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WASHINGTON President Barack Obama's choice to be U.S. ambassador to Mexico has withdrawn from consideration. The White House says Maria Echaveste cites a prolonged confirmation process as well as her family's best interests. Obama nominated Echaveste last September. She had yet to receive a confirmation hearing in the Senate. A graduate of Stanford University and Berkeley Law School, Echaveste was deputy chief of staff and a presidential assistant during the Clinton administration. When Hillary Rodham Clinton was secretary of state, she appointed Echaveste a special representative to Bolivia. Echaveste is a partner in the consulting firm Nueva Vista Group in San Francisco. A native of Texas who grew up in California, Echaveste would have been the first American woman to be ambassador to Mexico. Her withdrawal was first reported by Politico. | 5 | 5,400 | news |
NEW YORK (AP) Henrik Lundqvist took a puck to the throat and was scared and in pain. His New York Rangers felt every bit of both as they watched him writhing on the ice. Lundqvist was struck by a shot from Carolina's Brad Malone in the second period after teammate Ryan McDonagh's stick pushed up his goalie mask. Lundqvist shook that off, stopped 31 shots overall, and backstopped the Rangers' slump-busting 4-1 win over the Hurricanes on Saturday night. "I was getting ready for the shot, and I could feel a stick under my chin pull up my helmet, so I lost vision of the puck," Lundqvist said. "I had a bad feeling about it because I could kind of see the puck coming, but then I lost track of it. "When I got hit, it was obviously extremely painful and it was hard to breathe for a couple of minutes." That pain subsided, but Lundqvist still felt headaches and light-headedness that the medical staff attributed to a lack of oxygen after being struck. By the time the Rangers stretched their lead to 4-1 in the third, he was feeling much better. The Rangers had lost two straight since the All-Star break, mustering only one goal in the process, but Rick Nash and Dominic Moore scored in the first period, and Chris Kreider and Dan Boyle added insurance tallies 21 seconds apart in the third. That was enough to get Lundqvist his 24th win. "You're nervous for him, and your stomach drops a bit," said Rangers defenseman Marc Staal, who faced brothers Eric and Jordan -- Hurricanes forwards. "Anytime a guy is kind of rolling around and kicking his legs, you know it's not good." Malone had the lone goal for the Hurricanes, who went 7-3-2 in January -- their first winning month this season. Cam Ward stopped 33 shots in Carolina's first game of four-game trip that will continue out West. "I thought we controlled a lot of the play, just a few breakdowns," Jordan Staal said. "That's a good team that will make you pay quick. We have to rebound." The Rangers have taken the first four meetings from the Hurricanes this season and have won 15 of 16 overall against Carolina, including nine straight at home. Lundqvist has been a big reason why. He also has experience with getting hit in the throat. He said he and his brother got into many fights because of his wayward high slap shot. "My brother was an expert at that, actually, in practice," Lundqvist said. "He hit me on the throat a lot of times, but not like this where my helmet kind of came off and I lost track of the puck. "It could have been a lot worse. I feel lucky." After being treated for about 5 minutes, Lundqvist gathered himself as chants of "Hen-rik, Hen-rik!" filled Madison Square Garden. "It was just unfortunate timing by me," McDonagh said. "I'm trying to box a guy out, and my stick kind of gets his mask up. "I was a little nervous, but knowing the guy that he is, I thought for sure he would battle through." Lundqvist's best save came just over a minute into the second when he got his skate on the puck to prevent Andrej Nestrasil from scoring into an open right side. Malone brought Carolina within a goal at 2-1 at 5:38 when he deflected in a pass from defenseman Ryan Murphy for his fourth of the season and third in five games. "We've played better, had the puck more," Hurricanes coach Bill Peters said. "Our starts have been better. Have to crack the riddle (of) scoring goals." The Rangers spent much of the first period pinned in their zone. They were outshot 15-8 and relied on Lundqvist to bail them out multiple times -- including in the closing seconds when he rolled onto his back to keep the puck from getting past him -- and yet carried a 2-0 lead into the intermission. "The first half of the game, we might have been up 2-0 but that was mostly because of Hank's play," said Rangers coach Alain Vigneault, who shuffled up his forward lines multiple times. "We were up 2-0 but they had been the better team." Nash got New York's slumping offense rolling 6:30 in on the Rangers' second shot. He intercepted Andrej Sekera's clearing pass in the neutral zone and brought the puck into the Carolina end. He snapped a shot from above the left circle and beat Ward for Nash's 29th goal -- tying the NHL lead -- and first in four games. NOTES: Rangers RW Lee Stempniak was scratched for the second time in three games. ... Carolina RW Alexander Semin returned after being scratched the previous four games and 11 of the past 15. D John-Michael Liles came back after sitting out four games. The Rangers spent much of the first pinned in their zone. They were outshot 15-8 and relied on Lundqvist to bail them out multiple times - including in the closing seconds when he rolled onto his back to keep the puck from getting past him - and yet carried a 2-0 lead into the intermission. Nash got New York's slumping offense rolling 6:30 in on the Rangers' second shot. Nash intercepted Andrej Sekera's clearing pass in the neutral zone and brought the puck into the Carolina end. He snapped a shot from above the left circle and beat Ward under the right arm for Nash's 29th goal of the season and first in four games. Nash, the Rangers' lone All-Star, hadn't scored in six of his previous seven games - three scoreless contests on both sides of a two-goal game at Pittsburgh on Jan. 18. Moore doubled the lead with 9:03 remaining with his fourth goal and the Rangers' fifth short-handed tally of the season. Moore got around defenseman Justin Faulk and slipped a shot between Ward's pads for his first goal in 10 games. Ward, who played in only one of Carolina's previous three games against the Rangers, absorbed the Hurricanes' shootout loss to St. Louis on Friday despite not allowing any traditional goals on 29 shots after relieving starter Anton Khudobin in the first period. NOTES: Rangers RW Lee Stempniak was scratched for the second time in three games after rejoining the lineup vs. Montreal. C J.T. Miller was back in after a one-game benching. ... Carolina RW Alexander Semin returned after being scratched the previous four games and 11 of the past 15 as did Nestrasil. D John-Michael Liles came back after sitting out four games. LW Chris Terry, C Elias Lindholm, and D Brett Bellemore were scratched. | 1 | 5,401 | sports |
Rangers forward Dominic Moore deked a defenseman and beat goaltender Cam Ward on a breakaway to score one of the best shorthanded goals of the season. The Rangers would get the 4-1 win. | 1 | 5,402 | sports |
ATLANTA (AP) -- The 76ers' decision to "let it fly" with 3-pointers almost grounded the Hawks' winning streak. Al Horford's clutch play in the closing minutes helped keep the streak alive. BOX SCORE: HAWKS 91, 76ERS 85 Horford scored 23 points, including a tying basket after Philadelphia took its first lead late in the game, and Atlanta recovered after squandering a 21-point lead to beat the 76ers 91-85 on Saturday night and stretch its franchise-record winning streak to 19 games. It was one of the biggest threats yet to a streak that began with a win at Milwaukee on Dec. 27 and has left the Hawks with the NBA's best record. "That was a rough game," said Atlanta's Jeff Teague, who made only three of 12 shots for 10 points. "We had to battle it out and win any way possible." The Hawks led by 21 in the first half, but the 76ers came back to take their first lead at 83-81 on a jam by Nerlens Noel with less than 3 minutes remaining. Horford scored to pull the Hawks even, and Dennis Schroeder's 3-pointer with 1:35 left gave Atlanta an 86-83 advantage. Following a miss by Philadelphia's K.J. McDaniels, Horford's jumper gave the Hawks a five-point lead. The 76ers attacked with 3-pointers in the second half. They set season highs with 14 3s, including nine in the second half, and 35 attempts. Philadelphia coach Brett Brown called the second half "a fantastic learning experience." "You've put in a lot of work," Brown said. "Let it fly. Go ahead and get your legs into your shot, find your teammate and you will or you won't. And they did. "And we had to, because they do such a good job of guarding the paint, that's all that was open." Philadelphia's Hollis Thompson had 12 points while making four of six 3s. Luc Mbah a Moute, Michael Carter-Williams and Jerami Grant each had 13 points for Philadelphia, denied its first three-game winning streak of the season. Noel had 11 points and 10 rebounds. Horford had a game-high 11 rebounds, four assists and three blocks. "Al made a lot of big plays," Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer said. "When the game got tight, defensively he went to the boards." Shooting problems returned in the first half for the 76ers, who ended a streak of 23 straight games below 100 points in Friday night's 103-94 win over Minnesota. Atlanta led 49-34 at halftime as the 76ers struggled from the field and free throw line. ------ TIP-INS 76ers: Philadelphia finally reached 20 points with 6:06 remaining in the first half. ... The 76ers haven't won three straight since a four-game streak from Dec. 29, 2013, to Jan. 4, 2014. ... Carter-Williams had his left ankle examined following the game but said he was fine. Hawks: Teague was a little off on an intended alley-oop pass for Kent Bazemore in the third quarter, but they liked the result. Bazemore, soaring over the rim, had to hold off at the last second as the pass went in the basket for a 3-pointer. ... Schroeder and Paul Millsap each had 15 points. .. Attendance was 19,006 for the Hawks' 10th sellout in their last 12 home games and 11th of the season. Atlanta had a combined nine sellouts the last two seasons. ABOUT-FACE Hawks veteran forward Elton Brand showed his toughness by remaining in the game after being hit in his left eye, which was red after the game. He walked off the court before turning around in the tunnel and returning to the game. "I just forgot I was tough for a second," Brand said with a smile. INJURY REPORT Bazemore had only three points in his first start of the season as DeMarre Carroll (left Achilles strain) and Thabo Sefolosha (right calf strain) were held out. Sefolosha, hurt early in Friday night's win over Portland, is expected to miss six to eight weeks. UP NEXT 76ers: At Cleveland on Monday. Hawks: At New Orleans on Monday. | 1 | 5,403 | sports |
Once the Super Bowl XLIX showdown between the New England Patriots or Seattle Seahawks is over, the players and fans alike will be ready for some serious R&R. Thankfully, they're in the right place for it: Scottsdale, Arizona, just 20 miles from University of Phoenix Stadium, where tomorrow's battle takes place, is home to some of the most luxurious resort spas in the world. If you're heading to the game and staying a few extra days to recover, here are three of the best that are worth checking out. Well & Being at Willow Stream Spa, Fairmont Scottsdale Princess This desert spa oasis, located at the Fairmont's sprawling 65-acre property overlooking the Sonoran Desert and the McDowell Mountains, is equipped with a eucaplytus inhalation room, Swedish dry sauna, and Swiss shower. A co-ed grotto waterfall treatment area receives rave reviews, as does the rooftop adult pool with private cabanas. Willow Stream's impressive array of intriguing treatments includes the Golf Performance Massage (endorsed by David Leadbetter) that aims to improve balance and swing rotation, and a Jojoba Prickly Pear Sugar Scrub. Once you're sufficiently buffed and polished, you can enjoy a healthy lunch in the spa's garden atrium. The Center for Well-Being Spa, The Phoenician The 22,000 square-foot spa also at one of Scottsdale's most acclaimed five-star resorts features 24 private treatment rooms, fitness classes, weight training and cardiovascular studios. Its dizzying selection of treatments includes hyberbaric oxygen facials, hypnotherapy and a customized menu of services just for men, including a Natural Man Organic Facial. If the Super Bowl's outcome has left you angry and confused, try the Illumination Through Tarot, which will "help you find answers to questions you've been asking," such as why your favorite receiver dropped that crucial pass. Waldorf Astoria Spa, The Boulders At this majestic retreat, nestled in an arresting setting surrounded by 12-million-year-old boulders studding desert landscapes, treatments are arranged into three categories: Desert Zen (recharging and replenishing), Global Shaman (traditional healing therapies with modern twists) and Radiant Oasis (uplifting, hydrating and rejuvenating). The signature treatment, the Turquoise Wrap, is based on the Native American belief that turquoise stone "carries the vibration of protection, self-confidence and positive energy," and includes a desert salt exfoliation followed by a warm turquoise clay wrap. You can also meditate in a Native American TiPi, commune with a shaman, walk the spa's labyrinth, or explore the organic garden, where you can clip your favorite herb to use in a body treatment or add to a refreshing drink. | 2 | 5,404 | travel |
1. Know Where You Start When you write a new destination on your GPS, you have either two choices. You either put a starting address, or you start from your current location. If you don't do one of those simple steps, your GPS won't work. Same goes for your health goals. You might be rolling your eyes right now but so many people come in my office and don't even know where to start. If you don't know where you are starting from, meaning body fat, lean muscle mass, weight, or anything that would help you measure progress, how can you know if you are getting close to your destination. 2. Make It Clear and Realistic "I want to lose weight", "I want abs" or "I want to get back in shape". These goals could not be more vague. Losing weight? Losing weight is easy, losing fat needs a plan. You want to be in shape? Round is a shape! Here are examples of specific goals: I want to lose 5% of fat in 5 weeks. I want to gain 5 pounds of lean muscle mass in 3 months. I want to gain an inch on my arms in a month. I want to increase my vertical jump by 2 inches. Measure everything you need to know now, get it all done, and then set a goal. Be honest with yourself. Losing 20 pounds in a month might seem cool to say, but impossible and hazardous to your health in many ways. Be honest, realistic and go for it. 3. Set Up a Plan A simple plan should include a timeline. A start date and an end date with some phases in between. Phases would be determined by how long you give your self. 6 months would give you 6 workouts. To keep your metabolism going and prevent adrenal fatigue, alternate between hypertrophy and fat loss circuit phases. The same goes with your diet. Alternate between higher and lower calorie weeks, higher carbohydrate/low fat weeks alternated with higher fat/lower carb weeks. Many permutations are possible here and this is where trial and error comes in. Measure often and take notes. Stick with what works and discard what does not. 4. Make it About You Every time someone starts a new lifestyle, it seems like everyone has to pitch in and give his or her two cents. As if everyone is the same and should do the same plan or diet. Listening to others about what THEY are doing and trying to make you believe that it is the best thing for you as well will only set you back. Stay on track by not listening to other opinions. No one knows you better than you. | 7 | 5,405 | health |
Will Beast Mode or Gronk have a bigger impact in Super Bowl XLIX? | 1 | 5,406 | sports |
NEWARK, N.J. (AP) The win was a treat for Devils rookie goalie Keith Kinkaid. Getting his first career shutout would have made it even sweeter. Kinkaid came close, surrendering a lone goal with 1:29 remaining as New Jersey beat the Florida Panthers 3-1 on Saturday night. "I can't lie. It was in the back of my mind," Kinkaid said. "I tried not to think about it too much. It wasn't the end of the world." Just the end of a shutout bid for a rookie backup who improved to 2-3-3 in his first start since Jan. 9. "It was upsetting to go 58 1/2 minutes without giving up a goal (and then losing the shutout bid)," Kinkaid said. "Hopefully, there will be plenty more games in my future, and we'll get it done." Kinkaid stopped 26 shots while Mike Cammalleri and Steve Bernier each had a goal and an assist. Jaromir Jagr also scored as the Devils won for the sixth time in 10 games (6-2-2). Kinkaid got the start as Cory Schneider rested after facing a season-high 43 shots in the Devils' 2-1 overtime loss to Pittsburgh on Friday. "He's played well everytime he's been in there," Devils general manager and co-coach Lou Lamoriello said. "Too bad we couldn't get the shutout for him. I've said all along that our goaltending is something we feel very good about." Kinkaid, an undrafted free agent, was solid as the Devils beat the Panthers at home for the fifth straight time. Kinkaid lost the shutout on a drive by Brandon Pirri. It was a costly loss for the Panthers who hoped to gain ground in the chase for a playoff spot. Florida started the day six points behind the New York Rangers who held the second and final wild-card position in the Eastern Conference. While the Panthers lost for the sixth time in the last seven games, the Rangers beat the Carolina Hurricanes 4-1. The Panthers play the Rangers on Monday night at Madison Square Garden. "We're fighting to catch the Rangers and we have them next," Panthers forward Shawn Thornton said. "They're a team ahead of us. It's going to be hard to catch them this way." Jagr and Cammalleri scored in a span of just under 5 minutes as the Devils jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first period. Jagr opened the scoring at 9:40 with his 10th goal of the season, the 715th of his career. Jagr is now only two goals behind Phil Esposito, fifth on the all-time list. Set up by passes from Dainius Zubrus and Cammalleri, Jagr roofed a shot from the slot over Roberto Luongo's left shoulder. Cammalleri connected for a power-play tally with 5:13 remaining in the period to give New Jersey the two-goal advantage. The goal was set up by a beautiful between-the-legs backhand pass from Bernier to Cammalleri who got his team-leading 16th score. Kinkaid made those goals stand up. The Panthers controlled the scoreless second period but could not put a puck past Kinkaid. Florida outshot New Jersey 12-1 with the lone Devils shot coming from Bernier as time expired. The Panthers had several good opportunities with some of their best coming in the on the power play with Aleksander Barkov and Jonathan Huberdeau swiping at a loose puck in the crease before Kinkaid covered up. It was more of the same in third as the Devils concentrated on defending their zone while letting the Panthers carry the play. Kinkaid made a big pad save on Huberdeau's slapper from the left circle with 4 minutes left. The Panthers pulled Luongo for an extra attacker in final 3 minutes. Then Bernier iced the game with an empty netter with 2:32 to go, his fifth goal in the last six games. The only remaining suspense was the shutout, and that vanished on Pirri's goal. "We are not going to score this way," Pirri said. "It's not the way we're built. We have to score some ugly ones. We're an ugly team and have to start scoring ugly goals. Scoring one goal just is not good enough. It's not going to get any easier from here." NOTES: The Panthers started a three-games-in-four-nights swing through the New York area. After visiting the Rangers on Monday, the trip concludes on Long Island against the New York Islanders on Tuesday. ... Andy Greene played in his 197th straight game, second-longest streak by a defenseman in Devils history. Ken Daneyko holds the club mark with 388. ... The Devils scratched RW Michael Ryder and D Eric Gelinas. The Panther scratches were RW Jimmy Hayes and RW Tomas Kopecky. | 1 | 5,407 | sports |
#4 Duke went on an 11-0 run to end the game against #2 Virginia and came away with the 69-63 win. Although Jahlil Okafor was held to only 10 points, the two other star freshmen Tyus Jones and Justise Winslow combined for 32, as the Blue Devils handed the Cavaliers their first loss of the season. | 1 | 5,408 | sports |
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) Carl Djerassi, the chemist widely considered the father of the birth control pill, has died. Djerrasi died of complications of cancer Friday in his San Francisco home, Stanford University spokesman Dan Stober said. He was 91. Djerassi, a professor emeritus of chemistry at Stanford, was most famous for leading a research team in Mexico City that in 1951 developed norethindrone, a synthetic molecule that became a key component of the first birth control pill. "The pill" as it came to be known radically transformed sexual practices and women's lives. The pill gave women more control over their fertility than they had ever had before and permanently put doctors who previously didn't see contraceptives as part of their job in the birth control picture. In his book, "This Man's Pill," Djerassi said the invention also changed his life, making him more interested in how science affects society. In 1969, he submitted a public policy article about the global implications of U.S. contraceptive research, according to the Stanford News Service. In 1970, he published another article about the feasibility of a birth control pill for men. "The thoughts behind these two public policy articles had convinced me that politics, rather than science, would play the dominant role in shaping the future of human birth control," he wrote. Later in life, Djerassi, a native of Austria who came to the U.S. in 1939 with his mother, wrote poems, short stories and plays. He used stock earnings from the company that made the pill to help collect Paul Klee art work, which he donated to the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the San Francisco Chronicle reported (http://bit.ly/16cGiZB). "Carl Djerassi is probably the greatest chemist our department ever had," Richard N. Zare, the Marguerite Blake Wilbur Professor in Natural Science at Stanford, said in an obituary released by the university. "I know of no person in the world who combined the mastery of science with literary talent as Carl Djerassi." "He also is the only person, to my knowledge, to receive from President Nixon the National Medal of Science and to be named on Nixon's blacklist in the same year," Zare added. Djerassi told the Chronicle last year he was tired of talking about the pill (http://bit.ly/18DVAHK). "Carl did many things in his life he was a true Renaissance man and scholar," Philip Darney, a contraceptive scientist and director of the University of California, San Francisco's Bixby Center for Global Reproductive Health, told the Chronicle. He is survived by a son, Dale Djerassi; a stepdaughter, Leah Middlebrook; and a grandson, Alexander M. Djerassi. | 7 | 5,409 | health |
By Reva Friedel This week, Bravo announced two new additions to The Real Housewives of Orange County, set to begin its 10th season in April: (side note: 10 seasons? Really? Already? Yikes.) Meghan King Edmonds and Katie Chadwick Hamilton. Edmonds is married to former MLB center fielder Jim Edmonds, who now works for Fox Sports. Hamilton is married to current Angel Josh Hamilton. Now, while I don't watch the Real Housewives of Anywhere, and don't plan on starting, I believe each episode is 90% drunken hair pulling, and 10% other stuff. Edmonds and Hamilton will likely fall into the latter 10%, with minimal appearances in the kitchen trying to reason with their wives regarding whatever over dramatization is occurring at that moment. Edmonds and Hamilton should really join forces and use this as a bonding opportunity. For what it's worth, Meghan is Edmonds' third wife and they've been married less than six months. Josh and Katie have been married since 2004 and have a foundation together, Triple Play Ministries, which I suspect will not be the focus of many of these episodes. It's really weird to me that Edmonds and Hamilton would be on board with this, considering most people think these shows and the people on them cannot possibly taken seriously. But, to each his own, I suppose. | 1 | 5,410 | sports |
Pelicans head coach Monty Williams said Anthony Davis will not return until he is 100%. What's the impact? | 1 | 5,411 | sports |
By Vincent Frank Leave it to Saturday Night Live , a cultural icon around the United States, to mock pretty much everything relating to Super Bowl XLIX. Everything from the personalities of the Seattle Seahawks' top stars to Deflategate , was up for grabs in this epic opening monologue. Richard Sherman played by Jay Pharoah even went far enough to compare Pete Carroll to Shaggy from Scooby-Doo. Yeah, you read that right. Compared to some other comedic turns relating to the Super Bowl (looking at you, Key & Peele) , this was quite awesome. They even brought in Taran Killam (a Rob Lowe look-a-like) to play a gum-chomping, Dobie Gillis version of Carroll. It was quite awesome. You can watch it all here . | 1 | 5,412 | sports |
Great British Chefs demonstrates how to open an oyster at home | 8 | 5,413 | video |
In preparation for Super Bowl Sunday, take a look back at the Patriots top moments from the past year, including Tom Brady trolling on Facebook and Gronk's response to #DeflateGate. | 8 | 5,414 | video |
SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) More than four years after leaving Chicago, Antti Niemi still takes pleasure in beating the team he once helped win a Stanley Cup title. Niemi made 31 saves in his 31st career shutout and the San Jose Sharks won their third straight game by beating the Blackhawks 2-0 on Saturday night. "It's still a little special even though it's been a while," said Niemi, who left the Blackhawks for San Jose after winning the Stanley Cup in 2010. "They're still one of the top teams in the league so it's always good to win against them." Melker Karlsson scored early and Joe Thornton added an empty-net goal for the Sharks, who got their first regulation win over the Blackhawks since Feb. 10, 2012. Niemi did the rest against his former team as San Jose followed up wins over defending Stanley Cup champion Los Angeles and NHL points leader Anaheim with one against perennial cup contender Chicago. Antti Raanta made 19 saves for the Blackhawks, who were shut out for the fourth time this season. Chicago lost two of three on the post-All-Star break California swing, with the win coming Friday night in Anaheim. "He played awesome," defenseman Brent Burns said. "He's real sturdy back there. We feel good when he's there. We know he's there to back us up if they get a good chance, and he showed it tonight." The Sharks struck early to take the lead when Raanta struggled to control a shot by Matt Irwin. Karlsson batted at the rebound and it deflected into the net for his eighth goal of the season. Niemi took the game after that, especially in a brilliant second period when he kept Chicago off the scoreboard despite a 15-6 edge in shots on goal. "We just couldn't really get that one into the net in the second period," captain Jonathan Toews said. "We were creating a lot of chances off the rushes we had." Niemi made a pair of tough saves early in the second on Andrew Shaw and Brandon Saad. He then stopped Marian Hossa on a 2-on-1 rush midway through the period and came up with his best saves when the Sharks were on the power play late in the second. Toews came in alone on a breakaway and Niemi got a piece of his initial shot. The puck trickled past him and was on the way into the net before Niemi swept it off the goal line with his stick. Toews then got two more whacks at the rebound, but Niemi managed to stop those while lying on the ice with help from defenseman Brent Burns. "Nemo made the first save, it was dribbling in. He made the second save," coach Todd McLellan said. "We flew by the situation, which we shouldn't have, so we had to make the third and maybe even the fourth save. It could have been the turning point, it really could have, giving up a short-handed goal at that point. Nemo was there for us." Toews had the puck again for another shot, but the referees blew the play dead on a quick whistle. "I wasn't too happy with that," Toews said. "He thought it was frozen. It is what it is. We should have scored on the first rush." After Raanta made key stops on Barclay Goodrow and Matt Nieto early in the third to keep the deficit at one goal, Niemi responded again with a tough save against Saad. "It was one of those games where you thought you felt something was going to come eventually and it didn't happen," Chicago coach Joel Quenneville said. "I think we are on the right track here." NOTES: Niemi had two shutouts against the Blackhawks, beating them 1-0 on Nov. 23, 2011. ... Thornton assisted on Karlsson's goal giving him at least 30 assists in 15 straight seasons. ... Sharks F Tye McGinn left the game after the first period with an undisclosed injury and did not return. | 1 | 5,415 | sports |
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) The No. 14 VCU basketball team lost much more than a game on Saturday. A school spokesman says Briante Weber, the team's point guard, will miss the rest of the season after tearing the ACL, MCL and meniscus in his right knee on Saturday. The injury occurred with just a few minutes left in the Rams' 64-55 loss to Richmond. Weber, one of the team's leaders, was driving in the lane and attempted to make a jump-stop when his knee buckled. Weber was just 12 steals away from the NCAA career record and seemed certain to surpass it by a wide margin. | 1 | 5,416 | sports |
Rockets center Dwight Howard will be out "for a while" with an edema in his right knee, according to Rockets coach Kevin McHale . An MRI revealed the injury and Howard is expected to miss at least a month, according to Marc Stein of ESPN. This is Howard's second knee-related injury this season, after dealing with a strain to his right knee that forced him to miss 11 games in November and December. Whether the two injuries are related remains unclear but it sounds like the Rockets will take every precaution to prevent further problems. Howard is the centerpiece of Houston's defense and their second-leading scorer behind James Harden , so they will need him healthy for the playoffs. Joey Dorsey has been starting in his stead. According to Stein, sources said the Rockets remain confident Howard will be healthy in time to return during the regular season and have time to gear up for the postseason. That doesn't mean Howard will be back quickly, though, with Stein reporting Howard's absence will be "likely measured in weeks" rather than days. Howard is averaging 16.3 points, 11 rebounds and 1.4 blocks in 32.2 minutes this season. The Rockets are tied for the third-best record in the West at 33-15, so they are in a good position to wait for Howard to return without jeopardizing their playoff hopes. | 1 | 5,417 | sports |
Junior Seau and Jerome Bettis highlight the 2015 Class of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Also elected were Charles Haley, Tim Brown, Will Shields, Mick Tinglehoff, Bill Polian and Ron Wolf. | 1 | 5,418 | sports |
ELLA, Sri Lanka There are few things that can soothe the headache that comes after six hours of driving on dirt roads in a tropical country. Or so I thought, until I arrived in the mountain town of Ella to a cool breeze and a fresh pot of tea. By the time I saw the hammocks swinging on the terrace and the dramatic views they looked out on the drive felt like a distant dream. I had chosen Hilltop Guest House, a bed and breakfast, after reading that it had excellent food. The food was excellent homemade curries and pungent coconut sambal but it was the landscape that enchanted me. If you go Getting there A recent search for air travel from Pittsburgh to Colombo, Sri Lanka, found flights from $1,114 on Qatar Airways (stops in Chicago and Doha) and flights on Emirates from $1,119 (stops in Boston and Dubai). Many travelers do not stay in the busy capital of Colombo or spend only a short time there. For mountains and culture, head inland or to the north. For beach resorts, go south. Be sure to check the timing of the rainy season before you choose where to stay; different parts of the island are affected by different monsoons. Travel tips As in many developing countries, tap water in Sri Lanka is not safe to drink. Use bottled water at all times and exercise common sense and caution when choosing restaurants to dine in. Western style-toilets were widely available in the areas I traveled to. Homestays and hotels can vary in terms of price, quality and amenities. Check if hot water and air conditioning are available; they are not always provided. Visit review websites such as tripadvisor.com for traveler photos that will give you a realistic idea of the standard to expect in a given place. As the country develops, the government is building more paved roads and highways, which make travel more comfortable. Depending on your destination, you might encounter rugged dirt roads that make travel even by private car uncomfortable. Do not be overly ambitious in the distances you want to cover and remember that road travel might be very tiring. Accommodations Both of these homestays asked me to wire money to their bank account in advance to confirm my reservation. Prices vary; I stayed in high season. Hilltop Guest House, Ella: I paid 5800 Sri Lankan rupees a night for a double room and breakfast, or about $44. http://guesthouseella.yolasite.com; email: [email protected]. Phone: +94-57-222-8780 and +94-77-536-4920 Shehan Guest House: I paid $40 a night for a double room with air conditioning. http://shehanguestmirissa.com; +94-41-225-3845368B, Merenchigoda, Mirissa, Sri Lanka. [email protected] Vivian Nereim The sunset that first night was operatic, bursts of pink and purple as clouds rumbled over the valley. It is no wonder that Sri Lanka, an island off the tip of India, charmed even the explorer Marco Polo, who visited in 1265. The countryside is drenched in every shade of green, from coconut palms and mango trees on the coast to tea plantations and pine trees in hill country. Roman writers commonly referred to it as a utopia. Of course, no place on Earth is paradise, as much as the marketing material insists. For years, Sri Lanka was off-limits to all but the most intrepid travelers the kind who don't mind a civil war. Fighting that broke out in the 1980s between the government and rebels from an oppressed ethnic group, the Tamils, lasted for decades until a brutal government campaign ended the war in 2009. Five years later, tourism is beginning to boom in this nation of about 21 million. From 2000 to 2009, annual tourist arrivals hovered between 300,000 and 600,000. By 2013, they had soared to 1.27 million. These sudden changes mean that Sri Lanka is in an adolescent phase of development, with plenty of awkward transitions. Still, there is a special thrill in traveling to a place when it is tipping over the edge of trendy. Beaches aside, it seems there is something for every type of traveler: mountain hiking, ancient ruins, all-night parties, luxury villas, clothing boutiques, cultural festivals and elephant safaris. I had only a week for all of this, so I decided to limit myself to two nights in the mountains and four on the beach. I began in Ella, a popular base for backpackers who want to discover the waterfalls and tea plantations of Sri Lankan hill country. The village has a wide selection of homestays, from bare-bones basic to borderline indulgent. Hilltop Guest House was a perfect base to see the area, with comfortable rooms, friendly service and astounding views from a terrace that I could have spent the entire week on. (Pay a little extra for the first-floor rooms so you can walk out your door onto the terrace.) The day after arriving, I departed the guesthouse at the blood-curdling hour of 4:30 a.m., headed for Horton Plains National Park. The park's most popular hike to a destination called "World's End" is best begun early. When you reach the "end of the world," you find a sheer cliff that drops thousands of feet. On clear days, I read, you feel like you can see across all of Sri Lanka. On misty days, as I found, the effect is still stunning. You gaze over the precipice at a swirling mass of white. The nine-kilometer hike (about 5½ miles) was peaceful and otherworldly, with mist-covered rivers and rolling hills. After enjoying the mountain air, I headed to the resort-laden south coast. While poring over the guidebooks, I chose Mirissa because it seemed to be a quieter and less developed beach than nearby Unawatana. Instead, I arrived to find sunburned partiers and barely an inch of sand without a restaurant or a hotel. It was perfect for New Year's Eve, with fireworks and house music, but the following day I swept myself away in a short tuk-tuk ride (a kind of auto rickshaw) to nearby Talalla, which Lonely Planet promised was an isolated haven. I was not disappointed. The stretch of soft sand had just a few restaurants and hotels hidden behind a curtain of coconut palms. The beach was quiet in the afternoon and awoke at sunset, with a mixture of tourists, boys playing cricket, families enjoying the water and a few wandering cows. In Talalla, I ate lunch at a random shack on the edge of the beach and was surprised with one of my best meals in Sri Lanka: tender calamari and a tangy pineapple salad. While the south coast is mostly frequented by beachgoers, there is plenty of culture for those who seek it out. One of my favorite days was spent meandering in a tuk-tuk along the seaside road between Mirissa and Galle, a port city where the old town is encircled by a 17th-century Dutch fortress. On the way to Galle, I stopped at a Buddhist site near Koggala, Kataluwa Purvarama Temple (also spelled Kathaluwa Poorwarama), and was awed by the 19th-century wall paintings that layer every inch of the interior. Originally built in the 13th century, the temple was deserted when I visited, except for a caretaker and a pack of happy mangy dogs. I wandered it in silence, amazed that so many tourists pass within a mile of the temple without knowing it's there. Each night in Mirissa, I returned back to Shehan Guest House, a not-exactly-resplendent but very homey accommodation made lovely by the hospitality of Shehan and his mother, a first-rate cook the kind who lights up while she watches people lick their fingers clean of her sweet and spicy sauces. Every afternoon, a few hours before dinner, I asked her to make whatever seafood was freshest, along with traditional rice and curry. When I left for the long, hot journey back to the airport, she filled my belly with a huge breakfast topped off with a pot of tea then waved goodbye with tears in her eyes. Vivian Nereim, a former staff writer for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, is a journalist who lives in Oman. | 2 | 5,419 | travel |
When the reserves for the 2015 NBA All-Star Game were released , there were a couple of notable names missing from the list. While the Western Conference did right one wrong by adding the Kings ' DeMarcus Cousins to replace the injured Kobe Bryant , there was still one person who should be upset with getting snubbed and that is the Trail Blazers ' Damian Lillard . As we head to the halfway point of the season, Lillard is 12th in the league in points per game (21.8) and 15th in assists (6.2). His averages in those categories are an improvement from last season's numbers where he was named to his first All-Star Game. However, don't feel too bad for Dame because he sees this as a motivating factor going forward. Yesterday, Lillard posted the following message on Facebook: I just want to thank everyone that felt I wasn't good enough. This isn't unfamiliar territory for me. It actually is what my life has been inspired by. I'd be lying if if I said I wasn't disappointed or that I don't feel disrespected, but it's not too much to handle. Not the first or last guy to be snubbed, but "you should have been there" is not good enough for me. But anyway, the reason I'm in these shoes is because I've always used the hand I was dealt to my advantage. A wise man once told me "it ain't always gone be peaches and cream, but somebody has to pay for the reason it's not...one way or another." # ImThankful # Real # NonAllStar # RipCity # YellowTape If Lillard starts playing like a man possessed from here on out, look no further than this moment. Send all complaints, compliments, and tips to [email protected] [via Damian Lillard ] | 1 | 5,420 | sports |
Snoop Dogg has sponsored a youth football league for year, along with some players, such as Ronnie Hillman. How important is it for the youth to have this kind of direction? | 1 | 5,421 | sports |
PARADISE VALLEY, Ariz. -- Before the party even started Saturday night, the Big Game, Big Give charity event had exceeded its $1 million fundraising goal. "I am so excited that Arizona has already done this. It just shows what a philanthropic state we are," event co-chair Linda Pope said as the event was getting underway in Paradise Valley. Big Game, Big Give has been held in the Super Bowl host city since its inception six years ago, and each year, it tops the list of most elegant game-related parties. On Saturday night, the Valley version of this all-VIP charity bash was on its way to being the most over-the-top yet. Washington Nationals manager and former Diamondback Matt Williams and his wife, Erika, hosted the event at their 20,000-square-foot Paradise Valley home. It was to feature fireworks and even a visit from the Transformer Optimus Prime. A massive cake from Phoenix's Tammie Coe bakery was large enough to feed 500 and in the shape of the University of Phoenix stadium, including the roll-out field. The goal was to raise $1 million for the Giving Back Fund, one of the primary beneficiaries of the night, along with the Mark Wahlberg Youth Foundation and Boys & Girls Clubs of Metropolitan Phoenix. An online auction raised the $1 million before Saturday night's live auction even began. "You get the right people together, they can do amazing things," Matt Williams said. Actor and producer Mark Wahlberg and "Transformers" director Michael Bay were also among the hosts. The guest list included Walmart heirs Melani and Rob Walton, Arizona's Republican U.S. Sens. John McCain and Jeff Flake, and Arizona Cardinals president Michael Bidwill. It was co-chaired by Linda Pope and her husband Bill. Gannett Co., Inc., USA TODAY, The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com were among the sponsors. Guests walked a block-long red carpet before entering the Williams' walled estate. Once inside, there were photo opportunities with the Budweiser Clydesdales. A bronze-colored, flaming sculpture of the mythical Phoenix was the courtyard's centerpiece. Early arrivers included Bay and Cindy McCain, both co-hosts. Former San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, "No Country for Old Men" and "Fargo" producer Joel Coen and a handful of Washington Nationals players followed. Gov. Doug Ducey attended, along with many of the Valley's biggest charitable donors. The party had an over-the-top Arizona theme developed by Linda Pope. Inside to the right, they could visit an Old West Tombstone saloon. To the left, a Route 66-themed area. In the backyard, a Flagstaff theme came complete with a Snowbowl ski lift. And on a rooftop deck, officials from Flagstaff's Lowell Observatory had set up telescopes and were passing around pieces of moon rock. "People always get excited to hold a piece of the moon, no matter who they are," said Jeffrey Hall, director of Lowell Observatory. "American Idol" winner and Glendale native Jordin Sparks was performing later in the evening. More than $100,000 in goods was donated for gift bags, raffles and prizes from Saks Fifth Avenue, including a mink stole. The online auction items included a week-long trip to Deer Valley, Utah, for skiing, and a trip to the American Idol Finale in Hollywood, with VIP tickets to an afterparty with celebrities from the show. There were also trips to the Daytona 500, a tour of the White House and several days in Washington, D.C., as a guest of the Nationals, and the chance to fly to an Arizona Diamondbacks road game on the team plane. Many opening bids started at $20,000. | 1 | 5,422 | sports |
John Klingberg had a four-point game for the Stars in their 5-2 win Saturday. Klingberg had two goals and two assists, contributing in four of the five goals. | 1 | 5,423 | sports |
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. Tony Bennett scrunched up his face, pained, as he debated internally whether suffering a loss thus relieving his Virginia team of the pressure of being undefeated was a good or bad thing. Ultimately? Bad. Excruciating. Baffling. "We wanted to win," Bennett said Saturday night after Duke's dramatic 69-63 win. "Ah. We just I'm frustrated right now, because I feel like it was without our grasp to take home, and we couldn't finish it." That's certainly true. No. 2 Virginia led by 11 points with fewer than 10 minutes to play, a lead that felt even larger because of the Cavaliers' slow tempo and typically suffocating defense. But a furious comeback which required a barrage of Duke three-pointers and some timely baskets by center Jahlil Okafor earned a win for the Blue Devils and handed the Cavaliers their first loss of the season. Now, only No. 1 Kentucky remains unbeaten. Virginia's coach and players wouldn't admit it, of course, but if this Virginia team had to suffer a loss, well, this was the perfect time to do it. A date with North Carolina, yet another top-15 foe, is set for Monday. There's not enough time to dwell on or wallow in this loss. There's only enough time to rest, watch film and try to fix the mental mistakes they made against Duke. Said sophomore point guard London Perrantes of the short turnaround: "I guess it's a blessing in disguise." "A loss is a loss," redshirt junior guard Malcolm Brogdon said. "Everybody loses. We've got to move on. … Nothing changes. Of course you're going to be upset. Of course you're going to have wanted to do some things differently, looking back. But we have to handle the losses the same way as the wins, and bounce back. "We have a mature, resilient team. That will pay off for us." Brogdon even went so far as to call the home loss "shocking" and "like a slap in the face" because Virginia had won 21 in a row at John Paul Jones Arena. "I think that's only going to add fuel to the fire for us," Brogdon said. "We're going to come out hungrier next game." It's been quite some time since Virginia has felt that hunger; it's been 10 months since the program has suffered a loss which means it's also been 10 months since the Cavaliers have gotten to learn from one, too. Coaches will always tell you it's better to learn something about your team while winning. But losses spell out those lessons more clearly. For Virginia, its defense can't allow so many easy buckets in transition again. On Saturday, Duke scored 14 points off its fast breaks. "They really had us on our heels," Bennett said. "That hurt in a game that was this close. … Any breakdowns are costly, but those transition buckets were sometimes a result of some forcing, some not getting back, and them getting up the court faster than most teams." Duke also scored 43 second-half points, an astounding number against a defense known for its stinginess, particularly as a game goes on. Duke closed out the final 9:39 on a 35-18 run. Three times this season, the Cavaliers have allowed fewer than 30 points over the course of the entire game. If there's a silver lining in any of that, it's this: Virginia's mistakes were glaring and uncharacteristic. Therefore, they're fixable. And now they can fix them without the unrelenting spotlight and increasing heavy pressure that accompany an unblemished record. "There definitely is pressure that comes with being undefeated," Brogdon said. "Because you want to win, you want to keep it going. But at the same time, you don't want to put the attention on being undefeated or that you're 18-0. You want to put the attention on this game individually and going out next time giving it your best." Next time, it'll be UNC. The time after that, Louisville. The ACC this season will allow plenty of opportunities for redemption and growth. Virginia knew that but had avoided having to experience that by suffering losses. Now, the Cavaliers will be forced to respond to one. It's not the best thing, obviously but it's not a bad thing, either. "You better be ready to lace 'em up every night," Bennett said. "You hate to give up a game like this on your home floor, but I told our guys, 'It's what you do from here on out.' I think our guys understand that." | 1 | 5,424 | sports |
Boston defeated Los Angeles 3-1 on Saturday night. Bruins forward Chris Kelly scored 93 seconds after Kings winger Jordan tied the game at one late in the third period. | 1 | 5,425 | sports |
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, a likely 2016 Republican presidential contender, will be promoting his state's life sciences industry in a trip to the United Kingdom starting Sunday, where he is also scheduled to meet the Prime Minister and catch an Arsenal match. The brash, charismatic second-term governor is expected to soon announce whether he intents to run for president. On Jan. 23, Christie supporters formed a political action committee, the biggest indication yet that he will make a bid for the White House. The UK is the third largest trading partner for New Jersey after Canada and Mexico, and the trip will focus on pursuing new opportunities for growth between UK and New Jersey in the field of life sciences, Christie told reporters on Friday in embargoed remarks. "One of the main objectives for the trip is to focus on the opportunities that exist between the UK and New Jersey and our country as a whole," said Christie. Christie will attend a life sciences round table in Cambridge with participation from New Jersey-based biopharmaceutical company Celgene. He will meet with British Prime Minister David Cameron on the trip and watch football team Arsenal play Aston Villa on Sunday - but also hopes on Sunday to catch the Super Bowl, the biggest annual showdown of the U.S.'s National Football League. "I'm looking forward to going to the Arsenal game and hopefully watch a bit of the Super Bowl as well and do the work we need to do to bring more jobs back to New Jersey by creating a stronger relationship between our state and our third largest trading partner," Christie said. Christie, who recently courted controversy over whether he should have gone to Texas for a Jan. 4 Dallas Cowboys game, could end up squaring off against any of a number of other Republicans in the quest for political and financial support. Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush and Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker are some of the leading rivals who so far have formed political action committees (PACs) to raise funds. In January, Christie, 52, aimed to grab the spotlight in Iowa at the first big gathering of likely 2016 Republican contenders.. Last year, Christie went on a three-day trade mission to Mexico and spent a significant amount of time out of New Jersey while traveling the United States as the then-chairman of the Republican Governors Association. (Reporting by Megan Davies and Hilary Russ; Editing by Bernard Orr) | 5 | 5,426 | news |
Have your arms always been your trouble zone? Instead of hiding them under long sleeves and bulky sweaters, start toning and tightening them up today. Spot-reducing fat doesn't work, but these tips will help you stop getting caught up in the jiggle and start feeling more confident in sleeveless or strapless designs this Summer. Lift Differently Many women pine after flab-free arms but won't lift more than five-pound weights in fear of bulking up. If you want to see real results in your muscle definition, the answer lies in shocking your body with heavier weights. Celebrity trainer Jennifer Cohen recommends lifting heavier weights one or two times a week in order to shock your body, build lean muscle, and achieve definition. If you tend to grab three- or five-pounders at the gym, Jennifer suggests alternating with 10-, 12-, or 15-pound dumbbells. Working with lighter weights one day and heavier weights another will keep your muscles guessing so you don't plateau and you continue to get stronger and leaner. Change Up Your Cardio Serious about getting rid of fat? You might need to amp up your cardio game. According to the USDA, you should perform 60-minute sessions five times a week to really notice a difference. And instead of a steadily paced workout, take things up a notch with interval training (workouts that alternate between periods of pushing your body and recovery) since it offers the afterburn effect; once you complete a workout, your body will burn more calories - an extra 200 calories throughout the day - than you would without intervals! Do the Right Moves There's no such thing as spot-reducing fat, but you can add moves to your routine that will strengthen and tone up your arms. Here are some of our favorite arm-centric workouts to try ASAP: 30-minute upper-body AKT dance party Low-weight, high-burn seated arm moves 10-minute tank-top arms workout Upper-body circuit workout Hit the Mat While this arm-focused yoga sequence is a great start, the stress-relieving effects of yoga on your brain and body are even more influential when it comes to losing weight. When our bodies are under stress, our adrenal glands pump out excessive amounts of the stress hormone cortisol, which causes irregularity in our hormones. This imbalance reduces your ability to burn fat. Take the time to hit up yoga class, or simply carve some time out of your day to unwind and relax with one of these de-stressing ideas . Change Your Diet You can do a ton of cardio and strength training, but unless you really revamp your diet, you won't see the results you're after. Cut back on processed foods, follow these clean-eating rules , and when you're feeling full, remember this piece of tough love from celebrity trainer Anna Kaiser: "put down the fork." To optimize your diet's fat-burning potential, look to these metabolism-boosting recipes for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and even snack time. All of these dishes include ingredients that have been proven to help fight fat! | 4 | 5,427 | lifestyle |
The guys preview Sunday's Lakers-Knicks and Heat-Celtics matchups. Who will win? #120Talk | 1 | 5,428 | sports |
It's tough being a child in Mississippi. The state has the nation's worst rates for infant mortality and low-weight newborns. Its childhood poverty rate ranks as the nation's second worst. Overall, the residents of Mississippi are the unhealthiest in the country. But there is one notable exception to these dour health stats: Mississippi has the highest vaccination rate for school-age children. It's not even close. Last year, 99.7 percent of the state's kindergartners were fully vaccinated. Just 14 students in Mississippi entered school without all of their required shots. Compare that with California, epicenter of the ongoing Disney measles outbreak, where last year almost 8 percent of kindergartners totaling 41,000 children failed to get the required immunizations against mumps, measles and rubella. In Oregon, that number was 6.8 percent. In Pennsylvania, it was nearly 15 percent, or 22,700 kindergartners. And each of these states has suffered measles outbreaks in the last two years. The secret of Mississippi's success stems from a strong public health program and most importantly a strict mandatory vaccination law that lacks the loopholes found in almost every other state. In the Magnolia state, public health trumps parental choice. In other states, parents have increasingly used exemptions to avoid immunization mandates amid fears that the shots are harmful or unnecessary. Medical authorities have discredited these safety concerns. But a broad scientific consensus on the safety of vaccinations has not slowed exemption demand. Today, Mississippi and West Virginia are the only states that don't allow parents to claim religious or philosophical exemptions to the rules for vaccinating children before they enroll in school. Only medical exemptions are allowed in Mississippi and West Virginia, as they are in every state. But medical exemptions which might include a child with a weakened immune system remain rare. They accounted for only 11 percent of exemptions last year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The rest were religious or philosophical exemptions. Last year, more than 91,600 U.S. kindergartners had one creating a sizable group of potentially unvaccinated or under-vaccinated children. The exemptions balancing act These personal belief exemptions worry public health officials because they poke holes in the disease safety net. Daniel Salmon, associate professor at John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, co-authored a study that found states offering personal belief exemptions had higher rates of whooping cough a vaccine-preventable disease. A similar effect was seen in states that made those exemptions easy to obtain. Along with religious exemptions, 19 states also allow parents to claim philosophical exemptions. Together, these personal belief waivers some requiring nothing more than checking a box of a health form have surged in popularity. Arkansas and Texas added them in 2003. But four other states recently introduced rules aimed at making them slightly harder to obtain. California last year began requiring a health-care worker to at least sign off. | 5 | 5,429 | news |
Since Damian Lillard wasn't voted to the NBA All-Star Game, one fan lost a bet and had to eat a shoe in the process. Yes, you read that correctly. | 1 | 5,430 | sports |
Gonzaga extended the nation's longest winning streak to 15 with its 82-64 win over Memphis Saturday. Kyle Wiltjer scored 15 points and grabbed seven rebounds in the win. | 1 | 5,431 | sports |
Jordanian pilot Muath al-Kaseasbeh was captured by ISIS almost a month ago, CNN's Jomana Karadsheh reports how his family and country are coping with the uncertainty. | 5 | 5,432 | news |
According to AthlonSports.com, the '85 Patriots are the worst team to ever make it to the Super Bowl. Do you agree? #120Talk | 1 | 5,433 | sports |
San Jose goaltender Antti Niemi recorded a 31-save shutout against his former team on Saturday night in the Sharks 2-0 win over the Blackhawks. | 1 | 5,434 | sports |
SAN JOSE, Calif. - It is coming up on two months since Patrick Sharp returned to action after missing 14 games with a right knee injury. It is only now that the Blackhawks winger is willing to admit that it wasn't until recently that he was completely healed. What is it about this sport that cloaks itself in mystery when it comes to injuries? "It's just part of the hockey culture you're brought up in," Sharp said before the Hawks faced the Sharks on Saturday night at the SAP Center. "You don't disclose injuries; you don't use them as excuses and I'm certainly not going to do that because if I'm good enough to put the jersey on I should be held accountable for the way I'm playing." By all accounts, Sharp has been playing spectacularly of late. He entered Saturday's game with a goal and eight assists in his last five contests. Playing alongside Patrick Kane and Brad Richards has helped fuel the Hawks' offense. Skating free of pain and getting into game shape will do that for a guy. "I don't want to sound like I'm making excuses, (but) it was a tough time to get injured," said Sharp, who had to be helped to the dressing room after suffering the injury Nov. 4 against the Canadiens. "You have training camp, play a handful of games and then you have to sit for a couple of weeks while the whole league kind of gets going. It's tough to come back now ... but I think the more you're out there playing and the better you take care of yourself off the ice, you're going to feel better on the ice and that's kind of how things have played out. "There's nothing better than jumping on the ice and feeling confident in your body, feeling confident in wanting the puck and making plays. That's where I feel now." The Hawks weathered the storm offensively while Sharp was getting back to speed and have hit on all cylinders recently with five consecutive games of putting up at least three goals. With 243 goals in 712 career games entering Saturday, Sharp has always had a knack for filling the net. Playing with the red-hot Kane and center Richards, the 33-year-old Sharp is racking up assists and had 20 to go along with 10 goals this season. "Kane and (Richards) both want the puck out there in offensive situations," Sharp said. "They both can hang on to it for an extra second longer and make plays. I'm kind of taking it upon myself to move my feet a little bit better, get to the dirty areas and try to get them the puck as much as possible." Against the Ducks on Friday night, Sharp equaled a career high with four assists, and Kane said, "Sharpie might have been the best player on the ice." Coach Joel Quenneville agreed. "(Sharp) is coming off as good a game as we've seen him play," Quenneville said Saturday. "It's great to see him come out of the puck areas with possession. It looked like he was skating to that top level." On the topic of all those assists, Sharp said: "It's just taking what's out there, taking what's given. Kaner always says, 'just make the right play whatever it is. If it's a shot or if it's a pass, do it.' I've never cared if I scored a goal or gotten an assist. Either way, it's helping the team. "It's just one of those stretches where I seem to be getting a lot of assists. Just like I've had them in the past where I don't get an assist for 20 games and I'm scoring goals. I'll take it either way." [email protected] Twitter @ChrisKuc | 1 | 5,435 | sports |
Australia's conservative Prime Minister Tony Abbott has defended his leadership amid speculation that he may be replaced in the wake of a voter backlash and a slump in his personal approval rating. Abbott's remarks were made after a dramatic swing saw the Liberal-National Party knocked out of power in the northeastern state of Queensland on Saturday. The loss has been partly blamed on the failures of the federal Liberal-National coalition, which has struggled to progress its policy platform since being elected in September 2013. That pressure on Abbott intensified last week when even his biggest supporters, including Australian-born media baron Rupert Murdoch, publicly criticised his contentious and unpopular decision to award British royal Prince Philip a knighthood. As Murdoch's major Australian newspapers published a new poll showing Abbott's approval rating had dropped to 27 percent on Sunday, the prime minister denied that federal issues had played a part in the Queensland election loss. "In the end, the voters of Australia are pretty smart. They judge state elections on state issues and they judge federal elections on federal issues," he said, adding that he was committed to staying on as Australia's leader and would not resign. "I am determined to ensure that Australia does not join the weak government club of the world," he said. "I don't say for a second that we can't do things better, but I am not going to be distracted from the essential task of giving this country the good government that it deserves. "I accept that we've had some difficulties. I accept that we need to learn from the difficulties that we've had, but in the end, government is not a popularity contest, it is a competence contest." 'Toxic brand' However, federal government lawmaker Warren Entsch said on Sunday that the leadership needed to be addressed, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) reported. "I think there's some more discussions that need to be had," Mr Entsch said. "I'll certainly be part of those discussions." Independent Senator Nick Xenephon told the ABC that he believed the Prime Minister had to act fast. "The Liberal brand is toxic mainly due to Tony Abbott," he said. "I think Tony Abbott has until the end of this week to turn things around." Abbott will deliver a key speech to the National Press Club in Canberra on Monday in what is now being seen as the most important address of his career. | 5 | 5,436 | news |
Let's get this out of the way: ghost detection is based on junk science. It's trying to prove something that's unprovable almost by definition, using theories that have little connection to the real world. But if you are going to chase phantoms, you might as well have the best technology at your disposal, right? GhostArk certainly thinks so. It's developing a pocketable ghost detector that supposedly has everything you need to track down supernatural beings, including an electromagnetic field meter, high-sensitivity microphones, radio frequency sweeping and sensors for both atmospheric pressure and temperature. Think of it as an audio recorder on steroids -- you can even add white noise to "bolster the spirits' strength." It's a clever concept, even if none of its findings would stand up under academic scrutiny. The scientific method isn't this gadget's only nemesis, though. There's also a question of whether or not it'll become a tangible product, at least in a reasonable time frame. GhostArk wants to ship its haunt-hunting machine this summer, but the only public details at the moment are 3D models and a batch of vague testing claims. For now, it's about as imaginary as the ghosts it's meant to track down. We've reached out to the company to get a sense of its progress, and we'll let you know if there's more to share. Either way, you'll probably want to think carefully about shelling out $199 ($249 at retail) for a device that's unlikely to ever live up to its billing -- arguably, you'd get more mileage out of a Ghostbusters model car . GhostArk | 5 | 5,437 | news |
In Super Bowl spirit, the Ottawa Senators scored a touchdown on the Arizona Coyotes, who got a safety but not much else. Milan and Zbynek Michalek scored for their respective teams, Mark scored but not Michael of the Stones, and the Ottawa Senators cruised to a 7-2 victory over the Arizona Coyotes on Saturday. Bobby Ryan , Mike Hoffman , Jean-Gabriel Pageau , Erik Karlsson and Mika Zibanejad also scored for the Senators while Sam Gagner scored for the Arizona Coyotes . The game started in most peculiar fashion. Forty seconds in, Zbynek Michalek scored an unassisted goal from the blueline that went in off the hand of Marc Methot . Robin Lehner was slow to react because it had appeared Methot had caught the puck. 29 seconds later, however, Mike Hoffman would sneak it past Mike Smith to tie the game at one apiece. It was the second period where Senator players got the better of their Coyote brothers. First it was Milan Michalek, scoring with a sly wrister that beat Smith high gloveside. In the waning moments of the period, Mark Stone would add another on a deflection. As soon as the third period started, the flood gates were officially open. Bobby Ryan and Jean-Gabriel Pageau scored 20 seconds apart to extend the Ottawa lead to four. It was after that onslaught that Smith (15-for-20 on the night) would get pulled, and Louis Domingue would step in, making his first career NHL appearance. He made a couple good saves, but ultimately got his "Welcome to the NHL" moment when Erik Karlsson slammed one by him. He stopped nine of eleven in just over 17 minutes of work. It was a very scrappy game at times. BJ Crombeen and Chris Neil dropped the gloves in the first period, and a scrum developed following Pegeau's goal in the third period. Ultimately, that was difference as Ottawa took over that facet of the game and was able to set the tone despite getting outshot by a sizable margin. Arizona was closer to Ottawa's level than the score indicates, but was still very clearly outplayed. Hopefully another seven game losing streak is not in the works, but Saturday was not a particularly inspiring effort. Three Stars 3rd Star - Erik Karlsson - Goal and an assist 2nd Star - Robin Lehner - 35-for-37 with a .946 save percentage. 1st Star - Mark Stone - Also had a goal and an assist, but his goal was the eventual game-winner. Paw Prints Ottawa's Perspective: Silver Seven B.J. Crombeen played his second game in two nights after only playing three games in the rest of January. His stat line for January? Zero points, -1, 10 PIMs. Arizona was shorthanded five times in the first period, including down two men for a minute and a half. Yet their penalty kill was a perfect 5 for 5. Tobias Rieder had a game-high six shots in the game. None of those shots found twine though. It may have been a bad loss, but we did get this Don Maloney .gif as a consolation prize:(s/t @GoldAndOrSmith) What's Next Arizona gets less than 24 hours of rest before playing the Montreal Canadiens tomorrow at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec. Game will start at 11:00 a.m. Arizona time, so there's plenty of time to squeeze some hockey in before your Super Bowl party. The game will not be televised on Fox Sports Arizona, so plan accordingly. | 1 | 5,438 | sports |
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan Matiullah Khan and Muhammad Aywaz were each dug in, their property dispute in southern Afghanistan at an impasse. Despite paying more than $1,000 apiece in lawyers' fees, they found no resolution in the government's judicial system. The tribal courts, informal networks of elders that most rural Afghans rely on, had also come up short. So the two men did what a growing number of Afghans do these days when there is no other recourse: They turned to the Taliban. Within a few days, their problem was resolved no bribes or fees necessary. "He would have kept my house for himself if it wasn't for the Taliban," said Mr. Khan, a resident of Kandahar City who accused Mr. Aywaz of commandeering his home. "They were quick and fair." Frustrated by Western-inspired legal codes and a government court system widely seen as corrupt, many Afghans think that the militants' quick and tradition-rooted rulings are their best hope for justice. In the Pakistani cities of Quetta and Chaman, havens for exiled Taliban figures, local residents describe long lines of Afghans waiting to see judges. "You won't find the same number of people in the Afghan courts as you do in the Taliban courts," said Hajji Khudai Noor, a Kandahar resident who recently settled a land dispute through the Taliban in Quetta. "There are hundreds of people waiting for justice there." Western officials have long considered a fair and respected justice system to be central to quelling the insurgency, in an acknowledgment that the Taliban's appeal had long been rooted in its use of traditional rural justice codes. But after the official end of the international military mission and more than a billion dollars in development aid to build up Afghanistan's court system, it stands largely discredited and ridiculed by everyday Afghans. A common refrain, even in Kabul, is that to settle a dispute over your farm in court, you must first sell your chickens, your cows and your wife. Countless training programs funded by Western allies for lawyers and judges have become bywords for waste. Laws suited to Western-style democracies have populated the books. "The problem is we spent money on what we wanted to see, as opposed to thinking about what Afghans wanted to see," said Noah Coburn, a political anthropologist at Bennington College. Recognizing that informal tribal law would remain the choice for most Afghans, the United States in recent years began spending money to support local councils and connect them more publicly with the government. But a review by an independent monitoring organization found that instead of bolstering the government's image, the effort mostly reinforced the primacy of the informal courts of which Taliban justice could be considered a radical extension, wielding a mix of Pashtun tradition and extreme interpretations of Islamic law. President Ashraf Ghani made cleaning up the judiciary one of his first pledges in office, but it will be a daunting task. According to a poll released by Gallup in October, just 25 percent of Afghans expressed confidence in the nation's judicial system. The Taliban have seized on this discontent. In some areas, they have set up mobile courts to reach villages outside their zones of influence. They hold hearings two days a week in the southern borderlands, requiring plaintiffs to produce evidence and witnesses. In Kunar, Taliban legal experts embed with militant commanders to provide services to locals and the fighters. While few Afghans recall the Taliban rule from 1996 to 2001 with any fondness, the lack of corruption in justice then was seen by some as a strong suit. Bribes were uncommon. The power of litigants and their extended clans mattered less. The implementation of Islamic law, or at least the rural Afghan version of it, was standard. But the brutality at the heart of Taliban justice has not been forgotten. Mass public executions were common. Minor offenses, like cutting beards short or listening to music, often brought fierce beatings as punishment. Yet the government system still compares unfavorably in the eyes of many Afghans. "There are no people who think that government justice is better than the Taliban's," said Amanullah, a schoolteacher from the Andar district of Ghazni. "Even if someone feels they have had their rights violated, there is an appeals procedure within the Taliban system." Yegan, a 65-year-old farmer in Kunduz, said he went to the Taliban to resolve a dispute with his sister over their inheritance. He admits that he did not want to share their father's land. But after reviewing the case, the Taliban forced him to adhere to Quranic law and give her a share. "I am happy now that I am clear with God," he said. "If it were the government, I would have had to pay a bribe." Experts say that informal justice is rarely fair to women and children, who are still sometimes bartered between families to settle disputes. But the government system is not doing much better. Lawyers complain about judges and prosecutors who do not know the law. Five men accused of rape in Paghman were hanged in October after a trial of only a few hours, highlighting a lack of due process. There are some potentially simple fixes, especially among the personnel. Consider the district judge of Spinbaldak, a relatively populous area on the border of Kandahar and Pakistan deep in the country's Pashtun heartland. Azizullah Rahman, the judge, does not speak Pashto, the dominant language there. "I am trying to learn," Mr. Rahman said as he sat in the newly constructed courthouse where he usually fields two or three cases a month. "But it is difficult to understand people sometimes." One of the biggest challenges for any justice system is enforcing rulings, and that is where the Taliban's intimidating reputation ranks as an advantage. It was a major reason that Mr. Khan, the Kandahar landowner, sought the Taliban's help in resolving his case against Mr. Aywaz. The dispute concerned the ownership of land on the edge of Kandahar City. Mr. Khan had built a house on the plot and was renting it to Mr. Aywaz. But shortly after moving in, Mr. Aywaz told Mr. Khan that he would not be leaving ever. He claimed that before Mr. Khan built the house, the land belonged to him. After giving up on the Afghan courts, they referred the matter to tribal elders, who agreed that Mr. Khan owned the property. But Mr. Aywaz refused to acknowledge the decision. Mr. Khan turned to the Taliban. The men brought their evidence and witnesses to a house in the border town of Chaman and presented their case. Three hours later, the Taliban judges came back with a verdict in favor of Mr. Khan. They told Mr. Aywaz that simply placing a small sign on the land, which he claimed gave him ownership, did not establish possession. Surprisingly, Mr. Aywaz was not bitter about the result. "The Taliban took my land from me, but to be honest I didn't understand how Shariah worked," Mr. Aywaz said. "Now, logically looking at it, when they told me I needed to build a proper building, it makes sense to me." | 5 | 5,439 | news |
Dermatologists are like health detectives. One look at the outside can give them important information about what's bubbling up on the inside. "The skin can be a good reflection of the overall health of the body," says Marisa Potter, MD, a board certified dermatologist at Baumann Cosmetic & Research Institute in Miami, FL. Changes in your skin could be indicative of something as innocent as needing more sleep or an extra layer of moisturizer, but in the event it's something more, you need to know. Here's what symptoms could tip you off that there's something more going on. Symptom: Raised, red patches What it might mean: You may have psoriasis, an imbalance of immune cells that leach underneath skin and cause inflammation, which is what leads to those irritated patches of skin. "Some people have genes that make them more susceptible to this autoimmune disease," says Marina Peredo, MD, assistant clinical professor of dermatology at Mount Sinai Hospital. Though you can get psoriasis at any age, she notices two peak times of diagnosis: one in people when they're teenagers or in their early 20s and another when they're in their 50s or 60s. The latter flare-up is often set off by a stressful event, like a death in the family or divorce. Strep throat is another common trigger of psoriasis. Peredo always asks her patients if they also have joint pain, stiffness, or swelling. That's because 30% of psoriasis sufferers also have psoriatic arthritis, which is an autoimmune disease characterized by joint pain accompanied by psoriasis. If you have this condition, it's not enough to simply treat skin with a steroid cream, so your dermatologist may refer to you to rheumatologist for treatment. And, be sure to monitor your health in other areas. "People with psoriasis may also have an increased risk for many other internal conditions like heart disease, cancer, and depression," adds Potter. Symptom: Dry, itchy skin What it might mean: It's probably "winter itch," skin dryness that's a result of cold, dry air. Using a humidifier, avoiding super hot showers, and routinely slathering on a thick moisturizer will help keep skin supple. But if it's an intense itch (the kind that makes you leave scratch marks on your skin) and is accompanied by other symptoms like fatigue or weight loss, your doctor may want to rule out more serious conditions like thyroid problems, renal disease or certain cancers. "These diseases release inflammatory hormones that make skin really itchy," says Peredo. Symptom: Acne What it might mean: You're stressed. As if you need anything else to worry about, there goes your face breaking out. When you're hopped up on anxiety, your body releases cortisol, which can lead to breakouts, says Peredo. You'll want to get on a good acne regimen; hormonal birth control has also been shown to help prevent pimples. It's also important to learn calming strategies so you can simmer down both in the moment and after a harried day. Things like yoga, taking a few deep breaths, dancing to tunes in your home, or going for a walk around the block have all been shown to be stress busters. These 5 meditations can help you calm down fast. Symptom: Red bumps What it might mean: It's more than just stress. "Many times skin conditions are the outward appearance of psychiatric conditions," says Ronald Sulewski, MD, a Chicago dermatologist at Pinski Dermatology & Cosmetic Surgery. Some people with anxiety and depression pick at their skin to cope with unhappy emotions, leaving red marks, bumps, or bleeding behind. In that case, a dermatologist would refer you to your primary care doctor or a psychiatrist to uncover and treat the root problem. Symptom: Acne and unwanted hair What it might mean: Unfortunately, acne's not something you leave behind when you're a teen; women of any age can get it. In your 30s and 40s though, you may notice acne on your chin and cheeks, plus unwanted hair (like on your stomach, face, or chest). That's a symptom you might not think to mention to your dermatologist, but you must, says Potter. Your derm will want to run a blood test to check for a hormonal imbalance (like polycystic ovary syndrome, for example) and then may refer you to an endocrinologist for treatment. Symptom: Puffy eyelids What it might mean: Swollen eyes may be from something as simple as skimping on shut-eye one night. "Sleeping on your stomach can also cause fluid accumulation around the eyelids," says Potter. But if they look itchy, red, and scaly you may also have a seasonal allergy or be suffering from an allergic reaction. "The eyelids are covered with the thinnest skin on your body and will often show an allergy before any other place," adds Peredo. Common allergies include fragrances, dyes in beauty products and clothing, and formaldehyde (a preservative in some creams, shampoos, and nail polish). Your dermatologist can run an allergy patch test to determine what ingredient is setting off your symptoms. Skin symptom: Yellow bumps on arms and legs or dark velvety patches What it might mean: You should be screened for diabetes. "Yellow, waxy looking bumps can emerge on skin as the result of high triglyceride levels or diabetes," says Peredo. Dark, velvety patches of skin on the back of your neck and arms ("people will try to rub it off thinking it's dirt, but it's not," she says) are another sign of diabetes. Though 29 million Americans have diabetes, one-quarter of them don't know it, so skin symptoms may be one of the first clues. | 7 | 5,440 | health |
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (AP) -- James Blackmon Jr. scored 20 points Saturday and Nick Zeisloft made two 3-pointers in a late 8-0 run to send No. 22 Indiana past Rutgers 72-64. The victory ended the Hoosiers' first two-game losing streak of the season, and kept Indiana (16-6, 6-3) second in the Big Ten. Myles Mack scored 20 of his 24 points in the second half and Junior Etou added 13 for the Scarlet Knights (10-13, 2-8). Rutgers has lost six straight. Rutgers took an early lead, kept it for most of the first 16 minutes and charged back early in the second half with Mack's 3-point flurry. The Scarlet Knights extended the lead to 49-43 with 12:34 left. Indiana tied the score at 52 and took the lead for good on the first 3 from Zeisloft, which made it 59-57 with 6:35 to go. It was a tough day for the Big Ten's highest-scoring team. The Hoosiers started just 5 of 20 from the field and struggled to shrug off pesky Rutgers. Indiana used a 10-1 run to take a 32-26 lead, but the Scarlet Knights then made the final two baskets of the half. Mack opened the second half with three straight 3s. Etou followed that with another 3. Kevin ''Yogi'' Ferrell and Troy Williams each scored 14 points for the Hoosiers. TIP-INS Rutgers: The Scarlet Knights came into the game with the lowest scoring average in the Big Ten. But they sure didn't play that way, making 10 of their first 19 shots and going 7 of 17 on 3s. Indiana: Coach Tom Crean shook up his lineup. The result? The Hoosiers had a 26-0 scoring advantage off the bench. UP NEXT Rutgers: At Illinois on Tuesday. Indians: At No. 5 Wisconsin on Tuesday. | 1 | 5,441 | sports |
In his first three seasons as a starting NFL quarterback, the Patriots' Tom Brady won 34 of 46 regular season games and two Super Bowls. He passed for 10,227 yards, 69 touchdowns and 38 interceptions and was 9-0 in the playoffs. At age 26, he was being mentioned as an all-time great. The Seahawks' Russell Wilson, Brady's opponent Sunday, is 26 and will be playing in his second Super Bowl in a row. In his first three seasons in the NFL, Wilson has won 36 of 48 regular season games, has passed for 9,950 yards, 72 touchdowns and 26 interceptions and is 6-1 in the postseason. The numbers are remarkably similar for two guys who couldn't be more different. Wilson (5 feet 11) is a scrambling, undersized passer who can beat opponents with his arm and legs. Brady (6-4) is a classic pocket passer who has always preferred to get rid of the ball quickly and avoid using his legs. Brady is bound for the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Wilson might be on the same path, especially if he secures a second consecutive title. "The have the commonality of being two guys that are great winners," Seattle coach Pete Carroll said. There are plenty of juicy matchups and storylines in Super Bowl XLIX, from one coach (Bill Belichick) who replaced the other (Carroll) as Patriots head 15 years ago, to the duel between two of the best cornerbacks in football (Richard Sherman and Darrelle Revis). There is the possible tussle between New England's elite tight end, Rob Gronkowski, and Seattle's aggressive and physical defense. And there is the clash between Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch and the Patriots' defense, led by budding star linebacker Jamie Collins. Ultimately, though, all eyes will be on the guys who take the snaps. As different as they are, they do share an important trait - each was underestimated, which has driven him to success. Brady struggled to distinguish himself at the University of Michigan and at times shared the quarterback position, even after winning the starting job. He slipped to the sixth round of the 2000 draft and was the 199th pick, taken behind six other quarterbacks. Wilson played at North Carolina State and Wisconsin, but he was considered too short for the NFL. He was the 75th player and sixth quarterback picked in the 2010 NFL draft, sliding to the third round. When Brady began his career, he was behind Drew Bledsoe. When Wilson began his career, he was behind Matt Flynn. As the NFL stages its biggest game, Brady is a Super Bowl veteran and Wilson is a rising star. "To play in the Super Bowl two years in a row - and I've only been in the league for three years - it's been exciting," Wilson said. "It's been an exciting three years of my life, but this year has been really special. [Brady] is one of the best quarterbacks to ever play the game, but hopefully we find a way to win." How will the Patriots manage against Wilson? Lynch, a punishing runner, sets the pace of the Seattle offense, and New England's defensive front will be challenged to control him. But Wilson's ability to improvise and create plays makes him a difficult opponent. The Patriots have a strong defensive backfield, led by Revis. Wilson, though, has the ability to turn a seemingly broken play into yardage. Collins, who has speed and size, will be a key player. He may be charged with shadowing Wilson. "[Wilson is] phenomenal," Brady said. "He's a phenomenal player, phenomenal quarterback, great leader for his team. He's a great competitor as you see out there on the field. He's led his team to two overtime wins. He's the quarterback, and to get it and go the length of the field and score as he did against Denver and Green Bay, he's a great player." The Seahawks needed two touchdowns in the final 2 minutes, 9 seconds of the fourth quarter and eventually won in overtime over the Packers in the NFC Championship Game. Wilson threw four interceptions, but he rallied the Seahawks to the win. "I think him, as a player, will be challenge," Patriots safety Devin McCourty said. "It's a challenge for your defensive backs because he has the ability to run the ball. Whether you want to pick between running or throwing, or just throwing sitting in the pocket, or just keeping the ball and running. His ability makes it very tough." Wilson says he has long admired Brady, whom he does not know well. Brady's ability to perform in the postseason - especially at a young age - has been a model for Wilson. "I've watched a lot of great players play before," Wilson said. "I've studied Michael Jordan, I've studied Derek Jeter, I've studied Tom Brady, watching those guys and just learning from their mentality and learning from their clutch state of mind. I just love trying to play like that. I love trying to visualize being successful." How Brady performs against one of the great defenses in recent NFL history will fascinating. At 37, he can be rattled in the pocket, and the Seahawks have an aggressive pass rush. New England's improving offensive line will be under the spotlight as Seattle attempts to apply pressure. The Patriots may try to establish the run with LeGarrette Blount, or Brady may rely on short passes to running back Shane Vereen and slot receiver Julian Edelman. Looking for midrange passes to Gronkowski will surely be part of the game plan. Brady, while dogged by the football air pressure controversy, has been relaxed all week. He has downplayed his own resume, saying only that he's thankful for yet another opportunity to play in the Super Bowl. But here's what is at stake: Brady can match Joe Montana and Terry Bradshaw for most Super Bowl titles by a quarterback. His 20 playoffs wins are already the most in NFL history, and he'll be appearing in his record sixth Super Bowl. Wherever you stand in the deflated football debate, there's no denying Brady's place in history. Brady was asked this past week about holding records among the likes of Montana, John Elway, Roger Staubach and Brett Favre. "It's flattering any time you're mentioned with great players and guys I idolized growing up," Brady said. "I don't ever see myself at that level." Said Belichick: "Tom didn't come into the league as the first pick in the draft or the highest quarterback that was rated out of college, but he worked extremely hard and he's very smart. He does a great job with his preparation, has improved on his weaknesses, and he has been able to improve on his strengths. He has a great understanding of the game of football." Those are some of the same descriptions you hear about Wilson. The quarterbacks might be vastly different, but the results are the same. "This is such an extraordinary contrast in athletes," Carroll said. "It demonstrates that there's not just a perfect model for how quarterbacks come together. ... It isn't about where you come from or your size, shape, where they picked you or any of that kind of stuff." | 1 | 5,442 | sports |
Three people in the San Francisco Bay Area have come down with measles, adding to the more than 100 cases confirmed so far in the United States. Health officials in San Mateo County confirmed one measles case Friday, while officials in nearby Marin County reported two people had become infected with the highly contagious disease, local media reported. The three diagnoses bring the number of known Bay Area measles cases to 13. Across California, more than 90 people have been confirmed as infected, with many cases linked to an outbreak that began in Disneyland in December. Smaller clusters of additional cases were reported in 13 other states -- Arizona , Colorado, Illinois, Minnesota, Michigan, Nebraska, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Texas, Utah and Washington state -- as well as in Mexico. In Marin, the richest county in California, health officials said two unvaccinated siblings came down with measles after being exposed "outside of Marin," the San Francisco Chronicle reported Saturday . The two are the first confirmed case of measles in the county since 2001. San Mateo health officials could not provide details of the one case in that county, according to the Chronicle. The measles outbreak began when an infected visitor from outside the United States visited Disneyland or the nearby Disney California Adventure Park in Orange County from Dec. 15 to Dec. 20. Measles disappeared from the U.S. in 2000, but health officials with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or CDC, have said the disease returned because some parents aren't vaccinating their children -- leaving people vulnerable to foreign visitors who might bring the disease onto U.S. soil. Last year, the U.S. saw a modern record number of measles cases, with 644 cases reported to the CDC from 27 states, according to the health agency. In 2013, by contrast, the U.S. documented fewer than 200 cases, while only around 50 cases were reported in 2012. Measles is an acute viral illness that begins with a fever, cough and runny nose and can lead to itchy rashes and even more severe health complications such as pneumonia and encephalitis, or swelling of the brain. No deaths have been reported so far in the Disneyland outbreak. In recent years, small numbers of parents have refused to vaccinate their children, fearing inoculation could cause autism or other harmful health effects. Public health officials and scientists have repeatedly disputed any link between vaccines and autism, and are urging families to protect themselves from diseases. The White House Friday urged parents to heed the experts' advice and get their children vaccinated." People should evaluate this for themselves with a bias toward good science and toward the advice of our public health professionals," Josh Earnest, a spokesman for U.S. President Barack Obama, told reporters . Asked whether people should be vaccinated, he said, "That's what the science indicates." | 2 | 5,443 | travel |
The economy plays a fairly large role in the national obesity epidemic, according to a new working paper published by the National Bureau of Economic Research. From 1990 to 2010, the average Body Mass Index (BMI) in the U.S. increased by 37 percent and there was a shocking 59 percent rise in severe obesity during that time as well. The paper claims that economic factors, like the price of food, prevalence of giant supermarkets like Wal-Mart, and the types of jobs in each state were behind the increase in obesity in the country. One of the factors, according to the study, is the growing amount of supercenters that sell bigger amounts of food for cheap. We're talking about Wal-Mart here. The authors found that people were heavier when the cost of calories decreased, and this accounted for 36.5 percent of total BMI gains. Ironically enough, they also found that people living near supercenters were more likely to try to lose weight, but their attempts were cancelled out by buying cheap food in bulk then probably not eating it in moderation. "Supercenter/warehouse club density increases the probability of weight-loss attempts," the authors write, "raising the possibility that cheap food from these retailers triggers self-control problems." In low-income, poverty-stricken areas, people are far more likely to buy cheap food, and cheap food is usually the stuff that's packed with salt, sugar, and partially hydrogenated oils. In addition, poorer and more rural parts of the country are often labelled food deserts where the only grocery stores or gas stations available for miles don't provide fresh fruits or vegetables, but only junk food. Of course, people struggling financially often don't have other options other than Wal-Mart and McDonald's. Which poses the question of whether these large corporations are partially responsible for the obesity epidemic as well. And, mind you, they are certainly trying to change their ways: McDonald's has ushered out new healthy meal options including salads and fruit, and Wal-Mart states it's applying its resources towards making healthy eating more available in its stores. But it's possible all of this might be too little too late. Other economic factors contributing to the rise in obesity included a larger amount of restaurants, cigarette prices, loss of blue collar jobs, and higher food stamps, as depicted by the Bloomberg graph below: Supercenters like Wal-Mart, more restaurants, and cigarette prices all contribute to obesity levels. Bloomberg A paper published by the same group, the National Bureau of Economic Research, last year found similar results: that food prices could be causing the childhood obesity epidemic. The authors suggested that perhaps taxing unhealthy food, or subsidizing healthy ones, could help fight the growing epidemic. And the authors of the newest paper aren't going to be completely negative: they provide some glimmers of hope by pointing out that certain things are correlated with decreasing obesity rates, such as fitness centers, higher gas prices (probably forcing people to walk or bike more, and drive less), and unemployment. Source: Courtemanche C, Pinkston J, Ruhm C, Wehby G. "Can Changing Economic Factors Explain the Rise in Obesity?" The National Bureau of Economic Research , 2015. | 7 | 5,444 | health |
I was browsing Pinterest the other day and it came to my attention that there are entire blogs devoted to inventing new and ever more complex ways to make bathtime not about bathing. Like, people put their kids in the tub for fun. As an activity . I do not understand this. As a parent, I hate everything to do with bathtime. It represents an endless power struggle, a shit show rigged with tantrum-inducing landmines, a huge mess, and also it's just really freaking boring sitting there making sure no one kills themselves. You will never, ever find me filling my tub with twee Instagram-able garbage and looking for excuses to put my kids in the tub when they don't actually need a bath. Yes, that's the premise behind these blogs: HOURS of extracurricular bathtime fun…because sitting on a hard toilet lid or tile floor while my kid trashes the bathroom and soggies their bottom beyond recognition is definitely how I want to spend my day. Why can't a bath just be a bath? I mean, I'm not a total Scrooge. I give my kids bath toys. Some of these things are out of control, though. I'm talking intricate themes and glowing water and baskets of homemade slime suspended from the ceiling. It's ridiculous. Bathtime can just be for bathing. It's okay. Your kids don't need Pinterest-worthy entertainment every second of every day. In fact, they'd probably benefit from being forced to improvise and use their imagination once in a while, rather than having everything hand-cut and tailored to their every whim. In that vein, here are the 5 most ridiculous bathtime activities I WON'T be trying with my kids: 1. The Gardening Bath . This bath was born of a serious dilemma. Someone's tot wanted to garden, but it was winter time. What's a mom to do? Why, dye bath water green and then fill it with pots, shovels, artificial flowers, fake leaves, gardening gloves, actual seeds, and specially made "bath dirt," of course. I would've gone with Chia Pet for $500, Alex, but I'm a shitty mom who thinks ruining your house in the name of sensory play is for suckers, so don't listen to me. 2. Love Themed Sensory Bath . Valentine's Day is fast approaching and nothing says I love you like a bathtub that actually contains the letters L, O, V, and E. Dye that water pink and then dump in a bag of the Dollar Store's finest foam hearts and fake rose petals. There's so many opportunities for your baby to eventually shit a polyester flower there's no way she could ever feel unloved. If your husband also likes to chew on fake roses, you're in luck! Per the original post: "This bath is something anyone could enjoy and could easily be modified for an adult." 3. Jello Ocean Bath . Cover your bathtub in blue raspberry Jello and stick a bunch of fish toys in it, then put your kids in swimsuits and stick them in it. Let them go nutso, then wash your tub, all your kid's toys, your kids, their swimsuits, the towels, the walls, the floor, your clothes, your hair, the dog, the house, the world. NOPE. 4. Lemonade Bath . Make lemonade in the bath because, well, I actually can't think of a single reason to do this. Lemonade in the kitchen works just fine for us. We usually end up with something we'd actually like to drink and enjoy. But, sure. Why not move kitchen activities out of the kitchen and make it instead in a vat of yellow piss water surrounded by foam cut-outs? It'll be way more trouble than it's worth, but it'll get a ton of Likes on Instagram. 5. Old MacDonald Had A Farm…Bath . I say "…Bath" because this one is seriously reaching. Basically you dye the water red. Because barns. You put some straw hats on your kids (practical bath wear, natch) and then you just throw a plastic barn and animals in there. Yup. You could just let them play with the barn on the living room floor, but why when it could be so much more of a pain in the ass? Remember: your parenting is only as good as your ability to over-complicate things, so make life hard. | 4 | 5,445 | lifestyle |
Check out Louisville superstar Montrezl Harrell rise up and throw down the ridiculous one-handed alley-oop jam in this ACC Must See Moment! | 1 | 5,446 | sports |
Francesco Molinari had a hole-in-one on the 16th hole, which led to chaos. Molinari shot a 64 and is 8-under at the Waste Management Phoenix Open. | 1 | 5,447 | sports |
Mitt Romney's decision to forgo a third try at the White House has settled the question of whether the 2016 GOP presidential field has a front-runner bestowing a coveted status on former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush that also raises new challenges and perils. Republicans have a tradition of picking an anointed one early. That establishment candidate almost always ends up with the nomination, although not without a fight and some speed bumps along the way. But this is a particularly unsettled time for the party. It is struggling to define its identity amid open warfare among its various factions. And there are a raft of fresh and potentially appealing faces emerging on the scene, comprising what many Republicans believe could be the strongest undercard of early-bout contenders in decades. Losing Romney as a rival is " a mixed bag for Bush ," said veteran GOP strategist Saul Anuzis, a former chairman of the Michigan Republican party. "He also becomes the target of everyone who is anti-establishment. Before, you had Romney and Bush kind of splitting up that ire." Bush was already assembling a formidable army of fundraisers and talented operatives, including poaching Romney's top Iowa strategist, David Kochel, to be his national campaign manager. That process appears to be intensifying after the 2012 GOP presidential nominee bowed out on Friday . "It's a great day for Jeb Bush," said Brian Ballard, a lobbyist who led Romney's 2012 fundraising effort in Florida and switched to Bush this time around. "I think Jeb had 75 percent of the money folks here. This brings in the other 25 percent." Chicago private-equity executive Bill Kunkler and his wife, Susan Crown, had been top fundraisers for Romney in the last election and had expected to be there again for him in 2016. Now, Bush is "the only one my wife and I will work for," Kunkler said. "If it's not Jeb, we're done for this cycle. I know in my heart that Jeb is the only one who passes the presidential test. . . . We'll be all in for him." But there will be plenty of competition for the big funders who built the massive Bank of Mitt in 2012. Virginia fundraiser Bobbie Kilberg, who with her husband, Bill Kilberg, raised more than $4 million for Romney, said they had committed to help him again if he ran. Now, she will support New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and bring as many other donors over as she can. Still, "we shouldn't assume that the only people competing for the center-right pie will be Jeb and Chris. I don't think any of the prospective candidates will be shy about going after these donors. It's a race between everyone," said Kilberg, who cited former Texas Gov. Rick Perry, Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker as also making strong appeals. Marshaling resources, however, is not the only challenge for Bush that may have been heightened with Romney's decision not to run. "It raises expectations in kind of an unrealistic way," said one member of the former Florida governor's nascent campaign team, who did not want to be identified discussing his strategy. Bush's biggest challenge and now, arguably, his most urgent is to define himself for an electorate whose impression of him has been shaped largely by the last name that he shares with two former presidents, his father and his brother. That is not an unalloyed asset at a moment when many Republicans are looking to turn the page politically and are intrigued by relative newcomers. Walker, who was a big hit at a conservative gathering in Iowa last weekend, led a tight field in a Des Moines Register/Bloomberg Politics poll of that state's caucusgoers released Saturday night. Christie can boast of a landslide 2013 re-election in a heavily Democratic state. Another potential candidate is Bush's fellow Floridian, the charismatic Sen. Marco Rubio. The former governor also does not have a strong connection with elements of the grass-roots base of his party, as do such figures as tea party favorite Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.), libertarian Paul, or social-issue warriors such as former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum. Bush himself last ran for public office more than 12 years ago in the middle of his brother's first term, before the launch of the Iraq war and at a time when the first iPhone was nearly five years in the future. (He does fancy himself a technology buff; his official portrait as governor features him standing beside a bookshelf, on which a BlackBerry rests in its charger.) As the front-runner, he and his record are guaranteed to come under more scrutiny. Two questions about Bush will be answered only by running: Will he be able to build a state-of-the-art campaign operation for a digital age? And does he have the retail political skills to prevail in early states such as Iowa and New Hampshire, which are a repetitive grind of town hall meetings, living-room receptions and candidate forums? Bush expects his rivals to paint him as a moderate, given his positions on issues that enflame the GOP base, including his support for a path to legalization for the undocumented immigrants and for Common Core. Conservatives, libertarians and even some liberals have criticized the K-12 academic standards in math and reading as undermining local control of education. Bush believes he can run as an unabashedly conservative, free-market Republican without backing away from stances that have rankled the right. What will truly differentiate him, they vow, is his determination to run on a positive message that resonates with a broad audience nationally. Among the themes he will emphasize are middle-class wage stagnation, upward mobility for those trapped at the bottom and outreach to minority communities that could hold the key to GOP hopes of winning in 2016. He named his political action committee "Right to Rise," a slogan borrowed from Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), who was Romney's 2012 running mate. Bush will go to Michigan on Wednesday to road-test his pitch before the Detroit Economic Club, which is known as a venue where presidential candidates of both parties go to showcase their policy bona fides. But Bush advisers say his appearance in a heavily Democratic, economically devastated city is also designed to send another message that he believes he is the Republican best equipped to compete across the map. Dan Balz and Philip Rucker contributed to this report. | 5 | 5,448 | news |
McDonalds, candies and soda: Sports stars with weird diets A number of sports stars have admitted to following unusual diets to take their game to another level. Let's take a look at some of those athletes. Ryan Lochte During the Beijing Olympics in 2008, the American swimmer had consumed around 8,000 calories a day by having breakfast, lunch and dinner from McDonald's. Lochte, who won four medals at the Olympics, has dropped his fast food consumption since then. Tim Lincecum Before the start of the 2011 season, the San Francisco Giants pitcher disclosed that he dined regularly at a burger joint named In-N-Out Burger consuming more than 3,000 calories. He stopped following this diet before the 2012 season. Babe Ruth The famed New York Yankees slugger usually ate three hot dogs before a game. He also preferred having bourbon whiskey and ginger ale in the morning. Caron Butler Presently playing for the Detroit Pistons, Butler confessed the he used to drink "at least six 12-ounce Mountain Dews a day," before quitting it in 2009. "Honestly, those first two weeks without The Dew (were) the roughest two weeks of my life," Butler wrote on his blog. "I'm talking headaches, sweats and everything." Lyoto Machida The former UFC light heavyweight champion told Brazilian magazine Tatame "I drink my urine every morning like a natural medicine." Machida was advised to drink his own urine by his father. Marshawn Lynch The NFL player has a handful of Skittles every time he scores a touchdown. This tradition has been carrying on since Lynch's high school days, when his mom used to give him a bag of Skittles before every game. Michael Phelps During the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the swimmer followed an amazing 12,000-calories-a-day diet, which included fried-egg sandwiches, a five-egg omelette, French toast, pancakes, pasta and pizza. Lamar Odom The former NBA player, who is known for his obsession with candy, told reporters that he ate, "a whole plate of jellybean Starbursts" before a couple of playoff games. David Ortiz While being tested for steroids, the baseball player said that "all they are going to find is a lot of rice and beans." Venus Williams The tennis champion started following raw vegan diet after being diagnosed with Sjogren's syndrome in 2011. The diet includes uncooked fruits and veggies on a daily basis. Usain Bolt During the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Bolt was not happy with the local cuisine and switched his attention to Chicken McNuggets and yams. Winning three gold medals at the Olympics, Bolt also broke the world record in the 100 in Beijing. He revealed that he had around 1,000 McNuggets during the Olympics. Novak Djokovic Djokovic had a breakthrough season in 2011 when he won three majors. Crediting the success to his gluten-free diet, he's completely off products that have gluten in them including pasta, pizza, beer and bread. Derek Jeter The former New York Yankees player used to eat a few sandwiches filled with peanut butter and jelly about an hour before the game. Brian Urlacher The Chicago Bears linebacker used to have a couple of chocolate chip cookies before every game. Sam Bradford Bradford had a very unusual eating habit of consuming a product in threes. Whatever he ate, it had to be in groups of three. Laffit Pincay Jr. The former jockey used to have a single peanut before each race. In the latter part of his career, he used to consume just around 800 calories to stay at his ideal riding weight. Justin Verlander The Detroit Tigers pitcher used to eat Taco Bell one night before the game, claiming that it helped him pitch better. He stopped the diet in 2014 following a rather disappointing 2013 season. | 1 | 5,449 | sports |
Actor Val Kilmer, best-known for his roles in "Batman Forever" and "The Doors," said on Saturday he was at a Los Angeles hospital for observation following what he called a "complication." The 55-year-old film and stage star posted to his Facebook page after media reports that he had been rushed to the hospital with a suspected tumor. "Thank you for all your sweet support," Kilmer said in the Facebook post. "But I have not had a tumor, or a tumor operation, or any operation. I had a complication where the best way to receive care was to stay under the watchful eye of the UCLA ICU," Kilmer wrote, referring to the intensive care unit of the University of California, Los Angeles, Medical Center. Kilmer is undergoing tests, family spokeswoman Liz Rosenberg said in an email. Rosenberg had earlier said in a statement that Kilmer was tested for a "possible tumor." The actor, who has disclosed in previous interviews that he is a Christian Scientist, also said in the message he was assisted by friends who know his "spiritual convictions" and have helped in minimizing what he called "gossip and silly talk." Some Christian Scientists, based on the precepts of their faith, have been known to advocate prayer before or instead of medical treatments when a person is ill. Kilmer did not disclose any further details about his ailment in the post, but said that he hoped for a speedy recovery. "God bless you all and please don't worry," he wrote. "I do not have an official diagnosis at this time," Rosenberg said. "He is with his two children Mercedes and Jack," she said. Kilmer played Doors singer Jim Morrison in a 1991 film about the band and Batman in the 1995 superhero film "Batman Forever." In 2013, the actor reunited with Anthony Edwards, his co-star in the 1986 film "Top Gun," to give voice to characters in the animated comedy "Planes." | 6 | 5,450 | entertainment |
The Capitals and Canadiens went scoreless into overtime before Max Pacioretty found the back of the net en route to a 1-0 Habs win Saturday. The goal was Pacioretty's 23rd of the season. | 1 | 5,451 | sports |
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker is the top choice for Iowa GOP voters ahead of the 2016 caucuses in the state according to a new poll. But Sen. Rand Paul (Ky.) is right behind. Walker leads the field with 15 percent of voters, according to the poll from the Des Moines Register. His stock has been rising in conservative circles, especially in the Hawkeye State, after a strong showing at the Iowa Freedom Summit last week. Paul is nipping at Walker's heels with 14 percent support. Iowa Republicans received the Paul family brand of libertarianism well in 2012, when Rand Paul's father, former Rep. Ron Paul (Texas), ran for president. The elder Paul initially came in third, and his campaign went on to secure the majority of the state's delegates unbound by those results. 2012 Republican Party nominee and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney secured 13 percent backing in the poll, but he announced on Friday that he won't be running in 2016. Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, former neurosurgeon Ben Carson, and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush round out the top six GOP candidates, with 10, nine, and eight percent support respectively. After that, support falls off. Sen. Ted Cruz (Texas) and former Sen. Rick Santorum (Pa.) come next at five and four percent respectively. And a mass of Republican contenders, including Sen. Marco Rubio (Fla.), former Texas Gov. Rick Perry (Texas), Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal and real estate magnate Donald Trump round out the group, with the lowest amount of support measured. The Iowa caucuses are vital because they are the first contest in the presidential nominating process. But there's still a year left to go, and anything can happen. Just months before the 2012 Iowa caucuses, former Rep. Michele Bachmann (Minn.) won among Republicans in the Ames straw poll, a popular pre-caucus poll. She won five percent of the popular vote and zero delegates in the actual caucuses, prompting her to drop out of the race. | 5 | 5,452 | news |
Way back before he left Wisconsin for Arkansas, Bret Bielema was interviewing for the Miami Dolphins head coaching job and outlined a plan for them that would allow them to win a Super Bowl within five years, he claims. His plan involved drafting his former Badgers quarterback Russell Wilson in the second round. The Dolphins thought he was crazy, disagreed with him, so he withdrew from consideration for the job. Now who looks crazy? This Bielema anecdote was related by ESPN's Elizabeth Merrill in an article published Thursday about how the Seahawks capitalized by drafting players others passed on. Wilson, who was selected in the third round, is one of those players. "They all looked at me like, 'You can't say that. That's the difference between college and pro. He's undersized. He can't throw.' I was like, 'OK, all right,' and I honestly, that day, kind of pulled myself out of it," Bielema recalled. The Dolphins balked at taking a 5-foot-10 quarterback like Wilson and instead drafted Ryan Tannehill at No. 8 overall. Tannehill has been arguably above average for Miami, but he certainly has not come close to enjoying the success Wilson has with Seattle. The story is a good one for many reasons. One, it goes to show how lowly everyone had Wilson ranked. Heck, even if the Seahawks completely believed in Wilson, they would have drafted him earlier rather than leave it to chance that someone else would take him. Two, who knew that Bielema was that close to getting the Dolphins job? And three, the Dolphins, like many other teams, really whiffed on that one. What's also funny is that on draft day, we saw Jon Gruden loved that pick and hammered Mel Kiper Jr. for discriminating against shorter QBs . Bielema, by the way, stayed at Wisconsin through 2012 and left for Arkansas. He has gone 10-15 in two seasons as head coach of the Razorbacks. If he had gotten the Dolphins job and drafted Wilson, maybe they would have been close to winning a Super Bowl. After all, Miami's defense was pretty stout this season. | 1 | 5,453 | sports |
SAN FRANCISCO Carl Djerassi, the chemist widely considered the father of the birth control pill, has died. Djerrasi died of complications of cancer Friday in his San Francisco home, Stanford University spokesman Dan Stober said. He was 91. Djerassi, a professor emeritus of chemistry at Stanford, was most famous for leading a research team in Mexico City that in 1951 developed norethindrone, a synthetic molecule that became a key component of the first birth control pill. "The pill" as it came to be known radically transformed sexual practices and women's lives. The pill gave women more control over their fertility than they had ever had before and permanently put doctors who previously didn't see contraceptives as part of their job in the birth control picture. In his book, "This Man's Pill," Djerassi said the invention also changed his life, making him more interested in how science affects society. In 1969, he submitted a public policy article about the global implications of U.S. contraceptive research, according to the Stanford News Service. In 1970, he published another article about the feasibility of a birth control pill for men. "The thoughts behind these two public policy articles had convinced me that politics, rather than science, would play the dominant role in shaping the future of human birth control," he wrote. Later in life, Djerassi, a native of Austria who came to the U.S. in 1939 with his mother, wrote poems, short stories and plays. He used stock earnings from the company that made the pill to help collect Paul Klee art work, which he donated to the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the San Francisco Chronicle reported (http://bit.ly/16cGiZB). "Carl Djerassi is probably the greatest chemist our department ever had," Richard N. Zare, the Marguerite Blake Wilbur Professor in Natural Science at Stanford, said in an obituary released by the university. "I know of no person in the world who combined the mastery of science with literary talent as Carl Djerassi." "He also is the only person, to my knowledge, to receive from President Nixon the National Medal of Science and to be named on Nixon's blacklist in the same year," Zare added. Djerassi told the Chronicle last year he was tired of talking about the pill (http://bit.ly/18DVAHK). "Carl did many things in his life he was a true Renaissance man and scholar," Philip Darney, a contraceptive scientist and director of the University of California, San Francisco's Bixby Center for Global Reproductive Health, told the Chronicle. He is survived by a son, Dale Djerassi; a stepdaughter, Leah Middlebrook; and a grandson, Alexander M. Djerassi. | 5 | 5,454 | news |
Because sometimes they're more than just cute. | 4 | 5,455 | lifestyle |
By Matt Hladik South Dakota State defeated the University of Denver Saturday night 69-39 in a pretty innocuous match-up in the world of Division I men's college basketball. In fact, the most noteworthy part of this game occurred at halftime, when a pig was auctioned off on the court. Yes, a live pig. The DU basketball Twitter account even sent out a photo of the animal. Strange happenings indeed. | 1 | 5,456 | sports |
MINNEAPOLIS -- Minnesota Timberwolves point guard Ricky Rubio is expected to return to action Monday at Dallas. Coach and president of basketball operations Flip Saunders told reporters before Saturday's home game against Cleveland that three different specialists have checked out Rubio's severely-sprained left ankle. All three have cleared him to play "if things are OK Monday," Saunders said. "They have OK'd him to be able to play on a limited time basis," Saunders said. "We will have to wait until Monday pretty much comes." Rubio rolled his ankle Nov. 7 at Orlando and has missed Minnesota's 42 games (including Saturday's) since then. He's been practicing for a couple weeks and done a lot of work on his much-scrutinized jump shot, Saunders said. Although the injury has helped derail the Wolves' season, Saunders said it could end up being "a blessing in disguise." "His shot has almost been remade," Saunders said of Rubio, a passing and defensive wizard with a 37-percent career field-goal clip. "We might look back in a year and say maybe the best thing that ever happened was having those three months off where he was able to really break down his shot and work on his shot and become a consistent shooter." At the moment, Minnesota remains severely short-handed at Rubio's position. Rookie Zach LaVine (sprained left ankle) and veteran Mo Williams (hip soreness) both missed Friday's game, leaving recent 10-day signee Lorenzo Brown as the team's only active point guard. Brown made his first career start Saturday. Follow Phil Ervin on Twitter | 1 | 5,457 | sports |
If you accepted an invitation to buy Amazon's Echo speaker , you've noticed that the device didn't have a vast musical vocabulary at first -- you could tell it to play iHeartRadio or Prime Music tunes, and that's about it. You'll have a better time of things from now on, though. Amazon is rolling out an update that lets you use your voice to steer iTunes, Pandora radio or Spotify on your mobile device . It's not super-sophisticated, but you no longer have to reach for your phone just to skip tracks. And in case millions more songs won't keep you entertained, there's also a "Simon says" command that you can use to prank people (or simply tell them something) from across the home. We'd argue that the biggest upgrade to the Echo would be getting to buy one , but these new features will do in a pinch. Zatz Not Funny | 5 | 5,458 | news |
Post by Good Morning America . Every year, zoo animals and pets pick who's going to win the Super Bowl. Every year, it's totally rigged and stupid. EXCEPT FOR THE PENGUINS. Penguins are known to be the sports experts of the animal kingdom, and the Cincinnati Zoo's king penguins proved that they actually thought this through and achieved an educated consensus by all picking the Seahawks. There was some drama, though. Look at this guy! This one waddles over to the Patriots gate as if that's going to be the pick: ... then NOPE: The zookeeper guy is like "you wouldn't think penguins would like Seahawks." Why not, man? BIRDS OF A FEATHER! CA-CAW! Anyway, Seattle's gonna win. It has been decided. Do not listen to any other animals. | 1 | 5,459 | sports |
IOWA CITY, Iowa -- Bo Ryan sat behind a podium in the underbelly of Carver-Hawkeye Arena on Saturday afternoon, trying his best to deflect the heaping of praise directed at his basketball team. He has a national player of the year candidate, a Big Ten regular-season crown in his sights and the chance to secure the program's first-ever No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament. But on Jan. 31? With 10 regular-season games remaining? No, Ryan was not in the mood to wax poetic about Wisconsin's accomplishments. "We haven't done anything yet," Ryan said. "That's our motto." True. But nearly halfway through the Big Ten schedule, this much is clear: Wisconsin is far and away the best in the conference. And -- although the Badgers haven't officially done anything yet -- they appear well on their way to capturing the program's first outright, regular-season Big Ten title since 2008. For further proof, see Saturday's game, in which No. 5 Wisconsin pulled away in the second half for a 74-63 victory against Iowa. With the win, the Badgers improved to 19-2 overall, including 7-1 in Big Ten play -- two games ahead in the loss column of any team in the conference. Impressive? You bet. But while the implications of these early-league victories are apparent, Badgers players refuse to waste much time mulling the possibilities right now. "You're definitely aware of it," Wisconsin guard Josh Gasser said. "We know where we're at in the standings and where everyone else is at. But as cliche as it is, you've got to take it one game at a time, one possession at a time. Because if you look further ahead, you're going to slip up a couple games, and that's the last thing you want. We understand how competitive this league is. Every night is going to be a battle. There's a long season left." And, to echo Ryan's favorite line of the season, Gasser added: "We haven't done anything yet." Saturday's game certainly was something, however. It figured to pose a far different story than when the two teams met 11 days earlier at the Kohl Center. On that night, Wisconsin destroyed Iowa, 82-50 -- the most lopsided result in the 160-game history of the series. And the Hawkeyes made it clear soon after tip-off Saturday that they were ready to raise their talent level to compete at home. Iowa (13-8 overall, 4-4 Big Ten) led early and pulled to within 32-30 on Peter Jok's 3-pointer with 5:09 remaining in the first half. But Gasser cut through the lane one possession later and converted a three-point play at the rim to push the Badgers back in front by five points. Every time Iowa threatened, Wisconsin answered. And although the Hawkeyes shot a blistering 64 percent from the field in the first half (16 of 25), they still entered halftime trailing 42-36 because of the Badgers' second-chance points conversions. Wisconsin held a 10-2 first-half advantage in second-chance points and finished with a 16-7 edge. "We knew that we were in the driver's seat," Badgers center Frank Kaminsky said. "We knew that we kind of controlled the game. We weren't getting any stops, but we were scoring, too. So we knew if we got stops and converted on offense, it would kind of break the game open for us." Kaminsky once again demonstrated why he's a favorite for the national college player of the year award. He finished with a game-high 24 points and nine rebounds and was one of four starters in double figures. Nigel Hayes added 14 points, Sam Dekker 11 points and Gasser 11 points. "We've got a lot of guys who can put the ball in the hoop and make plays for us," Gasser said. "Obviously, it all starts with Frank. He had another huge game. He's damn near un-guardable at times." Saturday's game represented a notable step forward for Wisconsin, which had been unable to hold leads in its last two road games. Wisconsin led Rutgers 35-23 at halftime on Jan. 11 and lost 67-62 in one of the most stunning upsets of the college basketball season. And last weekend, Wisconsin blew an 11-point second-half lead against Michigan before winning in overtime. But Wisconsin never allowed Iowa to pull closer than within five points in the second half. Hayes converted a superb one-handed put-back dunk, and Gasser drilled a 3-pointer from near out of bounds on the left wing -- two momentum-crushing plays as the Carver-Hawkeye Arena crowd swelled in a desperate plea for a comeback. Meanwhile, Iowa made only 7 of 23 second-half shots (30.4 percent). "If you let the crowd get into it, it's kind of like an advantage for them," Hayes said. "Shots always seem to go in when the crowd is the loudest. And when the crowd is pretty quiet, shots aren't going in. We try to do our best to make them take tough shots and limit them to one shot per possession." Afterward, Ryan noted his team's offensive efficiency and ability to close on the road were crucial. But with a home game against Indiana in just three days, he stressed the importance of grinding and staying consistent to avoid succumbing to all the potential highs and lows of a long season. Yes, Wisconsin appears poised to pull away from the pack after Saturday's victory. But Badgers players know there is still plenty of work to be done if they want to achieve their ultimate goal. "None of us have won a championship," Gasser said. "Yeah, it feels great making a Final Four last year. But so what? We can't really improve on that right now. It's Big Ten season. That's what our whole focus is on, and none of us have won a Big Ten title. "You look across the league, Michigan, Indiana, Michigan State, Ohio State, all these teams have won it in the last couple years. So we should be the hungriest ones out here, and that's just got to be our mentality." Follow Jesse Temple on Twitter | 1 | 5,460 | sports |
(Not) Made in China. | 8 | 5,461 | video |
All the weird, wonderful, and sometimes frustrating ways that dropping pounds changes your life. Unexpected effects of weight loss Losing weight does more than give you an excuse to buy new clothes. Dropping just 5 to 10% of your body weight can improve your overall health and reduce your risk for chronic conditions like heart disease and diabetes. But shedding unwanted pounds can also have less-obvious effects, and not always for the better, says Adam Tsai, MD, a physician at Kaiser Permanente Colorado and a spokesperson for the Obesity Society. Here are the good things -- and the bad -- that you don't normally hear about losing weight. Your energy levels will skyrocket A big energy boost is often the first thing people notice when they start dropping weight. Why? When you're carrying around fewer pounds, you use less energy to simply go about your day, says Dr. Tsai. Weight loss also improves oxygen efficiency, so you won't find yourself out of breath so easily when climbing stairs or hustling to catch the bus. Your memory may improve In a 2013 Swedish study, older women scored better on memory tests after six months of following a weight-loss plan. Brain scans showed more activity during the encoding process (when memories are formed) and less activity during memory retrieval, suggesting greater recall efficiency. "The altered brain activity after weight loss suggests that the brain becomes more active while storing new memories and therefore needs fewer brain resources to recollect stored information," said study author Andreas Pettersson, MD, in a press release. Previous research has also linked obesity to poor memory, especially in pear-shaped women who carry extra pounds around their hips. Your relationship will be tested Losing weight can make you feel sexier, but your slimmed-down body and that newfound confidence won't necessarily strengthen your bond with your spouse. In a 2013 study from North Carolina State University, researchers found that although dropping 60 pounds or more in two years or less usually improved couples' relationships , occasionally a dieter's partner felt jealous or threatened. Why? Your body transformation may force your significant other to consider his or her own health choices, says Gail Saltz, MD, Health's contributing psychology editor. Another problem: Your partner may worry about how your personality might change. "You feeling great, sexy, or confident could shift the balance of the relationship," Dr. Saltz says. "They fear losing the identity of the more confident one or losing the upper hand." Many of these challenges could apply to friendships, too. Your risk of cancer will be lower You know that smoking, sun exposure, and radiation can cause cancer, but obesity has been linked to several types of cancers as well, says Dr. Tsai. Being overweight causes inflammation that triggers cell changes within the body. Dangerous levels of inflammation can be lowered, however, by losing just 5% of your body weight, according to a 2012 study on post-menopausal women published in the journal Cancer Research. And a 2014 study published in Obesity Research found that morbidly obese men who underwent bariatric surgery reduced their cancer risk over the following years to roughly that of normal-weight people. If you were depressed before, that may not change Does being overweight make you depressed -- or does being depressed lead to weight gain? It's not always possible to tell what comes first, says Dr. Tsai. And while most people feel happier after they've lost weight, it's not a cure-all. "For a smaller percentage of people, mood will not improve even after they lose 100 pounds," he says. That may be because weight loss doesn't address any underlying problems you may have, says Dr. Saltz. Foods may taste different Losing a lot of weight in a small amount of time may alter your taste buds. A recent Stanford University study revealed that after bariatric surgery, 87% of patients reported a change in their sense of taste. About half said food tasted sharper, while the other half said food tasted duller. The upshot: those who tasted food less intensely after surgery lost 20% more weight over three months than those who said foods tasted stronger. The study authors say more research is needed to determine why the change in taste occurs, but another recent study did have similar findings. The study, from Leicester Royal Infirmary in the United Kingdom, found that three quarters of weight loss surgery patients developed a dislike for certain foods after their operations, most often meat and dairy products. Working out will be more fun When you're carrying around extra pounds, exercising can make your joints hurt and lungs burn more than someone who's at a normal weight, says Dr. Tsai. Once you start to slim down, exercise will start to feel less like a chore and more like the fun, energizing experience that it should be. Plus, being lighter can also make you faster and stronger. Take running, for example: It's generally believed that for every pound lost, an athlete can shave two seconds off the time it takes to run a mile. Your bones may change Ever heard that losing weight weakens your bones? While it's true that weight loss is associated with bone loss, it's only a big concern if you become underweight or follow an unhealthy diet, and the National Osteoporosis Foundation says that the benefits of weight loss usually outweigh the risks. Extra weight can make your bones stronger (they have to be, to carry the extra pounds) but it also damages joints. And new research suggests that visceral fat around the belly is particularly bad for bones, for both men and women. Losing weight can help, as well as reduce arthritis symptoms, according to a 2013 review published in the Journal of the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons. You'll probably spend less on health care Normal-weight people spend less money on medical bills and expenses than their overweight peers, according to a 2009 study published in the journal Health Affairs. Specifically, researchers found obese people spent $1,429 more -- that's 42% higher -- than their normal-weight peers, most of which went toward prescription medications needed to manage chronic conditions. And a 2014 report on Michigan residents found that annual health care costs for people who were extremely obese were a whopping 90% higher than those of normal-weight individuals. In related sad-but-true news, you might notice something else when you lose weight, as well: Doctors (whose bias against obese patients has been well documented) may treat you better, too. You may get a raise It's not just doctors who may treat you better after losing weight; your employer might, too. Studies have shown that obese people make less money than normal-weight workers, especially among women. In fact, a 2004 study published in Health Economics found that the average paycheck for an obese worker was about 2.5% lower than that of a thinner employee. Dropping down to a healthy weight may also get you more job offers, according to a 2014 British study. You may be able to toss your meds Maintaining a healthy weight can protect you against diabetes and heart disease but what if you're already overweight and suffering from these conditions? Good news: Slimming down can still help. "These conditions won't necessarily go away, but you may be able to reduce your symptoms and the amount of medication you take," says Dr. Tsai. You may be able to take less blood pressure or cholesterol medication, for example, or learn to manage your type 2 diabetes without giving yourself daily injections. Studies also show that losing weight may allow you control chronic conditions like asthma and heartburn without (or with less) medication, as well. Your skin may sag One thing many people aren't prepared for after a dramatic weight loss is the loose, sagging skin. It won't go away overnight -- or perhaps ever -- and it may leave you feeling disappointed with your new body . Some opt for body contouring procedures like a facelift, breast lift, or tummy tuck, but any surgery carries risks, and in most cases insurance will not cover these cosmetic surgeries. You'll catch more zzz's People who lost at least 5% of their body weight over a six-month period slept an average of 22 minutes longer than they had previously in a 2014 University of Pennsylvania study. And earlier in the year, Finnish researchers reported that modest weight loss significantly improved symptoms of sleep apnea . "Losing weight usually means there's less there to physically constrict your breathing and less soft tissue to block the upper airways," says Dr. Tsai. Better sleep also helps your body burn fat more efficiently, so getting a good night's sleep means you'll be more likely to keep those pounds off. You could boost your chances of having a baby If you've been trying to get pregnant, losing a few pounds may help. A 2009 study published in Fertility and Sterility found that obesity in women is associated with infertility and polycystic ovary syndrome, and that the younger a woman is when she becomes obese, the harder it could be for her to get pregnant. Slimming down can also help ensure that you have a healthy pregnancy and a healthy baby, since a mom's weight during (and even before) has been linked to all sorts of health outcomes for her kids. Your eye health will improve Matthew McConaughey told interviewers that his rapid weight-loss in preparation for his role as an AIDS victim in Dallas Buyers Club caused him to start losing his eyesight. That may be the result of extreme calorie restriction or nutritional deficiencies -- but for most people, weight loss can actually protect their vision from obesity-related conditions like type 2 diabetes. A 2013 University of Georgia study, for example, found that higher body fat percentage was associated with lower levels of the antioxidants lutien and zeaxanthin in retinal tissue. "The results indicate that adiposity may affect the nutritional state of the retina," the authors wrote. "Such links may be one of the reasons that obesity promotes age-related degenerative conditions." | 7 | 5,462 | health |
Tolkien lore led a Texas boy to suspension after bringing his "one ring" to school. Kermit Elementary School officials called it a threat when the 9-year-old boy, Aiden, in a playful act of make-believe, told a classmate he could make him disappear with a ring forged in fictional Middle Earth's Mount Doom. "It sounded unbelievable," the boy's father, Jason Steward, told the Daily News. He assures his son "didn't mean anything by it." The Stewards had just watched "The Hobbit: The Battle of Five Armies" days earlier, inspiring Aiden's imagination that he had in his possession, the one ring to rule them all. "Kids act out movies that they see. When I watched Superman as a kid, I went outside and tried to fly," Steward said. Aiden claimed Thursday he could put a ring over his head and make him invisible like Bilbo Baggins, who stole Gollum's precious in J.R.R. Tolkien's fantasy series "Lord of the Rings." "I assure you my son lacks the magical powers necessary to threaten his friend's existence," he later wrote in an email. "If he did, I'm sure he'd bring him right back." Principal Roxanne Greer declined to comment on the fourth grader's suspension citing confidentiality policies, according to the Odessa American , who first reported Aiden's troubles Friday. The family moved within the Kermit Independent School District only six months ago, but it's been nothing but headaches for Aiden. He's already been suspended three times. Two of the disciplinary actions this year were in-school suspensions for referring to a classmate as black and bringing his favorite book to school: the Big Book of Knowledge. "He loves that book. They were studying the solar system and he took it to school. He thought his teacher would be impressed," Steward said. But the teacher learned the popular children's encyclopedia had a section on pregnancy, depicting a pregnant woman in an illustration, he explained. [email protected] | 5 | 5,463 | news |
MONTREAL (AP) -- Nothing is getting past Carey Price these days. The star goaltender made 36 saves for his second shutout in a row, Max Pacioretty scored 3:08 into overtime and the Montreal Canadiens edged the Washington Capitals 1-0 Saturday for their fifth straight win. It was nearly a repeat of Montreal's last game Thursday night against the Rangers in New York, when Price got the shutout and Pacioretty scored late in the third period for a 1-0 victory. The Canadiens improved to 15-3-1 in their last 19 games. ''We're all making contributions,'' Price said. ''It's a team sport.'' ''Max made a big contribution at the end. Guys are all doing their part. I'm relying on the guys around me and they're relying on me. Right now, we have perfect harmony going,'' he said. Price has been at the top of his game of late. He showed it midway through the first period with a spectacular glove save on a close-in shot from Brooks Laich during a power play. Price did even better as the Canadiens took consecutive minors in the second frame, making a quick pad save on Troy Brouwer from the slot and a glove save through traffic on Nicklas Backstrom. Alex Ovechkin, whose shift lasted nearly 4 1/2 minutes, and John Carlson hit posts during the same sequence. Washington has only one win in its last six games overall and has dropped five straight on the road. Pacioretty went to the net to tip Tomas Plekanec's pass over goaltender Braden Holtby for the winning goal. P.K. Subban's assist was his 200th career point. With Price sharp, that was enough. ''You get goose bumps when you're stepping out of the tunnel because you want to step up for him,'' Pacioretty said. ''It sounds cheesy, but he really is the backbone of this team.'' ''When we let him down by giving up a chance that's not deserved and he makes a big save, I think we bear down a bit harder for him. It was a good example today. We left him out to dry a couple of times.'' Holtby, coming off a shutout win Wednesday over Pittsburgh, made 29 saves in another scoreless three periods. ''I thought both goaltenders played real good,'' Capitals coach Barry Trotz said. ''I thought we played a solid road game, we just couldn't find the back of the net.'' ''We hit three posts and had a number of good chances. I don't think we gave up a whole lot. I was pretty happy with the way we played.'' Ovechkin led all players with eight shots on goal and topped his team with 25:18 of ice time, but was unable to pick up his 30th goal of the season. His monster shift in the second frame was likely his best chance, as well as one where he cut to the inside, plowed through three Canadiens and got off a shot in the first period. ''He's a beast when it comes to being on the ice,'' Trotz said. ''In the first period he did that lateral cut and it was like three bowling pins bounced off him.'' It was Montreal's first win at home over Washington since a 6-5 overtime victory on Feb. 10, 2010. NOTES: Montreal hosts Arizona on Sunday. It will be the 24th time since 1991 that the Canadiens play two afternoon games on Super Bowl weekend. ... Mike Weaver and Gabriel Dumont were scratched for Montreal. Cameron Schilling and Andre Burakovsky didn't play for Washington. ... The Capitals host St. Louis on Sunday afternoon. | 1 | 5,464 | sports |
Tunisia boss Georges Leekens has accused the referee of "forcing" his side's controversial defeat to Equatorial Guinea on Saturday. Ahmed Akaichi had put Tunisia into the lead in the 70th minute of the Africa Cup of Nations quarterfinal but the game exploded in stoppage time when Mauritian referee Seechurn Rajindraparsad inexplicably gave a penalty to the host nation. Hamza Mathlouthi appeared to barely touch Ivan Bolado in the penalty area in the dying seconds of the game and yet the referee bizarrely awarded a spot kick to Equatorial Guinea when the player dived to the ground. Former Real Madrid player Javier Balboa converted from the spot before scoring an admittedly sublime free kick in extra time, although there were also doubts about whether the whistle should have been blown against Tunisia for the set piece too. "In my 15 years as a player and 30 as coach I've never seen anything like it," Leekens told reporters. "Today's result was forced. The referee made a huge error and we did not deserve that." Leekens' counterpart Esteban Becker, however, refused to be drawn on the legitimate about how the referee could have fallen for such an obvious dive, which tainted what was essentially a fairytale win for the stand-in host nation. "Refereeing decisions are a normal part of football," he said. Equatorial Guinea will now face either Ghana or Guinea in the last four of AFCON 2015. | 1 | 5,465 | sports |
Let's just call Expedia's $280 million acquisition of Travelocity, and the reportedly imminent sale of Orbitz, what it is: the latest chapter in an online-travel soap opera. If you're an industry insider, this is juicy. But for the average traveler, it's hard to figure out whether it means anything at all. So what if Expedia bought its former rival? And does it really matter who owns Orbitz? As a matter of fact, yes. First, a recap of the latest episode of "As the Online Travel World Turns." Last week, Expedia and Travelocity announced they were getting married after moving in together in 2013. Travelocity had essentially been operating as an Expedia affiliate, but it was still owned by parent company Sabre. (Told you this was complicated.) Expedia's chief executive, Dara Khosrowshahi, said the marriage would allow his company to "continue to innovate and deliver the very best travel experiences to the widest set of travelers, all over the world." Meanwhile, Orbitz was reportedly mulling over a sale, although it remained unclear who would buy the online travel agency. Chris Chiames, a spokesman there, said the company doesn't comment on "rumors and speculation about potential transactions and market activity." As I said, soap opera. If you don't follow the ins and outs of the online travel universe, don't worry. These deals raise some important questions for the average traveler chief among them the fate of the beloved Roaming Gnome. Will Travelocity's mascot get sent to the recycler? I won't keep you in suspense. The gnome, and the Travelocity name, will survive, according to Expedia. That may be a good-news/bad-news proposition (no offense to the gnome): By keeping the Travelocity name and site, travelers might believe they're being diligent shoppers by checking both Expedia and Travelocity when, in fact, they're price-comparing figures from the same source. "The average traveler probably won't realize that when they book a deal on Travelocity now, they are actually booking through Expedia and that lots of the travel deals you see on Expedia and Travelocity will be the same or similar," says Dennis Schaal, the news editor for Skift , a Web site that covers the online travel industry. In fact, an important competitor has been eliminated, which means consumers have fewer choices. That could result in worse customer service, say observers such as Schaal. Remember that Travelocity used to offer a guarantee that promised to make things right during travel if something went wrong. Expedia hasn't matched that guarantee, Schaal says, at least not yet. But does the drama of the online travel world actually mean anything for your next trip? Maybe, says Edward Hasbrouck, an online travel industry expert and author of " The Practical Nomad: How to Travel Around the World ." "The business reasons why the sites' owners are choosing to merge aren't really relevant to consumers," he says. "What's relevant to consumers is the reduction of competition." So how does an acquisition like the Expedia-Travelocity deal affect competition? Under its former owners, a site like Travelocity would have access to different inventory and, at times, better deals than its competitors. With Expedia owning it, the two are no longer competing, so you'll need to add a few more sites to your shopping list to do your due diligence. If another large online travel company such as Priceline snatches up Orbitz, then you'll have even fewer choices. Over time, that could make finding the right flight, hotel room or cruise more difficult. We're not there yet, says David Tossell, a former Travelocity manager who is now the vice president of travel and hospitality at software development company DataArt. "This is not a game-changer," he says. His advice: Lean on the "meta" search sites that find fares from a variety of sources. Among his favorites are Kayak.com , Trivago , Google Flights and Google Hotels . Metas save you the trouble of having to bookmark dozens of travel sites and searching them one by one. Even if Expedia gobbled up Travelocity, Orbitz and a few other big travel sites, it wouldn't necessarily mean the reduction in competition will lead to higher prices. As a matter of fact, thanks to a little industry practice called "price parity," hotel rates are often within a few dollars of each other hardly something to get excited about. Online agencies are contractually forbidden from displaying lower prices than hotels do on their site. The biggest discrepancies, insiders say, are on smartphone apps like TripAdvisor's , where hotel rates are sometimes markedly lower than they are on the hotels' own sites. Air fares are also competitive between travel sites and the airlines' Web sites. For that reason, says Edward Nevraumont, a former vice president at Expedia, the deals "don't really matter." Nevraumont, whose specialty at Expedia was competitive analysis, says consumers would have noticed any changes a year ago, when the Expedia-Travelocity affiliate agreement kicked in, and they didn't. Consumers appear to have adjusted to the ups and downs of the industry. Nigel Appleby, a retired insurance broker from Vancouver, B.C., says he has already changed how he shops for travel. "I use an online travel agency for research and then I use a brick-and-mortar travel agent for a booking," he says. Why? His travel agent can beat any price he finds online and doesn't charge a fee. Using a real travel agent in 2015? Who would have thought? Oh, the drama! More from Travel : Travel Guide Ski Guide Caribbean Guide | 2 | 5,466 | travel |
Police say there is no indication of drug or alcohol involvement in the investigation of Whitney Houston's daughter being found unresponsive in a bathtub. | 8 | 5,467 | video |
Erik Karlsson and Bobby Ryan led the onslaught of goals in the third period for the Senators in their 7-2 win over the Coyotes on Saturday. | 1 | 5,468 | sports |
The Tampa Bay Rays signed reliever Ronald Belisario to a minor league deal Saturday with an invite to spring training. The right-hander is a career 24-20 with a 3.75 ERA, 267 strikeouts, 12 saves and 84 holds in parts of five major-league seasons (331 1/3 innings) with the Los Angeles Dodgers and Chicago White Sox. He was 4-8 with a 5.56 ERA and 47 strikeouts in 66 1/3 innings with the White Sox last year. Belisario, 32, signed his first contract as an amateur free agent with the Florida Marlins in 1999. He made his major-league debut with the Dodgers in 2009. You can follow Andrew Astleford on Twitter @aastleford or email him at [email protected] . | 1 | 5,469 | sports |
AUBURN HILLS, Mich. (AP) Houston's Josh Smith, waived earlier in the season by the Pistons, was booed by Detroit fans in his return to the Palace Saturday night to face his former team. Smith says he has no hard feelings toward the Pistons and was glad to see their hard work pay off when they won seven straight games immediately after waiving him. Detroit cut Smith loose in late December, less than a season and a half after signing him to a pricey contract as a free agent. And although the Pistons started playing well after his departure, Smith caught on with one of the league's best teams and is contributing. Detroit fans still booed him when he first went to the scorer's table to check in and when he touched the ball. | 1 | 5,470 | sports |
Celebs who have successfully battled cancer Many celebrities have fought through cancer and survived it. Here is a look at some of those stars. Hugh Jackman The on-screen Wolverine had skin cancer removed from his nose in November 2013, and a second one in May 2014. He was diagnosed with basal cell cancer (BCC). Michael Douglas After the discovery of a tumour in his throat in August 2010, the actor went through aggressive chemotherapy. In an interview in January 2011, he confirmed that the tumour was gone, though the illness and treatment had caused him to lose a lot of weight. Cynthia Nixon The actress star was diagnosed with breast cancer during a routine mammogram in October 2006. Cynthia was at first reluctant to go public with her illness, however in a 2008 interview, she announced her battle with the disease and is now a breast cancer activist. Kylie Minogue Diagnosed with breast cancer in 2005, the Australian pop singer underwent lumpectomy and chemotherapy and was later declared cancer-free. Robert De Niro The Hollywood ace was diagnosed with early stages of prostate cancer in October 2003. He underwent surgery two months later and is now cancer-free. Lance Armstrong The former cyclist developed testicular cancer in October 2006 that spread to his abdomen, lungs and brain. Armstrong fought it off after chemotherapy and in February 1997, he was declared cancer-free. Angelina Jolie In early 2013, Angelina Jolie underwent a double mastectomy after tests showed that she carried the BRCA1 cancer gene which had 87% risk of developing breast cancer. After the surgery, the chances lowered to under 5%. Sharon Osbourne Afflicted with colon cancer in July 2002 that had spread to her lymph nodes, Sharon was successfully operated on and has been clear of cancer for more than 10 years. Christina Applegate Due to gene-related complications, Christina Applegate underwent a double mastectomy and got rid of her cancer. Sheryl Crow The American singer is a breast cancer survivor. She underwent surgery in 2006 followed by a radiation therapy. Melanie Griffith The Hollywood actress fought the battle against skin cancer in 2000 after she was diagnosed with the disease. Michael C. Hall At the age of 38, the Dexter star underwent treatment for a form of Hodgkin's lymphoma. He was successfully treated as the cancer was diagnosed at its early stages. Rod Stewart In May 2000, the British rock singer-songwriter was diagnosed with thyroid cancer, for which he underwent surgery in the same month. The surgery affected his voice and he had to re-learn how to sing. Martina Navratilova A routine mammogram in 2010 revealed that the tennis champion had a ductal carcinoma in her left breast. She had the tumour surgically removed through radiation therapy. Jennifer Saunders Jennifer was diagnosed with breast cancer in October 2009. She is in remission following a lumpectomy, chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Wanda Sykes The Hollywood actress underwent a mastectomy in September 2011 to remove her chances of getting breast cancer. She was diagnosed with ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) - a non-invasive stage zero breast cancer. Kathy Bates The Titanic star successfully battled ovarian cancer since her diagnosis in 2003. Elizabeth Taylor Among many health issues that ailed the late veteran actress, she also suffered from skin cancer. Gene Wilder In 1999, the veteran actor was diganosed with non-Hodgkins lymphoma, a decade after losing his wife, Gilda Radner, to ovarian cancer. He has been in remission since 2000. Olivia Newton-John Singer Olivia was out of the limelight in 2002 as she was recuperating after successfully winning her battle with breast cancer. Morrissey Former Smiths singer Morrissey revealed in October 2014 than he had been diagnosed with a cancerous tissue in his body. The musician has not revealed more details of his treatment. | 6 | 5,471 | entertainment |
Amid growing concern about global weather patterns, a rocket roared into space Saturday carrying a NASA satellite that will give scientists new tools to forecast weather, track drought and monitor climate change. The liftoff from Vandenberg Air Force Base in Southern California was the third attempt to launch the craft. Upper-level wind shear above the base near Lompoc had already prompted NASA to push Thursday morning's launch to Friday. The second postponement came after inspections revealed problems with the booster insulation of the United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket, according to the agency. Once fully deployed, the 2,000-pound craft will aim two microwave-emitting instruments at the Earth's surface and collect data that will enable the agency to determine the moisture content of the top two inches of soil planetwide and to calculate water depth to about three feet, said Jared Entin, NASA's Washington-based project scientist for the Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) mission. The radiometer and radar will work in tandem to pick up subtle changes in a narrow spectrum of microwave radiation known as the L-band, as the microwaves scatter and reflect from the Earth's surface, said Entin. "What we're measuring is the dip in the energy coming back from Earth in this spectrum," Entin said. "The more the dip, the more water is blocking the signal." The content of water in soil, and by extension in plants and crops, has been a somewhat opaque factor in forecast and climate models. Scientists have mainly relied on a relatively sparse array of ground instruments. From an altitude of about 426 miles, the satellite will be able to sweep all of the Earth's surface, regardless of cloud cover, in two to three days, offering a resolution of about five or six miles. Scientists worked for several years to integrate the two instruments into a best-of-both-worlds view of the Earth's surface. One detects a highly accurate signal but with much lower resolution, while the other can home in on smaller patches, but produce a much "noisier" signal, Entin said. Although it will take more than a year to gather, calibrate, verify and analyze the information in a way that is suitable for scientific research, NASA plans to release early data sets within several months to forecasters and planners in such agencies as the United Nations World Food Program, U.S. Department of Agriculture and U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Eventually, such information will help predict floods, drought, famine, crop yields, weather and climate change. "This water in the soil is a cog between three important cycles in the Earth system - the water cycle, the carbon cycle and the energy cycle," Entin said. Researchers will be able to fill in many details about the solar energy involved in evaporation and movement of water in the atmosphere, and about how plants absorb carbon dioxide. Climate models agree that the Earth is warming, but they differ about such fundamental issues as which areas will get more precipitation and which will be drier, Entin said. "Certainly the people in California would like to know: Are we the area that's getting drier, or might we be getting wetter?" he said. But there will be more pragmatic, and profound, applications for the data. Water managers will be able to make decisions about irrigation and drinking water supply, meteorologists will use the data to refine their short- and long-range predictions, and health officials may be better able to predict mosquito-borne infection, he said. The $916-million mission was engineered to work for at least five years, although many NASA satellites have endured for far longer, Entin noted. "If the satellite works on Day 1, odds are it will work for a decade or longer," Entin said. UPDATE 2:06 p.m.: This post has been updated with additional background information on the project and comments from Jared Entin, a NASA project scientist. This post was originally published at 6:35 a.m. | 5 | 5,472 | news |
From not dyeing your hair to never eating BBQ, we take a look at the top 14 cancer myths Is there a secret to beating cancer? Lately it seems that every thing we do or eat causes cancer - or cures it. Everyone in the cancer community has an opinion, and it can be difficult to sift the fact from the fiction. To mark World Cancer Day on February 4, here are 14 cancer myths debunked. Stop using deodorant One of the more prevalent claims is that deodorants cause cancer. A 2002 study by Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle found there to be no link between the use of these products and cancer. No more BBQ Willing to cut out BBQ forever for fear of developing cancer? Don't give away your grill just yet. While charred meat contains substances found to cause mutation in rodents, the levels necessary to cause cancer in humans would require outrageously high amount of BBQ that no one would normally eat. To cut down your risk the National Cancer Institute advises you don't char your food, or if you do, cut those bits off. Get off oral contraceptives Birth control pills reduce risk of cancers of the uterus and ovaries but slightly increase the risk of breast cancer. After ten years of stopping the medication, however, the risk for cancer returned to the same level as if they had never used the birth control pills, according to the National Cancer Institute. No need to go off the Pill just yet. Don't dye your hair Dyeing your hair causes cancer? According to a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association on May 25, 2014 this is untrue. Drink loads of red wine Think barrels of red wine will ward off cancer? Think again. Alcohol consistently comes up as a possible cause of cancer and it is best to enjoy moderately if at all according to several studies including Cancer Research UK, the American Cancer Society and Journal of the American Medical Association. Throw away your bra Have you heard that wearing a bra could increase your risk of cancer? No need to worry, the National Cancer Institute and the American Cancer Institute have categorically refuted this outrageous claim. Cut out acidic foods The logic behind this popular myth is that cancer cells exist in an acidic environment, so by starving the cancer cells of acidity they will not be able to grow. Unfortunatly there is no evidence that restricting what you eat can change the pH balance of the entire body and even if it did, that it would have such an effect on cancer, according to the American Institute for Cancer Research. Take one aspirin a day for five years An interesting study conducted by the University of Oxford in 2012 found that people who took an aspirin a day for five years were found to have a 37% reduced risk of cancer compared to people who did not take aspirin. Other studies have shown similar, if less dramatic results however, according to the Oxford University National Cancer Institute, it's too early to recommend an asprin a day. Get rid of your mobile phone Rest assured, your mobile phone is not giving you brain cancer. Doctors at the Danish Cancer Society monitored 420,000 mobile phone users in Denmark from 1982 to 1995 and found no cancer link. There have been several follow-up studies since then, and none have found any evidence of a connection between mobile phone use and cancer. Never drink from a plastic water bottle What about drinking water from a plastic bottle? There has been some concern about chemicals entering the water when exposed to heat, like in a hot car. According to Cancer Research UK, there is no evidence that this happens. Although harmful chemicals can be released when plastic is burned, it is unclear if these are even present in the plastic used in water bottles. Banish all sugar from your diet The ony problem with sugar is that it causes weight gain, which in turn puts you at a higher risk for certain cancers, but sugar itself does not directly affect cancer. According to Dr. Kyle Holen at UW Paul P. Carbone Comprehensive Cancer Center in Wisconsin, USA, you should not stop eating all sugar. Bye bye soy Can't live without your soy latte or tofu stir-fry? No need to give them up just yet. Though soy contains chemicals similar to estrogen, a hormone that can promote tumors in breast cells, the 2012 American Cancer Society Guidelines on Nutrition and Physical Activity for Cancer Survivors reports that current research finds no harmful effects to breast cancer survivors from eating soy. Eat blueberries every day If you enjoy them by all means have them, but keep your expectations realistic. "Superfoods" like blueberries, green tea, garlic, etc. are great for your health but they do not fight cancer according to a study funded by Cancer Research UK. Take vitamins Forgot your daily vitamin? Not to worry. Multivitamins were found to have no effect on cardiovascular disease or cancer risk. If multivitamins are beneficial, the effect is too small to detect, according to the Annals of Internal Medicine Journal 2013. | 7 | 5,473 | health |
Omaha, Neb. -- Any concerns about how Georgetown would respond to its 13-point loss to Xavier were quickly erased Saturday in a 67-40 demolition of Creighton. The No. 21-ranked Hoyas outclassed the Bluejays for all but six minutes of the Big East game played before an announced crowd of 17,499 at CenturyLink Center. Creighton went a stretch of 17:18 without a field goal while the Hoyas (15-6, 7-3 Big East) outscored the Bluejays 31-3 to turn a 15-12 deficit into a 43-18 lead. Hoyas coach John Thompson III was encouraged that his team continued to play hard even after building several large leads. Thompson said that was a credit to the way Creighton typically performs. "They were struggling to score but they can score," Thompson said. "They can go on runs, particularly in this building. There was no discussion about going for the jugular. It was like keep doing what we're doing, stay focused, stay attentive, try not to let them get open looks." The closest Creighton (10-13, 1-9 Big East) got in the final 13 minutes was 17 points when forward Rick Kreklow made a free throw with 4:43 left. Georgetown finished the game with a 14-1 run while holding Creighton to its season low in points. During that midgame dry spell Creighton missed 24 consecutive field goal attempts and finished the game shooting a season-low 20.8 percent (11-of-53). Creighton also had its worst half of shooting this season, making just 5 of 28 (17.9 percent) in the opening 20 minutes. The 40-point performance was the lowest offensive output in Coach Greg McDermott's five-year tenure. "It was a battle of toughness and we certainly weren't up to the challenge," McDermott said. "They were focused, they played with energy, they played with enthusiasm, and we did not." The previous low was 50 -- first against Duke in the 2013 NCAA tournament, then again in a 21-point loss to No. 4 Villanova on Jan. 25. No Creighton player scored in double figures Saturday as guard Avery Dingman led the way with eight points. Junior guard D'Vauntes Smith-Rivera, the preseason Big East player of the year, led the Hoyas with 24 points on 9-of-17 shooting, including 4-of-9 from three-point range. Senior guard Jabril Trawick finished with 15. Georgetown dominated the opening four minutes before Creighton countered with a 15-3 stretch to erase the Hoyas opening 9-0 run. That opening blast showed the crowd there was no hangover from that 66-53 setback Jan. 27 to Xavier. The Hoyas made three of their first four shots and a pair of free throws before the first television timeout. Georgetown's defensive pressure flustered Creighton to miss its first five shots, including three air balls. Freshman forward L.J. Peak accounted for five of those points -- a three-pointer from the right wing and a layup -- while Smith-Rivera had a layup of his own and the two free throws. Creighton bounced back to take a pair of one-point leads before the Hoyas asserted their presence on both ends of the court. A layup by Devin Brooks at 9:47 gave the Jays their biggest lead of the game at 15-12. Over the last several minutes of the half, Creighton scored just two more points as Georgetown rediscovered its shooting groove and bolted to a 28-17 halftime lead. "I thought we showed some fight in that stretch," McDermott said. "We missed five or six layups in the first half point blank that weren't necessarily challenged." Smith-Rivera led the charge with 11 points, but it was the Georgetown defense that proved to be most impressive. Creighton made just five of its 28 first half shots (17.9 percent) and committed seven turnovers. "We knew throughout the game they were going to make a run eventually," Smith-Rivera said. "We just wanted that one to be the last one." Georgetown continued its dominance at both ends at the start of the second half, opening the half on a 15-1 run. The Hoyas finished the game making 26 of their 52 field goals. "I thought we did a good job of keeping the ball moving," Thompson said. "They played the ball very well. I thought we wanted to keep them moving, keep them chasing us." Thompson said it was a selfless attitude both on offense and defense that helped Georgetown enjoy so much success at both ends of the court. "Whether we were in man or zone, we did a very good job of helping each other," Thompson said. "Sometimes you can be a selfish defender and not help your teammate but still contain your man. I thought our guys today were very unselfish defensively." Notes: Creighton's hope of extending its 18-year streak of winning at least 10 conference games officially ended with the loss to Georgetown. For 17 of those seasons the Bluejays were members of the Missouri Valley Conference. ... Thompson wanted to review the game tape before heaping too much praise on the defensive performance his team had Saturday. ''As a coach you forget the 10 stops you had," Thompson said. "You remember the one open shot when someone didn't do something and they get a wide-open shot. I can think of too many of those examples to praise our defense." ... A quick search of the Creighton media guide shows that Saturday's 40 points were the lowest total scored by the Bluejays since a 71-38 loss at Missouri State on Feb. 24, 1994. ----------------------------------------------- | 1 | 5,474 | sports |
Whether you're tackling your first 5K or training for a marathon , it's important to fuel your body in order to kick some butt during your sweat session. While exercising on an empty stomach isn't the best idea , fueling up the wrong way before a run can cause stomach cramps, dizziness, and headaches. Check out the chart below to learn some good choices for noshing before lacing up those sneaks. 2 Hours Before What to eat: 300- to 400-calorie meal containing carbs, protein, and healthy fats: Quinoa and chickpea wrap Whole wheat pasta with cheese and veggies Oatmeal with fruit and nuts Farro-and-tofu stir-fry Peanut butter and jelly sandwich Greek yogurt with fruit, nuts, and granola Wrap filled with grilled fish, avocado, and mango Fruit, yogurt, and greens smoothie (or this vegan protein smoothie that tastes like a vanilla milkshake! ) Veggie omelet with toast What to avoid: Fibrous veggies and high-fat foods that are hard to digest: Broccoli, onions, and a large serving of beans Cream-based soups, burgers, fries, and ice cream 1 Hour Before What to eat: 150-calorie snack containing easily digestible carbs and a little protein: Whole wheat toast with nut butter Banana and a small handful of cashews Whole grain crackers and hummus Small bowl of cereal Half a fruit-and-nut bar Cheese stick and carrots What to avoid: Large meals and foods that are difficult to digest: Spicy foods Pears, apples, and melons 15 to 30 Minutes Before What to eat: Small serving of easily digestible carbs: Half a banana Applesauce A few saltine crackers Raisins What to avoid: Large serving of protein and carbs or high-saturated fat and high-fiber foods: Pasta Bagel and cream cheese Fried foods Granola or energy bar (high in calories and fiber) Hydrating is also essential, so drink about 15 to 20 ounces of water one to two hours before working out. Sip another eight ounces 15 minutes before. | 7 | 5,475 | health |
Of all the talents Ernie Banks exhibited over his Hall of Fame career, perhaps the most impressive skill was his ability to relate to everyday people from all walks of life. "He could make you feel like you were the most important person in the universe," longtime friend John Rogers said during Saturday's memorial service at Fourth Presbyterian Church. That was the thematic motif on Saturday as family, friends and fans congregated to celebrate the life of the legendary ballplayer, who died last week at 83. Almost every speaker drove the point home that Banks was not just a great athlete who was good with the media and loved the game. He was simply a man who enjoyed meeting and talking to people, leaving a little piece of himself with hundreds and hundreds of those fortunate enough to run into him, whether it was at the ballpark, walking down the street or in the aisle of a grocery store. "Ernie walked up to you as if he had known you for years," Billy Williams said. "He branded goodwill," added Rev. Jesse Jackson. It's a lesson that should be taught to every athlete, especially the ones who feel "smothered" by the fame that comes with the territory. How many times have I seen ballplayers whip out their cellphones and pretend to make a call as they leave a ballpark, giving them cover from fans who may want an autograph or just a chance to say hello? Or put on their headphones to drown out the noise of someone shouting out their name to try and get their attention? Perhaps there are some fans whom Banks ignored. He was human, after all. But judging from the emails and conversations I've had with those who randomly bumped into him over the years, those stories are few and far between. He genuinely liked people. "Ernie Banks is not Mr. Cub because we loved him," Cubs Chairman Tom Ricketts said. "Ernie Banks is Mr. Cub because he loved us back. As it turned out, Ernie became Mr. Cub through no more magic than just being himself." Banks' memorial was as comforting as a soft, summer breeze, with former teammate Williams stealing the show with stories of their conversations about life as roommates, or sharing rides to work. "I never did see him read a book," Williams said. "But he knew about everything." Banks once told notorious knockdown pitcher Bob Gibson that Williams was going to hit a home run off him that day, prompting Williams to plead with his friend: "Ernie, don't make him meaner, man." Banks' son, Joey, thanked his father for "showing us how to be winners without winning all the time," while Joey's twin brother Jerry revealed one of Ernie's favorite sayings was: "I feel like I could fly." After the service, Cubs broadcaster Pat Hughes told a story on the church steps of how Banks was at a big party and told all the kids, "The best thing you can do when you get back to the hotel, rub your daddy's feet." "My daughters come back giggling to me, 'Daddy, Ernie Banks said we should rub your feet,'" Hughes said. "Everyone in the whole room is laughing about Ernie. He brought everyone together. It was a funny, off the wall, quirky thing to do, but it spread joy and that's what Ernie loved to do." That's why Banks had such an impact on the city, and why his death was felt by so many who didn't even know him. Cubs fan Tom Moroz, of Uptown, was one of a crowd of several hundred people waiting near Wrigley Field to get a glimpse of the funeral procession as it drove past. "I was watching on TV and shedding tears when they were wheeling his casket out of the church," Moroz said. "I thought I have to come down to the ballpark. (The procession) passed quickly. I thought they may stop, but that didn't happen. But you could clearly see the No. 14 (flag) draped over the casket in the back." The ballpark construction continued after the procession disappeared up Clark Street, and fans went back into the nearby bars and restaurants, or just went home. Before you know it, opening day will arrive and the Cubs' attempt to end the seemingly endless title drought will begin anew. It won't be the same, of course, but rest assured the spirit of Ernie Banks will always remain a part of Wrigley Field, come rain or shine. [email protected] Twitter @PWSullivan | 1 | 5,476 | sports |
Tomas Tatar and Gustav Nyquist each scored power play goals for the Red Wings in their 4-1 win over the Islanders. | 1 | 5,477 | sports |
He would never admit it. He is just too proud, too confident. But Saturday's performance in a 78-68 overtime win over North Carolina will surely ease some of the frustrations of University of Louisville forward Montrezl Harrell. Harrell was a preseason All-American. He spurned the 2014 NBA draft to play through his junior year at Louisville. And in the past few weeks, his numbers lagged and his annoyance levels rose. He just didn't seem like his old self, and he certainly didn't look like an All-American or a first-round NBA draft pick. Against UNC, he posted up. He attacked. He dunked. He screamed. He rebounded. He played like he did at Pitt last Sunday, but he took things to another level. He finished with 22 points and 15 rebounds. Harrell looked like a preseason All-American, and he took over the game during its most pivotal stretch. For the first time since the UNC Wilmington and Indiana games, he was the best player on the floor. Overtime Terry . Star Louisville guard Terry Rozier didn't shoot the lights out on Saturday. He didn't have the type of game that he has had the past few times on the floor. But even with his cold-shooting start, Rozier kept working at it, and his overtime performance helped Louisville eventually outlast UNC. His final line: 22 points, 10 rebounds, two steals and a block. Not bad for a guy who missed 14 shots. Blackshear's big shot. Freshman Shaqquan Aaron played significant chunks of Saturday's game, and it was awfully hard to blame him for any struggles he had along the way. He was playing Wayne Blackshear's minutes, and Blackshear just didn't contribute for the first 30 minutes of the game. But Blackshear came to life when it mattered most, and he deserves credit for sticking with it. He missed his first four shots and had two bad turnovers early on, but he grabbed some key rebounds in the game's final few minutes, and his wing 3-pointer with about two minutes to go in overtime was the biggest shot of the game for Louisville. Mathiang's impact. The center position has been, like Blackshear, the source of a lot of Louisville fans' frustrations this season. But on Saturday, Mangok Mathiang did a lot of little things to have an impact on the game. He blocked shots, rebounded a bit and, more than anything else, gave Louisville some juice with his hustle. Jeff Greer writes for The Courier-Journal, a Gannett paper | 1 | 5,478 | sports |
Francesco Molinari had a hole-in-one on the 16th hole at TPC Scottsdale, and the gallery lost their mind. | 1 | 5,479 | sports |
With a few tips and tricks, you'll be surprised how quick and easy it is to put together a fancy cheese platter. | 0 | 5,480 | foodanddrink |
In preparation for Super Bowl Sunday, take a look back at the Seahawks top moments from the past year, including Richard Sherman's Twitter antics and Michael Bennett's victory bike ride. | 8 | 5,481 | video |
Amid growing concern about global weather patterns, a rocket roared into space Saturday carrying a NASA satellite that will give scientists new tools to forecast weather, track drought and monitor climate change. The liftoff from Vandenberg Air Force Base in Southern California was the third attempt to launch the craft. Upper-level wind shear above the base near Lompoc had already prompted NASA to push Thursday morning's launch to Friday. The second postponement came after inspections revealed problems with the booster insulation of the United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket, according to the agency. Once fully deployed, the 2,000-pound craft will aim two microwave-emitting instruments at the Earth's surface and collect data that will enable the agency to determine the moisture content of the top two inches of soil planetwide and to calculate water depth to about three feet, said Jared Entin, NASA's Washington-based project scientist for the Soil Moisture Active Passive, or SMAP, mission. The radiometer and radar will work in tandem to pick up subtle changes in a narrow spectrum of microwave radiation known as the L-band, as the microwaves scatter and reflect from the Earth's surface, said Entin. "What we're measuring is the dip in the energy coming back from Earth in this spectrum," Entin said. "The more the dip, the more water is blocking the signal." The content of water in soil, and by extension in plants and crops, has been a somewhat opaque factor in forecast and climate models. Scientists have mainly relied on a relatively sparse array of ground instruments. From an altitude of about 426 miles, the satellite will be able to sweep all of the Earth's surface, regardless of cloud cover, in two to three days, offering a resolution of about five or six miles. Scientists worked for several years to integrate the two instruments into a best-of-both-worlds view of the Earth's surface. One detects a highly accurate signal but with much lower resolution, while the other can home in on smaller patches, but produce a much "noisier" signal, Entin said. Although it will take more than a year to gather, calibrate, verify and analyze the information in a way that is suitable for scientific research, NASA plans to release early data sets within several months to forecasters and planners in such agencies as the United Nations World Food Program, U.S. Department of Agriculture and U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Eventually, such information will help predict floods, drought, famine, crop yields, weather and climate change. "This water in the soil is a cog between three important cycles in the Earth system the water cycle, the carbon cycle and the energy cycle," Entin said. Researchers will be able to fill in many details about the solar energy involved in evaporation and movement of water in the atmosphere, and about how plants absorb carbon dioxide. Climate models agree that the Earth is warming, but they differ about such fundamental issues as which areas will get more precipitation and which will be drier, Entin said. "Certainly the people in California would like to know: Are we the area that's getting drier, or might we be getting wetter?" he said. But there will be more pragmatic, and profound, applications for the data. Water managers will be able to make decisions about irrigation and drinking water supply, meteorologists will use the data to refine their short- and long-range predictions, and health officials may be better able to predict mosquito-borne infection, he said. The $916-million mission was engineered to work for at least five years, although many NASA satellites have endured for far longer, Entin noted. "If the satellite works on Day 1, odds are it will work for a decade or longer," Entin said. | 5 | 5,482 | news |
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. Beer cups rained down on the 16th green, Bubba Watson briefly turned into Russell Wilson, a gang of Elvises (or is it Elvii?) screamed encouragement from the bleachers and, every now and then, people paid some attention to the golf. Welcome to the PGA Tour, Super Bowl-style. Saturday's third round at the Waste Management Open at TPC Scottsdale became a giant, colorful, rowdy and somewhat intoxicated party, with a football theme that could not be avoided not that anyone seemed to want to. "It is a circus," said Pat Perez, who finished day three tied for 20th at six-under. "It is a zoo. It is not even a golf crowd. It is like a football crowd or a fraternity with golf getting in the way. I didn't used to like it. You have to play along with it." Football jerseys, many of them belonging to Seattle Seahawks fans, lined the fairways as Scotland's Martin Laird surged to 13-under and took a three stroke lead into the final round. But the biggest cheer of the day came when Italy's Francesco Molinari aced the 16th, prompting a volley of beer cups hurled from the stands. "First and last time hopefully," Molinari said, when asked if he'd ever been pelted with beverages on a course before. This is an event a world removed from the occasionally stuffy reputation of the Tour, and frankly, one wondered if most of the audience knew what was going on. "A lot of this crowd is people who have never been to golf before and probably never will again," said former British Open champion Stewart Cink, as the Elvis brigade started up a chant in the distance and a group of young ladies from an Arizona State University sorority found that high heels and mud don't really mix. "It is fun … mostly. It makes the atmosphere more like the other major sports." Indeed it was, so much so that when Molinari tossed his ball into the crowd following his hole in one, the fan that caught it threw it right back. Many of the players took the approach that given the impossibility of silencing the gallery, the only other option was to play along with the fun. "It is always crazy here but with the football going on there is definitely something extra," said reigning FedEx Cup champion Billy Horschel. "Some of the guys hate it. But if you don't like it, you shouldn't be playing here." Most players were happy to get into the spirit of Sunday's showdown, with many sharing their thoughts and predictions on the big game. Ricky Barnes, whose father Bruce was a punter for the New England Patriots from 1973-75, made no secret of his allegiance, and even texted Tom Brady and Bill Belichick earlier this week, having become friends with both during the AT&T National Pro-Am at Pebble Beach last year. Keegan Bradley, in a tie for 30th, is another Patriots fan and listed Brady as his all-time sports hero, while Michael Putnam, a Washington native and Seahawks fanatic, will head straight from Scottsdale to the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale on Sunday to take in the Super Bowl. Out on the course, the ever-popular Watson temporarily donned Wilson's jersey mid-round, to the delight of the Seattle transplants. Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods were not around, having missed the cut by two shots and several light years respectively, but no one here seemed to care. "The crowd are the stars here," said Morgan Hoffmann, in his third year as a Tour regular. "Every tournament should be like this." | 1 | 5,483 | sports |
WACO, Texas (AP) Kenny Chery scored 19 of his 23 points in the second half and Royce O'Neale added 20 points to help 20th-ranked Baylor beat No. 19 Texas 83-60 Saturday. Rico Gathers grabbed 15 rebounds for Baylor (16-5, 4-4 Big 12). Texas (14-7, 3-5) converted just 5 of 26 3-point attempts, many of them wide open as the Bears invited them to shoot. Baylor hit 12 of its 22 3-pointers. Chery made 5 of 7. Forward Jonathan Holmes led Texas with 17 points. Point guard Isaiah Taylor had 16 points and a career-best 10 assists. Cam Ridley 12 points and 11 rebounds for Texas. Baylor led 28-24 before closing the half with an 11-3 run. The Bears were incredibly streaky in the half, converting their first eight shots before missing 17 of their next 19. Freshman forward Johnathan Motley scored 12 points in the half, four fewer than his total in Baylor's four previous games. Nobody scored more than six points in the half for Texas. The Longhorns began the game by missing 12 straight shots, falling behind 12-0 before guard Javan Felix made a 3-pointer at the 15:45 mark. TIP-INS Baylor: Junior forward Rico Gathers has 115 offensive rebounds this season, 53 more any other player in the Big 12 Conference. He ranks second in the nation in offensive and overall rebounding. Texas: The Longhorns won 24 straight over Baylor from 1999-2009, but have gone 5-9 since. UP NEXT Baylor hosts TCU on Wednesday. Texas hosts Oklahoma State on Wednesday. | 1 | 5,484 | sports |
PHOENIX (AP) -- Just living the dream. And looking for more. Green Bay's Aaron Rodgers won his second MVP award Saturday night, and J.J. Watt swept away the voters the way he sweeps quarterbacks off their feet to take top defensive honors. Rodgers, also the 2011 Associated Press NFL Most Valuable Player award winner, took this one in somewhat surprisingly easy fashion over Watt. The Packers quarterback received 31 votes for the 2014 award from a nationwide panel of 50 media members who regularly cover the league. Houston's Watt, seeking to become the first defensive player to win MVP since 1986, got 13 votes. Rodgers threw for 38 touchdowns and a league-low five interceptions; he has thrown 512 passes at home without a pick. He led the Packers to two victories at season's end despite playing with a severe calf injury. "I feel so fortunate to live out my dreams, year after year," Rodgers said Saturday night. Watt, the ultra-energetic and versatile Texans end, is the first unanimous choice for an AP award since Tom Brady won Most Valuable Player in 2007, and the first for top defensive player under the current voting setup. "It's special," he said. "I'm always trying to raise the bar. The moment you get complacent is the moment you begin your decline. When you start to feel like you've made it, when you feel like you're doing pretty good, that's when you start to fall back." NFL rushing leader DeMarco Murray of Dallas won Offensive Player, while the Arizona Cardinals swept coaching honors. Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski took the Comeback Player award, but was not on hand because, well, New England has a rather important date with Seattle on Sunday in the Super Bowl. Murray, who ran away with the rushing title with 1,845 yards -- nearly 500 more than any other player -- also topped the NFL with 2,261 yards from scrimmage. He scored 13 touchdowns in helping the Cowboys win the NFC East. That overwhelming performance earned him 26 votes as Murray easily outdistanced Rodgers (15 votes). "I want to say thank you to the Jones family for taking a chance on me four years ago out of Oklahoma," Murray said. "It's been a privilege to play there. Hopefully we can continue that." Murray's contract is up. "I don't think it's any surprise or any secret where I want to play next year," he said. Arians took his second Coach of the Year award in three seasons after leading his injury-ravaged Cardinals to an 11-5 record and a wild-card playoff berth. He was the top coach in 2012 as an interim, stepping in for the ill Chuck Pagano and leading the Colts to the postseason. His defensive coordinator in Arizona, Todd Bowles, won the first Assistant Coach of the Year award. Bowles has parlayed his work with the Cardinals into a head coaching job with the Jets. "I wouldn't be head coach of the year if it wasn't for him and the job he did," Arians said. "I'm so happy that we started that award and he got it for the first time. Now he's going to do a great job for the Jets." Giants wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr., who made the play of the year against the Cowboys with a one-handed snag of a touchdown pass while falling backward, was voted top offensive rookie. Beckham tied Michael Irvin's NFL mark with nine consecutive games of 90 yards receiving and finished with 91 receptions for 1,305 yards and 12 TDs. "This is a great class that I came in," Beckham said. "Part of the reason that I wanted to come out (early from LSU) was to be included in this class." Rams tackle Aaron Donald won top defensive rookie honors. A force against the run and the pass, Donald had 37 tackles, nine assists, and led all rookies with nine sacks. He was one of three rookies initially selected for the Pro Bowl. "Hard work pays off," Donald explained. In his fourth pro season, Watt earned his second such honor with 20 1-2 sacks, 78 tackles -- 29 for losses -- 50 quarterback hits, four forced fumbles and 10 blocked passes. He is the first NFL player with multiple 20-sack seasons. Watt also had 20 1-2 sacks in 2012, his other top defensive player season. The AP awards were given out during the "NFL Honors" TV program. Also during the show, Carolina linebacker Thomas Davis won the Walter Payton Man of the Year Award. "This award means a great deal to me, as it symbolizes the valued work that the NFL, its players, and its 32 teams do in the community," said Davis, a 10-year veteran. Bears defensive end Jared Allen won the Salute to Service Award. USAA will contribute $25,000 in Allen's honor to the official aid societies representing all five military branches. --- AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and www.twitter.com/AP-NFL | 1 | 5,485 | sports |
NFL stars give their predictions on Super Bowl XLIX between the Seahawks and Patriots. | 8 | 5,486 | video |
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) -- Quinn Cook, Tyus Jones and No. 4 Duke got their biggest shots to start falling just in time. Jones scored 17 points, Cook had 15 and both made critical 3-pointers in the closing minutes, fueling a game-ended 16-5 run that gave the Blue Devils a 69-63 victory against No. 2 Virginia, ending the Cavaliers' 21-game home winning streak. "We were getting the same looks. It was just a matter of the ball going in the basket," Jones said. Cook hit three times from long range in the final 4:38 and Jones hit the clincher with about 10 seconds left, capping a dramatic turnaround that had seen the Blue Devils miss their first nine 3-point tries, and 11 of their first 13. Then, with Virginia leading by eight with 4:48 to play, and it sell-out crowd looking for the kill shot, Duke's only hope was to start converting, and it did, making 5 of their last 6. When Jones' 3 fell, pushing the Blue Devils' lead to six and the Cavaliers accepted their fate, it brought a positive end to what has been a wild week for Duke. A week ago, coach Mike Krzyzewski won his 1,000th career game against St. John's at Madison Square Garden. The Blue Devils then lost Wednesday night at Notre Dame, and dismissed junior guard Rasheed Sulaimon the next day. Ending the week with a smile was important, Cook said. "Big time. Big time," Cook said. "They're one of the best teams in the country and if you can get a win against those guys, especially in their house, it's just a great feeling." The Blue Devils (18-3, 5-3 Atlantic Coast Conference) finished 28 for 55 (50.9 percent) and became the first team to shoot 50 percent against the Cavaliers this season. Justise Winslow added 15 and Jahlil Okafor had 10 points and nine rebounds. Virginia (19-1, 7-1) started the second half with a 16-4 burst and led by 11 with just under 11 minutes to play before some ill-advised shots, turnovers and Duke's blistering shooting turned the tables. Malcolm Brogdon led Virginia with 17 points and Justin Anderson had 11. "There were a few possessions where I thought we were a little stagnant and didn't get the looks we wanted against their zone," Cavaliers coach Tony Bennett said. "I thought there was enough offense there to win that game. At the end you've got to come up with some tough stops. Those errors and breakdowns cost us." Cook's third 3-pointer gave Duke its first lead since early in the first half at 66-63 with 1:16 remaining. After Mike Tobey missed the front end of a one-and-one free throw for Virginia, Jones' second 3 of the game finished the Cavaliers off. Duke twice had to close big margins in the closing minutes. The Blue Devils pulled within 49-47 after getting two baskets by Okafor and an assist by the big man for a layup by Matt Jones, but then saw Virginia score the next seven points. The meeting was the first of teams in the top five in Charlottesville since No. 3 Virginia beat No. 2 North Carolina 74-58 at University Hall on Feb. 3, 1982, and brought out Virginia royalty like former stars Ralph Sampson and Sean Singletary. They saw a packed house, a big lead, and then were left wanting by the Blue Devils' strong finish. Winslow had seven points in an 11-2 run for the Blue Devils that gave them a 22-13 lead with 6 1/2 minutes to go in the opening half, but Virginia closed the half on a 12-4 burst to trail 26-25 at the intermission. Okafor had more turnovers, three, than points, two, at the half, and Winslow had 11 by halftime. TIP-INS: Duke: The Blue Devils were 6 for 17 on 3-pointers and made five in the last 4:38. Virginia: Virginia was outscored 14-0 on fast break points. ... Anthony Gill, Virginia's third-leading scorer, finished with just four points after playing only 19 minutes because of foul trouble. ... The Cavaliers were 3 for 13 on 3-pointers. BIG MAN: Okafor, who also had three assists and five turnovers, was far more physical in the second half and had a tip-in during the game-ending run. He said the coaches told him with about eight minutes remaining to turn the page. "I was letting my teammate down and I wanted to pick it up for them," he said. UP NEXT: Duke is at home against Georgia Tech on Wednesday night. Virginia plays at No. 13 North Carolina on Monday night. | 1 | 5,487 | sports |
Laura Britt gets you caught up with the social media reaction from No. 4 Duke's big win over No. 2 Virginia! | 1 | 5,488 | sports |
This low bun, complete with a classic French braid is the modern twist of a classic wedding hairstyle. Watch this bun come together in seconds in this video from BRIDES. Watch the whole series to find a wedding look that inspires you. | 4 | 5,489 | lifestyle |
Portland, Maine was named as one of the best cities for snow removal, so CNN's Sara Ganim went behind the scenes to see how they do it. | 8 | 5,490 | video |
"Me and Earl and the Dying Girl," a moving drama about a teenager who befriends a classmate with cancer, won the top prize at the Sundance Film Festival Saturday. Sundance winners regularly go on to critical and awards success at Hollywood's main prize-giving ceremonies. Last year's top winner, "Whiplash," is nominated for best picture at this year's Oscars. The US documentary award meanwhile went to "The Wolfpack," while in the non-US categories the main prizes went to a Scottish filmmaker and a movie about Ukraine's ongoing struggle in the shadow of its former Soviet masters. "Me and Earl and the Dying Girl" by Alfonso Gomez-Rejon took the Grand Jury Prize for a US drama at the end of a two-hour awards ceremony in the Utah mountain resort Park City. It also took the US drama audience prize -- the third year in row that the top US film has won both Grand Jury and audience awards, following "Whiplash" last year and "Fruitvale Station" in 2013. The best director for US drama was named as Robert Eggers for his horror movie "The Witch." - Stiff competition - The win for "Me and Earl and the Dying Girl" came against what was considered strong competition this year from other entries that stirred considerable buzz at Sundance, including "The Witch" and the coming-of-age hip hop drama "Dope." Among US documentaries, "The Wolfpack" by Crystal Moselle took the Grand Jury Prize, while best director went to Matthew Heineman for "Cartel Land" about drug wars in Mexico. In the world cinema categories, the Grand Jury Prize for a drama went to "Slow West" by Scottish filmmaker John Maclean, which follows a teenager on a journey across 19th century frontier America in search of the woman he loves. "Thanks to dad for taking me to see Westerns when I was a wee boy," he said in a message to the festival. The movie co-stars Michael Fassbender. The world documentary Grand Jury Prize was given to "The Russian Woodpecker," which takes a stab at Russian President Vladimir Putin, in a story about the revolution in Ukraine and the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster. "I don't think we can stop Russia with bombs, but I think with a little bit of art and truth maybe we can make some progress," said the movie's American director Chad Gracia. The 2015 Sundance Film Festival opened on January 22 and officially ends on Sunday. Here is a full list of prize winners from Saturday's awards: - US DRAMA - Grand Jury Prize: "Me and Earl and the Dying Girl" Directing: Robert Eggers, "The Witch" Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award: Tim Talbott, "The Stanford Prison Experiment" Special Jury Award for Cinematography: Brandon Trost, "The Diary of a Teenage Girl" Special Jury Award for Excellence in Editing: Lee Haugen, "Dope" Special Jury Award for Collaborative Vision: Jacqueline Kim and Jennifer Phang, "Advantageous" Audience Award: "Me and Earl and the Dying Girl" - US DOCUMENTARY- Grand Jury Prize: "The Wolfpack" Directing: Matthew Heineman, "Cartel Land" Special Jury Award for Social Impact: "3 1/2 Minutes" Special Jury Award for Verite Filmmaking: "Western" Special Jury Award for Breakout First Feature: "(T)ERROR" Special Jury Award for Cinematography: Matthew Heineman and Matt Porwoll, "Cartel Land" Audience Award: "Meru" - WORLD CINEMA DRAMA - Grand Jury Prize: "Slow West" Directing: Alante Kavaite, "The Summer of Sangaile" Special Award for Cinematography: Germain McMicking, "Partisan" Acting: Jack Reynor ("Glassland") and Regina Case and Camila Mardila ("The Second Mother") Audience Award: "Umrika" - WORLD CINEMA DOCUMENTARY - Grand Jury Prize: "The Russian Woodpecker" Directing: Kim Longinotto, "Dreamcatcher" Special Jury Award for Unparalleled Access: "The Chinese Mayor" Special Jury Award for Impact: "Pervert Park" Special Jury Award for Editing: Jim Scott, "How to Change the World" Audience Award: "Dark Horse" | 6 | 5,491 | entertainment |
CALGARY, Alberta (AP) Chalk up yet another third period comeback for the Calgary Flames. Lance Bouma scored two of Calgary's four goals in the final period and the Flames stormed back for a 4-2 victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday night. "We just knew going into that third period that our third is always our best, and we had a chance to win it," Bouma said. "We knew those were two big points." Calgary leads the NHL with 63 third-period goals, which has helped the team win a league-high nine games when trailing after two periods (9-15-1). "We've done it a lot this year," Bouma said, "and we definitely have the belief in here going into the third period, whether we're down by three or down by two, that we can come back in the game." Trailing 2-0, Paul Byron got the comeback started by deflecting in Mason Raymond's shot 2:56 in. Bouma tied it just over three minutes later after snapping a shot through the pads of Ben Scrivens. "It's always nice to contribute whenever you can," Bouma said. "Obviously, right now, we're rolling and it's been a fun go here lately. We just have to keep it going." The go-ahead goal came 2:33 after that on a power play when Sean Monahan tried to center a pass, but the puck instead deflected past Scrivens off the skate of Oilers defenseman Keith Aulie. It was the team-leading 16th goal for the 20-year-old second-year player, who also has four game-winning goals. Bouma wrapped up the barrage converting a 2-on-1 pass from Mikael Backlund for his first career two-goal game at 16:27. "Guys never quit," Calgary coach Bob Hartley said. "As soon as we got one, there was electricity on the bench and guys were moving. Guys show confidence. We're not scared of being down in the score. It doesn't rattle us. We find a way to get those big wins." Jordan Eberle and Benoit Pouliot scored for Edmonton, which had won three of its previous four. "It was simple mistakes," Eberle said. "We shot ourselves in the foot tonight." The Oilers remained second-to-last in the NHL's overall standings, four points ahead of Buffalo. "We weren't ready to play in the third," Scrivens said. "How many times do we have to go through it before we learn our lesson? Hopefully it's this one." Jonas Hiller had 17 stops for Calgary to improve his record to 15-14-2, while Scrivens had 29 saves for Edmonton, falling to 9-17-7. Edmonton opened the scoring at 2:43 on its second shot of the game. Off a faceoff in the Flames end, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins outworked Matt Stajan for the puck, knocking it into the slot, where Eberle put a quick shot past Hiller. It was the fifth game in a row that Calgary has given up the first goal. Eberle was the playmaker on the second goal. With the puck along the end boards, he drew Dennis Wideman toward him, then sent the puck to Pouliot, who was left uncovered in front and he quickly fired a high shot over Hiller for his 11th goal. Eberle has 11 points-- including seven goals -- in his last 13 games dating to Dec. 31. Pouliot has eight goals in his last dozen games since returning from a broken foot, which sidelined him for 18 games. NOTES: The Flames had gone 105:28 without a goal until Byron scored. ... The Oilers' last three-game road winning streak was March 23 to April 1, 2012. ... Jiri Hudler (illness), tied for the Flames lead in points, did not play. In his spot, 25-year-old David Wolf made his NHL debut. However, Wolf (lower body) left in the third period and didn't return. ... Aulie played for the first time since taking a match penalty on New Year's Eve for a hit on Flames C Matt Stajan. Suspended two games, he had been a healthy scratch since but played Saturday for injured D Nikita Nikitin (shoulder). | 1 | 5,492 | sports |
The best part of the Super Bowl isn't the football, halftime show, commercials, or booze. That's right, it's the prop bets. | 1 | 5,493 | sports |
We get you caught up with Saturday's top stories, including Duke's win on the road against Virginia, the Hawks picking up their 19th straight W, Serena winning at the Aussie Open and Anderson Silva beating Nick Diaz. | 1 | 5,494 | sports |
Russian separatists continue to bombard a small town as civilians are caught in the crossfire. CNN's Nick Patton Walsh reports from the besieged city. | 5 | 5,495 | news |
Boko Haram fighters on Sunday launched a fresh attempt to take over the strategically crucial northeastern Nigerian city of Maiduguri, a brazen attack on a state capital just two weeks before national elections. Four residents told AFP that Sunday's fighting began at roughly 3:00 am (0200 GMT) with loud explosions and gunfire, as the militants tried to enter the city from the south. Troops backed by vigilantes have been battling the assailants for several hours, with the fighting at 9:00 am concentrated in the Mulai area just three kilometres (two miles) south of the city, several witnesses said. "The whole city is in fear," said resident Adam Krenuwa. "People are afraid of what will happen if Boko Haram defeats the security forces." The Islamist rebels tried to capture Maiduguri just a week ago, but were repelled by troops. The military was not immediately available to comment on the latest raid. Losing control of Maiduguri, capital of Borno state, would be an enormous defeat for the security forces, whose handling of the six-year Islamist uprising has been fiercely criticised. The city's fall would also likely spark a humanitarian disaster. Maiduguri's population is believed to have swelled above two million in recent weeks as residents from other parts of Borno have been forced to flee to the city to seek refuge from Boko Haram violence. Resident Fannami Dalwaye said people could be seen fleeing towards the city from Mulai as more vigilantes were headed south to the frontline to reinforce the military. "Some of us are in mosques praying, just waiting to hear the outcome of what happens," Krenuwa told AFP by telephone. Opposition stronghold Nigeria's National Security Advisor Sambo Dasuki last month called for elections to be postponed. He cited difficulties in distributing voter identity cards, but experts have questioned how Nigeria can hold legitimate national elections when significant parts of the country are controlled by Islamist rebels. Boko Haram is believed to control at least half of Borno state, as well as several areas in neighbouring Adamawa and Yobe. The northeast is an opposition stronghold and there are fears that the credibility of the polls could be challenged if millions of voters are disenfranchised, especially if the final tally is close. The opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) has rejected any postponement of the vote, describing it as a stalling tactic by the ruling party which is fearing defeat after 16 years in power. But even before the latest assault on Maiduguri, election officials conceded that voting would be impossible across much of the northeast. Foreign observers have said that will not even attempt to monitor polling in the region because of the unrest. President Goodluck Jonathan, who is facing a tough challenge from former military ruler Muhammadu Buhari, has repeatedly sought to assure Nigerians that Boko Haram could be contained. But those promises have consistently proved hollow, with the violence having escalated each year under his watch. | 5 | 5,496 | news |
The most powerful military nations 2015 Ever wondered which country has the strongest army in the world? Click through to have a look at them. 30. Czech Republic Defense Budget: US $2.22 billion Manpower fit for service: 4,061,106 Tanks: 123 Total Aircrafts: 109 29. Sweden Defense Budget: US $6.22 billion Manpower fit for service: 3,359,487 Tanks: 280 Total Aircrafts: 216 Total Naval Strength: 313 28. Spain Defense Budget: US $11.60 billion Manpower fit for service: 18,720,867 Tanks: 415 Total Aircrafts: 531 Total Naval Strength: 46 27. Switzerland Defense Budget: US $4.83 billion Manpower fit for service: 2,952,959 Tanks: 200 Total Aircrafts: 175 26. Syria Defense Budget: US $1.87 billion Manpower fit for service: 9,939,661 Tanks: 4,950 Total Aircrafts: 473 Total Naval Strength: 56 25. Saudi Arabia Defense Budget: US $56.73 billion Manpower fit for service: 13,967,609 Tanks: 1,095 Total Aircrafts: 652 Total Naval Strength: 55 24. Thailand Defense Budget: US $5.39 billion Manpower fit for service: 27,490,939 Tanks: 740 Total Aircrafts: 543 Total Naval Strength: 81 23. Vietnam Defense Budget: US $3.37 billion Manpower fit for service: 41,503,949 Tanks: 3,200 Total Aircrafts: 413 Total Naval Strength: 65 22. Iran Defense Budget: US $6.30 billion Manpower fit for service: 39,566,497 Tanks: 2,409 Total Aircrafts: 481 Total Naval Strength: 395 21. Ukraine Defense Budget: US $4.88 billion Manpower fit for service: 15,686,055 Tanks: 4,112 Total Aircrafts: 400 Total Naval Strength: 25 20. Australia Defense Budget: US $26.10 billion Manpower fit for service: 8,700,000 Tanks: 59 Total Aircrafts: 395 Total Naval Strength: 53 19. Indonesia Defense Budget: US $6.90 billion Manpower fit for service: 107,538,660 Tanks: 374 Total Aircrafts: 381 Total Naval Strength: 197 18. Poland Defense Budget: US $9.36 billion Manpower fit for service: 15,583,917 Tanks: 1,063 Total Aircrafts: 475 Total Naval Strength: 83 17. Taiwan Defense Budget: US $10.73 billion Manpower fit for service: 10,025,261 Tanks: 2,005 Total Aircrafts: 775 Total Naval Strength: 102 16. Canada Defense Budget: US $18.00 billion Manpower fit for service: 13,023,141 Tanks: 201 Total Aircrafts: 404 Total Naval Strength: 67 15. Pakistan Defense Budget: US $7.00 billion Manpower fit for service: 75,326,989 Tanks: 3,124 Total Aircrafts: 847 Total Naval Strength: 74 14. Brazil Defense Budget: US $33.14 billion Manpower fit for service: 83,835,650 Tanks: 489 Total Aircrafts: 748 Total Naval Strength: 109 13. Egypt Defense Budget: US $4.40 billion Manpower fit for service: 35,305,381 Tanks: 4,767 Total Aircrafts: 1,100 Total Naval Strength: 237 12. Italy Defense Budget: US $34.00 billion Manpower fit for service: 22,596,141 Tanks: 600 Total Aircrafts: 795 Total Naval Strength: 174 11. Israel Defense Budget: US $15.00 billion Manpower fit for service: 2,963,642 Tanks: 3,870 Total Aircrafts: 680 Total Naval Strength: 110 10. Japan Defense Budget: US $49.10 billion Manpower fit for service: 43,930,753 Tanks: 767 Total Aircrafts: 1,595 Total Naval Strength: 131 9. South Korea Defense Budget: US $33.70 billion Manpower fit for service: 21,033,275 Tanks: 2,346 Total Aircrafts: 1,393 Total Naval Strength: 166 8. Turkey Defense Budget: US $18.19 billion Manpower fit for service: 35,005,326 Tanks: 3,657 Total Aircrafts: 989 Total Naval Strength: 115 7. German Defense Budget: US $45.00 billion Manpower fit for service: 29,538,413 Tanks: 408 Total Aircrafts: 710 Total Naval Strength: 82 6. France Defense Budget: US $43.00 billion Manpower fit for service: 23,747,168 Tanks: 423 Total Aircrafts: 1,203 Total Naval Strength: 120 5. United Kingdom Defense Budget: US $53.60 billion Manpower fit for service: 24,035,131 Tanks: 407 Total Aircrafts: 908 Total Naval Strength: 66 4. India Defense Budget: US $46.00 billion Manpower fit for service: 489,571,520 Tanks: 3,569 Total Aircrafts: 1,785 Total Naval Strength: 184 3. China Defense Budget: US $126.00 billion Manpower fit for service: 618,588,627 Tanks: 9,150 Total Aircrafts: 2,788 Total Naval Strength: 520 2. Russia Defense Budget: US $76.60 billion Manpower fit for service: 46,812,553 Tanks: 15,500 Total Aircrafts: 3,082 Total Naval Strength: 352 1. United States of America Defense Budget: US $612.50 billion Manpower fit for service: 120,022,084 Tanks: 8,325 Total Aircrafts: 13,683 Total Naval Strength: 473 Click here to check the full list..... | 5 | 5,497 | news |
Sun, sea, sand... but what about the shopping? Spain draws 65 million tourists a year thanks largely to its beaches. Now it wants them spending on the high street. "Spain has a major image deficit as a shopping destination," said Angela Castano of Turespana, a body promoting Spain's brand, at this week's Fitur world tourism fair in Madrid. A record 65 million foreigners visited Spain in 2014, according to the UN World Tourism Organisation's latest figures. Many plodded round its old cities and sprawled on its sunbaked shores -- but they didn't spend as much in the shops as Spanish businesses would like. Shopping is an essential part of a holiday for a growing number of tourists, according to a report last year by the Madrid-based organisation (UNWTO). That trend is being driven by growing hordes of visitors from emerging markets such as China, Russia and, in Spain's case, from Latin America. Now Spanish companies are working to strengthen Spain's image as a shopping hub, not just a seaside destination where most visitors come in summer. - Vying with Paris and London - The UNWTO ranks Spain as the world's third most popular tourist destination after France and the United States, and the second-biggest in terms of revenues. But it struggles to compete with them for shopping. "A tourist here spends 400 euros ($452) on average" in the shops, said Luciano Ochoa, head of Innov Taxfree, a company that offers duty-free shopping to non-EU residents visiting Spain. Of these visitors, Chinese visitors spend as much as 900 euros each in Spain, he said. But in Paris, the average Chinese tourist spends 1,500 euros on a visit. Madrid and Barcelona are beaten by Paris for luxury goods and posh department stores, by Milan for fashion, and have nothing like London's Harrods for rich shoppers, experts say. Spain is also penalised by its limited flight connections with Asia. Meanwhile the fall of the ruble last year drove a lot of sun-seeking Russians to cancel their holidays. On the upside, Spain is home to mid-range clothes stores such as Zara and Mango whose wares are cheaper here than abroad, said Castano. Many shops are open on Sunday and late into the evening and shopkeepers are allowed to hold sales whenever they like, she added. In 2013, tourists spent nearly $1.2 trillion worldwide -- some $230 billion more than before the global financial crisis hit in 2008. Spanish shops are now making an effort to catch up with the tourists, said Pedro Vargas, head of international projects for the Forum of Renowned Spanish Brands, a business lobby. Spain's best-known chain department store, the Corte Ingles, now mounts displays in English and reimburses sales tax to non-residents, he said. It has also broadened the range of fine foods for sale in its delicatessen, to compete with the likes of Selfridges food hall in London. "The aim is to make tourists faithful to Spanish brands," said Vargas, "so they become trend-setters when they go back home." | 2 | 5,498 | travel |
Calgary defeated Edmonton 4-2 after scoring four unanswered goals in the third period on Saturday. Lance Bouma scored twice, and Paul Byron and Sean Monahan each added a goal. | 1 | 5,499 | sports |
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