me. And I almost never wanted anything that Mark wanted. When Mark absented himself for a couple of hours to do an interview, I helpfully chose a photograph of a fish on a women's backside on his behalf. Sadly, he was having none of it when he returned. So the lady and the trout do not appear in his list.

The exhibition opens tomorrow at the Mall Galleries in London (020-7930 6844), and of the 500 works of art on display, my collection is the largest. I've made a selection of 90, mostly by young artists. I've got a couple of installation pieces that are fantastically eclectic, by really interesting young graduates. One of my favourites is a portrait of James Lloyd by Brendan Kelly. And I've discovered Matthew Webber, who is wonderful.

Two things struck me: first, what a vast amount of unsung talent there is out there; and second, to this trader's daughter, how sweetly uncommercial the youngsters were. ""Call it Notting Hill,"" I urged one of the young artists with an untitled work, ""it will walk out the door in seconds."" I want to insist that anyone going to art college must attend a three-month marketing course, preferably taught by me. It is all about getting your work known, circulated and hung.",Art: Anne Robinson discovers unsung talent for the annual Discerning Eye exhibition - and is surprised at how uncommercial young artists are.
"The Republican candidates for president lined up on different sides of the debate over whether the nation’s intelligence agencies should be allowed to collect data about Americans after a court ruled Thursday that the National Security Agency had acted outside the law.

The divisions among the candidates reflected the larger debate inside the Republican Party about reauthorizing the Patriot Act, which will expire in June unless Congress votes to extend it.

Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky took the strongest position in opposition to the N.S.A. surveillance programs. He cheered the decision by a federal appeals court that the once-secret program that is systematically collecting Americans’ phone records in bulk is illegal.

“This is a monumental decision for all lovers of liberty,” he said, calling on the Supreme Court to take the decision a step further. “While this is a step in the right direction, it is now up to the Supreme Court to strike down the N.S.A.’s illegal spying program.”

Coming down on the opposite side of the issue was Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, whose views on national defense and security are more traditionally conservative than Mr. Paul’s. In a speech from the Senate floor on Thursday, Mr. Rubio accused the N.S.A.’s critics of spreading misinformation about what the surveillance programs do. And he said Congress should reauthorize them immediately or risk putting the country in harm’s way.

“The people that are raising hysteria, what is the problem we are solving here?” Mr. Rubio asked. “I hope that I’m wrong,” he added, “but one day there will be an attack that’s successful. And the first question out of everyone’s mouth is going to be, why didn’t we know about it? And the answer better not be because this Congress failed to authorize a program that might have helped us know about it.”

Senator Ted Cruz of Texas took the middle ground. He agreed with Mr. Paul and other critics of the data collection program who say it is illegal. But he said he supported a more limited reauthorization of the Patriot Act that would rein in certain aspects of how the N.S.A. can gather intelligence.

“The court’s ruling today confirms what the American public already knew: The National Security Agency’s data collection program went too far in collecting the phone records of Americans,” he said.

The compromise he supports, he added, “ends the N.S.A.’s unfettered data collection program once and for all, while at the same time preserving the government’s ability to obtain information to track down terrorists when it has sufficient justification and support for doing so.”

By CHARLIE SAVAGE and JONATHAN WEISMAN

The judges ruled that the U.S.A. Patriot Act cannot be legitimately interpreted to permit the systematic gathering of domestic calling records.

The National Security Agency’s mass collection of Americans’ phone records was deemed illegal by a federal appeals court.",The Republican candidates for president lined up on different sides of the debate over whether the nation’s intelligence agencies should be allowed to collect data about Americans after a court ruled Thursday that the National Security Agency had acted outside the law.
"In Wasted filmmaker Maureen Palmer and her partner Mike Pond start a new conversation about the science of addiction. They examine the biological origins of addiction and why some old models of treatment don't work for many. Here are five of the most pervasive myths about addiction that are smashed by evidence-based science. Watch Thursday at 8 pm on The Nature of Things or online.

Say you do the same thing 100 times on your computer. Your computer doesn’t change. But if your brain does the same thing over and over, the structure itself changes. Neuroscience has proven that the reward circuitry in susceptible person's brains can be hijacked by repeated use of booze or drugs, essentially overriding the user’s free will to stop — so the choice to not use is much more complicated than a lack of willpower.

Studies show tough love, shaming and blaming and humiliating persons addicted to alcohol will only make their addiction worse. They will feel even worse about themselves and may use more, often in secret. To quote Dr. Keith Humphreys, the former senior advisor on alcohol and drug policy to the Obama White house, “It’s remarkable that people believe what’s needed is more punishment. If punishment worked, nobody would be addicted. It’s a pretty punishing experience.""

It’s common practice to kick people out of rehab if they begin drinking or using again. But it's wrong, according to the world's experts. Dr. Humphreys says, “This is the only field where you can be kicked out of treatment for demonstrating that the diagnosis was accurate. I view that as uncompassionate and really poor healthcare."" “The idea that if you have one drink, then invariably you’re going to drink a huge amount of alcohol just is not how treatment outcome data look,"" says Dr. Bill Miller, one of the world’s greatest authorities on alcoholism. ""You can find individuals who look that way, but in general, what you see over time is longer and longer periods of going by in between episodes of drinking. And the episodes of drinking get shorter and less severe overtime, and then eventually fade away. “

The Betty Ford Center no longer kicks people out of treatment for relapsing. Instead, treatment is ramped up.

For thousands of people every year, “rock bottom” is injury, disease and death. The evidence shows addiction should be treated like any other serious chronic health disorder, early treatment, utilizing every option available with community and medical support. Early screening and brief interventions for unsafe alcohol use could save thousands of lives and billions of taxpayer dollars spent on the consequences caused by out-of-control substance use.

There is a widespread but erroneous belief in AA circles that you don’t use one substance to get off another. This is ignorant to the fact that, for many individuals, a proven anti-craving medication can have hugely positive impacts for supporting abstinence. There is a new generation of drugs that block cravings and prevent relapse that can provide sufferers with a valuable new tool to manage their disorder.",Out-of-date assumptions about treating addiction debunked.
"Nick Cannon has revealed he dumped Kim Kardashian over her sex tape with Ray-J.

The ""America’s Got Talent"" host – now happily married to Mariah Carey – said he dated the reality queen in 2006.

And he told Howard Stern he ended the relationship when she lied about the infamous recording with Ray-J.

He said: “We talked about this tape, and she told me there was no tape.

“If she might have been honest with me I might have tried to hold her down and be like ‘That was before me,’ because she is a great girl.

“She’s actually one of the nicest people you’ll ever meet. But the fact that she lied and told me that there was no tape?”

The sex tape helped boost the profile of the 32-year-old star and Nick suggested it was all part of her grand plan.

He said Kim was “a great businesswoman” adding, “And I still think she might have even had a part to play with (its release).”

Nick married Mariah in 2008 and the couple have one-year-old twins, Monroe and Moroccan.

Go to The Sun for more celebrity news.",Nick Cannon has revealed he dumped Kim Kardashian over her sex tape with Ray-J.
"Katherine Webb, Miss Alabama and the girlfriend of Crimson Tide QB AJ McCarron, is taking advantage of her new-found fame.

Brent Musburger, set your DVR.

The ESPN play-by-play man isn't going to want to miss a minute of the Super Bowl coverage on ""Inside Edition,"" where one of the objects of his affection, Katherine Webb, will be the TV show's correspondent.

While Alabama was rolling over Notre Dame in the BCS championship game, ESPN's cameras closed in on Webb, the former Miss Alabama USA who also happens to be the girlfriend of Tide QB AJ McCarron. Musburger called the brunette a ""lovely lady"" and said to his broadcast partner Kirk Herbstreit, ""You quarterbacks, you get all the good-looking women. Wow."" RAISSMAN: BRENT CALLS BEAUTY AS HE SEES IT

The 73-year-old Musburger caught a little heat for going ga-ga over the gorgeous gal, but the attention he gave her probably played a role in her landing the gig.

Webb will be reporting from New Orleans beginning Jan. 28 and calls getting a shot to be on TV ""a dream come true.""

We bet it is for Musburger, too.",The beauty pageant queen who shot to social media stardom during the BCS championship will be back in front of the cameras for a big football game.
"We round up the forty-something celebs looking stunning by the beach

TV present and model Melanie Skyes turned heads recently in a sizzling bikini photo posted from her break in the United States.

But she’s not the only one proving that age is just a number – as these 11 hot mamas continue to defy the years and stun in their holiday snaps.",TV present and model Melanie Skyes turned heads recently in a sizzling bikini photo posted from her break in the United States. But she’s not the only one proving that age is just a number &#…
"Jessica Kourkounis for The New York Times

Supper’s cozy, carefully set dining room.

steak institutions, these days locals are just as likely to line up elsewhere for house-cured charcuterie, farm-fresh beet salads and delicate foie gras terrine.

Confirmation of the city’s evolving palate came on a recent evening in the form of a spellbinding smoked sweet potato soup that a waiter poured tableside at Supper, a restaurant in Center City. As I scraped bits of toasted marshmallow off the side of the oblong bowl and swirled my spoon through the cinnamon-kissed diced apples at the base of the spicy purée, the aromas roused rosy remembrances of Thanksgivings past and swept away my outdated notions about the range of Philadelphia cuisine.

One of my earliest childhood memories is of sitting next to my dad at Dalessandro’s, a tiny, always-packed steak shop in northwest Philadelphia, grease from a cheese steak dripping down my chin. Not much had changed at that particular joint — from yellowed newspaper clippings on the wall to the harried servers — since my dad was a teenager eating there in the early ’60s. For him, as it later was for me, and still is for plenty of others, Philly food could be summed up by those cheese steaks, some occasional soft pretzels and the local line of snacks called Tastykakes.

Today, these edible artifacts remain cherished novelty items in the Philadelphia food pyramid. But as the city sheds its blue-collar roots in favor of a more prosperous future, the food scene is shifting as well. The restaurateur Stephen Starr, of Buddakan and Morimoto fame, and the well-known chefs Marc Vetri and Jose Garces are all opening restaurants in the city at a stunningly quick clip. Elsewhere, hoagie shops now compete with the inventive B.Y.O.B.’s and creative farm-to-table restaurants that are transforming the cheese-steak capital into a well-rounded eating destination.

During my whirlwind tour of some of the city’s new and ambitious restaurants in December, the food was more likely to come from a nearby farm than a fryer, the prices were reasonable and the atmosphere was still pleasantly casual. This is Philly food for the masses, but without all that grease.

This restaurant perfectly captures the current spirit of Philadelphia dining. On a bustling block of South Street, Mitch Prensky, the executive chef, serves a seasonal New American menu of small plates loaded with fresh produce from the Blue Elephant Farm, where he is an owner, in nearby Newtown Square. Although the restaurant also serves a popular weekend brunch that offers tantalizing options like red velvet waffles with sweet cream cheese mousse, my dining companion and I chose to visit for dinner. Exposed ceiling ducts and an open kitchen lend a casual air to the cozy, carefully set dining room, where the service is polished but without pretense.

There’s a standard dinner menu and also one three-course vegetarian set menu that features the day’s harvest, from which you can order individual dishes. From the latter, we plucked an hors d’oeuvre of potato beignets — three delicate, airy spheres with thin, crispy exteriors — mounted on salsa verde and dusted with wispy shavings of pecorino. We also grazed happily on a refreshing starter of mini lobster rolls flavored with tarragon and celery, atop toasted Toblerone-shaped buns.

An entree of crispy duck leg with a pecan-sage waffle swimming in maple-bourbon jus struck a pleasing balance between saltiness and sticky sweetness, while pan-roasted sea scallops, plump and tender, were plated with an unsuccessful medley of cauliflower, almonds, capers and a bitter orange jam. But the pinnacle of the meal remained that spicy, soul-warming sweet potato soup.

Supper, 926 South Street; (215) 592-8180; supperphilly.com. Dinner for two, $70. (All prices are for an average meal for two, without drinks or tip.)

When the chef Marcie Turney and her partner, Valerie Safran, opened this Mediterranean-inspired restaurant in September, it raised the tally of restaurants and shops that the pair own on a single block of 13th Street to six.

Barbuzzo’s polished-farmhouse atmosphere and traditional-with-a-twist dishes have kept the narrow dining room consistently packed, as it was on a late weekday afternoon when my husband and I visited for lunch (it’s also open daily for dinner).

Skip the cramped tables and instead claim a stool at the gray marble counter overlooking the compact open kitchen and wood-fired pizza oven. With such close quarters, sharing is key, so start, as we did, with the colorful Mediterranean antipasti sampler — a light, welcome departure from the typical charcuterie-and-cheese plate — piled high with vegetables, including roasted beets with pistachio-orange vinaigrette and brussels sprouts accompanied by a mix of whole and chopped hazelnuts and a sprinkle of truffle oil.

Next, try the thin-crusted uovo pizza with brussels-sprout leaves, cubes of guanciale and two cheeses — fior di latte and caciocavallo — all topped with an oozy egg.","As name-brand chefs lay down roots in the city, a new cuisine emerges."
"Donald Trump would be the first to tell you he’s a man of many accomplishments. Somewhere down that tremendous list is one he probably didn’t predict: breaking the grip of Fox News over conservative media and scattering talking heads, bloggers and politicians across various tribes of pro- and anti-Trump thinking.

Trump’s feud with Fox over the anchor Megyn Kelly, whose incisive questions have aggravated the billionaire for months, reached a new low on Wednesday when he announced he would skip the network’s Thursday night debate. While Fox News kingpin Roger Ailes could once use his network to influence conservative voters and, arguably, shape the Republican party, Trump has baffled him and divided his audience.

The fractures are especially obvious online, where anyone can find kinship in the comments section or on a blog. In the past 24 hours, for instance, the rightwing site Breitbart, founded by a man “committed to the destruction of the old media guard”, has churned out posts critical of Fox News.

The headlines blare in all caps: “Fox News debate chief has daughter working for Rubio”; “How Trump beat Roger Ailes at his own game”; “The anti-Trump network: Fox News money flows into open border group”.

The Blaze stakes out the opposite camp. There are invitations to read a letter from Ted Cruz to Trump, to watch Bill O’Reilly “take on Trump”, to hear how Glenn Beck “goes nuclear on ‘bully’ Donald Trump”, and to read “the words sexist Twitter trolls hurled at Megyn Kelly”.

Somewhere in the middle are sites like The Daily Caller, which has mostly reposted various opinions: there’s Fox’s Kelly and Krauthammer; support for Trump from Pat Buchanan, a conservative populist who won Iowa in 1996; and news about a veterans’ group that is leery of Trump’s donations.

Or you can look at a kinkajou that fell asleep on a 99-year-old in Florida.

Matt Drudge, the conservative dungeon master behind the Drudge Report, has aggregated a menagerie from all sides: “O’Reilly begs: You owe me milkshakes”; “Jeb blew through his warchest”, “Huckabee calls Cruz a flip flopper”. There’s also a woman “who lives as a cat”, robot lettuce farmers and “consumers of frozen vegetables [who] oppose abortions”.

The spat between Trump and Ailes reflects a larger war for control of the Republican party that has been playing out for months, if not years, and upended the order of conservative politics. Hoary magazines are reduced to ad hominem editions. Lifelong standard bearers of the party, such as former speaker of the House John Boehner, have been ousted by irascible newcomers to Washington. The hate felt for one candidate and the ghosts of another has pushed even “establishment” leaders toward the mercurial, formerly liberal Trump.

Ailes and Fox News, mocked for telling an established version of the news – usually white, older and ideological – are now taking the journalistic high ground by supporting Megyn Kelly and her tough, pertinent questions. Similarly, liberal-leaning MSNBC has resisted the Democratic party’s attempt to limit debates.

But the rise of more varied and radical voices online – and in the polls – suggests that the cable news giants, like the leaders of both parties, are losing some influence over the masses they rely on.",His ability to break the network’s grip over conservative punditry has sparked breathless headlines across the web – and rewritten the media landscape
"Global stocks rose sharply on Monday and sterling strengthened broadly while safe-havens including the yen and gold retreated, after polls showed support for Britain staying in the EU regaining momentum before Thursday’s referendum.

Sterling has been at the sharp end of worries Britons will vote to leave the European Union, and the easing of those concerns pushed the pound up 1.9% against the dollar – on track for its biggest daily gain since October 2009 – and more than 2% versus the yen.

Share prices, which fell globally in recent days on prospects of Britain quitting the bloc as some polls showed the “Leave” campaign ahead, rose strongly.

Wall Street looked set for a positive open, with index futures up 1.2-1.3%.

The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index added 3.7%, led by a 4.5% rise in banks, while Britain’s blue-chip FTSE 100 index chalked up a 3.2% gain.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 1.7%. Japan’s Nikkei climbed 2.4% as the yen lost ground.

Two weekend polls showed “In” regaining the lead and another showed the “Out” campaign’s lead narrowing, though the overall picture is of an evenly split electorate. Bookmakers’ odds have shown those wishing to stay in the EU ahead and Betfair put the implied probability of a vote to “Remain” at 72% on Monday, up from 60-67% on Friday.

Campaigning resumed on Sunday, having been suspended for three days after British lawmaker Jo Cox was killed in the street in her constituency on Thursday.

Sterling rose as far as $1.4671 and was last up 1.9% at $1.4628, having hit a two-week low of $1.4013 on Thursday. It soared 2.3% to 153.00 yen and 1.5% against the euro to 77.36 pence.

“The momentum has changed, and perhaps this is the first sign of what a lot of the polling experts had been suggesting, which is that the ‘don’t know’ portion was going to be crucial and historically there tends to be a shift towards the status quo in the final days before a referendum,” Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ’s European head of global markets research, Derek Halpenny, said.

“I think that’s what the market is reacting to.”",Polls show support for Britain staying in the EU.
"Imagine being in that situation. What would you do?

There are two ways to answer the question. The first is in the moment of crisis. The second is about the long term.

As most everyone knows by now, David Boren, president of the University of Oklahoma, faced just this situation Monday. And I've been thinking about it intensely, not only because I care about race and civic leadership in America, but also because Boren was my first boss, when he was a U.S. senator.

I'm not from Oklahoma but ended up working for Boren through a college internship. He was a mentor to me during my years in Washington, and a model for me when he left the Beltway to be of greater use and service as an educator. Though we haven't talked since the crisis broke, I see familiar patterns of leadership.

Boren responded to the crisis swiftly, with a statement that went viral. Boren told the students from Sigma Alpha Epsilon (SAE) he had a message for them: ""You are disgraceful. You have violated all that we stand for. You should not have the privilege of calling yourselves Sooners"" (the OU nickname).

Boren went on to sever all ties between OU and SAE. The national fraternity closed the local chapter. Later, Boren said he'd be glad if the students in the video left campus because ""we don't provide student services for bigots."" The next day he expelled two of them.

His actions have resonated across the country. On social media, people shocked by the video find themselves also stunned by Boren's response. Why? Because he did something rare in public life today. He expressed a decisive, judgmental view with moral clarity. Then he followed through.

His statements have been free of mushy lawyer-talk or euphemism. He's led authentically, from the heart.

Of course, people have carped. Some question whether Boren has the legal authority, as head of a public institution, to expel students on the basis of their free speech, even racist hate speech. Some lament that what he should have branded as disgraceful was the students' actions, not the students themselves.

Legitimate concerns, perhaps. The First Amendment question, certainly, is being debated by legal scholars. But these concerns are eclipsed by the bigger picture. Boren wasn't just condemning wrongdoers; he was shifting social norms for all.

A cynic might consider laughable a refrain from Boren's statement about ""real Sooners."" Boren said that real Sooners are not racists or bigots; they believe in equal opportunity, treat people with mutual respect and love each other like family.

A cynic might say Oklahoma is a state both very white and very red, not known for flying the banner of anti-racism. Indeed, the original Sooners were the white settlers who raced in to claim land that had been wrested from Native Americans.

But the point of Boren's ""real Sooners"" riff is not to describe or sanitize today's reality; it is to issue a challenge. It is to bind people to a creed, a standard of being and belief that is easy to assert but hard to achieve. Not unlike being a true patriot.

So now begins the longer term. Here, another opportunity arises to lead by example.

David Boren can now examine the institution he works for and ask how and why such attitudes and behaviors -- racism so casually vicious -- could ever take root among people as young as freshmen.

He can explore the ways in which everyone -- not only the obviously guilty parties at a frat party -- is touched by unconscious bias and institutional racism. He can now ask his community to face the inequities of history and race.

We can all do that.

Howard Schultz, CEO of Starbucks, is doing this at his company. He was moved after the incidents of Ferguson and Staten Island to hold truly open forums with employees about the pain and anguish of racial division.

But you don't have to be a college president or a CEO. You don't have to be a white man in charge to start a tough reckoning with racism (though it'd help if more did).

Whoever you are, you can start a new kind of conversation in your neighborhood. On your campus. At your house of worship. Ask what the history is. Ask why there are such imbalances of power and voice. Ask what it would take to be truly inclusive. Then, in word and deed, start answering your own questions.

We can all do that. The sooner, the better.

Read CNNOpinion's new Flipboard magazine

Follow us on Twitter @CNNOpinion.","David Boren, the president of the University of Oklahoma, exemplified strong leadership."
"and the solemn season of Lent has begun Wednesday. New ..... I begin thinking about Easter ,"" said Baker, who is ..... celebration and sacrifice before Easter , to show that you're ..... to make a sacrifice for Lent , which is the six weeks between Ash Wednesday and Easter , the day Christians","Browse Lent latest news and updates, watch videos and view all photos and more. Join the discussion and find more about Lent at abcnews.com"
"When the air was hot and the woods were parched last summer, the peak of the wildfire season in the West, these trained wilderness firefighters fought 13 forest fires in Arizona, including the one in June that half-destroyed the nearby village of Yarnell and killed 19 members of the Granite Mountain Hotshots, an elite team. On a crisp morning this fall, they were using chain saws and pulaskis — a firefighting tool that combines an ax and an adz — to chop overgrown bushes in a private development here, offering a measure of fire prevention for houses built in the wild.

Their home base is the Arizona State Prison Complex-Lewis, but when asked where they are from, the reply is simply “Buckeye,” the name of the town where the prison is located. If there are other questions, they call it a “gated community” and leave it at that.

“That we’re inmates is the last thing on anybody’s mind,” said John Chleboun, 33, who has been serving time for burglary at the Lewis complex and is entering his second year with the crew.

As federal agencies have cut costs during the budget standoffs in Washington, further decreasing the size of a firefighting work force that has already been reduced by 40 percent since the 1980s, the burden of fighting wildfires has been shifted to states and local jurisdictions, even as they struggle under the weight of a sluggish economy. Prison crews, cheap and dependable, have emerged as a solution as wildfires burn bigger, hotter and longer each year and take up a growing portion of the United States Forest Service budget. (In 2012 alone, federal agencies spent $1.9 billion on wildfire suppression, just shy of the record, set in 2006.)

“They’re very cost-effective,” said Julie Hutchinson, a battalion chief for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, which has the nation’s oldest and largest inmate firefighting program: roughly 4,000 prisoners and 200 crews. “And they’re out in the community, paying back for their mistakes.”

States log significant savings, paying inmates a small fraction of the reimbursement fees paid to federal agencies for using their teams to fight fires or the price of hiring private companies to do the work the prisoners do in the off-peak season, like picking up trash along highways in Nevada, maintaining hiking trails in Colorado, and thinning forests and removing dried vegetation all across the region.

California pays inmates $1 per hour for work in emergencies like fires and floods, saving the state an estimated $80 million per year, according to forestry and fire protection statistics. In Nevada, where inmates work for the same pay, they bring in around $3.5 million in annual revenue from the nonfirefighting projects for which they are hired, said Jody Weintz, who manages the program for the Nevada Division of Forestry. (Noninmate firefighters earn around $10 an hour, as well as hazard pay and overtime.)

In Arizona, the pay for inmates is among the lowest in the country: 50 cents an hour. In Colorado, which had the nation’s third-highest rate of recidivism in 2010, 52.5 percent, the program’s supervisor estimated that fewer than 25 percent of the inmates released after working on wilderness firefighting teams returned.

Some firefighting experts, however, do not believe that the social calculus makes much sense.

Wilderness firefighting “is a line of work where there are more people looking for jobs than there are jobs available,” said Stephen J. Pyne, a professor at the School of Life Sciences at Arizona State University and a former wilderness firefighter who has written numerous books about the history and mechanics of wildfires. “Why are we turning that over to prison crews?”

While inmates’ pay is low, there are other rewards. Arizona inmates work outdoors much of the year, and if they are out fighting fires, their status as inmates is not easy to discern. In California, inmates wear orange fire-retardant jumpsuits and sleep in separate camps when they are out on fire lines. But firefighting inmates in Arizona wear the same clothes as other wilderness firefighters.

They eat and sleep in the same cafeterias and campsites, an arrangement that defies the rigid relationship barriers enforced inside prison walls. They also undergo the same training required of other wilderness firefighters and pass a physical assessment known as a pack test: traveling three miles on foot in 45 minutes, carrying 45 pounds on their backs.

“They’ve got to have the heart, the strength and the willingness to do the job,” said Jake Guadiana, an Arizona State Forestry coordinator and the boss of the Lewis crew. “This is not the place for you if you’re looking for a free meal and some time out of prison.”

Sometimes the inmates try to take advantage of the light supervision and escape. Mr. Weintz, in Nevada, said that happened “once or twice a year,” but as far as he could tell, escapees were always taken back to prison, though not to the firefighting program. A clean disciplinary record is one condition of participation. Another is being in prison for a nonviolent offense.

More commonly, program managers say, the inmates leave prison at the end of their sentences and join firefighting crews. One of them, Grant Lovato, 46, who worked two seasons with the Lewis crew while serving time in prison for credit card fraud and identity theft, is now a firefighter for the United States Fish and Wildlife Service in Gulfport, Miss. In a telephone interview, he said, “The idea that I could be in prison and still get out into the woods and get to enjoy the nature was a transformative experience to me.”

The job has strict rules, like no phone calls or visits while on assignment, and carries many risks. Five inmates and a correctional officer died in June 1990 in the Dude Fire, near Payson, Ariz., sparked by a bolt of lightning, just like the fire in Yarnell. There have been other fatalities and numerous injuries, but none seem to weigh too heavily on the inmates’ minds.

His helmet tucked under his arm, a mountain peak visible behind him against a bright blue sky, Armando Gloria, 29, who is serving time for robbery at the Lewis prison and is on his third season with its firefighting crew, said, “There’s fear, yes, but when you’re out there, fighting fire, the fear becomes more like an adrenaline rush.”","States like Arizona, California and Nevada are relying more on cheap, dependable prison crews as cuts shrink professional firefighting forces and wildfires burn bigger, hotter and longer."
"Starting next year, cops will respond to all complaints of animal cruelty in collaboration with the ASPCA.

The NYPD has a message for any creep who would hurt an animal: Beware of the cops.

Starting next year, cops will respond to all complaints of animal cruelty in a collaboration with the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) — a move that will put the society’s current humane law enforcement unit out of work. Previously, people would report animal cruelty or neglect to an ASPCA hotline, and the unit, composed of former cops, would investigate.

PHOTOS: ADORABLE ANIMALS GET WEIGHED IN AT THE LONDON ZOO

But beginning next year, people will call 311 or 911. An NYPD cop will take the complaint and hand the case over to precinct detectives.

In turn, the ASPCA will treat the injured animals and conduct forensic evaluations, officials said.

PHOTOS: ANIMALS, THEY'RE JUST LIKE PEOPLE

Humane law enforcement investigators were told Wednesday that Dec. 31 would be their last day as animal cops — and they predicted the NYPD wouldn’t be able to handle the extra cases.","Previously, people would report animal cruelty or neglect to an ASPCA hotline, and a unit composed of former cops would investigate. But beginning next year, people will call 311 or 911."
"Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus on Monday called on CNN and NBC to rethink their decisions to shoot films about Hillary Clinton, calling each a “thinly veiled attempt at putting a thumb on the scales of the 2016 presidential election.”

Priebus also threatened, if the networks push forward with their plans, to avoid partnerships with them for any 2016 presidential debates.

Both networks announced their plans in recent weeks. CNN’s documentary is set to run on TV and in theaters, while NBC’s shooting a miniseries starring Diane Lane.

“It’s appalling to know executives at major networks like NBC and CNN who have donated to Democrats and Hillary Clinton have taken it upon themselves to be Hillary Clinton’s campaign operatives,” Priebus said in a statement. “Their actions to promote Secretary Clinton are disturbing and disappointing.”

The letters were sent to Robert Greenblatt, chairman of NBC Entertainment, and Jeff Zucker, president of CNN Worldwide.

CNN, in a statement, said it won’t back down and encouraged the RNC not to prejudge its documentary.

“Instead of making premature decisions about a project that is in the very early stages of development and months from completion, we would encourage the members of the Republican National Committee to reserve judgment until they know more,” CNN said. “Should they decide not to participate in debates on CNN, we would find it curious, as limiting their debate participation seems to be the ultimate disservice to voters.”

NBC News responded in a brief statement stressing it is not involved in the miniseries.

“NBC News is completely independent of NBC Entertainment and has no involvement in this project,” it said.

But even as the networks press on, Priebus’s effort is gaining traction in the GOP.

The chairmen of the Republican parties in Iowa and South Carolina — two early states that generally hold multiple debates — said they support Priebus’s move.

“The Iowa GOP supports Reince Priebus in his decision and looks forward to helping the RNC start a new chapter in how Republicans across the country stand up to a biased media,” Iowa GOP Chairman A.J. Spiker said in a statement.

David Plouffe, a former top adviser to President Obama, shot back, saying the RNC is trying to insulate itself from any media that isn’t Fox News:

Better RNC debate plan. Held in hermetically sealed Fox studio. Avoid exposing swing voters to Crazy S*#t My Nominee Says.

— David Plouffe (@davidplouffe) August 5, 2013

Priebus noted that Democrats complained when the conservative outside group Citizens United planned to air a pay-per-view documentary about Clinton on the eve of the 2008 election. The spat resulted in a landmark Supreme Court case that freed up donors to give large political contributions to so-called super PACs.

There was also a case in 2006 in which Clinton allies urged ABC to cancel a docu-drama called “The Path to 9/11,” which depicted top Clinton aides undermining attempts to capture and kill Osama bin Laden.

Priebus pressured NBC and CNN to kill the documentaries quickly, giving them a deadline that is just nine days away.

“If they have not agreed to pull this programming prior to the start of the RNC’s Summer Meeting on August 14, I will seek a binding vote stating that the RNC will neither partner with these networks in 2016 primary debates nor sanction primary debates they sponsor,” Priebus said.

Here’s the CNN letter, courtesy of Zeke Miller:","CNN is one of two TV networks planning a Clinton documentary, along with NBC."
"The self-assured power of the Bay Bridge has never received the respect it deserves, and the latest slight comes from an unlikely source: 25,000 LED lights that will adorn the span for the next two years.

The lights are attached to 300 suspender cables that line the Marin-facing side of the bridge between Yerba Buena Island and Rincon Hill. The installation is programmed as an abstract wash of light with patterns that spill across the vertical cables from dusk until 2 a.m.

The coolness quotient? Off the chart. Social and mainstream media have been buzzing since the display premiered Tuesday. But once the novelty fades, we're left with a 1.8-mile light show that has little to do with either the structure to which it is attached or the natural setting above which it shines. The creators treat a three-dimensional bridge as a one-sided backdrop to a programmed display.

The installation dubbed ""Bay Lights"" was conceived by Ben Davis, whose firm Words Pictures Ideas does communications work for Caltrans. ""I was trying to think of ways to have the Bay Bridge shine again,"" he told The Chronicle last year. ""Then it hit me. Instead of just being a bridge, it could be a canvas.""

Davis' next move was to hire New York's Leo Villareal, an artist who specializes in what he calls ""light sculpture"" of a large scale.

While workers from the electrical contracting firm Bleyco spent six months attaching lights to the bridge, Villareal used a laptop to shape what he described in the same article as ""sequences that are orchestrated but will never repeat. You could think of it almost as music, but mapped to the visual sense.""

Putting aside the question of whether converting ""just a bridge"" into a canvas is really a promotion, I concede the resulting show is an ethereal treat.

When soft blurs of light streak from one set of vertical cables to the next, they could be anything from a time-lapse film of clouds to a phantom engine from the streetcars that crossed the bridge until 1958. At one instant the cables appear as distinct as harp strings, then they dissolve into a meteor shower or a cloud of fireflies or whatever metaphor you choose.

These are rippling impressions rather than orchestrated riffs, and Villareal was smart to keep things subtle.

But for all the surface delights, or the surprise that comes when portions of the installation are glimpsed between piers or as reflections on the water, this ""light sculpture"" is as thin as the individual units from which it is assembled.

What ""Bay Lights"" lacks is what the Bay Bridge has in abundance, a rooted sense of emphatic place. Every major element adds momentum and depth: the horizontal thrust of the roadway from east to west, the drape of the two main cables from four 50-story towers and, in the middle of the channel, an immense concrete anchorage that rises more than 200 feet to meet the cables and the steel-braced deck.

The design by a team that included engineers C.H. Purcell and Glenn B. Woodruff doesn't seem to break a stride - no Golden Gate grandeur here - and that makes the drama the more commanding.

""Bay Lights"" is as relevant to all this as a napkin draped across the back of a chair.

The element of the bridge emphasized by Villareal is the least essential part of the composition, the suspender cables that are spaced at 30-foot intervals and are less than 3 inches thick. Everything else stays the same. Which means that instead of conveying the connection between structure and bay, four soft triangles float in space.

Worse, the LEDs appear only on the vertical cables lining the north edge of the span, the better to show off to folks in downtown towers and upscale restaurants; the cables on the side that face such neighborhoods as Potrero Hill and Mission Bay remain dark. What you see along the Embarcadero south of Pier 24 is a choppy rear view.

This might not have seemed odd a generation ago, but in a city where the cultural center of gravity is moving south, the emphasis on one side seems off-balance - and off-balance is the last sensation one should ever associate with a bridge that carries 280,000 vehicles on an average day.

""Bay Lights"" has been compared to the ""Running Fence"" of 1976, a 24-mile veil of 18-foot-high fabric that snaked across West Marin before plunging into the ocean at Dillon Beach. Not so. Artists Cristo and Jeanne-Claude created magic by altering our perception of the terrain, at once reorienting the landscape and bringing it into close focus.

Burns and Villareal - and the donors who so far have provided $6 million of the needed $8 million in private funds - have presented us with something else: a luminous bid for nightly attention. And when the lights go dark in 2015, it will be as if they were never there at all.

John King is The San Francisco Chronicle's urban design critic. E-mail: jking@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @johnkingsfchron","While workers from the electrical contracting firm Bleyco spent six months attaching lights to the bridge, Villareal used a laptop to shape what he described in the same article as sequences that are orchestrated but will never repeat.  When soft blurs of light streak from one set of vertical cables to the next, they could be anything from a time-lapse film of clouds to a phantom engine from the streetcars that crossed the bridge until 1958.  Lacking substanceBut for all the surface delights, or the surprise that comes when portions of the installation are glimpsed between piers or as reflections on the water, this &quot;light sculpture&quot; is as thin as the individual units from which it is assembled.  Every major element adds momentum and depth: the horizontal thrust of the roadway from east to west, the drape of the two main cables from four 50-story towers and, in the middle of the channel, an immense concrete anchorage that rises more than 200 feet to meet the cables and the steel-braced deck.  The design by a team that included engineers C.H. Purcell and Glenn B. Woodruff doesn't seem to break a stride - no Golden Gate grandeur here - and that makes the drama the more commanding.  Worse, the LEDs appear only on the vertical cables lining the north edge of the span, the better to show off to folks in downtown towers and upscale restaurants; the cables on the side that face such neighborhoods as Potrero Hill and Mission Bay remain dark."
"Updated AUG 14, 2014 1:08p ET

Social media star and current NHL free agent Paul ""BizNasty"" Bissonnette gained a lot of attention earlier this week for his extravagant #IceBucketChallenge video, which featured a chopper, a mountain and a speedo. He joined me on a new edition of ""The Buzz"" to discuss how the video came about (beer was involved), how easy it was to film and how quickly it came together. Bissonnette also shared insight on what it's like to go through the free-agency process when you aren't exactly a superstar. However, it wasn't all serious business. The man known as BizNasty2point0 showed off his classic sense of humor when we discussed Johnny Manziel's off-field habits, his habit of taking (and posting) pictures of people making out, his hatred for Subway and much more.

You can listen to the podcast below or download it on iTunes or your mp3 player.

Tigers closer Joe Nathan has struggled all season. Obviously, this hasn't gone over well with Detroit fans. Last night, the right-hander closed out an 8-4 win against the Pirates, but walked two batters in his inning of work. This generated some boos, which led to Nathan giving the home crowd a nasty gesture.

Tom Brady explains what makes his relationship with a center so special.

Pigeons invaded last night's Pirates-Tigers game. They parked themselves right on the dirt path between home plate and the pitching mound and refused to leave, despite the efforts of Detroit slugger Miguel Cabrera and Pittsburgh pitcher Vance Worley.

No, this is not Josh Gordon's real number.

Patriots wide receiver Danny Amendola put on a show at practice yesterday by fielding a punt while holding four balls already. He threw one ball in the air, caught the incoming punt, kicked the ball he threw and then caught it too.

White Sox broadcaster Ken ""Hawk"" Harrelson is not a fan of the new rule that prevents catchers from blocking home plate. He unleashed his displeasure during yesterday's Chicago-Seattle game by using a tired cliche.

Redskins fans serenaded Robert Griffin III with a homemade song about the quarterback during yesterday's practice. Griffin seemed to be flattered by the tune.

Several New York Jets players are using Tinder to find ""love."" Not just a random hookup, but actual ""love."" Right.

Model Kelly Thomas gets today's Fox-y Lady honors.

Got a link, comment or question? Email Jimmy.Traina@fox.com.",Bissonnette talks #icebucketchallenge video and more; Birds distrupt MLB game; Fan makes Josh Gordon jersey; more.
"Michigan doctor Teleka Patrick disappeared December 5, 2013, authorities said.

(CNN) -- A body found in an Indiana lake has been identified as that of Teleka Patrick, the Michigan doctor who's been missing since December, the Porter County Coroner's Office confirmed.

Her body was discovered Sunday in Lake Charles, west of Gary, Indiana, officials said.

The cause and manner of death are still pending further investigation, but are consistent with drowning, the coroner said in a statement Tuesday. An autopsy revealed no trauma, the statement added.

The 30-year-old medical resident failed to show up for work on December 6 in Kalamazoo, Michigan. The night before, her 1997 Lexus was discovered abandoned more than 115 miles away in a ditch off of Interstate 94 in Indiana, directly south of the lake where she was ultimately found.

Police brought out dogs to track Patrick's scent. They led investigators out of the ditch where Patrick's car rested to the highway. There, the scent went cold.

""We looked everywhere,"" Sgt. Rick Strong of the Indiana State Police told CNN in December.

Surveillance video and home videos uploaded to YouTube provided investigators with clues about Patrick's movements in the weeks, days and hours before she vanished.

The YouTube videos showed Patrick talking, cooing and singing to someone unnamed and apparently unknown. Patrick's mother told CNN she wasn't aware of any romantic relationship her daughter may have had. But the videos have an intimate feel to them.

""Hi, baby,"" Patrick says in one. ""I am just coming to you to say 'hi' and tell you about my day.""

In another video, Patrick shows a table set for two with omelets and pancakes.

""If you were here, this is what would be your plate,"" she coos.

In a surveillance video from a Radisson hotel in Kalamazoo, not far from where she worked, Patrick is seen on the night of December 5 around 7:30 p.m., hours before police found her car in Indiana.

She spent about 10 minutes talking with employees at the reception desk but ultimately left. There's no audio on the video, and it's not clear why Patrick failed to book a room.

But at 7:48 p.m., she strode across the hotel's tiled floors, out the door and onto a hotel shuttle bus.

Those are the last known images of her.

Her family says Patrick, who had just moved to Michigan, bought a plane ticket to come visit them for the holidays in Florida.

In January, family members urged investigators to remain focused on the possibility that foul play was involved in her disappearance, after reports surfaced that gospel singer Marvin Sapp had filed a personal protection order against Patrick in September.

In court documents, Sapp said Patrick ""has claimed him as her husband, had moved from California to Michigan, joined his church, had contacted his children and had been to his home.

""I have at least 400 pages of correspondence from her which I have never responded,"" his complaint reads.

While the discovery of Patrick's body answers some questions, it leaves many more unanswered for the grieving family of a young doctor described as ""wonderful,"" ""beautiful"" and ""talented.""

Investigators have said they have no evidence of foul play, but they also don't have conclusive evidence that Patrick's movements on December 5 were voluntary.

""We have scoured, searched and looked at everything we could possibly look at -- all the exits, all the businesses, all the hotels,"" Strong said late last year. ""We posted fliers; we talked to neighbors (who live near the highway). We did a full-blown, on-the-ground search in the wooded area north of where the car was.""

Carl Clatterback, a private investigator hired by Patrick's family, told CNN that investigators are looking into the videos. A central question: Who was Patrick talking to in the videos and does that person know anything about what happened to her?

CNN's Tiffany Campbell and Julia Lull contributed to this report.","A body found in an Indiana lake has been identified as that of Teleka Patrick, the Michigan doctor who's been missing since December, a coroner confirmed."
"Two years later, as members of the Arab League sat down in Iraq’s capital on Thursday for another summit meeting, they composed a tableau of how much — and how little — had changed after a year of popular uprisings and bloody revolts began chipping away at the old order of the region.

Gone were the authoritarian leaders of Egypt, Tunisia and Yemen. Syria, suspended from the group as it wages a bloody campaign against antigovernment forces and protesters, was represented by an empty chair. And Colonel Qaddafi was dead, shot by victorious rebels last October in the very city where the Arab League staged its 2010 meeting.

“This summit comes at a momentous time for Iraq and the Arab world,” the United Nations secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, said in a speech to the leaders and diplomats. “The winds of change will not cease to blow.”

But the air felt still inside Baghdad’s newly renovated palace, where Saddam Hussein once held court.

Arab leaders and diplomats offered platitudes about reform and democracy while glossing over the treatment of religious and ethnic minorities, political opponents and dissidents in their own countries. No one discussed the violence in the Persian Gulf state of Bahrain, where the Sunni monarchy with its allies in Saudi Arabia violently suppressed a largely peaceful Shiite uprising. Fewer than half of the league’s heads of state showed up, and only one from a gulf nation, the Kuwaiti emir.

And in another constant with the past, the Arab League failed to address the issue of the day substantively. In this case, the membership was unable to offer any concrete plan for easing the deepening humanitarian crisis in Syria, a struggle whose increasingly sectarian dimensions were on display at the gathering.

“The summit is now almost inconsequential,” Mohamad Bazzi, an adjunct fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, said in a discussion published on the council’s Web site. “The events on the ground have accelerated to the point that Arab leaders are playing catch-up, and Syria is the perfect example.”

In its most significant action of the three-day meeting, the group adopted a resolution on Thursday urging Syria’s government to adhere to a six-point cease-fire proposal brokered by the United Nations. The Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad, has agreed to the cease-fire, but continuing violence has deepened fears that he will not abide by the proposal.

Speech after speech on Thursday paid homage to the people of Syria, where the United Nations estimates that 9,000 civilians have been killed. The leaders condemned Mr. Assad’s government as committing humanitarian crimes against its own people.

But analysts said the Arab League had ceded any leadership to the United Nations and dialed back its own ambitions in the wake of a failed mission sending observers to Syria. The Foreign Ministry in Damascus on Thursday repeated its rejection of any decisions at the meeting related to Syria.

Although Saudi Arabia and Qatar — which sent only low-level delegations to the summit meeting — have called for more aggressive action against Mr. Assad, the leaders gathered in Baghdad refused to consider any more muscular options. They declined to call for Mr. Assad to go, and said they had not even considered whether to endorse arming opposition forces. That was partly a reflection of internal divisions among Arab leaders, some of whom continue to resist pressuring Mr. Assad to step down.

“We have already tried to find an Arab solution to this issue, but we didn’t succeed,” Iraq’s foreign minister, Hoshyar Zebari, said at a news conference on Wednesday night. “We have no new initiative to bring except for the issues we’ve already discussed.”

Instead of substance, the meeting offered symbolism. And for the Shiite-led Iraqi government, which spent two years and $500 million preparing a war-scarred capital for the meeting, symbolism may have been enough.

Iraqi officials saw the three-day event as their chance to shrug off Iraq’s status as a diplomatic pariah and re-enter the Arab world as an independent nation that can hold its ground against powerful neighbors like Shiite Iran, Sunni Saudi Arabia and an economically and politically ascendant Turkey.

Iraqi diplomats worked to smooth over relations with Sunni Arab neighbors before the gathering, agreeing to pay off decades-old debts. For the arriving guests, the government provided lavish meals, spotless new accommodations and sleek black Mercedes sedans.

At least 10 Arab leaders did attend the summit meeting, including those of Lebanon, Sudan, Tunisia and Kuwait, which was invaded by Saddam Hussein in 1990.

In a glimpse of at least partial reconciliation, Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki and the Kuwaiti emir exchanged kisses on the tarmac at Baghdad’s airport and marched down a red carpet together.

“I hope this will remind the Arabs that Iraq is a very important Arab country, and must get back to where it should be — in an Arab environment rather than under the Iranian influence,” said Mohammad Abdullah al-Zulfa, a historian and a former member of the Saudi Shura Council.

But there were slights. Explaining the decision not to attend, Qatar’s prime minister, Sheik Hamad bin Jassim al-Thani, said in an interview with Al Jazeera that his nation was “sending a message” signaling discontent with the growing sectarianism in Iraqi politics and the deep disenfranchisement among Iraq’s Sunni minority.

But Iraqi officials were relieved that their worst fears of disruptive violence did not come to pass. A rocket exploded outside the Iranian Embassy not far from the International Zone on Thursday afternoon, but officials said no one was hurt.

Otherwise, the normally frenetic capital was as quiet as a vacation town in the off season. Nearly every bridge over the Tigris River was closed to traffic. Roads were blocked by brambles of concertina wire, entire neighborhoods sealed off. Residents in several neighborhoods in western Baghdad said they had no cellphone service, suggesting that the government had cut the mobile networks to try to prevent terrorist attacks.

As the visiting dignitaries boarded their private planes on Thursday and began streaming home, there was no word on when the extreme security measures would be lifted.","Arab leaders in Baghdad offered platitudes about democracy and reform, but did not address the unrest that has swept through their countries."
"Angola’s First Daughter, Isabel dos Santos

By Rafael Marques de Morais with Kerry A. Dolan

Back in August FORBES detailed how the richest woman in Africa, by the tender age of 40, had increased her net worth from zero to $3 billion: You have your father, the president of Angola, direct those who want to do business in the country to cut you in on their action. FORBES has learned, however, that Isabel dos Santos has added a more legitimate jewel to her crown: de Grisogono, a Swiss jeweler renowned among the Hollywood A-list for its extravagant, celebrity-studded parties in Cannes and Miami Beach and fans like Heidi Klum and Sharon Stone.

Newly uncovered documents show that a shell company called Victoria Holding Ltd. acquired 75% of de Grisogono in 2012 for more than $100 million through a subsidiary. The documents show that ownership of Victoria Holding Ltd. is evenly split between the Angolan state-owned diamond company, Sodiam, and a Dutch-registered company, Melbourne Investments. Dos Santos’ husband, Congolese businessman Sindika Dokolo, is listed as the sole beneficial owner of Melbourne Investments.

It is not clear whether Dokolo made any financial investment in Melbourne Investments or whether Melbourne contributed any cash to the purchase. Sodiam, as a state-owned company (its board, chair and CEO are all appointed by President Jose Eduardo dos Santos), is required to publicly disclose all its relevant ventures at home and abroad, but until now its partnership with Dokolo had remained a secret.

Sodiam, through its parent company, did not return calls to provide its side of the story. The chairman of de Grisogono said “no public funds or resources, namely from the Angolan State or Angolan State-owned companies, have been involved, directly or indirectly.” Dokolo has told the Portuguese press, “The mentioned investment … makes sense from a strategic point of view. …Any dollar that enters Switzerland or Europe is the object of an exhaustive verification process.” Perhaps, but it’s hard to figure out what the president’s daughter doesn’t have a stake in in Angola; even the publishing company that owns the right to license FORBES in Portuguese-speaking Africa, it turns out, is owned 70% by Isabel dos Santos, according to a press release from its co-owner, the Portuguese Zon Media. She had no comment for us.

Rafael Marques de Morais is an investigative journalist in Angola. He runs the website MakaAngola.

Daddy’s Girl: How An African ‘Princess’ Banked $3 Billion In A Country Living On $2 A Day

How Forbes’ Estimate Of Isabel dos Santos’ Net Worth Grew From $500 Million To $3 Billion In Less Than A Year",Newly uncovered documents reveal that the billionaire daughter of Angola's president owns (through her husband) a controlling stake in Swiss jeweler-to-the-stars de Grisogono -- alongside Angola's state diamond company.
"Twitter knows that one of its greatest strengths, the largely unfiltered fire-hose of information the service spurts out at around 95 million tweets per day, is also its greatest weakness. Specifically, how does a user filter out the important information (the signal) from the noise on Twitter? Tackling that problem will be a big part of the company’s future direction, said Twitter co-founder Biz Stone.

“One of the challenges for us going forward is relevance,” said Stone, who was being interviewed on CNN’s show “Reliable Sources” on Sunday morning by host Howard Kurtz.

While Twitter has been about information discovery, Stone’s comments suggest that future product direction will focus on information filtering and targeted delivery:

“We know that there’s information inside of Twitter for pretty much anyone in the world. It’s going to be our challenge over the next few years to get better and better at delivering the right information at the right time to the right people. There is an ocean of Tweets out there. A lot of the tools out there weren’t really designed for a world of endless information. That’s something that we’re constantly working on is how do we become an antidote to information overload as opposed to yet another service that bombards people with information.”

Stone said that last part, about Twitter becoming an “antidote to information overload” without a trace of irony. Interesting, given that the real-time feed of Twitter seems to have only exacerbated the problem of information overload. But Stone recognizes that for Twitter to be more useful, it will have to become better at delivering the most relevant information to users. What will that take the form of — more algorithms? Human editors? The interview did not get into that.

Another major facet of Twitter’s future direction is how to make money off of the service, a shift in the company symbolized by Twitter executive Dick Costolo’s rise to chief executive of the company in October. Twitter has been testing “Promoted Products“, a form of advertising on Twitter. The two parts of Twitter’s future, relevance and monetization, are not necessarily mutually exclusive though. Improving the service’s delivery of useful information can help keep users on Twitter, after all.

It will be interesting to see how Twitter tackles these issues — or whether the company even can. Some in Silicon Valley have said that Twitter is the “least innovative” among other contemporary Internet startups, as reported by Liz Gannes at All Things Digital. Costolo has admitted the Twitter is still finding its way as well.

Stone also talked with Kurtz about Twitter’s increasingly important role in the news media. Twitter users are increasingly turning to the service as a method of finding and sharing news. And journalists themselves are both using Twitter to broadcast their own stories as well as find sources and information for stories they are working on. Stone’s very appearance on the show “Reliable Sources”, which has interviewed veteran journalists like Tom Brokaw on how they report their stories, is a nod to the fact that Twitter is now a part of the news industry.

The entire interview can be seen online here.",Twitter co-founder Biz Stone says the company needs to focus on filtering important information to users.
"The first quarter is lurching to a close, and behind the market’s sedate numbers — the Dow Jones industrial average is up about a percent this year — were some bone-jarring moves. Which funds navigated the market’s choppy waters the best?

This year’s winner, at least through March 30: ChinaAMC A-Share ETF (PEK), according to preliminary data from Lipper, which tracks the funds. This particular fund replicates the performance of China’s A shares. The fund is up a bubbly 47.9% so far, as the Chinese stock market hits new highs, despite a slowing economy.

Next up: Direxion Daily Japan Bull 3x ETF (JPNL) which uses futures and options to goose the return of the Japanese market. The fund promises to rise or fall each day by three times as much as the Japanese stock market.

On the loser’s deck, we have the VelocityShares 3x Long Crude Oil ETN (UWTI), which would have done really well if oil had risen in price. Unfortunately, it didn’t, and the fund has plunged 50.2% in the first quarter.

The top loser, surprisingly, is a fund that makes a big bet on Russian stocks falling: The Direxion Daily Russia 3x bear fund (RUSS). As the Russian market has recovered, this fund has gotten a face full of borscht. It’s down 58.7%.

All of these are highly specialized and risky funds. What were the best and worst garden-variety U.S. diversified stock funds? Glad you asked. Winners:

* Turner Medical Sciences Long/Short fund (TMSEX), up 25.5%. The fund borrows a page from hedge funds and can make bets on companies it thinks will rise, and those it thinks will fall. Biggest holding: Horizon Pharmaceuticals (HZNP), up 59% this year, according to Morningstar.

* Jacob Small Cap Growth (JSCGX), up 16.6%. The fund is up to a blistering start, but that won’t make up for its wretched performance since its 2009 inception. It has lagged 74% of its peers the past five years.

* Monteagle Informed Investor Growth (MIIFX), up 14.7%. Another fund with a bad five-year record has a good start this year. It lags 99% of its peers the past five years — a rip-snorting bull market.

STAAR Larger Company Stock Fund (SITLX), down 10.3%. This fund of funds has some good names in its portfolio, but is off to a miserable start.

Stocks are closing out a volatile first quarter with gains. (Photo: Thinkstock)",Which funds navigated the market's choppy waters the best?
"The Entrepreneur Insiders network is an online community where the most thoughtful and influential people in America’s startup scene contribute answers to timely questions about entrepreneurship and careers. Today’s answer to the question “How do you build a strong team?” is written by Brian Smith, chief wine officer at Winc.

The quality I always look for in individuals is the same quality that I would hope to get out of a high-performance team: intuition. Those who have intuition are more equipped to see opportunities, find an optimal solution, and innovate, all while understanding their partner’s positions or motives. It is an awareness that makes people more creative, effective, and generally more fun to work with.

In order to pinpoint intuition, I look for people who may have started something on their own, even if it has failed. It’s more about taking initiative, seeing the landscape, and trying to find a niche solution or opportunity. I always like to ask, “When was the last time that you created something you were proud of?” It’s a classic interview question for me, regardless of the role.

Once you have some incredible people on your team, the next steps are to get aligned and stay connected. Alignment and connectivity are the pillars for success on any team. Not only do people need to embrace and understand the big goals, but they need to embrace consistent communication and maintain focus to increase the probability of hitting those goals.

See also: Why Hiring Just for Experience Is a Really Bad Idea

For most of us, it’s nearly impossible to step away from the day-to-day action, but I have become a huge believer in getting offsite. It’s amazing what a change of scenery and a bare-bones agenda can get you. These are often the greatest opportunities for strategic alignment, deeper understanding, and innovation as a team. At a recent offsite, we encouraged the team to challenge the status quo. One of our team members came up with the idea to change the way we packaged our wine, and we ended up saving a few hundred thousand dollars in addition to significantly reducing our environmental impact. You can’t get to these types of ideas if you don’t provide your team with a free and open environment to put everything on the table.

Once you have the big goals and initiatives, it all comes down to execution. This is hard, especially in the winemaking business. For about a third of the year, I’m in remote vineyards all over the world, and the days are long. Travel like this completely takes me away from day-to-day communication with my team. But spending time in the market or in the vineyards with purveyors, customers, growers, and winemakers is invaluable to informing my point of view.

To stay connected while I’m traveling, I try to schedule a 30-minute touch-base meeting with each leader every week. We leverage 15Five, which is a great tool for recapping the week’s wins, losses, near-term goals, and challenges.

Hire intuitive people, build a strategy together, and have a clear system for achieving success. To me, this is the foundation for a successful team. If you can throw in a little passion and fun, the sky is the limit.",You can't run a successful business without a strong team behind it.
"Officials say they need time to institute new policies to ensure that the change won't affect combat readiness or morale. The administration has said it will appeal the ruling to the the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit.

In the meantime, ""the Department of Defense will of course obey the law,"" Col. Dave Lapan, a department spokesman, said in an e-mail to reporters. The Pentagon will cease investigations and discharges of service members found to be in violation of the policy, officials said.

Despite the Pentagon's announcement, the Servicemembers Legal Defense Fund, a group that supports ending the ban, has encouraged gay military members not to disclose their sexual orientation.

""It is clear there is confusion, and this interim period is dangerous for service members,"" Executive Director Aubrey Sarvis said in a statement. ""Our service members need finality.""

In September, District Judge Virginia A. Phillips ruled that the 17-year-old policy violates due process and the First Amendment rights of gay service members. Rather than being necessary for military readiness, she said, the policy has a ""direct and deleterious effect"" on the armed forces. On Tuesday, she ordered the military to comply immediately with her ruling.

The case was brought by the Log Cabin Republicans, a 19,000-member gay advocacy group that includes current and former military members. The group argued during a two-week trial in July that the policy is unconstitutional and should be struck down. Lawyers for the group plan to respond to the government's application for a stay within 24 hours, a spokeswoman said.

The case is one of two related to ""don't ask, don't tell"" that have been deliberated this year in federal court. Last month, a judge in Washington state ordered the reinstatement of a decorated Air Force officer who was dismissed for revealing that she is a lesbian.

The administration's decision Thursday to ask for a stay of Phillips's court order was criticized by gay rights groups, which have been frustrated by government inaction on the policy. While running for president, Obama said he would repeal the law. But in September, Senate Democrats were unable to muster the 60 votes needed to begin debate.

""Today's appeal by President Obama's Department of Justice is not only indefensible - it is yet another shocking lack of leadership from the White House on issues of equality for the LGBT community,"" said Robin McGehee, director of GetEqual, an advocacy group.

Groups also criticized the administration for appealing a decision by a federal judge in Massachusetts that invalidated the Defense of Marriage Act, which bars the federal government from recognizing legal same-sex marriages.

According to recent Washington Post polls, 75 percent of respondents said they think gays should be allowed to serve openly in the military, and nearly half think they should be allowed to legally wed.

Obama has said that he opposes ""don't ask, don't tell"" but that he prefers that it be repealed by Congress.

""The Justice Department is defending the statute, as it traditionally does when acts of Congress are challenged,"" spokeswoman Tracy Schmaler said in a statement. ""The President believes and has repeatedly affirmed that 'don't ask, don't tell' is a bad policy that harms our national security and undermines our military effectiveness. . . . The President and his Administration are working with the military leadership and Congress to repeal this law.""

At an MTV forum Thursday, when Obama was pressed by an audience member on why he hasn't ended the policy, the president said his hands are tied until the Senate acts.

""This is not a situation in which, with the stroke of a pen, I can end the policy,"" he said. ""I think people are born with a certain makeup and that we're all children of God. We don't make determinations about who we love.""

In another dust-up, White House senior adviser Valerie Jarrett apologized Thursday for referring to homosexuality as a ""lifestyle choice"" in a Washingtonpost.com video discussion.

""I apologize to any who have taken offense at my poor choice of words,"" she wrote in an e-mail to columnist Jonathan Capehart. ""Sexual orientation and gender identity are not a choice, and anyone who knows me and my work over the years knows that I am a firm believer and supporter in the rights of LGBT Americans.""","Pentagon to comply with court order to end 'don't ask,don't tell'"
"SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 15 — Hewlett-Packard has agreed to settle a shareholder lawsuit for $117.5 million in a two-year-old case related to stock options backdating at Mercury Interactive, the business software company H.P. acquired last year, a lawyer for the plaintiffs said Monday.

Hewlett-Packard confirmed the fact of the agreement, but not the amount. The settlement is subject to approval in federal court.

The $117.5 million would make it the largest settlement since corporate stock options practices, particularly in the technology industry, began to attract closer scrutiny three years ago. More than 180 public companies are under investigation by either federal regulators or internal company audit committees for possible options backdating.

In November 2005, an internal investigation by Mercury’s board found dozens of instances in which the stated date of a company stock option grant was different from the date on which the option appears to have actually been granted, a practice that can improperly result in substantial gains for the options holder. The investigation led to the ouster of several top Mercury officials.

In July 2006, Mercury was acquired by Hewlett-Packard for $4.5 billion, in a deal that H.P. said would help it bolster its business software offerings to a combined revenue of about $2 billion. On Monday, shares of H.P. declined 31 cents to close at $51.24, then continued to decline slightly in after-hours trading.

Before this, the largest settlement in a case related to stock options backdating involved the chip designer Rambus, which last month agreed to an $18 million settlement with investors.","Hewlett-Packard has agreed to settle a shareholder lawsuit for $117.5 million in a case related to stock options backdating at Mercury Interactive, the software company it acquired last year."
"Brian Williams is how fragile it all is in American life, no matter who you are, how famous you are, how close you’ve come to touching the sun. This is how fast it can all go away from you.

It doesn’t mean you are a criminal or a bad guy. It happens this way, even when you do it to yourself, when you’re caught for not being what people thought you were; when they decide they can’t trust you as much as they thought they could. You take this kind of fall, this fast, and the rest of us get dizzy watching it happen.

Think about it: Last Tuesday night, because people hadn’t listened to those who knew that the war story he had been telling for years wasn’t true, he was still Brian Williams, on top of his world, bringing in the kind of money he was bringing in for NBC. Now he is suspended, but not fired, because NBC, even making a hard choice, did not take the easy way out here.

Think about something else: What if somebody had told you, just six years ago, or seven, that Alex Rodriguez would be going to the Yankees before spring training 2015, seeking redemption the way Brian Williams may seek the same kind of redemption in six months. What if somebody had told you that Tiger Woods would have this kind of fall from grace? A-Rod was on his way to being the all-time home run king of baseball. Tiger was the most famous athlete in America, on his way to breaking Jack Nicklaus’ record for major championships.

And back in those days Brian Williams had already become a different kind of star, in a different arena, after taking over for Tom Brokaw.

Will the American people forgive Williams when — and if — he comes back? Sure they will. And why not? But the part of the story that nobody knows right now is whether or not the people in Williams’ own business will forgive him, because you know they will never forget.

I have known him a long time. I like him. I coached his son in Little League baseball. Our sons later played on the same high school soccer team. He has always been what the American people found him to be on the “NBC Nightly News”: Good company. Now he goes away.

Williams is going to have to take a page out of Alex Rodriguez and Tiger Woods' stories — launch a comeback after losing the support of the people.

We all know how much America loves a comeback story. But you wonder what it will be like for Williams six months from now, after the terrible week he’s just had in February of 2015, because even in six months, the facts of what brought on this fall, in the mythical place that Looie Carnesecca used to describe as Macy’s window, will have not changed.

It will still be somebody else’s Chinook helicopter that took the fire that day, which happens to be the way Williams told it in the first place, before it became the kind of inflated war story — or conflated story — that soldiers rarely tell.

Others before Brian Williams have found out how terrible and sudden these falls are, whether they committed lesser or greater sins in the eyes of the public. You saw this one play out the way it has. First Williams tried to explain the thing away, badly. Then he said he was taking himself off the air. Now he leaves the stage for six months, because of self-inflicted wounds.

Jon Stewart, who is leaving his own hit show, “The Daily Show,” for completely different reasons, joked the other night, in a segment he did on Brian Williams, that at last somebody is being held accountable for things that happened in Iraq. It was a joke, because of all the lies we know politicians told about that war, lies that the media bought wholesale at the time, and never apologized much for not challenging. But none of this seems very funny right now, whether you know Brian Williams from television, or just know him.

For now, he doesn’t get the media death penalty that others have gotten before him. Good. You cannot simply ignore the good work he has done, and that includes out in the field, during the time when he did become the kind of star he did in reading the news and covering it. It doesn’t forgive what he did, or explain it away. But he was in one of those helicopters. He’s gone to these places. That doesn’t help him right now, either.

He told this story about that helicopter for a long time. Nobody stopped him, though so many knew the facts of what happened that day. This particular war story was more than 10 years in the telling. The stunning fall caused by it came faster. A fish tale and a cautionary tale, for everybody.","The story of Brian Williams shows just how fragile American life, and fame, may be, and how fast you can lose it all."
"Mila Kunis in Allure.Tom Munro for Allure

Mila KunisTom Munro for Allure

Mila Kunis may have a seemingly flawless figure, but that doesn’t mean she wants the whole world to see it. The 29-year-old actress, who is Allure’s March cover girl, said she isn’t comfortable with too much on-screen nudity. She said for her role in “Friends With Benefits” she wasn’t willing to get totally naked. “I showed side boob. I don’t need to show ass. You get one or the other. You don’t get both,” she told the magazine. But that doesn’t mean Kunis isn’t willing to go above and beyond for a movie role. The actress worked hard to drop a lot of weight when she appeared in “Black Swan.” “Unfortunately, the only way I could play a ballerina was to look like a ballerina…fit and bony.” Now, in her current role Kunis’ weight doesn’t really matter. She works behind-the-scenes as the voice of Meg Griffin on “Family Guy.” But in case you missed seeing her on screen, she is headed back to the big screen for “Oz the Great and Powerful,” which hits theaters in March.",Mila Kunis said she won't get totally naked on camera.
"Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull during a debate on the Budget Savings (Omnibus) Bill in the House of Representatives at Parliament House on September 14, 2016. (AAP)

Treasurer Scott Morrison insists the mid-year budget review is nothing more than an update even though it's likely to come with some tinkering to environment and welfare measures.

But whether than means disbanding the Green Army - one of Tony Abbott's signature climate policies - and saving $350 million is not yet certain.

Surrendering it would help pay for the $100 million in extra Landcare funding Mr Morrison promised the Greens in return for the minor party's support for the government's 15 per cent backpacker tax.

Then there's the $4.5 million-a-day the government says its clawing back in a crackdown on welfare recipients wrongly receiving benefits, announced by Human Services Minister Alan Tudge on Monday.

It comes as the treasurer is writing to one of the three big global rating agencies to update it on progress the government is making on budget repair.

Mr Morrison will tell Standard & Poor's - which has Australia's triple-A credit rating on a negative outlook - the government has managed in the past few months to guide about $21 billion of savings through parliament, around half the government's budget program.

S&P and other rating agencies have previously raised concerns about the make-up of the parliament and its ability to pass legislation to keep the budget on a path to balance in 2021.

Former federal Liberal leader John Hewson believes a rating downgrade is inevitable with a government that is just ""muddling through"" and a long way off delivering a surplus by the end of the decade.

Mr Morrison says he gets advice from many quarters, but it will be up to S&P what decisions it makes.

""What the government has to do, is to focus on what we can do is to get savings passed,"" the treasurer told 2GB radio on Monday.

Mr Morrison will hand down his mid-year review on December 19.

Wednesday's economic growth figures for the September quarter will assist Treasury in forming forecasts for the review, albeit data that is shaping up to be disappointing.

New economic numbers show company profits rose by a smaller-than-expected one per cent in the quarter, but were offset by a modest rise in business inventories.

It left economists still anticipating a quarter growth rate of around 0.2 per cent, dragging the annual rate down to 2.5 per cent from 3.3 per cent as of June.

A new report by Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand urges the political debate to move on from the usual argy bargy over ""debt and deficit"" and take a long term view for repairing the nation's finances.

It believes governments should be required to forecast the implications of key policy decisions over 10 years rather than four and be monitored by an independent body such as the Parliamentary Budget Office.

It highlights tax cuts implemented during the temporary mining boom a decade ago and the stimulus measures passed at the onset of the 2008-2009 global financial crisis as examples of policies created with little regard as to their long-term fiscal impact.",Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand believe budget planning should extend beyond the present four years and be monitored by an independent body.
"By now it is clear Russell Wilson and the Seattle Seahawks will not find an easy resolution to a problem neither expected when he was drafted in 2012. What exactly is the value of a quarterback who is drafted in the third round and then leads his team to back-to-back Super Bowls?

Neither side can still figure it out.

On Tuesday, Wilson gave a hint as to what he appears to be seeking during an interview with ESPN and asked his questioner: “How much would you pay me?”

Then Wilson said: “Ultimately, it comes down to the play. I let my play speak for itself and let the rest take care of itself. I continue to love the game for what it is and continue to fight and continue to play no matter how much I’m getting paid, no matter if it’s $25m or if it’s $1.5m, I’ll be ready to go.”

Given he is scheduled to make $1.5m in 2015, the final year of the four-year deal he signed after being drafted, it’s easy to assume he is looking for something approaching $25m. That could make him the highest-paid quarterback in the NFL by a significant amount. Green Bay’s Aaron Rodgers is making an average of $22m a season.

Related: Race, loss and the comeback: when Russell Wilson's defenses dropped

Statistically, Wilson is not Rodgers and in some ways Wilson is seen as the beneficiary of a tremendous Seattle defense. But Wilson has played a significant role in leading the Seahawks to the brink of two Super Bowl victories and at 26 he should have many strong years ahead of him.

The Seahawks have benefitted from getting several young stars who were either taken in the lower rounds of the draft or were undrafted. Now that the franchise has had great success, Seattle are fighting to see how it can keep as many of those players around as long as possible. None is more essential than the quarterback who led the team’s rise in his rookie season.

The struggle to find Wilson’s value in such a unique situation could linger throughout the season. Seattle will not pay $25m a year but what then is the cost of a player who brought two Super Bowls to Seattle while making just $3m on a four-year rookie contract? No one seems to know. Not yet.’

“It’s great,” Wilson said Tuesday of his relationship with management. “I don’t think it’s a bad relationship by any means. I had the opportunity to win the first Super Bowl in franchise history. Obviously, I want to stay in Seattle. I love Seattle. It’s a great place, a place I arrived on 10 May 2012. I’ll never forget that day.

“I trust the process of it all. I’m going to do everything I can to put the work in and let the rest speak for itself. When it’s all done and my career’s over, hopefully, 17 years from now, I can look back and, hopefully, it’s a job well done. That’s all I can do and all I can ask for, to give it my all every day. It’ll work out if I do that.”

Thirteen years ago, the New England Patriots resolved this issue by paying Tom Brady, a sixth-round pick in 2000, a five-year, $32m deal. But contracts have exploded since then. Plus Brady was undoubtedly the Patriots’ most valuable player. The Seahawks’ hesitation suggests that they don’t value Wilson as another Brady. Wilson’s words on Tuesday suggests he thinks he should be paid more than Brady now.

And so in Wilson v the Seahawks the answer of the quarterback’s value will not be easy to find.

And it probably won’t come soon.",What exactly is the value of a quarterback who is drafted in the third round and then leads his team to back-to-back Super Bowls?
"Drivers who won a $1.8 million class-action suit against a small Ohio town over its use of red light cameras want to collect their damages -- straight from the pockets of a new crop of motorists caught by the unpopular and all-seeing digital eyes.

Lawyers for thousands of drivers cited in New Miami filed a class-action lawsuit in 2013 against the Butler County town of 2,000 for using an automated speed camera system that they said violated due process rights.The plaintiffs won their case and a subsequent appeal by the town, which now hopes to put the case before the Ohio Supreme Court.

In the meantime, plaintiffs -- and their lawyers -- want their money. And in a case of extreme irony, they want to collect it by garnishing fines generated by New Miami's new red light camera vendor, Blue Line Solutions.

""We want to make sure that any money that New Miami received from their new speed camera program goes to pay back the plaintiffs that had to pay under the old speed camera system,"" attorney Michael Allen told FoxNews.com on Wednesday.

Allen, along with the other four attorneys involved in the suit, argue that the new stream of ticket revenue is the cash-strapped town's ""only remaining substantial asset.""

Last week, Butler County Common Pleas Court Judge Michael Oster denied the motion to garnish New Miami's current red light camera revenue -- at least until the final appeal is exhausted.

""This case is currently pending review before the Supreme Court of Ohio,"" Oster wrote on Thursday, adding that garnishment [is] an extraordinary remedy under these circumstances, which should not be considered lightly.""

Allen said the attempt was rejected for ""legal, technical reasons.""

""We're waiting for the Supreme Court to say, 'No, village of Miami. Get your wallets out and start paying these people,'"" he said.",Drivers who won a $1.8 million class action suit against a small Ohio town over its use of red light cameras want to collect their damages - straight from the pockets of a new crop of motorists caught by the unpopular and all-seeing digital eyes.
"Burger King is in hot water over an ad it released in Russia that suggests its food is better than drugs.

Earlier this week Russian media outlets reportedly refused to run a Burger King ad that opens with a Whopper crushing a red poppy flower, with the following voice over: ”This is a poppy. It was popular once, but now its time has passed.” The poppy flower, in which its seeds are used to create many forms of narcotics, including opium and heroin, is meant to symbolize a habit. The burger is crushing that habit and replacing it with its food, reported The Moscow Times.

Now the fast food company has yanked the ad from its YouTube channel.

The Moscow Times also added that the ad's tagline is a play on words. The Russian word for ""poppy"" is ""mak,"" which sounds like ""Big Mac,"" the popular sandwich produced by Burger King rival McDonald's.",An unusual Burger King ad has been pulled from Russian airways following concerns that the spot suggests the chain's Whopper sandwich is
"A family member with dementia will have a better Thanksgiving experience in a small-group setting, says expert Laura Wayman.

(CNN) -- Judy Warzenski didn't realize how bad her father, Donald's, memory had gotten until he turned to her sister Joyce and asked, ""Where's the girl who was sitting next to you?"" He did not recognize Joyce as his own daughter.

This Thanksgiving, Warzenski and her younger siblings will eat Thanksgiving dinner with their father in a private dining room at a nursing home in Pennsylvania. Moving her father there in October was an agonizing decision.

""It's really very upsetting to me,"" said Warzenski, 62, of central New Jersey. ""I promised him I would never do this. I promised him I would never put him in a nursing home, which I've come to realize is an unrealistic promise.""

Warzenski, who had commented on a previous CNN dementia story, is one of many baby boomers who must watch their loved ones suffer from Alzheimer's, the most common form of dementia. The condition, which robs people of their memory and thinking skills, necessitates tough decisions about caring for people as their minds slowly slip away.

""Often, the baby boomers are thrust into the position of caring for a loved one with dementia because that loved one declines and needs 24-hour supervision,"" said Laura Wayman, a dementia care specialist and author of ""A Loving Approach to Dementia Care.""

iReport: Who's at your Thanksgiving table?

The Alzheimer's Association says that unless a treatment or cure is found, Alzheimer's ""will become the defining disease of the Baby Boom Generation"" or, as the association calls it, ""Generation Alzheimer's."" Currently, there is no proven method to fully stop the progression of symptoms or reverse them.

Approximately 10 million baby boomers will develop Alzheimer's, according to estimates from the Alzheimer's Association. Of those who reach the age of 85, nearly one in two will get it.

Most people with Alzheimer's begin experiencing symptoms after age 60, according to the National Institutes of Health. Only 5% of people with the condition start showing signs of it before age 65; this is called early-onset Alzheimer's. Symptoms can even begin in the 30s, 40s or 50s, and in some cases there is a clear genetic link.

Can hormone therapy help protect the brain?

Many of the boomers taking care of loved ones with dementia have children of their own, forcing them into a ""sandwich generation"" situation that comes along with a lot of financial strain.

Some caregivers are resistant to asking for help, but it's essential that they have a support network, Wayman said. The caregiver's own health, finances, income and employment may suffer. Wayman's own mother died of a heart attack while caring for Wayman's father.

""They feel like they should be able to take care of this person, and they can't do it by themselves,"" she said.

More than 15 million Americans are providing unpaid care for a person with dementia, according to the Alzheimer's Association. That care amounts to $210 billion in unpaid hours. And 80% of home care for people with dementia comes from family members.

Bill Carey, 54, of Ferndale, Michigan, is one of those with early-onset Alzheimer's who is still able to articulate and understand what's happening. He is the third person in his family to receive a diagnosis of Alzheimer's.

Carey has known he has the condition for about nine years, as he wrote in the comments on a previous CNN story. A spinal tap confirmed that he has high levels of a protein associated with Alzheimer's. His speech is still coherent, but he had to give up his job as an apartment manager because he was making mistakes: for example, he could no longer handle adding up the amounts on rent checks.

""Even with simple arithmetic, my brain just shuts down,"" he said. ""It's like there's nothing there.""

Alzheimer's called 'defining disease' of baby boomers

But Carey isn't sitting by idly. He goes to a local support group with others who are in the early stages of Alzheimer's. They talk about the things that they remember and share coping techniques. He also takes the medications Aricept and Namenda, designed to slow the progression of symptoms, and they appear to be working. To keep his mind challenged, he does jigsaw puzzles on his computer.

Carey's domestic partner, Larry Stowell, sorts out his medications, handles Carey's finances and has ""been extremely supportive"" overall, Carey says. The two will spend Thanksgiving alone. Although Carey doesn't cook as much as he used to, he is charge of the turkey.

""I haven't set fire to the house yet,"" Carey said. ""I'm sure Larry will tell me when I reach that point.""

Others are still in their 50s and further gone. Mike of Massachusetts writes in an e-mail that he is ""Feeling as if I've lost my wife and had her replaced by a child who looks like her.""

His wife, Sally, is only 51 and has dementia. The couple is unsure whether it is specifically Alzheimer's, but she may get further testing to find out.

""I feel as if we can't really talk seriously about anything anymore, and I have to make all of the decisions in our lives,"" Mike said.

Mike asked that his wife's name be changed and that their last name not be used. He requested to be interviewed over e-mail instead of the phone so that his wife would not overhear and get upset.

Their adult daughter lives with them and helps out. Mike is also looking into adult day care and is trying to get friends to take Sally out of the house now and then so he can have some respite.

Mike says the two are rarely physically intimate anymore.

Mike and Sally are not going to be celebrating Thanksgiving on Thursday. Mike has to work that day, and Sally cannot cook. She can no longer operate a shower, plug in a hair dryer or use a dishwasher, Mike says.

Report: Yearly cost of Alzheimer's tops $200 billion

What to do for Thanksgiving

Wayman offers these tips for spending Thanksgiving with a person with dementia:

• While preparing the food, reminisce about past Thanksgivings. But don't ask, ""Do you remember when ..."" something happened, since you don't know how much has been forgotten. Instead, try starting your memories with ""Wasn't it fun when we ...""

• Limit the number of guests at the meal. You might even want to have two different Thanksgiving meals if there are a lot of people who would want to come. People with dementia have trouble processing and tracking information, so if there a lot of people, they may have extra difficulty following a conversation.

• Make sure there is a place for the person with dementia to rest if he or she feels overwhelmed.

• Fill your home with pleasant, traditional, soothing aromas. Put a couple of teaspoons of vanilla in a baking pan to make the kitchen smell like desserts baking. Cooking the meal may also produce smells that are familiar to your loved one with dementia.

• Incorporate the person with dementia in food preparation as appropriate, perhaps by stirring a mixture or setting a table. But safety is the priority: Wayman knows a family whose mother with dementia went to get the turkey from the oven but fell and burned herself.

Although Warzenski feels bad about her father having to be in a nursing home, he doesn't say that he needs to go home. Instead he might say, ""I need to get my car,"" she says.

Warzenski is grateful that he is safe and won't hurt himself in the middle of the night. He does not appear to be aware that he's in a facility. At this point, she just wants him to be comfortable.

""For him to pass would be a blessing to him,"" Warzenski said. ""He was a police officer. If he ever realized what had become of him, he would be mortified.""

New research offers tips for Alzheimer's caregivers","Alzheimer's Association says unless a cure is found, Alzheimer's ""will become the defining disease of the Baby Boom Generation"""
"Absentee owners lease their farmland

By Haya El Nasser, USA TODAY

Lucy Millman had such fond childhood memories of summers on grandma's farm that she chose to get married there. So when her mother gave her a share of the 300-acre family farm, its Victorian house and historic barn, Millman became a farmer.

She didn't give up her administrative job at Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill., and trade in her business suit for overalls. Instead, she stayed put and became one of a growing number of city folks who are long-distance farmers.

Because of changing demographics and rising farmland values, more farms are ending up in the hands of urbanites who have never worked the fields and probably never will. These owners hire management companies to lease the land to farmers and collect the rent or share of the crop.

For widows and children who inherit farmland, keeping it can make more financial sense than selling it. They don't have to pay capital gains taxes and can expect an annual income. Many, such as Millman, hang on to it largely because they have a sentimental attachment to land that's been in the family for more than a century.

For a growing number of investors, cornfields have turned into gold mines because of the surge of interest in ethanol.

In the past five years, farmland values appreciated from 10% to 15% a year compared with about 6% annually in the past 30 years, says Jim Farrell, president and CEO of Farmers National Company, the nation's largest farm management business, based in Omaha.

""That's really a hot piece right now,"" says Lynn Henderson, publisher of AgriMarketing, a St. Louis-based magazine that covers the business of agriculture.

As the stock market weakened and gas prices soared, more investors put their money in farms that produce crops that can be converted to fuel.

""This ethanol situation has really turned a lot of things on its ear,"" says Michael Duffy, professor of agricultural economics at Iowa State University.

Frederick Gillis III is a financial adviser in Boston. About four years ago, he considered investing in rental housing in the city but ""we decided we didn't want to be landlords with three tenants.""

His wife, who grew up in Nebraska, suggested buying a farm. He did his research and bought 160 acres at about $1,200 an acre in Chase County, Neb.

""Even before corn prices went skyrocketing, I had a great return,"" says Gillis, 40.

He and his wife now own a 260-acre sugar beet farm in Sedgwick County, Colo., and 30,000 pigs in Iowa and Nebraska.

He figures that their 15-year mortgages will be paid off by the time the oldest of their three children goes to college. The income from the land will pay their tuition.

Gillis visits the farms at least twice a year.

Still, most long-distance farmers have a more intimate connection to the land.

""For the most part, it's people who grew up on the farm,"" Farrell says. ""A lot of farmers don't have any heirs who want to farm. The number of full-time operating farmers continues to go down and land gets spread out into more hands of non-operating owners.""

Almost half of all farmland is owned by people who don't farm the land themselves, according to U.S. Agriculture Department data. About 70% of the farmland in Illinois, for example, is farmed by someone other than the owner, Henderson says.

""Perhaps they moved to town when they retired or they moved off the farm and took a job in town and inherited the farm,"" Farrell says. His company manages 3,600 farms for 4,000 landowners.

Aging is the driving force behind this growing trend, Duffy says.

In Iowa, more than a fourth of the farmland is owned by people over the age of 75, he says. In 1982, about 6% of the state's farmland was owned by people who didn't live in Iowa. As the population aged, the share jumped to 20% by 2002 and ""it's going to continue to increase,"" Duffy says.

Millman's farm has been in her family since 1860. It is now incorporated and has 13 shareholders. They hired Farmers National to lease the land to a farmer.

""This has been a self-sustaining farm and none of the shareholders had to put any money into it,"" she says. ""We use most of the money to keep up the house and it's mostly a gathering place for all the family.""

The family held a memorial service there for an aunt who died recently. And Millman says her 20-year-old son visits the farm often.

""Our job as shareholders is to continue the farming way of life, to show our children and to expose them to the farming way of life,"" Millman says.

Conversation guidelines: USA TODAY welcomes your thoughts, stories and information related to this article. Please stay on topic and be respectful of others. Keep the conversation appropriate for interested readers across the map.","Lucy Millman had such fond childhood memories of summers on grandma's farm that she chose to get married there. So when her mother gave her a share of the 300-acre family farm, its Victorian house and historic barn, Millman became a farmer."
"Transgender icon Caitlyn Jenner thinks the White House hopeful notorious for his sexist barbs would be “very good for women’s issues.”

Jenner, a longtime Republican, admitted she had her reservations about bombastic GOP front-runner Donald Trump — but still mustered begrudging admiration for her fellow reality star.

“I’m not a big fan because I think of his macho attitude,” Jenner, 66, said during a heated political argument on an upcoming episode of “I Am Cait.”

“I think he would have a hard time with women when he doesn’t even realize it, and it doesn’t mean he wouldn’t be good for women’s issues. I think he would be very good for women’s issues.”

The former Olympian maintained that she didn’t think The Donald — who has claimed he’d be “phenomenal to the women” despite controversial remarks about Megyn Kelly, Carly Fiorina and Rosie O’Donnell on the campaign trail — was “out there to destroy women or take things away.”

Jenner went on to slam Trump’s likely general election opponent, Hillary Clinton, as a “f--king liar.”

“I would never ever, ever vote for Hillary,” she insisted. “If Hillary becomes President, the country is over.”

“She was a lousy senator; she was horrible,” she continued. “Look at all the things that are going on the Middle East, all because of what she did. Look at Benghazi — she lied to us! She’s a f--king liar!”

Jenner didn’t flinch as her left-leaning friends predictably shook their heads in disbelief.

“Just because I’m a woman now doesn’t make me all of a sudden liberal,” the ex-decathlete said.

The new H&M model, who has yet to formally endorse a Presidential candidate, recently raised eyebrows with her wish to become conservative crusader Ted Cruz’s “trans ambassador” if he were elected.

“Wouldn’t it be great, let’s say he goes on to be President,” Jenner said in a profile for The Advocate. “And I have all my girls on a trans issues board to advise him on making decisions when it comes to trans issues. Isn’t that a good idea?”

ON A MOBILE DEVICE? WATCH THE VIDEO HERE.",Transgender icon Caitlyn Jenner thinks the White House hopeful notorious for his sexist barbs would be “very good for women’s issues.”
"The Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow. Russia's parliament has passed against swearwords in public performances, despite a rich tradition of vulgar slang in Russian culture. Photograph: Kirill Kudryavtsev/AFP/Getty Images

Russia's rich tradition of vulgar slang has long been a matter of pride for its authors and poets; Fyodor Dostoevsky once claimed a Russian could express his entire range of feelings with the swearword for the male sexual organ.

But a new ban on explicit language in public performances means that some of the country's best known directors, musicians and actors could face fines, and classic works of literature and cinema could be sold in special packaging with a warning sticker.

The lower house of parliament passed a law last week implementing banning ""foul language"" in public performances including movie showings, plays and concerts. Audio, video and books containing swearwords are required to be sold in special packaging featuring an explicit language warning.

The fines imposed by the legislation range from 2,500 roubles for ordinary citizens to 100,000 roubles for businesses. Repeat offences will lead to a suspension of up to one year for those who violate in an official capacity, or a 90-day cessation of activities for commercial enterprises.

Although Vladimir Putin must sign the law before it comes into effect, the president signed a similar law last year banning foul language in mass media.

Just as that law was criticised for lacking a clear definition of foul language, the new legislation on artistic works does not specify which words exactly are to be banned. Instead, it proposes that ""words and phrases not meeting the norms of modern Russian literary language"" be determined by an independent panel of experts. It's also not clear whether music and film that bleep out swearwords would fall under the ban.

This latest legislation would pose a difficulty for a wide number of authors, directors and performers. Leningrad, one of Russia's most popular bands, is famous for its vulgar lyrics, and even has an appropriately profanity-laced song that declares ""it's impossible to live without swearing"". Meanwhile, Russian blockbusters occasionally include blue dialogue, and several hit plays in recent years have featured prominent and creative use of swearwords.

Rock star Yuri Shevchuk, a Bono-like figure who challenged Putin on questions of free speech during a televised meeting with the president in 2010, warned that the legislation was part of a growing conservative trend in Russia, which he said could ""devolve into a dark age"". ""I'm against bans. I'm against all government interference in art,"" Shevchuk said. ""We have these bans within each of us, in our morality, what we can and can't allow ourselves. They're formed by upbringing and religion.""

Media outlets have already faced prosecution under the foul language in mass media, and the information agency Rosbalt was briefly closed by a judicial decision after it posted two videos that included swearing.

The mass media law was widely condemned by journalists, and the legislation on artistic performances has already drawn the ire of cultural figures. Writer Sergei Shargunov called the law ""sanctimonious"" and pointed out that even classic Russian literature contains swearwords, including the works of great Russian poets. ""So now let's ban Pushkin, Yesenin, Mayakovsky?"" he asked.

Swearing also features in the works of famous novelists such as Alexandr Solzhenitsyn and Sergei Dovlatov. The beloved, satirical Soviet novel Moscow to the End of the Line, an alcohol-heavy adventure famous for its cocktail recipes featuring such ingredients as foot odour solution, varnish and insecticide, includes vulgar language such as variations on the word whore, one of Russian's most common swearwords. It has also been adapted for the stage.

Russian language has a long tradition of vulgar slang known as mat, which is based on a few swearwords that with the help of prefixes and suffixes can form any part of speech and express both positive and negative emotions.

In a 2003 New Yorker essay prompted by a previous parliamentary attempt to ban profanity, the author of Moscow to the End of the Line, Victor Erofeyev, explained how important mat is in Russian language and culture.

""Once only spoken on the street and in prisons, mat has made its way in to opera, literature, the internet, pop songs,"" he wrote. ""Unlike indecent terminology in most languages, mat is multi-levelled, multifunctional, and extensively articulated – more a philosophy than a language.""","Parliament's lower house passes law implementing ban and fines for foul language in theatres, music gigs and cinemas"
"This week’s challenge was suggested by regular Numberplay contributor Sunil Singh, a math consultant with Scolab, a creative and effervescent educational technology laboratory based in Montreal. The puzzle is a seemingly simple question about a would-be bride. Is marriage in her near future? Let’s find out. Here’s Sunil:

One of the old textbooks I used to teach from for a course called Geometry and Discrete Mathematics had the following wonderful historical probability problem.

In certain parts of rural Russia, a would-be bride would gather six long pieces of straw or grass and grasp them in her hand.

She then would randomly tie pairs of knots on the top and the bottom.

Since there are six blades of grass sticking out above and below the hand, she will tie three knots on the top and three knots on the bottom.

The story goes, that if she formed one big ring, she would get married soon.

What is the probability that she will get married?

Hint: First get the total possible knot combinations … and then start figuring out all the ways she could form ONE closed loop with her six knots!

That’s it for this week’s challenge. I also asked Sunil to say a bit why he was inspired by this topic and problem. Here’s his response:

Probability was always my favorite subject at school— both as a student and as a teacher. The mathematical characteristics of the answer were ostensibly simple— a fraction less than one that needed a numerator of possible outcomes and denominator of total outcomes. As such, the mechanics of the math would usually be within the confines of basic multiplication and addition. And, while the playing field would be leveled, quite often even simple probability problems would have an answer that would escape the intuitive understanding of many.

Take for example the classic question regarding a mother having two children [see The Two Child Problem]. You are told that at least one of her kids is a girl. What is the probability of her having two girls? The instinctive answer of fifty percent is often matched by an incorrect mathematical approach. The best way to illustrate the correct answer is too use the simple strategy of listing all the possible outcomes of having two children, understanding that the order of having the boy/girl scenario produces a different possibility.

BG, GB, GG, and BB

However, we were told that there was at least one girl. Therefore we must eliminate boy/boy from all our possible outcomes. The answer is then one in three.

Like the Russian Bride problem, most probability questions have various strategies than can be employed in solving them. One of them that should help most people is a visual one: actually drawing six blades of grass and creating three loops on the top and three loops on the bottom. This will give you the visual understanding of what it means to make one big ring, and not multiple, smaller rings!

For people to be inspired by mathematics, the question should be simple to understand and spark an intrinsic curiosity for the answer. The answer may be elusive, but the desire to find out should not be.

I made a video for Buzzmath that touched upon this very cornerstone of exploring mathematical thinking with authenticity and joy: Pose and seek wonderful questions!

As always, once you’re able to read comments for this post, use Gary Hewitt’s Enhancer to correctly view formulas and graphics. (Click here for an intro.) And send your favorite puzzles to gary.antonick@NYTimes.com.

Check reader comments on Friday for solutions by Sunil Singh.",Test your powers of prediction with this probability puzzle by math educator Sunil Singh.
"Apple has long been known for its aesthetic approach to tech, but with this week’s announcement of the Apple Watch, the company is taking on fashion—looking to impose structure on the very unstructured concept of personal style.

“It’s incredibly customizable, so you can find one that reflects your personal style and taste,” Apple’s CEO Tim Cook assured the audience at Tuesday’s announcement—an occasion for which he wore a normcore ensemble, unironically. Considering that the Apple Watch comes in only three near-identical face styles and half a dozen band-types, his commentary is not so different from Henry Ford’s reassurance that “people can have the Model T in any color—so long as it’s black.”

Yes, the Apple Watch offers more customization than the company’s products have in the past. But when you consider its potential social footprint, as well as Apple’s take-no-prisoners approach to product introductions, the device’s shape, colorways, and embellishments become a mandate, rather than a personal choice.

From an aesthetic perspective, the Apple Watch is reasonably attractive, if unremarkable—not too different from traditional sport watches, but with the air of a fancy Tamagotchi strapped to your wrist. But its combination of cachet, tech functionality, and millions of Apple fanatics who consistently drink the company’s Kool-Aid lays the groundwork for what is likely to be a runaway success.

And that is a shame. In a worst-case scenario for fashion, Apple will not only attain a monopoly on the timepiece market, but also the confidence to wield a larger impact on how we dress ourselves each day. The watch is no doubt an indication of how Apple will approach future fashion products, offering the masses a constrictive framework in which to dress themselves, all under the guise of customizable “self expression.”

And that places personal style in its purest form at risk—inhibiting a consumer’s right to varied choices. It’s not melodramatic to say that while it’s a watch today, it could be a whole, technologically optimized wardrobe in two decades’ time. The company now boasts Angela Ahrendts, Burberry’s former shape-shifting CEO, as a senior vice president.

Every additional fashion creation from Apple will inadvertently create a less diverse shopping landscape. Sure, we could chalk it up to innovation—but if our timepieces become as uniform as our cell phones, the loss of the Rolexes, Seikos, Breitlings, Patek Phillipes, and Swatches of the world would be an even sadder loss for fashion as a whole. And that’s not to mention how if Apple continues down this path, clothing brands – from Gucci to Gap – could face similar impact.

The more Apple invades the fashion market, the more it will look to create a robotic consumerist culture (something it’s already done with tech)—in turn manipulating the greatest enjoyments of style and personal expression.

Misty White Sidell is a fashion, style, and culture journalist residing in New York City. A Boston native and Fashion Institute of Technology alum, Sidell has also contributed to ELLE, The New York Observer, The Daily Beast, Newsweek and Fashionista, among others.",The new watch could be the first in a series of products that help Apple determine how we dress and express ourselves
"Former Hershey Bears forward Nicolas Deschamps, who spent three games with the Capitals last season, has signed with Oulu Kärpät, a Finnish squad in the country’s top league, Liiga. The announcement was made on the league’s website.

In 65 games with the Bears last season, Deschamps scored 40 points (15 goals, 25 assists). It was his second season with the AHL club, after coming over midseason from the Toronto Marlies, swapped with the Maple Leafs for Kevin Marshall. Deschamps was originally drafted 35th overall in 2008 by Anaheim, then was dealt to Toronto in early 2012 following four seasons with the QMJHL’s Chicoutimi Sagueneens.

A Google translation of the article — not the most precise method for exact wording, but the sentiment still stands — said Deschamps “did not want to make the two-direction agreement to the NHL and the AHL play anymore.” Per CapGeek, the 24-year-old was coming off a one-year, two-way deal worth $65,000 at the AHL level and $726,000 at the NHL level, after signing a qualifying offer last season once his entry-level contract expired.

The article’s translation also said Deschamps hopes to return to North America at some point in his career; his agreement with Karpat is a one-year deal. He was one of three non-tendered unrestricted free agents for the Capitals this offseason, all of whom were not extended qualifying offers. Peter LeBlanc is headed to Sweden, while Brett Flemming remains thus far unsigned.

The Capitals are still in contract negotiations with Cam Schilling, the only restricted free agent left unsigned. Via email last week, Schilling’s agent said, “Making progress but nothing imminent.” Washington has already reached deals with Michael Latta, Edward Pasquale and Nate Schmidt.

Alex Prewitt covers the Washington Capitals. Follow him on Twitter

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customFields- published 1406131144/1406131144000/1406131144 tracking: {authors=Alex Prewitt, blog_name=capitals-insider, content_category=Sports, in_url_headline=former-hershey-forward-nicolas-deschamps-signs-in-finland, post_id=14744, section={section=sports, subsection=null}, show_ads=true, show_comments=true} allow_comments: true published_date:Jul 23, 2014 3:59:04 PM close date: Aug 6, 2014 3:59:04 PM",Deschamps was one of three non-tendered UFAs from Washington this offseason.
"It’s a great time to be in the market for a used car. The Wall Street Journal recently cited data indicating that used-car prices declined for the four consecutive months through August. USA Today noted that the average used car purchased at a franchised auto dealership sold for $10,883 in August, down 1.6% from the previous year and 2.4% versus July 2014. Edmunds.com predicted that used car prices would dip around 2% overall this year, and that some used vehicles—in particular, large crossover SUVs like the Chevy Traverse—would drop in price by upwards of 8%.

What’s more, the forecast calls for used-car prices to stay on a downward trend for the foreseeable future. AutoTrader.com, the Atlanta-based online marketplace for new and used vehicles, says that its inventory of certified pre-owned vehicles has risen 6% since March, and that by year’s end buyers can expect a handful of top “pre-loved” car models—including the 2011 versions of the Ford Fusion, Toyota Corolla, and Honda CR-V—to be priced at roughly 5% less than what dealers were asking just six months ago.

What accounts for the sudden price dip? A quick review of what has happened in the new and used car markets over the past few years sheds some light. In 2011, used vehicle prices hit a 16-year high in the wake of the Great Recession, when relatively few consumers were purchasing or leasing new cars because money was tight and credit was less available. That meant a shrinking supply of used cars, as there were fewer trade-ins or vehicles coming off lease. The “Cash for Clunkers” stimulus program also removed millions of used vehicles from the market, further tightening supply.

According to Cars.com, the average 2012 listing price for five popular used vehicles five or more years old had risen a whopping 29% over the three years prior. Around that time, however, new car leases and sales surged, rising 13% in 2012 and continuing with impressive growth in 2013 and 2014. All of those new vehicle purchases and leases have translated to a parallel rise in trade-ins and cars coming off leases. “Leasing has surged in recent years with thousands of those cars coming back to dealerships as used cars,” Michelle Krebs, AutoTrader.com senior analyst, said via press release. “The abundance of returned lease cars should result in used cars coming off their historical highs of recent years, representing good buys for consumers.”

The takeaway is that used cars are cheap, at least when compared to the record highs of a few years ago, and that the market for previously owned vehicles should remain attractive to buyers through the near future.

Yet this turn of events isn’t all good for consumers. When used car prices tank, so does the value of your trade-in, if you have one. Also, automakers are more likely to offer low-price lease deals when their anticipated resale value is high. The flip side is that when used car prices crater, like they’re doing now, car dealerships must assume that they’ll be forced to sell off-lease vehicles for less money—and therefore they need to make more money from the person leasing the car in the first place. In other words, typical monthly payments for a customer leasing a new car are likely to rise compared to the rates available not long ago.","When the market for new car sales is hot, smart buyers know to look instead at the overflowing inventory of used cars—a supply that's cheap and getting cheaper."
"Kuni Takahash for The New York Times

Kapil Yadav arrived by helicopter at his bride’s village before their wedding in the eastern outskirts of Delhi, India, last month. Farmers and landowners in the area have prospered after a recent spate of land development.

Mr. Yadav, a wheat farmer, has never flown, nor has anyone else in the family. And this will only be a short trip: delivering his son less than two miles to the village of the bride. But like many families in this expanding suburb of New Delhi, the Yadavs have come into money, and they want everyone to know it.

“People will remember that his son went on a helicopter for his marriage,” a cousin, Vikas Yadav, shouted over the din. “People should know they are spending money. For us, things like this are the stuff of dreams.”

The Yadavs are members of a new economic caste in India: nouveau riche farmers. Land acquisition for expanding cities and industry is one of the most bitterly contentious issues in India, rife with corruption and violent protests. Yet in some areas it has created pockets of overnight wealth, especially in the outlying regions of the capital, New Delhi.

By Western standards, few of these farmers are truly rich. But in India, where the annual per capita income is about $1,000 and where roughly 800 million people live on less than $2 a day, some farmers have gotten windfalls of several million rupees by selling land. Over the years, farmers and others have sold more than 50,000 acres of farmland as Noida has evolved into a suburb of 300,000 people with shopping malls and office parks.

That has created what might seem to be a pleasant predicament: What to do with the cash? Some farmers have bought more land, banked money, invested in their children’s educations or made improvements to their homes. In Punjab, a few farmers told the Indian news media they wanted to use their land riches to move to Canada. But still others are broke after indulging in spending sprees for cars, holiday trips and other luxuries.

“They go for Land Rovers,” said N. Sridharan, a professor at the School of Planning and Architecture in New Delhi. “They buy more televisions, and quite a lot of money also goes into drinking. They try to blow it out.”

Much of this conspicuous consumption is bad financial planning by farmers who have little education or experience with the seductive heat of cold cash. But some sociologists say such ostentatious spending, especially on weddings, is rooted in the desire of lower castes to show off their social mobility, partly by emulating the practices of the upper castes.

In India, as in many places, a wedding has always been equal parts religious ceremony, theatrical production and wealth demonstration project. For the country’s elite, the latest matrimonial trend is destination weddings in Bali or palaces in Rajasthan. For the new rich, hiring a helicopter is motivated by the same impulses for excitement and one-upmanship.

“Everyone wants to be better than the others,” said Subhash Goyal, whose travel company handles three or four helicopter weddings every year in the Delhi region. “This is how the new rich behave. They want to show off and say, ‘I have more money than you.’ ”

On the morning of his son’s wedding, Mr. Yadav sat in the shabby brick courtyard of his village home, finalizing the last details of a ceremony that seemed to straddle different centuries. He had earned about $109,000 selling three acres of his ancestral land. He banked some of the money, renovated his house, bought a small Hyundai and purchased three more acres farther out to continue farming.

He estimates that his share of the wedding — the bride’s father pays a bigger share — will cost him $13,000, including $8,327 for the chopper. “It is for my happiness, for the happiness of my son,” said Mr. Yadav, 36. “In my marriage, I went in a car. But that was a different era.”

As the family began the traditional procession through the village, his son, Kapil, 19, was dressed in embroidered finery atop a white horse. Mr. Yadav’s rented white Lexus finally got around the bullock cart; he was taking it to the bride’s village while his son rode in the chopper. As another touch, Mr. Yadav also had hired a truck — the Reenu Rock Star 2010 Hi-Fi DJ — to lead the procession. It was playing Hindi pop so loudly that the brick homes of the village seemed to shake.

Then a problem arose: The truck was stuck at a tight corner, and the procession was pinned between the truck and a herd of water buffaloes. As people slipped around the marooned Reenu Rock Star, another problem materialized: The helicopter was already circling above.

Usually, the procession is a slow parade to wave to neighbors. But the Yadavs had rented the helicopter by the hour, so everyone started running, sidestepping the piles of water buffalo dung and the channel of open sewage. The corpulent mother of the groom, her flesh spilling out of her sari, giggled as she barreled toward the arriving aircraft.

“Oh my God!” she exclaimed. “We are so happy!”

The helicopter landed in a clearing. In the distance, the concrete skeletons of new apartment towers were clouded in a haze. Hundreds of villagers surrounded the small blue helicopter, which was guarded by a detail of local police officers. Then the groom and two relatives jumped in, and the blue bird rose over the village, as Mr. Yadav hopped in the Lexus and roared toward the bride’s village.

The ride took five minutes, and Mr. Yadav barely beat the arriving chopper. When the son stepped onto solid ground, he was wearing a garland made of 100 rupee notes. The helicopter was to return in the morning, after the wedding ceremony, to deliver the newlyweds back to the groom’s village and the rest of their lives.

But as the white-haired pilot prepared to depart, the father of the bride, Davinder Singh Yadav, pulled him close. “Please take it over the village a few times before you leave,” he shouted. “The village is so big. Everybody needs to see it.”

A moment later, as the copter circled above the small farming houses, the father said: “The whole village will remember. The whole world will remember.”",Land acquisition has created pockets of instant wealth and a new economic caste in India: nouveau riche farmers.
"In any case, he had already made up his mind. Soon he was volunteering information about his associates in the K.G.B.'s local office and disclosing how Soviet officers were listening in on F.B.I. transmissions.

His American handlers were confident that he was not feeding them disinformation. ""He couldn't lie,"" said one of them, Bill Smits, since retired, ""because he didn't know how much we knew.""

Mr. Yuzhin says he was not motivated by money, and Mr. Smits says the F.B.I. did not pay Mr. Yuzhin at the time. As for any financial arrangements later, the bureau declines as a matter of policy to discuss them, and Mr. Yuzhin is also silent. A Crucial Mistake

After 10 months, Mr. Yuzhin returned home. But two years later, in July 1978, as the bureau had confidently predicted, he was back in San Francisco for the K.G.B., this time acting as a reporter for the Soviet news agency Tass and serving once again as a leading source of information for the F.B.I.

He had one close, if comic, brush with disaster. The F.B.I. had given him a new spy camera concealed in a cigarette lighter. He put it in his back pocket and, within hours, lost it -- in the auditorium of the Soviet Consulate, as it turned out.

It was found by a handyman who, trying to light a flame, took four pictures of his own face and soon discovered the gadget's purpose. The K.G.B. undertook a frantic mole hunt, matched by the F.B.I.'s equally frantic, and unsuccessful, effort to recover the device. But Mr. Yuzhin escaped immediate suspicion.

On another occasion, F.B.I. agents say, Mr. Yuzhin snapped photos with a miniature camera inside the local K.G.B. office, unaware that he was also photographing a reflection of himself in a mirror. That accident meant that his role as an American agent might now be known not only by his handlers in the highly compartmentalized world of counterintelligence but also by anyone who happened to gain access to the photos. It was an accident that may have led to Mr. Yuzhin's undoing: people familiar with Mr. Ames's debriefings by the F.B.I. say that at some point he apparently became aware of it.

Meanwhile, Mr. Yuzhin continued supplying information, managing, Mr. Smits said, to ""Xerox the annual report of the K.G.B. political branch"" and smuggling out crucial cable traffic. He also tipped the F.B.I. to the existence of a Soviet spy somewhere ""up north,"" a lead that helped Norway break the espionage case of a Foreign Ministry official, Arne Treholt, arrested in 1984 and sentenced to 20 years in prison. ""It was one case we were giving up on,"" Mr. Smits said. The Unraveling

In 1982, apparently as a matter of routine, Mr. Yuzhin was called home for debriefing and what turned out to be a series of lackluster assignments in Moscow. Before he left, the C.I.A. tried to arrange for contact with him there. But he refused, fearing it too risky.

On Dec. 23, 1986, he was summoned by his chief and ordered to the airport for an errand. There, he said, he was shoved into a room, handcuffed and held incommunicado on charges of high treason. His wife, Nadya, had had no inkling of his double life and was as stunned as anyone, she said in an interview here, speaking in halting English.

He had been under suspicion and surveillance for some time, he learned later. A video camera had even been hidden in his Moscow apartment, recording his every conversation and intimate moment with his family.

Yet his interrogators' questioning, Mr. Yuzhin says, showed that some of their information was spotty. He could, in fact, refute accusations that he had been in contact with the C.I.A. after returning to Moscow. As for the rest, he said, ""I painted a terrible picture of the F.B.I.,"" contending that the bureau had exploited him ruthlessly, a portrayal that he said the Soviet authorities were predisposed to accept.

He was convicted and sentenced to 15 years' ""strict regime."" For a time during his imprisonment, he occupied the cell in which a notable dissident, Anatoly Marchenko, had just died of mistreatment. The F.B.I. lost track of him and gave him up for dead.

In February 1992, the amnesty granted by Mr. Yeltsin freed Mr. Yuzhin from a labor camp, Perm 35 in the Urals. A speaking invitation from the World Affairs Council of Northern California afforded the Yuzhins and their teen-age daughter, Olga, the opportunity to leave Russia two years ago, while a grown son remained behind.

Since then, Mr. Yuzhin has eked out a living in the Bay Area as a writer and archivist cataloguing documents of the Soviet era and researching the cases of prisoners of war who disappeared in the Soviet Union, including the anti-Nazi war hero Raoul Wallenberg.

""I never regretted what I did,"" he said. Indeed, he said, his imprisonment confirmed his belief in the course he had chosen, showing him as it did a side of the Soviet state that he had never witnessed in his privileged position as a K.G.B. officer. ""The more I thought, the more I realized I did the right thing,"" he said, ""because I got another taste of the system.""

Photos: After five years' imprisonment in the old Soviet Union, Boris Yuzhin is back in the San Francisco area, where he once alerted the F.B.I. to Soviet spies' drop sites like this one in Christopher Park. (Jim Wilson/The New York Times); Boris Yuzhin was a K.G.B. lieutenant colonel when this photograph of him was taken in 1982.","""I still remember, I remember this town,"" Boris Yuzhin murmured, looking for landmarks as he piloted his Dodge van up the steep curves of the Diamond Heights section here. Recognizing a small shopping center, he veered off, parked the van outside a pizzeria and circled on foot through Christopher Park to a secluded pathway among cedars and pines. There, on his knees, he pried at the planks of a wooden staircase, searching for holes.   In the late 1970's and early 80's, Mr. Yuzhin and other officers of the K.G.B., the Soviet intelligence agency, scouted this ""drop"" and others like it in the Bay Area as places to hide microfilm for pickup by other Soviet spies. Then, as a double agent, he disclosed those locations, and much other information, to the F.B.I."
"It was a heartbreaking end for the women’s USA soccer team, as it lost to Japan Sunday in the FIFA Women’s World Cup Finals.

And now that the game is over, people around the world are turning to the social web to express their feelings on the game’s outcome. It’s a trending term on Google and a trending topic on Twitter.

Seven of the 10 trending topics on Twitter are related to the game. Besides the obvious #worldcupfinal hashtag, #redcard, “Brandi Chastain,” “Julie Foudy,” “Tobin Heath,” “Congrats Japan” and “Great Game” are trending. “Pearl Harbor” is also trending, as people make unfortunate jokes about a second Pearl Harbor attack if Japan had lost the game.

Here’s a look at what people around the web are saying.","Now that the USA vs. Japan game is over, people around the world are turning to the social web to express their feelings on the game's outcome."
"There’s a new breed of movie star these days. They’re talented and tireless and very ambitious. They want you to buy tickets to see what they do at their day job, and they’re also hoping you’ll support their other, between-movies career: moonlighting as a musician.

Some of them succeed beyond their dreams. Jared Leto, who recently visited Mansfield fronting 30 Seconds to Mars, took five years off from acting because his band was filling stadiums. Jack Black is equally known for his comic acting skills and the outrageous rock of his band, Tenacious D. On the other hand, there are usually plenty of empty seats at concerts featuring Juliette Lewis and the Licks, Kevin Costner and the Modern West, and — heaven help us — Steven Seagal & Thunderbox.

So why should audiences want to see Jeff Bridges at the Wilbur Theatre on Wednesday, a guitar slung over his shoulder, when he makes his initial splash in Boston on a debut East Coast tour with a quartet he calls the Abiders?

Well, take that band name. Bridges has achieved cult status for starring as the Dude, and as “The Big Lebowski” acolytes know, the Dude abides. Don’t count out the more mainstream filmgoers who were thrilled when Bridges won Oscar gold for his portrayal of troubled country singer Bad Blake in “Crazy Heart.”

Turns out Bridges is damn good at this music thing. He was playing guitar and writing songs years before he clicked as an actor in “The Last Picture Show” (1971). His voice and self-penned music have been heard on movie soundtracks for more than four decades – the first was the laidback psychedelic ditty “Lost in Space” in the 1969 film “John and Mary,” and the most recent was “The Better Man,” the laidback country tune over the end credits in last year’s “R.I.P.D.” He’s also released two albums: “Be Here Soon” in 2000, and “Jeff Bridges” in 2011.

Bridges, 64, is the real thing: a bona fide movie star who’s never let that line of work get in the way of his love for creating and performing music. His easygoing manner at the microphone, whether singing a song or talking about its back story, makes a Bridges concert very Dude-like. He spoke by phone from Santa Barbara, Calif., where he can often be found hanging out in his home recording studio.

Q. As a film actor, you get reactions to what you do from a small group of people on a set. Now you’re playing music to big audiences who are cheering. Is that a big kick for you?

A. Oh, it’s wonderful! It’s like doing an improvisation. That’s how I relate to it. I kind of feel like I’m in it together with the audience. It’s not an us-and-them kind of thing. We’re sort of having a party together.

Q. Had you thought much about a going for a second career in music before “Crazy Heart?”

A. Prior to “Crazy Heart,” I did tool around and stuff. But that film really set a fire under my musical tail. I was working with [producer-writer-arranger] T Bone Burnett and that great band that he got together for it. And with the success of the movie, I thought, well, maybe I can get a band together with my local buds here in Santa Barbara, and tour and make records and stuff, and that’s kind of what I’ve been doin’.

Q. Was the band called Jeff Bridges & the Abiders from the start?

A. We were all sittin’ around trying to figure out what we were gonna call ourselves. I was making another “Lebowski” reference, thinking of calling us The Royal We. But the guys thought that was a little too obscure, and they were all diggin’ the Abiders, so that’s what we ended up with.

Q. Introduce me to the Abiders.

A. I sing and play acoustic and electric guitar, and some piano. My buddy Chris Pelonis, who I’ve been playing with for about 20 years, is on guitars and harmonica and keyboards. We’ve got Bill Flores on pedal steel and accordion and lap guitar, Randy Tico is on bass, and Tom Lackner is on drums.

Jeff Bridges and The Abiders performed onstage at the Lebowski Fest in April in Los Angeles.

Q. The band’s been playing out west for a few years now. What took you so long to come east?

A. We played different late-night TV shows there, but we’d never done a tour. We’ve toured the West Coast pretty extensively, and we did New Mexico and Arizona and Nevada and Texas. So we’ve been workin’ our way over. It was just time to hit the East Coast.

Q. What were you listening to as a kid that might have influenced you when you started writing?

A. My brother Beau, who’s eight years older than I am, turned me on to all the great classic early rockers: Chuck Berry, Buddy Holly, Little Richard, James Brown, and those guys. So that’s who I was kind of raised on. Then of course in my era, we’ve got Dylan and the Beatles, and those cats.

Q. So how did you come to be playing more country than rock?

A. I think the first time I really got into country was on “The Last Picture Show.” We shot that in Texas, and the soundtrack was almost exclusively Hank Williams. Then my buddy Johnny Goodwin moved to Nashville a while ago. He’s always been interested in country tunes, and we’ve been writing a lot of country together. And of course Dylan has got a lot of country in his stuff.

Q. What did playing Bad Blake do to your musical tastes?

A. When we were doing “Crazy Heart,” and we were trying to figure out what kind of music Bad Blake played, T Bone gave me a real gift. He made me a list of all of the musicians that Blake would have listened to growing up in Fort Worth. He knew what he was talking about because that’s where he grew up. On that list was Hank and Merle Haggard and Johnny Cash, and all those guys. But there was also Leonard Cohen and the Beatles and Ornette Coleman.

A. Yeah, Ornette was also from Fort Worth. T Bone’s point was that he didn’t want to create a totally recognizable country sound. He wanted to make sort of an alternate country universe for Bad Blake. I appreciated that, and I took that to heart in the kind of music I present, as well.","Taking a break from his primary career, veteran actor Jeff Bridges embraces his alter-ego as a rootsy singer-songwriter, making his Boston debut on Wednesday at the Wilbur Theatre."
"So, he moved to Denver, Colorado and took a job at a local gym to try to learn the business from the bottom up. Arsenuk says it taught him mainly what not to do. The club he worked in was very corporate and he says it felt like the company was more interested in selling memberships, products and supplements rather than teaching training techniques and focusing on members' exercise results.

Around the same time, Arsenuk discovered CrossFit, a company that provides accredited training seminars in its fitness regimen. He took a two day certification program, moved back to the East coast and in 2008 opened a CrossFit affiliated gym in Montclair, New Jersey under his own brand name, Guerrilla Fitness.

As a new gym owner, Arsenuk saID the CrossFit annual affiliation fee (now, $3,000) was well worth it. He had access to all of its fitness and nutrition information and the added benefit of having his gym listed on the CrossFit website to help attract potential members. He also kept his start-up costs low by paying $1200 to rent 900 square feet of a much larger space and not hiring any employees at first.

Read MoreCareer slump? Customize a new one!

""I was the janitor. I was the coach,"" he said. ""I was the administrator. I was the carpenter.""

Seven years later, Guerrilla Fitness occupies the entire 8,000 square foot space in Montclair and boasts 3 additional locations in New Jersey with thirty-three employees and close to one thousand members. Arsenuk says his wife supported him throughout the entire journey and waited until two years after he opened the first gym-- when the business was starting to show some industry muscle-- to tell him what she was originally thinking.

""She said, 'I thought we were finished. I didn't know what you had just done.'"" He added that she had secretly put a time limit on getting his new career off the ground.

She said, ""You had three years. Apparently, you don't need it.""",One man left a Wall Street job to pursue a 'workout' passion.
"I've got good news and bad news for the homely among us. The good news is that people can't tell how smart you are by how good you look. But the bad news is that they think they can.

As reported last month in the journal PLoS ONE, researchers had 40 men and 40 women take a standard test of intelligence. They then took photographs of their faces, instructing them ""to adopt a neutral, non-smiling expression and avoid facial cosmetics, jewelry, and other decorations."" For the next step, they had 160 strangers review the photographs. Half of these reviewers rated the photos according to how smart the subjects looked, while the other half rated according to the subjects' attractiveness.

The researchers found a strong relationship between how attractive a person was rated, and reviewers' assumptions about how intelligent they were. This relationship was especially strong among women. But when it came to actual intelligence, there was a significant gender gap: reviewers were able to accurately gauge the real intelligence of men, but not of women. They're not exactly sure why this would be, but one possible explanation is that women are simply judged more pervasively on their looks than men are: ""The strong halo effect of attractiveness may thus prevent an accurate assessment of the intelligence of women."" The finding of a much stronger relationship between attractiveness and perceived intelligence among women seems to back up this claim.

On the other hand, when the researchers looked at perceived intelligence versus actual intelligence, as measured by the subjects' IQ scores, they found no relationship whatsoever. In fact, visual assessments of a persons' intelligence seem to largely be based on stereotypes related, at least partially, to notions of attractiveness. To test this, the researchers constructed ""intelligence stereotypes"" for both men and women, based on the observers' assessments of subjects' intelligence:

Our data suggest that a clear mental image how a smart face should look does exist for both men and women within the community of human raters. The intelligence-stereotype shows the same transformations in facial shape space for both men and women. In both sexes, a narrower face with a thinner chin and a larger prolonged nose characterizes the predicted stereotype of high-intelligence, while a rather oval and broader face with a massive chin and a smallish nose characterizes the prediction of low-intelligence.

The images below show the constructed intelligence stereotypes for men and women, using composite photos of the men and women who participated in the study.

Credit: Kleisner K, Chvátalová V, Flegr J (2014) Perceived Intelligence Is Associated with Measured Intelligence in Men but Not Women. PLoS ONE

Credit: Kleisner K, Chvátalová V, Flegr J (2014) Perceived Intelligence Is Associated with Measured Intelligence in Men but Not Women. PLoS ONE

These assumptions carry centuries of cultural baggage, and more to the point they're simply wrong: the researchers ran a bunch of regressions and found no relationship between these facial stereotypes and a person's actual intelligence. While ""men and women with specific facial traits were perceived as highly intelligent,"" the researchers conclude, ""these faces of supposed high and low intelligence probably represent nothing more than a cultural stereotype because these morphological traits do not correlate with the real intelligence of the subjects."" Notably, the study was conducted in the Czech Republic and doesn't say a word about the race or ethnicity of study participants or observers – it would be fascinating to see to what extent these findings are consistent across different cultures.

So in the end, where does this all leave us? While it's comforting to know that there's no real connection between brains and beauty, we nonetheless form opinions of each other as if there were. This can have measureable, real-world consequences: Daniel Hamermesh of the University of Texas found that being attractive ""helps you earn more money, find a higher-earning spouse (and one who looks better, too!) and get better deals on mortgages."" All told, the lifetime earnings difference between people at opposite ends of the attractiveness spectrum averages out to about $230,000, in beauty's favor.

Finally, the research does suggest one thing we can all start doing to boost others' assessments of our intelligence: smile more. ""There seems to be a correlation between semblances of emotions of joy or anger in perceptions of high or low intelligence in faces, respectively,"" the researchers write. ""The ‘high intelligence’ faces appear to be smiling more than the ‘low intelligence’ faces.""",People can't tell how smart you are by how good you look. But they think they can.
"WILMINGTON, Del. -- Questions about the death of an ex-Pentagon official multiplied Wednesday as police reported he had been wandering downtown Wilmington disoriented in the days before his body was found at a nearby landfill.

Two days before John P. Wheeler III's body was found, parking garage videos showed him in a black suit with no tie, wearing only one shoe even though there was snow outside. He was carrying his other ripped, tasseled burgundy loafer.

He told a parking attendant he wanted to get warm before he paid for parking, but police said his car wasn't there. He also said his briefcase was stolen and repeatedly said he wasn't drunk.

The last time he was seen alive on video, he was wandering an office building and had refused help from several people who approached him, police said.

About 14 hours later, he was found in the landfill.

Investigators consider Wheeler's death a homicide but have been mum about who killed him or how he died. Police also have refused to say what injuries, if any, were on Wheeler's body when it was found Friday morning at the Cherry Island Landfill in a truckload of trash collected from 10 bins in Newark, 15 miles away.

""We believe it was a homicide because it was ruled a homicide by the state medical examiners,"" said Newark Police Lt. Mark A. Farrall.

The cause of death was pending toxicology and further forensic studies, said Carl Kanefsky of the Delaware Department of Health and Social Services, which includes the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner. He said complete autopsy results could take weeks.

Wheeler, a West Point graduate whose 45-year career included a key role in establishing the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, was recorded by surveillance cameras wandering inside a Wilmington office building, the Nemours Building, as late as 8:30 p.m. Dec. 30, Farrall said.

Wheeler, 66, of New Castle, was similarly disoriented a night earlier when video cameras recorded him at the New Castle County courthouse parking garage. Attendant Iman Goldsborough said Wheeler came to her window around 6:40 p.m., with only one shoe. He carried his right shoe, and had no overcoat even though it was cold, she said.

Farrall acknowledged that police have large gaps to fill in the timeline.

""We know he was seen on the 29th in a disoriented state and we know he was seen on the 30th in a disoriented state. Where he was in between those times, we're still working to try to figure out — and of course, what he was doing after 8:30 p.m. on the 30th,"" Farrall said.

Wheeler's wife, Katherine Klyce, hasn't spoken publicly about the case. Police say she was not in Delaware last week. But she was seen at a New York City condominium building where the couple own a unit, the superintendent has said. Police have talked to Klyce since her husband's body was found.

Wheeler's family issued a short statement Monday: ""As you must appreciate, this is a tragic time for the family. We are grieving our loss. Please understand that the family has no further comment at this time. We trust that everyone will respect the family's privacy.""

Several of Wheeler's friends, citing the family's statement, have declined to comment on whether he suffered from some malady that would account for his odd behavior.

Police believe Wheeler's body was in one of the trash bins collected early on the route, which began at 4:20 a.m. Dec. 31, Farrall said.

They found his car at an Amtrak station where Wheeler often caught the train to Washington. It had been parked there since Dec. 13, though it wasn't unusual for Wheeler to leave the car there for long periods of time, Farrall said.

On Dec. 29, the day before Wheeler was last see alive, he had asked a pharmacist in New Castle for a ride to Wilmington, about five miles away. Pharmacist Murali Gouro, who had filled Wheeler's prescriptions in the past, said Wheeler looked upset, The News Journal of Wilmington reported. Gouro said he offered to call Wheeler a cab, but Wheeler left.

Police say Wheeler was seen Thursday afternoon near an intersection about four blocks from the office of attorney Bayard Marin, who was representing Wheeler and Klyce in a heated property dispute. Marin said he last spoke with his client on Dec. 27, and didn't know what he was doing in Wilmington after that.

Marin was representing Wheeler in a lawsuit seeking to block Frank and Regina Marini from continuing to build a new house across the street from his duplex. The Marini house, taller than others in neighborhood, obstructed Wheeler's view of a park and the Delaware River.

Late on Dec. 28, several smoke bombs of the type used for rodent control were tossed into the Marini house, scorching the floors, Chief Deputy State Fire Marshal Alan Brown said. Farrall said the dispute remains one facet of the investigation.",Police in Delaware say a prominent national defense consultant was seen alive in downtown Wilmington less than 24 hours before his body was found in a Newark landfill.
"Ann Romney is waving off rumors that her husband Mitt Romney might run for president a third time.

“Done. Completely,"" she told the Los Angeles Times during a launch event for the Ann Romney Center for Neurological Diseases, in a story published Monday night. “Not only Mitt and I are done, but the kids are done. Done. Done. Done.”

But when asked if she could change her mind or if she could be convinced to assist with another Romney campaign, she demurred, answering that she hasn't yet ""been pushed to that point mentally.""

Talks of a potential Romney 2016 presidential bid have notably escalated in recent weeks as Mitt has criss-crossed the country campaigning on behalf of GOP candidates locked in tight races. And the chatter isn't idle: There have been indications that members of Mitt Romney’s circle of advisers are encouraging the former presidential candidate to considering entering the race.

Despite denials from both Mitt and Ann Romney, both have also conceded that the circumstances guiding a decision to stay out of the 2016 race could change. Notably, Ann Romney equivocated in September when asked by Fox News host Neil Cavuto if Mitt Romney would enter the 2016 contest: ""Well, we will see, won't we Neil?"" she said at the time.

In private gatherings, the former Massachusetts governor has also been said to express apprehension over the relative lack of strength within the potential 2016 GOP field. And despite any firm indication as to whether Romney is considering mounting another campaign, it’s worth noting that Romney has met with high-dollar donors who could hypothetically become powerful allies should he choose to join the race.

Romney himself told the New York Times several weeks ago that “circumstances can change.” He also suggested that if he ran again, he would focus on avoiding off-the-cuff remarks, like the notorious “47 percent” line that dogged his campaign in 2012.

“I was talking to one of my political advisers and I said: ‘If I had to do this again, I’d insist that you literally had a camera on me at all times,” Romney told Leibovich. “I want to be reminded that this is not off the cuff.”

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customFields- published 1413291350/1413291350000/1413291350 tracking: {blog_name=post-politics, content_category=Politics, in_url_headline=ann-romney-mitt-and-i-are-done-done-done, post_id=101625, section={section=politics, subsection=null}, show_ads=true, show_comments=true} allow_comments: true published_date:Oct 14, 2014 12:55:50 PM close date: Oct 28, 2014 12:55:50 PM

SECTION: {section=politics, subsection=null}!!! INITIAL commentConfig: {includereply=true, canvas_permalink_id=washpost.com/8bvh5zpd9k, allow_comments=true, commentmaxlength=2000, includeshare=true, display_comments=true, canvas_permalink_app_instance=m6yzjj840m, display_more=true, moderationrequired=false, includefeaturenotification=true, comments_period=14, defaultsort=reverseChronological, canvas_allcomments_id=washpost.com/km4ey0dajm, includevoteofftopic=false, allow_videos=false, includesorts=true, markerdisplay=post_commenter:Post Commenter|staff:Post Writer|top_commenter:Post Forum|top_local:Washingtologist|top_sports:SuperFan|fact_checker:Fact Checker|post_recommended:Post Recommended|world_watcher:World Watcher|cultuer_connoisseur:Culture Connoisseur|weather_watcher:Capital Weather Watcher|post_contributor:Post Contributor, childrenitemsperpage=3, includeheader=true, includeverifiedcommenters=true, defaulttab=all, includerecommend=true, includereport=true, maxitemstop=2, source=washpost.com, allow_photos=false, maxitems=7, display_ugc_photos=false, includepause=true, canvas_allcomments_app_instance=6634zxcgfd, includepermalink=false}!!! UGC FROM ARTICLE: !!! FINAL commentConfig: {includereply=true, canvas_permalink_id=washpost.com/8bvh5zpd9k, allow_comments=true, commentmaxlength=2000, includeshare=true, display_comments=true, canvas_permalink_app_instance=m6yzjj840m, display_more=true, moderationrequired=false, includefeaturenotification=true, comments_period=14, defaultsort=reverseChronological, canvas_allcomments_id=washpost.com/km4ey0dajm, includevoteofftopic=false, allow_videos=false, includesorts=true, markerdisplay=post_commenter:Post Commenter|staff:Post Writer|top_commenter:Post Forum|top_local:Washingtologist|top_sports:SuperFan|fact_checker:Fact Checker|post_recommended:Post Recommended|world_watcher:World Watcher|cultuer_connoisseur:Culture Connoisseur|weather_watcher:Capital Weather Watcher|post_contributor:Post Contributor, childrenitemsperpage=3, includeheader=true, includeverifiedcommenters=true, defaulttab=all, includerecommend=true, includereport=true, maxitemstop=2, source=washpost.com, allow_photos=false, maxitems=7, display_ugc_photos=false, includepause=true, canvas_allcomments_app_instance=6634zxcgfd, includepermalink=false}!!

customFields- published 1413291350/1413291350000/1413291350 tracking: {blog_name=post-politics, content_category=Politics, in_url_headline=ann-romney-mitt-and-i-are-done-done-done, post_id=101625, section={section=politics, subsection=null}, show_ads=true, show_comments=true} allow_comments: true published_date:Oct 14, 2014 12:55:50 PM close date: Oct 28, 2014 12:55:50 PM",She tries to short-circuit the rumbles of Romney 2016.
"Redskins Insider Live Show, Oct. 5

A breakdown of the Redskins' win over the Eagles

Recruiting Spotlight: Deandre Reaves, Dominion

Recruiting Spotlight: Darius Lee, St. Stephen's St. Agnes

How I do it: Alyssa Parker

Natalie Randolph picks up her first win as Coolidge head coach

Sherwood slips past Gaithersburg, 17-14

Sherwood slips past Gaithersburg, 17-14","The cop drama series explores what it takes to be a detective on America's streets by following the crisis, heartbreak and heroism experienced by some of Detroit's finest. ""Detroit 1-8-7"" premieres Sept. 21 at 10 p.m. ET."
"LONDON Alternative investments such as a Ferrari 335 S Scaglietti, a rare blue diamond or a case of Romanee-Conti Grand Cru wine from Burgundy are going mainstream as investors grapple with ultra-low interest rates and volatile stocks.

Spooked by the end of a 30-year bond bull run and bouts of money printing which have pushed stock values out of kilter with economic reality, high-profile investors are turning to fine wines, classic cars and jewels, research and index data show.

Even legendary bond investor and ex-Pimco boss Bill Gross said last week he now favored real assets like land and gold over more traditional investment classes.

This growing interest saw rare coins, collectible jewelry and classic cars join fine wine among the top performers in the year to end-March, the latest Knight Frank Luxury Investment Index (KFLII) showed.

And fine wine saw its largest positive monthly movement since 2010 in July with the Liv-ex Fine Wine Investables index, which tracks around 200 Bordeaux red wines from 24 leading producers, up by 4.5 percent. It is up 13.8 percent so far this year, compared with 6.9 percent for the S&P 500 and 8.9 percent for the FTSE 100.

""As a physical asset, fine wine tends to perform well in periods of uncertainty...and is also not linked to the prices of other assets in most circumstances,"" said Andrew della Casa, Founding Director of The Wine Investment Fund.

Since its launch in 1988, the fine wine index has shown returns of around 10.5 percent per year, although falls between 2011 and 2014 have pushed the index below its long-term trend return level, creating an attractive entry point for first-time investors, della Casa said.

While the KLFII index rose just 5 percent over the year to the end of March, the lowest annual increase since the first quarter of 2010, returns on classic cars jumped 17 percent, coins generated 6 percent while jewelry delivered 4 percent.

But over a five-year period, cars, coins and jewelry returned 161 percent, 73 percent and 63 percent respectively, eclipsing Britain's FTSE-100 stock index, which was up 15 percent since the start of 2011.

Investor interest in classic cars helped the HAGI Top Index rise more than 500 percent in 10 years, encouraging many to restore a rusting chassis to its former glory.

While that has led to some dampening in demand in the year to date - the index is up 2.2 percent since January - HAGI's Dietrich Hatlapa said lower interest rates and monetary policy easing would support demand.

""People are taking the time to find the best examples. The spread between mediocre cars and very good cars has really opened up quite significantly... and for those, record prices are still being paid.""

Specialist funds offering a stake in rare diamonds, meanwhile, have continued to catch the eye of investors seeking ways to hedge against currency, stock and bond market risk, with the Sciens Coloured Diamond Fund II up by about 5 percent in the second quarter of 2016.

For all the mainstream interest in investments once regarded as the preserve of the ultra-rich, they lack liquidity and market depth.

The three main U.S. car auctions in 2015 saw vehicles worth a total of between $1 and $1.5 billion sold. While there are hundreds of smaller auctions globally and many cars sold off-market, this is still a long way from the trillions traded daily in stocks and bonds.

And with future demand tough to call, Andrew Shirley, author of the Knight Frank Wealth Report, strikes a note of caution.

""You should still only be buying the investments of passion that you will enjoy owning and will give you pleasure even if their value goes down – there is certainly no guarantee that values will continue to rise.

""There is an argument that such investments add diversity to portfolios, provide a hedge against inflation, and unlike equity-based investments, offer a degree of tangibility but like gold they tend not to generate any income and can also be illiquid, and subject to changes in taste and fashion.""

Gold, another so-called safe haven from top-of-the cycle bonds and expensive stocks, is also enjoying a purple patch, BlackRock research shows.

With returns up 23.2 percent in the year to July 29, gold has returned almost twice as much as higher-risk emerging market dollar bonds and non-U.S. Developed market bonds, and almost five times a 3.1 percent return on U.S. large caps, it said.

Analysts at Unigestion describe the gold price rise as a ""classic"" market response to stress triggered by Britain's shock decision to quit the European Union and fears of negative rates but it was difficult to predict how long these circumstances supporting a rush into gold might last.","Alternative investments such as a Ferrari 335 S Scaglietti, a rare blue diamond or a case of Romanee-Conti Grand Cru wine from Burgundy are going mainstream as investors grapple with ultra-low interest rates and volatile stocks."
"Great is the rejoicing among the managerialists this week. Now they can get on with producing charts and implementation plans and meetings about Mr Francis’s five tasks, which recommend “transparency, candour… compassionate nursing… patient-centred health care leadership… accurate, regularly available information” and all the other things to which the NHS is always formally committed but never actually achieves.

How happily they have taken up Mr Francis’s insistence that there should be no “scapegoats”. But a scapegoat, remember, is a person made to bear the blame for others. It is clear from Mr Francis’s findings that the blame rested on many people, unnamed, at every level. How great does a crime or cruelty in the NHS have to be before the public can be allowed to know who committed it?

In his radio interview, Sir David Nicholson used a formula which, I have noticed, is popular with people wishing to acknowledge criticism without accepting blame. Speaking of what went wrong at Stafford Hospital, he said: “It is hard for me to imagine those patients’ experiences.” When you think about it, why? He was there for part of the time when these horrible things were happening. Did he not look in on A&E one dismal night, or visit Ward 11, where old people, seemingly every day, were being subjected to indignities which Mr Francis called “barely credible”?

The Francis Report this week is a great disappointment. It is woolly and over-long, full of jargon and euphemisms and forgettable recommendations. It is a waste of two years. But if you go back to Mr Francis’s first report, in 2010, you are sharply reminded of exactly what all this is about. It has 13 pages on “continence and bladder and bowel care” alone. These include stories about an old man forced to stay on a commode for 55 minutes wearing only a pyjama top, about a woman whose legs were “red raw” because of the effect of her uncleaned faeces, about piles of soiled sheets left at the end of beds, and of bowls full of vomit ditto. A woman arrived at 10am to find her 96-year-old mother-in-law “completely naked… and covered with faeces… It was in her hair, her nails, her hands and on all the cot sides… it was literally everywhere and it was dried.” One nice bureaucratic touch: another woman who found her mother with faeces under her nails asked for them to be cut, but was told that it was “not in the nurses’ remit to cut patients’ nails”.

So Sir David does not need to “imagine” any of this. He could have witnessed it, if he had understood what leadership involves. In many cases, I am afraid, he could have smelt it.

In his oral statement launching his report, Mr Francis began by saying: “Many will find it difficult to believe that all this could occur in an NHS hospital.” I am sure he is right. We have been taught with pseudo-religious fervour that the NHS is collective virtue personified.

But it should not be so hard to believe. The creation of the NHS in 1948 was not a scheme for making medicine better for patients. It was a way of taking charge of its delivery by centralised bureaucratic diktat, something which happens in no other country today except Cuba, North Korea and (oddly) Canada. It was therefore designed for the people who produced the service rather than for those who received it. Each extra patient was, from the producer’s point of view, a nuisance rather than a benefit. The NHS’s proud boast is that it is free at the point of use, but this is delivered in a variety of much more responsive ways in, for example, Australia, France, the Netherlands, Germany and Spain. Only in this country is the punishment of those whose actions or neglect have killed hundreds of people seen as “scapegoating”.

Many reading this will respond angrily, relating what wonderful care they have had at the hands of the NHS. Of course, they will be right (although they may be unaware of how much better the same treatment often is in comparably wealthy countries). It would be truly incredible if an organisation employing 1.4 million people did not contain many who did their best. But my point is that the goodness exists despite the NHS, not because of it. It often derives from the Christian inspiration to care for the sick which has existed for 2,000 years and is now under attack. In Stafford Hospital, Mr Francis records, one patient was mocked by nurses because he had a palm cross and a Bible.

The truth is the exact opposite of what we keep telling ourselves. The NHS is the least caring and most selfishly run important institution in this country. Until we recognise this, there will be plenty more Staffords.",We don&rsquo;t want any Mid Staffs 'scapegoats&rsquo; &ndash; just the people who   are actually to blame
"Portis, entering his seventh NFL season and fifth with the Redskins, is taking a more mature and healthy approach to his preparation, he says, at the behest of team owner Daniel Snyder and Vinny Cerrato, the vice president of football operations. Snyder and Cerrato provided another apparent impetus in the form of a lucrative new contract for Portis -- despite his injury and conditioning issues the past two years -- essentially guaranteeing his contract through 2010, a rarity in a league of non-guaranteed contracts.

The deal with Portis, the fourth-leading rusher in franchise history, was one of several restructured contracts the Redskins executed to get under the NFL salary cap, and by far the most significant. Portis ended up with a $9.3 million signing bonus in March, and a guarantee of at least $15.7 million through 2010, creating millions in salary cap space but also binding Washington to a player who has been both adored and criticized here and has averaged just 4.0 yards per carry as a Redskin, below the NFL average.

Portis, 26, played down any link between his latest payday (the Redskins have reworked his contract each of the last three years) and his improved work ethic, but even he was pleasantly surprised by the turn of events. Portis wondered aloud last season whether 2007 would be his final year in Washington -- with his ailments and big salary cap number conspiring against him -- but instead management showed faith in him.

""You want to make it a money thing, but it's what they think of me"" that matters, Portis said recently. ""I'm grateful to have the opportunity because they didn't have to do that. I was never worried about not being able to play; I was just worried about being in D.C. But I'm here now, and you've got three more years of talking to me.""

Portis has been a mainstay of the offseason workout program since March, keeping to a proper diet and working out in the weight room like never before after spending much of the last two seasons trying to overcome injuries and a tendency to become winded. Some days he has trained with linemen, pushing a sled weighed down by teammates, and he is looking more chiseled. He had been at Redskins Park essentially every working day before last Thursday, when Coach Jim Zorn excused him indefinitely. Zorn said he had no problems with Portis leaving to attend what Zorn said was ""a celebration"" and has praised Portis's work ethic.

""It wasn't [the new contract], it's just he simple fact that I'm now six years in,"" said Portis, who still has a distaste for practice in general. ""How many good years do I got left? This is a golden opportunity, why let it slip away? They asked me to be here; I might as well be here. And I'm here, so I might as well work and take advantage of the opportunity.

""I feel much better. As much as I didn't want to be here [in the offseason], to go out there and be able to run downfield 100 yards and jog back and turn around and run 100 yards again [without being fatigued], it feels great.""

Along with Snyder and former coach Joe Gibbs, Cerrato, who declined to comment for this story, embraced Portis's outsized personality and outlandish ways; Portis dressed in costume to meet the media for much of the 2005 season. Management has staunchly defended his production throughout his Redskins career, but some fans, teammates and coaches have been less enthused about Portis's style.

He remains a polarizing figure, piling up yardage but being inconsistent at times and failing to approach the success he had in Denver, where he played for two years before the Redskins traded cornerback Champ Bailey plus a second-round pick for him. His body of work as a Redskin, like his persona, is akin to abstract art -- open to interpretation.

Portis averaged 5.5 yards per carry and 107 yards per game as a Bronco, scoring 29 rushing touchdowns in 29 contests. With the Redskins he has averaged just 4.0 yards per carry and 84 yards per game, scoring 34 rushing touchdowns in 55 games. In 2005 Portis led a playoff run and set a franchise record with 1,516 yards on the ground, but, a year later, could only watch as Ladell Betts topped 1,000 yards in half a season with Portis injured.

Portis slumped through the first half of 2007 (he went 12 games between 100-yard games dating from 2006), coming back from injury and playing behind a makeshift offensive line at times, but still finished with 1,262 yards, sixth most in the league, though he averaged less than four yards per carry. Only six backs have more rushing yards than Portis since 2004, but one, Tiki Barber, has been retired since 2006, and Thomas Jones of the Jets has amassed four fewer yards than Portis in that span while earning a fraction of what Portis has.

Portis can be as selfless as any runner in the NFL, sacrificing his body in pass protection, but his practice habits and comments have turned off some within the organization, too.

Portis will have earned $37.6 million from Snyder by the end of the 2008 season (though some of that money is deferred), and Washington's repeated reworking of his deals has irked some teammates, who feel he gets preferential treatment. During the past four years it was not uncommon for teammates to complain to coaches about what they perceived to be a double standard for Portis, sources said.

""A lot of things Clinton does rub people the wrong way, but Joe Gibbs looked the other way on all of that,"" said one former member of the organization. ""Joe would always talk to the team about being totally focused on football during practice -- he didn't want guys talking about movies or what they did last night; even if you were hurt you were taking mental reps -- that was something he really harped on. But then you look over [during practice] and there's Clinton over there having fun with Vinny and Dan. How's that totally focused on football?""

His input and apparent sway in personnel matters has raised the ire of some as well; Portis regularly expressed his opinion on possible free agents and draft picks to Gibbs and management and often jokes about being an assistant general manager of sorts.

Portis often broke from the prescribed dress code during practices and games and usually was the last person to arrive for a team meeting, players and coaches said. While the general rule was for players to report and do rehabilitation before morning meetings, he would arrive just in time, then others had to scramble in order to accommodate his rehab in the afternoon. Portis regularly would be allowed to miss much of practice but was not listed on the injury report, players and coaches said, fueling his reputation as a player who did not take practice seriously.

""He's getting a little older, and he knows that,"" said wide receiver Santana Moss, a close friend who also played at the University of Miami. ""Regardless of what Clinton does he comes out and plays ball, but he's showing everybody he's not the guy everybody thinks he is when it comes to how he handles his offseason training and how he prepares.

""He knows he gets a lot of BS on why he's not here or what he's doing when he's not here, but I ain't never seen Clinton when it comes to game time that he didn't go out there and perform. He's just showing you now, 'Hey, if you want me here I'm gonna be here.' ""

With a new coaching regime in place, many of Gibbs's tenets no longer apply, including an arrangement that allowed Portis to take himself out of games, and to make way for Betts whenever he felt it necessary.

""I don't think that's something that's going to happen here,"" Zorn said. ""That's not the way our offense is designed. I don't think that will be the way that we function on the football field.""

Portis averaged nearly 350 carries per season in his first two years under Gibbs, and, while the pounding takes a toll on running backs, he will play a critical role, particularly early this season, as the quarterbacks and receivers adjust to a new offense.

""He has a great feel for the zone running game,"" Zorn said. ""I did not change the run game from what has been run here in the past. He ought to feel very comfortable with what we are doing.""",Clinton Portis is taking a more mature and healthy approach to the preparation for his seventh NFL season and the Redskins provide an apparent impetus in the form of a lucrative new contract.
"England will wake tomorrow morning to demoralising headlines. The non-performnce of England becomes a self-reinforcing cycle, where players play badly, get criticised, tighten up and continue to play badly. Seeing as Slovenia have looked better than Algeria and at least as good as the USA, this offers little cause for optimism if you're an England fan. Even Adrian Chiles looks annoyed, and he's a man you could smack with a rolled-up magazine before he'd react adversely.

Can we end this broadcast on a positive note? Unlikely, but I'll try: France. Nick Pearce is back at midday tomorrow with Holland against Japan. See you soon.

21.32 Gareth Southgate reckons Capello needs to try and take the pressure off the players. Never mind that, Gareth, where's my burger?

Fabio Capello: ""We play not good game. We miss a lot of goals. Easy passes. We have to play another game. We hope will be happy. I don't know if pressure or not good moment, but I think was not good game. We lose too many passes. You say pressure. Probably. I don't like to speak about players. I think it's the team that didn't play the spirit that I like. I can change, I will try to do something different. I spoke with the players. They know what they have to do.""

21.27 That sound you can hear is the rest of the world tittering. Even - dear Lord - the Americans.

Steven Gerrard: ""We weren't good enough in the final third to get the breakthrough. We've got no excuses. We've got to go and win the last game. We never hit our level today. We weren't aggressive enough, we didn't win the ball back early enough. We've got to look at ourselves.""

Wayne Rooney: ""Nice to see your home fans booing you.""

From Duncan White: ""Unbeaten England march on. Canny Capello contrives draw to avoid the Germans. Ghana trembles.""

21.24 Right. Let's try and put a positive spin on it, at least.

1) They could have lost.

2) There's always next time.

21.21 Deflating, to say the least. The eleven footballers that are picked to represent the country of England need to put on a better show than that. Who do you blame? Gerrard? Heskey? Rooney? Lampard? I blame Capello.

FULL TIME: England 0-0 Algeria Loud, loud boos in Cape Town. England expected, and England stank.

90+3 min Belhadj takes it, it flies over, and that's practically it. No! One last corner!

90+2 min Free-kick to Algeria on the right as Rooney catches Kadir. Capello is incensed, but not half as much as we are. For everything.

90+1 min Crouch dances down the wing beautifully, beating two men before slipping a pass inside to an Algerian player. The sublime followed by the ridiculous.

90 min Three minutes for England to find a winner they absolutely do not deserve. Defoe shoots over from distance.

From Duncan White: ""Boos for Frank Lampard for having a shot. Not in the spirit.""

89 min Algeria haven't given the win up. Belhadj swings in a testing free-kick. James catches under pressure.

88 min ""Is Mike Bassett doing the post-match interview?"" asks Joe Mann. No, Joe. He could speak English.

87 min Lampard, who's had the kind of night that would drive lesser men to drink, tries a long-range shot that trickles pitifully - pitiably - wide. Algeria make their final change - Mesbah comes on for Yebda.

86 min Rooney's been off the pace like a drunken greyhound tonight. He loses the ball, wins it back and then tries a Hollywood pass to Wright-Phillips. It's cut out.

85 min Corner for England. Lampard swings it in, and Defoe heads it out for a... goal-kick. Gerrard claims his shirt was being tugged. Get up and play, you pathetic Scouseman.

84 min Annemarie Breiter, who I suspect is German, taunts us thus: ""Franz Beckenbauer was right, wasn't he? Kick and rush, like in the 60s. No fantasy! No ideas!"" I wouldn't bring up the 60s if I were you...

82 min If you can't see what's happening, this is roughly equivalent to the French performance last night. Except we don't have an Henry sitting on a bench. The next best thing, though. Here comes Peter Crouch for Gareth Barry. Capello is definitely going for it.

81 min Johnson with a cross from the right. It. Is. Appalling.

80 min Capello having an earnest discussion with Gerrard on the sidelines. ""Why-a you do this to me? Don't you know, I very important man? You displease me. And you don't even think to call me Godfather...""

79 min Wright-Phillips tries to find Gerrard, but the pass is overhit and trickles over the goal-line. Algeria bring Wolves's Adlane Guedioura on for Ziani.

From Ian Chadband: ""Yours sincerely, wasting away...""

77 min Another corner for England, who are trying to gather a little momentum here. But another poor delivery by Lampard.

From Mark Ogden: ""Ray of light. Algerians beginning to tire. But are England good enough to take advantage?""

76 min Barry on the volley! It's deflected, and out for a throw.

75 min Gerrard feeds it into the right channel for Defoe. The angle's tight, but he forces a corner.

74 min Opportunity for England, and Defoe looks sharp as a tack! Defoe and Gerrard combine well to win England a corner. It's taken by Gerrard, and is horrific.

73 min Rooney dropping deep to receive the ball, and shoots from 30 yards. It goes just wide. Abdoun comes on for Boudebouz for Algeria, while for England Heskey somehow manages to locate the touchline and steps over it. Defoe comes on.

72 min Jermain Defoe is getting ready to make his first World Cup appearance. Will Heskey finally be put out of his slack-jawed, cack-handed misery?

70 min Gerrard - the England captain, remember - is having a horrific game. He's had the first touch of a Hyundai. Another pass goes astray.

69 min Heskey gets a sniff of an opening! But his cross to Rooney is cut out, and goes over the goal for a corner. From the corner, it's Gerrard! But straight at M'Bolhi.

68 min Algeria are dropping back now. They'd certainly take a 0-0. A draw would leave England third in the group, behind Slovenia and the USA. A win against Slovenia would still see them through, but the USA could sneak top spot.

66 min ""The English are certainly being hospitable; after this performance, I figure the odds of USA advancing have probably doubled,"" says Chris Bastian in New York.

64 min Capello's shouts are audible above the vuvuzelas. The man is furious. It was Lennon that Wright-Phillips came on for, by the way.

63 min ""Listening in Iceland (it's a domestic arrangement) and even the locals are laughing at us!"" writes Orson Ound. An atrocious back-pass by John Terry, puts David James in serious truoble, but the oldest swinger in town scampers out and gets a boot on it.

62 min Better from England! The first touch is still a little heavy, but eventually Lennon manages to dink a cross in, and Rooney is inches away from heading in. M'Bolhi fumbles the corner, but Algeria come away with it.

From Duncan White: ""What would you change? Passport might be safest bet.""

61 min It's caught by Rais M'Bolhi. Shaun Wright-Phillips is being readied on the sidelines.

60 min Rooney's had one of his worst games in an England shirt. Yebda tackles easily, but puts it out for a corner. Gerrard to take.

59 min Yahia shoots, but drags it wide. What if Algeria score? What then?

58 min Yellow card for Carragher, who will miss the next game as a result. He brought down Yebda needlessly, and Algeria will now have a free-kick in a dangerous spot.

57 min ""I'm off to Tesco in the morning to get a refund on the flags I purchased for the car,"" Meg Cochran says.

56 min England are playing like a team that have never met. Rooney mis-controls in the area.

54 min Algeria give the ball away in a dangerous spot! Rooney slips it to Gerrard, who slips it back for... nobody.

53 min Bring Joe Cole on. Do it, Fabio. Bring on Joe Cole... for all eleven England players.

52 min ""This is the first time I've ever bothered to stay up late to watch an England match (it's 3.30am here),"" says William Dunn in Beijing. ""I don't think I'll bother again... and will go to sleep now."" Mind you don't have nightmares.

51 min Gerrard finds Heskey on the right. He dribbles it like a man approaching a football for the first time after a long spell in a coma. He crosses straight out of play.

50 min How can they not score? How could they not even create a decent chance against such weak opposition? You just hope the manager has had a word at half-time. Otherwise the Algerian public are not going to be happy with their players...

From Duncan White: ""David James just had our longest spell of possession.""

48 min Rob Richardson asks: ""Could England's lack of result be some unknown part of the new government's austerity programme?"" I remember last week, everyone was saying you couldn't legislate against goalkeeping errors. Could somebody in Number Ten at least try?

47 min It hits the wall and goes for a throw. But from it, Ziani gets the ball and runs. Johnson has to time his tackle well to dispossess him.

46 min Algeria win a cheap free-kick as Matmour goes down under Terry's challenge. Yahia will take it, 40 yards out.

20.30 The players are back out. No changes for England at half-time.

20.29 My half-time England ratings:

All marks out of 100

20.26 Mark Gray is watching in France. ""The French commentator just asked if Capello and Domenech went to the same coaching school,"" he writes. ""I wonder if Steve McLaren ran the course?"" Oh, my. Imagine if Raymond Domenech were managing this group of players. It would be like watching an awful snuff movie.

20.25 Joe Mann, meanwhile, has another solution: ""Give Heskey a vuvuzela and stick him in the crowd instead."" I thought Heskey was OK. It's Lampard and Rooney that need a plastic trumpet inserted in a tender place at the moment.

20.22 Drew Hope finds reasons to be cheerful: ""I am listening to Radio Five Live. They sound so upset, like England have been thrashed 10-nil. From what I have heard Algeria are nowhere near scoring and England have been close a couple of times. England will pick it up. COME ON ENGLAND!!!""

From Ian Chadband: ""Paul Ince, pundit for South African TV, mutters 'Algeria are dictating the game'""

20.20 Let's rhyme our troubles away. Phil Dale is back with a proper limerick.

There once was a Keeper named Green,

Who fumbled a save quite routine.

Now Green is an England has-been.

WRAP: Earlier this week, a leaky drain covered the England dressing room in two inches of filthy water. That wasn't the last sewage to come out of that dressing room, by the looks of things. If the World Cup is a barbecue, England are the Quorn mince at the moment. This is not good enough.

From Duncan White: ""League Two throw-in tactics. Fling it to Heskey, flick to nobody""

HALF TIME: England 0-0 Algeria Shocking. Awful. Absolute pies. Capello, hands in pockets, trudges resignedly down the tunnel. No boos that I can hear, but maybe I need to be watching in HD to pick that up...

45 min One minute of stoppage time. England could do with a spot of Capello ear-bashing at this point.

44 min Stuart McShorley on e-mail: ""Watching here in Broussard, Louisiana trying to explain the comedy of errors to my American friends. England look like a shoddy Sunday league team.""

From Duncan White: ""No sooner praise Barry and Heskey than they both start repeatedly giving the ball away...""

43 min Rooney goes for goal from distance. But M'Bolhi gets his body behind it and saves comfortably.

42 min Ten of the Algerian starting XI were born in France. Probably seemed like a decent strategy once, but not any more...

40 min Again England give the ball away in a promising position. This is not the kind of performance that is going to frighten Brazil. It's barely the kind of performance to frighten Alan Brazil.

39 min England are, though, finally showing some guile. Johnson finds Heskey on the right. Halliche slides in a clearance.

37 min Seven minutes to half-time. England could scarcely be worse. Lennon breaks down the right, but is forced inside. Eventually he finds Barry, who shoots weakly from distance.

36 min Rooney is felled but gets up with the ball. Lampard tries to find Lennon with an incisive through ball, but a last-ditch tackle stops him. Bougherra clears, but Gerrard with his second atrocious shot of the evening. Some lucky car park attendant will have caught that one.

35 min Adrian Tanner e-mails in. ""Watching live from Japan. 4am here. My wife (who is Japanese and does not understand football) just asked 'why do England keep giving the ball to the team in the green? Anyone have an answer for her?""

34 min Barry is caught by Matmour in midfield and Algeria break. Ziani runs, cuts inside and shoots, but James has it covered and it flies past his near post.

33 min Barry with a near-suicidal back-pass at about 40 mph. An alarmed James controls it on his chest.

32 min Best chance of the game for England! Much more like it as Lennon gets some space down the right and picks out Lampard. A left-footed shot comes in, M'Bolhi gets down and saves.

Henry Winter: ""England lack cohesion. Frank Lampard not at the races. Needs to raise game. England fans great, must be 40k. Good Roo-Gerrard linkup. More please.""

30 min England working up a little head of steam here. Rooney tries a cute one-two with Lampard, but Lampard's return ball sails out of play. Only a little head of steam.

29 min Better from England! Gerrard and Rooney team up for the first time since their game of darts last night, and Gerrard can let fly a shot that bounces awkwardly in front of M'Bolhi.

28 min Terry's fine, but here come Algeria again. Belhadj finds Ziani on the left, but he's offside. Algeria have had seven attempts on goal to England's two so far, according to Opta. Pathetic.

27 min Barry hooks away another dangerous cross by Bougherra. But John Terry's picked up a little knock to the head here. That's all Capello needs.

26 min Heskey robs Halliche on the edge of the Algerian area! He tries to poke it through for Rooney, but he's penalised as he battles with Bougherra.

25 min Lennon, down the left this time. He's brought down by Boudebouz. Barry crosses, but it's absolutely nowhere near Heskey.

24 min Ziani runs the ball down the left, but tricks himself out of play. That's the calibre of the team that are currently making England look like amateurs. Get a grip, lads.

From Mark Ogden: ""So far, Gerrard's pass completion is 43 per cent. You'd never guess.""

22 min Bougherra with a dangerous cross into Yebda! Barry sticks a leg out and gets it away, but England are on the verge of conceding. James plucks the corner out of the air, and that might settle him down a little.

21 min England are absolutely nowhere around the edge of their area. Ziani had a shot there, which skews wide.

19 min First sign of Rooney, who slips it to Gerrard, who's caught. Free-kick, from which Rooney has a shot deflected harmlessly.

18 min Gerrard tries to pick out... actually, I'm not sure who he was trying to pick out there. A shocking pass.

17 min Barry gets touch of the ball, but Algeria whip it off his feet and are enjoying a good spell of possession. Worrying times for England.

16 min Ziani skins Johnson and gets in a dangerous cross, but England get lucky with the bounce of the ball and clear.

14 min Boudebouz tries a shot from distance that goes well wide. Still, it's closer than England have got. And as if to prove the point, Gerrard blasts higher than Hell from 20 yards.

From Paul Kelso: ""Not really clicking yet for England. Lampard not getting on the ball and Rooney has given it away twice.""

13 min No more limericks, please, the game has started. Although kudos to David Sterling, who tried to rhyme Wright-Phillips. With 'hiccup'.

12 min Heskey goes up, but the whistle goes for a little shove in the back of Bougherra.

11 min The Algerian coach Rabah Saadane is making an almighty racket on the touchline. He's in, remarkably, his fifth spell as manager. By the time you refresh your page, he's probably quit and been reinstated once more. Corner for England.

10 min Finally, an actual limerick. Cheers, Ash Baker.

For forty-four years we have hunted

Though the ball seldom goalward was punted --

May we not hear the sound

In the third or fourth round

8 min Jim Hatch has e-mailed in his pitch for the England goalkeeper's jersey: ""My grandad was goalkeeper for Ashfield United when they won the Scottish Junior Cup in 1893 and '94."" That alone, sir, probably puts you ahead of Paul Robinson.

7 min Corner for Algeria as Lennon whips the ball off Ziani's raised foot. It's a poor ball, though, and Gerrard clears.

6 min Ashley Cole's playing like an outside left here. He gets outside Kadir, but loses the ball trying to cut inside Bougherra.

5 min Chance for Algeria! Matmour breaks free down the right and cuts back for Boudebouz, who inexplicably dummies over it! He was in a good position there. Half a let-off for England.

4 min Gerrard tries what looks like a cross, but ends up almost sailing in over Rais M'Bolhi's head. He has to jump to catch.

3 min Gerrard swings the free-kick in. Heskey gets a head on it, but not goalwards. Here come England again, though.

2 min Rooney's playing up with Heskey, rather than behind him in a 4-2-3-1. Cole weaves down the left and is brought down. Free-kick on the touchline.

1 min Algeria press straight from kick-off. Ashley Cole intercepts and boots it out.

19.28 David James is making his World Cup debut at the age of 39. Hope for us all. Referee Ravshan Irmatov of Uzbekistan gets us under way. Vamos, England!

19.25 The teams are out on the pitch. National anthems. England, stately and mumbled. Algeria, hurried and half-hearted. No-score draw.

19.19 OTHER THINGS THAT ARE NOT LIMERICKS: This, from Ian Bowles:

Today Rooney takes on Algeria,

So to avoid an embarrassing defeat,

And back home uncontrollable hysteria,

Just deliver the ball to his feet.

From Mark Ogden: ""More England flags than Algerian fans in Green Point. Incredible.""

19.17 Apologies to readers in Telegraph HD. I believe that last Henry Winter tweet was obscured by a Toshiba advert. Sorry about that.

From Paul Kelso: ""Up in the gods in Green Point. Viewers in Kent may be marginallly closer to pitch than me""

19.13 Jamie Carragher starting at centre back for England. Who would have thought that six months ago? It's he, not the goalkeeper, who looks like being England's weak link for me. Jozy Altidore, admittedly about 25 years younger, skinned him for pace a couple of times in the USA game.

19.09 Strange shirt choice by Gareth Southgate. It's salmon pink, but with a white collar. He looks like a waiter at some ersatz American diner.

19.07 What do we know about Algeria? Not much, I grant. They looked uniformly ordinary against Slovenia, but England do have a habit of giving everybody a chance, no matter how terrible they are. (It's our version of the American Dream.) They play 3-4-3, with Ryad Boudebouz and Karim Ziani playing just behind Karim Matmour. And they've been watching The Battle of Algiers, a film about the bloody independence struggle, to get them in the mood for tonight's game. What do we reckon England watched last night? I'm going to take a stab at Zoolander.

19.00 Here's a definition of a limerick, in case you're unsure. (Warning: contains the word 'amphibrachic')

18.58 Phil Dale from Portland, Oregon gets top marks for effort. No marks whatsoever, though, for knowing what a limerick is.

There's nothing more nervous than waiting,

for England to take to the field.

We worry what team we'll be seeing,

and if any more balls will be spilled?

18.57 Princes William and Harry will be in the stadium tonight. If they were hoping to put their boots on and get a game for their country, they're a little late - Germany played earlier on.

18.54 Fifa are running a competition: ""Fancy winning the actual ball used at kick-off of the England-Algeria game? Here's how."" It doesn't then go on to say: ""Stand outside the stadium as Emile Heskey's about to attempt a half-volley"", but that would certainly be my advice.

18.53 I have to say, I think dropping Rob Green was a mistake. Not because he didn't deserve to be dropped - if you make that kind of mistake on that kind of stage you can't expect to keep your place - but because it's not like we have Lev Yashin in the locker. What happens if David James fouls up tonight? Put Joe Hart in, obviously. Then what if he drops one? I believe at that stage, it would be time to say to Crouchy: ""Get your gloves on, son.""

18.50 English fans may recognise the names of Hassan Yebda and Nadir Belhadj of Portsmouth. Fans of Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book may falsely recognise the name Bougherra.

Algeria: M'Bohli, Bougherra, Belhadj, Yahia, Kadir, Yebda, Lacen, Halliche, Boudebouz, Ziani, Matmour.

18.48 And here's the Algeria team.

From Henry Winter: ""100-odd England flags clubs, most represented: Pompey, Nottingham Forest, Sheffield United, Leicester City, Luton Town. Keepers out...huge cheer""

18.16 And no, Bradley Wright-Phillips doesn't count.

18.15 We're in that nervous phase before the calming, over-wide face of Adrian Chiles makes its appearance in our living rooms. While you're twiddling your thumbs, why not have a go at writing a World Cup limerick? We've had some cracking submissinos so far. Extra credit if you can find something that rhymes with Shaun Wright-Phillips.

From Henry Winter: ""Fantastic atmosphere outside Green Point Stadium. England fans everywhere. Thought Rustenburg busy. Even better here. Team will surely be lifted""

18.08 Right, it's prediction time. Not for me - I got my fingers burnt when I put my house on Spain to beat Switzerland. (You should have the seen the face on Mr Ladbrokes when he found out I rented.) But what do you think is going to happen tonight? And what do you want to happen tonight? Do we have any residual US fans siding with the Algerians? Any German fans hoping to avoid England in the second round? Any Australian fans... left? Do drop us an e-mail.

17.50 Earlier, Slovenia and the USA played out a thrilling 2-2 draw - the first in 42 World Cup matches dating back to Croatia v Australia v Graham Poll in 2006. That means England can go top of the group with a two-goal win.

England team (4-2-3-1): James; Johnson, Carragher, Terry, Cole A; Lampard, Barry; Gerrard, Lennon, Rooney; Heskey.

17.45 So, another game on the World Cup treadmill. Welcome to live commentary of game 23 of the 19th World Cup, a tournament that started slowly but has done nothing less than catch fire over the last couple of days. Goals, controversies, shocks and no end of quality. At this rate of improvement, we could be in the midst of one of the all-time classic mundials. Into this astonishing whirligig of furore and fervour step... Algeria and England. Right.

In all seriousness, though, I think we all know that this is the biggest game that England have ever played in their history, and whether they win or lose not only determines whether or not they will win this World Cup, but whether they will win all subsequent ones, too, and also whether our nation can once more ascend to the status and eminence it once enjoyed when it had an empire, or whether it will end up going cap in hand to a laughing IMF. Pressure? What pressure?

No team news as yet, although the strong word is that Zippy off Rainbow will be starting in goal for England. The moment Fabio Capello hands his team-sheet to an annoying, moustachioed Fifa official, we will have it here.","Live minute-by-minute commentary from the World Cup 2010 Group C game between 
  England and Algeria at the Green Point Stadium, Cape Town on Friday June 18 
  2010, kick-off 19.30 BST."
"Police block a road near the house of Nancy Lanza, mother of Adam Lanza, on Dec. 15 in Newtown, Conn.

Troubled gunman Adam Lanza once considered joining the Marines, a demanding career that his mother ultimately decided wouldn’t be the right fit her antisocial son, a family friend claims.

While mom Nancy Lanza liked that her 20-year-old son could be given purpose and structure, she knew that serving in the armed forces wasn’t something that he could handle, friend Ellen Adriani told the Connecticut Post.

CLICK HERE TO SIGN THE DAILY NEWS ONLINE PETITION TO BAN ASSAULT WEAPONS

He even said he could join another branch of the military if the Marines didn’t pan out, the newspaper reported Thursday.

“It became overwhelmingly clear to her that (military service) wasn’t right for him,"" said Adriani, who never actually met Adam Lanza.

She added that Nancy Lanza “squashed” the possibility of serving his country when she reminded her son that he “didn’t like to be touched” — something that he couldn’t avoid if he were injured.

Adam Lanza apparently first spoke about the Marines when he was 17 — long before last Friday’s shooting rampage in which he killed 20 children and 6 adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School in his hometown of Newtown, Conn.

EXCLUSIVE: NEWTOWN GUNMAN 'WAS LIKE A GHOST' AS HE SPENT HOURS PLAYING VIDEO GAMES

PHOTOS: NEWTOWN, CONN. MOURNS AFTER DAY OF TERROR

He had earlier killed his 52-year-old mother in the house they shared, and then turned the gun on himself after the school attack.

Adam Lanza had just dropped out of Western Connecticut State University, where he had been taking college-level courses in 2009, when he began pondering military life, a local merchant who knew the family told the Connecticut Post. His older brother, Ryan, was already attending Quinnipiac University.

Nancy Lanza, who was raising Adam as a single mother after she divorced his father in 2009, mentioned to family friend Russell Hanoman that she was looking into other colleges for him, NBC News reported.

Hanoman saw Adam Lanza’s awkwardness firsthand, he said, describing how he shied away from human contact.

“I remember when I first met him, he deliberately stood maybe six feet away from me and took three exaggerated steps toward me … stuck out his hand, shook (mine) … put it back and (took) three exaggerated steps back,” Hanoman told NBC News.

PRESIDENT OBAMA 'ACTIVELY' SUPPORTS EFFORTS TO REINSTATE AN ASSAULT WEAPONS BAN

CONN. SCHOOL SHOOTER ADAM LANZA SMASHED COMPUTER MAKING RECOVERY OF DATA DIFFICULT

Adam Lanza did show an interest in technology. The Daily News reported that he played video games for hours, isolating himself in his room.

“He didn’t understand why she (Nancy Lanza) wanted him to go out into the world. She told me she couldn’t reach him — and she was worried,” a friend told The News.

According to reports, Adam Lanza was a fan of shooter games. Ultimately, it was his mother who took him to shooting ranges and inadvertently supplied the guns that he used to kill, including a military-style Bushmaster rifle, police said.

All three guns used in the attack were legal. Police continue to sift through evidence to determine what may have motivated the Sandy Hook massacre.","The troubled Sandy Hook shooter had previously mentioned to his mother, Nancy Lanza, about serving in the armed forces, according to a friend. But she realized a military career 'wasn't right for him,' the friend said."
"THE horrific incident in the French town of Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray, Normandy, is the latest in a long list of terror-related attacks which have blighted Europe over the past two years.

France and Germany have two of the worst-hit countries with five separate assaults in this month alone.

Starting in May 2014, the seemingly never-ending attacks have left hundreds of innocent people dead and security forces across the continent stretched to their limits.

Brussels, Belgium – May 24, 2014: Gunmen open fire at the Jewish Museum in Brussels, killing four.

Tours, France – December 20, 2014: A man yelling Allahu Akbar attacked a police officer with a knife before being killed. Three police were injured.

Dijon, France – December 21, 2014: Eleven people are run over by a man yelling Allahu Akbar. Two are seriously injured.

Nantes, France – December 22 2014: A man in the French city of Nantes ran over ten pedestrians in his white van at the city’s Christmas market. He then attempted suicide by stabbing himself. One person was pronounced clinically dead the following day.

Paris, France – January 7–9, 2015: Gunmen attacked the offices of satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, killing 11.

The magazine was targeted because it had run a cartoon depicting the prophet Muhammad. Five more were killed in a series of shootings around Île-de-France and following a hostage situation at a kosher supermarket in Porte de Vincennes.

The three attackers were killed while 22 civilians were injured. The attacks were claimed by the Yemeni branch of Al-Qaeda.

Copenhagen, Denmark – February 14–15, 2015: A gunman opened fire at the Krudttoenden cafe and later at the Great Synagogue in Copenhagen, killing two civilians and injuring another five.

Paris, France – April 19, 2015: A 32-year-old French woman is murdered by a gunman whose plot to attack a church is foiled after he accidentally shoots himself in the leg with one of his arsenal of weapons.

Zvornik, Bosnia and Herzegovina – April 27, 2015: A Wahhabist extremist opens fire on Zvornik police station, killing one and injuring two others. He was shot dead by officers returning fire.

Diyarbakır, Turkey – June 5 – 2015: Four are killed and more than 100 injured when two bombs are let off at a Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) rally.

Lyon, France – June 26, 2015: A factory worker is beheaded and his head marked with Arabic writing and Islamist flags.

France – August 21, 2015: Three Americans and a Brit thwart an Islamist terrorist’s attack on a Thalys train from Paris to Amsterdam with an assault rifle. The group subdue the man as he prepared to fire the automatic weapon. Five receive minor injuries.

Ankara, Turkey – October 10, 2015: ISIS bombing leaves 102 dead and more than 400 injured in the Turkish capital.

Paris, France – November 13, 2015: The deadliest event on French soil since the Second World War. 137 were killed and nearly 400 wounded after suicide bombers attacked the Bataclan theatre with machine guns as revellers watched a rock concert.

A separate team of Islamist bombers attacked roadside cafe’s around the French capital and one blew himself up outside the Stade de France as the hosts played Germany in an international friendly.

Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina – November 18, 2015: Lone wolf Islamist kills two soldiers and injures five in the Bosnian capital.

Dagestan, Russia – December 29, 2015: – ISIS claim responsibility after a gunman opens fire on local residents in the southern Russian city. One is killed and 11 injured.

Paris, France – January 7, 2016: An Islamist attacks French police with a meat cleaver while wearing a fake suicide bomb belt. He was shot dead.

Marseille, France – January 11, 2016: A teacher is severely injured after an ISIS-inspired 15-year-old pupil attacks him with a meat cleaver at a Jewish school.

Brussels, Belgium – March 22, 2016: Two suicide bombings at Brussels’ Zaventem airport and one on the city’s metro network leaves 35 dead and wounds more than 300. ISIS claim responsibility for the deadly attack.

Magnanville, France – June 14, 2016: A police officer and his wife were stabbed to death by a man swearing allegiance to ISIS.

Nice, France – July 14, 2016: A 31-year-old French Tunisian swearing allegiance to ISIS drove a truck along Nice’s promenade, running over Bastille Day Revellers. He was shot dead after making it 2km along the seaside walkway.

By the end of his murderous rampage, 84 lay dead and dying with hundreds injured.

Wurzburg, Germany – July 18, 2016: A 17-year-old Afghan asylum seeker attacked commuters on a packed train with an axe and knife. Four of the five injured were from a group of Hong Kong tourists. Police shot dead the attacker.

Ansbach, Germany – July 24, 2016: Suicide bomber Mohammed Deleel detonated his device after failing to get into a music festival in the German town. He had earlier sworn loyalty to ISIS. He was the only fatality but four were seriously injured.

Rouen, France – July 26, 2016: A Catholic priest’s throat was slit at the altar of a church in the Normandy town. A nun was also seriously injured with three more taken hostage.

ISIS’s Amaq propaganda network claimed the two perpetrators were “soldiers of Islam”. They were shot dead as they emerged from the church.

We pay for your stories! Do you have a story for The Sun Online news team? Email us at tips@the-sun.co.uk or call 0207 782 4368","THE horrific incident in the French town of Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray, Normandy, is the latest in a long list of terror-related attacks which have blighted Europe over the past two years. France and…"
"Five U.S. soldiers and one Afghan soldier were killed in southern Afghanistan on Tuesday, reportedly in an incident of friendly fire.

NATO said that the soldiers were patrolling a volatile region of southern Afghanistan when their unit came under enemy fire. An Afghan police chief told the New York Times that the soldiers were ambushed at close-range by Taliban militants. The soldiers radioed for air support, at which point a coalition jet mistakenly bombed their position, the Times reported.

NATO has not confirmed the details of the soldiers’ death, saying that the incident was still under investigation. “Tragically, there is the possibility that fratricide may have been involved,” read a statement from the International Security Assistance Force, NATO’s coalition force in Afghanistan.

The Pentagon confirmed that five U.S. troops had been killed on Tuesday. “Investigators are looking into the likelihood that friendly fire was the cause,” said Pentagon press secretary Rear Adm. John Kirby. “Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of these fallen.”","Five NATO service members and one Afghan soldiers were killed in in what officials fear was a case of ""fratricide"""
"Sotheby's Asia, which is headquartered in Hong Kong, recently auctioned a Chinese painting from the imperial era. Bidding had reached the tidy sum of $320,000 and Kevin Ching, the company's CEO, was on the phone to a client on the mainland. All of a sudden his client made a much higher bid. Ching checked there was no mistake then passed it on to the auctioneer. ""It's part of the process. The Chinese are growing up and getting rich,"" says this former corporate lawyer.

He adds: ""We have exuberant customers. They can be very impatient. Even at an auction, they don't want to waste time.""

In this field, as in others, the Chinese are redrawing the maps. According to Artprice, a specialist in art market information, the volume of sales, just for fine art, at public auctions in mainland China has rocketed in barely 10 years to reach 41% of the global market in 2011: the biggest share in the world.

When a sale of Chinese art is held in Hong Kong, London or Paris the room is full of Chinese buyers. They are taking a keen interest in watches, jewellery and wine, too. A revolution is in progress. ""It's the biggest thing in the art world in 20 years. We have moved from a standoff between the United States and Europe, to a three-cornered confrontation, making it a truly global market,"" says Guillaume Cerutti, head of Sotheby's France.

In 2011, two Chinese artists topped the annual ranking of auction revenue established by Artprice, with about $530m for Zhang Daqian (1899-1983), a traditionalist painter and a very gifted forger who spent much of his life in exile, and $465m for Qi Baishi (1864-1957), who was favoured by the Communist leadership. Andy Warhol was relegated to third place.

Turning to the 10 most expensive works by living artists in 2011, we find three Chinese alongside Damien Hirst and Jeff Koons. A recent work by traditionalist painter Cui Ruzhuo fetched $16m at Christie's Hong Kong. Hot on his heels come two contemporary art stars, Zhang Xiaogang and Zeng Fanzhi.

The main reason the art market in China is booming is because there are more and more dollar millionaires – 1.1 million in 2011, according to the Boston Consulting Group. But this poses a challenge for Christie's and Sotheby's, which have dominated the world market for years. It is a godsend too. The two auction houses are not allowed to organise sales in the People's Republic, but they have cornered the Hong Kong market, a key centre for Chinese art. Buyers from the mainland now account for 40% of sales by Sotheby's Asia, up from 4% barely five years ago.

The two companies pride themselves on their expertise, which enables them to control ""all the top quality Chinese art"", says Ching.

Although they cannot sell in mainland China, the two companies can exhibit in leading hotels in Beijing and Shanghai, tempting buyers to attend auctions elsewhere. Sotheby's has just staged its first show in Chengdu and now produces its websites and print catalogues in Mandarin Chinese, as does Christie's. ""For the past two years we have had a Chinese concierge and staff who speak the language to take care of Chinese clients visiting London or New York,"" says François Curiel, head of Christie's Hong Kong.

The new interest in their art displayed by prosperous Chinese has introduced them to other fields. ""There is a huge reserve of collectors, and therefore buyers,"" Curiel adds. ""On their travels they learn about people like the Rothschilds or Rockefellers, and the museums and foundations they founded. They will follow suit, developing an eye for art, taking an interest in art nouveau, photography, furniture and ultimately contemporary European and US art.""

A few rich Chinese artists have been among the first to buy western art. One of them recently contacted French galleries with the idea of building up a collection to explain the development of western painting from the 19th century to cubism. In Hangzhou, south-west of Shanghai, the China Academy of Art is preparing to host a permanent collection of objects and drawings from Germany's Bauhaus, acquired in Germany last year for $72m.

The market for Chinese art is so huge and diverse that in China it is attracting investors disappointed by other sectors such as the stock market or property investments.

Seven of the world's largest auction houses are in China. Poly International, the largest rival to Sotheby's or Christie's, started trading in 2005. The oldest one, Guardian Auctions, based in Beijing, opened in 1993. A year later CEO Wang Yannan travelled to New York in search of foreign buyers, only to realise that its clients were closer to home. ""We still travel abroad, but to find works to take home,"" she says.

Last autumn there was a dip in prices fetched at auction. ""It's a good sign,"" Wang says. ""Things were going too fast. For the past five years profits have doubled annually.""

This article originally appeared in Le Monde",Wealthy turn to cultural artefacts as Beijing leads the world in volume of sales
"A new collaboration between Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon and British electronic musician James Blake premiered on BBC Radio One on Wednesday. The song, entitled “Fall Creek Boys Choir,” was then uploaded to YouTube for the whole world to hear immediately afterwards.

The collaboration and track were first revealed through social media. Blake posted a cryptic message on his Twitter on August 17, hinting at the new song and the date August 24. Today, he posted another mysterious tweet, announcing the premiere of the track at 7:30 p.m. UK time. The BBC’s Huw Stevens played the track and spoke briefly to Blake about the collaboration. The partnership began when Blake and Vernon met at the South by Southwest music festival this year.

According to the YouTube page, the track will be available on iTunes on August 29. The page also contains text that reads: “Enough Thunder – Oct 2011.” Pitchfork reports that this is the name of a new song Blake has been performing live. Could this hint at a full album coming from the duo?

Do you like the new song? And what do you think about putting hit tracks up on YouTube for everyone to hear? Let us know in the comments.","A big name musical collaboration officially landed on YouTube today after a series of cryptic, excitement-building tweets."
"The pilot who flew fashion editor Lauren Scruggs above Dallas to view Christmas lights says he tried to warn the fashion editor about the plane’s spinning propeller and thought she was safe until he heard someone cry out.

The pilot shut off the plane engine when he heard someone shout, ”Stop, stop,” and saw Scruggs’ body on the ground, according to a federal report.

In a preliminary report released by the National Transportation Safety Administration Monday, the pilot recounts the moments before Scruggs’ Dec. 3 accident in which she walked into the small plane’s moving propeller and lost a hand and her left eye.

The unidentified pilot, reported to be Curt Richmond of Frisco, Texas, says he extended his arm out to guide her away from the propeller, and told her to walk behind the airplane.

“Upon noticing that she was exiting in front of the strut, the pilot leaned out of his seat and placed his right hand and arm in front of her to divert her away from the front of the airplane and the propeller,” the report states. “He continued to keep his arm extended and told the passenger that she should walk behind the airplane.”

When he thought she had walked away behind the plane to safety, the pilot says he “returned to his normal seat position,” “looked to the left side of the airplane and opened his window to ask who was next to go for a ride,” according to the report.

But before another ride would take off, he heard someone shout, “Stop Stop,” the report states, and he shut down the engine immediately, only to see the 23-year-old lying in front of the small plane.

Scruggs lost her hand in the accident and doctors at Dallas’ Parkland Hospital removed her left eye. She has been in intensive therapy to relearn the basics, how to walk, talk, use a stationary bike, even dress herself, but had made tremendous progress, according to her mother Cheryl Scruggs’ blog. The deeply religious family met with a prosthetic arm expert last week and has emphasized prayer as Scruggs recovers.

In an interview on “Good Morning America” after the accident, Scruggs’ parents said that they believed their daughter walked back toward the plane to say a final thank you to the pilot. They did not blame the pilot, though many aviation experts took issue with the fact that the propeller was left running while a passenger was exiting the plane. “The pilot of a bird like an Aviat Husky is going to in almost all cases shut the engine down completely and have the propeller stop, which happens almost immediately as soon as you shut it down,” ABC News Aviation Consultant John Nance explained in a Dec. 15 “GMA” report after the accident. “Because we know the danger of having a human being anywhere close to a twirling prop.” In the NTSB report the pilot said he left the engine on “in anticipation of taking another passenger to view the holiday lights,” but turned it off immediately after he heard the screams.

Richmond has not answered ABC News’ repeated requests for an interview and has not spoken out about the accident before.

ABC News’ Ryan Owens and Kevin Dolak contributed to this report.","The pilot who flew fashion editor Lauren Scruggs above Dallas to view Christmas lights says he tried to warn the fashion editor about the plane’s spinning propeller and thought she was safe until he heard someone cry out. The pilot shut off the plane engine when he heard someone shout, ”Stop, stop,” and saw Scruggs’ body on the ground, according to a federal report. In a preliminary report released by the National Transportation Safety Administration Monday, the pilot recounts the moments before Scruggs’ Dec. 3 accident in which she walked into the small plane’s moving propeller and lost a hand and her left…"
"For the past several years, congressional Republicans have focused relentlessly on a single message: Washington — led by President Obama — is spending too much money, and it needs to stop.

But according to new Washington Post-ABC News polling, that laser-like focus isn’t helping Republicans win the argument over federal spending — with 67 percent of those tested disapproving of the “way Republicans in Congress are handling federal spending.”

While Obama’s numbers aren’t stellar on that same spending question — 52 percent disapproval — he is in considerably stronger shape than his Republican adversaries as Washington braces for the $1.2 trillion in automatic cuts known as the sequester to take effect on Friday. In fact, Obama’s 43 percent overall approval on his handling of federal spending is the same number as those who strongly disapprove of how congressional Republicans are handling it.

As we have seen in other recent polling, a major part of Republicans’ overall approval problem — in this case on federal spending — comes from divisions within their own party.

Forty-four percent of self-identified Republicans approve of how their side is handling spending issues, while 51 percent disapprove. Even the base of the party is less than enthusiastic about how the congressional GOP has approached the issue — with 50 percent of conservative Republicans approving and 49 percent disapproving. Compare that to the nearly nine in ten (87 percent) of liberal Democrats who approve of how Obama has handled federal spending.

Here’s another way to look at it: Roughly one in three (34 percent) of respondents disapprove of both Obama and congressional Republicans’ handling of federal spending issues. You’d expect disapproval of both sides to be highest among independents, those fence-sitters who don’t fit neatly into either party. You’d be wrong. While 40 percent of independents disapprove of both actors in this drama, 45 percent of Republicans feel the same way. (Just 18 percent of Democrats go for the “pox on both your houses” approach.)

The poll isn’t great news for anyone involved in the debate over how much the federal government should spend — and on what. When a majority of the American public disapproves of how you are handling one of the major issues, not just of the day but of our time, it’s not good.

That said, Republicans have put their battle to rein in federal spending front and center as they seek to (re)define who they are as a party. And, at least according to these numbers, that effort has yet to pay dividends — even within their own base.

Illinois Democrats nominate Kelly in win for gun control: Former state representative Robin Kelly won the Democratic nomination in Illinois’ 2nd district special election decisively Tuesday night, outpacing former congresswoman Debbie Halvorson by a wide margin.

Her win was a victory for gun-control advocates led by New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg (I), whose super PAC dumped about $2.5 million into the campaign. Most of that money was targeted at Halvorson, who previously had an ‘A’ rating from the NRA.

Bloomberg praised Kelly’s victory Tuesday night as he pressed Congress to pass new gun control measures. “As Congress considers the President’s gun package, voters in Illinois have sent a clear message: we need common sense gun legislation now. Now it’s up to Washington to act,” he said.

Kelly’s win all but guarantees her a spot in Congress, given the strong Democrat tilt in the 2nd district. The general election will be held April 9. The special election was triggered by the resignation of Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-Ill.), who admitted in court last week to misusing hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of campaign funds.

As for Bloomberg, the results of Tuesday night will serve as a reminder to congressional candidates that the NRA isn’t the only group in the gun control debate willing to spend big to influence races.

Rand Paul votes for Hagel: Chuck Hagel’s confirmation as Defense Secretary on Tuesday provided a rare break between two potential 2016 presidential contenders: GOP Sens. Rand Paul (Ky.) and Marco Rubio (Fla.).

While Rubio voted against Hagel’s confirmation, Paul voted for it — just hours after he voted for the second time against bringing Hagel’s nomination to a vote.

Paul’s odd voting pattern — it’s rare to see a senator vote against cloture but then for something, though the reverse is quite common — was perhaps the only surprise on Tuesday.

Paul spokeswoman Moira Bagley said Paul voted against cloture because he wanted more questions answered, but that in the end Paul believes “the President should be entitled to some leeway on his political appointments.”

As we’ve written previously on The Fix, Rubio and Paul have been among the most conservative members of Congress over the last two years, and with both looking at 2016 presidential bids, votes on which they depart from each other are worth remembering.

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) was excluded from this year’s CPAC because of his push for a Hurricane Sandy relief bill that conservatives criticized as full of pork, says American Conservative Union chairman Al Cardenas.

Just 29 percent of people say they agree with most of what the GOP is selling, compared to 40 percent who say the same of Democrats, according to a new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll.

Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) goes after Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (R) for opting out of the federal Medicaid expansion, suggesting he’s trying to avoid offending his party.

The super PAC tweeting offensive things about Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has also failed to file a campaign finance report.

“G.O.P.’s Ideological Split Appears in Virginia Governor’s Race” — Trip Gabriel, New York Times

“Sequester will sock a vulnerable economy” — Jim Tankersley, Washington Post

“Impact of budget cuts depends on where you live and who you are” — Philip Rucker, Washington Post

Capital Insight polling director Jon Cohen and pollsters Scott Clement and Peyton M. Craighill contributed to this report.",Two-thirds of people disapprove how the GOP is handling federal spending issues.
"Supporters of the Social Democratic Party of India protest the Indian government's decision to allow foreign direct investment in the retail market during a rally on Dec. 5, 2012, in New Delhi

India’s beleaguered coalition government won a major battle today, prevailing in two key votes in the nation’s Parliament that will allow foreign multibrand retailers like Walmart and Tesco to open shop in the country. The move to allow 51% foreign investment in multibrand retail stores helped end a two-year-long period of so-called policy paralysis when it was first announced in September but soon ran into trouble when then coalition partner Trinamool Congress (TMC) pulled out of the government to protest the measure. The opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), meanwhile, has been angling for a vote on the FDI issue for months.

The final stamp of approval from both the upper and lower houses this week is a big win for the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government, which has been trying to get India’s lagging economy back on track. Anticipation of the government’s win pushed India’s stock market to a 19-month high on Wednesday. The ruling will be a boon for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who pushed the measure through in the face of strong opposition from allies, and it could help clear the way for more broader economic liberalization.

(MORE: How the Entry of Walmart and Big Retail Chains Will Change India)

But the FDI fight over is far from over. The decision whether or not to lay down the welcome mat for big-box global retailers has become an emotionally loaded debate about the country’s economic future. The government maintains that the reform will create some 10 million new jobs in the next three years, help farmers get better prices for their produce and will infuse new life into India’s tottering food-distribution system. “Wastage will go down, prices paid to farmers will go up, and prices paid by consumers will go down,” Prime Minister Singh said in a rare, televised address to the nation in September defending the government’s decision to introduce the retail reforms. “In a growing economy, there is enough space for big and small to grow. The fear that small retailers will be wiped out is completely baseless.”

Not everyone, however, buys the argument that the nation needs Walmart to reduce waste — or improve India’s economic prospects. Opponents say mega-retailers could devastate millions of small-businesses owners, turning India into what BJP leader Arun Jaitley called a nation of “sales boys and sales girls.” He and other critics argue that while FDI in retail may modernize the sector, the small traders it pushes out have no other employment opportunities in the absence of a social security system or a robust manufacturing sector that can absorb labor. “I favor foreign capital across the board as long as it creates jobs and adds value to the country,” says Mohan Guruswamy, a former adviser to the Finance Ministry and a distinguished fellow at the Observer Research Foundation. “FDI in retail, unfortunately, doesn’t create jobs. It displaces people by destroying small stores.”

(MORE: At World Economic Forum, Indian Business Elites Fret Over Country’s Future Growth)

It is impossible to say if and how foreign big-box stores will loosen the grip that small traders have on the market today. (Small traders control an estimated 90% of India’s $450 billion retail sector.) Singh and other supporters of the reform are quick to point out that the organized retail sector already present in India has not adversely affected small shops, whose numbers, according to government statistics, have seen a threefold increase in recent years. “There will be some losers,” says Ravi Aron, an associate professor of information and strategy at the Johns Hopkins Carey Business School and a senior fellow of the Mack Center for Technological Innovation at the Wharton School. “The traditional middlemen are the biggest winners of today’s retail structure. They will stand to lose much, and they are throwing every possible argument that they can against FDI.”

So are the opposition parties, who have seized on FDI as an issue that could weaken the ruling coalition in the months running up to national elections in 2014. The coming months will see the battle shifting from New Delhi to the states, who have the last say in whether they want to implement it or not. “It is not over,” said Shahnawaz Hussain, a BJP parliamentarian member, after the vote this week. “We will fight on the streets.”

PHOTOS: Nationwide Strike Hits India’s Teeming Cities",India's beleaguered coalition government prevailed in two key votes that will allow foreign multibrand retailers like Walmart and Tesco to open shop in the country. But the debate will likely continue
"RAPPER Kanye West appeared to dismiss the speculation surrounding the state of his marriage to Kim Kardashian by posting a family picture on social media.

The newly-blonde musician could be seen holding his son Saint while standing next to his stunning wife as she held their daughter North.

The clan were posing in front of the Christmas tree from Kris Jenner’s Christmas Eve bash – dismissing reports that Kanye had not attended the event and had been told to keep away from Kim.

However, speculation had begun to mount during the bash as fans noticed that Kim, 36, ditched her wedding ring on the night.

Her wedding finger was bare on Saturday night as she partied with her mum and sisters at their annual festive gathering in LA.

While troubled rapper Kanye, 39, had headed to the cinema with friends before making a late appearance at the event.

It had been reported that Kim blanked her husband and insiders had claimed their two-year marriage is “as good as over”.

It comes at the end of a nightmare 2016 for the couple which saw Kim, 36, robbed at gunpoint in Paris in October and Kanye hospitalised a month later after a mental breakdown.

However, the pair put on a united front with their daughter North, three, at a ­performance of The Nutcracker ballet at an LA theatre on Friday.

Kendall Jenner says family are praying for Kanye West's recovery

But onlookers revealed the ­couple — who also have a year-old son Saint — barely spoke to each other.

A source said: “Kim and Kanye’s marriage is as good as over. It’s looking bleak.

""She didn’t want Kanye at her mum’s Christmas bash this year, as she felt it was the first time she could really let her hair down.

“But he made a late show and spent the last hour just sitting on the couch talking to Scott Disick [dad of Kourtney’s kids] — he was a total wallflower.

“On Friday they took North to see The Nutcracker but they barely spoke or interacted inside.

""The tensions were visible. Neither of them are in a happy place right now.

“He spent Christmas morning at Kris’ [Kim’s mum] to make things as normal for the kids as possible, but it’s just a matter of timing.

""The only thing that might keep them together is the kids.”

New video of Kanye West ranting before he stops Sacramento gig early Kim, who wore a gold dress at the Christmas Eve party in Calabasas, blew kisses in a video shared on her sister Khloe’s Snapchat account.

She was also sporting a new lip ring but her wedding band was off.

In the video, Khloe, 32, can be heard saying: “How dope is my f***ing sister? Look at this dress. And look at the jewellery. You are a bad*** bitch, Kim.”

The US reality star has barely been seen in public since her Paris ordeal, when she was bound and robbed at gunpoint in a reported £8.5million heist.

Kanye has cancelled all tour dates after coming out of hospital at the end of November.

He suffered a mental breakdown, with a cousin claiming he has “stopped trusting people”.

Lawrence Franklin claimed last week Kanye’s decline started after he paid £200,000 to a relative who was threatening to leak a sex tape of him.

Kim Kardashian West makes LOVE Advent debut in fantastical Northern Lights film

Kim and Kanye have also reportedly been in counselling while the rapper is receiving therapy.

Kim is said to be still angry after Kanye flew to New York for a meeting with President-elect Donald Trump within hours of leaving hospital.

A source said: “It was the worst thing that he has ever done in her eyes. When she tried to get him to call it off and come home, he refused.”

Any break-up is likely to lead to a complicated split of Kanye’s fortune, estimated by Forbes to be £145million.

Kanye West meets with President-elect Donald Trump at Trump Towers",RAPPER Kanye West appeared to dismiss the speculation surrounding the state of his marriage to Kim Kardashian by posting a family picture on social media. The newly-blonde musician could be seen ho…
"• Delivers dedicated careers editorial and advice• Specialises in a range of appointments for HR, management and sales• The ideal platform for your Graduate recruitment vacancies - Work contains graduate editorial every week

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Find out about attracting GraduatesReaching environment & sustainability professionals

Source: Sites & Sections Research 2009, NRS Jul 08 - Jun 09",Published every Saturday within the Guardian
"An internal review by BuzzFeed last week found three instances when editors deleted posts after an advertiser or employees from the company’s business side complained about their content, according to a memo sent to staff members on Saturday by the news and entertainment website’s editor in chief.

The three deleted posts — out of more than 1,000 expunged for other reasons, according to the memo — had criticized products or advertisements produced by Microsoft, Pepsi and Axe body spray, a Unilever product. In the memo, the editor, Ben Smith, wrote that they were “pulled after an editor fielded a complaint from a business-side BuzzFeed staff member who worked with a brand mentioned in the piece.”

The disclosure about the reasons for the deletions came four months after BuzzFeed unveiled editorial guidelines meant to highlight its continuing attempt to transform from a creator and aggregator of viral web content into a digital news organization. It also followed an admission this month by Mr. Smith that he had ordered editors to delete two other posts critical of BuzzFeed advertisers: Dove soap — also produced by Unilever — and the toy manufacturer Hasbro.

Mr. Smith later reinstated the two posts, saying he had overreacted when asking editors to delete them. He told staff members in a note that the posts had been erased after he took issue with their opinionated tone and not because of complaints from advertisers. The results of the review were first reported by the website Gawker on Saturday.

The three posts deleted under pressure from the company’s business side were removed before BuzzFeed published its editorial guidelines, and they were a small fraction of the 1,112 deleted posts identified by an internal review committee. The majority of those were not posts produced by the editorial department, or were removed because of what the review called “technical error,” according to the memo.

The three posts linked to advertising were deleted for different reasons, including the appearance of a conflict of interest and perceived bad taste, according to the memo.

One post, written in 2013 by Mark Duffy, BuzzFeed’s former ad critic, criticized a campaign for Axe body spray and was deleted after an unnamed advertising agency complained that it had accused the company of advocating “worldwide mass rape.” In the memo, Mr. Smith wrote, “I agreed that this was way outside even our very loose standards of the time.” Mr. Duffy was later fired from the company.

A second post, about Microsoft Internet Explorer, was written in March 2013 by Tanner Ringerud, a former business-side employee who had moved into an editorial role two months earlier. It was deleted after BuzzFeed’s chief revenue officer complained that Mr. Ringerud should not have written it because he worked on a Microsoft ad campaign in his previous job with the company, creating the appearance of a conflict of interest, the memo said.

BuzzFeed deleted the post, which Mr. Smith said inspired the company to institute a “cooling off period” for business-side employees who move into editorial roles. During that period, they are prohibited from writing about brands whose ad campaigns they had worked on in their previous jobs.

The third post, titled “These Brands Are Going to Bombard Your Twitter Feed on Super Bowl Sunday,” was deleted after BuzzFeed’s business side complained that it criticized Pepsi’s Twitter feed, which the business side was producing content for during the Super Bowl.

In the memo, Mr. Smith wrote that he had not considered that a BuzzFeed writer would write a post critical of advertising content being created by other BuzzFeed employees. “We decided it was inappropriate and deleted the post,” he said.

Microsoft did not immediately return a phone call Saturday seeking comment. Unilever did not immediately respond to a phone call and an email. And Pepsi did not immediately respond to an email.

In a January 2014 email that Mr. Smith sent to Samir Mezrahi, the author of the post, and which was provided to The New York Times, he explained that the post was being deleted because “it felt like a kind of stunt.”

Mr. Smith also wrote: “I don’t think advertising and marketing are particularly interesting in general, but there just has to be a pretty high bar around writing about advertising that is going on in the building. It creates an appearance of a conflict I’m really uncomfortable with.”","At least three posts out of more than 1,000 were erased after employees from the company’s business side complained about their content, according to a memo from BuzzFeed’s editor."
"As tens of thousands of Boston-area tenants get ready to move this summer, there are yet more signs that the region’s rental market might finally be topping out.

Rents in Greater Boston climbed in the second quarter at their slowest pace in two years, according to new figures out Wednesday, while the vacancy rate among apartments hit a six-year high.

Moreover, a number of new apartment buildings are set to open around the city’s traditional Sept. 1 move-in date, putting more pressure on landlords, some of whom are already offering sweeteners such as a free month or two, to keep rent hikes in check.

To be clear, this is still a tight, pricey rental market. The average apartment in Greater Boston rented for $2,046 a month in the three months ending June 30, according to real estate data firm Reis Inc., a sum that trails only New York and San Francisco nationally.

But that average rent climbed “just” 4 percent from a year prior, Reis said, the slowest annual growth rate in Greater Boston in two years. And the vacancy rate ticked upward to 5.5 percent.

You can thank supply and demand, said Ishay Grinberg, president of RentalBeast, a Somerville-based rental website.

More than 7,000 housing units — the majority being high-end apartments — have come on the market in Boston in the last two-and-a-half years, with thousands more in neighboring communities. While many of the new buildings fetch jaw-dropping rents — think $2,500 for a studio in the South End — only so many tenants can pay that kind of money. So more buildings are covering upfront costs such as broker’s fees and security deposits. That effectively lowers their costs to tenants and forces owners of older buildings to do the same to compete.

“You clearly see the trickle-down effect of new inventory,” Grinberg said. “The big new buildings have to adjust to attract more ‘normal’ renters. That applies pressure on the mid-market buildings, too.”

Prices are still climbing fast in more-affordable neighborhoods such as East Boston and Charlestown, Grinberg said, and in nearby suburbs such as Medford, where renters who are priced out of Cambridge and Somerville are looking for cheaper digs.

Jason Gell, president of Boston Luxury Properties, just listed 25 apartments, mostly in Brookline and central Boston, with new rents set 3 to 5 percent higher than last year. Already he’s received applications for five.

“The interest has been there,” he said. “It’s wait and see whether they’ll actually rent. The next six weeks will be really telling.”

Soft rent growth in New York and San Francisco has led some of the nation’s biggest landlords to lower profit estimates. And saturation in Austin, Texas, and Atlanta has reportedly led builders there to shelve big apartment projects. One of the nation’s biggest landlords, Equity Residential, recently said it has sharply slowed new projects until the market catches up.

“We really have cut back,” Mark Parrell, Equity Residential’s chief financial officer, said at a conference with analysts in June. “If it’s better for a little while to do nothing — which is what we’re doing right now — we’ll do that.”

A local spokeswoman for Equity said recently that the company’s planned 44-story apartment tower in Boston’s West End is still moving forward.

Though no major builders in Boston have publicly signaled plans to delay projects, there are signs of slowing. Through May, building permits for units in multifamily buildings in Greater Boston were running at roughly half of last year’s clip, according to data from the US Census Bureau, and behind the pace set in 2014 and 2013.

And Greg Vasil, chief executive of the Greater Boston Real Estate Board, said some of his members have decided to hit pause on projects that haven’t begun construction — though he declined to name any.

“The worst thing in the world is to get caught without a seat when the music stops,” he said.” Nobody wants to get stuck out ahead of the market.”","Rents in Greater Boston climbed in the second quarter at their slowest pace in two years, according to new figures out Wednesday, while the vacancy rate among apartments hit a six year high."
"""I remember driving down Highway 85,"" Wozniak says. ""We're on the freeway, and Steve mentions, 'I've got a name: Apple Computer.' We kept thinking of other alternatives to that name, and we couldn't think of anything better.""

Adds Jobs: ""And also remember that I worked at Atari, and it got us ahead of Atari in the phonebook.""

The interview, recorded for an in-house video for company employees in the mid-1980s, was among a storehouse of materials Apple had been collecting for a company museum. But in 1997, soon after Jobs returned to the company, Apple officials contacted Stanford University and offered to donate the collection to the school's Silicon Valley Archives.

Within a few days, Stanford curators were at Apple headquarters in nearby Cupertino, packing two moving trucks full of documents, books, software, videotapes and marketing materials that now make up the core of Stanford's Apple Collection.

The collection, the largest assembly of Apple historical materials, can help historians, entrepreneurs and policymakers understand how a startup launched in a Silicon Valley garage became a global technology giant.

""Through this one collection you can trace out the evolution of the personal computer,"" said Stanford historian Leslie Berlin. ""These sorts of documents are as close as you get to the unmediated story of what really happened.""

The collection is stored in hundreds of boxes taking up more than 600 feet of shelf space at the Stanford's off-campus storage facility. The Associated Press visited the climate-controlled warehouse on the outskirts of the San Francisco Bay area, but agreed not to disclose its location.

Interest in Apple and its founder has grown dramatically since Jobs died in October at age 56, just weeks after he stepped down as CEO and handed the reins to Tim Cook. Jobs' death sparked an international outpouring and marked the end of an era for Apple and Silicon Valley.

""Apple as a company is in a very, very select group,"" said Stanford curator Henry Lowood. ""It survived through multiple generations of technology. To the credit of Steve Jobs, it meant reinventing the company at several points.""

Apple scrapped its own plans for a corporate museum after Jobs returned as CEO and began restructuring the financially struggling firm, Lowood said.

Job's return, more than a decade after he was forced out of the company he co-founded, marked the beginning of one of the great comebacks in business history. It led to a long string of blockbuster products — including the iPod, iPhone and iPad — that have made Apple one of the world's most profitable brands.

After Stanford received the Apple donation, former company executives, early employees, business partners and Mac enthusiasts have come forward and added their own items to the archives.

The collection includes early photos of young Jobs and Wozniak, blueprints for the first Apple computer, user manuals, magazine ads, TV commercials, company t-shirts and drafts of Jobs' speeches.

In one company video, Wozniak talks about how he had always wanted his own computer, but couldn't get his hands on one at a time when few computers were found outside corporations or government agencies.

""All of a sudden I realized, 'Hey microprocessors all of a sudden are affordable. I can actually build my own,'"" Wozniak says. ""And Steve went a little further. He saw it as a product you could actually deliver, sell and someone else could use.""

The pair also talk about the company's first product, the Apple I computer, which went on sale in July 1976 for $666.66.

""Remember an Apple I was not particularly useable for too much, but it was so incredible to have your own computer,"" Jobs says. ""It was kind of an embarkation point from the way computers had been going in these big steel boxes with switches and lights.""

Among the other items in the Apple Collection:

— Thousands of photos by photographer Douglas Menuez, who documented Jobs' years at NeXT Computer, which he founded in 1985 after he was pushed out of Apple.

— A company video spoofing the 1984 movie ""Ghost Busters,"" with Jobs and other executives playing ""Blue Busters,"" a reference to rival IBM.

— Handwritten financial records showing early sales of Apple II, one of the first mass-market computers.

— An April 1976 agreement for a $5,000 loan to Apple Computer and its three co-founders: Jobs, Wozniak and Ronald Wayne, who pulled out of the company less than two weeks after its founding.

— A 1976 letter written by a printer who had just met Jobs and Wozniak and warns his colleagues about the young entrepreneurs: ""This joker (Jobs) is going to be calling you … They are two guys, they build kits, operate out of a garage.""

The archive shows the Apple founders were far ahead of their time, Lowood said.

""What they were doing was spectacularly new,"" he said. ""The idea of building computers out of your garage and marketing them and thereby creating a successful business — it just didn't compute for a lot of people.""",Stanford University has the largest collection of Apple historical materials in the world.
"Liam Fox, the Secretary of State for Defence. (Photo: Rex)

Backed by packed Tory benches, Liam Fox has emerged unscathed from his statement. Labour gave up soon after Jim Murphy's unsuccessful attack. The Labour benches thinned out very quickly as their quarry made his escape. The history of these occasions tell us they favour the minister in trouble. But the Defence Secretary put on a confident and combative performance. Dr Fox has escaped to fight again.

He was helped enormously of course by David Cameron's decision to put a protective arm around him. Tory MPs took the cue, and were on hand to cheer him. Senior Cabinet ministers also joined him, notably Michael Gove and Eric Pickles. Most significant was the appearance on the front bench of George Osborne, the Chancellor, who perhaps remembered that Dr Fox was one of the few who stood up for him during yachtgate.

All of them were betting that no more evidence will emerge that would discredit the Defence Secretary. Yet close study of his answers will identify some lingering qualifications. Mr Werritty, for example, ""did not receive any payments as a result of his meeting in Dubai"". What about other meetings, then? And what does his reference to Mr Werritty not depending on ""transactional behaviour"" for his income mean? And what should we make of the fact that he and Mr Werritty went on trips together 18 times? Mr Murphy would have been more effective in asking whether Mr Werritty has earned any income as a result of his links with Dr Fox.

This is the exposed flank: what has Mr Merritty been up to in his patron's name that his patron doesn't know about but should have prevented? Mr Cameron believes he has positioned him as best as possible: if Dr Fox survives, he owes the PM for his support; if he goes down, Mr Cameron can tell the Tory Right that he did his best. For the moment, though, it remains an argument about judgment, and that's a grey area.","[caption id=""attachment_100109929"" align=""alignnone"" width=""460"" caption=""Liam Fox, the Secretary of State for Defence. (Photo: Rex)""][/caption] Backed by packed Tory benches,..."
"Derrick Rose is keeping his dribble alive on his bold claim that the Knicks are an NBA super team.

Rose, the team’s new star point guard, was mocked in some circles last month after he boasted the Knicks “have a chance to win every game” and are in a class with the Golden State Warriors.

“I still believe that,” Rose said this week at a promotional event in Seoul, South Korea. “Like I said, with that super team term, you have to be very careful, I guess, if you’re in the United States. But I feel like if you’re on any team in the NBA — it don’t have to be the NBA, it could be the college level, high school level — you should believe in yourself and have the confidence in yourself that you’re playing on a super team anywhere. So I have a lot of confidence, and I’m not taking that back.”

Yet despite his confidence, Rose doesn’t seem to know precisely who’s on his team. When rattling off his new teammates, the former MVP included backup center Kevin Seraphin, who no longer plays for the Knicks. He remains unsigned after averaging 3.9 points and 2.6 rebounds in 11 minutes per game in his lone Knicks season.

“You know playing with Carmelo [Anthony], we have Joakim [Noah], we got [Kristaps] Porzingis, we got Courtney Lee, we got Brandon Jennings, Seraphin, the list goes on and on,” Rose said.

Rose also addressed concerns that Porzingis will suffer for touches in his second season — alongside a ball-dominant point guard and a high-usage scorer in Anthony — by saying that he will “share the ball more.” Last season with the Bulls, Rose averaged 77.2 touches per game, which led the team and was 23rd in the league. It was roughly the same number as 2014-15, when he averaged 77.4 touches per game.

For those looking for encouragement about the condition of his infamously ailing knees, Rose threw down a dunk for the crowd, something he did just once all of last season.","Derrick Rose is keeping his dribble alive on his bold claim that the Knicks are an NBA super team. Rose, the team’s new star point guard, was mocked in some circles last month after he boaste…"
"The eighth episode opens with Pablo Escobar (Wagner Moura) and his cousin Gustavo (Juan Pablo Raba) running through a forest half-naked. Things are going from bad to worse for the drug lords, it seems.

The notorious cousins are being pursued by Search Block, while the CIA is trying to help by tracing Escobar’s cell phone calls. They think they’ve succeeded — only to find that the phone they’re tracking is attached to a donkey.

That jungle chase forces Escobar to come to the realization that the government is both negotiating with him and hunting him down at the same time. Thus he meets with his number one hostage, Diana Turbay (Gabriela de la Garza) and asks her to make another video, this time asking Gaviria to stop the hunt.

Again motivated by the promise of more hostage releases, Turbay agrees.

She and Escobar have a little heart-to-heart and he tells her, “I was going to do marvelous things for this country.” Somehow, it seems that he’s still clinging to his Robin Hood self-image, even after causing nationwide chaos and destruction.

Gaviria shares with Turbay’s parents the deal Esocbar wants — just one drug trafficking charge and the freedom to build his own jail. Though her parents want him to agree, Gaviria stalls, hoping the Americans will be able to help him catch Escobar first.

The Americans do succeed in tracking down one of Escobar’s top-secret locations, but it’s not where the drug lord himself is hiding; it’s where he’s hiding his hostages.

Unfortunately, instead of saving Turbay, the “rescuing” force ends up killing her.

In the aftermath, an embattled and defeated Gaviria agrees to give Escobar what he wants. For one, the Colombians make plans to do away with extradition for drug traffickers. For two, Escobar will be allowed to build his own jail — and the police won’t be allowed within three kilometers of it.

Search Block leader Col. Horatio Carrillo (Maurice Compte) finds that possibility terrifying. It means that once Escobar finishes building, there could still be open season on cops, but the cartel leaders will be hidden safely in a cop-free zone.

Reporter Valeria Velez (Stephanie Sigman) meets up with Escobar to tell him that she’s going to have to distance herself now that he’s going to admit guilt.

Then, unexpectedly, we see Valeria dining with Pacho (Alberto Ammann) from the Cali cartel. (Well, perhaps it’s not that unexpected; she’s always been underhanded.)

Pacho tries to convince Valeria to hide out in the United States until everything blows over with Escobar.

Instead of blowing over, though, first things blow up when a car bomb goes off in front of Escobar’s home. Though he isn’t sure who the culprit is, he knows it’s not the police; bombs aren’t their style.

When Valeria gets a middle-of-the-night phone call telling her about the bombing, she immediately realizes she could be a suspect.

The problem isn’t Valeria, though; the Ochoa brothers are busy meeting with the Cali cartel who are offering to broker a deal with the police.

In short order, the Ochoas wheel and deal and turn themselves in under the agreement that they’ll serve reduced sentences — on the bizarre charge of illegally importing bulls from Spain — in exchange for giving up bigger fish.

Thanks to her brothers’ interference, Marina Ochoa (Laura Perico) — who’s been having an ongoing affair with Gustavo — inadvertently leads Search Block to her lover.

Carrillo drags Escobar’s number two off to an abandoned building and has his men beat the crap out of him in an effort to learn Escobar’s whereabouts.

Nonetheless, Gustavo won’t talk. He tells his captors, “We are bandits, not snitches motherf---er!”

Search Block ends up beating him to death — and Carrillo orders his men to report it as a shoot-out with police. (In real life, Gustavo died in a shoot-out with police in 1990, although the beating seems to be an added fiction.)

Valeria comes calling and tells Escobar about the Ochoas, but since they’re in jail Escobar retaliates by murdering a slew of Cali cartel members while they’re playing a soccer match.

Despite the ongoing murder and mayhem, the Colombian Congress rewards Escobar by repealing the extradition agreement.

In the next scene, Escobar self-surrenders — but, popularly, Murphy says, it’s called “The Gran Mentira,” the big lie.

Finally, the episode ends with the scene that started the series, Murphy setting up the karaoke bar raid that kills Poison (Jorge A. Jimenez) along with a slew of innocent bystanders.",The eighth episode opens with Pablo Escobar and his cousin Gustavo running through a forest half-naked.
"The Shadow of the Panther Huey Newton and the Price of Black Power in America By Hugh Pearson Illustrated. 422 pages. Addison-Wesley. $24.

In the acknowledgments of his arresting history of the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense, ""The Shadow of the Panther: Huey Newton and the Price of Black Power in America,"" Hugh Pearson writes that as a boy he, too, was picked on for having what he considered the sissyish nickname Huey. He was therefore impressed when he later learned that someone else named Huey ""could be such a hero to so many people"" for his refusal to be intimidated by anyone, black or white.

At the same time, even though Mr. Pearson was the son of a doctor and a member of the black bourgeoisie, he felt in elementary school that to do his school work would mean that he was ""becoming like white people, and not being genuinely black."" He eventually resolved this conflict by buckling down to his work, excelling and going to an Ivy League college. So he came to wonder whether Huey Newton, his sometime hero, had really accomplished anything by championing the black underclass and espousing violent resistance against the establishment.

Mr. Pearson's conflict between admiration for Newton's image and skepticism of his aims is reflected everywhere in ""The Shadow of the Panther."" On the one hand, he bends over backward to justify Newton's cause. In his history of the black civil-rights movement from the early 20th-century up through the 1960's, he stresses what he sees as the near inevitability with which nonviolence finally gave way in the face of white intimidation to Stokely Carmichael's call for ""black power"" and the Panthers' taking up of arms.

He emphasizes how much satisfaction people got from seeing Newton and his followers express ""black rage"" against what the author calls the often-bigoted police force of the Panthers' home turf in Oakland, Calif. And he underscores the good the Panthers did with their free medical clinic, their food giveaways and their support of the Oakland Community Learning Center, among other public-spirited works.

On the other hand, Mr. Pearson gives more than equal attention to the dark side of the Panthers. He reveals significant details about the fratricidal warfare between Eldridge Cleaver's international wing and Newton's domestic contingent after Mr. Cleaver had jumped bail and fled to Algeria and the two leaders had expelled each other from the party.

He has dug up extensive evidence of the corruption of the Panther leadership, which went from mistreatment of female members to such outright crimes as extortion, drug dealing, misappropriation of funds and murder. And he has charted Newton's own moral disintegration, which left him a paranoid, despotic drug addict who killed subordinates at a whim, who boasted of shooting the police officer for whose murder he was acquitted on a technicality and who was himself finally shot to death on Aug. 22, 1989, by drug dealers apparently fed up with being shaken down for free crack cocaine.

This tension between the good and evil sides of Huey Newton makes for a gripping narrative that reads almost like fiction. Mr. Pearson, an editor and writer for Pacific News Service, doesn't always express himself with the utmost grace. In a typical passage, he writes of a Panther drive to get out the vote for a candidate, ""The positive half of the double-edged Panther sword came through like it never had before."" And a page later he writes that ""Newton was remaindered to jail until the Panthers could raise the $80,000 bail money required for his release,"" when what he meant to write of course was remanded.

Yet the author succeeds in drawing a richly detailed portrait of a movement most of us were aware of only from intermittent sensational headlines that bounced us from shootouts to show trials. And you never stop being curious about how the author will resolve his ambivalence over Huey Newton and his Panthers.

He arrives at his conclusion somewhat reluctantly. He admits that he was ""disappointed that I had to write about so much negative behavior after believing, initially, that most of what I heard about the party -- the beauty of its breakfast programs, its communal theories, and so on -- far outweighed the negative.""

But in the end he is definite enough. The line may be blurred between ""the proud black imagery"" that Newton offered and the image that ""could have been not a racist's worst nightmare but a racist's ultimate dream.""

But finally, he says, ""The shadow of the Panther casts images that are good and bad,"" but mainly they reflect more posturing than substance. He concludes: ""We will continue to see the predominance of posturing over substance among African Americans as long as so many promote themselves and are promoted by the media as pathological outsiders to the American mainstream. And the Black Panther Party will remain a historical phenomenon that was the quintessential intersection of all the confusion inherent in what it has meant to be African-American for the past 30 years.""

Photo of Hugh Pearson (Nicola Kountoupes/Addison-Wesley)","The Shadow of the Panther  Huey Newton and the Price of Black Power in America  By Hugh Pearson  Illustrated. 422 pages. Addison-Wesley. $24.    In the acknowledgments of his arresting history of the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense, ""The Shadow of the Panther: Huey Newton and the Price of Black Power in America,"" Hugh Pearson writes that as a boy he, too, was picked on for having what he considered the sissyish nickname Huey. He was therefore impressed when he later learned that someone else named Huey ""could be such a hero to so many people"" for his refusal to be intimidated by anyone, black or white."
"The British pound has fallen to a 10-month low against the dollar amid a selloff of Scotland-linked companies, after a weekend poll showed a potential surge for independence.

The markets reacted with widespread negative sentiment over rising uncertainty about the United Kingdom's economic stability.

The pound was trading down more than 1 percent against the U.S. dollar in midday trades. At 3 p.m. in the UK trading day it was still 0.99 percent down.

A broad range of companies with major interests in Scotland also saw their share prices fall on Monday.

Weir Group saw its shares drop more than 2.45 percent, SSE fell 2.44 percent and defense contractors Babcock and BAE Systems slid 4.87 percent and 2.37 percent, respectively.

The Royal Bank of Scotland dropped 2.88 percent, Lloyds Banking Group was down 3.36 percent and Standard Life fell 4.2 percent.

The drops eased slightly in afternoon trades.

Many leading pension funds have significant exposure to the banks and big companies affected by the selloff.

Forex.com research director Kathleen Brooks told Sky News: ""An independent Scotland would potentially have to start a currency from scratch, which is a hard thing to do.

""Obviously a new currency was formed with the euro, but that was decades in the making -- and Scotland doesn't have the time so it would be a real uphill struggle.""

The selloff follows a YouGov poll in the Sunday Times which indicated that 51 percent of Scots supported independence while 49 percent backed the current Union.

It was the first time polls suggested there could be a 'Yes' vote for independence in the referendum on September 18.

On Sunday, Chancellor George Osborne sought to head off the surge of support for an independent Scotland by promising more powers north of the border, including control over taxation, job creation and welfare spending.

""The markets took for granted for so long that it was going to be a 'No' vote and as the polls narrow there has been a huge change in sentiment,"" Brooks added.

""If there is a 'Yes' vote in 10 days' time, things are going to get very ugly in the markets, not just for the pound, but for stocks and potentially raise our borrowing costs in the UK without Scotland.""

And on Monday, party leaders began a final push to sway undecided voters as Alistair Darling, leader of the Better Together campaign, warned a Yes vote ""would be forever.""

The Scottish government, based on expert advice it has received, has said that Scotland should continue to use the pound as part of a currency union with the rest of the UK.

Click for more from Sky News.","The British pound has fallen to a 10-month low against the dollar amid a sell-off of Scotland-linked companies, after a weekend poll showed a potential surge for independence."
"Every so often you read a news article so revealing that it triggers this thought: I wonder if we’ll look back on that story in five years and say, “We should have seen this coming. That story was the warning sign.”

For me that article was a July 25 piece in The Washington Post about how jilted mistresses of corrupt Chinese government officials have become the country’s most important whistle-blowers — turning to the Internet to expose the antics of senior bureaucrats. The Post detailed the case of a 26-year-old named Ji Yingnan, who had been engaged to wed Fan Yue — a deputy director at the State Administration of Archives — until she discovered that he had been married with a son the entire time they were together.

To get her revenge, Ji “has released hundreds of photos online that offer a rare window into the life of a Chinese central government official who — despite his modest salary — was apparently able to lavish his mistress” with no end of luxury items, The Post reported. The first time “they went shopping, Ji said, the couple went to Prada and paid $10,000 for a skirt, a purse and a scarf. A month after they met, Fan rented an apartment for them that cost $1,500 a month and spent more than $16,000 on bedsheets, home appliances, an Apple desktop and a laptop, according to Ji. Then he bought her a silver Audi A5, priced in the United States at about $40,000, she said. ... ‘He put cash into my purse every day,’ said Ji in a letter to the Communist Party complaining about Fan’s behavior.”

It gets better. The Post reported that “a well-known Chinese blogger who has posted Ji’s photos and videos on his Web site said he spoke with Fan last month. Fan told the blogger that he didn’t spend as much money as Ji claims, saying it was less than $1.7 million but more than $500,000. ‘This woman is not good. She is too greedy,’ the blogger, Zhu Ruifeng, said Fan told him.”

Oh, I see. It was less than $1.7 million. That’s good to know! This guy is a senior bureaucrat in the state archives. What sort of illicit activity was he up to in the file rooms to earn that kind of cash? Every government has corruption, including ours. But China’s is industrial strength. My colleague David Barboza last year exposed how then Prime Minister Wen Jiabao’s mother, son, daughter, younger brother, wife and brother-in-law had collectively amassed $2.7 billion in assets. But when you see how much money a deputy archives director was able to amass — and how brazenly he spent it — you start to wonder and worry.

When I visited China in September, I wrote that I heard a new meme from Chinese businesspeople whom I met: “Make your money and get out.” More than ever, I heard a lack of confidence in the Chinese economic model. We should hope that China can make a stable transition from one-party Communism to a more consensual, multiparty system — and a stable diversification of its low-wage, high-export, state-led command economy — the way South Korea, Taiwan, Indonesia and Singapore have done. Its huge savings will help.

The world can ill afford a chaotic transition in China. With America stuck in slow growth, Europe mired in stagnation and the Arab world imploding, China has been a vital economic engine for the global economy. If China’s sagging growth and employment rates meet rising discontent with corruption by officials — trying to get their own while the getting is still good — we will not have a stable transition in China. And if one-sixth of humanity starts going through an unstable and uncertain political/economic transition, it will shake the world.

It would be great if Chinese reporters, bloggers, citizens’ groups and, yes, Internet-empowered mistresses could expose corruption in ways that help make that transition both necessary and possible. But these virtuous civil society actors will only succeed if they find allies in the Communist Party, if they can empower those party cadres who understand the risk to stability, and to their party’s future, posed by runaway corruption.

The Ji and Fan story is very entertaining. But if it is just the tip of an iceberg of corruption that destabilizes China, it won’t be a laughing matter. How Chinese officials behave or misbehave not only will affect us — from the value of our currency to the level of our interest rates to the quality of the air we breathe — it may be the biggest thing that affects us outside of our own government.

There is reason for worry. “The boldness that Chinese leaders have shown in growing their economy from a backwater into the world’s second largest has not been matched, of course, in developing democratic institutions, but more importantly in developing good and honest governance,” said Jeffrey Bader, President Obama’s former senior adviser on China and the author of “Obama and China’s Rise.” But, if China’s leaders don’t take on this issue, he added, “then there will be more corruption, more alienation of ordinary people, and more questions about China’s stability. That would be bad news not only for China, but for the United States, whose future is intertwined with China’s.”

An earlier version of this column misspelled the surname of a New York Times reporter. It is David Barboza, not David Barbosa.

A version of this op-ed appears in print on July 31, 2013, on page A21 of the New York edition with the headline: Revenge Of the Mistresses. Today's Paper|Subscribe",Corruption in China has a ripple effect. Who knew the account of a government official’s extramarital affair would be a warning sign?
"The first-ever national poll measuring public opinion regarding captive orcas, aka killer whales, reveals 40% of respondents oppose the practice. Only 1 in 4 approve of it.

""With recent events shining a spotlight on performing orcas in places like SeaWorld, including the deaths of two trainers and current court challenges questioning the legality, safety and appropriateness of keeping killer whales in confinement, we felt it time to measure public attitudes about orcas in captivity,"" Courtney Vail of the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society said in a statement. ""The public has glimpsed the darker side of the captivity industry and is becoming disenchanted with it. The true face of captivity is actually quite repugnant.""

WDCS, with the Humane Society of the United States and the Animal Welfare Institute, commissioned the phone survey of 1,000 adults.

RELATED: New SeaWorld killer whale shows will keep trainers out of the water

The animal rights groups say that orcas are too big, too intelligent and too socially complex to adjust to life in captivity.

Seventy-one percent of respondents said the absence of orcas at aquariums, zoos and aquatic theme parks wouldn't dissuade them from visiting, and 14% said they'd be more likely to visit if a facility had no orcas.

Meanwhile, whale-watching in the wild is gaining in popularity, with more operators from Washington to New Zealand offering tours. The Humane Society supports the activity – if it's done properly.

""We support responsible viewing of whales and dolphins in the wild,"" says Humane Society marine mammal scientist Naomi Rose. ""Responsible means controlling the numbers of vessels, the time spent with the animals, the areas where vessels can follow the whales and so on. Whale watching can be done badly – we support whale watching when it's done right.""

Here's your chance to weigh in. Does keeping whales in captivity serve a legitimate educational or conservation purpose? Or is it just inhumane?","The first-ever national poll measuring public opinion regarding captive orcas, aka killer whales, shows many oppose the practice."
"CHARLESTON, W.Va. – A Powerball ticket sold in West Virginia that was worth $1 million from the Feb. 11 drawing has gone unclaimed.

West Virginia Lottery spokesman Randy Burnside says no one stepped forward by the Aug. 11 deadline. Ticketholders have 180 days from the drawing date to claim their prizes. The ticket matching five of the six Powerball numbers was sold on Wheeling Island.

Burnside says the retailer will still receive a $10,000 bonus for selling the ticket, while the unclaimed money will be shifted to a fund for future prizes.

Burnside says the lottery also is waiting for someone to claim a match-5 ticket sold in Poca for the Aug. 2 Powerball drawing.",A Powerball ticket sold in West Virginia that was worth $1 million from the Feb. 11 drawing has gone unclaimed.
"Keri Russell (“The Americans”) Russell, 40, first rose to fame starring in “Felicity” on the WB (never a network that received much Emmy love) from 1998 to 2002. She got her first prestige drama role as undercover KGB spy Elizabeth Jennings on FX’s “The Americans” in 2013, but the show was shut out of major Emmy categories, to critics’ horror, every year until now. “We’ve not been nominated so many times we were so sure we’d never be nominated!” Russell told USA Today of her and co-star/boyfriend Matthew Rhys, also a first-time nominee.

Constance Zimmer (“UnREAL”) Zimmer is one of those actresses who has consistently worked in supporting roles on TV since the ’90s — “Good Morning, Miami,” “Joan of Arcadia,” “Boston Legal,” “Entourage” and “House of Cards” among them. But she finally got her Emmy-worthy role at age 45, as the deliciously ruthless TV producer Quinn King. “I screamed, jumped up and down, got a little teary and screamed again,” Zimmer told Access Hollywood.

Courtney B. Vance (“The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story”) At 56, Vance has racked up a long résumé of TV roles, including starring in five seasons of “Law & Order: Criminal Intent,” the short-lived “Flashforward” and guest roles in “ER,” “Revenge” and “The Closer.” But the Yale drama grad is perhaps more recognized on Broadway, where he’s nabbed three Tony nods (including a win for 2013’s “Lucky Guy”). But it was his spot-on portrayal of Simpson defense lawyer Johnnie Cochran that confirmed to a wider audience what theatergoers have known for years: Vance is the real deal. And while he went up against his former scene partner Gooding Jr. in the category, Vance said there’s no cast rivalry: “I love my man, so win, lose, or draw, we’ll still be brothers,” he told E! News.","With the nominations for this year’s 68th Emmy Awards, the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences proves it can still surprise us. While the 2016 pack includes its share of familiar TV faces and…"
"Editor's note: Roland Martin is a syndicated columnist and author of ""The First: President Barack Obama's Road to the White House."" He is a commentator for the TV One cable network and host/managing editor of its Sunday morning news show, ""Washington Watch with Roland Martin.""

Enough with putting off tomorrow what we should be talking about today. Enough with being afraid to step on someone's delicate sensibilities when it comes to the Second Amendment. Enough with elected leaders who are too cowardly to confront the National Rifle Association and their ardent supporters. Enough with moms and dads and brothers and sisters and aunts and uncles and pastors and deacons who are afraid to make public the private anguish of mental illness.

Enough with just asking for thoughts and prayers. Enough with just hugging our children. Enough with leaving flowers and teddy bears at a makeshift memorial.

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It's time for action. It's time for people of conscience to, in the words of the late civil rights activist Fannie Lou Hamer, be ""sick and tired of being sick and tired.""

America, 20 of our children are dead, and we are all paralyzed, not knowing what to do or say. I've shed tears for the lives of the innocent children and adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. Many of you have likely done the same.

Opinion: Mourn, and take action on guns

We witnessed the president of the United States, Barack Obama, stand before the country fighting back tears talking about the lives lost, reminding of us other tragedies involving guns and sick individuals behind the trigger.

And every time this happened, those who refuse to discuss gun control are quick to say, ""Now is not the time.""

One day after Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Jovan Belcher shot and killed his girlfriend, Kasandra Perkins, NBC Sports anchor Bob Costas said it was time to talk about this nation's fascination with guns. Instead of being hailed as an honest communicator, he was vilified for having the audacity to raise the subject at the halftime of a football game.

Have we become such a nation of cowards that we are desperate to not discuss a real issue, instead saying, ""Please, shut up so I can watch the game?""

Yet today, we are glued to the television, unable to turn from the scene in Newtown, Connecticut, eager to find every new detail as to what led to the horrific mass murder of a classroom full of kindergartners.

Share your thoughts on the shooting

It wasn't time to talk about this when Rep. Gabby Giffords was shot in the head, and six others were killed in January 2011. It wasn't time in July 2012 when 12 people were blown away in a movie theater in Colorado. Seven were killed at a Sikh temple near Milwaukee near August, and we were told then, ""Now is not the time.""

So, please, exactly when is the time?

This nation, whether we want to admit it not, is one that is fascinated and enraptured with guns. It courses through our veins like heroin shooting through the arms of an addict. We love to see it in our movies, video games, on television, and then we'll fiercely defend the right to bear arms, all while flagrantly waving the U.S. Constitution in the face of anyone who objects.

News: Obama remains committed to assault weapons ban, White House

There is absolutely no reason why we need as many guns in America. None. It simply shouldn't be the way of life others are so quick to defend. There is absolutely no doubt that we need tough and stringent gun control. Not solely to prevent murders like those in Connecticut, but to remove the option when someone is angered, depressed or in the case of too many, mentally ill.

And that's the second issue that it's time that we come to grips with in this country: We are a nation that has chosen to either medicate or ignore altogether.

""They have a few screws loose."" ""You know he's off his rocker."" We've heard all of the terms. We often laugh and dismiss the mentally ill in America, choosing to cross the street when we see the homeless veteran screaming and cussing at anyone who walks by. When it's time for budget cuts, those most vulnerable often get thrown out first.

For years American cities, counties and states have shirked their responsibility when it comes to the mentally ill, choosing to abandon helping them, but quick to build a new prison to incarcerate them when a law is broken.

Now we wait to see if the Newtown, Connecticut, killer will be the latest Jared Lee Loughner (Gabby Giffords), Seung-Hui Cho (Virginia Tech), or James Holmes (Colorado movie theater all individuals who were described as mentally unstable.

Timeline: School violence in the U.S.

Too often the warning signs were there, but ignored for one reason or another.

Could any of these tragedies have been prevented? No one knows for sure. But I sure as hell would rather try than have to be a first responder and look a parent in the eye and say, ""Sir or ma'am, I'm sorry. But your baby is dead, killed in the classroom along with 19 other classmates.""

See, now is the time that they are having that conversation. Now is the time those parents are grieving the loss of their babies. Now is the time parents in Newtown, Connecticut are eschewing Christmas plans to prepare for a funeral.

School shooting: Shattering the sense of safety

America, now is the time for us to stop living in denial. We must address guns. We must address mental illness. We must have the courage and conviction to put aside our political views and deal with the task at hand.

America, NOW IS THE TIME.

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The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Roland Martin.",Roland Martin asks whether we have become a nation of cowards that we are desperate to not discuss real issues such as gun control.
"By JULIET LAPIDOSAUG. 5, 2014

WE learned something about New York Times online commenters recently: They are far, far more supportive of marijuana legalization than the average American.

Over the last 10 days, The Times’s Editorial Board published a series calling for an end to the federal ban on marijuana. This stance, we realized, was hardly avant-garde. As we noted in an essay on public views, a majority of Americans now favor legalizing use of the drug. But this majority is not especially large: 54 percent to 42 percent, according to the Pew Research Center’s latest poll.

In the comments section of the High Time series, we asked readers to state their preference: for legalization, against it or unsure. Obviously, combing through Internet comments won’t yield results that are publishable in a scientific journal. Still, the lopsided response seems to indicate that Times readers — at least readers of the online edition — overwhelmingly believe that prohibition is pointless.

As of Tuesday afternoon, roughly 15,000 comments were published online on seven editorials: 12,658 were for, 982 against, and 254 unsure. (Not everyone chose a category. And letters to the editor, by contrast, were far more mixed.)

By and large, readers seem to support legalization for the same reasons the editorial writers do. They are convinced marijuana is less dangerous than alcohol and tobacco and believe that the criminalization of marijuana is more likely to ruin lives than marijuana itself. Arrest and incarceration for possession of a relatively harmless substance is, to many readers, unacceptable.

Mark Hanna of Virginia summed up the consensus view: “Like many wars, the war on drugs has caused too much carnage. Let’s responsibly legalize marijuana.”

Kyle of Oklahoma made the same point in more detail: “No matter how bad you think marijuana is for kids, teens or adults, the fact is that arrest, incarceration, and the ruin they bring is worse. The question is not whether marijuana is ‘O.K.’ It is how [to] effectively deal with it. Illegality and moral censure are and should remain separate tools. ... I think many people are worried about losing control of their kids, but I don’t think a single one of them wants to see their kid locked up.”

And Justine, a nurse in Portland, Ore., wrote from personal experience: “I have yet to see one patient come through our doors suffering the long-term consequence of pot use. Not one. Alcohol? I can’t even begin to count. And when they do, it is very ugly. Patients in the E.R. because someone smoked a couple of joints and got violent? Not so much.”

Not surprisingly, commenters did advance arguments that the Editorial Board overlooked, or touched upon only in passing. Some, including Daniel of Alabama, supported legalization on ideological, libertarian grounds: “I reject the federal government’s right to decide what I put in my body. Even if it was ‘bad’ for you, so what? We don’t ban skydiving, driving in cars, hunting, professional backyard wrestling, traveling to 3rd world countries, sugary foods and beverages, standing outside during thunderstorms with a metal pole, swimming after eating, caffeine, ibuprofen, alcohol, cigarettes or prescription drugs, all of which are statistically more likely to harm you.”

Other readers endorsed legalization as a way to reduce the power of drug cartels. Pedro, a reader in Mexico City, explained: “In Mexico, we have a bloody war against drugs. ... This prohibition has done [nothing] but destroy people by putting them in jail. Drug dealers killing each other for territory, etc. There are more cartels than there were when the prohibition started. This prohibition has only empowered drug dealers. I say let cannabis [be] free. Stop benefiting the cartels.”

Instead of allowing gangs to profit from marijuana, some readers suggested that local governments could patch up their budgets by taxing the drug. “In this era of dwindling coffers,” wrote Kelli Dunaway of St. Louis, “it seems that the regulation, sale and taxation of marijuana offers some badly needed fiscal relief. In my state, that may be the only argument with any impact.”

ALTHOUGH the vast majority of readers wrote in support of legalization, there was, of course, some dissent. There were readers who considered the series downright reckless and who questioned our priorities.

Robert Jackson of Denver said “we need to put the needs of America’s youth ahead of the needs of people who want to get stoned.” He dismissed the notion that “pot is a safe and harmless drug” as the product of a “well-funded blitzkrieg propaganda campaign,” and called the argument that alcohol is more dangerous than marijuana a “propaganda tactic of distraction.” Sam Coulter of New York was more blunt: “Arguing [marijuana] should be legal just because alcohol is legal is just plain stupid.”

We expected some readers to make the slippery-slope case against legalizing marijuana, and they did. Keval Parekh of New Jersey wrote, sarcastically, “Sure, Democrats, let’s fully legalize marijuana. ... And while we’re at it, how about cocaine, meth, heroin and LSD.” But he also took a rather surprising position: He called on Republicans to “end their hypocritical stance on alcohol and tobacco. ... They should come out as against ALL types of drugs (including alcohol and tobacco)!”

Mr. Parekh was not the only reader to recommend doubling-down on prohibition. Susan of Boston identified herself as “someone who thinks tobacco smoking should be outlawed.”

Somehow we don’t anticipate “repeal the 21st amendment, ban tobacco” working as a slogan on the campaign trail; certainly any candidate who suggested blanket prohibition would lose The Times’s readership. In fact, many readers argued that legalization — rather than continued or broader prohibition — was the political winner. They noticed the near-unanimity in the comments section, and, perhaps getting a little carried away, imagined hope-and-change emanating from the White House.

Chris of Virginia had some advice for President Obama: “He should use executive authority to legalize marijuana on a national level and let each state decide their own laws. This could be an opportunity for Pres. Obama to cement his legacy and give the nation what it clearly desires.”

The president would, at least, be giving a majority of Times commenters what they clearly desire.

A version of this editorial appears in print on August 6, 2014, on page A20 of the New York edition with the headline: Times Readers Online Make Their Own Cases for Legalizing Marijuana. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe","In roughly 15,000 comments published on seven editorials, readers were far more supportive of ending the federal ban on marijuana than the average American."
"Clear Channel’s president of programming, Tom Poleman, is the man who made Miley Cyrus, Rihanna and Katy Perry famous.

As the guy who decides exactly what songs are played on each of the 850 Clear Channel stations, Poleman weighed in to Confidenti@l about artists he has worked with and what he really thinks of them.

PHOTOS: I SAW MILEY TWERKING ON SANTA CLAUS: STAR'S WILDEST MOMENTS

“You hear a new artist for the first time, like Rita Ora,"" he recalls. “Jay Z brought her up into my office, and we all sat around and listened to her music. I thought it was great, and I walked down the hallway and put it on Z100 and then I walked further down the hallway and then put it on KTU.

“It’s exciting to hear something for the first time and then letting the world in on it,” Poleman says about his decision-making.

It’s a powerful position. Poleman is also responsible for making Justin Timberlake’s “20/20” get major airtime, and gave Rihanna her first radio play.

“Nine years ago, Jay Z called me to his studio to listen to a new female artist he was working with,” he says. “It was Rihanna, and I knew I wasn’t leaving the studio without her record.”

Poleman hauled it to the station and immediately had his DJs play it. “That moment was the beginning of Rihanna,” he says.

On Miley Cyrus, he calls her the “new Britney Spears,” and says she’s got everybody fooled.

“I believe everything Miley is doing is very smart and very calculated,” he says. “She comes off like she is wild and crazy, but she knows what she is doing. There are certain people that you see in this business that you worry about self-destructing, and Miley isn’t one of them. She is doing a great job of keeping herself in the spotlight.”

PHOTOS: RIHANNA STRUTS HER STUFF IN NYC: CELEBRITIES WEARING SHORT SHORTS

Poleman tells us he’s been wrong in the past, but that overall, he can make a star when he hears a hit.

“I love being proved wrong,” he says. “You don’t always know the biggest hits, but I like to think my batting average is pretty good.

“One of the coolest things about the job is to hear music that you know is going to be all over the airwaves, that is going to influence pop culture, and you get to hear it first.”

The radio honcho is also the brains behind the annual Z100 Jingle Ball concert, set Friday at Madison Square Garden.

We love a fake! Abigail Breslin hit Imposter Faux Fur’s holiday shopping experience at Henri Bendel, benefiting the Mayor’s Alliance for New York City’s animals.

Fashionistas and animal lovers tried on the fauxs, with Breslin arriving in the company’s signature faux fur chinchilla bolero. Others tried on muffs, vests and hats, with funds going to protecting animals.

Let’s hope this isn’t becoming a trend. Following in the bizarre footsteps of Miley Cyrus, who bleached her eyebrows temporarily last week, Victoria’s Secret Angel Alessandra Ambrosio sported blond eyebrows for a photo shoot at the beach in Miami on Wednesday.

The gothic picture session included full-coverage ensembles and even a face mask.

At least one “Today” show veteran is firmly on Team Matt Lauer.

At the recent UNICEF Snowflake Ball at Cipriani Wall Street, Bryant Gumbel told Confidenti@l, “I still am amazed that people make a big deal about Ann Curry getting fired.

Please. People get fired all the time. You don’t do the job, you get fired. I’m trying to figure out when she became Joan of Arc.”

Gumbel went on to emcee the star-studded event, featuring a performance by Katy Perry.

David Blaine magically appearing at Tao midtown. … Author Scott Gutterman celebrating his new book, “Miles Davis: The Collected Artwork,” at a Rock Paper Photo event at Chelsea’s Gallery 15. … Wilmer Valderrrama and pals drinking Don Julio 1942 at midtown’s Hakkasan. … Estelle and DJ Mick performing at luxury watch brand IWC’s Art Basel party in Miami. … Javier Bardem offering bidders a chance to visit him on set for a Robert F. Kennedy Center holiday auction. ... Kevin Bacon and A Band Called Holmes jams at The Cutting Room Sunday.

Wooo! It looks as if Emanuela de Paula is suspended in midair with her perfect abs and perfect arms.

But de Paula was deep into modeling for a beach photo shoot in Miami, along with supermodel Jessica Hart.

PHOTOS: JESSICA HART HEATS UP MIAMI WITH SIZZLING BIKINI SHOOT

Fergie and 4-month-old son Axl communicate well, even if the conversations are a bit one-sided.

“He’s trying to talk to me. He’s trying to sing to me,” she told us after making a $50,000 donation to amFAR.

“It’s great. I’ll just sit there and sing songs to him. He’ll look at me, he’ll laugh, and he’ll try to chime in and make these really weird sounds. He gets very proud of himself. And I just sit there clapping like the proud mom I am.”

One perk of working with Jennifer Lopez: You get not one, but two J.Lo Barbie dolls!

Kristin Chenoweth, filming “The Boy Next Door” with Lopez, left a dinner at Craig’s restaurant in West Hollywood carrying two of the controversial dolls under one arm.

The problem lies in the lady lumps, which some say don’t do the curvaceous pop star justice.

‘Hairs’ to being an egomaniac! X-Factor judge Simon Cowell lets it all hang out as heand gal pal Lauren Silverman leave BOA Steakhouse in L.A on Saturday.

Lauren finalized her divorce with Andrew Silverman and is expecting a child with music mogul.

Is George Steinbrenner headed back to Broadway, where he started out?

Steinbrenner, the volatile Yankee boss who died in 2010, began his run on the big stage in the 1960s and ’70s when he and producer Jimmy Nederlander backed several productions, including 1970 Tony winner “Applause.”

Now, Daily News baseball columnist Bill Madden and Pulitzer Prize-winning former New York Times sportswriter Ira Berkow have written a play based on Madden’s 2010 best-selling biography, “Steinbrenner, the Last Lion of Baseball,” and hope to get their play into production.

If a recent script reading at the American Airlines Theater is any indication, actor Richard Kind would make a perfect Steinbrenner. Zach Grenier was a perfect foil as general manager Gabe Paul. Ditto Daniel Davis, who read the roles of patriarch Henry Steinbrenner and commissioner Fay Vincent, who briefly threw George out of baseball.

Artie Lange sat down for writer and comedian Mandy Stadtmiller’s podcast, where he opened up about his past suicide attempt and how it was to see ex-boss Howard Stern in the flesh for the first time since his recovery.

Both men were visiting Stern’s sidekick Robin Quivers in the hospital when they ran into each other. “It was just the three of us for like an hour,” said Lange, who once feuded with Stern. “It was like seeing an old friend. ... We had become friendly. And he defused it immediately and said, ‘Just what we need to make Robin laugh — it’s Artie.’ ”

He plays a clueless prison guard on “Orange Is the New Black,” but Pablo Schreiber knows a thing or two about being behind behind bars.

“I’m probably not supposed to say this, but I’ve been to prison,” he told Confidenti@l while out on the town recently. “I survived for a night. It was actually jail, not prison. Prison is easier.” Schreiber, whose brother is actor Liev Schreiber, also told us what he learned: “Zero.”","Clear Channel’s president of programming, Tom Poleman, is the man who made Miley Cyrus, Rihanna andKaty Perry famous."
"As the one-year anniversary of credit and debit card swipe fee reform approaches, a debate about whether shoppers are saving at the register as a result rages on.

The National Retail Federation estimates that U.S. retailers and customers save $18 million a day thanks to reform that reduced the swipe or interchange fee –typically a 1.5 percent to 3 percent charge — paid to banks for credit card transactions.

The Durbin amendment, which lowered the so-called “interchange fees,” went into effect on Oct. 1, 2011 in response to financial reform on Wall Street.

The alleged savings though can be a bit squishy to identify.

“Merchants haven’t necessarily labeled the savings from reform as a ‘debit discount’ but they have nonetheless found a variety of ways to pass the value along to their customers,” NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay said in a statement. “Depending on the store, shoppers are paying lower prices, getting better service or avoiding prices hikes that otherwise would have come with inflation.”

“Retailers are simply too competitive not to share savings with consumers because customer value is one of the key ways they take market share away from their competitors,” Shay said.

According to Bankrate, swipe fees revenue doubled from $30 billion to $60 billion from 2005 to 2011, while checking fees rose from $11 to $14 on average during the same period. After labor, according to the Wall Street Journal, interchange fees are the largest expense for retailers.

But, the Electronic Payments Coalition, a payment industry group for banks, says consumers are being hit in other ways.

“Giant retailers lobbied Congress so they could pay less to accept a debit card, with a wink and a nod that they would lower prices for their customers. One year later, ask yourself – do you feel that you’ve seen lower prices? Have you seen a discount for using your debit card – which would have been the easiest and most direct way to fulfill their promise to Congress,” Trish Wexler, a spokesperson for EPC wrote ABC News in a statement.

According to a report by financial research firm Javelin Strategy & Research, credit card swipe reform cost banks $6.6 billion a year in lost revenue.

” More likely, you’ve seen your free checking disappear and increased fees as card issuers had to make up for $8 billion in lost revenue that supported these debit card programs. Let’s just call a spade a spade – this was a political handout to big-box retailers, who are now scrambling to make excuses for why they couldn’t pass these savings along to customers,” Wexler continued.

Since the fourth quarter of 2009 through June of 2011, the number of big banks offering free checking accounts declined by 54 percent, according to research firm Moebs Services.

Ed Mierzwinski, consumer program director for the advocacy group U.S. PIRG, says small banks and credit unions continue to offer free checking accounts and there’s no proof consumers are not saving money.

“Small banks are benefiting from swipe reform. The industry has no proof that merchants aren’t passing savings along but the bank industry is trying to gain support for a horrible settlement that will allow them to perpetuate their horrible practice and continue to raise swipe fees,” Mierzwinski told ABC News.

Mierzwinski said many unfair practices by the banks have been changed by good regulation, including swipe fee reform on debit cards, recent CFB-imposed penalties on credit card deceptive marketing and the 2009 Credit Card act that curtailed credit card companies late fees and restricts exorbitant interest rate increases.

“The banks and VISA and Mastercard credit card networks are using a cartel to gouge merchants with unfair swipe fees that were non-negotiable and the result is cash customers at the store are paying higher prices because swipe fees were going towards creating rewards for more affluent credit card customers,” says Mierzwinski.","(Image credit: AP Photo) As the one-year anniversary of credit and debit card swipe fee reform approaches, a debate about whether shoppers are saving at the register as a result rages on. The National Retail Federation estimates that U.S. retailers and customers save $18 million a day thanks to reform that reduced the swipe or interchange fee –typically a 1.5 percent to 3 percent charge — paid to banks for credit card transactions. The Durbin amendment, which lowered the so-called “interchange fees,”  went into effect on Oct. 1, 2011 in response to financial reform on Wall Street. The alleged savings…"
"Police responding to a break-in at a gun store in Marietta, Ga., were shot at early Tuesday morning during a tense stand off that ended when the county's SWAT used anarmored vehicle to enter the store.

Marietta police Officer Brittany Wallace said no injuries were reported and four suspects have been apprehended at the Deercreek Gunshop.

Gun shop burglary turns into shots fired & the SWAT Team called in Marietta. @Fox5Kaitlyn has live report in minutes pic.twitter.com/AiXBBeNhYr

Wallace said officers responding to a report of a burglary noticed movement on top of and inside the building, and soon apprehended two suspects.

She said a third suspect inside the business fired on officers, who returned fire, but no one was hit by the gunshots. She said a fourth suspect came out of the business with his hands up.

SURRENDER 4th man taken into custody in Marietta. WATCH: #breaking pic.twitter.com/jD3e1puglX

The store is about 18 miles northwest of downtown Atlanta.

Wallace said shortly before 8 a.m. Tuesday that police were using an armored police vehicle to make entry into the business and make sure there was no one else inside.

Wallace told FOX 5 that as the scene progressed, someone from inside the gun shop began firing and that's when police fired back.

""As far as we know, no one was struck and that third suspect has been taken into custody,"" she said.

Wallace said she didn't know exactly how the report was received by police, but she said there were no signs of any type of ambush or attempt to lure officers to the store. Police nationwide have been on high alert in the wake of recent killings of police officers in Dallas and Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

Video from a television news helicopter showed officers taking cover behind police cars outside the gun store.

""There are several officers, and our response to anything here lately has been that way,"" Wallace said. ""We want to make sure the business is secure, but also the surroundings are secure for our safety.""

The Associated Press contributed to this report",Police outside Atlanta say they were shot at while responding to break-in at a gun store.
"“Boss,” a series on Starz about a crooked Chicago mayor, is almost good, and it falls short for the same reason that the George Clooney movie “Ides of March” isn’t good enough. Both are political thrillers that romanticize malfeasance, imbuing corruption with a sinister melodrama that defies common sense and cheapens the thrill of bad behavior.

Voters don’t trust elected officials, but Hollywood doesn’t trust itself to do politicians justice; screenwriters keep piling operatic misdeeds onto characters whose strength lies in their huge capacity for pettiness.

“All the King’s Men,” the novel and movie based on the career of Huey Long, set the template for larger-than-life politicians. But Season 3 of “The Wire” proved that it was also possible to find suspense and meaning in the seamiest margins of city council meetings and municipal elections.

“Boss,” which begins on Friday and stars Kelsey Grammer, can’t quite keep faith with its own cynicism. The series premiere is beautifully but ponderously shot: Chicago as seen through the eyes of a stylish European auteur. The story has some finely drawn characters and lots of promising material: This is, after all, politics the Chicago way. But too often the plot veers off into overwrought tangents that clash with the bleak realism of the story.

Office affairs are conducted with the humorless intensity of “9 ½ Weeks.” The mayor’s henchmen enforce his decrees with methods that would make even Bulgarian secret agents giggle.

Two other shows — a Danish series, “Borgen,” that begins next week on LinkTV and “Borgia,” a Canal Plus production now available on Netflix — have a steadier fix on politics, mostly by avoiding the obvious.

This version of the Borgia story, created by Tom Fontana (“Oz”) and made in Europe with an international cast, is more cerebral than the rollicking Showtime mini-series “The Borgias,” starring Jeremy Irons. That Renaissance dynasty is famous for grotesque murders, orgies and conspiracy and a complete lack of piety inside the Vatican. “Borgia” also factors in the contradictions of papal intrigue and religious faith.

“Borgen” is almost the exact opposite, a thriller woven around possibly the most boring conflict in Europe: parliamentary elections in Denmark. The series, which is shown with subtitles, was created by the makers of the original Danish mini-series “The Killing.” (NBC has plans for a remake of “Borgen.”) A bleaker, Nordic version of “The West Wing,” “Borgen” finds a remarkable amount of drama and suspense in center-left alliances, pension plans and televised debates.

Likewise, some of the most exciting scenes in “Boss” are found in the most prosaic crises: a city council vote on trash disposal, a gubernatorial campaign bus tour. But the series shares the outsize ambition of its hero, Tom Kane, played by Mr. Grammer as a modern-day version of the first Mayor Daley, Richard J. Daley, the boss of the Chicago Democratic machine.

It’s an atavistic portrait of Cook County politics; Rahm Emanuel is the current Chicago mayor, and nobody fears a machine anymore. The drama “The Good Wife,” also set in Chicago, hypes campaigns — more time, PAC money and advertising seems to go into the state’s attorney’s race than in an entire presidential election — but there is still a believability to the behavior of politicians.

Mr. Grammer is persuasive as an old-school bully. Here he has none of the effete, fussy charm he perfected on “Frasier.” Kane is a wily autocrat who can wax poetic in speeches but privately brings aides and even aldermen to their knees — sometimes literally.

The mayor has a secret: a degenerative neurological disease that he hides with the same ruthless guile he uses to cover up all the bribery and patronage paving his airport expansion project. He doesn’t tell his cool and estranged wife, Meredith (Connie Nielsen), and he isn’t on speaking terms with his only child, Emma (Hannah Ware), who once had a drug problem and now works at a free clinic far outside her father’s zone of influence.

Kane doesn’t even tell his closest aides, Ezra Stone (Martin Donovan) and Kitty O’Neil (Kathleen Robertson), icily competent consiglieri who do his bidding without question or complaint.

The only person who dares to question the mayor’s health and probity is an investigative reporter, Sam Miller (Troy Garity), who quarrels with his editor and drinks in a bar that has a framed photograph of the legendary columnist Mike Royko. (Mr. Garity is the son of Jane Fonda and Tom Hayden, but in this role he is a dead ringer for Dustin Hoffman in “All the President’s Men.”)

Perhaps to avoid dwelling on the demise of his own career, Kane meddles in the re-election campaign of a crony, Gov. McCall Cullen (Francis Guinan), covertly switching his allegiance to a young primary challenger, State Treasurer Ben Zajac (Jeff Hephner). Zajac appears to be grateful for the mayor’s help, but he also seems to have his own agenda. That includes an extra-marital affair so torrid it is actually laughable.

There are movies and TV shows about politics that tempt viewers to fast forward through the details of governing to get to the juicy parts. “Boss” is the opposite, a smart look at political power brokers that gets silly on the subjects of sex and violence.

Starz, Friday nights at 10, Eastern and Pacific times; 9, Central time.

Produced by Grammnet NH and Lionsgate Television. Created by Farhad Safinia; written by Mr. Safinia (pilot only), Richard Levina and Lyn Greene; pilot directed by Gus Van Sant; Mr. Safinia, Mr. Van Sant, Mr. Levine, Ms. Greene, Kelsey Grammer, Brian Sher and Stella Bulochnikov, executive producers; Dan Clancy, production designer; Juliet Polcsa, costume designer; Kasper Tuxen, director of photography.

WITH: Kelsey Grammer (Mayor Tom Kane), Connie Nielsen (Meredith Kane), Kathleen Robertson (Kitty O’Neil), Hanna Ware (Emma Kane), Jeff Hephner (Ben Zajac), Martin Donovan (Ezra Stone), Francis Guinan (Gov. McCall Cullen), Rotimi Akinosho (Darius Morrison) and Troy Garity (Sam Miller).","In “Boss,” a new Starz series, Kelsey Grammer plays a Chicago mayor who controls everything but the melodrama."
"Facebook’s sales jumped nearly 50% in the latest quarter, fueled by growing ad revenue from more users connecting through their mobile phones, the company said Wednesday. Here are the key points from Facebook’s fourth quarter earnings report.

What you need to know: The social networking giant continued to ride a strong mobile ad business to $3.85 billion in quarterly revenue — an increase of 49% from $2.6 billion during the same quarter a year earlier. Facebook’s quarterly profits totaled $701 million, or 25 cents per share, representing a 34% year-over-year increase.

Once again, Facebook FB got a bulk of its revenue from mobile ads as it surpassed analyst expectations of $3.7 billion in revenue. Facebook’s sales have grown by about 60% in each of the previous two quarters with much of those gains attributed to mobile ads. Despite topping analysts’ forecasts, Facebook’s fourth quarter saw the company’s slowest rate of quarterly sales growth since early-2013 and the company’s shares dipped slightly in after-hours trading.

The company also provided full-year financial results, showing a 58% bump in annual revenue, to $12.5 billion, and $2.9 billion in profits — nearly double 2013’s profits.

“We got a lot done in 2014,” CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in a statement. “Our community continues to grow and we’re making progress towards connecting the world,”

The big number: Facebook ended 2014 with 1.39 billion monthly active users (MAUs), which was up 13% from 2013. Mobile MAUs grew by 26% in 2014, to 1.19 billion.

Facebook’s expanding mobile ad business, which has shown huge gains over the past couple of years, represented nearly 69% of the company’s $3.6 billion in ad revenue. Ad sales were up 53% from last year’s fourth quarter, when mobile ads accounted for only 53% of overall ad revenue.

What you might have missed: In October, Facebook’s tumbled slightly following the company’s third-quarter earnings report after the company announced plans to dramatically increase the company’s spending on hiring and acquisitions in 2015. In the fourth quarter, Facebook said, the company’s capital expenditures rose 7%, to $517 million.",Mobile ads accounted for 69% of the social networking giant's fourth-quarter ad revenue. But higher costs spooked some investors.
"Former intelligence agency contractor Edward Snowden (C) and Sarah Harrison (L) of WikiLeaks speak to human rights representatives in Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport (REUTERS/Human Rights Watch/Handout)

NSA leaker Edward Snowden has been granted temporary asylum in Russia and has reportedly left Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport, his home for five long weeks. But there’s a catch for the U.S. fugitive. Well, this being Russia, probably several catches, but one of them is that his asylum will last for only one year. The Russian transit papers he was given are clearly marked as expiring on July 31, 2014.

Given that it took Snowden this long just to get out of the airport, he might reasonably be concerned about whether 12 months will give him enough time to either flee to another country or secure a more permanent status in Russia. Under Russian law, as ably explained by Radio Free Europe’s Tom Balmforth last week, Snowden has three potential paths to shelter in Russia, only one of which offers permanent asylum. The other two are temporary. Barring some high-level political intervention – which is surely possibly, though hardly guaranteed given Russian President Vladimir Putin’s past comments on the matter – none of Snowden’s options looks especially promising.

Here’s a quick rundown of the various paths open to him:

This is the only path to permanent shelter in Russia. Russian law on political asylum sounds like most other countries’ laws: It grants “asylum or protection from persecution or a real threat of becoming a victim of persecution” for people facing ill-treatment in their home countries for “social-political activities or convictions that do not contradict the democratic principles recognized by the international community and norms of international law.”

Sounds straightforward, but Radio Free Europe found only 14 people in the past five years who had applied for political asylum in Russia — and none of them appeared to have been successful. That may be in large part because winning political asylum requires a presidential decree.

Russian law says foreigners on Russian soil can apply for refugee status if they fear they could become a “victim of persecution due to their race, religion, citizenship, nationality, membership in a particular social group or political belief.” Refugees in Russia tend to come from some rough spots: Syria, Afghanistan and Central Asia are among the biggest sources. (So is more peaceful and stable Georgia.)

But refugee status only lasts for up to three years and is reviewed every year. It’s not clear whether it can be renewed at the end of the three years.

It’s also rarely granted. Radio Free Europe examined official Russian government statistics and found that, between January 2007 and April 2012, 12,500 people applied for refugee status but only 961 got it – a success rate of just 7 percent. That’s down significantly from earlier years, when the rate was around one-in-three. Immigration from Central Asia is a sensitive issue in Russia, where ethnic Russian birth rates are declining rapidly as legal and illegal immigration from post-Soviet Central Asian states rises.

3. Extension of ‘temporary asylum’ through legal appeals (temporary)

Snowden’s temporary-asylum status may run out in one year, but that doesn’t mean Russia will automatically deport him on Aug. 1, 2014, if he’s been denied permanent political asylum. As in the United States, he can continue living in Russia if he is in the process of appealing that decision. He could appeal, first, directly to the federal immigration service and then to a Russian court. The process typically lasts about a year, which means that his one-year temporary asylum could functionally last two years if he times his appeals well.

Caveat: Snowden’s case is far from typical

The Russian refugee and asylum processes are daunting, but they’re normally braved by regular families or individuals from places such as Syria or Afghanistan – not by high-profile and geopolitically significant American intelligence contractors. Putin has clearly taken an interest in the case and has publicly stated that Snowden can stay as long as he stops releasing information “damaging to our American partners.”

Still, temporary asylum is much easier to get in Russia than are other forms of shelter. Between 2001 and 2007, according to government statistics, 43 percent of applicants were granted the one-year reprieve.",Only 7 percent of refugee applicants are approved. No one has been granted political asylum in the past five years.
"By Tom Vanden Brook, USA TODAY

broke ground Tuesday in Dallas for his presidential library, officials weighed whether or not to display one item that few know is being held in storage there: the ""Mission Accomplished"" banner.

The banner was the backdrop aboard the USS Lincoln during Bush's televised speech May 1, 2003, to proclaim the end of major combat in Iraq. It caused controversy in the months that followed when violence in Iraq spiraled.

The banner now sits in storage and will become part of the library's collection. A decision on how or whether to display the red-white-and-blue banner hasn't been made, said Alan Lowe, director of the George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum.

Lowe, who is employed by the National Archives, a federal agency, said the military shipped several items, including the banner, to the archives in 2005. About six months ago, the archives transferred the banner to the temporary site for the library in Lewisville, Texas. The permanent library, the George W. Bush Presidential Center, will be on the Southern Methodist University campus in Dallas. It is to open in 2013.

Before the speech in 2003, Bush landed on the aircraft carrier in a jet and walked on its deck in a flight suit. He thanked the troops, whom he said had prevailed in Iraq. Bush disavowed responsibility for the banner in October of that year, saying his staffers weren't ""ingenious"" enough to have arranged it.

The White House later acknowledged that it had provided the banner at the Navy's request. The Navy said at the time that the banner was intended to honor the sailors who had completed a long deployment. Democrats, including Sen. John Kerry, the 2004 Democratic presidential nominee, criticized the banner as triumphal posturing.

A design firm is sifting through thousands of documents, photos and artifacts to determine items that will be put on permanent display, Lowe said. The library will be dedicated to telling the story of the Bush administration, according to a news release. ""Key events and critical decisions will be examined in engaging, interactive exhibits,"" it said.

A spokesman for Bush, David Sherzer, declined to comment, referring questions about the banner to Lowe. In an interview this month with NBC's Matt Lauer, Bush said about displaying the banner, ""No question it was a mistake.""

More than 3,000 people, including friends, supporters and former administration officials attended Tuesday's ceremony. Outside, there were about 100 protesters joined by a handful of counterprotesters. ""It is hard to believe there is this much excitement about shoveling dirt,"" Bush said.

Dick Cheney, who looked much thinner after heart surgery this summer, introduced Bush. The former vice president told the crowd he wasn't surprised by the ""robust sales"" of Bush's book, Decision Points, released last week.

""Two years after your tour in the White House ended, judgments are a little more measured than they were,"" Cheney said. ""When the times have been tough and critics have been loud, you've always said you've had faith in history's judgment. And history is beginning to come around.""

Cheney drew applause when he added, ""This may be the only shovel-ready project in America.""

You share in the USA TODAY community, so please keep your comments smart and civil. Don't attack other readers personally, and keep your language decent. Use the ""Report Abuse"" button to make a difference.","As George W. Bush broke ground for his presidential library, officials weighed whether or not to display one item Bush now calls a mistake."
"The Texas senator appeared more certain than ever that the Republican primary was headed toward a contested convention, expressing confidence that no candidate -- including himself -- would win the 1,237 delegates needed for a first-ballot clinch.

It's an argument Cruz will take personally to party elites in Florida later Wednesday, when he pitches himself to members of the Republican National Committee. GOP rival John Kasich is also expected to brief RNC members, and Saul Anuzis, a senior Cruz adviser, confirmed that Cruz would arrive in person as well.

""We are headed to a contested convention. At this point, nobody is getting 1,237,"" Cruz told Philadelphia radio host Chris Stigall on Wednesday morning. ""Donald is going to talk all the time about other folks not getting to 1,237. He's not getting there, either.""

Cruz reiterated his belief that the GOP is heading toward a contested convention while speaking with CNN's Sunlen Serfaty in Hershey, Pennsylvania, Wednesday morning.

""The reason Donald's so scared is the last three weeks -- and in particular, the win in Wisconsin -- put the nail in the coffin and made clear Donald doesn't get to 1,237,"" he said.

Trump, however, had no such reservations while speaking shortly after his New York win Tuesday night. In a victory speech in the lobby of Trump Tower, Trump said Cruz was ""just about mathematically eliminated.""

""We don't have much of a race anymore,"" Trump boomed. ""We're going to go into the convention, I think, as the winner.""

Cruz conceded that Trump had enjoyed ""a good night"" in New York, where Trump won about 90 delegates in a stronger-than-expected showing. But the Texas senator, who solidly trails Trump in the delegate count, pushed back on the idea that the contours of the race had somehow changed.

""Now let me tell you what Donald and the media want to convince everyone: That Pennsylvania is a suburb of Manhattan,"" Cruz said Wednesday in Hershey. ""Manhattan has spoken and Pennsylvania will quietly file into obedience. You know what, I got a lot more faith in the people of Pennsylvania.""

Cruz is set to arrive in Hollywood, Florida in the late afternoon. HIs campaign manager, Jeff Roe, told reporters that Cruz will declare later Wednesday that his campaign had $9 million on hand as of April 1.

CNN's Tom LoBianco contributed to this report.","Ted Cruz on Wednesday sought to dampen any momentum that could come from Donald Trump's rout in New York, arguing the billionaire was no likelier to win their party's presidential nomination than he was."
"Now some fresh pickings from the Political Grapevine...

Attorney General Eric Holder was thrown quite a curve ball yesterday, during a sit-down interview on MSNBC with a host who certainly seems to be one of his biggest fans.

Melissa Harris-Perry divulged a nickname she has for the nation's top cop and then made an interesting request.

MELISSA HARRIS-PERRY, MSNBC: You know we call you 'the Duck' -- in 'nerd land'?

HARRIS-PERRY: In 'nerd land' we say you have a very sort of placid and even way of presenting, but you are just working for justice underneath.

Would you quack for us?

ATTORNEY GENERAL ERIC HOLDER: Well I'm not sure I'm going to do that...

To the attorney general's credit he did not bow to pressure and worked his way out of a decidedly awkward moment by saying he appreciates the analogy.

The Washington Free Beacon sarcastically dubbed the MSNBC host's question -- quote -- ""another stirring moment of journalism.""

From one Twitter user -- quote -- ""Keep pounding that pavement Melissa!!""

And another -- referring to the president's recent interview with the YouTube star made famous by bathing in Fruit Loops -- quote -- ""I'm glad Mister Holder cleared that 'duck quack' thing up. I thought Melissa was getting all GloZell Green on us.""

Last year, the Pentagon spent more than a half million of your tax dollars on Viagra.

A search of government contracts shows the Department of Defense placed more than 60 orders for the male enhancement drug in 2014, totaling almost $505,000.

Several thousand dollars also went to similar drugs Cialis and Levitra.

The military has been providing the drug to soldiers with a doctor's prescription since 1998.

At $25 a pill Viagra is not cheap.

The Free Beacon reports military doctors have been instructed to prescribe the drug only after making sure it is the best way to deal with the soldier's ailment.

And finally, the Romanian foreign ministry is doing a lot of apologizing this morning after a PR crisis of its own making.

Its Paris embassy e-mailed out invitations to a reception that accidentally included an Excel spreadsheet telling guests exactly what is thought of them.

The document -- clearly intended for private use -- described some guests as ""undesirable"" and one as ""ghastly.""

Now one diplomat has been given a warning and another has been summoned back to Romania.",Now some fresh pickings from the Political Grapevine...
"The 2012 presidential election is on track to be the most expensive in history. Use this graphic to see where the money is coming from — and where it’s going. Updated: Oct. 26, 2012.

Obama for America, DNC, Priorities USA and American Bridge 21st Century

Romney for President, Romney Victory, RNC, Restore Our Future and American Crossroads

Total raised and spent includes funds from presidential campaigns, the two national parties, joint fundraising committees and super PACs. A full list is at the bottom of this page.

The funds fueling the 2012 presidential race flow from four buckets: the Obama and Romney campaigns, the DNC and RNC, and super PACs — all of which have to file reports with the Federal Election Commission — and non-profit groups, which do not have to disclose their fundraising.

Individuals may give national parties up to $30,800 each calendar year.

The DNC has raised more money from donors giving $200 and less.

Mouse over to see the number of donations

The RNC has raised more money from donors giving $200 and less.

Individuals may give candidates up to $2,500 per election (primary or general).

Obama's has raised more money from donors giving .

Romney's has raised more money from donors giving .

* and companies under his or her control

Notes: Receipts for parties, campaigns and super PACs will not equal the totals in the graph above because some money raised by the candidates' joint fundraising committees has not been transfered into campaign and party accounts. Some funds are also raised for state parties which are not included here. In the 'Top super PAC contributors' section above, Republican figures include the American Crossroads and Restore Our Future super PACs. Democratic figures include Priorities USA Action and American Bridge 21st Century.

The candidates, national parties and super PACs spend the bulk of their campaign cash on advertising, mail, staff and fundraising. Here is a breakdown of the major categories of spending by each candidate — and the top organizations and individuals being paid.

SOURCE: Federal Election Commission, candidate campaigns, media reports. GRAPHIC: Jason Bartz, T.W. Farnam, Sisi Wei and Karen Yourish - The Washington Post. Published Sept. 25, 2012.

Organizations accounting for Obama's total raised and spent funds are: Obama for America, Obama Victory Fund, DNC, Priorities USA, American Bridge 21st Century and Swing State Victory Fund. Organizations accounting for Romney's totals raised and spent funds are: Romney for President, Romney Victory, RNC, Restore Our Future, American Crossroads and Citizens for a Working America.

Please email us us with questions or suggestions. New data is pulled as soon as the FEC releases it on the 20th of every month.

An earlier version of this graphic incorrectly included donations to Winning Our Future, a super PAC supporting Newt Gingrich, in the donation totals of individual super PAC donors. Those donations have been subtracted from each donor's contribution amount. Summary totals were not affected, as those totals were not counting any contributions to Winning Our Future.

The real fight on the airwaves is not between President Obama and Mitt Romney but rather between President Obama and a cavalcade of conservative-aligned outside groups, according to an analysis of ad buy information provided to the Fix.","President Obama, GOP nominee Mitt Romney, and the super PACs that support their campaigns have raised hundreds of millions of dollars and are on track to spend more than $2 billion by Election Day. Use this graphic to see where the money is coming from — and where it’s going."
"Washington (CNN) - Herman Cain's presidential campaign said it is considering filing a lawsuit against the news organization Politico, which first reported that two women who worked with him at the National Restaurant Association alleged he sexually harassed them while he headed the group.

""It is being discussed,"" campaign spokesman J.D. Gordon told CNN Friday. He would not discuss any details on the basis for the possible lawsuit or when a decision might be made. Cain and his campaign aides have been very critical of Politico's reporting citing the use of anonymous sources and a lack of some details about some of the claims. Cain has vehemently denied committing sexual harassment and said he recalls one settlement with a female employee as part of an employment termination agreement.

Politico stands by its reporting, saying it was extensively reviewed and it is comfortable with what it has published. ""We have heard nothing from the Cain campaign. We stand comfortably behind every Politico reporters have written on the topic,"" executive editor Jim VandeHei said in a statement.

Separately, the Cain campaign said it did not cancel a TV interview with Mr. Cain and his wife, Gloria, on the Fox News Channel. Spokesman Gordon tells CNN there were discussions about doing an interview Friday, but it was never finalized.

Asked whether the couple will do a joint interview in the near future Gordon says: ""When we have something to announce we will.""

Mrs. Cain has not been seen frequently on the campaign trail. Cain earlier this week said that was because she helps keep the family calm and tranquil and that it was not her ""style"" to join him at every campaign stop.

On Thursday, when asked about his wife, Cain told the Sean Hannity radio show: ""She is feeling for me more so. She knows it is baseless."" He said the controversy is ""having a toll on her.""

–You can follow Kevin Bohn on Twitter @KevinBohnCNN.

Pro-Cain group attacks media over controversy

Perry: Our campaign didn't have anything to do with it

Lawyer for Cain accuser hopes to release statement Friday","Washington (CNN) -- Herman Cain's presidential campaign said it is considering filing a lawsuit against the news organization Politico, which first reported that two women who worked with him at the National Restaurant Association alleged he sexually harassed them while he headed the group."
"KANDAHAR, Afghanistan – President Hamid Karzai's half brother, the most powerful man in southern Afghanistan and a lightning rod for criticism of corruption in the government, was assassinated Tuesday by a close associate. His death leaves a dangerous power vacuum in the south just as the government has begun peace talks with insurgents ahead of a U.S. withdrawal.

Ahmed Wali Karzai, the head of the Kandahar provincial council, was shot to death while receiving guests at his home in Kandahar, the capital of the province that was the birthplace of the Taliban movement and was the site of a recent U.S.-led offensive.

Tooryalai Wesa, the provincial governor of Kandahar, identified the assassin as Sardar Mohammad and said he was a close, ""trustworthy"" person who had gone to Wali Karzai's house to get him to sign some papers.

As Wali Karzai was signing the papers, the assassin ""took out a pistol and shot him with two bullets -- one in the forehead and one in the chest,"" Wesa said. ""Another patriot to the Afghan nation was martyred by the enemies of Afghanistan.""

The killing coincided with a visit to the capital, Kabul, by French President Nicolas Sarzoky.

""This morning my younger brother Ahmed Wali Karzai was murdered in his home,"" the Afghan president said during a joint news conference with Sarkozy. ""Such is the life of Afghanistan's people. In the houses of the people of Afghanistan, each of us is suffering and our hope is, God willing, to remove this suffering from the people of Afghanistan and implement peace and stability.""

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the assassination at the heavily guarded house, hidden behind 8-foot blast walls. The Interior Ministry said an investigation was under way.

Wali Karzai, who was in his 50s and had survived several previous assassination attempts, was seen by many as a political liability for the Karzai government after a series of allegations, including that he was on the CIA payroll and involved in drug trafficking. He denied the charges.

The president repeatedly challenged his accusers to show him evidence of his sibling's wrongdoing, but said nobody ever could.

Wali Karzai remained a key power broker in the south, helping shore up his family's interests in the Taliban's southern heartland, which has been the site of numerous offensives by U.S., coalition and Afghan troops to root out insurgents. Militants have retaliated by intimidating and killing local government officials or others against the Taliban.

The United Nations said in a quarterly report issued June 23 that more than half of all assassinations across Afghanistan since March had been in Kandahar. In April, the Kandahar police chief Khan Mohammad Mujahid was killed by a suicide bomber wearing a police uniform who blew himself up beside the official's car.

According to a government official with knowledge of the investigation, Wali Karzai was holding a meeting in his home with five provincial council members and a number of local village elders, including the assassin. The official said Mohammad was a close friend and had represented Wali Karzai many times in their shared home village of Karz, the president's hometown. Mohammad was the village elder of Karz and was his emissary and travel companion throughout Kandahar, the official said.

At about 11:30 a.m. Mohammad asked Wali Karzai to speak with him privately and to sign some papers in an adjoining room, the official said. Three shots rang out, according to the official. Wali Karzai's bodyguards ran into the room and found him on the floor with bullet wounds to his head, hand and leg. The bodyguards shot and killed the assassin.

The government official said that it remains unclear whether the killing was the result of an internal feud or a Taliban plot.

Although tribal rivalries are common in Kandahar, bloodletting within tribes is fairly uncommon, he said.

Agha Lalai, deputy of the provincial council, said he was one of the first to respond to the sounds of shots.

Lalai said that he and several other men picked up Wali Karzai and attempted to carry him out of the house, but he died before they left the grounds.

In Kabul, the political elite reacted to the killing with shock and concern about the future of the country's southern region and beyond. Though Wali Karzai held an elected office in the provincial council, people who knew him said he seemed to float above the various political and tribal spheres dominating the south. Throngs of people came to Karzai's house on a daily basis seeking remedies for everything from family disputes, to tribal battles, to political intrigues.

Members of the international community had urged the president to remove his brother from his powerful provincial position, saying that it was essential if he was to prove to the Afghan people that he was committed to good governance. But despite his alleged forays into narco-trafficking, smuggling, and land theft, many Western officials also relied on him because of his unparalleled reach and understanding of the various players in the area.

Noorolhaq Olomi, a former parliament member from Kandahar, said Wali Karzai was the most powerful man in southern Afghanistan -- ""more of a governor than the governor"" and ""everybody's leader in the south, not just Kandahar.""

""I cannot say whether this was political or personal or some other matter,"" Olomi said. ""But whoever did it, it shows the weakness of this government. The president needs to change things. He needs to change himself and build a government that is real. Right now, there is no government. It's all a fraud.""

Condolences flooded into the president palace throughout the day.

Gen. David Petraeus, the outgoing commander of NATO and U.S. forces in Afghanistan, condemned the murder and said the coalition would support efforts to prosecute anyone who played a role in the killing. ""President Karzai is working to create a stronger, more secure Afghanistan, and for such a tragic event to happen to someone within his own family is unfathomable,"" Petraeus said in a statement.

Both Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari and Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani called the president to express their sadness at his brother's death.

Abdullah Abdullah, the top opposition leader in Afghanistan who ran against Karzai in the latest presidential election, called it ""an act against national personality and the ones who are at the service of the Afghan people.""

Mohammad Yusuf Pashtun, a senior adviser to the president for construction, water, energy and mines, said the death will have a big impact on security in southern Afghanistan.

""My first impression is that in spite of all the negative propaganda against him he managed to be a source of stability in that area,"" he said. ""When it comes to bringing people together in the south, this creates a vacuum. I don't know what will happen now, but something must be done by the local leadership.""

Rangina Hamidi, a resident of Kandahar and daughter of the city's mayor, said Wali Karzai is survived by five children -- two sons and three daughters. She says his youngest son was born about a month ago.

Wali Karzai has been the reported target of multiple assassination attempts.

In May 2009, a bodyguard was killed when his motorcade was ambushed by insurgents but Wali Karzai was not harmed.

That attack came less than two months after four Taliban suicide bombers stormed Kandahar's provincial council office, killing 13 people in an assault that Wali Karzai said was aimed at him, although he had left the building a few minutes beforehand.

Wali Karzai also survived a November 2008 suicide attack on the provincial council offices that killed six other people.",An Afghan official says Afghan President Hamid Karzai's half brother has been killed in southern Afghanistan.
"New US military guidelines have opened the way for service members to wear religious clothing such as turbans or skullcaps while on duty, the Department of Defense has announced.

The guidelines, published on Wednesday, also allow for facial hair, body art and other expressions of religious belief. It is not a blanket permission, however; requests for dispensation from stated uniform policy are to be reviewed on a case-by-case basis.

The military counts thousands of Muslims, Sikhs, Buddhists, Wiccans and members of other religious groups among its ranks. The groups have protested against the exclusion of religious apparel, saying it forces them to choose between their religious beliefs and a desire to serve.

To be approved, changes in apparel or presentation must not impair the operation of weapons, pose a health or safety hazard or interfere with other military equipment such as helmets, flak jackets or wetsuits, according to the guidelines.

“The new policy states that military departments will accommodate religious requests of service members, unless a request would have an adverse effect on military readiness, mission accomplishment, unit cohesion and good order and discipline,” said Pentagon spokesman Lt Cmdr Nathan J Christensen.

The Sikh American Legal Defence and Education Fund said the rules did not go far enough.

“This is an expansion of the waiver policy that is decided person by person,” its director, Jasjit Singh, told the Washington Post. “It does not open doors and say you can apply as a Sikh American and serve your country fully.”

The Sikh Coalition collects the stories of Sikhs who have won the right to wear turbans and beards on duty. The first was Major Kamaljeet Singh Kalsi, a doctor and Afghanistan combat veteran who was granted a religious accommodation by the US army in October 2009.","Guidelines also allow for facial hair, body art and other expressions of religious belief"
"The World Economic Forum’s annual meeting draws some of the richest and most influential people in the world. In fact, close to 70 billionaires from 20 countries were expected to attend the invitation only event this year.

Forbes editor Luisa Kroll wrote in a blog post Tuesday that the event “may well be the greatest concentration of wealth in any one place” (see: Where The (Big) Money Is).

While Luisa’s group of almost 70 billionaires includes only those who have appeared on Forbes’ wealth lists, Kroll said that there are others in attendance who are expected to debut on the annual Forbes World’s Billionaires list in March.

We found out which of the wealthiest billionaires made it to the Swiss Alps for the elite conference, and we’ve compiled a list of the 14 richest men in Davos. (We are still waiting on confirmation of the attendance of 4 of these billionaires).

Click here for the complete photo gallery of The Richest Men In Davos.

With a net worth of approximately $54 billion, the richest man at the notable conference, according to Forbes’ wealth lists, is tech geek turned billionaire Bill Gates.

The billionaire offered his two cents in a discussion panel about sustainable development today in Davos. He said cutting energy isn’t the solution to sustainable growth, but rather maximizing and fostering innovation, specifically through investments in health should be the focus.

Gates and British Prime Minister David Cameron also announced in Davos that they will contribute $130 million to the Global Polio Eradication Initiative.

Gates and his wife Melinda founded the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in 2000, and have since been considered two of America’s most generous philanthropists.

Last year, Gates and fellow billionaire Warren Buffett initiated The Giving Pledge, which is a campaign to encourage the wealthiest people in the U.S. to commit to donating a majority of their wealth to charity. Gates is extending his efforts to leaders all over the world this week. His mission in Davos is to persuade other billionaires to donate a chunk of their fortunes to charitable causes.

Another business tycoon who made billions in the technology industry is India’s Azim Premji. As the chairman of Wipro, one of India’s largest software development companies, Premji is worth an estimated $17.6 billion – making him the fourth richest man in Davos.

Premji, who was awarded the Padma Vibhushan this year, took over the family business at the age of 21 when his father suddenly died. Over time, Premji transformed Wipro from a toiletries and lighting company to a software giant. Like Gates, Premji is dedicated to charitable giving, and has recently pledged to donate $2 billion for improving education in India.

These men aren’t the only philanthropic billionaires in Davos.

Swiss entrepreneur Ernesto Bertarelli became CEO and co-owner of his father’s company, Serono, in the 1990s. Like Premji, he shifted the company’s focus, and saw sales tripple over the next 10 years. In the late 1990s, the billionaire established a foundation that encourages and supports infertility research – exactly what helped his company gain recognition just a few years earlier.

The father of three, who’s also an avid sailor, is worth an estimated $10 billion.

Bertarelli is the only Swiss billionaire to make the list of the top 14 richest people in Davos. The rest of the group is made up of five Indians, four Americans, and four Russians.","The World Economic Forum’s annual meeting draws some of the richest and most influential people in the world. Here are the 15 richest billionaires in Davos this year, based on Forbes’ wealth lists."
"The Pulp Fiction star, 57, parked his 1970 Mercedes-Benz 280SL outside a Jaguar dealership for just ten minutes and when he returned it was gone.

The theft was reported to cops in Santa Monica, California, but it is understood there were no witnesses.

Travolta's Merc is part of a car collection that includes a Rolls Royce, a Jaguar XJ6 and a Ford Thunderbird similar to the one featured in his 1978 hit musical film Grease.",SCREEN icon’s £65k motor is nicked – as he looks at new cars in a California showroom
"Elon Musk laid out his long-promised vision for building a self-sustaining city on Mars, saying the next giant leap for humanity will require full rocket reusability, refueling the spacecraft in orbit and propellant production on the Red Planet.

“Refueling in orbit is one of the essential elements,” Musk told scientists, engineers and government officials gathered Tuesday at the 67th International Astronautical Congress in Guadalajara, Mexico, in a presentation called “Making Humans a Multiplanetary Species.” Musk went on to say that producing propellant on Mars was key to driving down the cost, which he estimated one day could cost roughly $200,000 per ticket.

The gathering, which included Apollo-era astronaut Buzz Aldrin, drew men and women who have spent lifetimes studying our solar system, the galaxies beyond, and how to get there one day. Musk’s comments hold sway because of his rocket-launch company’s success and the steps he’s already taking toward the goal of helping humans move beyond Earth.

Space Exploration Technologies Corp., the company he founded in 2002 with that intent, is already flying satellites into orbit and scheduling “Red Dragon” missions to explore the planet. Those missions will inform the design of the SpaceX Interplanetary Transport System, a larger craft to ferry people to Mars and beyond.

SpaceX released an four-minute animated video shortly before Musk’s speech that revealed how the Interplanetary Transport System would work. The video begins with more than a dozen people walking into the spacecraft perched atop a rocket booster that lifts off from Cape Canaveral, Florida.

Once in space, the spacecraft sits in a parking orbit while the booster returns to Earth to get a propellant tank. The rocket then reflies and refuels the spacecraft in orbit. With the additional fuel, the spacecraft then blasts off toward Mars thanks, in part, to solar arrays that deploy. At midjourney, it’s traveling at almost 62,700 mph toward the planet.","Elon Musk, the founder of SpaceX, laid out his long-promised vision for building a self-sustaining city on Mars."
"Updated SEP 15, 2014 1:30p ET

After taking its share of criticism for moving too slowly to discipline Ray Rice, the NFL is acting quickly to do some damage control and strengthen its programs for domestic violence and other social issues going forward.

In a memo to teams and staff this morning that was obtained by FOX Sports, commissioner Roger Goodell announced the addition of several staffers and advisors who will help shape programs, sharpen education and provide support for players and employees.

The moves come as criticism has mounted for the league's bungling of the Rice situation, as well as the controversies surrounding the Carolina Panthers' Greg Hardy, the San Francisco 49ers' Ray McDonald and the Minnesota Vikings' Adrian Peterson.

""Last month, I wrote to you and our staff that our organization will continue to evolve and meet our challenges and opportunities,"" Goodell wrote. ""We are committed to developing our talent and putting the best people behind our most important priorities.""

Goodell promoted Anna Isaacson to a new, expanded role of vice president of social responsibility. Isaacson, currently the league's vice president of community affairs and philanthropy, will ""oversee the development of the full range of education, training and support programs relating to domestic violence, sexual assault and matters of respect.""

Goodell also announced the league has retained three senior advisors -- Lisa Friel, Jane Randel and Rita Smith -- ""to help lead and shape the NFL's policies and programs relating to domestic violence and sexual assault.""

Friel was the head of the sex crimes prosecution unit in the New York City DA's office; Randel is the co-founder of No More, a national initiative to raise awareness regarding domestic violence and sexual assault; and Smith is the former executive director of the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence.

The league will also continue its work with two programs -- Coach For America and A Call To Men -- to educate players and coaches ""about character, respect and professionalism,"" according to Goodell.

""We are continuing to develop our organization to strengthen our ability to address the wide range of issues we face and other changes in our office will be announced soon,"" Goodell said. ""Our goal is to make a real difference on these and other issues. We know that we will be judged by our actions and their effectiveness.""

Though many might continue to judge the league by its actions in the past few months, it's clear the NFL is trying to address the problem with these programs and its ongoing investigation into whether someone in the league office saw the video of Rice hitting his wife in an Atlantic City elevator.

While Goodell and other executives are expecting a thorough independent investigation from Robert Mueller, it has become clear they want the investigation completed as quickly as possible. Adding owners John Mara and Art Rooney II as overseers of the investigation was designed to help streamline the process.

*By clicking ""SUBSCRIBE"", you have read and agreed to the Fox Sports Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.

This will not be like last year when the investigation into the Jonathan Martin-Richie Incognito bullying scandal dragged out for months, with the findings being released after the Super Bowl. The NFL wants to get Mueller's findings into the hands of owners and fans as quickly as possible.

A source also told FOX Sports if Mueller uncovers evidence that reveals a high-ranking executive was negligent and/or viewed the Rice video, that information will be brought to Mara and Rooney immediately and Mueller won't wait until the end of the investigation to reveal it.

The NFL has surely noted October is just a few months away. That's when the players and coaches will wear pink to support breast cancer awareness. The investigation and the appointments Goodell has made come in advance of the expected criticism the league will receive for supporting women on the field despite recent events off it.","Women hired to strengthen NFL's domestic violence awareness, social programs"
"Check out Bieber doing some pretty impressive solo juggling -- complete with a few spin moves ... NOT BAD!!!

Turns out, Bieber's actually a pretty impressive athlete ... he can play hockey, he boxes with Mayweather, he can skate ... and he can hoop (sorta).

Gotta respect it ... right?","Justin Bieber got skills!!!  Check out Bieber doing some pretty impressive solo juggling -- complete with a few spin moves ... NOT BAD!!! Turns out,…"
"Irene Rosenfeld, chief executive officer of Kraft, outlines her company's plan for the next few years.

Steve Forbes: And when you get a setback, I mean you had one in 2003, you left the company and then came back. Would you advise younger people, ""Be prepared, you may have to move and see what turns up?""

Irene Rosenfeld: Yes. I think that at the root of that is you need to be happy, you need to feel you're making a difference. And if that's not playing out, you need to make a change. And I would stand behind that advice. My hope and my expectation is that at Kraft Foods ( KFT - news - people ) we are working hard to make sure that we are listening to employees, that we are encouraging them to speak up about what their career aspirations are, what they're looking for. Because I would hope that we can accommodate some of their needs without them having to leave.

But I certainly would advise that, if you've tried all that and it's not happening the way you need it to, you need to make a change.

Forbes: And in terms of shareholders, obviously, the stock market's not been conducive to any company, most of them, doing well. How would you tell investors, ""Yes, Kraft is a big company, it's in certain categories, but here's what makes us top of the breed."" You mentioned 44%, 70%.

Forbes: What else would you tell them?

Rosenfeld: Well, I think I've laid out our strategy for the next three years. What I've said is our first focus is to delight global snacks consumers. It's a growing category around the world. It's got very attractive margins. And we're advantaged within that category. Seventy percent of our business outside the U.S. is in snacks. Over half or our business globally is in snacks. So I feel good about the portfolio. I like the geographic footprint. We've doubled our position in developing markets and I think if we look out over the next three years, about close to a third of our business will be in the developing markets. And I like our position from a channel perspective.

The immediate consumption channels, where we've doubled our presence, is a fast-growing channel with very attractive margins. And all of that together are what give me great confidence that we will be able to deliver revenue in the top tier of our peer group in excess of 5% and EPS growth of nine to 11%. And I think that will be fairly strong performance by any standard.",CEO Irene Rosenfeld lays out her company's goals and gives advice to other businesspeople on when to make a change.
"Consider a few videos as Mitt Romney tries, in the last weeks of the campaign, to appear vaguely moderate.

The first shows Mr. Romney at CPAC calling himself “severely conservative.” The second, an Obama campaign ad from April, amounts to a greatest hits of his severely conservative statements. The third, from Daily Kos, compares what Mr. Romney said at last week’s debate with previous comments.

It’s impossible to say which Mitt Romney is the “real” Mitt Romney. But what we don’t know about Mr. Romney seems secondary to what we do know: He doesn’t think authenticity or consistency or conviction matter. It’s not just that he tweaks his message to suit his audience; he’s willing to change his message for his audience. (And if he’s president, his audience will be the Republican-dominated, Tea-Party-influenced House.)

It must be the case that many Americans recognize his contortions, and will vote for him regardless because they don’t like the president. That’s their right. But if Mr. Romney wins, he’ll set a nasty precedent. Candidates will be justified in assuming not only that they can lie, but that they can tell different lies to different audiences from week to week, and voters will actually reward them.","If Mitt Romney wins, candidates will be justified in assuming that they can tell different lies to different audiences, and that voters will actually reward them for it."
"Talk about big productions: the annual ''Messiah Sing-In'' of the National Choral Council, ringing out for the 14th year tonight at 8 P.M. in Lincoln Center's Avery Fisher Hall, comes closest to a vocal version of an old-time Hollywood backlot.

The sing-in lends itself to exclamation points. Three thousand singers! That includes you in the audience, with your choice of section according to your voice or sociability. Directed by Martin Josman and 19 guest conductors! Kenneth Bowen, organist, in thunderous accompaniment! Plus soloists! Those are Lucy Shelton, soprano, and Ray De Voll, tenor, who come in to upstage the masses at regular intervals.

Did Handel ever envision such a massive execution of his mighty work? Possibly not, because he wrote it for a chorus of about 20 voices.

Admission: $9, for general seating in which you can take a seat anywhere in the house; $13.50 for reserved seats. You can bring your own ''Messiah'' score or buy one at the door. Information: 869-0970. SESAME OPEN

This is a reason for television watchers to go out and look at a tribute to what they may have been looking at at home since 1969. It is a photographic show called ''13 Years of Sesame Street'' in the Nikon House, 620 Fifth Avenue, along the Channel Garden mall that leads into Rockefeller Center between 49th and 50th Streets.

This exhibition is felicitously sited for the delectation of youngsters, what with the big Rockefeller Center tree in view above the skating pond, the angel-lined mall and the big tableaux in the windows of Saks Fifth Avenue across the street.

Nikon House has a two-level gallery and its exhibitions usually represent camera work that is unusual in content and technique. In this show, the photos are the work of freelance and staff photographers and is the first such exhibition of scenes from the long-running children's program.

On the walls are seen Big Bird, Cookie Monster, Bert and Ernie, the Count, Oscar the Grouch, Kermit the Frog. If you have not had occasion to catch ''Sesame Street,'' faces that have made guest shots on the show may be more familiar to you: Lena Horne, Lily Tomlin, Dick Cavett, James Earl Jones, James Galway, Judy Collins, Itzhak Perlman and Cab Calloway. It is an easy and quick exhibition to breeze through on the gallery's two levels.

Open free, through Dec. 30, from 10 A.M. to 5:45 P.M. except for Thursday, Christmas Day and Saturday and next Monday. OPERA BENEFIT

The Israel National Opera was founded 33 years ago and has helped start the careers of many young singers from many places, among them Placido Domingo, Mignon Dunn and Joann Grillo. The Israel Opera, not too different from many opera companies elsewhere, may be in good artistic form but it is in bad financial shape, which is why there will be a benefit for it tonight at 8 in Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall.

The threat of closure has been brought on by a cutback in the Israeli Government's subsidy. In an attempt to ameliorate the loss, singers of the Israeli company and of our own Metropolitan Opera will offer a program of operatic and musical-comedy songs. Among the 18 singers will be Miss Grillo, Atarah Hazzan, Nedda Casei, Richard Kness, John Durrenkamp and Nico Castel, all from the Met. In addition, Herman Malamood, also of the Met, will light the second candle of Hanukkah during the performance and will sing the traditional ''Ma'oz Tzur.''

Admission: $10. Information: 998-1061. ONE NIGHT STAND

John Monteith and Suzanne Rand are a comedy team who worked their way from clubs to Broadway and back to clubs, to wherever someone is in search of comedy. Monteith and Rand came out of Chicago's Second City, and they say their provenance lies in the turbulent era of social upheaval rather than the earlier one of neurotic introspection.

Their improvisitational wit, with planned material, too, will be the attraction, tonight only, at 8:30 and 11:30 P.M. at the Bottom Line, the club at 15 West Fourth Street (228-6300). The Bottom Line, where the team has visited before, is one of the longer-lived clubs in a business where easy-come, easy-go is a fact of life. It apparently plans to be around for some time longer: the place has been given a fresh painting and new carpeting. Otherwise, everything is the same.

Admission: $8. No cover or minimum at the tables. Drinks, $2.20 and up; menu items, $3.50 to $7.

For today's Entertainment Events, listing see page C16. For Sports Today, see page B14. Richard F. Shepard","BIG SING   Talk about big productions: the annual ''Messiah Sing-In'' of the National Choral Council, ringing out for the 14th year tonight at 8 P.M. in Lincoln Center's Avery Fisher Hall, comes closest to a vocal version of an old-time Hollywood backlot.   The sing-in lends itself to exclamation points. Three thousand singers! That includes you in the audience, with your choice of section according to your voice or sociability. Directed by Martin Josman and 19 guest conductors! Kenneth Bowen, organist, in thunderous accompaniment! Plus soloists! Those are Lucy Shelton, soprano, and Ray De Voll, tenor, who come in to upstage the masses at regular intervals."
"She was the fastest rabbit in town, taking just 11 seconds to jump all the hurdles in the round. Cherie, a 2-year-old Swedish bunny, left the competition in the dust at the U.K.'s Rabbit Grand National, held in the dignified Yorkshire town of Harrogate in late January.

The lop-eared speed demon, who also won the competition last year, elicited gasps from the audience as she jumped hurdles close to 28 inches high. But she faced no competition from upstart locals. While the British bunnies were invited to ""showcase"" their skills, they didn't compete in the main event because the organizers felt the Swedes were in a league of their own. ""It's like the English Premier League versus L.A. Galaxy,"" says Jason Madeley, one of the promoters of the event, finding a soccer analogy.

See the bunnies of Britain compete with champion Swedish jumping rabbits. Javier Espinoza reports from the Rabbit Grand National in Harrogate, England.

""It's really new in England and they can't jump as high as we can,"" says 24-year-old nursery-school teacher Magdalena Åhsblom, owner of the champion. ""I don't think they can compete against us yet.""

The competition is run along the lines of an equine show-jumping contest. The rabbits enter the ring one by one and try to jump every obstacle with as few mishaps as possible. Each time a rabbit knocks over or dislodges a bar on a hurdle, it gets a time penalty. Also frowned upon are a crooked liftoff, crawling between the bars and, for the trainers, walking ahead of the rabbit, jerking its leash or lifting it over the jump. The fastest rabbit wins.

Local bunny jumpers are well aware of their limitations. After all, most of the British owners—exclusively female—are still at school and train their rabbits in their spare time. ""We are only 15 or 16 and we are doing it as a hobby. But we hope it gets bigger here,"" says 16-year-old Charlotte McLatchey, as she clutched her brown-and-white Dutch rabbit, Russell. Female rabbits compete along with males.

Cherie, a two-year-old Swedish bunny, and owner Magdalena Åhsblom competed at the Rabbit Grand National Jan. 28 in Harrogate, England.

She is full of admiration for the visitors. ""The Swedes are amazing. They have done it more and have better facilities,"" says Ms. McLatchey, who keeps her four rabbits in a hutch in the back garden. She is keen to emulate the Swedes' success. ""I started training Russell when he was 10 weeks old. I put him in a harness and started playing with him so he would associate wearing the harness with having fun.""

""After a small jump, I would give him a stroke or give him a treat like a bit of cabbage or carrot, which he loves,"" she says. On a good day, she says, Russell can now jump up to 50 centimeters, or about 20 inches. But today, he has stopped at one of the jumps and doesn't seem interested in moving.

""Bunny jumping in the U.K. looks like when it started in Sweden,"" says Mathilda Hedlund, who has been training rabbits for 13 years and whose bunny, Dilba, has taken part in major international competitions.

But there are some promising rabbits rising through the British ranks. Nicole Barratt, owner of Rukia, says her rabbit is catching up. ""We are hoping he will jump higher, but we can't push him,"" she says.

The odds were always going to favor the Swedes; after all, the sport originated in the small southern town of Varalov in the 1970s, and Swedes have been breeding show-jumping rabbits since the 1980s. Today, close to 1,000 active bunny jumpers can find at least one competition somewhere in the country most weekends, and there are two national championships a year. The U.K., on the other hand, hosts just a handful of competitions a year and is home to only about 10 rabbit jumpers.

In Sweden, where the fluffy competitors train for up to two hours a day, there is an established network of breeders who are always looking for talent. ""Our bunnies are so used to competing, so they know what to do,"" Ms. Hedlund says.

Choosing the right breed of rabbit is also important. Sweden's 200 or so breeders are experimenting widely, and charge more—up to 1,500 kronor ($225)—for a rabbit with prizewinning parentage.

""You want mini lop for the cool and positive attitude and hare for the bigger size and long back legs,"" Ms. Hedlund says. ""But you don't want too much temperament; you'd want a mix of a cool and a competitive attitude.""

Years ago, the Swedish sport consisted mostly of kids and teenagers jumping pets in their backyards. But owners soon organized local clubs that arranged competitions using small, homemade hurdles. In 1994, these clubs—about 20 nationwide today—were affiliated under the Swedish Rabbit Jumping Federation, a move that allowed them to organize at a national level and establish common rules. The federation even trains its judges. The sport also has a small following in other Nordic countries, the U.S., Germany and France. In the U.K., there is just one, recently formed club.

Bunny-jumping enthusiasts say it is good for the rabbits. A domestic rabbit that is allowed to exercise can live 10 or 12 years, compared with five years at most if kept in a cage, says Lisbeth Jansson, who has written two books on rabbit jumping and, with her husband, Lars, runs Libra Arctic, the world's only professional maker of rabbit jumps.

""These bunnies develop psyche, heart, lungs and muscles, so they live longer and the vets have more to do,"" she says. ""Some [owners] even take out life insurance on renowned jumping rabbits.""

At Agria Djurförsäkring, one of Sweden's biggest pet insurers, the number of rabbit insurance policies—the majority of which are intended to cover veterinary bills—has soared.

Trainers say Libra Arctic's tailor-made jumps, which range in price from 500 to 5,000 kronor, have set the standard for the sport. This year, the Harrogate organizers spent about 10,000 kronor on a complete set of jumps to pimp up the Rabbit Grand National. ""You could say we own this market,"" Ms. Jansson says.

Despite their dominance of the sport, Swedish bunnies are bested by their Danish neighbors when it comes to world records. In 1999, a Danish rabbit called Yaboo set the world long-jump record when he flew over a three-meter, or nearly 10-feet, hurdle, while his compatriot Tösen bounced 99.5 centimeter, or about 40 inches, to nab the high-jump record in 1997.

So, how will the British bunnies fare in future? Ms. Hedlund, the owner of Swedish veteran Dilba, says she was disappointed the Brits couldn't compete against the Swedes this year. ""It would be really fun if they started breeding proper rabbits, too. But they are getting better and better with more training.""

Write to Javier Espinoza at javier.espinoza@wsj.com and Anna Molin at anna.molin@dowjones.com","Rabbit jumping is a new hobby among young women in England, but they are no match for the Swedes, who are champions at the sport."
"Talk about a long download time. Scientists on Earth have finally received the last data package from the New Horizons spacecraft’s Pluto flyby last year, NASA reported on Thursday.

The data had to travel an astounding 3.4 billion miles, taking over five hours to cover the distance between the craft and Earth before being received at a Deep Space Network site in Australia. The space agency said that it took so long for them to receive all of the data from Pluto because the probe was designed to collect as much information as possible during its flyby, then transmit it back by priority level.

SCIENTISTS TO STUDY STRANGE STAR FOR SIGNS OF INTELLIGENT LIFE

“The Pluto system data that New Horizons collected has amazed us over and over again with the beauty and complexity of Pluto and its system of moons,” Alan Stern, the principal investigator on the New Horizons mission, said in a statement. “There’s a great deal of work ahead for us to understand the 400-plus scientific observations that have all been sent to Earth.”

First launched in 2006, New Horizons was designed to study Pluto and its moons, which it did during a historic flyby on July 14 of last year. Its discoveries on Pluto include a huge nitrogen glacier, a giant mountain range, and the reason the dwarf planet’s moon Charon has a red patch on it.

Scientists will erase the data on New Horizons to make space to gather more information as it continues zooming away from Earth, NASA said. Its next destination is a distant object called 2014 MU69, and the probe’s scheduled arrival there is January 1, 2019.

Follow Rob Verger on Twitter: @robverger",Talk about a long download time.
"Defense attorneys for accused Fort Hood shooter Nidal Malik Hasan are racing to collect evidence that could show their client is insane before a psychiatric evaluation is completed.

Accused Fort Hood killer Nidal Malik Hasan, in a 2007 photo.

The Army on Wednesday evening told Maj. Hasan's defense lawyers that it had convened a so-called sanity board to evaluate whether Maj. Hasan is fit to stand trial. The three-person panel is expected to make a recommendation by the end of February, a timeline that has defense attorneys frustrated.

Maj. Hasan is accused of killing 12 fellow soldiers and one civilian in a Nov. 5 rampage at the Texas Army base. Prosecutors are expected to seek the death penalty.

Maj. Hasan's mental status is shaping up to be a central issue in the case. John P. Galligan, the retired Army colonel leading the defense team, has said he was considering pursuing an insanity defense, and the Army has appointed a prosecutor with experience in such cases.

Legal experts said an insanity defense could be Mr. Galligan's best chance of winning an acquittal for his client, or at least avoiding the death penalty. But it wouldn't be easy. Defendants, both in civilian and military trials, rarely are found not guilty on the basis of their mental state. A 2006 study by three Army psychiatrists found that in the more than 21,000 courts-martial between 1990 and 2006, only six defendants were found not guilty by reason of insanity.

""It's just a hard sell,"" said Hugh Overholt, a North Carolina attorney specializing in defending military clients. ""I've had a case where I was absolutely convinced the guy was nuts,"" and still couldn't win an acquittal, he said.

When Maj. Robert Martin, an Army attorney, got caught passing bad checks and defrauding his clients of about $100,000, the evidence against him was overwhelming. Mr. Martin's lawyers argued that he was insane.

The attorneys brought in mental-health experts, including the chairman of Duke University's Psychiatry Department, who diagnosed him with bipolar disorder. They dug up evidence of his erratic behavior, including a bizarre get-rich-quick scheme involving selling honey-baked hams in Mexico. They argued their client committed his crimes while in a manic state during which he didn't know the difference between right and wrong.

The strategy didn't work. Mr. Martin was convicted, kicked out of the Army and sentenced to two years' confinement. ""To this day I'm satisfied that all of his misconduct occurred during his manic states,"" said Mark Waple, the lead defense attorney in the case. Mr. Martin couldn't be reached for comment.

Defense attorneys faced a similar challenge in the case of Hasan Akbar, an Army sergeant accused of killing two U.S. soldiers in a grenade attack in the early days of the Iraq war. Sgt. Akbar's lawyers argued he had a history of depression and was too mentally ill to be capable of premeditation.

In 2005, an Army jury found Sgt. Akbar guilty and sentenced him to death. The defense is appealing the verdict. Col. Michael Mulligan, the officer who prosecuted Sgt. Akbar, recently joined the team that will prosecute Maj. Hasan.

In the case of Maj. Hasan, former colleagues and others who knew him have said he acted oddly in the months leading up to the shootings. While posted at the Fort Hood Army base, he lived in a cramped one-bedroom apartment, a place far smaller than he could have afforded on his salary. In the days before the shootings, he gave away many of his belongings.

Mr. Galligan said he was looking into such reports for evidence that his client was mentally unstable. But he said he hasn't yet been given access to reports or records from before the Nov. 5 shooting, and the Army's investigation into that period isn't completed.

The legal standards for an insanity defense are similar for civilian and military courts. In both, defendants can't be held responsible for their actions if mental illness prevented them from knowing the difference between right and wrong. They also can't be forced to stand trial if mental illness prevents them from participating in their defense.

The major difference between the civilian and military systems is the sanity board. This ad hoc panel, which generally includes at least one psychiatrist or psychologist, evaluates the defendant, looks at past behavior and makes a recommendation.

If the board rules the man is fit to stand trial, the defense can still introduce evidence of insanity. However, experts say that it is then difficult to get an acquittal, because the board's findings can be introduced at trial.

Mr. Galligan, Maj. Hasan's lawyer, accused the Army of rushing to evaluate his client before he has had time to do the necessary research to show ""clear and convincing evidence"" of insanity. He said he was looking into ways of appealing the decision to convene this board now.

Fort Hood spokesman Tyler Broadway wrote in an email to The Wall Street Journal that there was ""no intent on the part of the government to 'rush' the sanity board process.""

Adding to the complexity of the Fort Hood case is the fact that Maj. Hasan is a psychiatrist and may have had contact with the sanity-board members. Neither the Army nor Mr. Galligan would release the names or backgrounds of the people appointed to the board, but all of them are military medical professionals. Mr. Galligan had asked for civilian experts to serve on the board to avoid such conflicts.

""I remain very, very skeptical that he could ever get a fair sanity hearing if the board is composed of Department of Defense members,"" Mr. Galligan said.

Military justice experts said that even if Mr. Galligan can't get an acquittal for his client on insanity grounds, evidence of mental illness can help win defendants a reduced sentence.

Write to Ben Casselman at ben.casselman@wsj.com",Accused Fort Hood shooter Nidal Malik Hasan's defense attorneys are racing to collect evidence to show their client is insane before a psychiatric evaluation is completed.
"Voltron, the massive robot warrior who remains a pillar of 1980s kids-cartoon nostalgia, is coming back, albeit in a thoroughly 21st century format.

“Voltron Legendary Defender,” an all-new series created by DreamWorks Animation, is coming to Netflix, where the show’s creative overseers hope it will appeal not only to its young target audience but also to adults who grew up on the 1980s cartoon.

“We’re absolutely making a show we think they can appreciate,” Joaquim Dos Santos, one of the showrunners, says about adult audiences.

But Dos Santos and fellow showrunner Lauren Montgomery, who previously worked together on “Avatar: The Last Airbender” and several other animated projects, aren’t interested in creating a simple remake of the original “Voltron: Defender of the Universe.” They wanted to keep certain things like the teamwork theme (five people piloting five different robots to form one giant robot warrior) and the basic look.

“Beyond that, we just wanted to start this show over anew and really expand upon all the lore and stories and the things we felt didn’t get a fair shake in the original,” says Montgomery.

The show so many American kids watched in the mid to late 1980s — particularly the episodes that featured five lion robots combining to form a huge, sword-wielding anthropomorphic robot — wasn’t even the original version. Rather, it was the product of producers cobbling together parts of a Japanese cartoon called “Beast King GoLion” while slapping together a story to make it all fit. There have been other “Voltron” series along the way, too, including a syndicated late 1990s computer-animated series and 2011′s “Voltron Force,” which aired on Nicktoons, an offshoot of the Nickelodeon cable channel.

With “Voltron Legendary Defender,” Montgomery and Dos Santos are looking to tell a richer, more detailed story than the original. The setup goes like this: Five teenagers from Earth find themselves on the trail of a mysterious power source, and they end up transported to the distant planet Arus, where they encounter Princess Allura, a character from the original series, and discover they are the chosen ones who will pilot Voltron amid an intergalactic war.

The exclusive clip above features Allura (veteran voice performer Kimberly Brooks) piloting a castle-like spaceship off Arus as the Voltron team prepares to defend the universe from villainous King Zarkon.

As the clip demonstrates, the animation style of “Voltron Legendary Defender” is very much in the spirit of the original and anime in general. It’s intentional, but not because the show’s animators are merely copying from their predecessors, the showrunners say. They grew up on anime and shows like “Voltron,” so it’s in their DNA. Much of the look of the show stems from design supervisor and artist Christie Tseng (“The Legend of Korra”), who brought her personal style to “Voltron Legendary Defender.”

“Since it feels genuine to her, it feels genuine to the show,” Montgomery says.

The first season of “Voltron Legendary Defender” premieres Friday, June 10, on Netflix. The first installment is about an hour long, while the remaining 10Â are about a half-hour long.","""Voltron Legendary Defender"" updates the 1980s cartoon classic for the 21st century."
"No major American cultural force is more opposed to examination and more active in suppressing it today than Silicon Valley. So when it was revealed this week that Facebook board member Peter Thiel had been secretly bankrolling a lawsuit to inflict financial ruin on the news and gossip site Gawker, Silicon Valley cheered.

The investor Vinod Khosla wrote on Twitter that the “press gets very uppity when challenged”. And that these bad journalists need “to be taught lessons”.

Khosla has suffered a great deal of negative press since buying a beachfront community and blocking off public access to the historic surfing beach, an illegal move that has garnered him unflattering stories in the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times – a news organization that Khosla says also does “clickbait journalism” and deserves some “lessons” as well.

Investor and bellicose Silicon Valley personality Jason Calacanis wrote that, though he disagrees with Thiel on some things, in this fight against Gawker, Thiel “is a hero, 100% in the right fighting against evil”.

Shark Tank TV show host and Twitter investor Chris Sacca wrote: “My one regret is that [a Valleywag writer at the time] isn’t personally liable for any of that money owed.”

Each of these investors – and many of those writing in a wave of local support for Thiel – add caveats that they’re happy to see “clickbait” or “gossip” journalists suffer but that they fully support “real” journalists. As Khosla made clear by putting the New York Times on the side of clickbait, many Silicon Valley investors see most press as suspect.

After six years as a reporter in Silicon Valley, I’ve found that a tech mogul will generally call anything unflattering I write “clickbait” and anything flattering “finally some real journalism”.

A macabre parlor game among reporters here now is to guess which billionaire will, as Thiel did, wait 10 years with a grudge before seizing an opportunity to bankrupt you and exact maximum revenge. It’s a paranoia that seems more fitting for reporters covering characters like Vladimir Putin than the latest startup.

In America today, almost no one wields the concentrated wealth and power that the new rulers of Silicon Valley have. As the prodigies grow up, they’re realizing just how much they can flex that power.

To be fair, by no means is everyone supporting Thiel. Pierre Omidyar, eBay founder, is now backing Gawker’s appeal, launching what looks like will become a proxy war. “First Look Media is looking into organizing amicus support for Gawker in its legal fight and appeal against Hulk Hogan,” Lynn Oberlander, First Look’s general counsel, told the New York Post.

Jason Mandell, co-founder of the startup PR firm LaunchSquad, whose client list includes Facebook, Coursera and Munchery, said he thought Silicon Valley generally had a healthy relationship with the tech press, less so with the broader press.

“People like Peter Thiel are used to being able to tell an engineer ‘this is broken – fix it’,” Mandell said. “They don’t understand the unique dynamic between the press and the public. They don’t understand the first amendment and free speech as it relates to the media.”

“Tech guys love tech reporters because they’re often rooting for them to succeed but when reporters go off that script and do something that’s more combative I think it’s jarring.”

Mandell said there’s a “unique relationship” between tech entrepreneurs and the press because while other industries might be doing bad things, Silicon Valley thinks it is doing good for the world.

“Everybody here is part of this revolution and everyone agrees it’s a good thing in general. People want Tesla to succeed,” he said. “If you’re covering finance you can’t be enamored with the CEO with Bank of America … But aside from companies like Uber, what companies in our world are doing bad things?”",Some in Silicon Valley have been threatening the ‘uppity’ press with rhetoric about journalists needing ‘to be taught lessons’. That’s not how it works
"There are two kinds of people in Burlington, Vermont: those who believe there are no Hillary supporters here, and those who believe there must be, somewhere, but that they’re all in hiding.

Inside Dobra Tea Parlor yesterday, incense was burning at the foot of a bronze bodhisattva. Two customers were drinking tea and writing somberly in their journals. In a corner, a pair of young women discussed alternative high schools. I leaned across the counter and asked, softly, where I might be able to find someone who was voting for Clinton.

The tea barista, Sam Hughes, looked shocked. “I don’t know anyone who would admit to being a Hillary supporter,” the 25-year-old told me, as I paid for a gluten-free tea cake.

Burlington is where Bernie started his political career, as a socialist mayor who wrote strongly worded dispatches to world leaders about the importance of military disarmament, and it’s still his home base. In the downtown shopping district, where insistent classical music is piped out over the street, passers-by laughed or stared when I asked about Hillary Clinton. Where could I find a Hillary supporter? “Try Georgia,” said a white-bearded man in a fleece vest.

In The Bern Gallery, a smoke shop that had not been named in honor of the Vermont senator, 24-year-old Molly Rhoads shook her head. She pulled up her sleeve to bare her elbow, which sported a Bernie tattoo. She had gotten it at a local parlor that has been giving away free tattoos in support of the candidate. “He has started a revolution for sure,” she said.

Several Burlingtonians told me they believed local Hillary supporters existed. They just didn’t know where to find them.

Outside of city hall, I thought I had finally struck gold. Seventy-six-year-old Sunny Long told me she was a Hillary supporter. “We all love Bernie, but we think Clinton has the global experience that’s lacking in Bernie,” she said.

I asked her how long she had lived in Burlington. “Ten days,” she said. She had just moved here from Florida.

Feeling discouraged, I headed to the town’s independent bookstore, the Phoenix. Maybe the booksellers would have a deeper network of sources. At first, Phil Clingenpeel was stumped. By a Hillary supporter, he asked, did I mean someone who liked Hillary, or someone who supports her more than Bernie?

The latter, I told him.

He thought for a while. He did know someone who knew someone who supported Hillary, but he wasn’t sure if that person actually lived in Burlington. His coworker had a better idea: she had a friend who had actually hosted a Hillary event at his house last week.

“I’ve sort of come out of the closet, as it were, within the past month,” Nate Orshan told me, when I drove out to the renovated woolen mill where he works to interview him.

Orshan, 48, is a web analyst who has lived in Burlington most of his life. “I think I’ve voted for [Bernie] every singe election I could up until now,” he said.

Being a Hillary supporter here is “tough,” he told me. “Sometimes I feel like that boy in the story, ‘The Emperor Has No Clothes.’” There’s a lot of love for Bernie, and and I understand it, and I feel it, too…I just feel that he doesn’t have the support nationally that he’s going to need.”

Many Bernie supporters, he said, “fail to see that a lot of the country is indeed very conservative, and, in fact, very religious. It’s not a question of his Judaism, it’s a question of his secularism, that I think is going to be such a nonstarter for so many voters across the country.”

Orshan promised to put me in touch with his small network of local Hillary fans.

Burlington is “a lonely place” for them right now, his friend Mattison told me, when I met her later that afternoon at a local brewery.

“It’s interesting, being out, having friends who aren’t, who are closeted Hillary supporters, who will message me on Facebook, or text me or email me, to say, ‘Thank you.’ Well, yeah, we have to speak up.”

The 50-year-old believes Hillary is the politician who will actually be able to move a progressive agenda forward.

Bernie “definitely speaks to the truth that the system is rigged, but I also think the truth of the matter is, Vermont is a very special place, and Bernie has never had to work through complicated changes in a complicated political sphere,” she said.

“When you see the people who are coming to [Trump’s] rallies, and the things that they’re saying—that’s the real America.”

While she loves living here, she said, “I know it’s not real.”",Five Republicans and two Democrats await the verdict of voters in a dozen states (and one territory) – with Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton leading the polls
"Dramatic videos have emerged from the torrential downpour in Louisiana where more than 20,000 people have been rescued from floodwaters that are expected to continue rising in some areas of the state. (Monica Akhtar/The Washington Post)

Southern Louisiana is under water after three days of record-breaking rain. The historic and deadly flooding began to take shape Friday and continued through the weekend as wave after wave of moisture pummeled the Baton Rouge region.

The disaster was caused by two weather-related features — extreme humidity and near-stationary low pressure that hovered over the Gulf Coast for days.

Precipitable water — a measure of how much moisture is in the air over a certain location — was off the charts. Day after day, weather balloons relayed precipitable-water data that came close to or exceeded any other weather event on record in the region. On Friday morning, the precipitable-water reading was 2.8 inches.

[The news: Six killed, thousands displaced]

“Obviously we are in record territory,” the National Weather Service wrote.

Moisture values this large increase the likelihood of major flooding when there’s a sufficient trigger mechanism, like a low pressure cyclone. However, much more water vapor can be injected into the air when the flow converges. This is why rainfall totals can be far greater than the total precipitable water measured by weather balloons.

The low pressure system that triggered the storms was not particularly strong, but it was more than enough to scour the moisture from the overly saturated atmosphere. The system had many of the same atmospheric features seen in tropical storms, and it sprawled across the Gulf Coast from Louisiana to the Florida Panhandle.

[‘Oh my god, I’m drowning': Video captures woman’s rescue]

Satellite imagery depicts how thunderstorms blossomed day after day, pulsing as the sun came up and fading as it sank below the horizon. The massive area of low pressure crawled west and then seemed to stop and linger over Louisiana for three days.

5-day GOES-13 water vapor loop showing day after day of convection resulting in #laflood pic.twitter.com/IK8UYlOhXe

— Dan Lindsey (@DanLindsey77) August 14, 2016

All-told, over 20 inches of rain fell in less than 72 hours around Baton Rouge. Rainfall rates peaked at six inches per hour. A flood warning remains in effect for the rivers around Baton Rouge.

72-hour preliminary rainfall totals. (National Weather Service)

Nine rivers crested at record levels as the water drained into the Louisiana Delta, but river height readings will be difficult to carry out amid the flooding. Many locations along the Amite River are measured manually, and the observers are likely to have evacuated. The National Weather Service is warning that rivers will experience a “long crest,” meaning they will stay in flood stage for days, not hours.

A Louisiana family is pulled to safety after rising flood waters nearly submerged their home. Gov. John Bel Edwards said Monday, Aug. 15 that at least 20,000 people have been rescued from unprecedented flooding and at least 10,000 people have been moved to shelters. (Reuters)

The Amite River levee system was built after the historic floods of April 1983. Now that system is being inundated with much more water than it was designed to withstand.

“The flood control system was designed to handle a recurrence of the 14.6-foot crest observed in that record [1983] event,” Weather Underground’s Jeff Masters wrote. As of Monday morning, the Amite River at Port Vincent was at 17.5 feet.

East of Baton Rouge, the Amite River at Denham Springs crested at 46.2 feet on Sunday, which breaks the record of 41.5 feet on March 8, 1983. Records at this location date back to 1921.

950a- Amite @ Denham Springs officially above 1983 record, still rising. #Flood pic.twitter.com/8o5XeweUiF

— NWS New Orleans (@NWSNewOrleans) August 13, 2016

The rain has tapered off since the weekend in southern Louisiana, but the flooding will continue for days. Backwater flooding, which occurs when water backs upstream because of blockage downstream, could occur well away fay from the main rivers.

“This event remains in full swing,” the National Weather Service wrote on Monday morning.","All-told, over 20 inches of rain fell in less than 72 hours around Baton Rouge."
"BALTIMORE—President Barack Obama Thursday night worked to fire up Democrats for the coming elections, punctuating his calls for an emphasis on the party’s values with a pointed shot at Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump.

“Democrats will win in November,” Mr. Obama told House Democrats at their annual retreat. “The reason I can say that with confidence is because we focus on the things that matter in the lives of the...","President Barack Obama worked to fire up House Democrats for the coming elections, punctuating his calls for an emphasis on the party’s values with a pointed shot at Republican Donald Trump."
"A 7.2-magnitude earthquake hit the central Philippines on Tuesday, causing roofs and buildings to collapse.

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — A 7.2-magnitude earthquake collapsed buildings, cracked roads and toppled the bell tower of the Philippines' oldest church Tuesday morning, killing at least 20 people across the central region.

The quake sent people rushing out of homes and buildings, including hospitals, as aftershocks continued. At least five died in a stampede in Cebu, said Neil Sanchez, provincial disaster management officer.

Offices and schools were closed for a national holiday, which may have saved lives.

The temblor, which struck at 8:12 a.m., was centered about 33 kilometers (20 miles) below Carmen town on Bohol Island and did not cause a tsunami.

RELATED: LARGE EARTHQUAKE ROCKS PAKISTAN DAYS AFTER OTHER DEADLY QUAKE

Four people were killed in Bohol and 15 died in Cebu province, a more urban and densely populated region across the strait from the earthquake's epicenter, said Civil defense spokesman Maj. Reynaldo Balido. Another person died on Siquijor Island, southwest of Bohol. A total of 33 were injured.

In Cebu, a boat ride from Bohol, five were killed when a fishing port collapsed. Two more people died and 19 were injured when the roof of a market in Mandaue in Cebu province fell on them. Elsewhere in the city, a woman died after being hit on the head when the quake toppled a building.

Photos from Cebu broadcast on TV stations showed a fallen concrete 2-story building, and reports said an 8-month-old baby and a second person were pulled out alive.

""It's fortunate that many offices and schools are closed due to the holiday,"" said Jade Ponce, the Cebu mayor's assistant.

RELATED: PAKISTAN EARTHQUAKE DEATH TOLL HITS 348, WITH 552 INJURED

He said patients at the city's hospitals were evacuated to basketball courts and other open spaces ""but we'll move them back as soon as the buildings are declared safe.""

Historic churches suffered the most damage, including the country's oldest, the Basilica of the Holy Child in Cebu, which lost its bell tower.

A 17th-century limestone church in Loboc town, southwest of Carmen, crumbled to pieces, with nearly half of it reduced to rubble. Other old churches dating from the Spanish colonial period, which are common in the central region, also reported damage.

Cebu province, about 570 kilometers (350 miles) south of Manila, has a population of more than 2.6 million people. Nearby Bohol has 1.2 million people and is popular among foreigners because of its beach and island resorts and the Chocolate Hills.

RELATED: LARGE EARTHQUAKE STRIKES FUKUSHIMA IN JAPAN

Vilma Yorong, a Bohol provincial government employee, said she was in a village hall in Maribojoc town when ""the lights suddenly went out and we felt the earthquake.""

""We ran out of the building, and outside, we hugged trees because the tremors were so strong,"" she told The Associated Press by phone. ""When the shaking stopped, I ran to the street and there I saw several injured people. Some were saying their church has collapsed.""

She said that she and the others ran up a mountain fearing a tsunami would follow the quake. ""Minutes after the earthquake, people were pushing each other to go up the hill,"" she said.

Tuesday is a national holiday for the Muslim festival of Eid al-Adha, and that may have reduced casualties. The earthquake also was deeper below the surface than the 6.9-magnitude temblor last year in waters near Negros Island, also in the central Philippines, that killed nearly 100 people.

Regional military commander Lt. Gen. Roy Deveraturda said that he recalled soldiers from the holiday furlough to respond to the quake. He said it damaged the pier in Tagbilaran and caused some cracks at Cebu's international airport but that navy ships and air force planes could use alternative ports to help out.

Passenger flights were put on hold until officials check runways and buildings for damage.

Earthquakes are common in the Philippines, which lies along the Pacific ""Ring of Fire.""","The earthquake struck the central Philippines on Tuesday, collapsing roofs and cracking walls and roads. An 8-month-old baby was one the people pulled out alive from a fallen building."
"The summer job of a second-year law student has traditionally been one of the cushiest around. The associates hired by corporate firms for the season between their second and third years of law school could depend on being wined and dined at the fanciest restaurants, taken to concerts and ballgames and invited to schmooze with partners at lavish cocktail parties. Many days, the hardest part of the job would be choosing what five-star restaurant to go to for lunch.

All this at the salary of a first-year attorney, the equivalent of more than $100,000 a year.

This was always done in the name of wooing top-performing law students to say yes to the job offer they were almost sure to receive at the end of the summer. The top law firms competed so hard to land the best and the brightest that they'd pull stunts like renting out Fenway Park so attorneys and summer associates could play a friendly game of baseball. That's an actual annual event at the Boston firm Ropes & Gray.

This summer will look very different. More than 2,200 attorneys have been laid off since last fall. Some firms are asking their lawyers to take pay cuts while doing pro bono work for a year instead of coming into the office. The lavish life of the summer associate is a thing of the past--at least for now.

Some firms have canceled their summer associate programs altogether, while others have hired smaller classes or shortened the season. Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld had to rescind some of its offer letters this year.

Spokespeople for all the law firms contacted for this article declined to comment. But career center directors at law schools and legal recruiters say they're all hearing the same thing: The party is over.

""Firms have been up front about the fact that it's not summer camp anymore,"" says Abbie Willard, associate dean for career services and policy initiatives the University of Chicago Law School. ""The emphasis will be on the work and productivity. Not that they don't want them to enjoy their summer, but it will be more like the real life of a first-year employee."" Or maybe not. How can there be that much for interns to do when many first- and second-year attorneys are themselves fighting to get enough work to make their required billable hours?

Law firms do need to keep up at least some hiring, since they, like other corporations, need to have a certain number of lower-, middle- and senior-level employees to do the work, particularly once the economy bounces back.

In years past, the job offer was the summer associate's to lose. Virtually every summer intern was offered a full-time job unless he or she was clearly a poor fit or screwed up. This year, not everyone will get an offer. That means that showing you're a quality employee is the only way to stand out from the crowd.

But that can be a problem.

""Firms don't even have work for their associates, let alone for their summer associates,"" says T.J. Duane, a principal at the legal recruiting firm Lateral Link. ""They have partners who aren't giving work to senior associates, so that they themselves have work. There's a trickle-down effect."" And if the interns at a firm don't do much actual work, Duane says, the partners might resort to looking at their schools and grade-point averages to decide who to offer a real job to.

Meanwhile, law schools are teaching their students to take responsibility. Stanford Law School holds an annual seminar on how to make the transition from student to associate, and this year's was more serious than before. The students were instructed to volunteer for work instead of waiting for it to fall into their laps. They were advised about law-firm etiquette, like not signing up for social events and then failing to show up.

""We wanted to make clear that regardless of what the firm told them, it would be a very competitive summer,"" says Susan C. Robinson, the school's associate dean for career services. ""In past years, firms' partners would put up with behavior they might not tolerate from their own kids, because they wanted to get those top students. This year, the students need to earn their offers.""

Robinson says firms are being explicit about what they won't tolerate now. ""One complaint firms had in the past two years was that the students had a sense of entitlement,"" she says. ""Around lunchtime, they would start trolling for associates to take them out to eat. I tell the students that should be the least of their worries. In no way, shape or form should they focus on lunch.""","All of a sudden, it's not just wining and dining and going to ballgames."
"UNITED NATIONS — U.N. inspectors said Monday there is “clear and convincing evidence” that chemical weapons were used on a relatively large scale in an attack last month in Syria that killed hundreds of people.

The findings represent the first official confirmation by scientific experts that chemical weapons were used in Syria’s civil war, but the report left the key question of who launched the attack unanswered. The rebels and their U.S. and Western supporters have said the regime of President Bashar Assad was behind the Aug. 21 attack, while the Syrian government and its closest ally, Russia, blame the rebels.

Secretary of State John Kerry briefed U.S. allies on a broad agreement reached over the weekend with Russia to end Syria’s chemical weapons program, pressing for broad support for the plan that averted U.S. military strikes. Kerry met in Paris with his counterparts from France, Britain, Turkey and Saudi Arabia before seeking a U.N. resolution that would detail how the international community can secure and destroy Syria’s stockpile and precursor chemicals.

As a sign of possible difficulties ahead, Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov sparred Monday over possible military action if Syria doesn’t abandon its chemical weapons.

And in Geneva, the chairman of a U.N. war crimes panel said it is investigating 14 suspected chemical attacks in Syria, dramatically escalating the stakes. Paulo Sergio Pinheiro said the panel had not pinpointed the chemical used or who is responsible.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon presented the U.N. inspectors’ report to a closed meeting of the U.N. Security Council before its release.

“This is a war crime and a grave violation of … international law,” Ban told the council in remarks distributed to the press. “The results are overwhelming and indisputable. The facts speak for themselves.”

The inspectors’ report said “the environmental, chemical and medical samples we have collected provide clear and convincing evidence that surface-to-surface rockets containing the nerve agent sarin were used … in the Ghouta area of Damascus” on Aug. 21.

“The conclusion is that chemical weapons have been used in the ongoing conflict between the parties in the Syrian Arab Republic, also against civilians, including children, on a relatively large scale,” the inspectors said in their report to Ban.

“This result leaves us with the deepest concern,” the inspectors said.

The inspectors were mandated to report on whether chemical weapons were used and if so which ones — not on who was responsible.

The rebels and their Western and Arab supporters blame President Bashar Assad’s regime for the attack in the rebel-controlled area of Ghouta. The Assad regime insists that the attack was carried out by rebels. The U.N. report mentions the Ghouta areas of Ein Tarma, Moadamiyeh and Zamalka, all of which were featured in the videos of victims that emerged shortly after the attack.

The report cited a number of facts supporting its conclusion:

— Rocket fragments were found to contain sarin.

— Close to the impact sites, in the area were people were affected, “the environment was found to be contaminated by sarin.”

— Blood, urine and hair samples from 34 patients who had signs of “intoxication” by a chemical compound provided “definitive evidence of exposure to sarin by almost all of the survivors assessed.”

— More than 50 interviews with survivors and health care workers “provided ample corroboration of the medical and scientific results.”

The inspectors described the rockets used to disperse the sarin as a variant of an M14 artillery rocket, with either an original or an improvised warhead. The report said the origin of the rockets was from the northwest, but gave no specific location and didn’t point a finger at the perpetrator.

The inspectors cautioned that the five sites they investigated had been “well traveled by other individuals prior to the arrival of the mission.”

“During the time spent at these locations, individuals arrived carrying other suspected munitions indicating that such potential evidence is being moved and possibly manipulated,” the report said. The areas were under rebel control, but the report did not elaborate on who the individuals were.

The Aug. 21 chemical attack unfolded as the U.N. inspection team was in Syria to investigate earlier reported attacks. After days of delays, the inspectors were allowed access to victims, doctors and others in the Damascus suburbs.

In the report, chief weapons inspector Ake Sellstrom said the team was issuing the findings on the Ghouta attacks “without prejudice” to its continuing investigation and final report on the alleged use of chemical weapons in three other areas. The letter said it hoped to produce that report as soon as possible.

Under an Aug. 13 agreement between the U.N. and the Syrian government, Sellstrom’s team was scheduled to investigate an alleged chemical weapons attack on March 19 on the village of Khan al Assal outside Aleppo and alleged attacks on two other sites which were kept secret for security reasons.

The inspectors’ report for the first time identified the two sites still to be investigated as Sheik Maqsood and Saraqueb.

The report also thanked the four laboratories designated by the Office for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) to examine the samples from Syria, disclosing their locations for the first time — in Finland, Germany, Sweden and Switzerland.

Kerry and his French and British counterparts worked on a two-pronged approach to Syria. They called for enforceable U.N. benchmarks for eradicating the chemical weapons program and an international conference bolstering the moderate opposition.

An ambitious agreement reached with the Russians calls for an inventory of Syria’s chemical weapons program within one week, with all components of the program out of the country or destroyed by mid-2014.

France and the U.S. insisted that a military response to the Aug. 21 attack remained on the table, and were pressing for a U.N. resolution reflecting that in coming days.

“It has to be strong, it has to be forceful, it has to be real, it has to be accountable, it has to be transparent, it has to be timely. All of those things are critical. And it has to be enforced,” Kerry said. “We will not tolerate avoidance or anything less than full compliance by the Assad regime.”

Kerry said the agreement “fully commits the United States and Russia to impose measures under Chapter 7 of the U.N. Charter in the event of non-compliance.” Chapter 7 resolutions allow for military enforcement.

Russia’s Lavrov said Chapter 7 was the subject of “fierce debate” during the U.S.-Russia talks but stressed that “the final document … doesn’t mention it” and that the Security Council resolution being negotiated will not be under Chapter 7. He said if Syria fails to cooperate, the Security Council can pass an entirely different resolution “which may employ Chapter 7.”

Lavrov stressed that ongoing attempts to threaten the use of force against Syria would provoke the opposition and disrupt a chance for peace negotiations in Geneva that the U.S. and Russia have been trying to organize.

In London, Syrian Information Minister Omran al-Zoubi said Syria will comply with all Security Council resolutions and will facilitate the mission of the U.N. inspectors in line with the Russian-U.S. agreement. The comments were carried by state-run SANA news agency, which said al-Zoubi made the comments in an interview with Britain-based ITN TV on Sunday.

Meanwhile, invitations were going out Monday to top members of the Syrian National Coalition — the main umbrella opposition group — for an international conference in New York timed to coincide with next week’s U.N. General Assembly meeting, French officials said.","UNITED NATIONS — U.N. inspectors said Monday there is ""clear and convincing evidence"" that chemical weapons were used on a relatively large scale in an attack last month in Syria…"
"This photograph may seem to show President Harry Truman, behind closed doors, playing poker while pondering the future of the Cold War world.

But in fact, as president, Truman almost never let himself be photographed during poker. The Truman in this picture is several years beyond his 1953 retirement.

Unaware of the photographer, Truman is playing his regular game at Kansas City’s exclusive 822 Club; his partners are mostly Republican businessmen. (With his old instinct for constructing ethnically balanced political tickets, Truman also played poker with friends at a predominantly Jewish country club.)

Truman was not the only president who loved poker. Warren Harding convened his “poker cabinet” twice a week over cigars and bootlegged whisky, in defiance of Prohibition, sparking rumors that he once gambled away some of the White House china. (One of Harding’s poker chums, Albert Fall, secretary of the interior, went to prison in the Teapot Dome scandal.)

Franklin Roosevelt employed poker varieties like nickel-ante stud to take the measure of appointed officials and members of Congress. One participant noticed that Roosevelt “studied the players as much as he did the cards.”

One night upstairs at the Executive Mansion, when the Senate and the House were about to adjourn — or so legend has it — F.D.R. ordained that whichever player was on top when it happened would be victorious. But when the call from Capitol Hill came, around 9:30 p.m., Roosevelt was behind and was said to conceal the news until he could take the lead.

Truman’s successor, Dwight Eisenhower, dismissed poker as unseemly for a president (he had taken up bridge), but in the Army, he played such an effective game — he called poker his “favorite indoor sport” — that his winnings paid for his dress uniform and an engagement ring for the woman who became his wife, Mamie. In time Ike spurned poker because he felt he was taking so much of his fellow officers’ cash.

During World War II, although he belonged to the Society of Friends, which opposed gambling, Richard Nixon cleaned up in five-card stud and other forms of poker while serving in the Navy in the South Pacific, reputedly earning the king’s ransom of about $8,000 (nearly $98,000 today).

Sporting a pith helmet, Nixon observed that “whoever is talking the loudest is pretty sure to be bluffing.” Still, one Navy friend watched the quiet player they called “Nick” relieve a senior officer of $1,500 (almost $20,000 now) with only two deuces.

Harry Truman was the president most publicly identified with poker, which seemed natural for a product of the Kansas City political machine led by the back-room Democratic boss Tom Pendergast.

Truman preferred what was described as a “frantic” high-low poker, which he called Vinson, after his favorite partner, Fred Vinson of Kentucky (whom he later named chief justice), playing with poker chips he had ordered specially embossed with the presidential seal. Truman’s famous motto, “The Buck Stops Here,” which was emblazoned on a sign atop his Oval Office desk, was a poker expression.

In March 1946, on the night before the Cold War started in earnest, Truman sat down to poker with Winston Churchill, who was wearing his zippered siren suit. The two men were riding aboard the presidential train, which was rushing across Missouri.

Churchill had played poker for decades. “This man is cagey and is probably an excellent player,” Truman had quietly warned his advisers. “The reputation of American poker is at stake, and I expect every man to do his duty.”

“Boss, this guy’s a pigeon,” scoffed Truman’s roguish aide (and World War I Army pal) Gen. Harry Vaughan, who added, “If you want us to give it our best, we’ll have his underwear.” By the time the game stopped at 2:30 a.m., the former British prime minister had indeed lost about $250.

Later that day, in a milestone address in Fulton, Mo., Churchill declared that an “Iron Curtain” had descended across Europe. Had there been any question before, Harry Truman was now the first Cold War president.

As the confrontation with Moscow accelerated, it was only partly by coincidence that the language of Truman’s beloved pastime — bluff, gamble, hidden cards, showdown — was adopted by political leaders, generals and strategists.

The metaphor of poker ran through Cold War history. For instance, in 1953, President Eisenhower deliberately bluffed his way toward an armistice in the Korean War, which remains in force today, by sending a message, through channels intended to be intercepted by the enemy, that he was weighing the imminent use of nuclear weapons.

When President John F. Kennedy, in 1962, faced down the Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev, who thereupon reluctantly agreed to remove missiles from Cuba, Vice President Lyndon Johnson privately summarized J.F.K.’s performance by saying, “He plays a damn good hand of poker.”

In 1971, President Nixon sought to end the American estrangement from China, hoping that this gamble would unnerve the Soviets into pressuring the North Vietnamese to end the Southeast Asia war. Nixon’s national security adviser, Henry Kissinger, boasted to a reporter that his boss “wasn’t the best poker player in the Pacific for nothing.”

But the shrewdest player of all may have been a president who had never especially favored poker. In the early 1980s, Ronald Reagan upped the ante against the Soviets by increasing defense spending and devising his Strategic Defense Initiative (S.D.I.), both of which, he hoped, would spur the Kremlin, feeling outgunned, to sue for peace.

Historians will argue for decades over how much Reagan’s strategy encouraged it, but on a weekend in November 1986, inside a little house in Reykjavik, Iceland, the Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev proposed to destroy both countries’ nuclear arsenals if Reagan would pledge to shut down S.D.I. and trim the United States defense budget.

At that moment, the end of the Cold War came into view. Reagan’s secretary of state, George Shultz, pronounced the private bargaining “the highest stakes poker game ever played.” As both poker aficionado and champion of freedom, Harry Truman would have been delighted.

Michael Beschloss, a presidential historian, is the author of nine books and a contributor to NBC News and “PBS NewsHour.” Follow him on Twitter at @BeschlossDC.

The Upshot provides news, analysis and graphics about politics, policy and everyday life. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter.

A version of this web log appears in print on September 20, 2014, on page D5 of the New York edition with the headline: Presidents, Poker and the Cold War. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe","The metaphor of poker was used by many presidents, but Truman was the one most publicly identified with the game."
"KABUL — Combat operations in the province of Helmand officially ended on Sunday for the American Marines and British troops stationed there, bringing an end to a decade-long struggle to keep a major Taliban stronghold and the region’s vast opium production in check.

Officials commemorated the handover during simultaneous ceremonies at Camp Leatherneck for the Marines and Camp Bastion for the British forces, conjoined bases that made up the coalition headquarters for the region.

The Afghan Army’s 215th Corps will assume full control of the camps, a 6,500-acre parcel of desert scrubland in Southwest Afghanistan — and with it responsibility for securing one of the most violent provinces in the country.

While some American combat troops will remain in Afghanistan through the end of the year, the closing of Camp Bastion signified the end of all British operations in the country. During the nation’s long tenure in Helmand, which began in 2006, British forces lost 453 servicemen in the conflict.

The handover came amid the deadliest period on record for Afghan forces. In the six months since March, more soldiers and police officers have died than any period since the start of the war, evidence of the fact that the Afghan forces are truly in the lead, and of the grinding battle that lies ahead. Played out this summer, areas once deemed relatively secure grew problematic, while trouble spots became engulfed in violence.

Nowhere has that fight been more apparent — or deadly — than in Helmand.

Helmand was the first site of the United States’ 2010 troop surge, when thousands of military personnel were dispatched into Afghanistan to beat back a resurgent Taliban. Hundreds of coalition troops lost their lives to ambushes and roadside bombs in the bleak deserts and verdant valleys of Helmand.

Districts like Sangin and Marja, home to some of the most violent fighting of the past 13 years, became household names as the United States wound down its war in Iraq and accelerated its involvement in Afghanistan.

For the British forces, Helmand was the centerpiece of a multiyear counternarcotics effort that largely failed to stem poppy cultivation. The province, which is home to more than 80 percent of the nation’s opium production, remains the heart of the illicit drug trade. According to a United Nations report, 2013 saw more land used to cultivate the crop than any year since the international community began recording the figure.

Still, officials on Sunday expressed cautious optimism that the Afghans would be ready to handle the fight on their own. While the Taliban tested districts throughout northern Helmand, claiming checkpoints, causing hundreds of casualties and sowing fear into the local population, the movement failed to claim any district centers from the government.

“Because of the competence, resolve and combined skills of the A.N.S.F., insurgent networks have become ineffective in Helmand Province,” said a statement from the International Security Assistance Force, referring to the Afghan National Security Forces.

In reality, locals say, the Taliban have never been stronger in the province. In the face of Western assertions, they added, the Taliban have claimed stretches of area surrounding the government centers and have dominated rural areas, as well as the flourishing drug trade.

Perhaps more worrisome are the trends that developed in northern Helmand over the past five months. Unlike years past, the Taliban massed in large groups to contest government forces, a previously unthinkable dynamic given the presence of coalition air support.

“Their departure will have an impact on people’s lives and security in Helmand,” said Muhammud Fahim Musazai, the governor of Helmand’s Greskh district. “We will face some problems, like other areas of Afghanistan where the foreigners have left and the Taliban entered afterward.”

Sangin district, in particular, became a weather vane of the changing war. Reports of hundreds of Taliban attacking police check points surfaced early in the district. Whispers of cease-fire deals between local army commanders and Taliban militants also emerged in Sangin, causing a stir in Kabul, where officials denied the accounts and doubled efforts to quell the insurgency.

“The bases that are closing down in Helmand Province will definitely pave the ground for the Taliban to hold the power in the area,” said Haji Ibrahim, a tribal elder from Sangin. “Our security forces are not able to kick out the Taliban.”","The handover signified the end of all British operations in the country, and the Afghan Army assumed full control of the camps, bringing an end to a long struggle to keep a Taliban stronghold in check."
"The emotional storyline was too much for audiences so Channel 4 cut the scenes from the popular TV fly-on-the-wall show

PRODUCERS of the popular Channel 4 TV show Gogglebox cut Peggy Mitchell’s suicide scenes from the show after families were left traumatised.

Millions of viewers tuned into watch the uncomfortable exit of the nation’s favourite landlady as she bid goodbye to years of traumatic drama in Albert Square.

But the storyline involving Peggy’s overdose after learning she had terminal cancer was too much for some of the families.

In the show Peggy, played by Barbara Windsor, had an emotional discussion with her son Grant, in which he begged his mother not to take her own life. But the intervention was futile and the story played out.

Now Gogglebox cast members have revealed the whole concept was too much for them.

And that it hit close to home.

Foster carer Lynne McGarry who is a regular on the show with her husband Pete and her son George Gilbey has revealed the family’s reaction to the harrowing scenes was not shown to audiences.

Lynne told the Daily Star: “Pete broke down because he thought of how him and his brother felt when they lost their mum.

“The producers said it was too sad to show.

“He said to me, ‘When that happens you don’t want to accept it. You want to hold on for as long as you can. You don’t want them to go.

“All three of us were sitting there and one by one we broke down.”

Each of the families who signed up to appear on Gogglebox watch a mandated amount of television every week and their reactions to the show are recorded and aired on television.

But an insider said the reaction to Peggy’s suicide was deemed to be too much.

The source said: “But the reactions to Peggy committing suicide were really raw.

“It felt like their responses were too personal to be aired so the decision was made to cut them from the edit.”",PRODUCERS of the popular Channel 4 TV show Gogglebox cut Peggy Mitchell’s suicide scenes from the show after families were left traumatised. Millions of viewers tuned into watch the uncomfort…
"Japan Airlines planes park on tarmac of Tokyo's Haneda Airport.

Japan Airlines planes park on tarmac of Tokyo's Haneda Airport.

TOKYO -- Japan Airlines is raising 663 billion yen ($8.5 billion) in its initial public offering, pricing its shares at the top of its range at 3,790 yen ($48 a share). That makes it the world's second biggest IPO this year after Facebook.

The Tokyo-based carrier, which went bankrupt in 2010, will be nearly doubling the money the government-backed bailout body pumped in. It announced the pricing Monday, the highest in a range that started from 3,500 yen ($45), underlining healthy investor demand for the shares.

The company posted a profit 187 billion yen ($2.4 billion) profit for the fiscal year ended March 2012, an impressive feat considering the beating that global carriers have taken with price competition and surging oil prices.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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"updated 12:29 PM EDT, Mon July 1, 2013 | Filed under:

Six rivals to Apple's 'iWatch'

(CNN) -- It's been a while since we've heard anything concrete on Apple's rumored ""iWatch"" device, but Bloomberg now reports that Apple has filed on June 3 to trademark that name in Japan.

This doesn't necessarily mean anything -- companies file for protective trademarks all the time -- but it's one more indication that Apple is dabbling in wearable computing.

iWatch rumors have been flying for most of the year, but we still don't have a clear idea of what the gadget might look like (or what it would do) if it ever comes to market.

One report said that the watch would run a version of iOS but suggested that battery life issues could be holding it back. The watch might also include a pedometer and other sensors to help it compete with fitness gadgets like Nike's FuelBand and the Fitbit.

Apple CEO Tim Cook has previously said that ""amazing new hardware"" would be coming out this fall and throughout 2014, but whether he meant new product categories like an iWatch or simply refreshes of Apple's existing products (like the new Mac Pro) is anyone's guess.

Either way, there's no need to worry if the iWatch doesn't pan out -- you can always rely on the Pebble watch or the rumored devices from Samsung, Google, or Microsoft to cover your unsightly naked wrists.","Bloomberg now reports that Apple has filed on June 3 to trademark the name ""iWatch"" in Japan."
"''Congress shall make no law,'' says the First Amendment, ''abridging the freedom of speech or of the press.'' But an angry, flag-waving Congress is making it a crime to print names the Government doesn't want published, even when they are derived from public sources. Last week the Senate refused to be outdone by the House in making the Intelligence Identities Protection Act offensive to the Bill of Rights.

We understand, indeed share, much of the anger. It is engendered by Philip Agee, a former C.I.A. agent, and Louis Wolf, an ally who never worked for the Government. They have published lists of covert agents in efforts to hobble American intelligence. They claim a journalistic mission but their listings, about as journalistic as a phone book, expose the nation's undercover agents with little regard for possible illegalities.

Some response to such irresponsibility was warranted. Congress properly set out to declare it a crime for Mr. Agee to misuse information acquired in his work for the Government. But despite warnings that it would be constitutionally impossible to prohibit the activities of Mr. Wolf, a private citizen, the House tried anyway last fall and the Senate has now followed suit.

The results are bills that would remedy irresponsibility of one sort with irresponsibility of another. Any legislation aimed at Mr. Wolf was fraught with danger for all journalists, but the Senate and House rejected measures that were at least arguably closer to constitutional standards. They refused to require strict proof of deliberate intent to impair or impede American intelligence through exposure of agents' identities. Without that, they leave no room for important journalism that necessarily names names.

The C.I.A. held out for an easier burden for prosecutors, proof only of a ''reason to believe'' the exposure would harm intelligence. The Reagan Administration went so far as to make this relaxed rule a test of loyalty; fearing that they would be called soft, many senators melted.

''Reason to believe'' that a published fact will somehow damage Government is too easily charged. It amounts to saying a reporter should have known that some official would think an article harmful, as some official always does. It's a standard better suited to negligence cases than criminal law. Indeed, Senator Chafee of Rhode Island, a leading advocate of reason-to-believe for news organizations, persuaded the Senate last year that reason-to-know was too tough a test in prosecuting corporate officials for tolerating bribery abroad.

What happens when Congress thus ignores the Constitution? Courageous members will continue to fight the issue in House-Senate conference. Resourceful journalists will maintain their vigilance against official secrecy. Government can forbear and use its illegitimate power sparingly. All should hope the courts will wipe the law from the books.","''Congress shall make no law,'' says the First Amendment, ''abridging the freedom of speech or of the press.'' But an angry, flag-waving Congress is making it a crime to print names the Government doesn't want published, even when they are derived from public sources. Last week the Senate refused to be outdone by the House in making the Intelligence Identities Protection Act offensive to the Bill of Rights."
"The Obamas will move to a nine-bedroom home in the Kalorama neighborhood of Washington D.C. after leaving the White House in 2017, according to reports.

The family will rent the 8,200-square-foot home while President Obama’s daughter Sasha finishes high school in the nation’s capitol. The home is owned by Joe Lockhart, a Democratic Party insider who now serves as an executive at the National Football League, and his wife Giovanna Gray Lockhart, a Glamour editor.

The location in Kalorama is a popular spot for many of the city’s wealthy and already features a large security presence to protect the many diplomats who call it home.

The news, first reported by Politico, comes less than a month after the White House announced that the Obama’s oldest daughter Malia will attend Harvard University in the fall after taking a gap year.",They're staying in Washington so Sasha can finish high school
"Dear Annie: Help! One of our top IT people just left to go work for a competitor, giving us only a week’s notice, and we just realized that we never asked him to sign anything regarding the proprietary information he has had access to for the past several years. We don’t use non-compete agreements because they’re illegal here, but ordinarily we do ask senior people to sign a document promising that they won’t reveal confidential data.

This person—who knows so much it’s making us frantic, frankly—never signed anything because he started from a lower-level job and then, when he got promoted (twice), nobody thought about it. Is there anything we can do now to make sure he doesn’t spill the beans to his new employer, or is it too late? — Kicking Ourselves in California

Dear K.O.C.: Yikes. It’s easy to see why you’re in a tizzy about this. For companies built on proprietary intellectual property, “the thought of losing employees who have access to those assets is an absolute nightmare,” says Silicon Valley IP attorney and author James Pooley. “After all, HR can take back a departing employee’s keys and company laptop, but how do you erase the valuable knowledge in his or her head?”

You can’t, of course, but take a deep breath and relax. Pooley thinks you may be able to contain the damage. Pooley recently finished a five-year stint as deputy director general at the World Intellectual Property Organization in Geneva, where he was in charge of the international patent system. He is also the author of a new book, Secrets: Managing Information Assets in the Age of Cyberespionage.

The main thing working in your favor is that you ordinarily ask people with access to company secrets to sign nondisclosure agreements (NDAs). “If you have taken formal steps to protect information, including things like training employees in security procedures, most courts will back you up” if a dispute over confidential data ever gets that far, Pooley says. “A judge is unlikely to find against you based on this one oversight.”

More to the point, you can probably avoid a courtroom altogether. “In my experience, it’s usually enough to remind the person who quit that he is under an obligation not to reveal trade secrets, which are protected by law in most states, as well as by your company policy,” says Pooley.

“Have a lawyer write a letter emphasizing that you expect your former employee to abide by that,” he suggests. “Then send a letter to his new employer, saying essentially the same thing. You do have rights here, and you can often get the result you want just by asserting them.” Since your competitor is, without doubt, well aware that you could sue them for making commercial use of anything confidential your ex-employee may reveal, a little bit of legal saber-rattling usually works.

The larger question, of course, is how you’re going to stop anything like this from keeping you up at night in the future. It’s probably no consolation, but you’re far from alone in having promoted your ex-employee without considering how much you were increasing his exposure to trade secrets. Most employers don’t think about asking people to sign NDAs when they move up the chain and into sensitive jobs, notes Pooley.

“It’s a hassle to make an NDA part of your checklist every time you’re thinking about promoting someone,” he says. “The easier way is to have everyone in the whole company sign one.” After all, even the most junior staffers might come across proprietary information, perhaps by accident, while doing their jobs.

What’s more, Pooley adds, employers should ask everyone to sign another document, called an assignment of invention, which clearly states that the company owns any new intellectual property someone creates using company resources.

Why? “Let’s say you hire someone who is not a programmer and whose job doesn’t include writing code,” says Pooley, who has seen this situation more than once. “Nonetheless, he or she writes a valuable piece of software. Without a written invention-assignment agreement, a court may well question who owns it, the company or the employee.” If the latter, there’s nothing you can do to stop him or her from taking it elsewhere or selling it to the highest bidder.

One more way to increase the chances that confidential information stays safely locked up in departing employees’ heads, Pooley says, is to “never skip an exit interview. Even if there’s no reason to believe that the departing employee has any plans to breach company confidentiality, an exit interview is a good opportunity to reiterate your concerns, and emphasize that you’re determined to protect the company’s intellectual property.”

This conversation should include a review of what exactly the employee knows that you consider off-limits to outsiders, since “the potential for harm isn’t limited to deliberately stolen data,” observes Pooley. “Simple misunderstandings about what’s confidential or proprietary, and what isn’t, can also lead to distracting, expensive litigation.” And nobody wants that. Good luck.

Talkback: Would you sign a nondisclosure agreement if your employer requested it? What about an invention-assignment agreement? Leave a comment below.

Have a career question for Anne Fisher? Email askannie@fortune.com.","Maybe. But without a written nondisclosure agreement, it's dicey."
"A cruise ship with thousands of passengers safely docked in Sydney Harbor on Wednesday morning after suffering damage in 40-foot seas during a dangerous storm that caused officials to close the area’s commercial shipping wharfs, according to the Port Authority of New South Wales.

The Carnival Spirit ship arrived in the overseas passenger terminal at around 9:30 a.m. local time, roughly 24 hours after its originally scheduled arrival, officials said. Harbour Master Captain Phil Holliday had shut down the ports just before 8 a.m. on Tuesday morning due to winds of around 57 mph and waves approaching heights of 42 feet, he noted in an announcement.

The ship’s 2,500 passengers and 1,500 crew members remained offshore on Tuesday at the end of a 12-day tour of New Caledonia, Vanuatu and Fiji, Carnival officials told ABC News.

The ship took on water on a fourth-level deck and elsewhere and the squall shattered glass panels during the trying ordeal, Fairfax Media reporter and happenstance passenger Rachel Browne reported in an eyewitness account in the Sydney Morning Herald. Teacups and other drinking vessels in Browne’s quarters fell to pieces when they “blew off the table and hit the wall,” she wrote.

But there were no reported injuries when passengers disembarked Wednesday morning, other than a few cases of seasickness, 9 News reported.

Carnival representatives didn’t immediately respond to request for the extent of the damages on the massive ship.

One relieved passenger, however, noted that patio furniture outside her room had smashed through a glass partition and closet doors in her cabin had rocked off their hinges in an interview with 9 News at the port on Wednesday.

“It was scary, there wasn’t a lot of sleep the past two nights,” she told the TV channel, while praising the crew. “They probably have a lot of work to do but the staff was awesome.”

The Carnival Spirit ship may have escaped the worst of the storm, though. Three people reportedly died and at least one home washed away in floods in the hard-hit town of Dungog about 125 miles to the north of Sydney, the Associated Press reported. Around 200,000 homes and businesses lost power as the storm pummeled New South Wales with over a foot of rain and gusts up to 60 m.p.h., according to AP.

ON A MOBILE DEVICE? WATCH THE VIDEO HERE.

With With News Wire Reports","The cruise ship with thousands of passengers survived 40-foot seas and storm damage off the Sydney coast, officials said."
"Why is it that whenever a politician is found guilty of corruption, liberals use it as an excuse to reduce everyone else’s freedom? Friday’s conviction of former New York Senate leader Dean Skelos and his son had barely been announced when the Brennan Center declared that the verdict “isn’t a permanent solution to Albany’s systemic rot.”

A jury took only eight hours to convict Skelos, a Republican, and son Adam on all eight counts of...","Another guilty politician in Albany is not an excuse to limit political speech, writes the Wall Street Journal in an editorial."
"""The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader"" came in first place, but far behind expectations.

(EW.com) -- Well, that didn't go as planned. Two high-profile films, the 3-D fantasy epic ""The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader"" and the romantic thriller ""The Tourist,"" registered inauspicious openings as the overall box office trailed last year for the fifth weekend in a row.

Fox's ""Dawn Treader,"" the third film in the franchise based on C.S. Lewis' beloved children's novels, led with $24.5 million, according to studio estimates.

That's a disappointing opening for a series whose first two entries, ""The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe"" and ""Prince Caspian,"" debuted to $65.6 million and $55 million, respectively. ""Dawn Treader's"" opening gross puts it in a league that includes such other fantasy clunkers as ""Eragon"" and ""The Golden Compass.""

While box-office prognosticators were predicting a decline from prior ""Narnia"" movies, no one foresaw ""Dawn Treader"" stumbling this much. It's hard to decipher what went wrong.

According to a rep for a rival studio, Fox's marketing sold the $140 million movie as more of the same, instead of as a fresh take on the ""Narnia"" universe. But the film's outlook may not be as dreary as it initially seems.

For one thing, ""Dawn Treader"" scored an encouraging ""A-"" from CinemaScore audiences. And with the holiday season, Fox is quick to point out that the film is positioned for a marathon, not a sprint. ""Its best days are ahead of us,"" says a studio rep.

""The Tourist"" arrived via a Venetian gondola instead of a speeding water taxi.

Despite the star presence of Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie, this remake of the 2005 French movie opened to a modest $17 million. With a budget north of $100 million, Sony now must hope the PG-13 thriller performs significantly better overseas.

In third place, Disney's animated musical ""Tangled"" slipped only 33 percent for $14.6 million, bringing its domestic total to $115.6 million.

""Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows -- Part 1"" didn't hold up as well, dropping 50 percent for $8.5 million. The PG-13 fantasy film has grossed a potent $257.7 million to date, although it trails all other Potter entries in estimated attendance. And the Denzel Washington runaway-train thriller ""Unstoppable"" dipped 37 percent for $3.8 million.

While many of the major Hollywood films were floundering, the indie scene thrived this weekend.

Darren Aronofsky's ""Black Swan"" expanded to 90 theaters and leaped to sixth place with $3.3 million, for an astounding per-theater average of $37,000. The psychological thriller starring Natalie Portman will expand to at least 800 theaters next weekend.

And the boxing drama ""The Fighter,"" starring Mark Wahlberg and Christian Bale, slugged $320,000 from four theaters. That's an $80,000 per-theater average. Julie Taymor's ""The Tempest,"" however, stirred as much interest in the moviegoing public as the Shakespearean play commonly stirs in ninth-graders. It took in just $45,000 from five theaters.

Check back next weekend as three new films -- ""TRON: Legacy,"" ""How Do You Know"" and best picture-contender ""Yogi Bear"" -- open nationwide for your moviegoing consideration.

CLICK HERE to Try 2 RISK FREE issues of Entertainment Weekly

© 2010 Entertainment Weekly and Time Inc. All rights reserved.","Well, that didn't go as planned. Two high-profile films, the 3-D fantasy epic ""The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader"" and the romantic thriller ""The Tourist,"" registered inauspicious openings as the overall box office trailed last year for the fifth weekend in a row."
"MEXICO CITY — A missing Honduran beauty queen, María José Alvarado, and her older sister, Sofía, have been found dead, their bodies buried in the sand of a riverbank near where they disappeared, the police in Honduras said on Wednesday.

The sisters had not been seen since Thursday, after they attended a birthday party for Sofía Alvarado’s boyfriend, Plutarco Ruiz, at a resort near their home in western Honduras. He was arrested Tuesday, and the police told local news media that he was the leading suspect in their investigation.

The search for the missing sisters had riveted Honduras, the small Central American country that has the highest peacetime murder rate in the world. Their mother, Teresa Muñoz, made daily televised appeals for their safe return this week from her home in the western region of Santa Barbara.

María José Alvarado, 19, had been scheduled to leave for London on Wednesday to compete in the Miss World contest. She had worked as a hostess on a popular television variety show and was finishing a technical degree in computing.

Sofía, 23, was a teacher and had been dating Mr. Ruiz for about three months, according to Ms. Muñoz.

A second man, Aris Maldonado, was also arrested on Tuesday, and the police said they expected to make additional arrests.

The director of the National Police, Gen. Ramón Sabillón, said during a news conference that Mr. Ruiz had shot Sofía during an argument after she danced with another man at the party.

María José was shot twice in the back as she tried to flee, said General Sabillón, according to The Associated Press.

Leandro Osorio, the director of the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation, told local news media that the police had found a gun they suspect was used in the shooting in Mr. Ruiz’s possession. His white Toyota pickup truck had been used to move the women’s bodies and then sent to a nearby garage to be painted, Mr. Osorio said.","The Honduran police said María José Alvarado and her older sister, Sofía, had been shot and buried on a riverbank."
"To help decorate our younger daughter’s new apartment, my husband and I offered any item in our basement. She took a painting. A few days later, she phoned to say that she had researched the artist, and his work averages $11,000 at auction.

We had no idea! Now she plans to sell the painting. Our older daughter is upset and has urged her to return it. My husband and I have remained silent. What should we do?

It’s just like that song by Irving Berlin: “Lord help the mister who comes between me and my sister, and Lord help the sister who comes between me and my Man(et)!”

We all know clans who have waged the Wars of Inheritance. And while their squabbles over the silver service may look mercenary from the outside, to the family, all that stuff represents love and acceptance — not to mention cold, hard cash.

So take the bull by the horns (and the painting by the frame) and speak to your girls. Try: “We had no idea the painting was so valuable. You’re welcome to hang it at your place, Susie, but you may not skip off to Sotheby’s with it.”

From the sound of it, both daughters could use a gentle reminder that their parents are still alive — thank you very much! — and they needn’t worry about Mommy’s and Daddy’s assets until the day you keel over. Assure them that you will be fair with them, and with any other children or charities close to your hearts.

Then get some estate-planning advice — and an appraiser into that basement!

A friend is having terrific success in a career that is beneath her intellect and doing more harm than good to society. Worse, she revels in others’ misfortunes when it translates to an opportunity for her employer. She doesn’t seem aware of her personality change. May I express my misgivings?

Problem is, careers in the Mother Teresa trade are not terribly lucrative. So we start walking down a rent-paying road, and the next thing you know, we’re the chairman of Goldman Sachs, doing “God’s work” and making friends queasy with our good fortune (and indoor swimming pool).

But even ugly jobs need someone to do them. So, just how is your pal “reveling” in others’ misfortune? If she’s a foreclosure agent, gleefully tossing people out of their homes, chime in, “Wow, Janie, you’re enjoying this too much.”

If she’s an editor for TMZ, poring over failed romances of movie stars and pro athletes, let it slide. She’s more likely to pick up the tab that way.

Mind It? I Certainly Do

Am I wrong to blanch when strangers in coffee shops ask me to watch their laptops while they step away? When I say I am uncomfortable taking responsibility for their things, they are offended. Often, the favor is an opening for further conversation, and I must do my work. How do I politely turn them down?

Well, blanching seems a bit much, Blanche. Annoyed? Sure. Blood rushing from your face? Not so much.

Many times, folks just want to nip into the restroom or buy another scone without lugging their stuff or losing their seats. It doesn’t bother me, as it affords an excellent opportunity to rifle through their bags. But if minding a laptop feels like too much responsibility or unleashes a prolix Pandora from her box, just say: “Gosh, I was about to leave myself.”

Be prepared for an icy glare or stony silence when your neighbor returns and finds you still sitting there. But that’s almost what you were after in the first place, right?

Two Legs, Yes. Four, No.

I’m not sure how to handle houseguests who bring their dogs. Allergies are a factor, but we also would rather not have animals indoors. What to do?

Dogs are beasts — unless we’re speaking of mine, who is more refined than Lady Astor and better company than the Lifetime Movie Network when you’re at home with the flu.

I think most people feel this way, so tread lightly. People’s pooches are members of the family, and you don’t want to offend them with your perfectly reasonable preference. Lay it on thick with the allergies: ka-choo! For guests on extended travels, book space at your local vet — or on a featherbed at an overpriced doggie spa on which your friends will probably be all too happy to splurge.

For help with an awkward social situation, send queries to socialq@nytimes.com or Social Q’s, The New York Times Style Department, 620 Eighth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10018. Please include a daytime telephone number.","This week, answers to readers’ questions about what happens when daughters fight over heirlooms, houseguests who bring their dogs and other issues."
"The Marine Corps’ long, sometimes twisted, relationship with the M16 rifle is slowly coming to an end.

On Monday, the Marine Corps Times reported that the rifle is only a few signatures away from being phased out from front-line units and relegated to a support role. The move, which follows a similar one by the Army, comes as the Marine Corps implements its new small-arms modernization strategy.

“The proposal to replace the M16A4 with the M4 within infantry battalions is currently under consideration at Headquarters Marine Corps,” Maj. Anton Semelroth, a Marine spokesman, told the Marine Corps Times in an e-mail.

The weapon replacing the M16, the M4, is a smaller, carbine variant of the M16. Aesthetically the M4 looks only slightly different, with a collapsible stock and shorter barrel. And while the M4 also shoots the same sized bullet as the M16 — 5.56mm — the real benefits come from its reduced weight and portability.

[Why the Marines are looking at a new sniper rifle]

At 7.5 pounds — a pound lighter than the M16 — the M4 fits nicely with the age-old infantry adage: “ounces equal pounds, pounds equal pain.” Additionally, the M4’s smaller size is ideal for close quarters combat and vehicle operations.

U.S. Marines with the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit's Maritime Raid Force advance on their targets while firing M4 carbine rifles on the flight deck of the USS Essex during training off the coast of San Diego in February 2015. (U.S. Marine Corps)

The Marine infantry’s adoption of the M4, however, is not completely new. The weapon has been fielded for quite some time, just not every Marine has been lucky enough to have one. In the past M4’s were generally issued to leadership while the average rifleman carried an M16.

Issuing the remaining Marine infantrymen with M4s will not cost the Marines a dime, as the Marines have the needed 17,000 M4s in stock, according to the Marine Corps Times.

The only drawback to using a M4 over the M16 is that the M4’s shorter barrel sacrifices accuracy out towards the maximum effective range of the rifle—500 meters. That is largely a moot point because at 500 meters the 5.56mm bullet fired by both the M16 and M4 is next to useless.

U.S. Marines from the Black Sea Rotational Force run a small arms range with Georgian Armed Forces using the M4 carbine rifle during Exercise Agile Spirit 15 at Vaziani Training Area, Georgia, July 10, 2015. (U.S. Army)

During the Vietnam war, when the M16 was first issued to U.S. troops, the Marines were some of the late adopters. In the early part of the war, Marine grunts hefted the M14, a grandson of sorts of the M1 Garand that was used in World War II and Korea.

The M16 of the Vietnam-era, though aesthetically similar, is not the M16 of today. The rifle of the 1960s was plagued with malfunctions due to issues with ammunition, corrosion resistance and other factors, as detailed in this excerpt from the book “The Gun.” Today, the M16 is not without its skeptics, however after various upgrades and modifications it is vastly more reliable and generally well-liked among current troops.

Thomas Gibbons-Neff is a staff writer and a former Marine infantryman.",Marine infantryman likely will soon carry only the M4 carbine.
"As Rick Santorum fights off efforts to label him extreme or ""ultraconservative"" for discussing faith and family on the campaign trail, the White House is taking a new tack against the Republican candidate and his presidential primary rival Mitt Romney -- accusing them both of driving up the deficit in their budget proposals.

In a memo on the ""deficit-exploding budget and tax plans"" by Romney and Santorum, Obama campaign Policy Director James Kvaal argues that while both candidates ""champion spending cuts deep enough to cut taxes and balance the budget,"" they have, in fact, ""proposed irresponsible and reckless tax plans that would drive up the deficit by trillions of dollars.""

Saying their claims to balance the budget through spending cuts ""are completely unrealistic,"" Kvaal argues that Romney's plan ""would increase the deficit by at least $175 billion a year."" That's in contrast to the president's plan released last week that doesn't see less than $600 billion in deficits for nine of the next 10 years.

""In total, Romney's tax plan would increase the deficit by $188 billion in 2016. The tax cuts are worth $146,000 a year to individuals earning more than $1 million a year. A typical middle-class family with children would actually pay $34 more,"" Kvaal wrote.

""Romney's budget would require cutting all non-defense spending by nearly 25 percent in 2016, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, and by 48 percent if Social Security and Medicare are spared. Santorum's claims are even less realistic,"" he continued.

The Obama team's focus on both candidates suggests a shift in approach as Santorum gains nationally on Romney in polls ahead of the Arizona and Michigan primaries next Tuesday. The two candidates, as well as Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul, are expected to debate Wednesday night in Arizona. The votes in those two states are followed by Super Tuesday on March 6.

But the redirect toward economic issues come after days of sniping over Santorum's comments about Obama's energy policy, in which Santorum referenced the ""phony theology"" of radical environmentalists that he says Obama has embraced.

While the language used by Santorum is similar to that long purveyed by conservatives to label believers of global warming and other environmentalist movements as wing-nuts, the president's campaign called it an attack on Obama's Christian faith and said Santorum was ""over the line.""

On Monday, Santorum defended his remarks, saying that he's being attacked because he has moral values, not because he wants to impose them on anyone else.

""This makes it, you know, really a war on people of faith, particularly the Catholic faith, which again, I mean, it's very clear what the Obama administration is doing on that front,"" Santorum told Fox News. ""For them to continually distort -- this is the kind of stuff that I think is actually, I think, one of the reasons we're doing well in the polls because people see it for what it is. They see a national media trying to destroy conservatives.""

A Real Clear Politics average of polling shows Santorum is up in the polls, with 33.8 percent on average compared to Romney's 28 percent.

University of Virginia Center for Politics Director Larry Sabato said that Santorum winning three contests in early February pushed the headlines toward him, but his success isn't based just on buzz.

The way he speaks ""is coming across as authentic,"" Sabato told Fox News. ""He's very blunt, he's very forthright. He speaks as though he doesn't care about the political consequences.""

But Santorum is walking a fine line. While he tries to focus on topics like Iran, budgets and energy policy, he has also questioned the usefulness of public schools, criticized prenatal testing and doubted whether women are physically able to keep up in combat.

That contrasts sharply with Romney, who has avoided social issues for the most part, and has been accused of not being passionate enough or conveying a reason for his being in the race. Instead, the former Massachusetts governor sells himself as the efficient CEO who will fix the economy.

A Mormon, Romney speaks about ensuring ""religious liberty"" and preventing a contraception mandate being imposed by the Obama administration on insurers, including those morally opposed to birth control, but his target audience is largely fiscal hawks.

""One of the people I'm running against, Senator Santorum, goes to Washington, calls himself a budget hawk then, after he's been there a while, says he's no longer a budget hawk. Well, I am a budget hawk,"" Romney said Monday.

""When Republicans go to Washington and spend like Democrats, you're going to have a lot of spending, and that's what we've seen over the last several years,"" Romney added.

With the primary race unlikely to wrap up soon, the two candidates offer a stark choice to represent the GOP in the November election against Obama. Romney maintains a massive organizational and fundraising advantage over all his rivals, while Santorum gets to the social soul of the conservative wing of the party.

A pro-Santorum PAC, the Red, White & Blue Fund, announced Tuesday it's all-in in Michigan, as Romney closes the gap in his home state. The super PAC is pouring $600,000 into Michigan for a statewide ad buy in the week ahead of the Republican presidential primary, a sum that the Romney team could easily match and best.","As Rick Santorum fights off efforts to label him extreme or ultraconservative for discussing faith and family on the campaign trail, the White House is taking a new tack against the Republican presidential primary candidate and his rival Mitt Romney, accusing them of driving up the deficit in their budget proposals."
"By Jeff Leeson2015-04-02 00:19:13 UTC

Photographer Seph Lawless has been traveling around the U.S. photographing abandoned race tracks and other sites of urban decay. He recently traveled to northeast Ohio for his latest project, which centers around the deserted Variety Theater. Closed in 1986, the theater was originally one of the first single screen movie theaters in the country, and later became an iconic venue for some of rock and roll's biggest names.

With the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony right around the corner, it's a nice ode to the venues that helped bring music stars to fame.

In his photo series book, Lawless remembers one of the historic theater's final shows:

""During a performance by Motörhead on December 2, 1984, the music was so loud it actually cracked the theater ceiling and plaster fell down on the crowd. The power was cut off to stop the band from playing. A judge ordered the theater closed in 1986.""

The theater had kept its vintage style for decades and left everything untouched when it was sealed up in 1986.

""The most interesting thing I saw was just how original everything was ... everything was [virtually] the same as when it was built. The ornate ceilings and the architecture is just so beautiful even after all these years. There was art everywhere you looked. It was hauntingly beautiful to witness,"" Lawless writes.

To see more of Seph Lawless's work, check out his Facebook, Instagram and Tumblr pages.","Photographer Seph Lawless, known for his urban decay photo series, received access to shoot the Variety Theater which has sat abandoned for more than 30 years."
"A 101-year-old man has been pulled alive from the rubble of his house in Nepal seven days after an earthquake hit the country, police said on Sunday.

Related: ‘No one has come’: one week on, Nepal quake victims help themselves

Funchu Tamang was rescued on Saturday with only minor injuries and airlifted to a district hospital in Nuwakot district around 50 miles north-west of Kathmandu, said a local police officer, Arun Kumar Singh.

“He was brought to the district hospital in a helicopter. His condition is stable,” said Singh.

“He has injuries on his left ankle and hand. His family is with him.”

Police also rescued three women from beneath rubble on Sunday in Sindhupalchowk, one of the districts worst hit by the quake, although it was not immediately known how long they had been trapped.

One had been buried by a landslide while the other two were under the rubble of a collapsed house.

“They are being taken to hospital for treatment,” said Suraj Khadka, an officer with the Armed Police Force in Kathmandu.

Nepal’s government had on Saturday ruled out finding more survivors buried in the ruins of the capital, Kathmandu.

Teams of rescuers from more than 20 countries have been using sniffer dogs and heat-seeking equipment to find survivors in the rubble.

But outside the city search and rescue work has largely been carried out by local police and troops.","Man found with minor injuries in collapsed home seven days after earthquake, as government rules out finding more survivors in Kathmandu"
"When jewelry designer Stacey Papp learned that some of her closest friends from the fashion world were among those killed and injured in the

she immediately wanted to help their families.

Her longtime friend, Javier Jorge-Reyes, was murdered that night. Another longtime friend, Leonel Melendez, is in a coma fighting for his life. Says Papp, who owns the Orlando-based Bay Hill Jewelers: ""I kept calling their best friend, saying, 'What can I do?'""

As a jewelry designer and a philanthropist who started the

in 2004 to help at-risk children and foster kids, Papp became friends with the two men because they worked at Gucci, with whom she has longstanding ties. ""We have a very tight community here,"" she says.

The day after the shooting, Papp and other like-minded friends in the fashion and jewelry industry gathered together at the Orlando home of philanthropist Sam Azar of Azar Diamonds to start raising awareness that the victims' families needed everything from help with funeral planning to food and water.

A dedicated group of industry professionals who knew some of the victims ""ended up pulling together this sort of command station,"" Papp says. (The group included Azar; Jorge Cruz of Longines Swiss, who worked with the victims for ten years at Gucci; Amy Figueroa of the Longines Watch Company; Jason Hoskinson of David Yurman; Ben Arroyo of Wells Fargo Bank; Beatrice Carmen Miranda of Metro City Realty and Edith Colon from Mainframe Real Estate.)

""Everybody had their Smart phones and computers and we sat around a table and just made a list of what needed to be done immediately for the victims and their families,"" Papp says.

After they put the word out on social media, they were flooded with do-gooders who provided the victims' families and close friends with items ranging from gift cards to food.

""Everyone was willing to donate blood,"" she says. ""Restaurants jumped on board and said, 'What can we do?' They each chose a night to feed a family involved in the tragedy. Other people were running around making deliveries.

""It was just the most unbelievably cohesive thing that happened so effortlessly and so quickly.""

Papp adds, ""At the end of the day, we felt like we accomplished something.""

Melendez is the father to a six-year-old girl, Bella. When the group began discussing who wanted to take Melendez's six-year-old daughter out for a special day at Universal Studios or Walt Disney World while her dad remains in a coma, fighting for his life, ""a light bulb clicked,"" Papp says.

They started talking about other children who had lost parents in the attack, including children of

who left behind his five-year-old son, Kelvyn, and

49, a mother of 11, who died after getting shot, telling her 21-year-old son, who was with her that night, ""Run, just go.""

Says Papp, ""What struck me about all of this is: What are we doing for the children? These children are the ones who are going to be forgotten.""

In the aftermath of the shooting, she says that ""everyone has been so generous and wants to help so badly, but I thought, there is maybe a missing component for follow-ups for the future.""

Since she had already founded a successful charity for children and youth, she decided to set up a fund to raise money for educational expenses and college tuition for the victims' children: the

""We already work with at-risk, homeless and foster youth in our community and have been doing that for years,"" she says, explaining that the foundation pays for tutoring and focuses on one-on-one attention.

""When we give them a glimpse of what life could be like and show them what's out there, they soar. Education is what we live at Bridges of Life, so this made so much sense,"" she says.

Papp set up a team to manage the funds, with the president of Wells Fargo Bank, whom she knows, offering to open up bank accounts for the funds within hours: ""Everyone has just been doing what they could to make it happen,"" she says.

Papp's goal, she says, is ""to ensure the bright educational future of the children who were affected by this tragedy. We will not allow their futures to become another casualty in this time of suffering and grief.""

The fund is also working toward partnering with Florida Pre-Paid, which provides tuition at many local colleges.

""Our goal is to raise a full four years of college tuition for each child, through generous donations from our local, national and global community,"" she says. Papp also wants to raise money to pay for room and board for each student.

""We know of 14 children in need so far, but are hoping that other families will reach out to us,"" she says.

Like other victims' families, Melendez's relatives are grateful for what Papp and her friends have done for the future of the victims' children.

""When she told us about the scholarship, I got the chills because I thought it was so amazing,"" says Melendez's brother-in-law, Rudy Garay, who has been helping to care for Bella, while her father is in the hospital.

""Her foundation is really going to benefit all the kids directly. It will be one less thing for the parents or whoever is taking care of the kids.""

Papp is happy to help – ""I am super-passionate about helping children,"" she says – and she encourages others to help if they can.

""We hope that everyone, including corporations who haven't yet decided where to donate for the victims and might want to partner with Bridges of Light, can give whatever is comfortable and put it towards this unbelievable fund to make a difference for the future of these children. It would mean so much,"" she says.

She adds: ""I just know that when you do good things, good things happen.""

To donate, please visit the","'When you do good things, good things happen,' says Stacey Papp Bridges of Light Foundation Education Fund founder Stacey Papp"
"05/22/2016 AT 09:35 PM EDT

made a statement in more ways than one during her performance at the

Taking the stage to perform her 2015 hit ""

,"" the 23-year-old wore a T-shirt with an inclusive bathroom symbol, taking a stand against North Carolina's controversial HB2,

that bans cities and local governments from passing rules to allow transgender people to use public bathrooms that match their gender identity.

The special T-shirt will be available for Lovato's fans during she and

' Honda Civic Tour: Future Now, with the proceeds going to LGBT organizations in North Carolina, GLAAD said in a statement on Sunday.

""Demi Lovato continues to be a fearless ally for LGBT equality and acceptance,"" GLAAD President & CEO Sarah Kate Ellis said in the statement. ""By wearing her support for the transgender community, Lovato is raising critical visibility for vulnerable LGBT North Carolinians and sending an invaluable message of support to transgender people everywhere.""

in Raleigh and Charlotte last month in support of the LGBT community.

""It's incredibly difficult for everybody and the situation there is unfortunate,"" Jonas told PEOPLE in April. ""But Demi and I and our team, we talked about how we could make the biggest impact. We felt that this was the right choice.""",Lovato wore a T-shirt featuring an inclusive bathroom symbol during her Billboard Music Awards performance
"MOSCOW — The retribution against one of Russia’s most popular independent online news organizations, Lenta.ru, was as swift as it was unexpected. And to many it served as an ominous warning about the state of the media today as the conflict over Ukraine deepens.

On Tuesday morning, the country’s media watchdog formally cautioned the website after it published an interview with the leader of a Ukrainian nationalist organization that Russia has denounced as fascist. By afternoon, the site’s editor for the last decade was ousted and replaced by another editor viewed as more loyal to the Kremlin.

Lenta.ru, known for aggressive coverage in a media dominated by state-owned or controlled news outlets, announced the departure of its editor, Galina Timchenko, without explanation, but it soon posted a letter of protest signed by 79 members of the site’s staff, blaming “direct pressure” from the Kremlin for her dismissal.

“Over the past couple of years the space for free journalism in Russia has decreased dramatically,” the statement said. “Some publications are controlled directly from the Kremlin, others through curators, still others by editors who fear losing their jobs. Some media outlets were closed. Others will be closed in the coming weeks.”

The statement read like a mass resignation, though it remained unclear how the organization’s staff — or its editorial policy — would be affected.

Lenta.ru is owned by a media company called Afisha-Rambler-SUP, controlled in part by Aleksandr Mamut, a Russian billionaire. The company also owns the country’s most popular blogging site, LiveJournal, which was soon filled with laments about the editorial shake-up. An official at the company declined to comment.

The government’s efforts to control the media under President Vladimir V. Putin are hardly new, but as the turmoil in Ukraine unfolded in recent months, a series of decisions have raised fears that the Kremlin intends to tighten its grip beyond the dominant television networks that shape its message.

In December, Mr. Putin dissolved the official state news agency, RIA Novosti, and now is reorganizing a new one under a television executive and host, Dmitry K. Kiselyov, who is best known for virulent commentary on various foreign conspiracies he and others say are threatening Russia.

In January, the independent online television network, Dozhd, or Rain, was dropped by most of the country’s cable providers, ostensibly for conducting a poll that asked if the Soviet Union would have been better off surrendering Leningrad during World War II, rather than enduring the siege by Nazi Germany. It is now struggling to survive.

A month later, the long-serving executive director of the radio station Ekho Moskvy, perhaps the most prominent opposition news outlet, was replaced by a senior editor of the state radio network, Voice of Russia.

“The problem is not that we have nowhere to work,” the statement by Lenta.ru’s staff said. “The problem is that it seems you have nothing more to read.”

Russia’s media watchdog, known as Roskomnadzor, warned Lenta.ru that it had violated Russia’s laws against promoting extremism in the media. Two warnings are grounds for repealing its license. It cited an interview with Andriy Tarasenko, the leader in Kiev of the nationalist coalition, Right Sector, which played a prominent and, some have charged, violent role in the protests against the government of Viktor F. Yanukovych.

The interview, published Monday, carried the headline “We are Not Armed Forces.” It has since been removed from the site. The reporter who conducted the interview, Ilya Azar, said a telephone interview that he intended to quit rather than to work under the new editor.

Lenta.ru was also warned for linking to remarks by the group’s leader Dmitro Yarosh. A court here effectively indicted him in absentia on Wednesday for promoting extremism in Russia itself and said it would seek an international arrest warrant.

Mr. Yarosh and others have been denounced as fascists, radicals and anti-Semites by a relentless media campaign on state television networks that has sought, in keeping with Kremlin policy, to discredit the new government in Ukraine.","A popular independent online news site, Lenta.ru, got a warning from the government about its Ukraine coverage, and then a new editor."
"Fishing oysters and lobsters is hardwired into the Hardy bloodline. Leslie Hardy, owner of Leslie Hardy and Sons Oysters, his father, brothers, four sons and one of his daughters are hooked on the family business, established over four generations on Lennox Bay in East Bideford, Prince Edward Island. Many of Hardy’s 36 grandchildren are also involved in the farming of Malpeque oysters, some of the most sought after PEI oysters.

“My father passed the farm onto my older brother. But after a while he wasn’t interested in it anymore, so I bought it from him,” recalled Hardy. “I was a school teacher once, and so was Shirley [his wife], but I gave it all up for this, the adventure of being on the water, the freedom of doing my own thing.”

In this age of automation and mechanically-processed foods, oysters are still a hands-on operation (albeit gloved hands). For the Hardy family, there is no “tonging,” a method of scooping oysters from the bay floor with a hand-operated dredging basket. Instead, the Hardys sort each and every oyster by hand.

The family has also have developed a method for raising higher-quality oysters in less time. The traditional ready-for-market oyster matures at seven years, but the Hardys can grow them to full size in three years and with a rounder shape, which is an attractive quality for raw bars. Their oysters are shipped all over North America, from PEI to Los Angeles, Seattle, New York, Boston, Montreal and Maryland.

Gordon Hardy is the youngest of Leslie’s eight grown children who, in addition to being an integral part of the oyster business, also farms mussels on the other side of the bridge that divides the bay. “On this side we kill the mussels, and [we] grow them on the other,” explains Gordon. In discussing his life as an oyster farmer he says: “[I] never did anything else; only made it to the 10th grade, but I like [farming oysters]. Some folk ’round here go out west, Alberta ways, working oil. I wouldn’t want to be that far from home. This is where I want to be, with my family.”

— Text by European Press Agency

Nicole Crowder is the photo editor for the Washington Post’s photography blog, In Sight.","Off Lennox Bay on Prince Edward Island, a small family operation has been farming oysters for over four generations."
"Woodrow Wilson, who enjoyed moralizing about the mundane, called paying taxes a “glorious privilege.” In 1865, when there was a Civil War income tax, one taxpayer shared this sensibility, sort of. Mark Twain said that his tax bill of $36.82 (including a $3.12 fine for filing late) made him feel “important” because the government was paying attention to him. Today, Rep. Kevin Brady wants to change the way government pays attention to taxpayers.

Congress is like a Calder mobile: Something jiggled here causes things to wiggle over there. When conservatives toppled House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), they inadvertently propelled Brady into the House’s most important chairmanship, that of the Ways and Means Committee. Because revenue bills must originate in the House, Brady now wields Congress’s most important gavel, all because the committee’s previous chairman, Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), now sits in Boehner’s chair.

George F. Will writes a twice-weekly column on politics and domestic and foreign affairs. He began his column with The Post in 1974, and he received the Pulitzer Prize for Commentary in 1977. He is also a contributor to FOX News’ daytime and primetime programming.

If there is going to be growth-igniting tax reform — and if there isn’t, American politics will sink deeper into distributional strife — Brady will begin it. Fortunately, the Houston congressman is focused on this simple arithmetic: Three percent growth is not 1 percent better than 2 percent growth, it is 50 percent better.

If the Obama era’s average annual growth of 2.2 percent becomes the “new normal,” over the next 50 years real gross domestic product will grow from today’s $16.3 trillion (in 2009 dollars) to $48.3 trillion. If, however, growth averages 3.2 percent, real GDP in 2065 will be $78.6 trillion. At 2.2 percent growth, the cumulative lost wealth would be $521 trillion.

Brady, however, would like to start with the approximately $2 trillion that U.S. corporations have parked overseas. Having already paid taxes on it where it was earned, the corporations sensibly resist having it taxed again by the United States’ corporate tax, the highest in the industrial world. “[The $2 trillion] won’t just naturally fly back to us,” Brady says. Measures should be taken to make it rational for corporations to bring money home. And to make it rational for corporations such as Pfizer, which recently moved its headquarters to Ireland for tax purposes, to remain here.

In the past 30 years, Brady says, more and more taxes have been paid by fewer and fewer people. And fewer and fewer businesses have been organized as corporations: Three-quarters of job-creating entities are not paying corporate taxes.

“You can’t,” Brady says, “ask people to make big changes, leapfrogging our global competitors, just to get to average.” But making big changes “is why we all came to Congress.” And the benefit that comes from something unfortunate — the fact that there are so few (perhaps fewer than 40) competitive House seats — is that members can take risks. Presidential engagement is necessary for tax reform, and Brady says that will require a new president who understands that “just a little respect goes a long way up here [on Capitol Hill].”

All Republican presidential candidates have tax reform proposals, but only one candidate proposes increasing the cost of government for every American. Here, at last, Donald Trump actually resembles a Republican. Unfortunately, it is a Republican from 125 years ago, when the party stood for big government serving crony capitalism with high tariffs.

As Steven R. Weisman demonstrates in his splendid history of American taxation, “The Great Tax Wars,” the GOP’s tariffs were indirect, hidden sales taxes that crimped consumption by Americans with small incomes. In 1913, the first year of Wilson’s presidency and the year the 16th Amendment and the income tax arrived, the glorious privilege of paying taxes was enjoyed primarily through tariffs: They provided nearly half of federal revenues, with most of the rest coming from tobacco and liquor taxes, which also were hardest on people of modest means.

Trump, who works himself into a lather because Nabisco is making some Oreo cookies outside the country, is obsessed with the United States’ trade with China. “We’re going to get Apple to start building their damn computers and things in this country,” he says, aiming to raise the price Americans pay for Apple products that today are assembled in China, which, according to trade attorney Scott Lincicome, makes about $6 by assembling an iPhone from parts (many of which China has imported).

Trump favors a 45 percent tariff to protect customers of Walmart and similar retailers from the onslaught of inexpensive Chinese apparel, appliances and food. He can explain the glorious privilege of paying taxes-as-tariffs when he makes his next visit to a Walmart, perhaps the one in Secaucus, N.J., just seven miles from his Fifth Avenue penthouse.

Read more from George F. Will’s archive or follow him on Facebook.",Seemingly small differences in annual growth add up to hundreds of trillions of dollars.
"The Afghan capital Kabul has suffered a series of attacks this month that have left dozens of people dead.

The Taliban says it is behind most of the violence, and it is believed to be linked to the current splits within the group after the death of their leader Mullah Omar.

The violence has raised questions about the ability of Afghan security forces to stop such attacks after the majority of coalition forces withdrew last year.

The BBC's Shaimaa Khalil met the people affected by the recent bloodshed.","Shaimaa Khalil meets Afghans trying to lead ""a normal life"" in Afghanistan where a series of attacks this month has left dozens of people dead."
"While there are undoubtedly strong political (and financial) reasons for U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta to set a firmer timetable for a change in mission of US forces in Afghanistan, they are probably not the whole story behind NATO’s evolving “end-game.”

French President Nicholas Sarkozy has already announced that his country's 3,600 troops deployed in Afghanistan will leave by the end of 2013 - a year early. That may have something to do with the fact that he is trailing badly in the polls ahead of presidential elections in April. But he is not alone. In Washington, London and Paris, Afghanistan is an unpopular war.

Panetta's suggestion that Afghan security forces can be capped now at just over 300,000 rather than the 350,000 target originally set is another indication of the prevailing mood. Money and popular support for the Afghan mission are in short supply. There's also an air of exasperation with Afghan President Hamid Karzai creeping in.

Sarkozy expressed it when he announced his sudden decision to get French troops out early - following the killing by an Afghan soldier of four French servicemen two weeks ago. The United States, too, has plenty of frustrations with Karzai, not least his recent attempts to stifle Washington's efforts to engage the Taliban in talks.

U.S. diplomats have long been criticized for not standing up to what are perceived as Karzai's wrong-headed policies, as well as his tantrums and whims. His latest plan to ignore the U.S. track for talks with the Taliban in Qatar and develop his own Saudi-hosted path is an effective slap in the face for President Barack Obama.

The United States wants many things out of these talks, not least a stable Afghanistan allowing an honorable exit for combat forces. But it also needs to set the conditions for what it was unable to agree to in Iraq - and that is to maintain a strategic regional foothold with large airbases and a troop presence. Iran is on one side of Afghanistan, Pakistan the other; and resource-hungry China also shares a border with Afghanistan.

So talks with the Taliban are not just about ending the war, they are about recognizing the Taliban's future political influence. They are, if the right conditions are set, about accepting the Taliban as political representatives of at least part of Afghanistan's majority Pashtoon population.

When Panetta talks about transitioning from combat to training operations by the end of 2013 he is also signaling to the Taliban U.S. combat forces will leave, and soon. For a long time the Taliban demanded foreign troops leave as a precondition for talks, a goal that is now in sight.

Panetta may be lowering other hurdles to a political settlement - although one at least appears inviolable: that the Taliban must renounce ties to al Qaeda.

Last year after much consideration, Obama signed off on exploring talks with the Taliban. Mullah Omar signed off on his side. A serious commitment had been made although there was (and still is) absolutely no guarantee of the outcome.

Now Karzai appears set to pursue his ""alternate"" Taliban talks track - at the very least, to muddy the waters and slow the talks process, and at worse scupper it altogether. If he successfully sabotages U.S.-Taliban talks, Washington can forget long-term strategic bases. The Taliban will make them unviable.

When NATO's combat forces pull out, the Taliban will, by talks or by fighting, expand their influence. Without some sort of political understanding, the Taliban will be able to obstruct resupply and every other part of the remaining U.S. and NATO mission.

A recently leaked NATO intelligence estimate that the Taliban are waiting to take power by force begins to look like a well-timed effort to undermine the transition that Panetta is in Brussels to discuss.

A western diplomat who talks directly to the Taliban told me recently ""they [the Taliban] haven't made up their mind yet"" whether to go for the ""grand [political] bargain"" or wait and ""fight for control of the country."" That view is echoed by Sherard Cowper Coles, the former British ambassador to Kabul.

The reason the Taliban may not want to fight for power could be pragmatic. When they took control of 95% of Afghanistan in the 90's they did it as much with Pakistani money - buying off enemy commanders - as they did in battle.

Mullah Omar's Taliban, the largest Taliban group also known as the Quetta Shura, the former Afghan government, the ones talking to the United States will not get that money now because Pakistan's military intelligence service, the ISI, does not trust them.

Sources say the ISI trusts and prefers to fund the much smaller Haqqani Taliban force. The Haqqanis have pledged allegiance to Mullah Omar publicly - but would likely be an adversary were he ever back in government.

Also the Taliban's ethnic foes in the North are far richer, better equipped and trained than the last time they fought, thanks to the North's close ties to the U.S. military. They pose a bigger challenge to Taliban (Pashton) hegemony than before.

So the question for these aging gray haired leaders who have been at war in some cases for up to 30 years is: Can they get better terms at the negotiating table?

Part of that calculation will be based on their assessment of the sincerity of the people sitting across the table from them.

Karzai may have cut across U.S. interests one time too many. Tough love is what some diplomats have advocated for his intransigence. An end to combat missions in 2013 will certainly be that, and the great unanswered question is: Will that be a bone the Taliban prefer to chew or bury?","By Nic Robertson While there are undoubtedly strong political (and financial) reasons for U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta to set a firmer timetable for a change in mission of US forces in Afghanistan, they are probably not the whole story behind NATO’s evolving “end-game."
"Israel has responded furiously to a UN security council resolution condemning Israeli settlements in the occupied territories, recalling two of its ambassadors to countries that voted for the motion and threatening to cut aid.

The security council adopted the landmark resolution demanding Israel halt all settlement building and expansion in the occupied territories after Barack Obama’s administration refused to veto the resolution on Friday.

A White House official said Obama had taken the decision to abstain in the absence of any meaningful peace process. The resolution, which passed by a 14-0 vote, was met with loud applause in the packed chamber when the US ambassador, Samantha Power, abstained.

The move was immediately condemned by the office of the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, as “shameful”. A spokesman pointedly referred to Israel’s expectation of working more closely with the US president-elect, Donald Trump.

The security council last adopted a resolution critical of settlements in 1979, with the United States also abstaining. The United States vetoed a similar resolution in 2011, which was the sole veto cast by the Obama administration at the security council.

Amid emerging criticism of the handling of the vote by Netanyahu, whose manoeuvres were seen as an attempt to sideline Obama and his administration, Israel ordered steps against a number of countries.

Those steps included the recall of the Israeli ambassadors to New Zealand and Senegal, who voted for the resolution, cancelling a planned visit by the Senegalese foreign minister to Israel in three weeks and cancelling all aid programmes to the African country.

The two countries voted along with the UK, France, Russia and China in favour of the resolution describing Israeli settlement building as a “flagrant violation” of international law.

Responding to the Israeli moves, New Zealand’s foreign minister, Murray McCully, said the decision should have been no surprise to Israel, which knew Wellington’s position long before the UN vote.

“We have been very open about our view that the [security council] should be doing more to support the Middle East peace process and the position we adopted today is totally in line with our long-established policy on the Palestinian question.”

The vote has sharply underlined the extent of Israel’s international isolation under Nentayahu.

In particular the vote – in which 14 of the 15 countries on the Security Council vote in favour – dramatised the hollowness of Netayahu’s boast at the UN general assembly in the autumn over Israel’s purported diplomatic advances at the UN, not least among African members.

Russia and China too, both permanent members of the security council with veto rights who have been heavily courted by Israel, also voted in favour.

While Israel may expect a much easier ride after the inauguration of Donald Trump, support of the motion from countries like the UK and France underlines the deep frustration in Europe with the policies of Netanyahu’s rightwing coalition over settlements and the moribund peace process.

For its part the Obama administration made clear that the US decision to abstain was in direct response to choice made by Netanyahu on settlements.

The resolution also serves as a warning to the incoming Trump administration over its policies following the appointment by Trump of a far right pro-settler ambassador to Israel, David Friedman.

While the US and EU have worked closely together in coordinating foreign policy on the Israel-Palestine question, there has been growing support among European governments for tougher steps against Israel, which has already resulted in a directive on the labelling of settlement products.

The strength of the language in the resolution reiterating the illegality of Jewish settlements built on land intended for a Palestinian state, occupied by Israel in 1967, is also likely to have an impact on multinational companies operating in the occupied territories or working with Israeli enterprises with links to the occupied territories, underlining the risk of legal action against them.

While the resolution is not binding in legal terms it will, however, have other practical impacts, not least in the impact it may have on the Palestinian complaint to the international criminal court, which includes Israeli settlement.

The resolution also includes language calling for differential treatment of Israel within the pre-1967 borders, calling on states to “distinguish[ing], in their relevant dealings, between the territory of the State of Israel and the territories occupied since 1967”, which could potentially pave the way for future sanctions.

Israeli supporters in the US – both senators and lobby groups – used even stronger language. Morton Klein, president of the right wing Zionist Organization of America, railed in unequivocal terms: “Obama has made it clear that he’s a Jew hating, antisemite.”

Leading pro-Israel Republicans also weighed in including House Speaker Paul D Ryan, who denounced the US abstention as “absolutely shameful,” and promised that “our unified Republican government will work to reverse the damage done by this administration, and rebuild our alliance with Israel”.

In Israel, however, questions were already being asked about Netanyahu’s handling of the vote. Writing in Haaretz, columnist Chemi Shalev was particularly scathing about Netanyahu’s diplomatic failure.

“Resolution 2334 shatters the [Israeli] government-induced illusion that the settlement project has been normalised, that it passed the point of no return, that it is now a fait accompli that will remain unchallenged.

“In recent years, after President Obama desisted from efforts to advance the peace process, Netanyahu, his ministers and settler leaders had behaved as if the battle was over: Israel built and built, the White House objected and condemned, the facts on the ground were cemented in stone.

“You can have your cake and eat it too, the government implied: thumb your nose at Washington and the international community, build in the West Bank as if there’s no tomorrow and still get $38bn in unprecedented [US] military aid.”",Israel orders steps against a number of countries that backed motion calling for halt to building of settlements in occupied territories
"Safety officials on Cape Cod want you to think of caution, not ""Jaws"" music when you visit their famous beaches.

Several Massachusetts towns are taking steps to beef up their protocol to inform lifeguards and protect swimmers against possible shark attacks on their shores, the Cape Cod Times reports.

The Cape Cod National Seashore officials met last week with local police, fire and beach department representatives from the Massachusetts towns of Provincetown, Wellfleet, Eastham and Truro to discuss beach safety after a shark bit a man in the leg at a Truro beach.

Denver resident Christopher Myers, 50, was released Friday from Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston after receiving 47 stitches for bites on his legs, from what might have been a great white shark. Myers was swimming at Ballston Beach in Truro, which has no lifeguards and had no shark warning signs. Witnesses said they saw a large, black dorsal fin emerge near Myers, according to the paper.

Although it's been nearly 80 years since the last confirmed great white shark attack on a human, the possibility of an attack along the Cape's Atlantic coastline has increased with the growing seal population. In Truro, seals gather along sandbars near Ballston Beach.

The Cape Cod towns responded quickly to the incident, coming up with several strategies to inform beachgoers and promote safe swimming practices on their beaches. One tool is a marine animal picture book, filled with photos and information from the Massachusetts Department of Fish and Game's Division of Marine Fisheries. The books -- available at lifeguard stands -- aim to help lifeguards and witnesses identify sea animals when they see them in the water.

The Cape Cod Times reports there also will be a shark witness questionnaire to keep track of beachgoers' incident accounts. Witnesses can provide details about shark fins or other physical characteristics, as well as the location of the sighting.

Improved communication also will be key in coordinated shark response on the Cape. There will be immediate email notification among the town beach officials when a shark incident occurs. The seashore also has posted warning signs alerting beachgoers to recent shark sightings, asking them to be cautious.

A Truro town meeting is expected this week to discuss adding lifeguards at Ballston Beach for the last weeks of summer. The town eliminated guards during budget cuts in the early 1980s.

Click for more from the Cape Cod Times.","Several Cape Cod, Massachusetts towns are taking steps to beef up their protocol to inform lifeguards and protect swimmers against possible shark attacks on their shores."
"These stars make 40 (and even 50!) look like the new 20. Check out who's been drinking from Hollywood's fountain of youth.

They grew up on screen, but sometimes fall off the map. See what your favorite pint-sized celebs look like as adults.

Think the stars are just like us? Guess again! It's always sunny in Hollywood, and these celebs love flaunting their picture-perfect beach bodies almost as much as they love getting all dressed up for...

Axel Foley means business when he sets out to avenge his best friends murder. Catch back up with the stars of 'Beverly Hills Cop'.","Hot air balloons are taking over the skies in New Jersey. The QuickChek New Jersey Festival of Ballooning swings into full gear in Readington, N.J. from July 26-28. Take a ride with the Daily News high above the festival ... Here, Horton the Elephant (in balloon form) sits face first in the grass alongside other amazing hot air balloons, like Humpty Dumpty."
"Many experts, analysts and venture capitalists have largely exaggerated the possibility that a valuation bubble exists among today's start-ups, Y Combinator's President Sam Altman said Wednesday.

""I think people talk about a bubble because it's an easy way to get on TV, … but I think these companies are doing incredible work, and by and large the valuations are reasonable,"" Altman said in an interview with CNBC's ""Squawk Alley.""

""I don't think most VCs believe we're in a bubble. ... If they do, then they shouldn't invest in start-ups,"" said Altman, whose company provides seed money to start-ups like Airbnb, Twitch and Disqus.

Several start-ups now have multibillion-dollar valuations, including Uber, valued at over $40 billion, and Snapchat, which was valued at about $10 billion last August.

Altman said some of the venture capitalists who have made the most noise regarding these high valuations are also the ones who are pumping the most money into them. ""The VCs that are investing the most money ever in start-ups, at least in the last 10 years, are the ones that are saying there's a bubble.""

He also said these venture capitalists are exaggerating the possibility of a bubble because of their lack of control over the companies. ""I think what's going on is that VCs have sort of less and less of the power in this sort of company dynamic, and so, people are like, 'Oh, [start-ups] are hugely overinflated.'""

Read More Pessimism reigns as investors weigh valuations

Another reason start-up valuations are this high is because of the a long-standing low interest rate environment, Altman said.

""Yeah, valuations are high, and interest rates are zero, so that's to be expected, but I don't think valuations have become wildly disconnected from [actual values].""","Sam Altman, Y Combinator's president, says the recent talks of a bubble forming has been overblown."
"And it was a day, of course, when the Belgian capital -- indeed, the European capital -- was more than ever acutely aware of its vulnerability.

Two explosions Tuesday at the city's main airport, and then another at a downtown subway station, killed 31 people and injured 270 others.

""You can feel the fear on the streets today,"" said Souheil, 21, who was taking the train Wednesday morning to his internship at the European Commission, near where the explosion at the Maelbeek metro station detonated Tuesday. ""But you can also see that people want to fight it. It's a good thing.""

""We know these things can happen,"" she said, ""but we must go on.""

Both commuters declined to give their last names.

As Belgium mourned and Brussels struggled back toward some semblance of normality, new details emerged about the attacks.

as one of the airport suicide bombers, and his brother, Khalid El Bakraoui, as the man behind the suicide blast near the metro station.

ISIS has claimed responsibility for the Brussels and Paris attacks -- raising concerns that the terrorist group is gaining more traction in Europe.

Adelma Marina Tapia Ruiz was moments from boarding a plane to New York, where she and her family were looking forward to reuniting for Easter.

Her husband and 3-year-old twin girls had just stepped away from the boarding area at the Brussels Airport. Then an explosion ripped the family apart, Peruvian state media said.

Ruiz, a Peruvian living in Brussels, was killed, reported Andin, a Pervian news agency. Her husband and daughters escaped serious injury.

The 36-year-old mother was one of at least 10 people killed at the airport. About an hour later, 20 people were killed at the Maelbeek subway station.

""We were fearing terrorist attacks,"" Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel said Tuesday. ""And that has now happened.""

The Bakraoui brothers are suspected of having ties to

, which left 130 people dead. Khalid El Bakraoui rented a Brussels apartment that was raided last week, a senior Belgian security source told CNN.

The brothers were known to police for involvement in organized crime but not for terrorism, Belgian state broadcaster RTBF reported.

As officials try to learn more about the Bakraoui brothers, investigators are scrambling to find a third suspect believed to be at large.

That man, shown in surveillance footage wearing a light-colored jacket and black hat, was seen pushing a luggage cart along with Ibrahim El Bakraoui and another apparent suicide bomber.

""The third left a bomb in the airport but it didn't explode,"" Belgian Interior Minister Jan Jambon said. ""We are now looking for this guy.""

Two people were arrested Tuesday in connection with the attacks -- one in Schaerbeek and the other in Haren -- though one of them was released later that day, Belgian federal prosecutor Frederic Van Leeuw said. Another person was detained Wednesday, according to Belgian state broadcaster RTBF.

Despite the determination to carry on, train platforms remained largely empty Wednesday save for a smattering of soldiers. People who did venture forth felt an eerie calm.

""Like walking through a ghost town,"" said 28-year-old Apelonia.

And as she rode the nearly empty metro into central Brussels, she kept imagining the train exploding and herself dying.

On the trains and in the streets, Brussels appears to be a city shaken yet defiant.

Lynn, who works at a communications firm, passed by Maelbeek station 30 minutes before the Tuesday's explosion.

""It's tough, but we knew it would happen,"" she said as she rode a replacement bus to work Wednesday.

""We have to go on,"" she said. ""We can't stay home. We have to hope security can protect us.""

About an hour after the explosion in the subway station, the city was virtually paralyzed, with most public transport shut down and residents terrified of more attacks.

Some metro lines partially reopened Wednesday, but the city's transit system announced that subway stations would be closed and the trains wouldn't be running from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. Outside those hours, security forces are controlling all access to the stations.

Some cafes and shops in surrounding streets are still closed.

Military personnel, carrying automatic weapons and wearing scarves against the early morning chill stood guard in the area, where many European Union institutions are based.

The airport remained closed and will be shut down Thursday as well.

The country will observe three days of mourning, the Prime Minister announced.

And King Philippe and Queen Mathilde of Belgium will visit the Erasme Hospital in Anderlecht and the military hospital Reine Astrid on Wednesday, the royal household said in a statement.

Belgium has been a concern for counter-terrorism officials for years because of the large number of Belgian fighters who have traveled to join ISIS and other terror groups in Syria and Iraq. Many have later returned home.

""The Belgians have been sitting on a ticking time bomb,"" a U.S. counterterrorism official said.

A Twitter post circulated by prominent ISIS backers Tuesday said, ""What will be coming is worse.""

The notion that the two suspected suicide bombers were known to authorities yet still carried out attacks shows how thinly spread intelligence authorities are, said CNN producer Tim Lister, who has reported extensively about terrorism.

""Even people like these brothers, who have criminal records, who have fired AK-47s at police, are still out there pretty much undetected,"" Lister said.

""It's estimated that just to follow one person 24/7 requires 25 officers or agents. There are just too many suspects to follow.""

But the interior minister said Belgians refuse to be defeated.

""Our police services and our investigation services are very professional people, but we are also convinced that also the terrorists ... are professionals too -- and well-trained and well-formed,"" Jambon said.

""So it's a difficult battle against them. But I'm convinced that we will win.""

CNN's Frederik Pleitgen reported from Brussels; Holly Yan and Catherine E. Shoichet wrote from Atlanta. CNN's Max Foster, Nima Elbagir, Joshua Berlinger, Nick Thompson, Arthur Brice, Evan Perez, Pamela Brown and Shimon Prokupecz contributed to this report.","Day broke Wednesday on a Brussels facing a new reality, and a new identity as a city contorted by grief but sustained by a shared determination to carry on."
"Editor's note: Roland Martin is a syndicated columnist and author of ""The First: President Barack Obama's Road to the White House."" He is a commentator for the TV One cable network and host/managing editor of its Sunday morning news show, ""Washington Watch with Roland Martin.""

(CNN) -- When was the last time you heard someone say it's important to hire a qualified white person for a job? No, seriously, I really want you to think about that question.

Whenever there is a discussion about diversity, inclusion or affirmative action, we always hear folks say, ""We do a great job of trying to find qualified minorities.""

That always tickles me, because when it comes to hiring whites, the assumption is that all are qualified, so there's no need for the qualifier ""qualified.""

That was the first thing that came to mind when former New Hampshire Gov. John Sununu gave his opinion on ""Piers Morgan Tonight"" on Thursday regarding Gen. Colin Powell's endorsement of President Barack Obama.

Booker: Sununu's comment was 'unfortunate'

""Frankly, when you take a look at Colin Powell, you have to wonder whether that's an endorsement based on issues or whether he's got a slightly different reason for preferring President Obama,"" Sununu said.

When Morgan asked him what that reason is, Sununu said, ""Well, I think when you have somebody of your own race that you're proud of being president of the United States, I applaud Colin for standing with him.""

Oh, John, you're such a charmer to say you applaud Colin Powell for being a righteous brother and supporting his brother from another mother.

All I could do was laugh at how incredibly stupid and asinine Sununu's remark was.

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But Sununu isn't alone. He's like the many idiots who have e-mailed and tweeted me over the years, suggesting that comments perceived as favorable to Obama boil down to our skin color. Accomplishments? Oh, no. Intellect? Forget about it. It's always a black thing.

News: Obama and the white vote

See, I'm not one of these black folks who are quick to deny that anyone voted for Obama because he's black. Actor Samuel L. Jackson has made it clear that he backs Obama because he's black, and he doesn't give a damn what any white person thinks.

But it really is Sam's responsibility to tell us exactly why he supports the president. It's not our job to automatically assume that skin color is the reason during this season.

For instance, in 2004, the Rev. Al Sharpton ran for president of the United States. Now, we know he's black, but a ton of black folks didn't even think of supporting him during his run or send him a dime. I recall betting a black New York media executive a big steak dinner that Sharpton would not win the primary in South Carolina, where nearly half of the voters are black. He was adamant it would happen, citing the Rev. Jesse Jackson's win there in 1988. Sharpton didn't win.

During that same primary, former U.S. Sen. Carol Moseley Braun also ran for the Democratic nomination. Her campaign was about as ineffectual as Sharpton's, and few people, even black folks, backed her.

Opinion: Why isn't Colin Powell a Democrat?

Amazing. Two black folks running for president -- one a prominent civil rights activist and the other a former U.S. senator -- and black America as a whole didn't even give their candidacies a thought.

So if in Sununu's mind a Powell endorsement comes down to race, how does he explain the many times a black candidate runs for office, and black support isn't guaranteed? What about all of the years black folks voted for white candidates? Was one whiter than the other?

Since Sununu thinks it's about race, I need him to explain to me how Mitt Romney's whiteness has been the deciding factor behind his being a major surrogate for the Romney campaign.

Please tell us, John, why you think Romney is the Great White Hope who will take down Soul Brother No. 1 at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.

Turnabout is fair play, right? If Powell is backing Obama because he's black, I need all of Romney's white supporters who are backing him because of the color of his skin to step forward. Please, don't hold back.

Powell is an American hero. He has served as national security adviser, head of the U.S. Army Forces Command, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, secretary of state.

Opinion: Both parties have a huge race problem

As a distinguished military man who has worked for four U.S. presidents, he has witnessed up close and personal what it takes to be president of the United States and commander in chief. It is ridiculous to assume Powell would be so shallow as to think race is the only determinant for him. The suggestion is beneath him.

So, why did Sununu say it? Because it's easy to dismiss an accomplished black man who just praised another accomplished black man. By boiling it down to race, it's easy for others who think such a thing to say, ""Oh, that's it!""

Unfortunately, we see this type of thinking in America all of the time.

I crack up when someone white e-mails me, saying I owe my job to affirmative action. Their bigotry and racial animus is obvious, and I e-mail them back saying, I'm laughing at them. Why? Because it must hurt more to have a black man they can't stand laugh at them.

My accomplishments are clear and many. I owe no one an explanation for my success, and Powell owes Sununu and no one else an explanation other that what he said on CBS's morning show, citing Romney's confusing foreign policy views and Obama's steady leadership.

""When he took over, the country was in very, very difficult straits. We were in one of the worst recessions we had seen in recent times, close to a depression,"" Powell said. ""We were in real trouble.

""I saw over the next several years stabilization come back in the financial community. Housing is now starting to pick up after four years. It's starting to pick up. Consumer confidence is rising. So I think generally, we've come out of the dive, and we're starting to gain altitude. It doesn't mean we are problem solved. There are lots of problems still out there. The unemployment rate is too high. People are still hurting in housing. But I see that we are starting to rise up.""

Ain't nothing like a critically thinking brother, right, John?

This issue will not get a rise out of President Obama or Gen. Colin Powell. They won't even dignify Sununu and others who think like them. They'll just keep laughing all the way up the ladder to the next successful step, marveling at the childishness of some whites to reduce black support of another African-American to just the color of their skin and not the content of their character.

The opinions expressed in this country are solely those of Roland Martin.",Roland Martin says Sununu's suggestion that Powell backs Obama because of race implies that blacks don't critically evaluate candidates on content of character.