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Twitter now expressly prohibits posting revenge porn or other non-consensual, intimate photos using the service. Buzzfeed reports that Twitter made two significant changes to its terms of service Wednesday evening designed to prevent the posting of explicit photos taken without the subject's consent. It also issued a new FAQ about the subject based on questions that Buzzfeed had asked. To its terms of service regarding the posting of private information, Twitter added: "You may not post intimate photos or videos that were taken or distributed without the subject's consent." And under "threats and abuse," the company added: "users may not post intimate photos or videos that were taken or distributed without the subject's consent." Violating the policy could result in a user's account being locked. The move comes two weeks after Reddit, in a major shift, cracked down on revenge porn itself . It also comes as users have put increasing pressure on Twitter to address the harassment and abuse that is rampant on the platform, particularly harassment targeted at women. The company has begun surveying users about how often they are harassed on Twitter , and it recently improved its process for reporting abuse . The tools and surveys emerged just weeks after The Verge published internal memos from CEO Dick Costolo in which he said " we suck at dealing with abuse ."
| 5 | 11,400 |
news
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10 Ways to a Perfect Self Tan 1. Go Slowly Thinking about bronzing your body? Opt for a moisturizer that gradually builds a subtle tan with dihydroxy-acetone (DHA), a chemical that produces a darker color in the upper layers of skin. Apply it every day and within a week you'll see a slightly deeper hue emerge. Jergens Natural Glow amp Protect moisturizer, SPF 20, $9; at drugstores. 2. Prep Your Body Shower and shave a few hours before self-tanning, then smooth the skin's surface with an exfoliator so the color goes on evenly. Use a non-oil-based scrub: Anything greasy will leave a residue that can prevent the formula from penetrating, says N.Y.C. tanning guru Anna Stankiewicz. She likes St. Ives Fresh Skin apricot scrub ($5; at drugstores). 3. Moisturize Dry Spots Don't forget to rub a little lotion on your elbows, knees, and feet. "Since those areas tend to be super-dry, they grab more color and can wind up darker than the rest of your body," says Stankiewicz. One to try: Vaseline Total Moisture Aloe Fresh ($4; at drugstores). And be sure you're not wearing deodorant or perfume, which can mix with the tanner and cause discoloration, says Stankiewicz. 4. Find Your Formula A lotion with DHA is a good bet for beginners since it's easier to spread than a spray. Worried about streaks? Look for a tanner with a temporary tint that way, you can tell whether you've missed spots. Pros love this St. Tropez version, which develops into a deep bronze. To avoid orange hands, wear plastic gloves while working. Self Tan bronzing lotion, $40; sephora.com. 5. Hit Your Back Unless you've got Gumby arms, try this long tool to get at hard-to-reach places, like between your shoulder blades. Its sponge-applicator pads help spread your color. Or ask a pal to mist on a spray formula. Xen-Tan Hard to Reach, $18; at Neiman Marcus. 6. Brighten Up Fast Want to give your complexion a quick pick-me-up? Slip two fingers into the back pocket of one of these pads and gently rub it over your face. The cloth surface exfoliates while depositing an invisible DHA-infused solution. You'll get a subtle tan in as little as four hours no mess, no streaks. It's a no-brainer! Somerville360° Face self-tanning pads, $45/12; katesomerville.com. 7. Create Contours Though self-tanner can give you a nice, healthy glow, it often erases the natural shadows that give your face definition, says N.Y.C. makeup pro Kimara Ahnert. Add dimension with a powder bronzer that's one shade darker than your tanned skin. Using a fan brush, dust it along the cheekbones, sides of the nose, hairline, and jawline. Bobbi Brown Bronzing powder in Deep, $35; bobbibrown.com. 8. Pick the Right Outfit If you're bronzing at a salon, wear loose, long-sleeve loungewear, says Ahnert, who offers tanning services in her N.Y.C. makeup studio. Besides the delayed glow from DHA, most formulas also deliver a temporary tint that can wash off. So, "the more covered-up you are afterward, the less likely it is that your new color will rub off on anything." And stick with dark clothing if there are any smudges, they'll be less obvious. Cotton-modal V-neck, Splendid, $50; splendid.com. Polyester-cotton sweatpants, Splendid, $94; splendid.com. 9. Erase Mistakes Got streaks? You can exfoliate too-dark areas to even things out. But if you want to remove the faux glow completely, smooth baby oil over your skin, then exfoliate. "Oil will lift the color fast," explains Gigi Zunjic, owner of Tan2U, a mobile tanning service in Miami. Try Johnson's baby oil ($2; at drugstores). EcoTools Recycled Bath amp Shower gloves, $4; at Target. 10. Take Care Self-tanners can leave skin dry, says Ahnert, so slather on a moisturizer every day. If you tan on a regular basis, exfoliate three days after each application to ensure that your color always looks consistent, says makeup pro Melanie Mills, who created this body makeup that doubles as a hydrator. Gleam Body Radiance, $40/3.5 oz.; gleambymelaniemills.com.
| 4 | 11,401 |
lifestyle
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The Food and Drug Administration is cracking down on several companies selling products advertised as containing cannabidiol (CBD), a compound in marijuana widely used without FDA approval to treat epilepsy and other conditions and some medical pot activists are pleased to hear it. In late February, the federal agency sent letters to seven companies that market CBD products to treat health conditions, five of them for humans and two for pets, warning their products are not "generally recognized as safe and effective" and that the companies are engaging in illegal interstate commerce. Marijuana is a Schedule I drug under the Controlled Substances Act, which means under federal law it has no accepted medical value. CBD, however, does not produce a high and research into the compound is on the upswing as parents of epileptic children and others flee to states that allow its use. Although now accessible in most states as 23 allow medical marijuana and a dozen others, many in the Deep South, allow just CBD oil the FDA has not approved any CBD medicines and the products cannot be marketed for treatment of health conditions. "To date, the FDA has not approved any drug product containing cannabidiol, for any indication, meaning none of these products have been determined by FDA to be safe or effective for their intended indications," agency spokesman Jeff Ventura tells U.S. News. "FDA has grown concerned at the proliferation of therapeutic claims being made about an increasing number of products, for sale in all 50 states, purporting to contain cannabidiol," he says. "The marketing and promotional materials for many of these products indicate they are intended for the use in the diagnosis, cure, mitigation, treatment, or prevention of diseases, including, for example: cancer, various infections, psychiatric disorders, multiple sclerosis, arthritis and diabetes." Ventura says the FDA "has not issued guidance or an opinion on these kinds of products, [but] the agency reserves the right to take action when appropriate to preserve and protect the public health." Kevin Sabet, a former presidential drug policy adviser who now leads the anti-marijuana legalization group Smart Approaches to Marijuana, celebrated the FDA crackdown in a Wednesday email to supporters. "Let's hope this is a sign of more intervention to come," he wrote. Perhaps surprisingly, some pro-CBD activists hold the same view, seeing the crackdown as a good thing for patients and a way to weed out bad actors. The FDA supplemented its letters with publicly released lab results showing levels of CBD in contested products. Some items, the results showed, had CBD concentrations lower than advertised. "I'm extremely encouraged that they're taking a look at this from the consumer point of view of safety," says Paige Figi, founder of the Coalition for Access Now. "That's exactly what I stand for and what I want." Figi's daughter Charlotte suffers from Dravet syndrome, a rare and debilitating form of epilepsy that CBD appears to treat effectively. A high-CBD strain of cannabis called Charlotte's Web is named for her. The company that produces Charlotte's Web-branded items in Colorado and California uses third-party lab testing to ensure quality, Figi says. "They're cracking down on quality, which is extremely important, and I'm very happy I couldn't be more pleased," Figi says. She says she's glad the FDA outed companies misrepresenting their products and agrees with the FDA that health claims should currently be avoided by companies. "It's nerve-racking and frustrating to watch companies act this way," she says. "I don't think people should be making claims until we have proven data." Kris Hermes, a spokesman for the pro-medical marijuana group Americans for Safe Access, says CBD-producing companies likely can avoid FDA warning letters quite easily. "Threatening letters from the FDA are not as likely to target medical marijuana companies that: a) do not engage in interstate commerce and only sell their products within the states that have legalized medical marijuana, and b) do not make claims as to proven efficacy without FDA approval," Hermes says in an email. Hermes says his advocacy group would be concerned if the FDA crackdown prevents CBD from reaching patients, but notes his group has not tested the contested products. Product reliability is increasingly important, he says, and Americans for Safe Access has set up a third-party certification program to help customers buy products with confidence. The FDA currently allows some research into CBD, giving fast-track status last year to a CBD medicine that may one day treat Dravet syndrome and fast-track approval for clinical trials of a drug using both CBD and THC the marijuana compound that produces a high for pain treatment for cancer patients. On Tuesday, three senators introduced legislation that would explicitly legalize state-level medical marijuana programs and lower marijuana's federal classification to Schedule II, which would open the doors to more research and possible distribution of marijuana and marijuana-derived medicines at conventional pharmacies. Copyright 2015 U.S. News & World Report
| 3 | 11,402 |
finance
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Bayern Munich boss Pep Guardiola congratulated his players on a "dominant" display after they thrashed Shakhtar Donetsk 7-0 in the second leg of their last-16 Champions League tie. After the first leg ended 0-0 in Ukraine, the visiting side was given the near impossible task to overcome on Wednesday following the dismissal of Olexandr Kucher after just three minutes for a foul on Mario Gotze inside the penalty area. The red card was the quickest in the competition's history and Bayern took full advantage, with Thomas Muller converting the resulting spot kick and later adding a second as the home side ran riot. Jerome Boateng, Franck Ribery, Holger Badstuber, Robert Lewandowski and Gotze all found the back of the net to confirm Bayern's place in the quarterfinals with the minimum of fuss and win the praise of Guardiola. "We are very pleased," admitted the Spaniard after the game. "We deserved the win. The players did fantastically. "Of course it is a little easier against 10 men. But from the beginning we could see that the team was alert. Congratulations to the team, we dominated the game." It is the second time Bayern has scored seven goals in a Champions League game this season following a stunning 7-1 win away to Roma in the group stage back in October.
| 1 | 11,403 |
sports
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Young Hollywood isn't quite so young anymore. This weekend, Ansel Elgort turns 21, joining the ranks of several other celebrities who reach the milestone this year. Justin Bieber will continue his 21st birthday festivities later this month with his Comedy Central roast, and after growing up on screen for more than a decade, Dakota Fanning celebrated the big 2-1 earlier this year. Ahead of Ansel's birthday, take a look at some of the famous actors and musicians who turn 21 in 2015, and then check out the hotties turning 30 this year and the best dressed stars under 21! Harry Styles One Direction's Harry Styles turned 21 on Feb. 1. Dakota Fanning After so many years of watching Dakota Fanning on the big screen, it's hard to believe the actress only recently turned 21 on Feb. 23. Justin Bieber Justin Bieber embraced the big 2-1 in a big way on March 1, and the celebration will continue with his upcoming Comedy Central roast. Saoirse Ronan The Lovely Bones and The Grand Budapest Hotel actress Saoirse Ronan will turn 21 on April 12. Ellar Coltrane After filming Boyhood from ages 7 though 19, actor Ellar Coltrane will turn 21 on August 27. Lorelei Linklater Ellar Coltrane's Boyhood costar Lorelei Linklater turns 21 on May 29. Tom Daley British diver Tom Daley will celebrate his golden 21st birthday on May 21. Zoey Deutch Vampire Academy's Zoey Deutch will celebrate the big 2-1 later this year on Nov. 10. Nat Wolff Ansel Elgort's The Fault in Our Stars costar Nat Wolff turns 21 on Dec. 17. Morgan Saylor Homeland actress Morgan Saylor will celebrate her 21st birthday on Oct. 26. Jake T. Austin On Dec. 3, The Fosters star Jake T. Austin will turn 21. Taissa Farmiga American Horror Story's Taissa Farmiga will turn 21 on Aug. 17. Skyler Samuels On April 14, Skyler Samuels from American Horror Story and The DUFF will turn 21.
| 6 | 11,404 |
entertainment
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Larry Ellison has had a hard time persuading investors like Catherine Jackson he's worth his $103 million paycheck. The billionaire's compensation is creating a culture at Oracle Corp. that's "bad verging on toxic," Jackson, a senior adviser at pension manager PGGM, which owns 5.7 million shares of the company, said by phone. The company's board "looks like they're in Larry's back pocket," she said. Oracle's total return has trailed the Standard & Poor's 500 Index over the last five fiscal years ending in May, a performance that prompted the software maker's shareholders to majority-vote against its pay plan three years in a row, even though about 25 percent of the votes are Ellison's. With a fortune approaching $45 billion, the 70-year-old has received 7 million options every year from 2007 to 2013. It turns out Ellison may be a pretty good deal. While Oracle's stock lagged, a different measure of performance -- economic profit, which is defined as after-tax operating profit minus the cost of capital -- shows the company has on average outpaced 98 percent of companies in the S&P 500 over the past three years. "I think economic profit is just about the best single measure of company performance," David Harper, a financial analyst and former compensation consultant, said in an e-mail. "The striking advantage of economic profit is that you get to pay executives for the results under their scope." Pay for Performance Investors grapple with how to measure pay for performance because executive compensation is sometimes a factor in deciding to buy or sell shares. Economic profit better pinpoints whether management's decisions are producing positive returns after subtracting the costs of debt and equity. A metric such as total stock return can be affected by factors outside an executive's control. Ellison's $103 million pay for fiscal 2014 equates to 2.1 percent of Oracle's three-year average economic profit, which is better than 52 of the CEOs at companies in the S&P 100 index, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Deborah Hellinger, a spokeswoman for Oracle, declined to comment on Ellison's pay. "The federal funds rate, whether or not Russia is invading Crimea, the price of oil -- it makes it very difficult for management to determine total shareholder return," said Jon Lukomnik, executive director of the Investor Responsibility Research Center Institute in New York. For Oracle, the distorting factor in its stock price has been the belief that the Redwood City, California-based company was late to enter the cloud computing market, Richard Davis Jr., an analyst at Canaccord Genuity Group Inc., wrote in a January letter to shareholders. 'Extraordinarily Well' Focusing on Oracle's stock returns may be short-sighted, Davis said, given its recent growth and investments. The company's revenue surged 43 percent from fiscal 2010 through 2014 and its net income margin improved by almost 6 percentage points, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. It increased its research and development budget by $1.9 billion to $5.2 billion and spent $19 billion acquiring more than 40 companies, the data show. "Larry has done extraordinarily well," said Bill George, the former chief executive officer of Medtronic Plc and a member of Exxon Mobil Corp.'s board of directors. "He has acquired a lot of potential and actual competitors and he's built a lot of shareholder value." In economic profit, expenses such as research and development as well as employee training are classified as investments for the company's future sustainability. It measures how efficiently businesses acquire and deploy financing, said Julie Gorte, senior vice president for sustainable investing at Pax World Management LLC, which manages $3 billion. Better Metric It's a preferable metric for a company like Exxon, which is focused on making longer term investment decisions, said George, who also sits on the compensation committee at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Exxon CEO Rex Tillerson's $28.9 million pay in 2013 is 0.4 percent of his company's $7.4 billion three-year average economic profit through that year, the 13th-best ratio in the S&P 100, according to data compiled by Bloomberg based on the most recently disclosed proxy statements. Google Inc. co-founder Larry Page, who makes $1 a year in total compensation, has the best economic profit-to-CEO pay ratio in the index. "Exxon is looking at making investments that are 25-, 50- year decisions," George said. "You're not going to make those investments if you're looking to optimize your one- to three- year return." Return on Equity The average economic profit-to-CEO pay ratio over the past three years at companies including PepsiCo Inc., Verizon Communications Inc. and Philip Morris International Inc. rank near the top for S&P 100 companies, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. General Electric Co. is near the bottom. The company has negative three-year average economic profit of $5.4 billion and it awarded CEO Jeffrey Immelt $31 million last year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. It has more than $250 billion of debt, the majority of which was used to fund its lending arm, GE Capital. "Our investors use return on equity to measure performance at GE Capital," said Seth Martin, a company spokesman. "This is the standard return metric for the financial services industry. GE Capital ROE is included in GE's return on total capital, and is more accurate than economic profit metrics in measuring how we have performed in both our industrial and financial segments." The company's return on equity is more than 11 percent, about double its weighted average cost of capital, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Cola, Cigarettes Pepsi shareholders are also getting a deal with CEO Indra Nooyi, who was paid $20.5 million for 2013, equal to 0.3 percent of its three-year average economic profit. The company increased revenue and profit margins since 2012 while increasing investments in research, development, marketing and advertising. Philip Morris, which sells Marlboro cigarettes outside the U.S., has a three-year average economic profit of $7.1 billion and paid CEO Andre Calantzopoulos $12.2 million for 2013, which is also among the best for S&P 100 CEOs. Economic profit isn't always the best way to measure pay for performance, especially at growth-stage companies, whose investors prefer they make long-term investments at the expense of current profit, said Harper, the financial analyst. One example is Salesforce.com Inc., whose billionaire founder Marc Benioff is a former Oracle employee. The San Francisco-based company lost about $500 million of net income during its last two fiscal years even as revenue grew about 75 percent. It has a negative economic profit, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The company awarded Benioff $41.4 million, mostly in stock options, for fiscal 2014. Security Personnel Awarded pay measures what a compensation committee intended to pay an executive, not what was reported by the company in the summary compensation table. It includes salary, cash bonuses, and stock awards received during the fiscal year that are valued as of that year end's stock price. It accounts for changes in the value of pensions, and includes perks such as club dues and personal use of corporate jets. Ellison's options grant was valued at $65 million when it was awarded in July 2013. It increased to about $100 million at the end of the company's fiscal year in May 2014. He also received a $741,384 cash bonus and $1.54 million in other compensation, including security personnel at his home. 'Long Overdue' The billionaire's pay, as a percentage of his company's economic profit, may be even smaller in September, when Oracle is scheduled to file its proxy statement. The company reduced his awards in July, and cut them again two months later when it announced he would step down as CEO to serve as the company's chief technology officer. He was awarded 2.25 million options and a target of 562,500 performance-based stock units that will pay out depending on how Oracle's revenue and operating cash flow growth compares to its competitors. "Reducing the reliance on stock options was long overdue, but the structure of the new performance stock units is puzzling," said Michael Pryce-Jones, director of corporate governance at CtW Investment Group, which advocates for pension funds that collectively manage $200 billion. "A single metric, such as economic profit, would provide a far clearer line of sight for executives as they seek to maximize value in a very dynamic environment." After shareholders voted against its pay plan for the first time in 2012, Oracle wrote in its proxy statement that significant changes to the executive compensation program weren't warranted, and it "clearly" linked pay to performance. Last year, the company modified its wording, telling investors that executive pay is "primarily contingent on their ability to achieve our primary business objectives." To contact the reporter on this story: Caleb Melby in New York at [email protected] To contact the editors responsible for this story: Peter Newcomb at [email protected] Laura Marcinek, Alexis Leondis
| 3 | 11,405 |
finance
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Serena Williams' decision to end a 14-year boycott of the BNP Paribas Open has been warmly welcomed by her peers with good friend and rival Caroline Wozniacki saying it was "great for tennis". Williams had skipped the showpiece event at the desert resort of Indian Wells after winning her second title there in 2001, beating Kim Clijsters in a final marred by the racist abuse of some fans who booed and heckled the American and her family. The crowd reaction was in apparent response to her sister Venus having withdrawn from their semi-final that year just minutes before the match, citing injury. "It's great for tennis, it's great for her," Danish world number five Wozniacki told reporters at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden on Wednesday. "It's great for a tournament like this to have the best player in the world playing. "It's a big step for her and I'm sure she is going to handle it great. I am happy to see her back here." Eighth-ranked Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland, who struggled with a knee injury as she was crushed 6-2 6-1 by Italy's Flavia Pennetta in last year's BNP Paribas final, agreed. "It was her decision to come back and we are all happy about that," said Radwanska. "It's always another challenge for us playing her. "There are so many other top players but of course when she is in the draw it's going to be even more tough." In an interview with TIME magazine last month, Williams said she had discovered the "true meaning of forgiveness" and would end her lengthy boycott of Indian Wells by bidding for a third title at the venue. "I'm fortunate to be at a point in my career where I have nothing to prove," the 33-year-old Williams, a 19-times grand slam singles champion, wrote. "I'm still as driven as ever, but the ride is a little easier. I play for the love of the game. "It is with that love in mind, and a new understanding of the true meaning of forgiveness, that I will proudly return to Indian Wells in 2015." Wozniacki, who described Serena as one of her closest friends, was not at all surprised by the American's U-turn. "That's who she is," said Wozniacki. "She is a forgiving person. "She has her principles and she stands by what she believes in. It's great that she is back." (Editing by Steve Keating.)
| 1 | 11,406 |
sports
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IMF chief Christine Lagarde said Wednesday that major advanced economies were seeing "better news" thanks to cheap oil, currency shifts and low interest rates that encourage investment. "For once in a long time there are clearly some relatively better news on the horizon of the advanced economies. And this has not happened in awhile," she said in Berlin. "We clearly have a rebound of the US economy, an improvement and good growth showing in the UK, and the euro area is also now turning the corner," said Lagarde at a joint press conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and the heads of the World Bank, WTO, ILO and OECD. For the long-struggling eurozone, she said "we have had a good result, better than expected, during the fourth quarter" and signs that "European growth is probably going to turn better than expected". This contrasted with "slower growth than expected in the emerging market economies. This is the case in China, deliberately so, it is certainly the case in Russia." She said the low price of oil has different impacts on different countries but was considered by the IMF "as a net positive for the global economy". On currency markets, she said, there had been "an appreciation of the dollar and a depreciation of the yen and the euro which is clearly having an effect on the export activities of those countries". Meanwhile, economies benefited from "the low cost of financing" brought by very low interest rates. "So we've got three factors that are acting as boosters to the global economy and particularly to those advanced economies that combine the benefit of lower price of oil, currency valuations ... and lower cost of investment". She added that there are "risks on the horizon", pointing to geopolitical turmoil including the Ukraine crisis, and the diverging monetary policies of major economies. "We will also have risks stemming from the monetary policies that we are seeing at work," said Lagarde. "We will probably expect a return to more traditional monetary policy by the Fed, while at the same time we have continued or renewed accommodative monetary policies by Japan and the European Central Bank. "So this will clearly involve more volatility and it will also have currency impact in that those countries or those corporates that have borrowed extensively in dollar-denominated loans are going to suffer."
| 3 | 11,407 |
finance
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If you suffer from compulsive patterns like biting your nails, twisting your hair, or pulling out your hair (trichotillomania) you're more likely to do it during periods of boredom or frustration, according to a new study. The authors of the study, which was published in the Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry , claim that the people who are more likely to exhibit these types of compulsive behaviors tend to be perfectionistic, neurotic personalities. "Chronic hair-pulling, skin-picking disorder and nail-biting and various other habits are known as body-focused repetitive behaviors," Kieron O'Connor, a lead author of the study, said in the press release. "Although these behaviors can induce important distress, they also seem to satisfy an urge and deliver some form of reward." O'Connor continued: "We believe that individuals with these repetitive behaviors may be perfectionistic, meaning that they are unable to relax and to perform tasks at a 'normal' pace. They are therefore prone to frustration, impatience, and dissatisfaction when they do not reach their goals. They also experience greater levels of boredom." In the study, researchers analyzed 48 participants half of whom experienced these compulsive behaviors, and half of whom didn't. The participants went to a clinical evaluator for a telephone screening interview and completed questionnaires that evaluated emotions like boredom, anger, guilt, irritability, and anxiety. Afterwards, participants were exposed to 4 situations that were meant to induce a certain feeling from stress and relaxation, to frustration and boredom. For the stress-induced situation, participants watched a plane crash video; in the relaxation one, they watched waves on a beach. Participants in the "frustration" situation were asked to complete a problem that was actually way more difficult than expected; and those in the "boredom" one were asked to sit alone in a room for 6 minutes. Perhaps not surprisingly, the researchers found that the participants who were more likely to partake in the compulsive behaviors ended up having an even greater urge to engage in them during the boredom and frustration parts of the experiment. "These results partially support our hypothesis in that participants were more likely to engage in body-focused repetitive behaviors when they felt bored, frustrated, and dissatisfied than when they felt relaxed," Sarah Roberts, an author of the study, said. "Moreover, they do engage in these behaviors when they are under stress. This means that condition is not simply due to 'nervous' habits. The findings suggest that individuals suffering from body-focused repetitive behaviors could benefit from treatments designed to reduce frustration and boredom and to modify perfectionist beliefs." Source: Roberts S, O'Connor K, Aardema F, Bélanger. "The impact of emotions on body-Focused repetitive behaviors: Evidence from a non-treatment-seeking sample." Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry , 2015.
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health
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PALM HARBOR, Fla. (AP) -- The Valspar Championship wouldn't seem to have a lot going for it. It has the worst spot on the calendar for the Florida Swing, the one event where it makes sense for the top players to take a break. The Honda Classic is the home event of so many players living in the West Palm Beach area, and it's followed by a World Golf Championship at Doral. Arnold Palmer's tournament is next week at Bay Hill. What it has in its favor is Innisbrook, perhaps the biggest selling point. That explains why Adam Scott has returned, and why Henrik Stenson and Lee Westwood are at Innisbrook for the first time. Jordan Spieth is playing again, along with Justin Rose and Jim Furyk. For a tournament with so many obstacles, it's not suffering for top players. ''It's a tough spot on the calendar, but the best course we play in Florida,'' Scott said Wednesday. ''It's a quality golf course. It's the kind of course you enjoy playing golf on, and you don't get to play a lot of courses on tour like this. I think of Riviera and I think of here. If I was playing golf with friends and family, I'd pick golf courses like this that are enjoyable to walk and require a little precision. It tests you in all the right ways. ''It seems like the dimensions of everything out there are proportionate, and quite good, as opposed to some of the monsters we end up dealing with these days.'' It was a peculiar choice of a word - monster - though at least Scott didn't attach a color. ''Blue'' comes to mind. The Copperhead course at Innisbrook certainly is not a breather from Trump National Doral (still known as the Blue Monster), though there probably won't be as many tales as balls landing on the green and sinking to the bottom of a lake. There might not be any clubs in the lake, either, with Rory McIlroy taking a week off. The winning score has ranged from 4 under (Sean O'Hair in 2008) to 18 under (Vijay Singh in 2004). Water really comes into play on only about six holes. There is enough elevation to feel like it belongs somewhere to the North, not in Tampa Bay. The greens are relatively small, putting a premium on good iron play. Stenson, at No. 3 the highest-ranked player in the field, had been playing the Honda Classic in recent years until word-of-mouth about Innisbrook reached him and he decided to change up his schedule. He made his American debut at Doral last week and tied for fourth with Scott. ''I heard some great remarks about this tournament and the course, and I thought, `Why not give it a try?''' Stenson said. ''I think as a golf course, it's going to give rewards if you're a strong iron player, and longer iron shots in particular. ... I can see why a few other guys definitely feel like that's the right tournament to give themselves a chance.'' John Senden is the defending champion, winning by one shot last year over Kevin Na. Scott has had mixed results at Innisbrook. He has good memories of his play, just not over four days, which he is trying to fix. The former Masters champion made his 2015 debut last week at Trump National Doral and was flirting with contention on the back nine until he tied for fourth. It wasn't a bad start to the year, particularly since he switched over to a conventional-length putter for the first time in four years. As much as he loves Riviera, he didn't go this year because of the recent birth of his first child. The Valspar Championship worked well this year for Scott, who is playing three in a row before he takes off two weeks before the Masters. ''I feel good coming off my first week,'' Scott said. ''I was quietly confident going into last week, but when you've had a three-month layoff you never quite know what's going to happen when you actually have to add them up in competition, and that went well for me last week. So coming here to a course I've been looking forward to playing since I mapped out my schedule at the start of the year, I'm going to take on the challenge this week and hopefully do better than I've done in the past. ''I'd really love to contend for this title on Sunday.''
| 1 | 11,409 |
sports
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General Electric Co (GE.N) is considering making deeper cuts in its banking business, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter. GE has decided that returns from lending are no longer worth the ire it provokes among investors, the Journal cited the people as saying. (http://on.wsj.com/1C7Pi0k) The company has been trying to reduce exposure to financing and increase the profit contribution of its industrial businesses to 75 percent by 2016 from 55 percent in 2013. "GE is an industrial company first and foremost," Chief Executive Jeff Immelt says in a letter to shareholders to be published on March 16 with the company's annual report. "But make no mistake, the ultimate size of GE Capital will be based on competitiveness, returns and the impact of regulation on the entire company." GE's shares were up slightly at $25.23 in extended trading on Wednesday. (Reporting by Lewis Krauskopf in New York and Radhika Rukmangadhan in Bengaluru; Editing by Kirti Pandey)
| 3 | 11,410 |
finance
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Newly acquired Max Scherzer is already making his presence known with his new team. During the Nationals' spring training game against the Tigers on Wednesday, Gio Gonzalez had one of the more unique in-game interviews you'll see this season. To no surprise , Scherzer is rumored to be the brains behind the operation. MORE: Must-see spring training photos | Can the Royals do it again? | Look at "The Krispy Kreme Donut Dog" The pitcher worked the word "meow" into his responses 10 times, a stunt made famous by the cult comedy classic "Super Troopers" , which is a remarkable accomplishment seeing as his interview only lasted three minutes. During the entire ordeal, Scherzer was seen counting the "meows" on his hand with a big smile on his face. Afterwards, the two celebrated as though they had just won the World Series. Car RamRod approves of this video.
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COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) Ohio State linebacker Joshua Perry says the doubters are out there, questioning and putting down the Buckeyes. He doesn't name names, but Perry says he's keeping tabs on them. Many teams create a boogeyman to fabricate an us-against-them mentality. Count the national champs in that group. Even in the wake of the 42-20 rout of Oregon in January's College Football Playoff title game, Perry and his teammates believe that there are still a lot of observers who think last year's 14-1 championship run was a fluke. ''We have a target on our back and people are going to doubt us,'' Perry said shortly after Ohio State's first spring practice on Tuesday. ''So we still have something to prove every day that we go out there. And it's also a bit of a pride thing, being here and knowing what we've done and then knowing the guys that we have, that we could be special this year.'' So even though the Buckeyes will likely enter the 2015 season as No. 1, even though they return all but eight starters and have a stable full of quality players up and down the roster, they remain worried that people just don't give them their due. They plan on using that as motivation for the months of workouts ahead. ''I could see why there are reasons that people could doubt us - not that I believe in those,'' said offensive tackle Taylor Decker. ''But we did lose players that were vital to that team last year. It's kind of scary, a team coming off a big season like we did, to have a letdown. Because you don't want guys to think they've arrived, or to (feel like they're) entitled to winning games.'' The team doesn't want to be overconfident, even as it rides the crest of a 13-game winning streak, has an improving defense and yardage-eating tailback in Ezekiel Elliott. A lot of teams are looking for an elite quarterback - Ohio State has not one, not two, but three. Of course, two of the three - two-time Big Ten MVP Braxton Miller (shoulder surgery) and last year's first-team all-conference signal-caller J.T. Barrett (recovering from a broken ankle) can't practice this spring. Still, they've got Cardale Jones at the controls. All he did was go 3-0 in his only collegiate starts, looking polished and poised in the Big Ten championship game, national semifinal victory over top-ranked Alabama and the title game. Coach Urban Meyer isn't worried about inspiring his players just yet. There'll be plenty of time for that before the opener on Sept. 7 at Virginia Tech. Instead, he's trying to develop some depth while simply having each player get better. ''Right now, we're not into the motivation,'' he said. ''It's just about improving. As long as a player or program feels like it's getting better, the motivation is going to be there. We're not trying to win a game yet.'' But on cold mornings, college kids need a reason to slide out of the covers at 7 a.m. and collide with teammates for a couple of hours. So they use perceived slights or potential haters to get pumped up for another dreary day of conditioning. It's only natural. To break up the monotony, the Buckeyes plan on getting inspired by those who run down the Big Ten, or who wonder if Ohio State can possibly be as good again. ''It wouldn't be as much fun if everybody was just always cheering you on all the time,'' Perry said. ''You kind of need those doubters to give you that little extra edge.'' --- Follow Rusty Miller on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/RustyMillerAP
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TAMPA - Manager Joe Girardi said the New York Yankees don't have a full prognosis for pitcher Chris Capuano just yet, but it's pretty clear he won't be ready for opening day. "I'd be surprised if he's not down for a while," Girardi said. Capuano, the top candidate to be the Yankees' fifth starter, left his outing against Boston Red Sox in the first inning Wednesday with a strained right quadriceps. He was injured while trying to cover first base on a grounder to first base. That leaves the Yankees sorting through several options for the fifth starter's spot. Capuano might not have had the job locked up heading into camp, but he seemed to be a heavy favorite. Now the job is wide open, with a series of relievers, prospects and minor league free agents fighting for the gig. "We'll look at everyone, that's the bottom line," Girardi said. "Because we need to fill a spot now." Adam Warren has a start coming up Friday and Esmil Rogers has one Saturday. Earlier Wednesday, general manager Brian Cashman sounded impressed by Rogers, and Girardi seems to feel the same way. "He's thrown the ball really well," Girardi said. "(Pitching coach) Larry (Rothschild) worked with him long and hard last year during some bullpen sessions about changing a few things. I thought he pitched pretty well for us. He's started in his career and he's got a number of pitches he can go to. He's been really good this spring. He'll be one of the guys we're really looking at." Jennings writes for the (Westchester County, N.Y.) Journal News, a Gannett property.
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The stars of Cinderella, Lily James and Richard Madden, stopped by our LA studios ahead of this weekend's release of the film to talk about taking on the fairy-tale characters. We chatted about Cinderella's iconic dress - which Richard managed to spill coffee on - and their first, somewhat awkward, meeting.
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Ground controllers will open a communications line Thursday with a robot lab perched on a comet zipping through space, hoping for signs it is alive, the European Space Agency (ESA) said Wednesday. The 100-kilogramme (220-pound) probe Philae landed on Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko on November 12 after a 10-year trek piggybacking on its mother ship, the orbiter Rosetta. But the landing did not go smoothly. Philae bounced twice off the comet's hard surface before settling at an angle in the shadow of a cliff. Philae had enough stored power in a battery for 60 hours of experiments. It sent home reams of precious data before going into standby mode when the juice ran out. The hope is that, with Comet "67P" drawing closer to the Sun, better light conditions will recharge Philae's solar-powered batteries and it will wake up. "Tomorrow (Thursday) we will switch on the radio receiver on Rosetta, which is the radio apparatus that communicates with Philae," ESA spacecraft operations spokesman Daniel Scuka told AFP. It will be turned on at 0100 GMT, and the first communications window should open about three hours later, although "no one expects we will get anything immediately," Scuka said. The channel will remain open for eight days until March 20. Theoretically, this is the best period -- with Rosetta in a good orbit close to the comet surface, and near enough to the Sun that Philae should be able to recharge. The comet probe is "probably getting twice the amount of sunlight it was getting when we landed in November," said Scuka. The European Space Agency's Rosetta blog said it would be "very lucky" if any signal were received right away. "It will probably still be too cold for the lander to wake up, but it is worth trying. The prospects will improve with each passing day," it quoted lander project manager Stephan Ulamec as saying. Rosetta's journey to the comet took more than a decade from 2004, and 6.5 billion kilometres (four billion miles). Having placed Philae on the dusty iceball's surface, Rosetta continues to orbit 67P as it loops around the Sun. The comet is expected to reach its closest point of some 186 million km on August 13. Comets are primordial clusters of ice and dust that are believed to hold secrets about the birth of the Solar System and possibly the origins of water, the stuff of life, on Earth.
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1. Shape Up Clip nails so they're slightly less than a quarter-inch long, says N.Y.C. manicurist Pattie Yankee. Then take a file and round the sides just a bit (don't use one labeled "coarse" because it can cause tears). Be careful not to go any shorter or you'll be begging for an ingrown. Perfect Formula Petite Crystal nail file, $10; QVC. 2. Just Chill You don't need whirlpool jets to feel pampered: Simply soak feet in a relaxing bath made of one part milk and two parts water. The lactic acid in the dairy product exfoliates and softens cuticles. If your tired soles are really screaming, add a scoop of Epsom salt to reduce swelling. Dr. Teal's Epsom Salt foot soak, $4; at Wal-Mart. 3. Be Pushy After a soak, dry feet and rub a drop of moisturizing oil on each nail. Then gently nudge back skin along the perimeter using a metal cuticle pusher (wooden ones can splinter, says Yankee). Solar Oil, $12; cnd.com for stores. 4. Rock On Pick up a natural lava pumice stone to exfoliate heels and balls of feet. Then massage a body scrub over skin to even out any roughness. To tackle serious calluses, try smoothing them with a motorized file (like Ansr: Sole, $120; ansr.com) when feet are completely dry. Heel to Toe Natural lava-rock pumice stone, $7; sallybeauty.com. 5. Butter Up Those Soles Save regular lotions for dry arms and legs most are not moisturizing enough for the tough skin on your feet, says N.Y.C. podiatrist Johanna S. Youner. Instead, slather on a thick cream with hydrating shea butter. If you've got parched, cracked heels, you'll need an ointment containing acids (like salicylic or lactic) to break down dead cells, says Dr. Youner, who likes those from Kerasal (at drugstores). The Body Shop Pink Grapefruit Body Butter, $18/6.7 oz.; at the Body Shop. 6. Go Bright Wipe nails with cotton pads soaked in rubbing alcohol to ensure that your base adheres. Then slick on a ridge-filling version, like Nail Tek Foundation III ($11; ulta.com) and follow with the first coat of color. Don't worry about it looking exactly right the second coat will even it out. Need help deciding on a shade? Opt for one of these unexpected hues (left) chosen by L.A. manicurist Jenna Hipp. Left: Nubar Nail lacquer in Hot Orange, $8; bynubar.com. Middle: RGB Nail lacquer in Dew, $16; rgbcosmetics.com for stores. Right: Perfect Formula Perfect Color in Pollen, $14; QVC. 7. Mix Your Own Tone Neutral manicures were a cool statement at many spring fashion shows. To give your toes this subtle effect, try a trick Pattie Yankee used backstage: Take a bottle of off-white nail polish and sprinkle in a pinch of loose mineral powder foundation (in the color you would wear on your face). Give the bottle a shake and voila! You've created your own skin-matching nude. It's hands-down genius. Bare Minerals Original SPF 15 foundation in Golden Tan, $27; bareminerals.com. 8. Stay Inside the Lines After painting each toe, clean up any polish that has spread onto the surrounding skin with an angled eye-makeup brush, says Yankee. Just dip it in remover and trace around the nail. Revlon Double Ended Smokey Eye brush, $6; at drugstores. 9. Set Your Shade Once you've polished each foot, put a quick-dry topcoat on every nail, like this Dashing Diva formula, which helps smooth mild nicks, says Yankee. In a hurry to get out the door? Hipp suggests grabbing your blow-dryer and aiming a soft stream of cool air over your toes. Dashing Diva Top Seal, $14; dashingdiva.com. 10. Mask Mistakes Who hasn't tiptoed around in a fresh paint job and accidentally smudged it? If the polish is still wet, just apply another layer of color onto the entire surface, followed by your topcoat. If you spot dents once nails are dry, stroke a sheer, sparkling shade over all 10 of them. Shimmer reflects light and distracts from imperfections, says Hipp. "It'll give the illusion of a brand-new pedi." Priti NYC Polish in Iced Ginger Rose, $13; pritinyc.com.
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lifestyle
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Utah, the only state in the past 40 years to carry out a death sentence by firing squad, is poised to bring back the executions if the state cannot find a supply of the drugs used in lethal injections. Here's a look at how some other states are dealing with the nationwide shortage: ___ OKLAHOMA The U.S. Supreme Court is poised to review Oklahoma's use of the sedative midazolam in executions, and state legislators are considering the use of nitrogen gas to kill death-row prisoners. The sponsor of the nitrogen bill says the gas would gradually deprive inmates of oxygen, resulting in a painless death. The method has never been used in an execution in the United States. If the effort passes, nitrogen would be the state's first alternative to lethal injection. Electrocution would move to third and firing squads to fourth. The bill was prompted by the botched execution of an inmate last April. Clayton Lockett struggled against his restraints after attendants administered lethal drugs through a poorly placed intravenous line. ___ ARKANSAS Since the state's last execution in 2005, inmates successfully argued in court that legislators ceded too much power over death row protocols to Arkansas' Correction Department. A subsequent lawsuit claims new protocols put inmates at risk of an agonizing death. In this year's legislative session, one lawmaker suggested abolishing the death penalty, but another lawmaker whose daughter was murdered in 1999 wants firing squads as another option for executioners. ___ IDAHO Idaho allows prison officials to choose one of four options for lethal injection executions, depending on which chemicals are available. However, the state execution policy also gives both the Idaho Department of Correction director and the chief of prisons operations the power to change the execution procedure at any time, based on their own discretion. Idaho law once allowed execution by firing squad, though the option was never used. It was removed from the books in 2009. Last year, Idaho prison officials considered asking lawmakers to bring back the state's firing squad, but axed the plan after determining it would cost at least $300,000 to set up the squad. ___ WYOMING The Wyoming Legislature has considered the use of firing squads in the past two legislative sessions. Republican state Sen. Bruce Burns, who introduced the bills, said he considers the gas chamber to violate the constitutional prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment and would opt for using the firing squad because it would be the cheapest option. In the legislative session that wrapped up this month, the Wyoming House and Senate deadlocked over whether the state should offer to sedate inmates before shooting them. A majority of senators supported offering sedation while the House rejected the idea. The session ended before they could reach agreement. Officials with the state corrections department say they don't have drugs on hand that would allow them to carry out an execution if they needed to, although no one is on death row in the state. ___ TENNESSEE In Tennessee, legal challenges to lethal injection and difficulty obtaining drugs have stalled planned executions for more than five years. Several death-row inmates have died in prison while awaiting execution. Last year, the Tennessee Legislature attempted to jump-start the process by reinstating use of the electric chair. A new law allows inmates to be put to death by electrocution if the state is not able to obtain lethal injection drugs or if lethal injection is ruled to be unconstitutional. But the law only brought a new legal challenge. Thirty-three death row inmates sued Tennessee over the constitutionality of both lethal injection and the electric chair. Several scheduled executions have been postponed in recent months to allow those challenges to be heard. At a December hearing on one aspect of the lawsuit before the Tennessee Supreme Court, justices asked the inmates' attorney to name a method of execution that he did consider constitutional. The attorney, Steve Kissinger, at first tried to avoid the question. When pressed, he mentioned the firing squad and hanging. ___ TEXAS Texas is almost out of the drug it uses to execute inmates. The state executed a Mexican mafia hit man Wednesday using its second-to-last dose of pentobarbital, leaving authorities with enough of the powerful sedative to carry out just one more execution. By far the nation's most active death penalty state, Texas has executed 522 inmates since 1982, when it became the first state to use lethal injection. The state is searching to replenish its pentobarbital supply. ___ OHIO Ohio executions are on hold as the state struggles to find supplies of lethal-injection drugs. After running out of its two previous drugs, the state switched to a never-tried two-drug combination of midazolam, a sedative, and hydromorphone, a painkiller. In that method's only use, in January 2014, inmate Dennis McGuire repeatedly snorted and gasped during his 26-minute execution, the state's longest. Ohio postponed executions as lawsuits were filed over McGuire's death, and eventually the state dumped the two-drug combo last year. Instead, the prisons department said it will use one of two drugs in future executions: pentobarbital or sodium thiopental. The catch is Ohio doesn't have either drug and both are virtually impossible to obtain except in specialty batches known as compounded drugs. The state has delayed all executions until 2016 and beyond. ___ GEORGIA After its supply of execution drug pentobarbital expired in March 2013, the state turned to a compounding pharmacy. The state has carried out four executions using compounded pentobarbital but hit a snag on March 2, when corrections officials postponed the scheduled execution of Kelly Renee Gissendaner because the lethal injection drug appeared cloudy. Corrections officials announced the following day that they would postpone Gissendaner's execution and that of another inmate who was set for execution March 10 to give time to analyze the pentobarbital. Executions in the state are currently on hold while corrections officials carry out their investigation. ___ PENNSYLVANIA Five inmates on Pennsylvania's death row want a state court to throw out a plan to use a three-drug mixture to execute them. The Department of Corrections wants the court to throw out the lawsuit, which claims state officials did not have legal authority to establish the current procedures in 2012. If the court sides with the inmates, the case will continue and could result in a trial. Pennsylvania has executed only three people since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976, the most recent in 1999. ___ Contributing to this story were Andrew Welsh-Huggins in Columbus, Ohio; Ben Neary in Cheyenne, Wyoming; Travis Loller in Nashville; Kate Brumback in Atlanta; Meg Kinnard in Columbia, South Carolina; Mark Scolforo in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania; Mike Graczyk in Houston.
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Authorities in Washington state have discovered an underground bunker they believe was used by a convicted bank robber who fled police custody in 2009 and evaded arrest until last year, officials said on Wednesday. Bradley Steven Robinett, who was featured on the television programs "America's Most Wanted" and "Washington's Most Wanted," was arrested in Oregon in June after several close encounters with police, the FBI said. On Tuesday, authorities discovered an underground bunker in a heavily wooded area of Lake Sammamish, eight miles east of Seattle, believed to have been used by Robinett during his five years on the run, the FBI said. The hatch of the bunker, buried behind a condominium complex, was camouflaged by plants and leaves, the FBI said. Inside, investigators found more than a dozen large storage containers, a small cot and some provisions, authorities said. Authorities said Robinett, 46, might have also had bunkers in other states. The FBI did not say what was held in the containers, but said in a statement the investigation "suggested Robinett had buried a cache of materials related to his crimes near Lake Sammamish in Sammamish, Washington." Robinett pleaded guilty in January to federal charges of escape, being a felon in possession of a firearm, and interstate transportation of a stolen vehicle. He faces up to 12 years in prison when he is sentenced in May. He escaped in 2009 during transfer from an Arizona federal prison to a halfway house in Washington, taking police on a car chase near Seattle before disappearing. He had several close calls with authorities over the next five years, including with patrol officers at a park-and-ride facility in Bellevue, Washington, in late 2009. Robinett was arrested in June in Hillsboro, Oregon, after police discovered him at a shopping mall getting into a car that had been reported stolen. (Reporting by Victoria Cavaliere; Editing by Cynthia Johnston)
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RIVERDALE, N.Y. Steve Masiello knows the questions are coming. Reporters at next week's news conferences are all but certain to ask about the most embarrassing episode in his professional life, and he's OK with that. Ask away, he says. "I hope they do," Masiello told USA TODAY Sports on Wednesday. "That's part of me. I'm not in denial. I made a mistake." His Manhattan Jaspers are in the men's NCAA basketball tournament for a second consecutive season. He was a hot prospect for bigger schools after his team put a serious scare into Louisville in last season's tournament. He accepted a job at South Florida five days later. But South Florida rescinded the offer the next day, when it discovered Masiello's résumé listed a degree from the University of Kentucky that he hadn't earned. Manhattan agreed to take him back and placed him on unpaid leave until he completed his degree, which he promptly did. And here's the crazy part: Masiello is glad it happened. He says that experience, terrible as it was, is precisely why his third-seeded Jaspers won the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference championship against top-seeded Iona on Monday night. "The ironic thing is if we didn't go through that, we wouldn't be in the (NCAA) tournament," he said. "The reason we had success this year was because of our bond. When adversity strikes, you can become fractionated, or you can become closer than ever. And we became closer than ever. "I wouldn't change a thing. I've learned from it. I'm better for it. My players are better for it." *** Masiello, 37, often speaks with pep-talk intensity. He locks in eye contact. And he invokes irony more often than most men who go to work with whistles around their necks. "It's ironic how things go in life," he said. "Adversity, it kind of gave us we got cut, we got stitched up, we had some scar tissue over it and you couldn't hurt us again. We became numb to pain. We knew when we needed to tap into that pain as motivation, and we did. And that's why we played with such passion, and almost a borderline anger, in the conference tournament." Masiello said he did not falsify his résumé purposely. He said he honestly believed he'd earned the degree. How is it possible not to know? "The quick version is, basically, I thought I graduated, but I didn't," he said. "I went through graduation ceremonies and went back and took summer school classes that I knew I needed to graduate." He left that summer thinking he'd completed the courses and earned his degree, Masiello said. "I didn't follow up, made a mistake of a 20, 22 year old, whatever I was. I should have been more accountable to myself and I wasn't. I have no one else to blame but me, and I should have done a better job of making sure the i's were dotted and the t's were crossed." The Manhattan administration accepted his explanation, as did his family and friends and players. And if there are others who don't, he's OK with that too. "That's their opinion," he said evenly. "They're entitled to it." If Masiello had gotten that degree when he thought he had, he'd be coach at South Florida now. But he says Manhattan is where he wants to be, is meant to be. He says he is overjoyed to be back in the NCAA tournament with these players, his players. So, in some sort of a reverse fashion, is he glad he screwed up? "Yeah," he said. "I believe in destiny. I believe in things happen for a reason. … On Monday night when the final buzzer went off, I didn't think about winning the championship. I thought about everything you went through. … We started the season 2-7. I said, 'Guys, are you worried about our record? Because I'm not. Look what just happened. You didn't know if I was going to be your coach. You didn't know who your coach was going to be. You didn't know if you were going to transfer, leave. You didn't know anything.' " Masiello said the team endured other crucibles, including deaths in the families of two players and other unspecified crises that never came into public view. "We had a lot of personal stuff where we all had each other's back," he said. "We bonded. So the basketball stuff was easy to rally around. Easy. I don't know if it would have been easy if we didn't go through those things. In order to enjoy the high times and the good times, you have to go through the low times. I have a great appreciation for both now." He also savors every practice, every game and every game plan because there was a time during the white-hot spectacle of it all when he thought all that could be gone forever. "I knew I was this close to maybe never coaching again," he said, "so every time I'm on the sideline, I treat it like it's my last." *** There's a sense in which he's glad it all happened this way and another sense in which he doesn't want to entertain the hypothetical. "I don't live in a world of what-ifs," he said. "Because you'll lose the now. And if you don't take care of your now, you're in a world of trouble. I think I was guilty of worrying about the tomorrow last year, instead of the now. That's how you make quick decisions. Not necessarily bad or good, just quick. You get caught up in the emotions of things and the temptations of things. "Listen, we all lose perspective in life at times. I definitely was guilty of it with the whole situation, how quickly I took the job. You lose perspective and start worrying about things that aren't important. It got me refocused and brought me back to my roots, so to speak my kids." Masiello thinks he robbed his players of some of the joys of the last NCAA tournament by agreeing to leave them so soon after their near-magical game against defending champion Louisville, which they led with under three minutes to play. He said this tournament is all about chasing their bliss. "The thing that bothered me the most is my guys never got to enjoy last year," he said. "This became Steve Masiello, his degree, him leaving, this, that, is Manhattan taking him back? My guys never got to enjoy being champions. And that was part of our motivation this year: We're going to get back and we're going to enjoy being champions. I am determined to make sure they get to enjoy this. We're going to enjoy the planes and the food and the cities and all the Selection Sunday stuff." The Jaspers were a 13-seed a season ago. They'll find out Sunday if they are perhaps a 16 this time around. Last season Masiello faced Louisville's Rick Pitino, his mentor under whom he played for part of his time at Kentucky and under whom he served as a Louisville assistant. And this time it's possible his 19-13 Jaspers could draw No. 1 Kentucky, his newly minted alma mater. "I love my players," he said. "I'm happy where I am. I just want to live in the now."
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sports
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Hot Corvettes at the 2015 Detroit Autorama Show Every March gearheads and car lovers from around the country descend on Detroit's Cobo Hall for one of the best car event around; the Detroit Autorama. For 2015 the cars, and attendance, was simply off the hook with nearly 723,000 square feet of convention center floor space crammed with some of the most insane hot rods and Corvettes in the country. They expect nearly 200,000 people to attend. Yea, it's a big deal. Besides all the Corvettes, there's a host of other hardware to check out from rat rods to the Ridler cars (This year's winner is rumored to have cost in the neighborhood of $3,000,000 to build!). The Ridler is the big-deal award of show cars. First the Pirelli Great 8 is picked from a field of around three dozen cars. Then those eight are further scrutinized until only one is left standing. Actually there are a ton of these "shows within a show" going on. There's a little something for everyone; from the Street Rodder Top 100 (hosted by our sister publication Street Rodder) to the cars from Fast and Furious movies. Significant Corvettes of the Past Hey, they've been having this show for over 60 years, so there's a lot of history. In fact, if you visit the "basement" you can check out a cool set of cars representing the traditional rod scene. Of course, you want to see 'Vettes and this show doesn't disappoint with a 10-car exhibit of Significant Corvettes of the Past. 2015 Z06 With over 1,000 cars on display it's easy to get disoriented and end up missing some really cool stuff like a 1935 Bowlus Road Chief travel trailer. So, if you haven't been then we suggest you start booking your hotel and trying to find cheap airfare for next year! Here are just some of the hot Corvettes that we spied while meandering through the hall. Stingray 1953 Corvette Nascar Unit Lingenfelter 2014 Corvette 2006 Corvette HT 2006 Corvette 2000 Corvette Lingenfelter Lingenfelter Lingenfelter 1981 Greenwood Corvette GTO 1979 Corvette Great White - 1976 Corvette Sport Coupe 1969 Corvette Motion Phase III Corvette Stingray Corvette Stingray 1963 Z06 Corvette 1958 Corvette 1960 Corvette 1960 Corvette Supercharged C7 Lingenfelter 1953 Nascar Pace Car 2015 Z06 1965 Corvette 1965 Corvette
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autos
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CNNMoney's Cristina Alesci talks to Focus Brands Group President Kat Cole, who's rise up the corporate food chain is anything but ordinary.
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finance
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Jim Parsons, the American actor famous for his portrayal of a quirky, self-centered scientist Sheldon Cooper on "The Big Bang Theory," earned a star Wednesday on Hollywood's Walk of Fame. Parsons, 41, was flanked by Kaley Cuoco-Sweeting, Johnny Galecki and the rest of his castmates in the wildly popular series now going into its eighth season. Fans jostled for autographs. "One of the things I know is, the main reason I'm in this career and here today, is because of my family and the support they gave me, and the way I was encouraged to pursue this insane dream of acting, from Texas to here," Parsons said looking at his mother and partner, art director Todd Spiewak. But "the biggest reason is because I had the chance to play this incredible character that I neither created, nor write for, nor put into a series. "That credit goes to Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady and Steve Molaro. And the credit goes to the rest of the cast," said Parsons, an Emmy and Golden Globe-winner. Parsons plays a highly intelligent yet ill-adapted university professor - mad about comic books and videogames - whose group of mostly scientist friends help expose him to the real world in seemingly endless, and painful, ways. The show has been a top US TV comedy for years. "You have accomplished something that's beyond imagination. This is just the beginning," Lorre said. "People laugh at your work, and their life is a little bit better. I'm deeply proud of you."
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entertainment
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CNN's Suzanne Malveaux reports on Ferguson Police Chief Thomas Jackson and the circumstances that have led to his decision to step down.
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By Marcus Kwesi O'Mard While Premier League enthusiasts repeat the "world's best league" mantra, the Champions League continues to prove that the best soccer teams are based outside of England. Paris Saint-Germain eliminated Chelsea from the UEFA Champions League on Wednesday. PSG's 2-2 draw in the second leg of the round of 16 series edged it past Chelsea and into the Champions League quarterfinals on the away goals rule. Chelsea twice took the lead, but PSG equalized on corner kicks with Brazilian defenders David Luiz and Thiago Silva doing the honors. The night of high drama at Stamford Bridge produced an unforgettable spectacle but also hammered home an uncomfortable truth about how the Premier League's top teams compare to their counterparts from Spain, Germany and now France. Chelsea currently leads the Premier League standings and is widely expected to lift the coveted trophy in May. Chelsea embodied England's best hope of conquering Europe this season but it was far from its best in both legs against PSG and remains outside of the ranks of the continent's true elites. Arsenal and Manchester City are still alive in the Champions League, but most observers expect them to exit the competition with Chelsea in the round of 16 . Manchester City must score at least twice and win at Barcelona next Wednesday, while Arsenal must beat Monaco by at least two goals (scoring three or more) next Tuesday in order to overturn last month's shock home loss to the French club. These are tall orders for teams who aren't as strong as Chelsea domestically and, in Manchester City's case, are facing one of the favorites to win the Champions League. The chances of an English team participating in the Champions League final for the first time since 2011 are remote. If Chelsea cries foul following its elimination, those please will fall on deaf ears. PSG played the final 90 of 120 minutes with 10 ten men after Zlatan Ibrahimovic was controversially shown a red card. The second leg was contentious throughout, as the contest threatened to descend into a brawl amid tough tackles, bad or missed calls and other moments of mayhem. The two-game meeting wasn't one in which Chelsea was dominant and created more chances by playing better soccer than PSG. The series was tense, aggressive and ultimately decided by PSG's mental and physical superiority over 210 minutes of play. This is surprising, considering Chele PSG's triumph over Chelsea is no great underdog story, either. The French club spares no expense in its effort to become a global powerhouse . Reaching the quarterfinals matches last season's progression (where it fell to Chelsea 3-3 on away goals), and PSG's players, fans and owners are expecting the star-studded team to participate in the semifinals annually. Rather than being a sign that French soccer is moving up in the world, PSG's win and Chelsea's loss demonstrates both the Premier League's failure to back its stylish presentation with equal substance and the extent to which the Blues must improve if they are to become the dynasty manager Jose Mourinho hopes to construct at Stamford Bridge . Two months ago, many wondered whether this Chelsea team was good enough to win an unprecedented quadruple in 2014-15. Chelsea now must settle for domestic supremacy, at best. Chelsea also must accept the fact that Barcelona, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich are a higher standard of team, and PSG is closer to that level is closer to that level than any team in England currently is.
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These furry masters of stealth will strike when you least expect it Kung Fu Kitten Watch your step when this high-flying kicker is around. Spider Cat Spider Cat goes wherever Spider Cat wants to go. The Lookout Someone's got his eyes on you. Peek-a-Boo "Hey, whatcha up to?" Sweets Swipe Yes, some candy is definitely missing. Corner Creeper A diabolical plan is in the works. Turning on a Dime Cats make ninja moves look so easy. You Can't See Me Cat? What cat? Karate Kat It's Ralph Macchio, with fur. Undercover Kitty "I'm not here. Check back later." Sneaky Paws There's a cat in the couch, but you'd hardly know it. Spot the Kitty Bottom left corner. Cat in the Left Pocket The cue chalk is always missing, and now we know why.
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COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) Ohio State linebacker Joshua Perry says the doubters are out there, questioning and putting down the Buckeyes. He doesn't name names, but Perry says he's keeping tabs on them. Many teams create a boogeyman to fabricate an us-against-them mentality. Count the national champs in that group. Even in the wake of the 42-20 rout of Oregon in January's College Football Playoff title game, Perry and his teammates believe that there are still a lot of observers who think last year's 14-1 championship run was a fluke. ''We have a target on our back and people are going to doubt us,'' Perry said shortly after Ohio State's first spring practice on Tuesday. ''So we still have something to prove every day that we go out there. And it's also a bit of a pride thing, being here and knowing what we've done and then knowing the guys that we have, that we could be special this year.'' So even though the Buckeyes will likely enter the 2015 season as No. 1, even though they return all but eight starters and have a stable full of quality players up and down the roster, they remain worried that people just don't give them their due. They plan on using that as motivation for the months of workouts ahead. ''I could see why there are reasons that people could doubt us - not that I believe in those,'' said offensive tackle Taylor Decker. ''But we did lose players that were vital to that team last year. It's kind of scary, a team coming off a big season like we did, to have a letdown. Because you don't want guys to think they've arrived, or to (feel like they're) entitled to winning games.'' The team doesn't want to be overconfident, even as it rides the crest of a 13-game winning streak, has an improving defense and yardage-eating tailback in Ezekiel Elliott. A lot of teams are looking for an elite quarterback - Ohio State has not one, not two, but three. Of course, two of the three - two-time Big Ten MVP Braxton Miller (shoulder surgery) and last year's first-team all-conference signal-caller J.T. Barrett (recovering from a broken ankle) can't practice this spring. Still, they've got Cardale Jones at the controls. All he did was go 3-0 in his only collegiate starts, looking polished and poised in the Big Ten championship game, national semifinal victory over top-ranked Alabama and the title game. Coach Urban Meyer isn't worried about inspiring his players just yet. There'll be plenty of time for that before the opener on Sept. 7 at Virginia Tech. Instead, he's trying to develop some depth while simply having each player get better. ''Right now, we're not into the motivation,'' he said. ''It's just about improving. As long as a player or program feels like it's getting better, the motivation is going to be there. We're not trying to win a game yet.'' But on cold mornings, college kids need a reason to slide out of the covers at 7 a.m. and collide with teammates for a couple of hours. So they use perceived slights or potential haters to get pumped up for another dreary day of conditioning. It's only natural. To break up the monotony, the Buckeyes plan on getting inspired by those who run down the Big Ten, or who wonder if Ohio State can possibly be as good again. ''It wouldn't be as much fun if everybody was just always cheering you on all the time,'' Perry said. ''You kind of need those doubters to give you that little extra edge.'' --- Follow Rusty Miller on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/RustyMillerAP
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Chris Bosh is done for the season because of blood clots on his lungs, but he took some time to thank the Miami Heat fans for their support.
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TAMPA, Fla. (AP) -- Alex Rodriguez erased any personal doubts about regaining his power with one big swing. Rodriguez hit his first home run since returning to the Yankees following a drug suspension and Chris Capuano was forced out in the first inning by a quadriceps injury in New York's 10-6 loss to the Boston Red Sox on Wednesday. ''I was very happy. I haven't it a ball like that in a long time,'' Rodriguez said. ''Again, it's early March. We'll see what happens. You have to do that in New York, where it counts. It's definitely a building block.'' Rodriguez hit a long drive to left-center on a 3-1 pitch from right-hander Brandon Workman leading off the fourth inning. Rodriguez has five hits in 11 at-bats (.455) this spring training. ''Very happy,'' Yankees co-chairman Hank Steinbrenner said. ''I'm not surprised with the hitting. ... It's encouraging. Hopefully it continues.'' Rodriguez has seen the number of fans booing him decrease daily. He received a partial standing ovation after his homer. ''The great reception I've been getting from the fans, that's been a pleasant surprise,'' Rodriguez said. The three-time AL MVP, who turns 40 in July, has not played a full season since 2007 because of a season-long drug suspension, operations on both hips and other injuries. Rodriguez said a pregame talk with Yankees special adviser Gene Michael provided ''good words of wisdom.'' ''He asked me: Do I see anything?'' Michael said. ''I just told him I think he can hit. He knows how to hit. He just needs a lot of at-bats, but I think that's coming. He's already shown that he can get the bat to ball. He's not far off.'' Rodriguez made his second start at third base and cleanly handled two chances in five innings. The Yankees say Chase Headley is their starting third baseman and Rodriguez will be primarily a designated hitter. Capuano, the top candidate to be the Yankees' fifth starter, left after hurting his right leg while covering first base on Brock Holt's one-out grounder to first baseman Garrett Jones. Capuano underwent an MRI exam. ''I'd be surprised if he's not down for a while,'' Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. Travis Shaw opened the third inning with a first-pitch homer off Yankees reliever Andrew Miller, and drove in two with a double during a four-run fourth. Mookie Betts had three hits and is hitting .400 overall. ''He's an exciting player,'' Red Sox manager John Farrell said. ''He works deep counts, he gets on-base. What's he shown in the minor leagues is starting to play out at the big league level.'' UP NEXT Red Sox: Clay Buchholz is scheduled to face Pittsburgh RHP A.J. Burnett in Thursday's road game. Yankees: Masahiro Tanaka is to make his first start Thursday night against Atlanta. The Japanese ace missed 2 1/2 months while rehabilitating a partially torn ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow and returned for two late September starts. ''He's been great,'' Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said. ''As good as we could expect.'' STARTING TIME Red Sox: Joe Kelly gave up two runs, three hits, one walk and struck out four in three innings. ''For the most part I made pitches but didn't exactly put the ball where I wanted to,'' Kelly said. ''But, for the second time out I felt pretty good about my stuff.'' Yankees: Adam Warren and Esmil Rogers are among those to get additional consideration for the fifth starter spot if Capuano is not ready for the beginning of the season. TRAINER'S ROOM Red Sox: OF Rusney Castillo (strained left oblique) hit off a tee and took soft toss. There has been no date announced when he will take on-field batting practice. Yankees: 1B Garrett Jones (flulike symptoms) was hitless in two at-bats. ... LHP CC Sabathia (knee) is to pitch in a simulated game Thursday.
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A group of Canadian imams and religious scholars issued a religious edict against the Islamic State group Wednesday, denouncing its threats against and recruitment in Canada. In a fatwa posted online, also endorsed by a US imam from Texas, the 38 scholars argue that "any attack on Canada will be an attack on the freedom of Canadian Muslims." They also forbid Muslims from joining or encouraging others to join IS, saying anyone who helps Muslim youths in particular "to travel secretly or without the consent of parents to join IS... will face the wrath of Allah in this world and in the next world." The fatwa was penned by Imam Syed Soharwardy, head of the Islamic Supreme Council of Canada in Calgary, and signed by others from across Canada. In it, Soharwardy condemns Canadian, US and other Western nations' policies in the Middle East as "unjust" and "based upon Islamophobia, bias and intolerance towards Muslims." But he also urges young Muslims not to be taken in by the IS group, which he says has fostered anti-Western sentiments for its own gain, and has violated Islamic tenets "in the most horrific and inhumane way." "The behavior and the actions of ISIS/ISIL has consistently proven that they are NOT Muslims and they cannot be trusted by the Muslims," he said. "Their struggle cannot be an Islamic struggle and their war cannot be called 'Jihad'. Rather, it is pure terrorism and HARAAM (forbidden)."
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A daughter of Russian opposition leader Boris Nemtsov says Vladimir Putin must bear responsibility for his murder. Zhanna Nemtsova told the BBC she believed the Russian president was "politically" to blame. Mr Nemtsov, a former deputy prime minister and veteran liberal politician, was shot dead on 27 February while walking with his girlfriend near the Kremlin. President Putin has condemned the murder and vowed to find the killers. Meanwhile, one of the men charged over the murder has said he was forced into a confession. Zaur Dadayev told prison visitors that he was tied up for two days with a bag on his head, and only confessed to the killing so that a friend would be freed. 'Everybody is frightened' Speaking to the BBC's Gabriel Gatehouse, Ms Nemtsova echoed previous claims made by her father's allies that his killing was politically motivated. "He was the most prominent critic of Putin. He was the most powerful leader of the opposition of Russia," she said. "After his death the opposition is beheaded and everybody is frightened," she added. "Now we do not have any other figure so powerful... with so much expertise and experience to confront the officials." The 30-year-old, who is a stock market analyst and TV presenter at a financial channel in Moscow, said she had not been contacted by Russian investigators because they were "not interested in an independent investigation". Officials have yet to cite a motive for Mr Nemtsov's murder. Last year, he contacted the Russian authorities after receiving death threats on his Facebook page, which he linked to his position on the conflict in Ukraine. He had been drafting a report expected to expose covert Russian military involvement in the conflict. Police turned down his request for an investigation in September. Ms Nemtsov said she had not been able to access her father's apartment where he kept his files. Speaking about the moment she learned of the 55-year-old's death, she said: "I couldn't believe it, I still can't believe it. "They have killed my father, I cannot keep silent." 'Torture' On Sunday, a court in Moscow said Zaur Dadayev, who was charged alongside fellow Chechen Anzor Gubashev, had admitted involvement in the shooting on a bridge. But a member of Russia's human rights council, who visited the suspects in prison on Tuesday, said there were "reasons to believe Zaur Dadayev confessed under torture". Andrei Babushkin said Mr Dadayev had shown him marks from handcuffs and ropes around his legs, and told him he had been tortured with electricity. He called for "people not involved in the investigation" to look into the claim. Three other men, including Mr Gubashev's brother Shagid, are being held in connection with the case. Russia's investigative committee said Mr Babushkin and a journalist accompanying him had been allowed to visit the prison to inspect the confinement conditions. But they went beyond their remit by inquiring about the criminal case, violating "not only the established norms, but the law," a statement said. Both Mr Babushkin and journalist Eva Merkacheva would be questioned by investigators, the committee said. People close to Mr Nemtsov have cast doubt on suggestions he might have been targeted because he had defended the publication of cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad by the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo. They said he was not prominent critic of radical Islamism and focused his criticism on President Putin. The suspects Zaur Dadayev: Served as deputy commander in Chechnya's North Battalion, part of the regional interior ministry. Chechnya's leader Ramzan Kadyrov described him as one of the unit's "most fearless and courageous members" Anzor Gubashev: Zaur Dadayev's cousin and the only other suspect to have been charged. Russia's state TV suggested he might have been the gunman in Mr Nemtsov's murder Shagid Gubashev: Anzor Gubashev's younger brother. He says they were detained after hearing of Mr Dadayev's arrest and travelling to Malgobek, a city in the republic of Ingushetia. He claims they are innocent. Khamzat Bakhayev and Tamerlan Eskerkhanov: Little is known about them but they were reportedly arrested in Moscow and deny any involvement You can see the full interview on BBC2's Newsnight at 22:30 GMT on Wednesday 11 March 2015.
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Just call her the comeback kid… er… chef. Paula Deen is on fire recently. After releasing her very own digital network and announcing an upcoming healthy cookbook, Paula Deen is now headed into the mobile sphere with her very own phone game: Paula Deen's Recipe Quest . Challengers will be faced with 40 levels of puzzles featuring Paula's famous recipes. As you complete each level, you'll get a new recipe card, and recipes and challenges will be added to the game every week. You'll start as an amateur chef in your home kitchen and work your way up to cooking in Paula's restaurant, even eventually owning your own. If only a real culinary career were this easy! "I am a gamer at heart and never leave my home without my iPad. Paula Deen's Recipe Quest is an incredible and one-of-a-kind game that will allow y'all to cook up a storm with me while solving exciting puzzles. Plus, it's free!" said Paula Deen in a statement. As of yet, it's available for the iOS platform only.
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Tim Tebow will pass on participating in the NFL veteran combine, but Michael Sam is among the 95 players who'll make another run at an NFL career. The official list was released by the league on Wednesday and includes former NFL starters Adam Carriker, Michael Bush and Mikel Leshoure. Seven quarterbacks will take part in the combine, which will be held at the Arizona Cardinals practice facility in Tempe, but none of them are Tebow or Vince Young. MORE: Bucs release final player of 2014 free-agent haul | Kelly says he got first-round offer for Bradford | Team-by-team signings Tebow, the 2007 Heisman Trophy winner from Florida who led the Broncos to a playoff win over Pittsburgh in 2011, had reportedly thought about attending . Young led the Texas Longhorns to a national championship in 2005 and was a first-round pick of the Titans in 2006. Following his release after the 2010 season, Young bounced around the league with stops in Philadelphia, Buffalo, Green Bay and Cleveland. He has not thrown a regular-season pass since 2011, while a member of the Eagles. Sam was the SEC co-defensive player of the year in 2013 but, following a poor NFL Combine performance, was not selected until the seventh round of the 2013 draft. The Rams took a flier on Sam, who made history as the first openly gay player to get drafted by an NFL team. The Rams cut Sam before the season and he wound up on the practice squad of the Cowboys, who released him last October. He applied for the veteran combine last month and will try again to make it onto a 53-player roster. The veteran combine will be held for the first time this year and is designed to "give veteran free agents a similar opportunity to work out in front of club personnel in a streamlined process," NFL director of football development Matt Birk said in Wednesday's release.
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GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) -- North Carolina's players were in no mood for a repeat of last year's brief stay at the Atlantic Coast Conference, and they didn't want to watch Boston College's Olivier Hanlan have another big game against them. Instead, the No. 19 Tar Heels slowed Hanlan and led most of the day to beat the Eagles 81-63 on Wednesday in the second round of the tournament, a much better debut in Greensboro than the one-and-done exit of a year earlier. ''Coach (Roy Williams) didn't talk about it a lot but I brought it up today as we coming to the gym, that we lost the first day we played last year,'' junior Marcus Paige said. ''That it was bad and we went straight back home. I was telling the guys, `You don't want that feeling.'' ' BOX SCORE: UNC 81, BOSTON COLLEGE 63 Paige and Brice Johnson each scored 17 points to lead the fifth-seeded Tar Heels (22-10), who played without forward Kennedy Meeks. UNC had trouble putting away the 12th-seeded Eagles (13-19) for much of the second half, but pulled away late and won its seventh straight meeting to set up a matchup with No. 14 Louisville. Among the biggest keys for that success: making Hanlan - an all-ACC guard who scored 30 in the only regular-season meeting between the teams - work for his points. Hanlan scored 18 points, but went just 5 for 19 from the field, including 1 for 5 from 3-point range. The Tar Heels rotated several defenders, though Williams credited J.P. Tokoto's work on him in particular. ''He's big time, a big-time player, and our goal was to try to make sure he didn't shoot a great percentage,'' Williams said. Hanlan missed 12 of his first 14 shots. ''We got some great looks offensively,'' Hanlan said, ''but I had some in-and-outs and them having so many guys and so many different guys guarding me, being fresh all the time, obviously played a huge factor.'' UNC led by 13 at half and never by fewer than eight from there, shaking off a cold start to the half and finishing at 52 percent shooting after the break. It was a much better start to the tournament than a year earlier, when the Tar Heels fell behind by 20 and couldn't rally in a loss to Pittsburgh that gave them a quick exit from Greensboro. ''It's great,'' Johnson said of the win, ''because that Pittsburgh team we played last year really punked us.'' --- TIP-INS Boston College: Aaron Brown scored 20 points to lead BC. ... The Eagles shot 40 percent, including 6 for 21 from 3-point range. ... Hanlan wouldn't comment on whether he would return for his senior season. UNC: Freshman Justin Jackson added 12 points, including two 3-pointers. ... UNC took a 43-25 rebounding advantage and scored 19 second-chance points. ... Joel James started for Meeks and finished with six points and three rebounds. ... Williams earned his 746th career win, moving into a tie for 15th in NCAA history former Kansas coach Phog Allen. HEALTHY PAIGE Paige again looked healthier after battling a foot injury and had playing through pain since at least January, finishing with nine assists, six rebounds and two steals. UNC'S INJURIES Meeks has an illness that includes a fever, keeping him sidelined for two recent practices. Williams said he doesn't expect Meeks to play, while Meeks said he felt close and ''hopefully'' could play Thursday. In addition, UNC also played without freshman guard Theo Pinson, who was a game-time decision due to a sore left foot. He had recently returned from a monthlong absence after breaking that foot in January. Pinson was noncommittal about his status, saying he is going to ''go day by day.'' BC'S FINISH Boston College had won its last three regular-season games after a 1-14 league start, then rallied and used Hanlan's shot with 10.9 seconds left to beat Georgia Tech 66-65 in Tuesday's ACC tournament opener. That was BC's fourth straight win to match its longest streak of the season before Wednesday's loss. UP NEXT Boston College: Season complete. UNC: Against fourth-seeded Louisville in the quarterfinals on Thursday. --- Follow Aaron Beard on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/aaronbeardap
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Parents who say their toddler children had thumb tacks pricked into their legs as a form a discipline at a California daycare center have sued the facility's former operators over abuse they said was perpetrated by two teachers. The civil suit, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, says the teachers involved in the abuse, which occurred between 2013 and 2014 at a Tutor Time franchise, were fired after their actions came to the attention of management, but that the daycare center concealed their actions from parents. The suit follows an investigation by state authorities who cited the center in Agoura Hills, west of Los Angeles, after finding at least one instructor "used tactics to intimate and scare children," according to documents from the state Department of Social Services. The lawsuit filed on behalf of four parents says their children suffered cruel and unusual abuse in a recurring practice known at the center as "pica pica," which translated from Spanish means "prick prick." "If a boy was deemed inattentive or failed to follow directions, these teachers would stick a pin into the child's legs," said the lawsuit, which was filed on Monday. "The push pin was pressed deep enough into the legs to inflict pain and injury on the child," he said. The lawsuit accuses the two instructors and the operators of the center of negligence, failure to report abuse, assault and battery, breach of contract and other wrongdoing and seeks an unspecified amount in damages. Lydia Cisaruk, a spokeswoman for Tutor Time, said in an email that the company acquired the center from its franchise operator last August but the purchase was unrelated to the allegations of abuse. "Before the acquisition, this matter was addressed by the franchise owner/operator in conjunction with the licensing authorities," she said. "Staffing changes were made prior to the school coming under corporate ownership last year." Tutor Time as a corporate entity was not served as a defendant in the lawsuit, Cisaruk said. The suit names as defendants the two instructors and Little Scholars Inc, which Cisaruk said operated the center as a franchisee. The two instructors and Little Scholars Inc could not be reached for comment. (Reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis; Editing by Cynthia Johnston; Editing by Sandra Maler)
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North Carolina head coach Roy Williams talks to the ACCDN's Jeff Fischel about Carolina's ability to share the ball and earn the win against Boston College in the second round of the 2015 New York Life ACC Tournament. Williams also looks ahead to the quarterfinal matchup vs Louisville.
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JUPITER, Fla. (AP) -- Matt Harvey was far from perfect in his second spring training outing. After getting six straight outs last week in his first appearance following elbow surgery, the New York Mets ace allowed two runs and six hits over 2 2-3 innings Wednesday in a 7-4 loss to the Miami Marlins. Ichiro Suzuki singled in a run in the second inning, and Giancarlo Stanton hit an RBI double in the third on Harvey's final pitch, Harvey struck out two and walked one, extending his pitch count to about 48. The right-hander pitched two perfect innings Friday against Detroit in his first appearance against opposing batters since Aug. 24, 2013. He had elbow ligament-replacement surgery that Oct. 22. Harvey threw more breaking balls than in his first outing, and left some pitches up in the strike zone. Stanton's double, his first extra-base hit this year. ''He's so big and strong that even though I got it in on him he was still able to get it out to the warning track,'' Harvey said. ''He's making $300 million for a reason.'' Michael Morse singled leading off the second, advanced on Martin Prado's single and when Ichiro Suzuki pulled a ball through the right side of the infield. New York scored twice in the first off Henderson Alvarez. Kirk Nieuwenhuis hit an RBI double over Suzuki in center and scored on Ruben Tejada's double to left. Miami scored five runs in the seventh against Scott Rice and Dillon Gee. Don Kelly had a two-ruin single. Christian Yelich had hits in both at-bats, a day after going 3-for-3. STARTING TIME Marlins: Alvarez, Miami's likely opening-day starter, gave up two runs and four hits in three innings, struck out four and walked none. He allowed one hit over his final two innings. ''I was too rushed,'' he said through a translator. ''I was very accelerated and I was leaving my pitches up, but I calmed down after that.'' He thew a slow curveball the stadium scoreboard clocked at 59 mph and said coaches enjoy watching that pitch. ''Everybody, even the fans, likes it,'' Alvarez said. Mets: Jacob deGrom gets his second start of spring training Thursday. The NL Rookie of the Year allowed one run in three innings against Atlanta in his first outing. TRAINER'S ROOM Marlins shortstop Adeiny Hechavarria planned to make the trip to Fort Myers on Thursday and play against Minnesota. Hechavarria hasn't played in a game since Thursday because of a tired shoulder. Mets reliever Josh Edgin's returned to New York for an MRI on his left elbow. OZUNA STRUGGLES Marlins manager Mike Redmond isn't concerned about center fielder Marcell Ozuna's 1-for-12 start in large part because he's seen it before. Ozuna went 11 for 62 (.177) in spring training last year, then played in 153 games for the Marlins. ''Some guys are really good spring training players and some guys aren't,'' Redmond said. MORE MORSE Redmond wants to give free agent signee Michael Morse, an outfielder for most of his career, as much work at first base as possible during spring training. ''He looks good over there. Obviously. it's a huge target for an infielder to throw to,'' Redmond said. UP NEXT Miami will travel across the state, starting Jarred Cosart against Phil Hughes at Minnesota in Fort Myers.
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DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) Daytona International Speedway will install energy-absorbing SAFER barriers to the concrete wall that Kyle Busch hit last month before NASCAR returns in July. Busch broke his right leg and left foot Feb. 20 when he crashed into a retaining wall that lacked a SAFER barrier. Daytona president Joie Chitwood said Wednesday the track completed an extensive safety review after Busch's accident and will make numerous changes before the race in July. The track also will install SAFER barrier on the outside backstretch wall. Among the other changes: - An additional 20,000 square feet of asphalt will be added in Turn 1. - A portion of the inside retaining wall from infield road course exit to Turn 1 will be realigned, and SAFER barrier will be added to the realigned wall and existing wall. - SAFER barrier will be installed on the retaining wall at pit road exit. - SAFER barrier will be installed between the exit of Turn 4 to pit road entry.
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From a dude ranch in New York to a Club Med in Florida, all-inclusive vacations that won't break the bank. PAY JUST ONE BILL All-inclusive resorts make vacations easy, and they don't have to be terribly expensive. We looked at online reviews to find highly rated resorts in the United States that cost less than $1,000 per adult for a four-night stay, and include activities and at least two meals a day. The cost for children is usually lower. Some of the resorts are in colder climates and are open only in the summer, but most of them offer something to do year round. We include some week-long camp experiences, as well. For adults travelling without children, we found some resorts that are less focused on activities for kids. CLUB MED SANDPIPER BAY -- PORT ST. LUCIE, FLORIDA This resort on the east coast of Florida is good for active families that love sports. More than 2,000 reviewers on TripAdvisor give it four out of five stars, praising its food and the attentive staff. Guests can attend circus and trapeze school, and get lessons in tennis, sailing, and golf. There are activities for kids of all ages, with childcare for the little ones and a special club for teens. A spa offers extra relaxation. Meals, including alcohol, are available at a variety of restaurants. The cost averages $750 for a four-night stay in winter, and between $400 and $500 in the off-season. LOEW'S ROYAL PACIFIC -- ORLANDO, FLORIDA Many resorts in central Florida are connected to theme parks in the area, and all-inclusive packages give guests access to rides, early park admission, and special activities. Loew's Royal Pacific in Orlando has a South Seas theme, with a lagoon style pool, a play area for kids, and free early admission to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios Florida. Kayak users give the hotel a rating of nine out of 10, and Orbitz reviewers score it better than four out of five, emphasizing the ease of access to the Universal theme park. Liberty Travel offers a package of four nights for $875 per person in high season, including air fare from D.C. ROCKING HORSE RANCH -- HIGHLAND, NEW YORK Although the focus at Rocking Horse Ranch is horses, there are plenty of other activities year round. In the winter there is tubing, skating, skiing, and snowboarding, as well as horse-drawn sleigh rides. Horseback riding for all skill levels is available, with pony rides for young children. Indoor activities offer something to do even on rainy days. There are organized activities, water sports, and day camps. Adults can join activities or relax at the spa. The ranch gets better than four out of five stars on TripAdvisor, with users highlighting the impressive range of activities and family atmosphere. The average cost is $250 per adult per night through the end of May; children are less, and free midweek. Three meals and hors d'oeuvres with wine are included in the price. MAYAN DUDE RANCH -- BANDERA, TEXAS This ranch in Texas Hill Country is all about the horses. Packages include two trail rides a day, one of which takes you to breakfast. It's appropriate both for families and for people without children. In addition to riding, there is a pool, fishing, tennis, golf and other activities. There are nightly entertainments and contests, campfires, hayrides and barbecues. Meals are hearty, and beer, wine, and soda are included. The cost is $165 per adult per day in either a cottage or the lodge; children cost $80 or $100 a day, depending on age. TripAdvisor reviewers give the ranch nearly five out of five stars. TYLER PLACE FAMILY RESORT -- HIGHGATE SPRINGS, VERMONT Tyler Place, which gets a five-star rating on TripAdvisor, is open from the end of May until mid-September. Prices are on the high side, but outside the high season (July and August), you can spend a week in a cottage for under $4,000 for a family of four. Located on a mile of lake shore, the resort offers every imaginable summer activity, from archery to zip lining, with plenty of woods for exploring. There are counselors and play groups for kids. Adults can take their own classes in yoga and climbing, and there's a spa for post-workout relaxation. There is nightly entertainment (sitters are available) such as dancing, jazz, and games, along with candlelight dining and cocktails. Family meals are healthy and ample, with an emphasis on farm to table fare. SKYTOP LODGE -- SKYTOP, PENNSYLVANIA A year-round playground that appeals to families, Skytop Lodge emphasizes sports and other activities. Winter activities include skiing, ice fishing, and skating. There are daily events for kids, including snowman building, movies, and a campfire. In summer, guests can explore hiking trails, and a host of water and land sports are available, including archery, paintball, rock climbing and wilderness survival. Dining opportunities include both formal (jackets required) and more casual venues. The cost is about $320 per night for a cottage that sleeps four, though there are many other options and pricings. TripAdvisor reviewers give the resort four out of five stars, while Facebook users give it nearly five out of five. MIGIS LODGE -- SEBAGO LAKE, MAINE This lakefront vacation spot has a main lodge and 35 cabins of various sizes situated among pine trees. Although the resort has activities for children, this is a good place for adults to unwind, especially outside the summer months. Guests of all ages can indulge in hiking, sailing, waterskiing, tennis, golf, and fishing. There are camp counselors for kids and family activities such as campfires and bingo. Food is locally sourced, with lunch cookouts and cocktails available daily. This being Maine, there is a Friday night lobster bake. Prices depend on time of year and the size of the cottage; in early autumn, the cost is about $200 per person per day for a one bedroom cabin, including all meals and activities. TripAdvisor reviewers give the resort four and a half out of five stars. FAIR HILLS RESORT -- DETROIT LAKES, MINNESOTA A family resort with a rustic atmosphere, Fair Hills gets five out of five stars on TripAdvisor. Open from May to September, accommodations are mainly in cabins around a lake. Sports and activity weeks are planned throughout summer. Activities are organized by age groups, with sandcastle building and fishing for little ones; kickball, soccer, and capture the flag for teens; and golf, tennis, hiking, and birding for adults. The resort organizes talent shows, hootenannies, and other camp happenings as well. Three meals a day are included. Prices start at $130 per adult per night, less for children; kids under five are free. INDIAN HEAD RESORT -- LINCOLN, NEW HAMPSHIRE There are a variety of places to stay at Indian Head Resort, including cottages and motel-like rooms in the main building. Located on 180 acres in the White Mountains, the resort is open year round, with special weekend packages such as Lego weekend in March. In winter there is ice skating and snowmobiling, as well as a heated indoor pool and spa. In warmer months, there is hiking, biking, and all sorts of water sports. Prices vary depending on the type of accommodation. In summer, the cost is about $200 per night in the cottages. TripAdvisor reviewers give the resort four out of five stars. CHULA VISTA RESORT -- WISCONSIN DELLS, WISCONSIN The big attractions at Chula Vista are the water parks. In warm weather, the resort operates both outdoor and indoor water parks, as well as a host of activities for kids such as miniature golf. Adults can relax at the spa, play beach volleyball, golf, bike, and hike. There are plenty of things to do in winter as well, including skiing, tubing, and snowboarding, along with indoor activities like bowling and an arcade. A variety of accommodations and prices are available, with many special package deals. Guests can opt for a meal plan, which includes beverages. With meals, a stay in a condo starts at about $130 per night per person, including all activities. Expedia reviewers give the resort nearly four out of five stars. UC SANTA BARBARA FAMILY VACATION CENTER -- SANTA BARBARA, CALIFORNIA Operating only in summer, this highly rated, week-long camp costs about $1,000 per adult; children are less -- the younger the child, the lower the rate. The accommodations -- dorm rooms -- are exactly what you remember from college. But with all the activities offered, you won't spend much time in the spartan accommodations. There are camps for kids organized by age groups, with kayaking, horseback riding, surfing lessons, tennis, and field trips. There's a pool with a water slide, bike and scooter riding, and arts and crafts. Adults have their own activity list with hiking, biking, surfing, wine tastings, golf, painting, and yoga, among other things. Typical camp entertainments such as talent night, campfires, and a family carnival add to the fun. Meals are cafeteria-style and a bit better than college quality. TripAdvisor reviewers give the resort five out of five stars and the camp sells out well in advance, so it's best to book early. COMMON GROUND FAMILY CAMP -- STARKSBORO, VERMONT For people looking for a community-minded experience, Common Ground offers a variety of week-long camp experiences during the summer, and special men's and women's weekends in the fall. TripAdvisor reviewers give this unusual camp five out of five stars. A variety of arts, music, and nature pursuits are available for kids, as well as games, swimming, and other water activities. Yoga, dance, and movement classes entice kids and adults alike. Community service of some kind is required for three hours during the week. Meals are vegetarian and made with food from local organic farms. Pricing is on a sliding scale based on ability to pay, with scholarships available. The most basic accommodation costs $600 per adult per week in a tent. Prices edge downward by age, with babies costing $50. Cabins and rooms in the lodge cost $100 to $500 more.
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The embattled police chief in Ferguson, Missouri resigned Wednesday, a week after a scathing US Justice Department report into the fatal shooting of unarmed black teenager Michael Brown by one of his officers. Thomas Jackson is the latest prominent official in the St. Louis suburb to stand down, seven months after Brown was shot and killed by white police officer Darren Wilson, igniting angry protests and a national debate about race and law enforcement. "It is with profound sadness that I am announcing I am stepping down from my position of chief of police," wrote Jackson in his letter of resignation, cited by the St Louis Post-Dispatch newspaper. "It has been an honor and a privilege to serve this great city and to serve with all of you," added Jackson, who has been police chief since 2010. His resignation -- which was welcomed by Brown's family -- will take effect on March 19, he said, to allow "an orderly transition of command." In a brief statement, the City of Ferguson confirmed it had agreed "a mutual separation" with Jackson that would see him get severance pay and health insurance for a year. The Justice Department last Wednesday said it lacked sufficient evidence to prosecute Wilson on federal civil rights charges over the August 9 death of 18-year-old Brown after an altercation on a quiet residential street. But it faulted Ferguson's city hall, police department and municipal court for racial bias in targeting its African-American majority as a means to generate revenue. Brown's family has indicated it intends to file a civil lawsuit against Ferguson and Wilson, accusing them of unlawful death. - Family 'relieved' - "Michael Brown's mother and father are relieved that actions are being taken to address the very disturbing findings in the Department of Justice report," family lawyer Benjamin Crump told CNN. Jackson is the fifth Ferguson official to resign in the wake of the Justice Department's damning findings. Others include Ferguson's municipal court judge, two long-time police commanders -- including Wilson's supervisor -- and, on Tuesday, its city manager. Ferguson's court clerk was meanwhile fired over emails that smacked of racism. Still in office is Ferguson Mayor James Knowles. He has promised root-and-branch reforms in the community of 21,000, in which two in three residents is African American. Wilson, no longer with the overwhelmingly white Ferguson police force, said he shot Brown after the youth -- a suspect in a corner-store shoplifting -- tried to grab hold of his firearm. Others insist that Brown had put his hands up in a gesture of surrender when Wilson opened fire. A grand jury in November chose not to indict Wilson on murder or manslaughter charges, reigniting protests that sometimes turned violent.
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Tori Petry sits down with new Lions DT Haloti Ngata on his first day at the Allen Park facility to discuss how he found out about the trade, his relationship with Teryl Austin and what he's looking forward to about being in Detroit.
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The Bears aren't happy that they're stuck with Jay Cutler. Their solution? Make sure Cutler doesn't stick it to them (again). "We've moving forward with Jay Cutler as our starting quarterback," first-year general manager Ryan Pace told reporters on Wednesday . MORE: Kelly says he got first-round offer for Bradford | Team-by-team signings | How Revis keeps breaking the bank That confirmation may have been definitive, but Pace didn't make that declaration until two months into his tenure and that of new head coach John Fox. In between, Pace and Fox got to know Cutler and tried to determine whether they were comfortable with him as the starter. During the vetting, Pace added that despite rumors, they had "zero" interest in trading Cutler and gave doing so no effort. In reality, he is the NFL's ultimate un-tradeable commodity as overpriced and permanently damaged goods. Cutler is making $15.5 million guaranteed in base salary for 2015, and now that he'll be on their roster well beyond Thursday, he's already guaranteed to get $10 million of the $16 million he's owed in 2016. You can bet Pace and Fox would have liked a fresh start, but it would have been hard to pursue a deal if nobody wanted to be on the other end. Even though they weren't really all-in on him, they now have to be because he's better than any other short-term option. So Plan B for the new regime went into effect. It's the opposite of Plan A of their predecessors, Phil Emery and Marc Trestman which was to coddle Cutler and hope he would finally see the light. Pace and Fox are forced to do it in a much different way. Instead of being able to treat Cutler like an established, successful veteran and maximizing what's around him, they're going minimalistic. MORE: Andrew Luck gets new, prime target | Foles 'pumped' Pace, the aggressive one of the two, stripped Cutler of his old friend and go-to wide receiver, trading Brandon Marshall to the Jets. Most of Pace's moves in his initial offseason will be tied up in remodeling the defense into a more Monsters of the Midway-like 3-4, and not catering personnel-wise to Cutler. Fox's job as the conservative one is to bring that defense together on the field and back it up with a running game-centered offense. The goal? Make Cutler the league's highest-priced caretaker and win despite of him. Fox and the offensive coordinator he brought with him from Denver, Adam Gase, just got to the playoffs with both Peyton Manning and Tim Tebow. Gase, unlike Trestman, will not let Cutler loose. Along with that rebuilt D, in the short term, they'll focus on the more reliable part of their offense, running back Matt Forte. Cutler, at 31, has run out of chances to show he can be anything better than what we've seen. His mental makeup will keep taking away from his physical skills. It didn't take Pace and Fox long to learn that. They may be committed to Cutler, but they would be crazy to trust him.
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Controversial Salvadoran archbishop Oscar Romero, a champion of the poor who was gunned down while celebrating mass in 1980, will be beatified on May 23, taking him one step from sainthood. The beatification ceremony, which conservative Catholics and the Salvadoran right had resisted, will be held by Cardinal Angelo Amato on San Salvador's central square, said Monsignor Vincenzo Paglia, an Italian archbishop who has led the campaign to canonize Romero. Romero remains a divisive figure for his outspoken criticism of social injustice and condemnations of the military during El Salvador's civil war. But Pope Francis, who has himself sought to defend the poor, cleared the way for him to be beatified, naming him a martyr for the Church last month. Saints "are to unite, never to divide us," Paglia told a press conference in San Salvador. Salvadoran President Sanchez Ceren, who was also at the press conference, said it was "not only a day of joy but also a historic day for El Salvador." No one has ever been convicted of Romero's murder. He was shot dead at the altar the day after delivering a sermon urging soldiers to disobey orders rather than commit human rights violations. Romero's support for the oppressed has seen him held up by some as a champion of "liberation theology," a political movement rooted in Latin America that advocates working with the poor to bring about social change. While Romero did not actually subscribe to the theology, his support for the oppressed meant some in the Church were reluctant to beatify him due to concerns his death could be exploited for ideological reasons. Romero's murder had widespread impact in Latin America, a predominantly Catholic region where several far-right regimes were then fighting wars against Marxist guerrillas. His life was depicted in the 1989 film "Romero" starring Raul Julia.
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The sellers were at work again Wednesday, pushing the major averages down as the dollar's rise and fears of an approaching Federal Reserve interest rate hike dampens spirits. In the end, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.2%, the S&P 500 lost 0.2%, and the Nasdaq Composite lost 0.2%. The Russell 2000 bucked the trend to gain 0.6%. Following the close, Bank of America Corp (NYSE:BAC) was hit after the Fed rejected the company's capital plans. Early gains were reversed as an initial move higher in crude oil couldn't be sustained. From the euphoria of the Nasdaq tagging 5,000 last week for the first time since the dot-com high, the Dow Jones has now lost 650 points. Year-to-date, the Dow Jones and the S&P 500 are both down about 1%. 3 Airline Stocks Running Into Turbulence The catalyst continues to be growing fears that a rapidly tightening labor market will force the Fed to drop the "patience" language from its policy statement on March 18 clearing the way for a possible interest rate hike as soon as June or September. This is coming as a bit of an eye opener for a market that has grown dependent on the flow of cheap dollars from the Fed and the impression that chairman Janet Yellen was a staunch policy dove. Already, the market is contending with the end of the QE3 bond purchase program, which as the aftermath of the QE1 and QE2 programs in 2010 and 2011 illustrate, should result in a period of market weakness. Now, the pendulum is swinging in the other direction. Outgoing Dallas Fed President Richard Fisher, in a speech in Houston earlier this week, was confident that Yellen would resist the temptation to avoid making the hard decisions and would start normalizing monetary policy. St. Louis Fed President James Bullard reiterated that the Fed needs to raise rates now or soon with the unemployment rate already in line with estimates of its long-run level. He also noted that even if rates were raised in June, the overall policy stance would remain easy. In response, I continue to recommend a defensive positioning to my Edge clients including a position in the ProShares UltraShort Europe (NYSEARCA:EPV) that is up 10.2% so far this month on simmering tensions over the situation in Greece. For the more aggressive, Edge Pro clients recently closed a 193% gain in their Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) March $33 put options and a 116% gain in their March $385 Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) puts. Anthony Mirhaydari is founder of the Edge and Edge Pro investment advisory newsletters. More From InvestorPlace The 10 Best Fidelity Funds for Your 401k Should You Buy Wendy's Stock? 3 Pros, 3 Cons SanDisk (SNDK) on the Verge of a Double-Digit Selloff The post Stocks Dribble Lower as Fed Fears Grow appeared first on InvestorPlace .
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Watch Ndamukong Suh speak with Greg Likens of The Finsiders minutes after signing his contract to become the newest member of the Miami Dolphins. Don't miss Suh's comments on Dolphins organization and what he looks forward to bringing to the team in 2015 and beyond. To see more Dolphins videos download the Dolphins DeskSite.
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Mad Money's Jim Cramer offers his take on the doom and gloom many expect from low oil prices.
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The Happiest Place on Earth will be keeping the lights on all night to kick off the 60th anniversary celebration of Disneyland. The theme park in Anaheim, Calif., plans to launch a 24-hour party, starting at 6 a.m. on May 22, to begin the celebration that will include a new parade, light show and fireworks display, among other extras. The celebration will include a new nighttime parade, dubbed "Paint the Night," featuring 1.5 million LED lights and characters from popular Disney movies such as "Monsters, Inc.," "Cars," "The Little Mermaid," "Beauty and the Beast," "Toy Story" and "Frozen." The park will debut a new fireworks show during the 24-hour bash. The "Disneyland Forever" fireworks show will incorporate "projection mapping technology" that projects scenes from Disney movies on storefronts, the Matterhorn mountain and the facade of the "It's a Small World" ride. In addition, Disney officials have said Sleeping Beauty's Castle in Disneyland and the Carthay Circle Theatre in Disney's California Adventure park will be overhauled with "diamond" exteriors to reflect the diamond anniversary. At Disney's California Adventure, the "World of Color" light-and-water show will also be remade to use fire, water and lights to tell the history of Walt Disney and his park, featuring Mickey Mouse and actor Neil Patrick Harris, officials said. On the same day, Disney's Magic Kingdom in Florida will also host a 24-hour event, but only selected attractions and entertainment will be available in that park.
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Andre Johnson has agreed to a three-year, $21 million deal with the Colts. Will he help the Colts make a playoff run in 2015?
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Plenty of people live in tiny homes , small rooms, or just diminutive spaces. No matter what your reason for living in smaller quarters, you'll undoubtedly have to make some compromises in your decorating. To live happily and efficiently in smaller square footage, you'll want to get organized and make some adjustments to your lifestyle. By making the most of color, strategic furniture buying , space planning and interesting lighting, your place can feel wonderfully "you" with all the space you need. Expand your square footage to the outdoors If you have large windows with beautiful views, add those colors to your room to unify the outside world with inside space and expand the look of your rooms. With the wonderful patterns and colors that outdoor fabrics offer, there is no reason to stop the "pretty party" at your interior. Carrying coordinating materials outside for drapes, cushions and area rugs will only make your space look visually larger. On the interior, let as much natural light into a room as possible so it opens up the space and gives it character. Edit mercilessly Declutter your space. Try to dispose of everything you have not used for a year. Do not get attached to furniture. Get rid of any item that is not adding to the look of the room. Create organized storage wherever possible via built-in benches and use multi-purpose and storage furniture pieces, such as ottomans, so items that are less frequently used can be stowed away. When it comes to cabinets and bookcases, do not fill up every shelf in a room; leave some of them half empty and spacious for an airy and more dramatic look. Where functional, remove as many doors as possible or use pocket doors to increase the sense of space. Keep it simple Link adjacent spaces with a unifying wall color and floor material. Maintaining a monochromatic palette makes rooms look bigger. If you do need to change flooring materials, simply stay within the same color family the fewer floor "breaks," the better. Light colors or neutrals are space expanders and provide a neutral background for furniture and artwork. Using cool colors will make your walls appear to visually recede. Additionally, it is best to avoid unnecessary details, such as ruffles, in furniture and window treatments. Use simple paneled draperies or shades instead. Make a statement Installing an oversized mirror or a set of smaller mirrors will add extra light, sparkle and make a small room appear larger. Even if a room is small, adding oversized artwork on a small wall or a statement light fixture overhead can create drama while making the space appear larger than it is. You may also consider adding a floor-to-ceiling and wall-to-wall bookcase this trick will create an impressive focal point and visually expand space by pushing the walls and ceiling out. What tips have you successfully used to make your small space look larger? Related : 5 Ways to Design a Luxe Room for Less 10 Stylish Living Room Storage Solutions Home Organization: Embracing Order
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Can Hello Barbie spy on your child? That's what privacy advocates are saying about toymaker Mattel's newest doll, which has two-way conversations with kids by recording children's speech and sending it over the web in order to simulate a response - technology alternately called "perfect" and "creepy." Hello Barbie underscores the challenge toy companies face as they embrace new technology to innovate and remain current with a digital generation but must simultaneously navigate privacy and safety issues with parents. Renaming it "eavesdropping" Barbie, the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood launched a petition Wednesday urging Mattel to stop the doll from being sold, the Washington Post first reported. The group's advocates call the technology "creepy," and say recording and storing information about children's likes, dislikes, interests, and more, leaves them vulnerable to hacking and stealth marketing. "If I had a young child, I would be very concerned that my child's intimate conversations with her doll were being recorded and analyzed," Angela Campbell, faculty adviser at Georgetown University's Center on Privacy and Technology, said in a statement. "In Mattel's demo, Barbie asks many questions that would elicit a great deal of information about a child, her interests, and her family. This information could be of great value to advertisers and be used to market unfairly to children." "Kids using 'Hello Barbie' aren't only talking to a doll, they are talking directly to a toy conglomerate whose only interest in them is financial," Susan Linn, the group's executive director, also said in a statement. "It's creepy -- and creates a host of dangers for children and families." The iconic doll uses a speech-recognition platform called Pullstring, developed by San Francisco startup ToyTalk, that allows writers to create evolving dialogue based on what kids say. Here's how it works: Children can press a button on Hello Barbie's belt to chat, Barbie "listens" to their speech and sends the audio recording over a WiFi connection to ToyTalk's cloud-based servers, where the child's speech is recognized and processed. Barbie can then make an intelligent response. As The Christian Science Monitor reported in an earlier piece, "Once fully charged and connected to WiFi, Hello Barbie will be able to play interactive games, tell jokes and stories, and collect information about a child's conversation for future use. If a kid talks to Barbie about dancing, for instance, the doll may mention it in a later chat." But that smart technology is what worries privacy advocates. Already, in a demonstration for the BBC, a security researcher revealed hacking vulnerabilities in a similar Internet-connected doll, My Friend Cayla, when he showed how a skilled programmer could hack the doll to say creepy or inappropriate things to a child. But Mattel is standing by its doll and insists Hello Barbie is safe. "Mattel is committed to safety and security, and Hello Barbie conforms to applicable government standards, including the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act," the company said in a statement. "Additionally, Hello Barbie's technology features a number of safeguards to ensure that stored data is secure and can't be accessed by unauthorized users." And chief executive Oren Jacob of ToyTalk, which created the technology in the doll, told the Washington Post that the audio files are "never used for anything to do with marketing or publicity or any of that stuff. Not at all." The technology, he insisted, is used to improve speech recognition. The controversy comes at a troubled time for the toymaker. Mattel saw its profit tumble 59 percent in the fourth quarter. Sales of Barbie sank 21 percent, and sales of its baby-oriented Fisher-Price brand declined 16 percent. Hello Barbie is its attempt to bring its toys into the 21st century and boost sagging sales. But, as the Post points out, in doing so, Mattel and other toymakers face a delicate balance: "trying to figure out how to cater to children's affinity for technology and gadgets while meeting parents' expectations about privacy and security." "Internet-connected toys mean that children are forging their digital footprint earlier than ever, leaving parents to make thorny decisions about what kinds of technology limits to put in place during playtime." For now, that decision will be up to parents. Hello Barbie is still scheduled to hit stores this fall. This article was written by Husna Haq from Christian Science Monitor and was legally licensed through the NewsCred publisher network.
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Whether you're entertaining this St. Patrick's Day, or just looking to treat yourself, there are a few delicious green smoothies to get you in the Irish spirit. Krystin Goodwin (@krystingoodwin) has a few festive smoothies to help you celebrate deliciously!
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Portuguese Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho on Wednesday sought to calm a storm over his late payment of taxes and social security contributions as protesters shouted for him to resign. Passos Coelho, speaking before parliament, acknowledged oversights but said he had dealt with the issues revealed in press reports in late February. "I can guarantee to the entire country that I have regularised my situation," he said. "I have not obtained favours from the state or social security office." Passos Coelho, prime minister since 2011, was twice interrupted by protesters in the gallery who yelled for him to resign before they were escorted away. Media reports last month said Passos Coelho had not paid his social security contributions for five years between 1999 and 2004, while he worked as a consultant for vocational training company Tecnoforma. Confronted over the issue by a journalist in 2012, he went to the administration and was told of a debt of 2,880 euros ($3,038), with interest of 1,034 euros. Passos Coelho decided to pay the amount in February in order to put an end to the "baseless accusations," he said at the time. Further press reports said the prime minister had also faced five tax adjustments between 2003 and 2007 that led to the payment of nearly 6,000 euros in penalties. Passos Coelho, who heads a centre-right government, acknowledged oversights but insisted that the bottom line was that he had paid what he owed. The tax authorities and social security office have confirmed that the prime minister paid his debts. An online petition started on March 6 demanding his resignation however had been signed by more than 18,600 people as of Wednesday, far more than the 4,000 signatures needed to force a parliamentary debate.
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Jose Mourinho admitted that Chelsea "couldn't cope" with Paris Saint-Germain after his side was knocked out of the Champions League on Wednesday evening, but insists the Blues cannot dwell on their disappointment. The French champion - which had Zlatan Ibrahimovic sent off in the first half - twice came from behind to draw 2-2 and progress to the quarterfinals on away goals, and Mourinho was dissatisfied with the way his side failed to nullify PSG's threat. "Of course, we had the game in our hands twice but I think the opponent was stronger than us," he told Sky Sports. "They coped better than us with the pressure of the game. I think with them at 10 men we felt the pressure of winning even more. "They had nothing to lose, they just played their game. We couldn't cope with that. We conceded two goals from set pieces where the organisation is clear, where the markers have to decide and the players in the zone are the same. We conceded two goals that were difficult to accept." Mourinho, though, says that Chelsea must now turn its focus to the Premier League as the club attempts to win the domestic title. "I told my players as I always do that it's not after the match that I kick tables and doors," he added. "It's time to be calm and analyse the team because we have a game on Sunday and we have to win the Premier League. "We are playing to win the Premier League and we have more matches to play."
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Have you taken your lunch break today? If so, how long did it take you to run to the nearest deli and back to the office? The lunch break is an endangered privilege a right, actually and not just in the United States. In a survey conducted by OfficeTeam, nearly half (48 percent) of all respondents said their lunch breaks usually last 30 minutes or less. Twenty-nine percent admit to not taking lunch breaks at all. As corporate culture makes us all increasingly similar, it also makes our lunch habits more homogenous. Here are some places where lunch breaks are still, well, breaks. Sweden In Sweden, it's too cold for al fresco, so there are "al deskos," daytime raves that office workers attend during their lunch breaks. Participants have to follow something called the Lunch Beat Manifesto , which was written by the founders of the organization that now pushes for these lunch breaks to be instituted worldwide. The rules are simple: you have to dance, you cannot talk about work, and you have to get a free lunch out of it. So far, the phenomenon has spread to Belgium, but maybe it'll inch (or dance) its way across the pond, preferably before we all turn into workaholic zombies. France I should be a little honest here. When I say we would should do lunch breaks like France, what I mean is we should do lunch breaks like France 20 years ago. Back then, bistros were packed during lunchtimes, when workers could take a leisurely two hours for an afternoon meal. But times have changed. The culprit? Sandwiches. The BBC reports that about two billion sandwiches a year are sold in France. "The French eat an average of 65 sandwiches per second," says food writer Franck Pinay-Rabaroust. As a result of workers being able to gulp down their lunches, the average lunch break in France is now more like 22 minutes. China Employers in factories across China are starting to encourage workers to take power naps during their lunch breaks, reports NBC. Studies suggest that naps that last fewer than 30 minutes not only help you stay alert, but also sharpen your memory retention skills (but only if you don't forget to nap). China still has a long way to go in terms of humane treatment of factory workers, but this is a good start. Spain In Spain, the mid-afternoon siesta a two-hour break between the hours of 2 p.m. and 5 p.m. is a strongly upheld tradition. The catch? Workers usually stay in the office until 9 p.m. But hey, nobody goes out for dinner in Spain until 10 p.m. anyway. The siesta also taken in many parts of South America has been proven to have great cardiovascular benefits. However, that's not stopping siestas from becoming shorter and shorter as Spain keeps up with the rest of the world.
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Expelled SAE alum Parker Rice apologizes and says, "it was likely fueled by alcohol." CNN's Miguel Marquez reports.
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Scott Brooks says Kevin Durant will miss 1-2 more weeks for the Thunder. Will they survive in the playoff race until then?
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In the bottom of the fourth inning of Wednesday's 10-6 loss to the Red Sox, Yankees slugger Alex Rodriguez hit his first home run of Spring Training.
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sports
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When redness and irritation shows up on or inside your butt, this poses a challenge. First, unless you have Gisele-like flexibility, it's hard to whip your head around and fully assess the situation. Then there's the embarrassment factor. Do you really want to drop trou and stick your cheeks out for your dermatologist? Didn't think so. Before it comes to that (and it might, depending on how serious things are and what the treatment requires), check out our guide to decoding the signs behind six common rear-end rashes. 1. If the rash is: red, itchy, and has small painful blisters It's probably: a herpes outbreak Surprise this STD doesn't only strike the mucus membranes of the genitals and mouth. "It's not uncommon for herpes to infect the skin of your bottom, and the signs would be similar to that of an oral or genital herpes outbreak, including one or more tiny blisters grouped close together," says Sarika M. Ramachandran, MD, assistant professor of dermatology at New York University Langone Medical Center. The treatment is also the same: diagnosis by your derm or ob-gyn and then a script for antiviral meds, which will speed healing. 2. If the rash is: a red, itchy, and scaly patch It's probably: a fungal infection "This is the same fungal infection as athlete's foot and jock itch, but it shows up on your behind," says Ramachandran. Fungi thrive in moist, dark places, which is why this infection tends to occur on body parts that rub together, creating lots of heat and friction. An OTC antifungal cream should get rid of it, but if that doesn't work, your doc can prescribe something stronger. 3. If the rash is: red with tender, pimple-like bumps It's probably: buttne, which is medically known as folliculitis This happens when dead skin cells and bacteria clog the hair follicles on your cheeks and upper thighs. It's unsightly, but it's nothing serious: Ease it by applying an OTC benzoyl peroxide product, and prevent it from returning by showering after a gym session and wearing fabrics that let your butt skin breathe. 4. If the rash is: red, scaly, and strikes right above your butt crack It's probably: psoriasis Psoriasis, a chronic, non-contagious skin condition, is caused by the overproduction of skin cells and it loves to show up in that dimple between your lower back and crack, says Ramachandran. Other signs include white, pink, or silver patches and flaking. It also tends to form on the elbows, scalp, and nails. Psoriasis needs to be treated with prescription steroid creams, so if you suspect you have it, check in with your derm. 5. If the rash is: flaky and itchy, sometimes accompanied by tiny red bumps It's probably: eczema Those stretchy black tights you're practically living in right now? They're big-time eczema offenders, trapping heat and sweat between your skin and the synthetic material, triggering this itchy, red skin condition, says Ramachandran. Ease it the way you would if you had eczema on any other patch of skin: by applying moisturizer or an OTC hydrocortisone cream. Also, wear more breathable all-cotton or natural-fiber material so your skin gets some fresh air. If you're still itchy, your derm can give you stronger meds. 6. If the rash is: super itchy and on your anus It's probably: hemorroids These small protrusions of veins can be irritating, painful, and itchy, thanks to the swelling and inflammation that develops around them, says Ramachandran. It sounds gross, sure, but hemorrhoids are very common and are usually caused by pressure from chronic constipation or pregnancy. OTC hemorrhoid creams can numb the pain, reduce swelling, and nix the itch. But if yours keep acting up and leave you squirming, see your doctor about other treatment options, like surgery. The article "6 Reasons Your Butt Is Red and Itchy" originally ran on Womenshealthmag.com.
| 7 | 11,457 |
health
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It's going to be a very busy spring in the skies. Air travel in March and April is expected to surge to its highest level in seven years , predicts Airlines for America, a trade group that represents the American airline industry. Some 134.8 million passengers -- that's 2.2 million per day -- are expected to take to the skies on 10 publicly traded U.S. airlines this spring, up 2 percent from 2015. That's the highest level since the record high in 2007, which occurred just before the economic collapse. The trade group says airlines are adding about 3 percent more seats to accommodate the increase in demand. "Airlines for America attributes the increase in spring air travel to rising U.S. employment and personal incomes, an improving economy, the highest consumer sentiment in a decade and the continued affordability of air travel, which remains one of the best bargains for consumers," said John Heimlich, chief economist for the organization. The numbers seem to be corroborated by a TripAdvisor survey released Wednesday that found that 67 percent of American travelers plan to travel internationally for leisure in 2015, up from 50 percent in 2014. And the U.S. Travel Association told USA Today that the projections align with its data, as well. Increased traffic has been good for business, of course, especially as the airlines have enjoyed low fuel prices and increased fares despite the savings. The 10 largest publicly traded airlines in the U.S. reported a net profit of $7.3 billion in 2014, or 4.6 percent of revenues. "After four years of $100-per-barrel oil, the recent dip in the price of jet fuel is finally giving the carriers some breathing room to reinvest in the product, reward employees and shareholders, and reduce debt, all while boosting capacity. Like other responsible businesses, airlines are focused on balanced allocation of capital to benefit all stakeholders," Heimlich said.
| 2 | 11,458 |
travel
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LOS ANGELES It's a place of honor for those who sniffed out crime and brought down crooks. On a bluff beneath tall oak trees and overlooking rolling green hills, police dogs from one California agency are laid to rest. The cemetery for K-9s from the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff's Office on the Central Coast is a unique option. Among U.S. law enforcement agencies, it's more common for dogs to be buried or their ashes scattered on the handler's property, in a pet cemetery or at the center that trained them. No matter where they end up, dogs killed on the job usually can expect a funeral similar to a slain officer's, said Russ Hess, national executive director of the United States Police Canine Association. That means a crowded service with eulogies, a color guard and the playing of taps. But "there is no right or wrong way to bury a K-9," said Hess, who retired as police chief of Jackson Township, Ohio, to become head of the 3,000-member association that certifies K-9 teams. Hess said he doesn't know of any other law enforcement agency with a police dog cemetery on their grounds. Some training academies have graveyards, while cities often honor fallen K-9s in other ways by naming parks for them or putting up statues or plaques. In the California department, K-9 funerals didn't receive full law enforcement honors until the cemetery opened in March 2013. "It was something that needed to happen," Cmdr. Aaron Nix said. "The K-9s are deputies." He said the dogs "are members of our patrol force, and this was our way of rectifying that." Even dogs that die in retirement have a place on the hill. Senior Deputy and K-9 coordinator Allen Barger lobbied to have the space turned into a graveyard for all department K-9s after the dog he handled for nine years, Jake, died of cancer in 2010. It was an easy sell. Confiscated drug money funded the memorial park, and jail inmates helped Barger build it. Now, the agency's K-9s have a place waiting for them. "Their gravesites will be there long after I am gone," Barger said. "It's nice the agency cares so much about the dogs and gave us this property to use." Barger saved Jake's ashes, and the drug-detection dog with 900 credited arrests was the first buried there with full honors. The second was Nico, who died of epilepsy in October. The dogs' service often evokes a community outpouring. When residents of West Deptford Township, New Jersey, learned a K-9 named Judge had Cushing's disease when the body produces too much of a hormone that weakens the immune system they raised more than $12,000 in two days last year for his treatment. The German shepherd caught 152 suspects in a seven-year career, said Cpl. Michael Franks, Judge's handler. Once Judge could no longer get up, Franks took him to be euthanized. As he carried Judge into the veterinarian's office last month, nearly 100 officers from across New Jersey lined up to give the dog one last thank you. "I was really taken aback by all the support we received," said Franks, who plans to have the dog cremated and keep the ashes on his desk at work. "Judge touched a lot of people, whether it was personal or professional. I am very proud of everything he did for the community." Barger said a dog is sometimes called a police tool, but no handler buys that. An officer can deploy a baton, pepper spray, a gun or a K-9, "but a dog is the only one you can call back," he said.
| 5 | 11,459 |
news
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HULL, Ga. Authorities hope to auction a BMW convertible that a Georgia man bought during a spending spree after $31,000 suddenly showed up in his checking account. District Attorney Parks White tells The Associated Press that authorities are seeking to have the 2004 BMW forfeited so that it can be sold. White said Steven Fields of Hull bought the car for $11,000 and spent more money from the windfall at a Walmart and other stores. Hull was sentenced late last year to 10 years of probation. The victim is another man with the same name who is in his 70s. Authorities say a teller mistakenly deposited the older man's check into the younger man's account at First Citizens Bank in Hull.
| 5 | 11,460 |
news
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Whether it's money, an exciting new industry, career stagnation, or the fact that you can't stand to hear your coworker slurp her soup one more day , you've decided it's time to start looking for the greener grass on the other side of the fence. Guess what? You might think you're pretty savvy when it comes to job hunting (you found the one you're in, didn't you?), but there are a few common mistakes many women make that can derail their efforts. As a former 15-year veteran of recruiting and headhunting, I'm here to help you. (For free!) Here are seven things you'll want to avoid: 1. Your résumé still looks like it did the last time you interviewed Nothing's worse than pulling out your résumé only to have your own, warped version of writers' block: What the hell do I do, again? That's why the general wisdom is to add job responsibilities, accolades, awards, and wins to your résumé as you go (about once a quarter, or when something amazing happens). It might seem counter-intuitive to update your resume when you're not looking, but it's for two reasons: 1) You'll be less likely to forget cool things you've done and 2) Looking at all your accomplishments on a regular basis gives you a consistent sense of your worth. You're less likely to settle when the time comes to use it. 2. A job search isn't the time to start building a network Most of us spend more time double-tapping Instagrams than cultivating a network of people who can help us further our interests. That has to change. Identifying professional organizations and/or individuals who can mentor and further your interests isn't selfish, it's smart. Between LinkedIn, Facebook groups, Twitter, and networking opportunities, take every chance to consistently identify, build, and nurture relationships with people at all levels. That coffee friend could be the person who champions your resumé right into the job of a lifetime. 3. You say no to headhunters/executive recruiters Executive women know it pays to keep in touch with at least two headhunters at all times. It's their job to know what's out there, and they can be your ticket to your next best role. Send a few great candidates their way, and when it's your turn they'll absolutely reward you by taking you to the top. Job boards are nice, but by the time something is posted, rest assured there's a savvy recruiter who probably already knew about it. This advice applies to everything from administrative staffing agencies and freelancer agencies all the way to C-suite headhunters. Find the best, and make them your friend. 4. You don't know the cardinal rule of interviews Do not, I repeat, DO NOT try to alter your personality in an interview. A good interview is like a great first date. You've done your research, you're not emotionally tied to the outcome, and you're just exploring your options. You're not too friendly, you're not too stiff you're pleasant, comfortable without being unprofessional, and receptive to questions and exchanges. Honestly, they're trying to figure out what it would be like to work with you, so don't have a personality transplant before walking in the door. Relax. Also, never badmouth a former or current employer in an interview; it sets a bad tone that you'll do the same in their company. Think "pleasant professionalism" and all should fall into place. 5. You don't know your worth Every woman needs to know her "number" at all times. Salary, bonuses, pension, stock options, executive perks, potential payouts, vesting schedules you have to know at any minute if you walk how much you need to remain financially whole. If you know what you're worth, you're more likely to get it. Always ask for slightly higher than what you'd be willing to take. Salary negotiations are a good exercise in what it will be like to work there. If they lowball you from the beginning, conditions aren't likely to improve. Your financial negotiating power will rarely be stronger than before you start, so negotiate the strongest position you can. 6. You need consensus before making a decision Your next best job is not a choice that should be made by committee. Asking your best friend, your partner, your parents, your barista at Starbucks, your coworkers, and your dog walker for their advice on whether or not you should take a job can lead you on the wrong path or, worse, stall your progress entirely. You know what's best, and the nagging feeling that told you to start looking is called "intuition." It's the strongest sense of direction on the planet. Trust yours, and don't be afraid to make the tough call. 7. You're emotionally unprepared to walk away If you're not really ready to leave your current position, it wreaks havoc on your life. Your performance might suffer, your coworkers might notice, and by the time you receive an offer, they might help you pack. Women are passionate creatures, and if we don't start looking at the workplace as a playing field, we'll continued to be whipsawed by politics and feeling as if we should stay because, well, what would happen if we left? Your career is an open playing field where you should explore your options and make decisions based on your own self-interests. That's not being selfish, that's survival. Love your co-workers, make friends outside of the office, but never feel badly for taking a job that gets you closer to your dreams. Conversely, don't use your job search as a salary negotiation ploy with your current employer. That only works once (if at all), and you might find yourself replaced before you knew what hit you.
| 4 | 11,461 |
lifestyle
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Career change can seem like an especially lonely task because it's such a personal process. It's easy to think that only you, by yourself, can answer the central question: What work matches my unique talents and interests? Furthermore, it's tempting to think of career change as a private matter, best conducted without many others knowing that you're going through it. Worse, we are taught that we're supposed to show our character by deliberately "going it alone" proving we can handle things by ourselves. Believe it or not, career change is best performed as a team sport and part of your task is to enlist the team that can be most helpful to you. Reimagining your career is a three-part process: you must understand what makes you unique, then brainstorm where you can find matching work, and learn how to locate that opportunity. The Career Team you put together can help with all three legs of your career-search journey. What: Figuring out what makes you unique involves answering two questions: what transferable skills do you most love to use?; and how do you combine those skills in ways that are different from what other people do? To find the answers, you should choose team members who know you well enough to offer insights. That's your best option. But here's a back-up strategy: sometimes you might choose for your team other job-hunters or career changers who are going through the same process, or perhaps counseling or coaching professionals. Where: Next, as you're determining where you can find matching work that is, work and work environments where you can perform at your highest level the most helpful people to add to your team will be brainstormers, friends and others who can provide suggestions for different options you might explore. Look for creative people who can envision work ideas that blend various fields. People who work in fields that interest you can be useful during this stage too, because they can tell you in detail what that work is like and point you to others who could be helpful. How: Finally, as you're determining how to approach the opportunities you've identified, you'll want to recruit "bridge people" to your team friends and others who know you and also know people at organizations that interest you. Bridge people can make introductions for you, spanning the distance between you and your organization of interest. These are often people with large networks of contacts, relationships with people in multiple fields, and 500+ connections on LinkedIn. By describing the kinds of organizations you're looking for, or specific people you're trying to find, bridge people can often make useful connections. You can enroll in Jobs with Friends , a website for finding people who know both you and the organization that interests you. Remember that some people you enlist for your Career Team will be going through their own career search now or sooner than they think so you'll have the opportunity to repay their help by joining their career teams. MORE: Life Reimagined is your first step in rediscovering what's truly important so you can finally start doing what you really want to. Click here to get started.
| 4 | 11,462 |
lifestyle
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The three-part series premieres March 18. American chicken chain KFC gets the star treatment in a new three-part documentary series on BBC. According to the network's website , the restaurant is one of most "globally recognized" brands but it also has the most "divided public opinion." Over the years, the chain has been attacked by animal activists multiple times. But, KFC also created advertisements beloved by millennials last year. The series called The Billion Dollar Chicken Shop aims to explore what KFC is like behind-the-scenes in the UK. The chain granted the BBC access to its boardroom and kitchens, but it's unclear exactly how transparent the company was with the press. Episodes follow people like a 17-years-old college dropout who just started a job at a KFC in Manchester, England; a manager who throws a theme night at his franchise in attempt to please his bosses; and a couple that are trying to stop a KFC from being built near their house. It even explores the secretive chicken farms that supply the chain with "a whopping 23 million chickens a year." The Billion Dollar Chicken Shop premieres March 18 on the BBC. Check out the trailer for the series below:
| 0 | 11,463 |
foodanddrink
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Kim Kardashian has been pretty open these past several months about how she and husband Kanye are hard at work trying to create a second bundle of joy. She even told sister Khloe that she's having sex 500 times a day in a promo for the new season of Keeping Up With the Kardashians , which starts on March 15. That's obviously an exaggeration, but her comment made us wonder: Will getting it on several times a day increase your odds of conceiving? The answer, surprisingly, is not exactly. "The general guideline for couples with no known fertility issues who are ready to become parents is to have frequent sex, which is defined as sex every day or every other day," says Elizabeth Fino, M.D., assistant professor of ob-gyn and reproductive specialist at the NYU Fertility Center in New York City. Knocking boots at this rate means that a guy's sperm will be fresh and healthy, ideal for fertilization. "More frequent than that puts a lot of pressure on couples to get busy, and we don't want to make it too stressful," says Fino. The advice changes, however, if a couple sees a fertility specialist and the guy is diagnosed with issues (which is the case with approximately 40 percent of fertility-challenged couples). "If there's a problem with a man's sperm count or his ejaculate, it's advised that the couple only have sex once every two or three days, which gives a man the opportunity to build up the best quality and quantity of sperm," says Fino. On the other hand, going without action for more than eight days can backfire; at that point, a man's ejaculate will contain a higher percentage of older or even dead sperm which are useless when it comes to conceiving. We don't know what Kimye's doctors are advising, but even five times a day is clearly too much of a good thing when it comes to making babies.
| 7 | 11,464 |
health
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If you're looking for a road to nowhere in particular, you can hardly do better than Route 165 toward Carbonado, Washington. The narrow two-lane flirts with the Carbon River for a few miles before vanishing into Mount Rainier National Park. The road grows tighter, hugging canyon walls that were cut by the river below over eons. The S3 is nervous over the uneven pavement, skipping and bouncing across bumps and dips. Seattle and the surrounding country is an oil painting in earth tones, a world hung in muted greens, blues, and browns. The S3 fits in like a firecracker, its blister-red paint shouting at the wan clouds in an inanimate act of madness. The dirt splayed down the car's flanks looks like a half-hearted attempt at camouflage.I'm here because the Pacific Northwest is unlike anywhere else in the country. The gnarled roads of Washington flick from pavement to gravel in a breath and stay soaked with seasonal rain. And because the locals enjoy a gem of a track tucked just outside Tacoma. It's the perfect place to make full use of 292 turbocharged horsepower in the 2015 Audi S3. This is a harder version of Audi's A3. Everything's a little sharper and more taut, and on the smooth stuff, the car swims in a sea of grip. Even bouncing and contorting over this tortured road, the S3 delivers confidence. There's a stone wall to my left and nothing but a Jersey barrier between me and a 300-foot drop on the right, and I'm carrying more speed than I probably should be. It's late October, and the Washington coast is gearing up for a long, dreary winter. The day I arrive, the weather's clear, possibly the last sunny day for months. Everything's wet. Rain from the night before mixes with conifer litter and lemon-yellow aspen leaves to coat the road, the pavement fringed by encroaching moss. It's a traction nightmare for anything with wheels or feet, a special kind of hell for sports cars. My test car checks every box on the S3 options sheet, including the all-important Performance package with its magnetorheological dampers. I have the system cranked to its stiffest setting in anticipation of glossy sweepers, but a century of hammering from trucks laden with coal and timber have turned the chip-seal surface violent. I dial the suspension back and the S3 softens up enough to keep my kidneys out of the ravine. To build this engine, Audi engineers shoved a platter of parts at the A3's transverse-mounted 2.0-liter four, including a reinforced block, a new cylinder head, tweaked pistons, and beefier connecting rods. The result is 292 hp and 280 lb-ft of torque. Chomp down on the throttle and a pair of baffles open in the exhaust. The sound is subdued but purposeful, popping and crackling in a deep-throated trill with each throttle lift. Related link: Research the Audi S3 The power comes on quick, and it's more than you'd expect from a car this size. Torque starts in the basement, arriving at 1900 rpm and continuing right up to 5300. It's the kind of big, no-drama torque something with more cylinders and more displacement would produce, and it's part of why the car's such a willing accomplice. During testing, the S3 cut a 4.4-second run in the 0 60 dash. It puts the Audi in sniffing distance of a heap of hero cars the BMW M4, Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG, and Cadillac CTS-V are all within an eyelash of that time. It'll also put delinquent all-wheel-drive rivals like the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution and the Subaru WRX STI facedown on the mat. Is this what happens when you grow up? You wear nicer clothes but never stop working on your haymaker? The road makes an abrupt right and tightens to a single-lane steel bridge over the Carbon River. We're gaining elevation now, winding past a few straggling driveways before the surface turns to gravel. Evergreen curtains line the way, strangling the sunlight down to ribbons through the timber. If the S3 gives up anything in the way of traction, it's hard to tell from the driver's seat. That ridiculous grip is ever present, even over large, wet marbles. Do something stupid like romp on the throttle, and the car will launch your fool self forward. The road unfurls, wide and straight, and I blister the distance at a shade below 90. Strung out and singing over a long thread of dirt, it's hard to miss the familial chords humming under this thing. You can feel them vibrating somewhere beyond the comfortable leather interior and quiet cabin, playing the same notes that slung Walter Röhrl and his S1 to victory all those years ago. The car is flat and stable. Unperturbed. I briefly wonder how long a road I would need to top it out, then my sanity returns and I wake the brakes. The S3 feels unsettled, wiggling its hips as the wheels talk among themselves to figure out who has more traction. The speed falls off and the road constricts, tightening into intricate switchbacks as I reenter the forest. The S3 doesn't want to slide. It wants to dig in, turn, and fire out the other side, like the road was paved with spray adhesive. It's quick, but it's not entertaining. Rotation only comes with big, committed lifts of the throttle or brake. It takes more effort than it's worth. I'm in the shadow of Mount Rainier, and the snowy peaks peer through gaps in the forest canopy. They materialize from the clouds to stand clear and bladelike against the blue sky. When I cross the national park boundary, the road is closed to everything but foot traffic. It may be autumn in the valley, but there's already snow in the pass, and the forest service has shut the road for winter. There's nowhere to go but back the way I came. I stop the car, kill the engine, and open the door. Water and bits of gravel fall from the Audi's underside as damp air cools the cabin. The pianissimo plink of the exhaust joins the chorus of forest sounds in concert around me. It seems like a shame to have come so close to snow just to have to turn around. I eye the map. Chinook Pass is on the other side of the mountain. It's 20 miles by crow but more than triple that by car. I have nowhere else to be. Route 410 gets lonely past Enumclaw. Bull elk poke their noses from between the firs lining the tarmac. The forest out here seems too dense to accommodate their broad, fractal antlers, but they paw through the underbrush and onto the pavement anyhow. The road gains elevation as it tucks along the White River, undulating and curving with each whim of the water below. The transmission is a bit underfoot. Audi only offers American buyers one transmission in the S3, a six-speed dual-clutch. The slight delay between paddle actuation and gearchange, coupled with a whiff of turbo lag, makes for a driving experience that feels a little out of step. One of us is always dragging the other around the dance floor. I find my snow just past the 123 junction, huddled in the crook of Chinook Pass. It's as if I've jumped forward three months in time. The temperature hangs at freezing. Jagged stone appears and vanishes through the fog as the two-lane tumbles back on itself and continues to climb. I turn off the navigation, and the screen recesses into the otherwise plain dash, offering up a little more windshield. It's easy to forget how rare such an unobstructed view is. Related link: Explore the S3's interior with an interactive 360 panorama I'm still amazed at the grip. The pavement's soaked; the Continental ContiSportContact summer tires are cold and hard. There's understeer here, but most buyers will never see it. When you do overcook a decreasing radius, the brakes can bleed off a tremendous amount of speed. The front rotors are up an inch over the hardware on the A3, and the back discs have grown by an inch and a half. Clamping down on those suckers is like trying to crush a block of hickory with your big toe. In the valley, the S3's steering felt out of sorts: artificially heavy in Dynamic mode and too detached in Comfort. The system comes together in the tangled intestines of 410. Up here, precision and feedback mean the difference between getting to dinner and getting to chat with the crew of a rescue helicopter. A stone wall sits inches from the shoulder, and there's nothing but loose rock and determined conifers between me and the canyon floor. The road is a wonder, contorting in pain, agony, or both. The S3 feels like it wants nothing more than to spend the rest of its days stalking the apexes of this Alpine facsimile. The next day, it's pouring rain as I head south on I-5 toward Olympia. After threading my way over the aimless roads of the inland, I want to see what the peninsula has to offer. It's the Olympus Rally's stomping ground, a nest of dirt roads painted against the impossible backdrop of the Pacific Northwest. I barely see any of it before the sound of broken metal takes root in the dark of my stomach, a sinking feeling, dense and unnatural. The dash is a spectrum of flashing warning lights. Dysfunction is here. The four still hums its impatient idle, wondering when we're going to get back to slinging gravel. I thumb the start button and let the motor go quiet, the pulse of the cylinders replaced by the arrhythmia of fat rain on the Audi's roof. I open the door, breathe in the damp evergreen smell of Lake Cushman, and step into the cold. The exhaust ticks itself cool as I round the car and spot it: the right front wheel kicked over at an impossible angle, wrenched out of socket by a rock the size of a large house shoe. I look closer and see the delicate arch of a suspension knuckle split in two, the threads of bolts unearthed from the cast aluminum. Denial grabs me by the scruff. After so many hours of bashing across unforgiving roads, it seems unthinkable for the S3 to have been undone by a lump of stone that waited 55 million years to catch me sliding around in a gravel lot. The S3 has so much of its rally-bred forebearers stitch-welded into its panels that I can't imagine not taking it to hunt out wicked and abandoned dirt paths. I'm soaked with cold rain and a wave of mechanical sympathy. I want to take it back, to make it better, and if I had the tools and the parts, I'd get down in the mud and fix the car where it sits. But I don't, so I can't. All I can do is leave the car in the muck and hike far enough to get a cell signal. It pulls at my heartstrings. The S3 is approachable, legitimate speed in a tidy package, and I broke it.
| 9 | 11,465 |
autos
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If you consume a high-salt diet complete with entire bags of chips in one sitting, and frequent hamburgers and hotdogs and you don't have high blood pressure problems you may consider yourself immune from sodium-related problems. But a new study points out that's not always the case, because a high-salt diet can have a negative impact on your organs, including your blood vessels, heart, kidneys, and even brain. The study , completed by two professors at the University of Delaware College of Health Sciences and two physicians at Christina Care Health System, found that even when high blood pressure doesn't exist for a patient, excess sodium can eventually lead to hardened vessel walls, enlarged heart muscles, and reduced kidney function. Sodium isn't all bad; it's actually essential to maintaining cellular homeostasis and fluid balance. To be clear, table salt and sodium aren't the same thing. Salt is actually a mix of sodium and chlorine ions, making it sodium chloride. When you eat salt, your body divides the sodium and chlorine ions, then uses the sodium to regulate fluid outside of the cells, assisting in maintenance of muscle contractions, nerve transmissions, hydration, and pH balance. A new study also discovered a link between sodium and a stronger immune system: Salt actually helped sick mice boost their immune system and fight off infection. But our body only needs so much salt only about 500 milligrams (mg) per day. The average American, however, consumes about six times that much due to the high levels of salt in fast food. Previously, patients who were able to eat a lot of salt but didn't have high blood pressure as a result, were considered "salt-resistant." But the authors point out that consuming such high levels of salt can have more of a silent impact on the body. "Blood pressure responses to alterations in dietary sodium vary widely, which has led to the concept of 'salt-sensitive' blood pressure," William Farquhar, an author of the study, said in the press release . "There are no standardized guidelines for classifying individuals as having salt-sensitive blood pressure, but if blood pressure increases during a period of high dietary sodium or decreases during a low-sodium period, the person is considered salt sensitive. If there's no change in blood pressure with sodium restriction, an individual is considered salt resistant." The researchers found that arteries under the influence of a high-salt diet saw a reduction in the function of the endothelium, or the inner lining of blood vessels. This, in turn, lowered the efficacy of coagulation, platelet adhesion, and immune function. Arteries are also more likely to be stiff from too much salt ingestion. In addition, the researchers found that too much salt could lead to left ventricular hypertrophy, or enlargement of the heart tissue. "As the walls of the chamber grow thicker, they become less compliant and eventually are unable to pump as forcefully as a healthy heart," David Edwards, an author of the study, said in the press release. Interestingly, too much salt can also impact the nervous system and the brain. "Chronically elevated dietary sodium may 'sensitize' sympathetic neurons in the brain, causing a greater response to a variety of stimuli, including skeletal muscle contraction," Farquhar said in the press release. "Again, even if blood pressure isn't increased , chronically increased sympathetic outflow may have harmful effects on target organs." Perhaps it's time to steer away from processed or fast foods, that are high in sodium and low in other nutrients, and instead turn to foods that will provide you with the minimal amount of sodium your body needs without being excessive. Source: Farquhar W, Edwards D, Jurkovitz C, Weintraub W. "Dietary Sodium and Health: More than Just Blood Pressure." Journal of the American College of Cardiology , 2015.
| 7 | 11,466 |
health
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Now that Kurt Busch has been reinstated by NASCAR , his immediate task at hand is to qualify for the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup in the No. 41 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet. Although he missed the first three races of the season and enters Sunday's race at Phoenix International Raceway with no championship driver points, Busch is in solid shape to attempt to win a second title to go with the one he won in 2004, the first year of the Chase format. Busch will begin his quest Sunday at PIR, where Stewart-Haas officials confirmed he will be back behind the wheel. To qualify for the Chase, Busch probably has to win one of the remaining 23 races in the Sprint Cup regular season and finish in the top 30 in points at the conclusion of the regular season. Right now, Busch is 42 points out of 30 th place. Last year, the 30th-place driver had 407 points after the 26 th race. In 2013, the 30 th -place driver had 396 points after 26 races. So to make it into the top 30, Busch would probably have to average about 17 to 18 points per race over the next 23 races. Last year in races No. 4-26, Busch averaged 25.6 points per race, well ahead of what he should need. Given that he drives for SHR, the organization that won last year's championship and two of the past four titles, Busch will likely have competitive cars. He will probably need to win at least one race to make the Chase, though. In 2014, 13 drivers qualified for the Chase by winning races, while Greg Biffle, Ryan Newman and Matt Kenseth made it in by being the three winless drivers with the most points. With missing three races so far, it is unlikely, though not impossible, that Busch could make it in on points alone. Last year, Busch's only victory of the season came in the spring race at Martinsville Speedway, which put him in the Chase. He ended the year 12 th in points.
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sports
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UPDATE: The Mirror has ID'd the producer that was on the receiving end of Clarkson's ire, saying the star "snapped" when a meal wasn't ready after a day of shooting. After the surprise announcement earlier today that Jeremy Clarkson had been suspended from Top Gear for an unspecified "fracas" with a producer, we've got more alleged detail on what went down: According to Radio Times , the host was suspended after throwing a punch at a BBC producer. The report also says that the final two episodes of this season of the show have been cancelled. Related Story: Jeremy Clarkson's most controversial moments The Radio Times report states that, while the incident occurred last week, it was only reported to the BBC yesterday, prompting today's action against Clarkson. Initially, the BBC announced that the upcoming episode of Top Gear would not air on March 15th as scheduled, but Radio Times says the final two episodes of season 22, scheduled for March 22 and 29, have also been canned. The BBC had not updated its statement at the time of this writing. Reports do not specify which male producer Clarkson allegedly struck numerous people involved with Top Gear hold the title of producer. The move by the BBC is just the latest in a long string of events that put Clarkson in increasingly hot water, including a situation where the Top Gear presenters were run out of town by angry Argentinians, and two moments where Clarkson was caught on camera allegedly uttering racist epithets once on air, and once in an outtake. Despite the ongoing drama, Clarkson and his colleagues seem to be making light of it all. Related Story: Global fans demand BBC reinstate 'Top Gear' host
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autos
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It's weird that a reigning Cy Young winner can be making the league minimum, but it looks like that's what will happen. The Cleveland Indians and reigning American League Cy Young winner Corey Kluber have reportedly discussed a longterm deal, but seem to have been unable to come to any sort of agreement, and so Wednesday morning Kluber was given a one-year contract, for something close to the league minimum of ~$550,000. If you're unfamiliar with baseball's financial structure, that figure may shock you, but because Kluber does not yet have three years of service time, he is not eligible for arbitration, and the team is under no obligation to pay him more than the minimum. (It's possible the team is giving him a bit more than that, as something of a goodwill bonus, but at this point that has not been reported.) Kluber will be eligible for arbitration in 2016, 2017, and 2018. If his 2015 is anywhere near as good as his 2014 was, he'll be in line for something like $10 million next season, with substantial raises in each of the two following seasons if he continues to be among baseball's best pitchers. On the other hand, if he were to suffer a career-ending injury this year, he's have nothing else coming to him. Because the risks and rewards are so high for both sides, there's a fair amount of incentive to meet somewhere in the middle and agree to an extension that assures the player of financial security for life, while giving the team the opportunity to save a lot of longterm money by locking a player in for less than he'd be worth on the free market. I was hoping to see a four-year extension for ~$32 million, with one or two team options at the end. There's nothing to prevent the two sides from continuing to talk, and it's possible such an extension will still be worked out ahead of Opening Day. In-season extensions are more rare, and so if nothing changes in the next three weeks or so, we'll probably be waiting til next winter to see what develops.
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sports
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Mar 11, 2015; 12:43 PM ET This impressive video shows an unlikely big dust devil shot near Araguapaz in Brazil.
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video
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The Apple Watch will have a number of health and fitness features, including activity tracking and reminders to get moving, but could the watch really make people healthier? Experts say the Apple Watch's health features are an improvement over some previous apps and wearables, and could indeed get some people to exercise more. But these features may not be enough to motivate everyone, and the watch also leaves out diet tracking, which may mean that some people get the wrong idea about how much they eat. "I think the big question will be, for whom will this be motivating or change behavior," said Sherry Pagoto, an associate professor of medicine co-founder of the Center for mHealth and Social Media at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. Pagoto noted that people who buy fitness trackers may already be a little more motivated to be active than the average person. On the other hand, people who are averse to exercise, or who think they don't have time for physical activity, may need more than what a basic fitness tracker has to offer to help them change their behavior. "The crowd that has really low motivation on exercise, I'll be curious how much they will benefit from a device like this," Pagoto said. Advantages of the Apple Watch Through a fitness app, the Apple Watch tracks people's movement, including their workouts and brisk activity, as well as how long they've been standing (instead of sitting or lying down) throughout the day. The watch will also send encouraging prompts, such as reminders to move around if users have been sitting down too long. It's known that tracking progress, setting goals and being cued at the right time to make a healthy choice are all strategies that can motivate some people to change their behavior, Pagoto said. One particularly notable feature of the watch is that it sets goals based on a person's past behavior, rather than relying on the user to set his or her own goals, or set a default goal, Pagoto said. Many other fitness trackers set a default activity goal of 10,000 steps, but this distance may be too easy for some people, whereas others may find it too difficult or even demoralizing, Pagoto said. Apple says that setting a goal based on past performance means that new goals will be "realistic and achievable." In addition, the fact that the Apple Watch is, well, a watch, means that the device may fit more easily into a person's wardrobe than devices that need to be clipped to a belt or worn as a bracelet. "Some of the other wearables are things that we're just not used to having on our clothes and our body," Pagoto said. "[But] I think most people are used to wearing a watch ... it feels a little bit more comfortable and integrated into your wardrobe than some other wearables." Dr. Mitesh S. Patel, an assistant professor of medicine and health care management at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, agreed that the function of the device as a watch may be beneficial. "One of the challenges to wearable devices is that most people stop wearing them," but with a watch, people may end up using it for longer, Patel said. What's missing Patel said that although the watch may make people more aware of their activity, that doesn't necessarily mean that it will change their behavior, especially over the long term. More study is needed on whether raising a person's awareness of his or her activity can actually change someone's behavior, he said. And because the watch focuses only on physical activity, not on what people eat, it's possible that it could lend people "a little bit of a false sense of confidence," Pagoto said. Because their steps walked or calories burned may seem like a large number, they might feel that they can eat more, Pagoto said. Pagoto once had a client who started using a Fitbit and found that he or she walked 5 miles a day during routine activities. Because this seemed like a long distance, the person thought he or she didn't need to exercise any more. But Pagoto noted that the person had in fact gained weight while doing this amount of exercise. To lose weight, "you have to improve from your baseline," she said. But the watch is also not designed to be a weight loss tool, and people may be using other apps to track their diet, Pagoto said. "I would want to know more about whether people tend to compensate for their physical activity by eating more, when they're just given their physical activity data, and don't know their diet data."
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health
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Last week, pop punk duo Ex Cops publicly slammed McDonald's for asking the band to perform for free during their music showcase at South By Southwest. Brian Harding, one half of Ex Cops, expressed his frustration on Facebook , explaining: "Their selling point was that this was 'a great opportunity for additional exposure,' and that 'McDonald's will have their global digital team on site to meet with the bands, help with cross promotion, etc. I don't, and doubt that they know what this means either. Getting past that rhetoric, at the very least a big corporation like McDonald's can at least pay their talent a little. Right? 'There isn't a budget for an artist fee (unfortunately).'" McDonald's defended their offer, saying in a statement that artists performing for free at SXSW is " standard protocol." "That's not true," Ex Cops singer Amalie Bruun told Rolling Stone following McDonald's response. "They're not following any guidelines because everyone else is offering money." But after much backlash in the media , it appears McDonalds' is ready to change its tune and protocol. Late Tuesday, the fast food franchise told Billboard : "All bands performing at our showcase will be compensated." Read the full statement from a McDonald's rep below: "SXSW started as a conference and festival for the music industry, related press and up-and-coming musicians bringing the community together to showcase their talents,. We are excited to expand our support of music at our SXSW activation where the lineup features a great assortment of more than 20 bands, honoring the spirit of the festival. To further support these artists, all bands performing at our showcase will be compensated." A source told Billboard that Ex Cops will not be playing the McDonald's showcase, but the group did express their gratitude on Facebook, writing: "We are thrilled that our letter made a difference. Thank YOU for helping us. Artists should be paid for their work." "Scott McNearney, SXSW's Sponsors chief, says the music festival typically offers one of two value propositions to artists who play official showcases," according to Billboard . "They can either take a cash payment or they can take a credential package to participate in the conference and see other showcases. It's up to those artists to decide which package they want." While McDonald's offerings are "apples and oranges" to a typical showcase package, McNearney was pleased the company had pivoted over the past few days, in addition to "offering an added-value of exposure for those artists." Ex Cops fans seem pretty pleased with McDonald's decision as well, commenting on the Facebook post: NOW WATCH: How To Listen To Your Entire Music Library Anywhere
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entertainment
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Apple's widely used iTunes and app stores suffered a rare breakdown Wednesday, frustrating millions of music lovers and mobile device owners around the world. The outages were still vexing the iPhone and iPad as of 1:30 p.m. Eastern time, based on status updates posed by Apple Inc. By then, the both the iTunes and app stores had been inaccessible for several hours to the exasperation of Apple users venting on social media and online forums. Apple apologized for the inconvenience, blaming the problem on an internal error affecting the system for directing online traffic. The Cupertino, California, company said it was working to restore service as soon as possible. Besides the iTunes and mobile app stores, Apple's online book store and app store for its Mac computers weren't working either. The disruption affects some of the world's most widely used and most profitable services. About 800 million accounts with credit cards linked to them have been set up on Apple's iTunes store since it opened in 2003 to sell digital music for the company's iPods. More than 75 billion apps have been downloaded from the store that Apple opened in 2008 for the iPhone and, later, the iPad. Many of those apps charge a fee, or generate revenue from purchases of other services while people are using the program. Last year, Apple's revenue from its iTunes, app, iBook, Mac app stores and other services totaled $18.5 billion, or an average of $50 million per day. That's still a small fraction of Apple's total revenue of $200 billion during that period. The outages also will cut into the sale mobile app developers who keep most of the revenue from the programs sold in the app store. Last year alone, Apple distributed $10 billion to mobile app developers, an average of about $27 million per day. The global outage comes two day after the company unveiled its latest gadget, the Apple Watch. Apple is hoping to attract even more traffic to its app store next month when the smart watch goes on sale. The company's stock slipped $1.30 to $123.20 Wednesday afternoon. The company stock has repeatedly hit new highs this year.
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finance
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1. You spend a lot of time gazing mournfully out the window at the clouds trying to remember what sunshine looked like. 2. Your replay your happy, sunny memories in your mind like a poignant movie montage scene. 3. You've deluded yourself into thinking that going bare-legged will magically will the sun to come out. It doesn't work. Your knees have never been colder. 4. You spend more time and imaginary money on Orbitz.com than Nasty Gal. And curating your fit-to-burst Airbnb wishlist. 5. Your "dream vacation" Pinterest board has never seen so much action. You're a one-woman Pinspiration machine. 6. But in all other areas of life, you just can't give a shit. 7. Worse than that, you're getting kind of bitchy. Pretending to like people is evidently much easier when you've dosed up on Vitamin D. 8. So this is your most frequently used emoji: 9. You have to use an absurd amount of makeup to inject any life into your beyond-pale skin. It's like your once-nice complexion has taken its own vacation. Far, far away from your face. 10. You try and make the most of crappy winter sun but it's pointless. If you can't take your jacket off in it, it shouldn't be called sunshine. OK, world? 11. Forget sex. Most of your most graphic fantasies revolve around feeling the sun on your skin and sand between your toes... Mmmmm... That's the good stuff right there. 12. You're growing to despise sweaters. The cute, quirky one you bought in November now feels like it's mocking you. 13. It hurts to think your beautiful summer clothes buried away in the back of a drawer somewhere. Someday they'll be liberated. SOMEDAY. 14. Instagram is intolerable. Famous people cavorting in bikinis on yachts make you kick yourself for being stuck with this dumb normal life without that many vacation days (and no yacht). 15. And you've considered unfriending your traveling friends who are posting endless pictures of themselves sunning it up in Thailand while you're relying on vats of hot coffee and soup for warmth. Not to be a party pooper, guys, but shut up . 16. You can't even remember what it was like to have bare arms. " Wearing just ONE layer..? What strange magic is this..?!" 17. You listen to the beachy sound effects on YouTube to use the power of thought to give you that vacation glow. It fails miserably. 18. You don't even care about the weekend anymore. Oh. Yay. Another rainy night at the bar, where the lovely beer garden furniture is currently under tarp. What a life. 19. You fantasize about what it'll be like to have a tan that doesn't come out of a spray nozzle or a bottle , like you once had approximately 479 years ago (last summer). 20. You're even excited about the prospect of getting a bikini wax. That's how warped your mind has become. Please, stranger, rip hair from my most sensitive of regions. I'm begging you .
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lifestyle
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SURPRISE, Ariz. - All signs point to Yu Darvish undergoing Tommy John surgery on his injured right elbow next week, Texas Rangers general manager Jon Daniels confirmed Wednesday. The procedure would end Darvish's 2015 season before it began, and likely sideline him from major league action until around the midpoint of the 2016 season, a devastating blow for a Rangers rotation that was going to lean heavily on one of the best young pitchers in the game. Darvish received a second opinion Tuesday on his sprained ulnar collateral ligament from New York-based orthopedist David Altchek. Daniels said Altchek confirmed the original diagnosis that surgery would be necessary. The club will send MRI results to noted orthopedist James Andrews, Daniels said, but barring any new information emerging, Darvish will undergo the procedure most likely next week, Daniels said. Darvish left his only Cactus League start Thursday after just one inning. Darvish went 10-7 with a 3.06 ERA in 2014, but didn't pitch after Aug. 9 due to elbow issues. Darvish's absence naturally weakens the top of the Rangers rotation, and threatens its depth, too. For now, Ross Detwiler and Nick Tepesch figure to fill the slots in the rotation behind Yovani Gallardo, Derek Holland and Colby Lewis. Darvish has a 39-25 record in three seasons, with 680 strikeouts in 545 1/3 innings.
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sports
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Let your busy day go with these 3 incredibly relaxing yoga poses. Deep sleep, here you come. 1. Legs-Up-the-Wall Pose Sit on the floor with one side of your body grazing wall. Swing legs up against the wall and slowly lower your back and head to the floor, keeping legs straight. Allow your hands to fall out to sides, palms facing up. Breathe deeply, relaxing into the pose. Hold for 1 to 5 minutes. 2. Child's Pose Kneel on your mat with your big toes touching and knees spread mat-width apart. Lower torso between knees, bringing your forehead to rest on mat and extending arms. Breathe deeply, holding for up to 1 minute or even longer. 3. Happy Baby Pose Lie on your mat and pull your knees to your chest. Place hands on the outsides of your feet, opening knees wider than your torso. Press feet into hands while pulling down on feet, creating resistance. Breathe deeply, holding for up to 1 minute.
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health
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The Ravens needed cap space to make moves in free agency. This way, they get money and get draft picks too. To see more Ravens videos download the Ravens DeskSite.
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sports
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An artist sifts through old dolls in junk shops and then finds strangers to dress and pose as the toys. Annie Collinge, 34, chose vintage toys from New York thrift stores to use in a project she calls Five Inches of Limbo. They include a woman dressed up to imitate a pixie with a red hat, a lady in fake fur and driving goggles, and an old lady posing as an unusual hanger with a doll's head. The English photographer, who has launched a book of the series this month, explains: "Five Inches of Limbo is a project shot in New York City between 2012-14. I bought weird dolls in junk stores and then found mainly strangers in the street and subway that looked like them. I then invited them to my apartment, made or found the costumes on Ebay and took their portrait. "I have made a limited edition publication, also called Five Inches of Limbo, which includes five short poems by the author Margaret Atwood." Annie Collinge, born in 1980, is an English photographer based between New York and London. She has exhibited internationally, including the National Portrait Gallery, Yinka Shonibare's Guest Project space and last year had a solo show at the Museum of Southern Art in New Orleans, Louisiana. A person is posed like a doll the photographer found in a junk shop. A person is posed like a doll the photographer found in a junk shop. A person is posed like a doll the photographer found in a junk shop. A person is posed like a doll the photographer found in a junk shop. A person is posed like a doll the photographer found in a junk shop. A person is posed like a doll the photographer found in a junk shop. A person is posed like a doll the photographer found in a junk shop.
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news
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Julianne Moore may have wowed us this red carpet season, but her style wasn't always so on point. At least that's what she reveals in the April issue of Harper's Bazaar . The cover star explains that, when it comes to her fashion, she's definitely had her good and bad moments. "There was one year when my kids were little, and every time I was photographed, I was wearing a pair of cargo shorts, a T-shirt, and a bandanna. It was so bad, my publicist was like, 'Get it together!'" These days, her red carpet style is more ultra-glam-perfection than shorts and T-shirts, but there's at least one thing she won't participate in at awards shows: the dreaded mani cam. "I'm 54 years old. I can't make my fingers walk; it's humiliating!", she told the mag, adding, "And a guy asked me to lift up my skirt to show them my shoes, and I said, 'I don't need to do that. Let's keep some dignity.'" Preach. Click here to read the entire interview, and be sure to pick up your copy of Harper's Bazaar on newsstands March 24.
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lifestyle
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When I was a kid, I used to imagine what video games in the future might look like and I was completely wrong. I never foresaw the advent of 3D graphics or huge open worlds, and I certainly didn't imagine how the internet would fundamentally change the way games are played. Instead, I thought of prettier versions of the 2D classics I was already playing: a new Final Fantasy as gorgeous as Castle in the Sky , or a Legend of Zelda game that looked just like a Disney cartoon. That obviously never happened, and outside of a few rare titles, hand-drawn animation never really became a big part of gaming. But I still sometimes wonder how great it might be to live in that alternative universe. It turns out, Ori and the Blind Forest is exactly the game I dreamed about. Out today on Xbox One and Steam , Ori is perhaps the most beautiful game I've ever played. It takes place in a sprawling, fantastical forest, one beset with a darkness that you're attempting to destroy. And it's all rendered in astonishing detail, from the animation to the wonderfully painted backgrounds. You'll explore areas including dark caverns and colorful woods, and they all feel full of life and movement. You play as Ori, a sort of ghostly cat-like creature, who has recently been taken from his adopted parent, a strange animal that looks like a bear wearing a mask. All of this story is told not with words, but charming animations that show the two characters caring for each other. When Ori first ventures out in the forest on his own, you can see his despair in the way he barely lifts his head as he walks. This is a hard game The game itself is fairly straightforward, reminiscent of Metroid and later Castlevania titles. It's a combination of an action game and a platformer, and it's just as challenging as the games you remember from the NES. Just like the alien planets in Metroid , the forest is actually one huge, interconnected world, and as you progress and earn new abilities, you'll open up new areas to explore. For example, once you get the ability to double jump, you can hop over gaps you previously couldn't. You can see many of these unreachable areas early on, but it's not until you learn the right ability that you can actually explore them. Much like in Metroid , this makes the act of backtracking through old areas actually fun and exciting; when you unlock a new skill, it can often completely change the way the game plays. Outside of its structure, Ori is also decidedly old-school when it comes to the difficulty: this is a hard game. You'll often come across regular enemies that can defeat you in just a few hits, so there's really never a time when you can relax. Likewise, the platforming sections can sometimes resemble something out of Super Meat Boy : death traps filled with spikes, laser beams, and other hazards that appear to be impossible to traverse at first glance. This is the kind of game where it'll often take dozens of attempts to get past a single perilous jump. But it's also the kind of game that's so good that you'll keep trying instead of shutting the console off in frustration. Things get even more challenging when you factor in the often unforgiving checkpoint system. Regular save points are spaced out pretty far apart, though the game features a somewhat unique system where you can use magic energy also used for special moves like an explosive attack to create temporary save points wherever you want. This can be really useful when you're in between check points, but it also means that you have to constantly think about saving at all times, which can be hard when you're so focused on the actual game. If you forget, you can lose a lot of progress instantly. Death in Ori and the Blind Forest can come very suddenly, and if you forgot to save, it's immensely frustrating. This is all to say that, aside from a few modern concessions, Ori plays just like the side-scrolling classics that used to keep me up all night drawing maps on graph paper. Because of this, it's also a great example of how much presentation can change a game. With a chiptune soundtrack and pixel art graphics, Ori would've been another retro homage, a game like Shovel Knight that feels like a long-lost classic. But with 2D graphics that rival the best of hand-drawn animation and a haunting soundtrack that can make constantly dying seem peaceful, Ori is something different altogether. It blends modern and retro in a way that feels almost seamless, blending some of the best from both worlds. It is, quite literally, the game of my dreams.
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news
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The sensational box-office run of "American Sniper" hit its peak this week with news the bio pic of Navy SEAL sniper Chris Kyle is now the highest-grossing US film of last year with $337.4 million. Not bad for a film with a budget just under $60 million. To put the success of "American Sniper" in perspective: the film made more than "The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1" ($337 million), "Guardians of the Galaxy" ($333 million), and "Captain America: The Winter Soldier" ($259.8 million) stateside. Directed by Clint Eastwood and starring Bradley Cooper as Kyle, the film garnered six Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture and Best Actor (it would win only for Best Sound Editing), but its true success was its surprising box-office take, even though it received mixed reactions by the critics . But it seems Eastwood films are impervious to criticism. Counting "American Sniper," Eastwood has directed six movies for Warner Bros. and all of them easily made their money back (only "Hereafter" and "Invictus" needed overseas grosses to get them in the black), thanks to Eastwood's modest budgets for his films that usually range between $30 million - $60 million. In fact, if it wasn't for Eastwood's lightening-quick shooting and bare-bones style of filmmaking, the "American Sniper" script would likely still be on the shelf. Steven Spielberg was originally supposed to helm the project after "Lincoln," but in the summer of 2013 he backed out, reportedly due Warner Bros.' insistence that it only be a $60 million picture. A week later, Warner Bros. called Eastwood and the rest is history. But the success of "American Sniper" also is a textbook example of great marketing and good timing. The film only opened on four screens on Christmas Day, making it eligible for Oscar consideration, and grossed just over $633,000. But then the Warner Bros. marketing team kicked in. Retelling Kyle's story, powerful ads and trailers of Cooper conflicted over his responsibility on the battlefield and the pull from his family back home. The Oscar buzz began, along with pieces questioning the accuracy of the film . The pump was primed and by the time the film went wide over Martin Luther King, Jr. weekend, it became the highest January opening ever with over $90 million. From there, the film's grosses soared and so did the country's interest. Kyle's wife began doing press leading up to the Oscars, and though the film didn't do well during awards season, the trial for Kyle's killer Eddie Ray Routh, an Iraqi war veteran who shot Kyle and his friend in the back while the two brought him to a shooting range in 2013 was already underway. It quickly became dubbed the "American Sniper" trail, and was the final jolt for a film that had now fully gripped a nation. While "American Sniper" topped every movie in 2014, the most fascinating stat may be that Eastwood's film is the first drama/non-franchise title to be the highest grossing of the year since 1998's "Saving Private Ryan." In doing so passes Steven Spielberg's war epic as the highest-grossing war movie of all time. Think Spielberg's regretting passing on "Sniper" now? NOW WATCH: The Rock wrestles an earthquake in this awesome trailer for 'San Andreas'
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entertainment
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R&B star Angie Stone was arrested in Georgia and charged with domestic aggravated assault after allegedly attacking her daughter with a metal stand, breaking her front teeth. DeKalb County police were called to Stone's home in Lithonia, Georgia, on Monday around 9:30 p.m., according to Atlanta's WXIA. Her 30-year-old daughter, Diamond Stone, told officers the singer went into her room telling her to clean up and "get her children since they were running around the house half naked." An argument ensued and turned physical. WXIA reported that the 53-year-old told police she hit her daughter in the face with the metal stand in self-defense after she started punching her. However, a police report obtained by the Atlantic Journal Constitution states that Angie Stone didn't know she hit her daughter with the metal stand. "Once she realized this," the report reads, "she quickly put the stand down and attempted to get away from Ms. Diamond Stone. Ms. Angie Stone then stated while she tried to get away, Ms. Diamond Stone continued to come after her as if to strike her again but stated that [family friend] Ms. Blondy Chisolm came to break up the fight." After both women were questioned at police headquarters, Diamond Stone was released with no charges and Angie Stone was handed the assault charge. TMZ obtained photos of Diamond Stone's injuries , showing broken teeth and a bruised lip. Angie Stone was released on $10,000 bond Tuesday.
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news
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Chevrolet has only released a teaser photo of the redesigned 2016 Spark minicar so far, but the final product has been hiding in plain sight as the Opel Karl that debuted at the Geneva auto show. The Chevrolet version will have a slightly different look with its brand-specific fascias, but the European-market Karl otherwise provides a good preview of the U.S.-market Spark we'll see at the New York auto show in a few weeks. Both the Opel Karl and its Vauxhall Viva twin will be built alongside the new Spark in South Korea. Looking at the Opel's measurements, we can see that the new 2016 Chevrolet Spark's footprint will grow ever so slightly, with a 0.4-inch longer wheelbase and a 0.2-inch longer overall length. The new car's roof is 3 inch lower overall, and the car could also weigh around 200 lb less than today's model if the Karl's 2070 lb curb weight is indicative of the U.S.-spec 2016 Spark's specification. The Opel Karl is powered by a new 1.0-liter turbocharged Ecotec three-cylinder making 74 hp, a bit less than the outgoing Chevrolet Spark's 84 hp from a 1.2-liter four-cylinder. The three-cylinder engine is part of GM's new global, small-displacement Ecotec engine family , so it's possible that Chevrolet may offer a slightly larger turbocharged engine for the Spark in the U.S. The European-market Opel is also available only with a five-speed manual, while the Spark will almost surely be offered with an automatic transmission option. Looks-wise, we know from Chevrolet's teaser photo that the Spark's front end will differ from the Opel, but the two cars' side surfacing and overall profile gives away the relation. We also expect the Chevrolet Spark to have a similar interior as the Opel Karl, which looks significantly more modern and upscale than the current Chevrolet Spark, at least in photos. Check out the gallery below for more photos of the Opel Karl, a close preview of the 2016 Chevrolet Spark that will officially make its debut in a few weeks at the New York auto show.
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autos
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The next time your mouth is on fire after eating a spicy dish, just remember all the good it's doing your body. Depending on your culture or how sensitive your taste buds are, hot peppers or hot sauce may have been a recurring ingredient in most meals growing up. For those of you who make it a point to avoid anything spicy in your diet, you could be missing out on a versatile health remedy known as capsaicin. By now you've realized that a little spice can help relieve your sinus congestion (and make everything nice), but what are some of the other healthy benefits of spicy food? "I have not seen any negative research on spices," Joey Gochnour, registered dietitian nutritionist and certified personal trainer, told Medical Daily . "If you like them, I encourage clients to add them to foods and when cooking because they can add flavor to otherwise bland healthy food. The way you enjoy healthier foods is by spicing them up. It can be fun to experiment. Most spices and herbs have negligible calories, especially in amounts used." Weight Loss You've tried every other weight loss supplement. Now try capsaicin. A recent study presented at the Biophysical Society's Annual Meeting suggests consuming chili peppers can aid in weight loss by way of thermogenics, the process of creating heat from burning fat. After adding capsaicin to the high-fat diet of mice, researchers from the University of Wyoming found that capsaicin prevented weight gain by turning on thermogenesis in the body. By triggering thermogenesis, capsaicin effectively turns bad, unhealthy fat into fat-burning brown fat. Brown fat naturally converts white fat into more brown fat while a person exercises. Capsaicin could serve as a natural edible ingredient that can mimic the fat-burning effect of exercise. Mice from the study did not gain weight even with an unhealthy diet high in fat. One thing's for certain, adding a little spice to your meal won't hurt. "Spicy food is enjoyed by many," Rene Ficek, lead nutrition expert at Seattle Sutton's Healthy Eating, told Medical Daily . "Many enjoy the spicy stuff simply for the flavor, and others for that whole body experience a spicy meal brings. But spicy food improves health in various ways. One of the most well-known health benefits of spice is its ability to raise metabolism, and thus burn extra calories. Eating a spicy food can temporarily boost your metabolism by up to eight percent. In addition to a metabolism boost, spicy dishes have more of a chance to leave you satisfied while encouraging eating slowly." Heart Disease Adding a little spice to your meal can even protect the ole ticker. Another study presented at the 243rd National Meeting and Exposition of the American Chemical Society (ACS) found that chili peppers could protect against the No. 1 cause of death in the U.S. Researchers fed hamsters a diet high in cholesterol with either supplements with various amounts of capsaicin or no capsaicin at all. In spite of a high cholesterol diet, feeding hamsters capsaicin effectively reduced "bad" cholesterol while having no effect on "good" cholesterol. Capsaicin supplementation also seemed to reduce the size of heart attack or stroke-causing deposits already formed in blood vessels. "According to research, capsaicin (the active ingredient found in jalapenos, cayenne pepper, and red chili peppers) may also improve health by lowering bad cholesterol, thus improving heart function," Ficek added. "Capsaicin can also reduce the accumulation of cholesterol in the body by increasing its breakdown rate. Peppers and chilis are a great source of vitamin C. The addition of fresh chilis to any meal can help you reach your daily recommended intake of vitamin C, which can reduce the duration of the common cold and may help prevent cancer and heart disease." Cancer According to the American Cancer Society, evidence has shown that capsaicin in oral and topical forms can help manage pain caused by surgery and mouth sores due to chemotherapy and radiation therapy. Capsaicin in its topical form is currently approved by the Food and Drug Administration to treat pain caused by conditions, such as arthritis and general muscle soreness. It is the most-studied active ingredient in the Capsicum herb plant. Some research has shown that antioxidant properties found in capsaicin can help fight the cancer-causing agent carcinogen nitrosamine.
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1. "I don't have time." Work out ? You would, but you're too busing work ing. 2. "I don't have enough time." If you could squeeze in a workout after work and before happy hour ends? Of course you'd hit gym. But then you'd have to shower and wash your hair and redo your makeup, and you'd totally miss the specials. Two-for-one wine, anyone? 3. "I'm too tired." Say you could physically make it to the gym without dying of exhaustion you'd end up going through the motions with your eyes closed. You'd be a hazard to yourself . 4. "I ate really, really healthy today!" That's good enough no excess exercise required . 5. "I'm getting my period." You're already crampy, bloated, and tired. The last thing you need is sore muscles to top off the misery. (Unless you do the ideal workout for when you have your period. 6. "I have my period." You honestly do want to work out today you have the best intentions! But if you bleed through your yoga pants, you'd never be able to show your face at the gyms ever again. You just can't afford to risk it. 7. "I don't want to have to schlep all my stuff all day." Carrying your sneakers, gym clothes, clean clothes, shower shoes, products, and makeup everywhere should qualify as its own workout. (Not. Interested. 8. "I forgot m y.. Sneakers. Hair elastic. Headphones. Sports bra. " You name it: If it didn't make into your gym bag, you can't exercise without it it's a sign from the stars to sit it out! 9. "I'm so out of shape." Every time you use this excuse to skip a workout? It becomes an even better excuse! 10. "I don't want to have to wash my hair." The quickest way to ruin a perfectly good hair day or blowout is to sweat all over it. Not happening. 11. "The gym is too expensive." Even if money did grow on trees, you'd rather spend it on something more fun. Like anything . 12. "I never done that workout before." Step one foot into that new fitness class, and who knows?! you might break it! 13. "I'm not flexible enough for that ." Touch your toes? You can barely reach your knees. No yoga for you! 14. "I'm too sore." Whether the culprit is yesterday's spin class or the crazy-high shoes you wore out last night, your legs hurt and have made the executive decision to sit this one out. 15. "I'm not a [gym/yoga/barre/spinning/etc.] person." Use this one often enough, and you never will be. It's the excuse that works forever! 16. "I don't feel like seeing anyone I know." Whether you're hungover, tired, breaking out, or out of clean (cute) workout clothes, you don't need an audience. 17. "I'm sick/getting sick." Never mind the facts that exercise flushes bacteria out of the lungs, boosts your immune system, and alleviates the stress that increases your risk of getting sick. You feel like shit and you're not stepping foot in that gym, dammit! 18. "I get too hungry to work out after work." And you can't work out on a full stomach. So you should probably just go home and eat dinner on your couch. 19. "I'm too tired in the morning." Mornings are for sleeping, not sweating. Obviously . (But there are reasons you should workout in the morning and a method behind the madness.) 20. "I have zero rhythm." Zumba would stir up memories of your second-grade dance recital. Trauma, no thank you. 21. "I get way too bored." You don't know how marathoners run for hours on end, and you don't want to. The thought of activity without entertainment is just you can't even. 22. "I don't want to." Lazy is as lazy does. (Hey, at least you're honest.) Follow Elizabeth on Twitter .
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As the world's automotive manufacturers merge themselves into only a handful of big, soulless corporations driven by CEO bonuses, cars are better than ever. As a group, that is. There are a lot of boring cars in the Boring Sea. Exceptions are rare, so when they happen, enthusiasts take notice and promptly lose their minds. Some recent examples include the 2008 Mercedes-Benz CLK63 AMG Black Series, which was designed by a bunch of lunatics left alone in the office while everyone else was on summer holiday. Now it's Porsche's turn. The Porsche Cayman GT4 comes from the same wizards of Weissach responsible for conjuring the 2015 Road & Track Performance Car of the Year, the magical 911 GT3. As magical as it is, the GT3 is equipped only with an automatic transmission. Porsche did not make the same mistake with the Cayman GT4, which is manual only. No corporate board sat down and approved this new Porsche, and certainly no one took it to customer clinics. Production capacity constraints will limit the GT4 to about 2500 units worldwide, about half of which will come to U.S. dealers. And what we're hearing, they're all accounted for. Get yourself on a wait list now. Throwback Thursday: The Most Influential Cars of the 1990s This new car is pure old-school hot-rod: stuff a big engine in a little car with a stick. The GT4 gets the 911 Carrera S's spectacularly oversquare 3800-cc, 7800-rpm flat-six, with about 2.5 lbs. milled out of its 22-lbs. flywheel. It bolts to a reinforced six-speed stick that channels the power to the rear wheels through a mechanical limited-slip diff. The GT4's body itself is a different part number from the bodies of other Caymans. It's reinforced in key spots (like where the fixed rear spoiler is mounted, as it contributes a good portion of the total 220 lbs. of downforce at top speed) and uses a thicker, much stronger crossmember between the rear upper strut mounts. The suspension and steering up front have been plucked straight out of the 911 GT3, and the GT4 rides 1.2 inches lower than a regular Cayman. The 911's multilink rear suspension wouldn't fit (nor is it necessary, says Porsche), so the Cayman's strut-type rear was completely reworked with new uprights, forged split wishbones, and ball joints at each end of the trailing arms. Shocks are upside-down adaptive Bilsteins at each corner, and hubs are of the conventional, five-lug variety. (The GT3 uses center-locks, which are expensive and difficult to torque and have a relatively short service life.) Weird Automotive Records Rear brakes also come from the GT3, giving the GT4 what amounts to ridiculously oversized, 15-inch rotors all around. Or, you may choose the optional carbon-ceramic jobs, which are also you guessed it taken from the GT3. They measure a fantastically absurd 16.1 inches at front, 15.4 inches at the rear. The wheels are also huge twenties! and this Cayman uses 245/35-20 and 295/30-20 Michelin Pilot Cup 2 tires, which are basically a 50/50 mixture of rubber and Krazy Glue. As it turns out, this particular mixture takes a while to warm up, allowing you some time to get comfortable in the GT4's cabin. Our test car had the (optional) non-reclining buckets, which are swiped right out of the million-dollar 918 Spyder. They're not generously padded, but are still comfortable. The driving position is just like a lesser Cayman's (only lower), and the steering wheel is a half-inch smaller in diameter than the one in the Cayman GTS. There's very little to play with in the cabin. There's the usual PASM button, which stiffens the shocks for glass-smooth racetracks (or to show your passengers just how much you hate them), a loud exhaust button, and a SPORT button that, thankfully, doesn't do anything to the accelerator pedal mapping. All the Cars That Go 200 MPH What it does is toggle automatic downshift rev-matching. The decision to include this option was made very late in the GT4's development cycle. Rather than get corporate (and corporate lawyers) involved in coming up with a new name for this, the GT Team decided to just use the existing SPORT button. So there's your explanation. It works as advertised. Use it, and you're a poseur. Harsh words, yes, but the single best part of the GT4 is its powertrain calibration if you're coordinated enough to drive a stick in the first place, you'll master every shift on your own. It feels like the computer helping you, but it's not this is Porsche's magic at work once again. The engine is a masterpiece with a haunting, deafening, flat-six wail. Unfortunately, you won't be hearing it pull to redline too many times in a row like all manual-transmission Porsches, the GT4 has long, long gears. (We saw 48 mph in first, 83 mph in second. Thereafter, everything becomes a cruising gear. Shame.) At least with the big six's enormous torque, you don't feel trapped in the gears. Shorter ratios would mean higher peak acceleration in each gear, though probably not a faster GT4. Besides, with a 183-mph pie, each of the six slices was going to be pretty big. C'est la vie. Porsche claims 4.2 seconds to sixty, and that certainly feels about right in other words, it's very quick. Porsche also claims a Nürburgring Nordschleife lap time of 7 minutes, 40 seconds the same as a 911 Carrera S. But if you read the fine print, that's the best-case 911, one with every possible performance-enhancing option. We don't doubt the laptime at all in fact, we'd guess that Porsche was conservative with it. But in terms of feel, that must have been one hairy lap. The GT4's stiff ride results in some considerable bounciness at the rear end. For those of you who thought Porsche was holding back all these years, it's just not the case: versus a rear-engined 911, a mid-engine Cayman is at a decided disadvantage where rear-wheel traction is concerned. The GT4 never steps out of line, but it has trouble putting power to the ground where a 911 wouldn't. At the limit on low-speed corners, the GT4 understeers more than we expected but its overall grip levels are so high that we don't feel the need to touch that limit again on public roads. On track, we didn't have a single complaint. The long gearing is perfect on Portugal's breathtaking Autódromo Internacional Algarve racetrack. Understeer? Nowhere to be found. Bouncy suspension? Nah, although the GT4's beautiful, spoiler-adorned rear end did like to walk around under ABS braking. What. A. Ride. Every part of this car feels like it was engineered for racetrack duty, probably because it was. The seats are perfect, the electrically assisted steering is millimeter-precise and communicative. There is absolutely no flex or slop in the shift linkage, so mid-corner upshifts are a breeze even at what feels like 1.3 g of cornering loads. And the GT-specific stability control never slows you down. Porsche Cayman pricing and specs But it does step in if you're overly enthusiastic so we had no choice but to switch it off. Unlike regular Porsches, GT cars' stability control is turned off in two steps. The first disables all brake interventions (including the inappropriately named Porsche Torque Vectoring system), but keeps traction control active to stop big wheelspin. And then, of course, you can switch it all off. The GT4's stability control doesn't come back on when you touch the brake pedal. You're entirely on your own a scary prospect with this much speed, this much grip, and almost perfectly neutral balance. Oh, but it's not. The verdict comes in on the final corner that leads onto the front straight at Portimão: a delightfully horrifying, slightly cambered right that drops down several stories. The GT4 dances perfectly on the edge of adhesion under three-quarter throttle, requiring the smallest possible corrections to keep it on line. When I look down in the middle of the corner, I see the dance is happening at 173 km/h. That's a four-wheel slide at a hair under 110 mph, toward a wall, down a blind hill, and never once did I flinch. The GT4 is that good.
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The Bentley SUV is happening, whether you like it or not. And whatever you think of it, they're going to sell them by the Connolly-leather-lined bucketful. Thank or curse the Volkswagen Group, which is providing the Q7 platform to Crewe. It'll rock the same kind of powerplants you see in the Conti GT twin-turbocharged V8s and 6-liter W12s so no surprises there. We're also hearing from Bentley's CEO, Wolfgang Dürheimer, that a plug-in hybrid could be expected as well. Sure, that makes sense too. With emissions and fuel economy regulations kicking into high gear, they don't have much of a choice. What they do have a choice about, to some extent, is how the Bentayga will look. Since the camo's mostly off this mule, what you see is pretty much what we'll get. Buyers will hold a referendum on its desirability with their pocketbooks. Unless you can afford to thumb your nose at a Bentayga's MSRP and buy something else with your ducats, your vote doesn't count. Related Link: See more Enthusiast & Future Car news
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Hair can be an incredibly hot part of your sex life after all, guys tend to love giving it a good yank, and many women are into it when they do. But how much does the color of your locks matter? According to a recent survey from Match.com, a decent amount apparently blondes are getting the most bang for their buck literally. Out of nearly 6,000 people who participated in their Singles in America survey, blondes seem to think about doing the deed more often. The survey found that 27 percent of blondes have an orgasm on the brain several times a week, while only 24 percent of brown-haired woman and 22 percent of black-haired women, felt the same. Oh, and girls with light-haired strands tend to have a higher number of partners, too. Blondes had an average of 10.1 partners, while redheads had 9.4 (see, they're still feisty!) and those with gray locks had 8.9. Maybe that explains Kim Kardashian's multiple hair changes? We all know she and Kanye are having sex 500 times a day. Related: The Biggest Hair Color Trends for 2015 13 Times Celebs Went Platinum Blonde 5 Fun, Easy Hair Color Trends to Try Right Now
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Fact: Even the most in-love couples have moments when the prospect of divorce crosses their mind. "After a heated argument, a betrayal, or even a rough patch, it's common for individuals to wonder what would happen if they had never met and married their spouse," says Rhonda Richards-Smith, LCSW, a Los Angeles-based relationship therapist. But when do those normal thoughts cross into the this is going to happen territory? We spoke to divorced couples about when they knew divorce was in their future. " Every time I thought of the future, he wasn't in it." "When I was pregnant with our second child, I kept thinking ahead to what it would be like parenting two children…and I kept seeing myself doing it on my own. At that point, my husband's travel schedule had been insane, so I had been doing the lion's share of the child-rearing myself. After a lot of soul-searching, I realized that we just weren't on the same path at all , and it would be easier for both of us to go our separate ways." Beth*, 30 "I stopped sharing stuff with him." "My ex and I went through an incredibly rocky patch, but I think the moment when it clicked that this wasn't going to work was when I had scored a promotion I'd been working toward for almost a year. As soon as I heard the news, my first instinct was to text my sister and best friend. I had to remind myself to tell my husband. It really made it clear we were already living separate lives." Jessica, 38 "My 10-year-old asked us to get divorced." "One time in the car, my 10-year-old asked me when mom and I were going to get a divorce. At first, I tried to reassure her that it wouldn't happen, but then when my wife and I talked about the conversation later, we realized that all our daughter knew about us as a couple was tension or fighting. It's not like we got divorced because she asked, but it did make us evaluate what our so-called 'relationship' was doing to our child." Jeff, 38 "I wanted the best for him." "This sounds weird, but the moment I knew was the moment I stopped feeling angry and jealous toward my now-ex. He and I had been having a ton of disagreements for years, and I would always find any reason to criticize him. But suddenly, it was like I'd lost all the anger and just saw him as some guy who had nothing in common with me. At that point, I knew it was best for both of us to split." Kate, 30 "I lied to my family." "There were about two years when I'd make it seem like everything was fine to my family. I hated visiting them because I knew it would mean I'd have to put on a happy face. It was so unlike me, and I knew in order to get myself back, I needed to seriously evaluate my marriage." Liz, 38 "I wanted to get caught cheating." "I began flirting with exes and doing really obvious things, like leaving my phone unlocked and on the table, or keeping my Facebook open. It was like I wanted to get caught. I hated how I was acting, and knew my now-ex and I both deserved for me to be a better person and own up to how unhappy I was in our current situation." Dan, 34 "I didn't want to let my friends down." "We got married relatively young when I was 22 and he was 21 and a lot of people, including our parents, didn't approve. They wanted us to really get to know ourselves and each other before we made that sort of commitment. Things were fine for the first two years, but after that, we both knew we were in trouble. One night, when we talked honestly about it, we realized neither of us wanted to call it off and admit that other people might have been right. Saying it out loud that a huge reason we felt we couldn't separate was because we were worried about what people would think of us gave us the freedom to actually do it." Alana, 29 "Weddings made me cry." There was one year where my husband and I went to six weddings, and I sobbed at every one of them. And not because I was so happy for the bride and groom, but because I was so unhappy for ourselves and what we both knew wasn't a fulfilling marriage. That was when I knew that we needed to talk." Nicky, 35 What the Experts Say: Divorce is an incredibly personal decision, so it doesn't mean your marriage is doomed if you or your significant other has experienced one or more of these feelings. What it does mean is that it's time for some serious soul-searching. Here, the five steps you need to take if you're wondering whether divorce is in your future. (Of course, if you feel in any sort of physical or emotional danger, it's important to get out ASAP.) Talk to your husband. Resist the urge to talk to friends and family about how you're feeling, even though you may be tempted, says Richards-Smith. "They won't be able to provide you with the unbiased opinions you need," she explains. Instead, bringing up how unhappy you're feeling with your guy can help you have an honest conversation about next steps. Pay attention to timing. "The worst time to make a decision about divorce is when both of you are going through a life change, like a move or a new baby," says Deborah Hecker, PhD, a Miami-based divorce counselor and author of Who Am I Without My Partner? If you and your guy have recently gone through a big life change, giving yourself permission to get through the situation together before making a permanent decision can be helpful. Go to a therapist together. Couples counseling can be helpful, even if you're pretty positive you both would be better off apart, since it can help foster the communication skills you need to handle the divorce. "Find a therapist without an agenda," suggests Hecker. In other words, it's not great if the therapist advertises his or her skill in keeping couples together. You want one who understands that, sometimes, the best route for both parties is divorce, and he or she will be able to help you down that road in the best way possible. Be realistic. "Divorce is hard in a myriad of ways , " warns Hecker. That's not to say it's not the best alternative, but you need to make sure that you have the emotional support behind you when you make the decision. "And make sure you think about finances," reminds Richards-Smith. "Run the numbers. And think of what financial arrangements need to be arranged to make divorce a viable option." Be open to your feelings. Some days, divorce might seem like the only option. Other times, you might feel like things will be all right. Ambivalence is normal, which is why it's helpful to have an impartial ear a counselor, a religious advisor, even a journal to turn to when you need to sort out what's going on in your mind.* names have been changed Related: 7 Things Every Couple Should Do Before Considering Divorce I'm Worried My Divorce Will Scar My Kids for Life 7 Post-Divorce Dating Rules That Get You Back in the Game
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INDIANAPOLIS (AP) Scott Barnes says this weekend promises to be the most unusual selection process of his five-year tenure on the NCAA Tournament committee. The committee chairman acknowledges Kentucky starts out as the top overall seed, something that might not change even if the Wildcats lose in this week's SEC tournament. And the most intense work might come in filling seed lines three through nine instead of the top two lines. Barnes says he's never seen anything like it as the committee begins its most important work week of the year. Committee members are scheduled to meet in Indianapolis through Sunday and will take their first vote on the 68-team field Wednesday afternoon.
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As a former Floridian who has consumed beers on a number of the Sunshine State's less prestigious golf courses, I can affirm that alligators are not a new sight around links south of Valdosta, Georgia. What Floridians are not used to seeing, however, are dinosaurs from the late Cretaceous period taking up residence three feet from the hole. According to a report from WPTV in West Palm Beach , this appeared to be the way of things were at a golf course in Englewood, Florida, over the weekend, where images have emerged of a monstrous alligator stalking the greens at Myakka Pines Golf Club. Golfers named Bill Susie and Dick Huber took pictures of the animal and shared them with the club. Honorably, the course posted the pictures on its Facebook page as an interesting tidbit/warning to locals. According to the WPTV report, the gator was traversing from pond to pond near the green at No. 7, stopping periodically to sun itself and claim dominion over the pin. Again, alligators are old hat in Florida just not ones that look like juvenile versions of the Sarcosuchus . When an alligator looks like you could stack two skateboards and roll them through its standing legs, that's a big gator. Of course, hoaxes are always possible, and until someone recovers Chubbs' hand from its stomach, we won't have definitive proof this titan exists. Until then, play it safe. Just stay in the cart, sip your John Daly and drive right past No. 7. Dan is on Twitter . He got out of Florida before that damn alligator could cut him down.
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Filippo Perini is Lamborghini's head of design, and the Aventador Superveloce that debuted in Geneva is his latest project. We caught up with him at the show to discuss not only the company's design process, but also the innovative materials the company is using, such as forged carbon fiber. The "forging" process transforms randomly chopped up bits of carbon fibers and, under very high pressure forms them into shapes that unlike woven carbon fiber are equally strong in all directions. This new material's first use outside of the Sesto Elemento is an optional package that puts it on display in the engine bay of the new Huracan. In addition, Perini filled us in on how Lamborghini's design team transformed the already brutal Aventador into an even more aggressive (in his words, "arrogant") Superveloce model. Related: 18 Things You Didn't Know About the Lamborghini Huracan R&T: Tell us about this unusual carbon fiber we see in the engine bay of the Huracan on the show stand. FP: This is carbon fiber that is random - we call this forged carbon fiber, it's a material that is pretty new. The fibers are random. It is structural, and aesthetic. I love this material because it's giving us a natural effect. It's very far from the tweed effect of carbon fiber. It reminds me of the roots of a tree, kind of a black wood. The first time we used this material was in the Sesto Elemento concept car, and we discovered a lot of potential of this material. And now we're starting to introduce it in production. Where can we expect to see this in the future? You will see it in a lot of applications. Interior, exterior. It doesn't matter. It can be structural. But at least it is a material that can be used in a very different way, but with a lot of positive effects. What is the cost compared to traditional carbon fiber? It's not less expensive. The cost per kilo is the same. The tooling to do it is more expensive. But what is interesting for us is the process. It allows different uses of the material that were impossible with the twill (traditional woven carbon fiber) because of the cost. It uses heavy pressure. It's a totally different business case. But what is interesting for us is that it is easier to have a production line with forged carbon fiber. Now it's just a matter of the capability of the process and the production. We have a huge carbon fiber center in the company. When you see it painted and shiny, it's really deep. Pictures don't tell the truth. When you change positions, you can see different things through it. I like it. The next application will be in the interior. Related: Favorites from the Geneva Motor Show What was the design process for the Aventador SV? We started as designers with the clear commitment to work in the direction of performance. So you can see typical first impact in the design is the rear wing. It's fixed, but it has the possibility to change position from neutral to low and high downforce. And from this rear, heavy element we started to work on the underbody, the rear diffuser, the rocker, and the front are driven by downforce, the first need of this car. We worked closely with the technicians. All the additional parts are in carbon. In view, or painted, it doesn't matter. There is a lot of carbon because we were asked to try to reduce weight. For example, avoiding moveable fins [in the intakes feeding the engine cooling system aft of the side windows] they are heavy we decided to use fixed fins that are serving the oil and gearbox cooler directly. So in the front … [w]e were trying to increase the downforce to balance the huge downforce that comes from the modification to the rear. Since the beginning of the project, when we were delivering our proposal to the aerodynamics guys, we worked very closely with them. This is important: we increased the cooling a lot for the engine by having a very well-profiled airflow [at the front fenders]. These surfaces guide airflow directly to the cooling system intakes [in the rear of the vehicle]. The rims are very important. We did a huge job with the technicians because we were asked to save a lot of weight, and you know, these are rotational masses, and we decided with the technicians to use this almost spoked design. These arms are so thin you can almost say they're spokes. How did these additions affect the overall design? For the exterior, we were trying to do the modifications to respect the initial concept of the car. It's always a risk to do modifications like this, to lose the homogeneous effect of the car. It's a radical, arrogant design but I think that it's clear that continuing the work done with the Aventador. And when we did the Aventador [initially], we were clearly thinking about the derivations and now the SV. It wasn't done at the time, but we were thinking about it. I see bare carbon fiber in the SV's interior, and that seems new. Can you tell me about that? It was very tough for us, because we were asked to take away not add. There are new door panels, with a single layer of carbon. New seats, with carbon fiber shells. These come directly from the Veneno. Now they are tested for broad use. The dashboard, you can see the massive use of lightweight materials. Alcantara is one, but you can see the twill carbon as well as the "carbon skin" this is our flexible carbon fiber. And we love to use all this material that comes from our activities with the concept. Last but not least, but to leave on view the real material of the monocoque: carbon fiber. Now we can leave it in view as you can see it's really naked. You can see the materials used in the construction. The rest is basically Aventador, but we were taking elements away for weight reduction. Carbon skin? Where am I going to see this in future Lamborghinis? What else will you use it for? One thing is to use it for concept, one for production. For production, a material has to fulfill all the requirements of durability, and this is very tough. We follow really demanding tests for all materials. So when you see an application, it is ready for production with the quality needed for the [Volkswagen Group], not just Lamborghini. We have a really modern carbon fiber production center in Sant'Agata and we want to use it. Don't forget, Lamborghini is a very small company. We have this potential in house, we will continue to use it, and designers are the first guys who can suggest new possibilities for this kind of material. Related video: Porsche 918 the Future of the Hypercar Is it difficult to design functional additions to a car like the Aventador without taking away from the car's character? No. For me, it's the difference between a designer and a stylist. We are asked to do design, and that means we have to know how aerodynamics works, how the materials are impacted in the process of making the parts. For example, if I'm working with an aluminum fender, or a carbon fiber fender, I can do something different. This is the way to do design. When we propose something, we already know that it works. So it's related to our expertise. So it's not a challenge. For example, the rear wing, we're not starting with a profile that's a dream of ours. We ask for a NACA profile, placed in the right place from the technical department. We are always asking: send me the profile that you want to start with for the wing. Send me the dimensions and the right positioning. We start like this: doing a profile around the brief we get from the technicians. One of the last things we did was the exhaust system. We had a problem: now the engine had 750 hp. The previous exhaust system was burning everything [when used with the higher-output engine]; literally, it was shooting flames! 70 cm! We have a nice picture on the technical department from at night [of that]. How did you change the exhaust to control this, well, flamethrower effect? The grille around the exhaust was made to keep safe the carbon fiber. We were using a thermal paint on the black part. And now we have a totally different muffler, it's smaller, and we were obliged to open all the rear grille. It's typical for an SV. It's all completely open. The engine can … burn everything. It's something else. The sound is … [incredible].
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autos
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We saw plenty of action go down on day one of NFL free agency. Our guys weigh in on the best free agents remaining on the market.
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sports
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From Haloti Ngata to Nick Foles, unexpected trades changed the NFL landscape right as free agency was set to kick off
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video
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Hitting on bartenders is both tempting (they're so hot!) and tricky (they're so busy!). So how can you make yourself stand out in a sea of equally inebriated revelers, all of whom are vying for one person's attention? Bartender Alex Maier recently published a post on bar etiquette full of enlightening advice, straight from the mind of an exasperated bartender. Whether you want your bartender to like like you, or to just like you, brush up on these tips before Friday night . 1) Order Efficiently A big part of flirting with the bartender is simply not being irritating to the bartender. If you're at the bar during a busy night, you can gain major points by knowing your drink right away, ordering quickly, paying in cash, and making room for the next customer. It may seem counterintuitive not to prolong your interaction, but if you're an easy customer, he or she will remember you the next time. 2) Have a Signature Drink Bartenders are pretty persnickety about alcohol, and tend to dislike customers who have complicated or ridiculous drink orders . But the right drink can score you major points. "I remember this one time back in Chicago, a cute girl came up to the bar and asked for Knob Creek, neat," says Maier, "and I was immediately floored. Not only did this girl know what she wanted, she knew how to order it, and she knew we carried the brand. She paid with cash and hit the road." 3) Short Questions Are Better Than Long Ones You probably have about two-minute intervals during which to have a short exchange with the bartender before he or she gets called away by another customer, so now is probably not the time for a long-winded discussion. Grab their attention by asking fun, short questions that can be answered quickly. Questions about the music playing, pop culture, and common places (a neighborhood or city) are safe bets. 4) Avoid Bartender Clichés "Do not say, 'I come here all the time and I've never seen you,'" Maier warns. "I promise I do work here often. It's not a lie. Or maybe I hide from you. Or maybe you don't come here often. Actually, you aren't here as much as you think." 5) It's Your Saturday Night, but Their Tuesday Afternoon You may be in weekend mode and ready to flirt, but your bartender is at work. So even if he or she wants to stop everything and flirt with you, they can't. Be mindful of this. "Do not say things about how I dress, or how serious I look when I am crazy busy. Even though you are having fun, I am working. This is my job. The more you annoy me, the less I will flirt with you." Throwing straws or napkins in order to get attention will also not be appreciated. 6) Remember to Tip! It may seem weird to give money to someone you're trying to hook up with, but bartenders can tell a lot about a person by how well they tip. A good tipper (which usually constitutes at least $2 per drink) is obviously used to going out and is respectful of a bartender's job. "It shows that you are able to pay for your own, go to bars on your own, and can take care of yourself," Maier says. 7) Show That You're Having a Good Time Smiling makes you more attractive to everybody, but especially bartenders. The whole point of their job is to create a fun and positive experience in their bar, and they appreciate knowing it's working. "Just shoot a cute smile my way while you say, 'This tastes great,' or if you are sneaky, try to smile at me as I glance back at you to see if you need another drink," Maier suggests. 8) Don't Take Up a Barstool If You Aren't Drinking You've been flirting and talking for a while, but the bar is still as busy as ever and it's time for you to switch to water. The best thing you can do at this point is to give up your bar seat to someone who will continue to buy drinks (and therefore make your bartender money). Quit while you're ahead! 9) Leave Your Number "Leave your number on the credit card slip. And your name. Maybe write something cute like, 'Thanks for getting me drunk.' Maybe even a smiley face if you are feeling up to it." But, if you leave your number, be cool about it. "Do not say, 'YOU BETTER CALL ME hahahahaha!'. It is embarrassing. For me and you. Just leave your number and that's that." 10) The Bonus Move That Bartenders Love Maier swears by one trick that's bound to make any bartender remember you. "If you really want me to remember you, when you come by again on a busy night, bring me a Red Bull. I will swoon hard over this. You see I need energy for extended hours and you want to help. Boom. True love." Chiara Atik, How About We Related Links Waiting for Your Date at the Bar: The Pros and Cons What to Order at the Bar to Impress Your Date Guys, Girls! Can We Get Something Straight About Buying Someone a Drink? ]]>
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lifestyle
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Celebrate St. Paddy's Day the animal way!
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video
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WILKES-BARRE, Pa. Police say a Pennsylvania man dropped to the ground and rolled around in dog waste to avoid being arrested for public drunkenness, but he was taken into custody anyway. Police in Wilkes-Barre (WILKS'-ba-ree) tell the Times Leader (http://bit.ly/1GrJdcx) officers came upon 45-year-old Maurice Franklin early Monday night after he jumped into traffic. They believed he was under the influence of drugs or alcohol. They say he slurred his words and at first claimed he was walking erratically to avoid stepping in the dog feces on the sidewalk. But when officers tried to arrest him, police say he lay down in the waste and told authorities they couldn't arrest him because he was covered in feces. Franklin couldn't immediately be reached for comment. Court records don't list a lawyer for him. ___ Information from: Times Leader, http://www.timesleader.com
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news
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Breastfeeding mothers deserve respect. That's the message Israeli photographer and mom Tamar Shugert was sending with her winning entry for the "Make A Statement" photo challenge. With two kids and one on the way, Shugert was dismayed that several of her friends had been asked to move their breastfeeding to the bathroom when in public places. Would you eat in a public restroom? Probably not. And nor should your child. Shugert's winning image shows her pretending to breastfeed in the bathroom with a side-by-side shot of her husband eating a plate of spaghetti in the same spot. Both are occupying the only available seat the toilet. As reported by The Huffington Post , the caption reads, in part, "If you are not willing to eat your lunch in the bathroom, then don't expect me to feed my kid there!" As a religious country, women is Israel do not often nurse their babies uncovered outside of the home. But Shugert notes that in more modern and secular cities like Tel Aviv, opinions on breastfeeding differ than those found in more religious areas of the nation. "Women should not be asked to go feed their children in bathrooms," Shugert said. "Nobody wants to be eating in bathroom. I wouldn't breastfeed in a bathroom even if I was asked to." Share This on Facebook? Images via Getty Images and Tamar Shugert Photography
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lifestyle
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Retired dentist Charlea Eugster set a new record for the 95 years plus age group at the Masters Indoor Championships in London with a time of 55.48 seconds
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video
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