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Super Bowl Commercial: NASCAR | 8 | 5,800 | video |
Super Bowl Commercial: NFL #SuperBowlRally 2 | 8 | 5,801 | video |
Super Bowl Commercial: Smith And Forge Hard Cider | 8 | 5,802 | video |
A yard away from the goal line, down four with less than a minute to play, on second down with one timeout remaining you'd think giving Marshawn Lynch the ball would be an easy call for the Seahawks. But with the Patriots lined up in a goal-line formation, Russell Wilson in a shotgun set instead looked to one of his three wide receivers against man coverage. You know the rest . But was Lynch, maybe the toughest back in the league to stop in such a situation, surprised he didn't get the ball? MORE: Payday coming for Beast Mode? | Must-see Super Bowl images | Game ends with brawl "No," the Seattle running back told ESPN's Jim Trotter after the 28-24 New England win . "Because we play football. It's a team sport." The play, of course, resulted in a game-sealing Malcolm Butler interception . Coach Pete Carroll took the blame for the play call in his postgame news conference. | 1 | 5,803 | sports |
GLENDALE, Ariz. - Chris Matthews stole America's heart, and Tom Brady stole it back. Jermaine Kearse pulled off a miracle on Malcolm Butler and, thanks to one of the worst decisions in the history of sports, Butler pulled off an even bigger miracle to give the Patriots their fourth Super Bowl triumph of the 21st century. That's right. The most remarkable individual story of Super Bowl XLIX in the Arizona desert was replaced by the more remarkable individual career story in the history of the NFL. And then both remarkable stories were replaced by the most incredible finish in Super Bowl history. If all that leaves you a little breathless, well, that's not right. You should have no air left at all in your lungs. Best. Super Bowl. Ever. Ever. When Kearse, who had been covered by Butler, found himself on his back at University of Phoenix field with 66 seconds left in what would somehow turn into a 28-24 New England victory, he probably didn't like his chances. Then the ball hit his leg. Then one hand. Then another. He juggled Russell Wilson's pass like he was in the circus and he was - the greatest circus of them all. A circus where Matthews, who had the same number of career catches as halftime performer Katy Perry entering the day, appeared to have stolen the show. A circus where Brady, who had stung himself badly with two interceptions, answered back with a Super Bowl record 37 completions and with four touchdown passes. The last one to Julian Edelman, who looked like had been knocked out about five times, would stand as the one that won this Super Bowl. He has 13 career Super Bowl touchdown passes, eclipsing Joe Montana's record of 11. But all that was on hold for a brief, incredible second when the prone Kearse was able to grasp the ball at the New England 5-yard line for a 33-yard reception. It was David Tyree II. Remember the miracle helmet catch here by the Giants against the Patriots? Of course you do. It seemed as if the Patriots were cursed by Kearse and other matters that perhaps only the darkest souls of the NFL could savor. "I couldn't believe it," Brady said. After Marshawn Lynch carried the ball to the 1, Seattle then made a call that will live forever as one of the most boneheaded in sports history. The Seahawks decided to pass. They decided not to give it to Lynch, Beast Mode, the human battering ram. Instead, Wilson tried to force a pass into Ricardo Lockette. Butler stepped in, picked off the pass and became an instant folk hero in New England. "For a rookie to make a play like that was unbelievable," said Brady, who joined Montana as the only three-time Super Bowl MVP. "It wasn't the way we drew it up. But it's a great win." Brady made only one mistake in the first half, but it was a doozy. Methodical. Methodical. Methodical. Brady marched the Patriots down the field, inch by inch, foot by foot. Yet out of nowhere, he pulled a Mark Sanchez on the 13th play of the drive. Under some pressure, he threw the ball directly to Seattle cornerback Jeremy Lane, alone at the goal line. It was a monster gaffe. The Patriots held the ball for 11:07 if the first quarter without scoring a point. Lane suffered what appeared to be a broken arm on his interception return, and on the next Patriot drive, his replacement, Tharold Simon, was exploited twice. Methodical. Methodical. Methodical. The Patriots were back at it. Brady got him Simon on a 23-yard pass down to the Seattle 12. And then he got Simon again on an 11-yard TD strike to make it 7-0. At that point, with 9:47 left in the first half, the Patriots had 28 plays from scrimmage and Seattle had eight. Wilson didn't have a single completion until 5:30 remained in the first half. Seattle was doing nothing on offense. That's when Wilson found Matthews out of nowhere - nowhere - a step behind Kyle Arrington for a 44-yard completion. Matthews made a terrific turnaround catch. And as quick as you could say "Skittles," Lynch bulled his way to a three-yard touchdown run to tie the game at 7. The Seahawks had allowed 17 touchdown passes during the season, but 11 were to tight ends. So it was a shake your head moment when linebacker K.J. Wright tried to cover Rob Gronkowski one-on-one in the final minute of the first half. It failed miserably. Gronk pulled in a 22-yard touchdown catch to put the Patriots ahead, 14-7, and he spiked the ball so hard the PSI in it must have dropped from the legal minimum of 12.5 to 4.5. It was a dramatic moment, but not as dramatic what happened next. Wilson only had 31 seconds to work with, but he pulled it off with an 80-yard touchdown drive. Lockette shook off a facemask penalty by Arrington to pull in a Wilson pass on the left sideline. The penalty put the ball on the 10-yard line with only six seconds left in the half. Give Pete Carroll credit there. He risked disaster if Wilson got happy feet or there was a sack and time expired. Instead, Wilson found a leaping Matthews in the end zone. Logan Ryan, bad in coverage, backed off and failed to guard the goal line. There was a great story about Matthews that emerged after the NFC title game. A junior college player at Los Angeles Harbor College with high hopes, Matthews badly wanted to play for his hometown USC Trojans. He was at a teammate's house in Palos Verdes, when he mentioned that he lived next to Carroll, then USC coach. "I ran out to my car, and I had a box of DVDs of my highlights," Matthews told Sports Illustrated. "I took a disc - and this was real bold of me, but I was real desperate." Matthews knocked on Carroll's door. No Pete, but his wife, Glena, was home and Matthews gave her the tape. So did Pete watch the tape and grow so impressed that he gave Matthews a full ride to USC? No. Nothing happened. "No call," Matthews said. Years later, after Matthews played at Kentucky, after he played in the CFL, Matthews asked the Carrolls about the tape. Glena didn't remember. Pete didn't remember. Suffice to say, they remember now. On the first drive of the second half, Matthews got away from Arrington again to pull in a 45-yard reception to the New England 17. That drive stalled, but Steven Hauschka's field goal put Seattle up, 17-14. Brady was then picked off a second time as he tried to fit a pass into Gronkowski across the middle. Bobby Wagner read Brady perfectly and stepped in front of Gronk for the interception. Now, Brady has some pretty nasty memories of the Super Bowl loss in this building to the Giants. And those flashbacks will not be relieved by the fact the Wagner's cousin is Justin Tuck. Tuck, you may recall, sacked Brady twice and forced a fumble in a terrific performance. Sure enough, Wilson found Matthews for nine more yards, but the big plays were a 15-yard scramble by Wilson and a 14-yard run by Lynch to set up Wilson's three-yard TD pass to Doug Baldwin. It was 24-14. Brady wasn't finished. He found Danny Amendola in the end zone to cut the lead to three in the fourth quarter. Cut twice by the Seahawks this season, he was signed off the practice squad on Dec. 6. He saved Seattle's season by recovering an onside kick against Green Bay. But he couldn't save the Super Bowl. Another rookie from West Alabama had other ideas. And he had the last miracle in his pocket. "I was fired up," Butler said. "I was ready to play. I feel good." He should. | 1 | 5,804 | sports |
Two members of a cult in China have been executed for murdering a woman in a McDonald's restaurant in Shandong, according to a local court. Zhang Lidong and his daughter Zhang Fan were members of the banned Church of the Almighty God cult. They were part of a group who attempted to recruit the 35-year-old victim, Wu Shuoyan, in the restaurant in the town of Zhaoyuan in May 2014. When she refused to give her phone number, they beat her to death. The Shandong Yantai Intermediate People's Court announced the Zhangs' execution on its Weibo account (in Chinese) on Monday morning, noting that the father and daughter had "committed murder and used a cult to intentionally break the law". The group was found guilty in October last year. Three others were give jail sentences ranging from seven years to life imprisonment. The court's statement said that Zhang Fan had asked Ms Wu for her contact details twice. When the victim refused, the group believed that she was "possessed by an evil spirit", and Zhang Fan threw a chair at her. The rest of the group joined in the attack and beat her with mops brought by Zhang Lidong, who also stamped on Ms Wu's head and face. She died at the scene from her injuries. Zhang Lidong said in an interview later that he believed Ms Wu was a demon and that "we had to destroy her". Since the killing, which sparked public outrage, the Chinese authorities have detained hundreds of members of the cult. The cult's core belief is that God has returned to earth as a Chinese woman to wreak the apocalypse. The only person who claims direct contact with this god is a former physics teacher, Zhao Weishan, who founded the cult 25 years ago and has since fled to the United States. It claims on its website that it has millions of followers and says nearly 400,000 have been arrested between 2011 and 2014. | 5 | 5,805 | news |
SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Oil prices fell early on Monday after U.S. unions called a refinery strike and traders cashed in on strong price gains last week when the market soared more than 8 percent on a sharp drop in U.S. drilling. Brent crude oil futures were trading at $51.92 a barrel at 0100 GMT and U.S. WTI futures were at $47.17 a barrel, both down $1.07 a barrel. The drops followed a jump back from six-year lows on Friday, as a record weekly decline in U.S. oil drilling fueled a frenzy of short-covering. Asian oil markets also opened to news of a strike at U.S. refineries and chemical plants, potentially denting crude demand in coming days. The United Steelworkers union called strikes at nine U.S. refineries on Sunday to bring about a new national agreement that covers workers at 63 refineries, accounting for two-thirds of U.S. refining capacity, said a source familiar with the union's plans. Despite Monday's price falls, the jump late last week means that oil prices ended a run of range-bound trading following earlier steep falls. International Brent benchmarks rose back above $50 per barrel for the first since early January, and they also jumped above its 15 exponential daily moving average (DMA) value, a key technical indicator, for the first time this year. Analysts said that Monday's falls were driven by technical factors. Brent oil may break support at $51.72 per barrel and fall to $50.93, as indicated by its wave pattern and a Fibonacci projection analysis, said Reuters market analyst Wang Tao. A sharp gain on Jan. 30 was driven by a wave C, the third wave of a three-wave cycle that developed from the Jan. 13 low of $45.19. The Fibonacci projection analysis on the target of this wave reveals it may have peaked around key resistance at $53, the 100-percent level, he added. | 3 | 5,806 | finance |
Vanguard global chief economist Joseph H. Davis tells the WSJ's Jake Lee his expectations for China, Europe and the U.S. in 2015. | 3 | 5,807 | finance |
Matt Ufford and Ryan Nanni review the latest mock draft from SB Nation's Mocking the Draft. | 1 | 5,808 | sports |
New England quarterback Tom Brady spoke after the Super Bowl about the Patriots comeback victory. | 1 | 5,809 | sports |
Superbowl Commercial: Sprint | 8 | 5,810 | video |
For the first 22 minutes of their game at Louisville on Saturday, it appeared likely that North Carolina would return home in an enviable position: with a chance to take over first place in the ACC with a victory against Virginia on Monday night. The Tar Heels, though, failed to hold the 18-point lead they built against the Cardinals, who gradually erased that deficit before taking control of the game in overtime. So UNC returned home not with a statement victory, but with a need to address an old question. It had been a while since coach Roy Williams questioned his team's toughness. He did that after watching his team succumb to Louisville's pressure and to foul trouble during the second half and overtime Saturday. UNC's loss snapped its six-game winning streak, which began with a home victory against Louisville. Williams was reminded of his team's performance in that game, when the Tar Heels didn't lack for toughness. "And I thought today," he said, "when we got the big lead that Louisville showed the toughness so much more than we did." The question now is whether the Tar Heels' performance represented a one-game lapse, or if it's cause for greater concern. How they respond against second-ranked Virginia, which experienced its first loss Saturday night against Duke, should provide answers. After the defeat at Louisville, UNC players spoke quietly in the locker room. It was a scene and a feeling they hadn't experienced in three weeks. "They just competed harder than us, both ends of the floor," guard Marcus Paige said. "There's really not a whole lot of detail you can get into. Seventeen second-chance points in the second half. And they just stepped up to the challenge. "They competed harder than us when we thought we had the game." If the Tar Heels could have preserved their 18-point lead, they would have entered the midpoint of their conference schedule with a chance to take over sole possession of first place in the ACC with a victory against the Cavaliers. As it is, though, UNC will enter Monday night its third Monday night ACC game, and second in two weeks searching to rediscover an edge it thought it had found. | 1 | 5,811 | sports |
Superbowl Commercial: Super Bowl Rally | 8 | 5,812 | video |
Super bowl Commercial: Doritos, When Pigs Fly | 8 | 5,813 | video |
Undrafted rookie M. Butler picked off Russell Wilson on the doorstep of the goal line, snapping victory from the jaws of defeat. | 1 | 5,814 | sports |
The risk of global deflation looms large for 2015 as surveys of China's mammoth manufacturing sector showed excess supply and deficient demand in January drove down prices and production. While the pulse of activity was livelier in Japan, India and South Korea, they shared a common condition of slowing inflation that argued for yet more policy stimulus ahead. "The slide in global oil prices and inflation has turned out to be even bigger than anticipated," said David Hensley, an economist at JPMorgan, and central banks from Europe to Canada to India have responded by easing policy. "What is now in the pipeline will help extend the near-term impulse from energy to economic growth into the second half of the year." A fillip was clearly necessary in China where a pair of surveys showed manufacturing struggling at the start of the year. The HSBC/Markit Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) inched a up a fraction to 49.7 in January, but stayed under the 50.0 level that separates growth from contraction. More worryingly, the official PMI - which is biased towards large Chinese factories - unexpectedly showed activity shrank for the first time in nearly 2-1/2 years. The reading of 49.8 in January was down from 50.1 in December and missed analyst's forecasts of 50.2. The report showed input costs sliding at their fastest rate since March 2009, with lower prices for oil and steel playing major roles. Ordinarily, cheaper energy prices would be good for China, one of the world's most intensive energy consumers, but most economists believe the phenomenon is a net negative for Chinese firms because of its impact on ultimate demand. The PMIs only fueled bets that more monetary easing and a weaker yuan was in store for the world's second-largest economy. "China still needs decent growth to add 100 million new jobs this year, plus China is entering a rapid disinflation process," ANZ economists said in a note to clients. "We (think) the People's Bank of China will cut the reserve requirement ratio by 50 basis points and cut the deposit rate by 25 basis points in the first quarter." The downdraft also has spread into China's burgeoning services sector, which was the lone bright spot in the economy last year. Service activity expanded at its lowest level in a year. EXPORTS SHOW SOME LIFE The news was a little brighter in Japan, where the central bank has been pursuing an aggressive bond-buying campaign for over a year now in a bid to revive growth and shake the country out of decades of deflation. The final Markit/JMMA PMI edged up to 52.2 in January, from an early 52.1 and December's 52.0. That marked the eighth straight month of expansion and looked to owe much to the sustained weakness of the yen. One in every 10 respondents reported higher orders from abroad, with some mentioning a recovery in demand. Improving exports were also a feature of South Korea's PMI which returned to growth for the first time in five months, with a rise of 1.2 points to 51.1 in January, the highest reading since May 2013. The survey found international demand expanded for the first time in 10 months with firms finding new foreign clients, including from Russia. But trade data on Sunday highlighted the impact of a sustained slump in Europe and China's slowdown. India's manufacturing activity continued to growth in January, though the headline index eased a touch to 52.9 from a two-year peak of 54.5 the month before. Importantly for the prospect of more policy stimulus, cost pressures were the mildest in 70 months as commodity prices fell. The Reserve Bank of India has already surprised by cutting rates a quarter point to 7.75 percent. "Sluggish growth and falling inflation reinforces our view that the RBI should deliver upfront rate cuts. We expect the repo rate to be lowered by 75 basis points in the first half of 2015," said HSBC's chief India economist Pranjul Bhandari. Still to come was manufacturing surveys on the UK, Euro Zone and the United states, along with a measure of core U.S. inflation closely followed by the Federal Reserve. (Editing by Kim Coghill) | 5 | 5,815 | news |
LAS VEGAS Nobody likes to get fleeced, especially in Las Vegas, where the odds are stacked in favor of a good time and a lighter wallet. So why are The Venetian, The Palazzo, the Bellagio and other resorts filled with images of sheep, goats and rams? Because this is the time when casinos go all out to celebrate the Chinese New Year. At the three hotels, Yau Kung Moon will perform Chinese lion and dragon dances in a traditional southern Shaolin Kung Fu system, a collection of martial arts with more than 1,000 years of history. Yau Kung Moon is one of the world's most respected martial arts, dragon and lion dance organizations. Known for their trademark gold uniforms and innovative routines, it was the first U.S. team to compete in the 1990 Invitational World Lion Dance Festival in Malaysia. Feb. 19 marks the beginning of the Year of the Sheep/Goat/Ram in the Chinese zodiac. Kind-hearted and clever are traits attributed to people born under this sign. Rachel Carson and Michelangelo are sheep people, as well as Nicole Kidman and Bruce Willis. If you are in Las Vegas between now and early March, you will notice the bell tower at the entrance to The Venetian hotel and casino draped in "Year of the Goat" banners. On Feb. 19, the traditional Lion Dance will take place in the hotel lobby and parade through the property. The dance is considered good luck for the new year. The rotunda between The Palazzo and The Venetian is already decorated with colorful red-and-yellow Chinese lanterns hanging from the ceiling over a vignette of three mountain goats surrounded by large and small gold coins. The displays near the waterfall atrium feature sheep covered in white carnations representing their fleece. Giant gold coins are placed among the 1,200 blooming flowers, including hyacinth and orchids. A feng shui master worked with horticulturalists at the resorts to increase the luck at the casino. A plaque notes that the gold coins are there "to attract fortune and wealth to our visitors." Inscribed in Chinese characters is the message: "May your happiness be according to your wishes," and on the reverse side, "Live as long as the tortoise and the crane." Both animals are symbols of longevity for the Chinese. The resort that really goes all out for the Chinese New Year is the Bellagio. Famous for its dancing fountains, the Bellagio has the most elaborate exhibit in town under its glass conservatory and botanical garden, with 22,000 red-and-gold flowers, bonsai trees, silk lanterns, trees hung with red lanterns, and a 14-foot mountain topped with a family of five mechanical goats. There is also a 21,000-gallon koi pond topped by a 12-foot-tall lantern, figures of Chinese children adorned in costumes made of 5,000 cut flowers and gold good luck I-Ching coins. It takes six full days to put up the display, which remains through March 15. The Bellagio has been doing a Chinese New Year display since it opened in 1998. The Aria hotel and casino will celebrate the Year of the Ram with a 7-foot-tall, gold, LED-lit ram of recycled aluminum. Hanging from the lobby ceiling will be a 229-foot dragon surrounded by 140 red lanterns. It will be up by Feb. 12. The Bellagio, Aria and MGM Grand resorts will celebrate with a good luck Lion Dance as well. If you go There are direct flights daily from Pittsburgh International Airport to McCarren International Airport in Las Vegas on Southwest Airlines (www.southwest.com). Other airlines fly to Las Vegas with one or more stops. Lion & Dragon Dances dynamic and colorful dances at Bellagio, Aria and MGM Grand: • Bellagio: 5 p.m. Feb. 19 at the main porte cochere. • MGM Grand: 1 p.m. Feb. 20 inside the main lobby. • Aria: 6:30 p.m. Feb. 21 at the main porte cochere. www.venetian.com www.palazzo.com www.bellagio.com For the metal sheep, go to www.watsonandco.com. For the ram's head bust, go to www.donnyosmond.com. For the wall-mounted ram's head, go to www.creativecoop.com. With all that positive energy, this may be the best time of year to visit the strip and roll the dice. | 2 | 5,816 | travel |
GLENDALE, Ariz. -- This one will haunt Seattle coach Pete Carroll the entire offseason. Fate was in his corner. Receiver Jermaine Kearse had just made the kind of catch that Giants receiver David Tyree called "supernatural" the last time the Patriots were here chasing destiny in 2008. Thanks to Kearse's juggling, use-all-body-parts, 33-yard catch, Seattle was on the doorstep of back-to-back Super Bowl titles. They had running back Marshawn Lynch, who had already topped 100 yards and was averaging 4.25 yards a carry. They had the ball on the 1-yard line, and there was less than a minute to play. Everybody knew the play call. At least, everybody knew the play that should be called. Instead of running Lynch, however, Seattle sent in three receivers to spread out the Patriots, New England stayed in its goal-line defense, and offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell called a passing play against stack coverage, over the middle. "It's not the right matchup for us to run the football, so on second down, we throw the ball really to kind of waste that play," Carroll said. "If we score, we do, if we don't then we'll run it on third and fourth down." They never got the chance because Patriots rookie cornerback Malcolm Butler stepped in front of receiver Ricardo Lockette to pick off quarterback Russell Wilson's pass and complete New England's crazy, 28-24 win on Sunday at University of Phoenix Stadium. "What were they thinking?" Patriots cornerback Brandon Browner asked. Seahawks nation will be asking that question for months, Here's another: Can Seattle get back? With rare exceptions, the NFL's strict salary cap offers short windows of opportunity for franchises and consistent parity throughout the league. Cap issues forced the Seahawks to stay out of the free-agent market last year in order to re-sign key players such as safety Earl Thomas and cornerback Richard Sherman. General manager John Schneider told the Seattle Times this week that this offseason could be similar because the Seahawks want to sign Wilson to a contract extension. Wilson is in the third year of his four-year rookie deal that pays him $662,434 with a cap number of $817,302. But he can renegotiate that deal after this season, and there has been speculation he could earn a contract that pays him at least $20 million per year. "It presents challenges, there is no question," Schneider told the Times. "We are still going to be drafting young players and playing young players, so we might not be able to dip into free agency like you may want to here and there or compensate somebody else that you want to compensate that is already on your team." Seattle's lack of threats at the receiver position was well chronicled this season, but the Seahawks also some lost luster off their pass rush, finishing 20th in the league in sacks (37) after finishing tied for eighth during their 2013 Super Bowl-winning season. Starting left guard James Carpenter, receivers Lockette and Jermaine Kearse, starting defensive tackle Kevin Williams and a host of key defensive reserves will be unrestricted free agents at the end of the season. Maybe Seattle feels that with Wilson and its elite secondary, it has the talent to sustain success as its Super Bowl opponent has done. "It's a similar situation to last year. Everybody has difficult discussions to make," Carroll said. "How will we make it back? One day at a time." Maybe they will, but tomorrow is never promised in the NFL so it's hard not to wonder about the opportunity Seattle squandered on Super Bowl Sunday. Follow Craig Morgan on Twitter | 1 | 5,817 | sports |
1. Can anyone stop Ohio State? There's no question whatsoever that the Buckeyes will be everyone's preseason No. 1, but remember, it doesn't matter anymore rankings don't mean anything anymore in the playoff age. Everyone around the program likes to keep remarking about how Ohio State was "a year away" and just so happened to win the national title ahead of schedule, and now there are absolutely no excuses with as easy a schedule as could possibly be asked for. Yeah, yeah, yeah, Virginia Tech came into Columbus and came up with a beatdown, and the Big Ten recaptured a little bit of national street cred in the bowl season, but the Buckeyes aren't playing in the SEC and yes, the SEC is still the best conference in college football, but more on that in a moment. Virginia Tech (hellooooo, revenge), Hawaii, Northern Illinois and Western Michigan makes up the sad non-conference schedule with just one date against a Power 5 team. Who do the Fighting Urbans get from the Big Ten West? Minnesota at home and there's a trip to Illinois. The Michigan State game is at home, and the road games are Indiana, Rutgers, and Illinois before the regular season finale against Michigan. There are no excuses, because even if the Buckeyes gag against the Hokies for a second year in a row, as long as they win the Big Ten title and go 12-1, they're in. However, remember, Florida State didn't exactly crush and kill in 2014 after its national title year. Auburn didn't come back roaring, Alabama hasn't been to the national title game in two years, and Oregon is still looking for a championship. It's really, really, really hard to repeat just ask the 2009 Florida Gators. But, again, there are no excuses. Ohio State should be favored by double-digits against everyone until the Michigan State game on November 21st. 2. Besides the Ohio State starting quarterback, who are the Heisman favorites? The favorite is the Buckeye starting under center against Virginia Tech, but TCU's Trevone Boykin should be a mortal lock for New York with just about everyone coming back to the high-octane offense. Dak Prescott will be on everyone preseason list, but Mississippi State isn't as good this year. USC QB Cody Kessler and Georgia RB Nick Chubb will be in the mix, but watch out for next-men-up, Wisconsin RB Corey Clement, Auburn QB Jeremy Johnson and Baylor QB Seth Russell to all put up massive numbers. Johnson is the sneaky-good longshot pick he's going to be a monster for the Tigers. 3. Is this the year the SEC finally relinquishes its crown as college football's best conference? No. Don't be fooled by the bowl season remember, the SEC won seven games to go along with the five high-profile misfires. Also, remember that 12 of the 14 SEC teams went bowling, and Kentucky was better than at least 20 teams that got into the post-season. The Big Ten has the big matzo ball up top, and Michigan State and Wisconsin are terrific, but the league isn't anywhere near as deep as the SEC. The Pac-12 had a phenomenal bowl campaign and should be second in the running, but it doesn't have the same overall talent level. With all of that said, though, the SEC isn't going to get the benefit of the doubt as the be-all-end-all unstoppable force this time around. 4. Where are the superstar pro prospect quarterbacks? Penn State's Christian Hackenberg has all the tools, but he has to be far, far better, and Ohio State's Cardale Jones has No. 1 overall ability, but first he has to grab the Buckeye starting gig. There should be some great years from college quarterbacks, but there's a reason NFL teams are thinking about overpaying for Jameis Winston and Marcus Mariota outside of Hackenberg and Jones, there's potentially a big pile of quarterback yuck likely available for the 2016 draft. Quarterbacks always emerge Cam Newton and Robert Griffin III came out of nowhere to turn into top pro prospects but 2015 should feature great years for college quarterbacks, not pro ones. 5. What's next for the College Football Playoff? Don't expect any massive changes. There might be some tweaking about the weekly process, but it's become too much of a big deal for ESPN on Tuesday nights to lose the drama of the ranking unveiling. The dates are going to be the biggest talking point with the two playoff games coming on New Year's Eve, normally a ratings problem since most people are preparing to get their groove on. The Sugar, Rose and Fiesta are still going to be on January 1st, but the Orange and Cotton the two playoff games this year will be the night before. The inaugural playoff was such an unqualified success at every level that there's no way Year Two can bring the same ratings, excitement and buzz can it? It all depends on the teams that get in. 6. Who's this year's Mississippi State or TCU the good team about to be great? Arkansas. The Hogs were close to turning the corner throughout the first half of last season, and then it all finally kicked in late with dominant shutout wins over LSU and Ole Miss, and a 31-7 bowl win over Texas. Bret Bielema has the pieces in place this year with four starters back on the O line to pave the way for the rushing tandem of Jonathan Williams and Alex Collins, and QB Brandon Allen back. The defense has a few losses, but the front seven should be outstanding and, overall, the defense has the potential to be better. The problem, though will be road games at Alabama and LSU. 7. Who's this year's Oklahoma or UCLA the great team about to disappoint? Notre Dame. Everyone is going to gush all over the Irish after their fun bowl win over LSU, and it'll be easy to get excited over the Malik Zaire kicking in, but the O line has to be rebuilt a bit and the defense still has to prove it can hold it all together for a full season. However, the skill players might be the best in the Brian Kelly era, and the D has the experience to turn into a powerhouse. So what's the problem? As always with Notre Dame, welcome to the schedule. The Irish always play a nasty slate and it didn't seem to matter in 2012 but it's the playoff era now, and one loss means disaster, much less two. Texas, at Virginia, Georgia Tech, at Clemson, Navy, USC, at Pitt, at Boston College and at Stanford should mean a 10-2 season at best. 8. Michigan, Florida, Nebraska which powerhouse program will make the fastest turnaround with its new head coach? All Florida fans want to see out of Jim McElwain is some semblance of an offense, but first he has to hope Treon Harris can be the main man at quarterback. The defense should be fine, and it needs to be strong enough to keep the Gators in the hunt for the East remember, they were still in the mix late. It's the exact same thing for a Jim Harbaugh Michigan team that needs to find an offense, but has a defense good enough to win with right away. Both teams should be better with their new leaders, but they'll get a wee bit of a grace period. On the flip side, Nebraska's Mike Riley has to win at least ten games, and there can't be any embarrassments in any of the losses. The defense has plenty of work to do, and the offense has to replace RB Ameer Abdullah, but there's enough talent on both sides of the ball to expect big things but the bar is set higher now. To answer the question, Nebraska won't go from very good to Big Ten title-good under Riley at least not this year and anything else won't work considering nine wins were never good enough under Bo Pelini. Michigan and Florida each have to expect at least two more wins, but no one's going to think they can win their respective divisions, while Nebraska has to win the West. Both the Wolverines and Gators weren't quite as bad as they seemed at times last year, and they should each be more competitive and at least two wins better. 9. Can any Group of Five program make any real noise in the playoff race? It sort of got brushed aside and forgotten about, but Boise State really did win the Fiesta Bowl over Arizona, and this year's team should be even better. Obviously, it's going to take a 13-0 season to even be in the discussion, but the pieces are there to do it. The non-conference schedule is just good enough to bring a little bit of national respect, but not too hard to navigate getting Chris Petersen's Washington team at home and winnable but tough road games at BYU and Virginia. The Broncos lose RB Jay Ajayi, but the O line returns all five starters and most of the top receivers return. Six starters on the defensive front seven are back, and three starters return to a fantastic secondary. 10. The pre-preseason, way-too-early call the four playoff teams will be … ? Here you go no need to play the season. Ohio State will rip through its relatively easy schedule to get back into the Big Ten title game and on the way to the No. 1 seed in the Orange Bowl vs. the No. 4 seed, UCLA, who'll final play up to the potential it never seemed able to last year to take the Pac-12 title and squeak into the fun. Alabama will lose a game along the way, but it'll take the West again, it'll win the SEC again, and it'll get back into the playoff again, only this time as the No. 2 seed as it tries to make amends for last year's loss. However, it'll have to deal with a pro-Big 12 crowd in the Cotton Bowl against Baylor, who'll be well motivated by last year's snub by blowing up the Big 12 at least for most of the season. The Bears will lose a game along the way, either at Kansas State, Oklahoma State or TCU, but they'll still end up as the conference champ. This time, though, they'll get in. | 1 | 5,818 | sports |
A little boy proves that pigs can fly, in this Super Bowl ad for Doritos. | 8 | 5,819 | video |
Super Bowl Commercial : US Bank | 8 | 5,820 | video |
Heroes Reborn Big Game Teaser | 8 | 5,821 | video |
A Jewish fraternity at the University of California, Davis was defaced with swastikas over the weekend, spurring outrage and accusations on the Northern California campus. The vandalism, still under investigation by police, appeared to have occurred sometime overnight Friday before members of Alpha Epsilon Pi awoke Saturday and reported the crime. UC Davis officials condemned the vandalism as "an affront to us all." "This kind of behavior is not only repugnant and a gross violation of the values our university holds dear, it is unacceptable and must not be tolerated on our campus or anywhere else," Chancellor Linda P.B. Katehi and other UC Davis officials said in a written statement. Fraternity leaders told CBS13 in Sacramento that they believed the swastikas were painted in retaliation for the fraternity's support for Israel. A student government body at the university called last week on the University of California Board of Regents to divest from "corporations that aid in the Israeli occupation of Palestine and illegal settlements in Palestinian territories." However, other student groups have said the ongoing campus debate over Israeli government actions cannot be blamed for the vandalism. "We reject any attempts to blame this on any single student community, including the UC Davis Divestment movement," said a joint letter from a long list of organizations, including the campus chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine. It condemned the graffiti as a hate crime. The Davis chapter of the Jewish fraternity is not the first to be vandalized with the symbol in recent memory: An AEPi house at Emory University in Atlanta was painted with swastikas in October, shortly after the end of the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur. At the time, Alpha Epsilon Pi executive director Andrew Borans warned that "this is not an isolated incident on college campuses in North America and across the world." | 5 | 5,822 | news |
GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) One moment, Patriots cornerback Malcolm Butler found himself on the wrong side of a nightmare. The next, he saved the Super Bowl. Butler's interception of a Russell Wilson pass with 20 seconds left Sunday sealed New England's fourth Super Bowl title - a heart-stopping 28-24 victory over the Seattle Seahawks. The interception came two plays after Butler found himself in coverage - good coverage - against Seattle's Jermaine Kearse, but Kearse somehow gathered in a 33-yard pass while on his back to give the Seahawks the ball on the New England 5. Marshawn Lynch got it to the Patriots 1, but the Seahawks called a pass play on second down and Butler, a rookie out of West Alabama, cut off receiver Ricardo Lockette and made the interception. --- Online: AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and AP NFL Twitter feed: http://twitter.com/AP-NFL | 1 | 5,823 | sports |
Cute little girl is very confused about one of our planets in the solar system! | 8 | 5,824 | video |
Victoria Secret Superbowl Commercial | 8 | 5,825 | video |
Superbowl Commercial: Budweiser | 8 | 5,826 | video |
Seattle Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman might need an elbow operation more commonly associated with baseball pitchers than with football players. ESPN's John Clayton reported early Monday morning that Sherman could be headed for Tommy John surgery on his left elbow. Sherman tore ligaments in the elbow during the Seahawks' win over the Green Bay Packers in the NFC Championship Game. He finished that game in pain, seemingly playing with his left arm unavailable, then made it all the way through the Super Bowl on Sunday. In the Tommy John procedure, a damaged ligament is replaced by a tendon grafted from elsewhere in the body. Sherman, 26, recorded four interceptions and eight passed defensed during the regular season, with opposing teams rarely targeting the receiver he covered. He added an interception in each of the Seahawks' two playoff wins last month, against the Carolina Panthers and the Packers. In Seattle's 28-24 Super Bowl loss to the New England Patriots, Sherman was credited with two tackles. ----------------------------------------------- | 1 | 5,827 | sports |
Wild, natural, but seemingly unreal. three surreal American travel destinations you need to visit in your lifetime. | 2 | 5,828 | travel |
Quarterback Tom Brady of the New England Patriots was named the most valuable player of Sunday's Super Bowl. Brady threw four touchdown passes, including two in the fourth quarter, in leading the Patriots to a come from behind 28-24 victory over the Seattle Seahawks. It was record smashing day for the New England quarterback who set a new mark for career Super Bowl touchdown passes with 13, smashing the old mark held by his childhood idol Joe Montana. Brady's 37 completions was also a new Super Bowl record. (Reporting by Gene Cherry in Salvo, North Carolina. Editing by Patrick Johnston) | 1 | 5,829 | sports |
Tom Brady set a Super Bowl record for most career touchdowns, and set a single-game completion record on Sunday. Is the Patriots quarterback the best in Super Bowl history? | 1 | 5,830 | sports |
Looking for a low-calorie breakfast that doesn't disappoint? These 18 light recipes all clock in under 300 calories and will keep you satisfied and energized until your next snack or meal. Baked Eggs in Ham Cups Pop in a batch of these protein-heavy eggs in ham shells when you wake up, and enjoy a hot, hearty, and quick breakfast before you leave for work. Total calories (for two ham cups) : 218 Sweet Spinach Smoothie With just one 16-ounce serving of Harley Pasternak's sweet spinach smoothie , you'll be getting your entire recommended amount of vitamin A (great for healthy skin, hair, and eyes) and bone-building vitamin K. This recipe is a favorite of Harley's celebrity clients like Julianne Hough after an indulgent period. Total calories : 296 Starbucks Spinach Feta Wrap It can be hard to give up your Starbucks spinach-feta wrap - we understand this pain. However, this homemade breakfast wrap is lower in calories and carbs and free of preservatives. Total calories : 252 Low-Carb Hotcakes Even if you're conscious of calories, you can still enjoy a stack of hotcakes! These wheat-free pancakes use almond meal and flaxseed to increase their protein and fiber content. Total calories (per serving) : 152 Oatmeal Breakfast Bites Baked goods like scones and quick breads tend to be high in sugar and fat, so if you're craving a homemade treat from the oven, then bake up a batch of these lower-calorie oatmeal breakfast bites instead. Total calories (for four bites) : 296 Quinoa Egg Bake Bake this quinoa egg casserole on Sunday night, and cut a slice the following morning for a gluten-free breakfast. In addition to plenty of protein and fiber, you'll up your iron and calcium intake while enjoying this recipe. Total calories : 250 Flat-Belly Smoothie Sip on this sweet smoothie packed with ingredients like Greek yogurt, pineapple, and kale to fight belly fat, reduce bloating, and keep you feeling full. Total calories : 283 Avocado Tartine In need of an incredibly quick breakfast? Try this easy avocado toast from POPSUGAR Food. This vegetarian breakfast comes together in under five minutes, and it has a great blend of protein and carbs to hit the spot. Total calories : 214 Turkey Sausage Muffins With 12 grams of protein a piece, these gluten-free turkey sausage muffins are smarter than any fast-food egg option you'll find before work. This is another recipe that's easy to bake ahead of time and grab when you head out the door. Total calories (per muffin) : 150 Apple Ring Oatmeal Pancakes For a creative and fresh twist on classic pancakes, whip up these delicious apple ring pancakes . Slice fresh apples and dip them in oatmeal pancake batter. Each ring clocks in at just 57 calories. Total calories (for five rings) : 285 Egg White Frittata Classic Mediterranean ingredients like peppers, onion, and spinach bring texture, flavor, and nutrition to this low-calorie frittata , while egg whites and feta provide over 20 grams of protein. It's quick enough to come together on a weekday morning but elegant enough to serve to friends at a special weekend brunch. Total calories : 300 Tofu Scramble With Kale and Sweet Potatoes Gone dairy- or animal-free? This quick and hearty tofu scramble will become your new go-to breakfast. Total calories : 264 Berry Refreshing Smoothie Bowl Full of good-for-you ingredients, this mixed berry smoothie bowl is rich in vitamin C and low in calories, and will fill you up and get you going in the morning. Total calories : 265 Italian Baked Egg and Vegetables This baked egg dish is Jessica Simpson's go-to Weight Watchers breakfast. If you're worried about roasting vegetables in the morning, simply roast a big batch of vegetables on Sunday night so you can easily add them to this dish all week long. Total calories : 149 Coconut Chia Pudding Chia seeds and coconut milk marry for a Paleo-friendly pudding that works great for breakfast. High in anti-inflammatory omega-3s, this sweet chia pudding is a make-ahead recipe that will save you time, fill you up on fiber, and help you debloat for just over 200 calories. Total calories : 206 French Toast With Ricotta French toast is one of those decadent, high-calorie recipes I've saved for a special indulgence - until now. Celebrity trainer Harley Pasternak's recipe makeover for whole-grain french toast with ricotta cheese offers more than 20 grams of protein with just over 250 calories per generous serving. Total calories : 252 Apple Quinoa Breakfast Bake Think that quinoa is just for lunch and dinner? Whip up this gluten-free quinoa breakfast bake and prepare to be amazed. Bake a batch ahead of time, so you can enjoy this healthy breakfast all week long. Total calories : 269 Yogurt-Filled Cantaloupe Greek yogurt is one of the best ways to enjoy plenty of protein without any eggs or meat. Instead of topping off your morning bowl of yogurt with sugary granola, serve it up in a fresh cantaloupe bowl that kicks out carbs and calories from breakfast. Be sure to add your favorite fresh berries to the mix for extra color and flavor. Total calories : 146 | 7 | 5,831 | health |
The normally stoic Bill Belichick gets emotional after winning his 4th Super Bowl in the most dramatic fashion. pic.twitter.com/KDyVQnL34e SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) February 2, 2015 Often emotionless, occasionally confused with Emperor Palpatine ... but on Sunday night, Belichick became human. Perhaps his heart grew three sizes this day? No, probably not. | 1 | 5,832 | sports |
Super Bowl Commercial: Aurora Healthcare | 8 | 5,833 | video |
Superbowl Commercials: Pepsi | 8 | 5,834 | video |
You no longer know where your data is going. You can't know. Without dramatic changes to attitudes and policies, you may never know. That's the message three Carnegie Mellon University researchers sent with a Science magazine review published Thursday. It came out just a day after Federal Trade Commissioner Julie Brill spoke at CMU, urging passage of three ambitious new laws meant, in part, to address the Internet's accelerating encroachment into our private lives. Privacy "approaches that rely exclusively on informing or 'empowering' the individual are unlikely to provide adequate protection against the risks posed by recent information technologies," CMU's Alessandro Acquisti, Laura Brandimarte and George Loewenstein wrote. What are those emerging risks? Ms. Brill, whose FTC punishes privacy violators for deceptive and unfair practices, said that Internet-connected appliances, cars and especially health monitors exemplify the trade-off: Industry provides new functionality, and consumers provide personal information. She said that devices and apps that encourage consumers to supply information on diet, exercise, medicines and other health factors aren't covered by medical privacy laws. Some companies, she said, are selling that information "to third parties, such as advertising companies and analytics firms." Those firms buy and aggregate data, creating and selling increasingly detailed profiles of nearly every consumer. Why? "The more I know about you, the more I can influence you," said Mr. Acquisti. People "are easily influenced in what and how they disclose" through websites and social media, wrote Mr. Acquisti and Ms. Brandimarte, of CMU's Heinz College for public affairs, and Mr. Loewenstein, of the Dietrich College of Social and Decision Sciences. The researchers cited studies showing that people's attitudes toward privacy change dramatically, depending on circumstances and the behaviors of others around them. Giving people choices about how their data is shared can, paradoxically, prompt them to let down their guard and reveal more. Mr. Acquisti co-wrote the first scholarly paper about Facebook, and his subsequent research showed that when the social networking giant allowed users to better control others' access to their information, they shared more. Of course, Facebook can access all of the shared information, and uses it to tailor its ads to the individual user's interests. Internet businesses have argued that they publish privacy policies to which users consent by accessing websites. That has been the heart of the prevailing "notice and consent" philosophy of Internet privacy. However, almost nobody reads privacy policies, noted Lorrie Faith Cranor, at a panel discussion following Ms. Brill's speech. Ms. Cranor and colleagues at CMU's CyLab Usable Privacy and Security Laboratory found that it would take the average Internet user 224 hours a year to read the privacy policies of all websites they access. "Notice and consent, I believe, have been dead for a while," as privacy protection, said Mr. Acquisti. Systems set up to buttress "notice and consent" have also eroded. TRUSTe Inc., for instance, was created as a nonprofit that would place its seal on websites that met privacy standards. In November, the FTC slapped it with an order and a $200,000 fine for failing to regularly review the websites, and for allowing others to portray it as a nonprofit after it switched to for-profit status. How about AdChoices, the system by which consumers can tell participating companies not to feed them individually targeted ads? A study showed that only 27 percent of respondents knew how AdChoices worked, according to Ms. Cranor. Twice that number thought, mistakenly, that by clicking its icon, they would doom themselves to even more ads. "I do think there's a place for industry self-regulation," said Ms. Brill, adding that it has proved insufficient. Technology is racing past privacy options that focus on controlling "cookies" programs that the Internet places on computers so that websites can detect repeat users. The tracking industry is moving toward more precise digital "fingerprinting," said Ms. Brill. She would like to see passage of President Obama's proposed consumer privacy bill of rights, plus limits on data brokers and tough data security laws. "I do think that they are reasonably close, that data security can be passed this year. I do think there's a lot of interest in Congress," Ms. Brill said. That's driven in part by consumer concern with massive thefts of credit card data, but also by industry's desire for one national law on breaches, rather than the current patchwork of state rules. "I don't want to preempt the states unless we have a good, robust federal law," she said. How about the bill of rights and data broker limits? Ms. Brill noted diplomatically that Congress has a full plate. "Congress has to this moment failed in providing comprehensive privacy legislation which guarantees a baseline level of privacy protection," said Mr. Acquisti. That's not to say Congress should rush in and write ill-considered law, he said. What's urgent is "changing the debate over privacy," he said. He warned that an anti-privacy narrative has emerged, including arguments that privacy is an artificial concept that threatens to hold back human advancement. "The available evidence suggests, instead," he said, "that people care, that protection of privacy is possible, and that as a society we can enjoy the benefit of big data while simultaneously protecting privacy." | 5 | 5,835 | news |
NEW YORK (AP) If you're talking about Super Bowl ads with co-workers on Monday, you're not alone. Advertisers tried to win over Americans during the game - some tried serious themes, while others went with humor. With 30-second ads costing $4.5 million for the chance to market their brand to 110-plus million Americans, advertisers were making a big bet. And just like the game, there were winners and losers: WINNERS: BUDWEISER Sticking to its winning formula of puppies and Clydesdales, Brewer Anheuser-Busch's ad shows a Labrador puppy chasing after the iconic Budweiser Clydesdales that are being moved to a new stable. The tune, ''I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles),'' performed by Sleeping at Last, plays in the background. CHEVROLET The automaker was a surprise hit before the kickoff with a spot that appeared to be a live game feed that suddenly turned to static and then a blank screen. It turns out it was a gimmick to highlight the fact that the Chevrolet Colorado has 4G LTE Wi-Fi, so viewers could stream the game in the car if they needed to. ESURANCE Two Esurance ads showed actress Lindsay Lohan being a ''sorta'' mom and Bryan Cranston as ''Breaking Bad'' character Walter White being a ''sorta'' pharmacist to show when it comes to car insurance ''sorta'' doesn't cut it. FIAT CHRYSLER Chrysler scored with three spots. For an ad promoting Fiat's 2016 Fiat 500xcrossover vehicle, Chrysler used humor, showing an older Italian couple getting frisky in the bedroom. When the man's ''blue pill'' goes flying out the window, it lands in the gas tank of a Fiat, causing nearby women to give the car a second glance. A voiceover says the new Fiat is ''bigger more powerful and ready for action.'' MCDONALD'S McDonald's ad surrounds a promotion in which it will randomly select customers to pay for their orders with acts of love, like a high-five or a call to a relative. The promotion starts Monday and runs through Feb. 14. NATIONWIDE ''Mindy Project'' star Mindy Kaling walks around New York believing she is invisible and doing scandalous acts, including sitting naked in Central Park and going through a car wash. Then she tries to kiss Matt Damon but he can see her. The idea is Nationwide doesn't treat you like you're invisible. SNICKERS The 30-second ad recreates the famous Brady Bunch episode in which the oldest daughter, Marcia, gets hit in the nose with a football. Movie ''Machete'' star Danny Trejo plays ''Marcia'' in the ad and actor Steve Buscemi plays Jan, her sister. LOSERS NATIONWIDE In one of the most serious ads of the night, Nationwide showed a boy riding a school bus and lamenting he'll never learn to fly, or travel the world with his best friend, or even grow up, because he died in an accident. The ad for Nationwide was aimed at stopping preventable childhood accidents. ''The intention of that ad was very good, but it's just playing with fire focusing on an adolescents' death in the context of the Super Bowl,'' said Charles Taylor, marketing professor at the Villanova School of Business in Pennsylvania. WEIGHT WATCHERS The weight-loss services provider portrayed a big-brother like montage of, doughnuts, pizza and other gluttonous food with an ominous voiceover saying ''You gotta eat, right?'' providing one of the few creepy moments of the evening. The tagline is ''It's time to take back control.'' The goal was to promote its weight loss services, but some thought that the message was lost. It was one of the ads getting the most negative feedback from viewers on the viewing panel of Villanova's Taylor. ''Some people are saying it made them want to eat more than anything,'' he said. VALEANT PHARMACEUTICALS The ad for a toe fungus treatment showed animated toes playing football, but it did not win over all viewers. ''If you're going to do an ad for toenail fungus it needed to be funny, and it wasn't,'' said Super Bowl viewer Naomi Zikmund-Fisher, a psychotherapist from Ann Arbor, Mich. | 1 | 5,836 | sports |
Tom Brady won the Super Bowl MVP on Sunday after throwing for 328 yards and four touchdowns. | 1 | 5,837 | sports |
GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) Tom Brady won his record-tying third Super Bowl MVP award and fourth Lombardi Trophy, leading the New England Patriots to a 28-24 comeback victory over the defending champion Seattle Seahawks. Brady completed 37 of 50 passes for 328 yards, with four touchdowns - each to a different receiver - and two interceptions. The Patriots trailed 24-14 in the fourth quarter before Brady connected with Danny Amendola for a 4-yard TD pass with about 8 minutes left, giving Brady 12 touchdown passes in Super Bowls, breaking Pro Football Hall of Famer Joe Montana's mark. Then, with 2:02 to go, Brady hit Julian Edelman from 3 yards for the lead. Brady turned to New England's sideline, pointed, then raised his right fist. --- Online: AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and AP NFL Twitter feed: http://twitter.com/AP-NFL | 1 | 5,838 | sports |
Super Bowl Commercials: The Royals | 8 | 5,839 | video |
Super Bowl Commercial: US Cellular | 8 | 5,840 | video |
Russell Wilson's prayer is answered when Jermaine Kearse somehow comes away with huge 33-yard reception. | 8 | 5,841 | video |
Super Bowl Commercial: Skechers with Pete Rose | 8 | 5,842 | video |
The FOX Sports Live crew talks about Tom Brady's body of work. | 1 | 5,843 | sports |
Jermaine Kearse had a miraculous catch late in the fourth quarter of the the Seahawks loss to the Patriots. Was it better than David Tyree's grab in Super Bowl XLII? | 1 | 5,844 | sports |
GLENDALE, Ariz. In the raw moments after the Seattle Seahawks' crushing 28-24 Super Bowl XLIX loss to the New England Patriots, Pete Carroll told Russell Wilson that the quarterback's game-sealing interception on second-and-goal from the Patriots half-yard line was the coach's fault. Why Carroll didn't call for a handoff to Marshawn Lynch, who finished with 102 yards and averaged 4.3 yards per carry, will haunt the Seahawks and their fans forever. Instead, Wilson threw a pass intended for receiver Ricardo Lockette that rookie cornerback Malcolm Butler intercepted to secure the Patriots' first Super Bowl title in 10 years. "The message from coach Carroll was he took the blame for it," Wilson said. "That wasn't his fault. I put the blame on me for not making that play. I'm the one who threw it. ... I thought it was going to be a touchdown. "I don't question the call. I thought it was a good call." Former Seahawks cornerback Brandon Browner, now a Patriot disagreed. "These coaches are so smart, they out-strategize themselves," Browner told USA TODAY Sports, wondering what motivated Carroll and coordinator Darrell Bevell to make the call that backfired so badly. "He's got the same level of intelligence as Bill (Belichick), but I think he just tricked himself," Browner said of Carroll. "You know what I mean? You've got the best back in the game. Why don't you just turn around and hand him the ball? But sometimes, coaches out-think themselves." Bevell also accepted his share of the blame. "Yes, I made the call," he said of Seattle's final offensive play. "The guy made a great play." The now-dethroned Seahawks stood poised on the cusp of kicking down the dynasty door that has been barred since the Patriots last won consecutive titles in 2003 and 2004. Carroll said the call for a quick slant to Lockette was dictated by the Patriots deploying their run-stuffing package. "We were going to run the ball to win the game just not on that play," Carroll said. "They had sent in their goal-line people. They had guys on the line of scrimmage. So we thought we'd spread them out with three wides. ... We had three downs and we had a timeout. "This one didn't work out for us. In retrospect, we could have run it." Patriots owner Robert Kraft, Carroll's former employer, was asked about the play call on NFL Network after the game. After a slight pause, a smiling Kraft answered: "I'm very happy." The Seahawks know they picked the worst possible time to go "Least Mode" when they should have leaned on their offensive linchpin. At the end of a dynasty-crushing night, Lynch was gone, off into the night, disappearing from the locker room before many of his teammates had even peeled off their cleats. Lynch threw on a sweat suit, joined a small crew of friends and promptly left the building, pushing a couple of camera lenses out of his face and heading clear of the scene of defeat. All the while, he laughed and joked, responding to every comment from his pals with a cackle while, as ever, the enigmatic running back ignored media questions. But there was no part of this he found to be funny. Lynch was done with this Super Bowl, turning his back one more time and making tracks, marching as always to his own tune. "Unfortunately, it was real hard luck," Carroll said. "There's no other way to look at it right now." Carroll told his players afterward, "They're a great team. They were on the precipice of winning another one." Cornerback Richard Sherman spoke for an injury-depleted secondary that lost nickelback Jeremy Lane to a broken left arm after his first-quarter goal line interception. Later, defensive end Cliff Avril went down with a third-quarter concussion. "It's tough to repeat," Sherman said. "But it's doable. I don't think it had anything to do with how tough it is to repeat. "The guy (Butler) made the play of a lifetime." It's one the Seahawks will surely remember for the rest of their lives. "Unfortunately, we have to live with this," said Carroll. And it may take another Lombardi Trophy down the line for the Seahawks to live that call down. Contributing: Martin Rogers, Brent Schrotenboer *** Follow Jim Corbett on Twitter @ByJimCorbett | 1 | 5,845 | sports |
The real heroes tonight were the loyal fans. | 8 | 5,846 | video |
Nationwide is here to help you make safe happen. | 8 | 5,847 | video |
High-intensity interval training, aka HIIT, is one of the best ways to maximize your workout time. Burn a ton of calories and boost your metabolism in little time with celeb trainer Astrid McGuire's full-body HIIT workout. It may be only 10 minutes long, but it will leave you dripping with sweat. There's no equipment needed for the workout, so press play and get at it! And if you're looking for a longer workout, double your fun time with Astrid's 20-Minute HIIT workout! | 7 | 5,848 | health |
Super Bowl Commercial: Subway | 8 | 5,849 | video |
Super Bowl Commercial: American Family Insurance | 8 | 5,850 | video |
Super Bowl Commercial: Jeep Renegade | 8 | 5,851 | video |
Superbowl Commercial: Redd's Apple Ale | 8 | 5,852 | video |
The FOX Sports Live crew breaks down the New England Patriots' exciting win over the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl XLIX. | 1 | 5,853 | sports |
SEAHAWKS Quarterback: Russell Wilson emerged from a slow start he didn't complete a pass on the first three drives before settling into what looked like another one of his typically efficient performances. He went deep into his reads to make big completions, often to rookie Chris Matthews, threw a pair of touchdowns and took off for big gains when the opportunities were there. But his inexplicable pass from the New England 1-yard line with 26 seconds left was picked off. Dynasty denied. Grade: B- Run offense: Marshawn Lynch, a slow starter for much of the season, managed 45 yards and scored before halftime. But despite finishing with 102 yards, his signature ability to grind down a defense was not evident in the fourth quarter as the Seahawks twice went three-and-out. Grade: B Pass offense: Often minimized as "pedestrian," top receivers Doug Baldwin and Jermaine Kearse were largely held in check Kearse's amazing 33-yard, fourth-quarter catch from his back aside and combined for just four receptions. Baldwin did score a touchdown with the help of an official who obstructed Patriots cornerback Darrelle Revis in the end zone. But while the starters struggled, backups Ricardo Lockette and undrafted Chris Matthews, who didn't have an NFL catch entering the game, stepped up. Matthews scored one touchdown and helped set up two more, all told gaining 109 yards on four receptions. Grade: B Run defense: Seattle held LeGarrette Blount to 40 yards and the Patriots only managed 2.7 yards per rush on the day. New England was one-dimensional most of the second half. Grade: A- Pass defense: Tom Brady carved up the league's No. 1 pass defense to the tune of 328 yards and four touchdowns. Seattle did pick Brady off twice, but nickelback Jeremy Lane was knocked out of the game with a wrist injury after his first-quarter interception. It was a crucial blow as Brady repeatedly picked on second-year Tharold Simon thereafter, victimizing him for the game-winning touchdown in the fourth quarter. Though the D-line did generate some pressure on Brady, it managed just one sack and was hindered by the loss of Cliff Avril to a concussion. Grade: D Coaching : Pete Carroll made a gutsy call just before halftime with his team down seven. He allowed Wilson to take a shot into the end zone with 6 seconds left, eschewing a safe field goal. The quarterback rewarded him by finding Matthews for the game-tying score. But Carroll's guts betrayed him at the end with Wilson passing on the New England doorstep rather than feeding the reliable Lynch. It's a call that will forever be questioned in the Pacific Northwest. Grade: D- PATRIOTS Quarterback: For much of the game, Brady appeared on his way to a third consecutive Super Bowl defeat, with his pair of picks looming large. But he was his masterful self at crunch time, erasing a 10-point fourth quarter deficit with two touchdown passes to perhaps cap the defining performance of his luminous career with a third Super Bowl MVP award. Grade : A- Run offense: It didn't go very far (57 yards), but it didn't need to. Grade: D+ Pass offense: Seven players caught passes with running back Shane Vereen and Julian Edelman combining for 20 catches. Tight end Rob Gronkowski was held in check for large stretches but commanded attention that freed his less-heralded teammates to work the middle of the field, something that rarely happened to the top-ranked Seattle D. And Gronk did shake loose for a 22-yard touchdown pass in the first half. Grade: A Run defense: It took a bit of a beating from Lynch and surrendered 162 yards overall but stiffened when it counted in the fourth quarter. Grade: B+ Pass defense: It shut down Seattle's top two wideouts and held tight end Luke Willson without a catch. The pass rush also put Wilson down three times. Rookie corner Malcolm Butler made the play of the night with title-icing interception at the 1-yard line. Grade: B+ Coaching: Bill Belichick's biggest call of the night? Probably not allowing Seattle to score before Butler's pick. Three years ago, the Patriots allowed the Giants to have the go-ahead touchdown but couldn't recover at the end to recapture the lead. His fourth ring secure, Belichick's legacy gains added shine, Deflategate notwithstanding. Grade: A | 1 | 5,854 | sports |
The trial of former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn on pimping charges has begun in France. Mr Strauss-Kahn, 65, is accused of helping to procure sex workers for an alleged prostitution ring based at a hotel in Lille. The former presidential hopeful has admitted attending sex parties there but says he did not know that some of the women were prostitutes. The case is the latest sex-related allegation to trouble Mr Strauss-Kahn. He stepped down as International Monetary Fund leader after being accused of attempted rape by a hotel maid in New York in 2011. The charges were eventually dropped and Mr Strauss-Kahn reached a settlement with the maid, Nafissatou Diallo. Two other cases against him, concerning allegations of sexual assault and gang rape, have already been dropped. The case has been described as a litmus test for changing attitudes in France with the private lives of public figures now facing more scrutiny than in the past, the BBC's Lucy Williamson reports from Paris. Mr Strauss-Kahn, who arrived at the courthouse in Lille dressed in a dark suit, had to push his way through a throng of journalists and photographers. He is standing trial along with 13 others, including the owner of a brothel known as "Dodo the Pimp". Mr Strauss-Khan is facing a charge of "aggravated pimping" and is accused of using his business contacts to hire women for sex parties in Paris, Lille and Washington. His lawyers argue that although he has admitted attending these parties, he was completely unaware that many of the women involved were paid prostitutes. French media outlets have dubbed the case the "Carlton Affair" after the hotel which the allegations pertain to. | 5 | 5,855 | news |
Super Bowl Commercial: T-Mobile Wi-fi Calling | 8 | 5,856 | video |
Super Bowl Commercial: Dodge Challenger | 8 | 5,857 | video |
BOSTON - The scouting report is changing daily now for Heat center Hassan Whiteside. It's time to add spin move in the post for a jumper off the glass to his list of possible offensive options. Whiteside showcased that surprising shot as well as jumpers, hook shots and more Sunday in the Heat's 83-75 victory against the Boston Celtics, which snapped a two-game losing streak. BOX SCORE: HEAT 83, CELTICS 75 In the latest monumental step of his evolution as a player, Whiteside carried the Heat offensively in the team's second game without Dwyane Wade. Whiteside finished with 20 points, including 10 consecutive points between the third and fourth quarters, and also had nine rebounds and three blocks. He was 10 of 17 from the field in less than 30 minutes and seemingly became the Heat's primary offensive option during the game's most critical stretch. "Every day is a new surprise," said Heat power forward Chris Bosh, who had 18 points. The Heat led by 13 points at halftime but lost most of that lead in the third quarter with Whiteside on the bench. He entered the game with 4:22 remaining in the quarter and quickly made a turnaround hook shot to give the Heat a four-point lead. The Celtics tied the score, but Whiteside then reeled off 10 points in a row. During the run, Heat coach Erik Spoelstra began drawing up plays for Whiteside in the team huddle. "We were trying to run a little bit of the offense through the post just to slow it down a little bit and settle us," Spoelstra said. "They were really defending our pick-and-rolls and flattening us out on that for a few minutes, so we went to something else just to change the menu, and he responded well. And it also was just a good response for our team." On Friday, Spoelstra kept Whiteside on the bench in the third quarter a little too long, and the Dallas Mavericks ran away with the game. To his credit, the Heat's coach didn't make the same mistake twice. Whiteside's defensive presence stymied the Celtics' momentum and offensively Whiteside carried the team during another typical third-quarter funk. The Heat (21-26) was outscored 28-17 in the third period. Whiteside led the Heat with six points in the period, and Bosh had five. The Heat led 61-59 to begin the final period, and Whiteside's spinning bank shot gave the Heat a 67-59 lead with 9:45 left in the game. "Didn't know he had that," Bosh said. "I don't think he knew he had that." Bosh followed with a put-back layup on a missed jumper by Whiteside, and the Celtics (16-30) never seriously threatened the lead again. Bosh was 6 of 19 from the field, 5 of 7 from the free-throw line and had seven rebounds. After struggling Friday against Dallas and again in the first half against the Celtics, Heat guard Norris Cole settled himself in the second half at TD Garden and made a clutch 21-foot jumper with 1:07 left to ice the game. Heat guard Tyler Johnson, playing on a 10-day contract, made a case for himself, finishing with 13 points, nine rebounds, four assists, two steals and two blocks. "To get their opportunities, they have been really dedicated to the player development, and the way the season is going, you have to play, boom," Spoelstra said. "Now you have to do it when there's duress in the third quarter, and I loved to see the young guys respond the way they did. They were fearless." | 1 | 5,858 | sports |
Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott on Monday dropped a signature plan for paid parental leave and promised a more consultative approach on economic and security problems, seeking to stave off mounting criticism of his leadership. Abbott, 16 months into the top job, has faced a series of challenges including an economy battered by a plunge in commodity prices as well as broken election promises, policy back flips and perceived gaffes. Pressure on him soared after last week's decision to award a top honor to Britain's Prince Philip, Queen Elizabeth's husband. More questions about his leadership were raised after a disastrous state election on the weekend, when the Queensland Liberal-National Party, closely aligned with Abbott's Liberal-National coalition, surrendered the largest political majority in Australia's history after just one term in office. In a speech dubbed by some commentators as the most important of his political career, Abbott outlined his priorities including job creation, helping families, building roads and strengthening national security. He said he had not considered stepping down. "This will be a test of character," Abbott said in response to a question about his leadership at the National Press Club in Canberra. "Politicians pass the test when they do what is best for the long-term, not when they give in to short-term fear and make a difficult situation worse." Abbott said he believed he had the full support of his deputy party leader, Foreign Minister Julie Bishop, who along with former Liberal Party leader Malcolm Turnbull, has been touted as a potential replacement. In an effort to shore up support from both his party and the public, Abbott announced he was scrapping his A$5.5 billion ($4.3 billion) paid parental-leave scheme, a plan that had been criticized for being too expensive and made without consultation with colleagues. He said he took responsibility for his decisions. "I accept that the paid parental leave scheme was a captain's call," Abbott said. "I accept that the restoration of Knighthoods was a captain's call. They are the two captain's calls which I have made but I have listened, I have learned and I have acted." A new poll out on Monday showed approval for Abbott's performance had plumbed fresh lows at 29 percent, versus 67 percent disapproval. Less than a third of those surveyed expected Abbott to lead into the next election, due in about 18 months. (Editing by Robert Birsel) | 5 | 5,859 | news |
Superbowl Commercial: The Voice | 8 | 5,860 | video |
As a research scientist, Jonathan W. Jarvik recently decided to do something different. For funding, he decided to seek small donations from many rather than one large grant from the likes of the National Institutes of Health. And while his focus is a newly discovered protein that shows promise in reversing the aging process, he set his sights on improving the health and lifespan of Mopsy and Tigger rather than John and Martha. SpectraGenetics Inc., Mr. Jarvik's company on the South Side, is using crowdsource fund raising, so-called "crowdfunding" to raise money to reverse aging in pets using a site at Indiegogo.com. The campaign faces a Sunday funding deadline with $2,400 collected to date. The goal is $95,000. "I am disappointed that we have not raised more," he said. "But I am hopeful that contributions will accelerate as more people become aware of our campaign and recognize the remarkable opportunity it represents." Mr. Jarvik, a Ph.D. in genetics and a Carnegie Mellon University professor, is interested in GDF11, a protein generated by a gene of the same name that's generating excitement worldwide, including at the National Institute of Aging. A Harvard University study last year found that transfused blood from young mice with high levels of the protein "triggered new muscle and more neural connections" in old mice, with follow-up studies revealing "that their memory formation improved," stated the journal Science, which cited GDF11 as one of the year's best medical discoveries. A video explaining Mr. Jarvik's project at Indiegogo says GDF11 "makes the muscles, minds and hearts of aging mice stronger and more youthful." As with mice, GDF11 protein levels drop off as humans age. Mr. Jarvik's research at CMU involves cell receptors protein molecules on cell membranes where such biological agents as hormones, antibodies, molecules and neurotransmitters attach themselves and alter cell function. SpectraGenetics provides biological tools for pharmaceutical companies to develop treatments that target receptors. The pet research will use CMU technology to test thousands of off-patent drugs and other safe compounds to find GDF11 boosters, the Indiegogo video states. If one is identified, Mr. Jarvik said, they will release the findings to the public for use with pets "with no strings attached." Such a GDF11 booster for humans would take years to develop, test for safety and effectiveness, and get approvals for market. Proving effectiveness in animals involves lower costs and fewer regulations. "This is a fascinating project dealing with aging," said Mr. Jarvik, the brother of Robert Jarvik, a developer of the Jarvik-7 artificial heart. "This is a special opportunity, and it would be nice if we could turn this into something real." Using crowdfunding in science is a relatively new concept. But Indiegogo cofounder Danae Ringelmann said scientists and researchers already have embraced it "as a powerful way to fund and publicize groundbreaking medical research, innovative medical devices and scientific research." She notes the $98,685 raised to cure black-bone disease, $317,540 to fund human clinical trials for a stem-cell treatment for multiple sclerosis, and $355,583 donated to measure a person's microbiome as a health indicator. In the latter case, each donor was offered a free microbiome assessment. Indiegogo will sponsor a Lunch n'Learn workshop at 11 a.m. Friday at the Greater Pittsburgh Arts Council, 810 Penn Avenue, Downtown, on crowdsource fundraising. The event is free but an RSVP is required. Christian Manders, chief operating office of the Pittsburgh biomedical company Promethean LifeSciences Inc., is not involved with Mr. Jarvik's project but has been watching with interest. He said SpectraGenetics officials learned about crowdfunding during a bus trip to a state biotechnical conference in October with scientists and students. "I think what they are doing definitely is unique in my eyes because this is a sophisticated scientific company attacking a specific problem with cutting-edge research," Mr. Manders said. "This has possibility for tremendous impact on public health and aging wellness. They can come up with a compound to help with aging animals and piggyback that compound to do the same for humans." The web link to Mr. Jarvik's Indiegogo campaign is: http://igg.me/at/petlifehack . | 5 | 5,861 | news |
Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Chris Matthews was working in a shoe store a year ago but on Sunday he was putting together an MVP-worthy performance in the Super Bowl that was spoiled by the New England Patriots. The unheralded wide receiver entered the National Football League's championship game without a career reception but put together the game of his life. "I don't care if I don't even have one pass, one yard, one tackle, it wouldn't have mattered to me as long as we had won the game." said Matthews, who played only 26 offensive snaps this season entering the Super Bowl. "I would have been happy with a win with no stats." Undrafted out of college, Matthews bounced around for a few teams, including in the Canadian Football League, and was never able to stick on a roster. He was out of football and working for Foot Locker, an American sportswear and footwear retailer, when he got the call from Seattle. Matthews initially told them he did not finish work until later that night and could not make the tryout but his agent convinced him to get on a plane. The decision changed his life. With Seattle trailing 7-0 midway through the second quarter, Matthews jumped and twisted around to complete an incredible 44-yard catch that put Seattle at the Patriots' 11-yard line. Three plays later, Marshawn Lynch scored a game-tying touchdown. Then, when it appeared the Patriots would take a lead into halftime, Matthews found himself on the receiving end of an 11-yard touchdown pass that tied the score at 14-14 with two seconds left in the half. Three plays into the third quarter Matthews was at it again as he hauled in a 45-yard Russell Wilson pass that set up a go-ahead field goal to make it 17-14. Seattle went on to build a 24-14 lead but were unable to hang on as the Patriots scored two touchdowns to pull ahead and sealed the victory after intercepting a Russell Wilson pass in the end zone. Matthews finished Sunday's game with four receptions for 109 yards. "I just think the coaches prepared me in the best possible way they can in practice," said Matthews. "Making sure that I was well prepared for what was to come, regardless of whether it was this year, next year or the year after that." (Editing by Gene Cherry) | 1 | 5,862 | sports |
Malcolm Butler's interception of Russell Wilson with 20 seconds remaining sealed the Patriots' 28-24 win over the Seahawks for New England's fourth Super Bowl victory. Tom Brady was named MVP. | 1 | 5,863 | sports |
We give the New England Patriots 120 seconds of glory for winning Super Bowl XLIX. | 8 | 5,864 | video |
NEW YORK If you're talking about Super Bowl ads with co-workers on Monday, you're not alone. Advertisers tried to win over Americans during the game some tried serious themes, while others went with humor. With 30-second ads costing $4.5 million for the chance to market their brand to 110-plus million Americans, advertisers were making a big bet. And just like the game, there were winners and losers: WINNERS: BUDWEISER Sticking to its winning formula of puppies and Clydesdales, Brewer Anheuser-Busch's ad shows a Labrador puppy chasing after the iconic Budweiser Clydesdales that are being moved to a new stable. The tune, "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)," performed by Sleeping at Last, plays in the background. CHEVROLET The automaker was a surprise hit before the kickoff with a spot that appeared to be a live game feed that suddenly turned to static and then a blank screen. It turns out it was a gimmick to highlight the fact that the Chevrolet Colorado has 4G LTE Wi-Fi, so viewers could stream the game in the car if they needed to. ESURANCE Two Esurance ads showed actress Lindsay Lohan being a "sorta" mom and Bryan Cranston as "Breaking Bad" character Walter White being a "sorta" pharmacist to show when it comes to car insurance "sorta" doesn't cut it. FIAT CHRYSLER Chrysler scored with three spots. For an ad promoting Fiat's 2016 Fiat 500xcrossover vehicle, Chrysler used humor, showing an older Italian couple getting frisky in the bedroom. When the man's "blue pill" goes flying out the window, it lands in the gas tank of a Fiat, causing nearby women to give the car a second glance. A voiceover says the new Fiat is "bigger more powerful and ready for action." MCDONALD'S McDonald's ad surrounds a promotion in which it will randomly select customers to pay for their orders with acts of love, like a high-five or a call to a relative. The promotion starts Monday and runs through Feb. 14. NATIONWIDE "Mindy Project" star Mindy Kaling walks around New York believing she is invisible and doing scandalous acts, including sitting naked in Central Park and going through a car wash. Then she tries to kiss Matt Damon but he can see her. The idea is Nationwide doesn't treat you like you're invisible. SNICKERS The 30-second ad recreates the famous Brady Bunch episode in which the oldest daughter, Marcia, gets hit in the nose with a football. Movie "Machete" star Danny Trejo plays "Marcia" in the ad and actor Steve Buscemi plays Jan, her sister. LOSERS NATIONWIDE In one of the most serious ads of the night, Nationwide showed a boy riding a school bus and lamenting he'll never learn to fly, or travel the world with his best friend, or even grow up, because he died in an accident. The ad for Nationwide was aimed at stopping preventable childhood accidents. "The intention of that ad was very good, but it's just playing with fire focusing on an adolescents' death in the context of the Super Bowl," said Charles Taylor, marketing professor at the Villanova School of Business in Pennsylvania. WEIGHT WATCHERS The weight-loss services provider portrayed a big-brother like montage of, doughnuts, pizza and other gluttonous food with an ominous voiceover saying "You gotta eat, right?" providing one of the few creepy moments of the evening. The tagline is "It's time to take back control." The goal was to promote its weight loss services, but some thought that the message was lost. It was one of the ads getting the most negative feedback from viewers on the viewing panel of Villanova's Taylor. "Some people are saying it made them want to eat more than anything," he said. VALEANT PHARMACEUTICALS The ad for a toe fungus treatment showed animated toes playing football, but it did not win over all viewers. "If you're going to do an ad for toenail fungus it needed to be funny, and it wasn't," said Super Bowl viewer Naomi Zikmund-Fisher, a psychotherapist from Ann Arbor, Mich. | 3 | 5,865 | finance |
Novak Djokovic feels in the prime of his career with more Grand Slams beckoning after winning a gripping Australian Open final in which he overcame "a physical crisis". The Serb ironman showed why he remains the world number one with an energy-sapping 7-6 (7/5), 6-7 (4/7), 6-3, 6-0 win over sixth seed Andy Murray on Sunday evening. He has now won all five of his Melbourne Park finals and said it was perhaps the most satisfying of his eight Grand Slam titles. "I think it has deeper meaning, more intrinsic value now to my life because I'm a father and a husband," he said. "It's the first Grand Slam title I won as a father and a husband and I just feel very, very proud of it." Djokovic added that as his life was changing off court, he was learning to appreciate the big wins more than ever. "I try to stay on the right path and committed to this sport in every possible way... and try to use this prime time of my career really where I'm playing and feeling the best at 27," he said. "This is why I play the sport, to win big titles and to put myself in a position to play also for the people around me. "As my life progresses, there are circumstances, situations, events that define these beautiful moments. "Getting married and becoming a father in the last six months was definitely something that gave me a new energy, something that I never felt before. "And right now everything has been going in such a positive direction in my life. So I try to live these moments with all my heart." Only Australian Roy Emerson, who presented Djokovic with the trophy, has won more Australian Opens with six in the 1960s. - Found the strength - Djokovic has now beaten Murray in three of his four Australian final appearances following earlier wins in 2011 and 2013, but the Serb admitted it was a huge struggle to down the Scot. He hurt the thumb on his racquet hand when he fell in the first set then appeared to cramp in the second set and again in the third. But after trailing by a break and looking wobbly on his feet and gasping for breath early in the pivotal third set, he roared back to win 12 of the last 13 games to claim the title. "It was very physical, very exhausting. We both of course went through some tough moments physically," he said. "You could see that I had a crisis end of the second, beginning of the third. "I just felt very exhausted and I needed some time to regroup and recharge and get back on track. That's what I've done." There were suggestions by the media that it was theatrics to throw Murray off his game, but the Serb denied this. "I went through a physical crisis in the matter of 20 minutes. And, honestly, I didn't feel that too many times in my career," he said. "Even though I went through this moment, I believed that I'm going to get that necessary strength. I'm going to have to earn it, and that's what I did." He now trails only Roger Federer (17), Rafael Nadal (14), Pete Sampras (14), Emerson (12), Rod Laver (11), Bjorn Borg (11) and Bill Tilden (10) on the all-time Grand Slam leaderboard. | 1 | 5,866 | sports |
Serena Williams has bolstered her position at the top of the WTA rankings after winning the Australian Open. The 33-year-old American defeated Maria Sharapova for her sixth Melbourne title and 19th Grand Slam in all. Williams is over 1,500 points clear of the Russian who is well ahead of third-placed Simona Halep of Romania. Serena's older sister Venus, who reached her first Grand Slam quarter-final since 2010, was the biggest mover, up seven places to 11th. Surprise semi-finalist Madison Keys gained 15 places to break into the top 20 for the first time in her career. | 1 | 5,867 | sports |
Friend of the show and registered dietician, Ashley Koff, has a few go-to foods that will make us feel sunny good. | 7 | 5,868 | health |
Perfect for the urban-planning wonk who wants to build a personal city or the destructive child who'd like to stomp one to bits are these tiny, customizable dioramas, which include skyscrapers that can be hacked to glow in the dark. The adult toys, called Ittyblox , are 3D-printed by the New York/Netherlands company Shapeways, and include a variety of constituent pieces. There's this glassy, jet-black Chicago office tower , for instance, and also a cute clump of New York townhouses . Each one has a different footprint, so arranging them to fit the baseplate might require a bit of "Tetris"skill. But don't worry about troublesome zoning issues you're the god of this Twilight Zone civilization. At least some pieces, like the 1:1000-scale Guggenheim Museum and Tudor City building , are based on real-life structures. And all are cut with fantastic detail. Here's the product description for that Chicago tower: "Because some offices have their sun shades down, there is a variation in window color. The rooftop is detailed with a few air conditioning units." The blocks range from $6 to $93, with multibuilding sets accounting for the more expensive prices; add in $20 for the baseplate plus shipping. Making the buildings glow requires work, though it's probably worth it to the hardcore model fan; some of the windows are cut out and will become illuminated if underlit with an LED. Check out this guide for detailed instructions. H/t Laughing Squid | 5 | 5,869 | news |
Macau's decade-long winning streak has come to a grinding halt -- as annual gaming revenue fell for the first time ever. The chill can be traced back to China's anti-corruption crackdown -- aimed in part at those who take money out of the country illegally -- making highrollers wary of spending big in Asia's gambling hub. Andrew Stevens looks at what the industry must do to survive and gets some insight from the CEO of MGM China. | 3 | 5,870 | finance |
Charles and Cheryl Saul are reaping a timely windfall: an extra $500 a month thanks to cheap gasoline. The couple, both 56 and from Emmaus, Pennsylvania, drive a lot so filling the tank didn't leave much room for fun. Now they're splurging after years of staycations, minor-league baseball games and free concerts. In October, they visited Disney World, their priciest vacation in ages. They're also planning to renovate, meaning more trips to Home Depot Inc. "We're finally starting to feel like we're back in the middle class," Cheryl Saul said. Millions of Americans are benefiting from the collapse in gas prices, which Goldman Sachs Group Inc. equates to a tax cut worth as much as $125 billion. That's potentially good news for a range of mass-market companies that have struggled while upscale establishments catering to wealthy Americans prospered. Family Dollar Stores Inc., Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen Inc. and McDonald's Corp. all say they're benefiting from lower gas prices or will in the second half. Interviews with two dozen consumers around the U.S. captured a more ebullient if wary mood. Americans are starting to travel more, eat out and hit the mall. Buoyed by the biggest employment increase since 1999, they're gaining the confidence to spend more freely, which will help the world's biggest economy sidestep a global slowdown. While the economy expanded at a slower pace than forecast in the fourth quarter, consumer spending rose 4.3 percent, the most since 2006. In recent weeks, the shares of such consumer bellwethers as Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Walt Disney Co. and American Airlines Group Inc. have flirted with record highs. Economic Boost Still, even with gasoline selling for less than $2 a gallon in much of the U.S., the economic boost will take time to work its way through a $17.8 trillion economy. Last month, Family Dollar Chief Executive Officer Howard Levine said lower gas prices "are very much a positive for our customer" but acknowledged the impact is "hard to see yet." Having lived through so many false dawns, some Americans aren't exactly spending with abandon. Evan Lee, a 42-year-old lab manager from Queens, New York, is going out more but most of the $20 or so savings per tank is going right in the bank. "I'm afraid it's gonna go back up soon," he said. "This is too good to be true, right?" Typically, it takes 12 months before shoppers start spending their gas savings at stores, according to Goldman Sachs. That means retailers should start to get a real boost in July, a year after gas prices started falling.Vegas Visits At the moment, many Americans are using the savings to fill up more often and drive further. In November, Americans drove 241 billion miles, the most for that month since 2007, the government said. Auto traffic to Las Vegas rose in the last quarter of 2014, after being down six of the previous nine months, according to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority. The Greenlees of Saratoga, California, have been taking a lot more road trips. Janelle Greenlee makes as many as three 40- mile trips a week to Palo Alto for her daughter's medical appointments. Her husband has a 45-mile commute. Thanks to lower gas prices, the family is saving almost $200 a month and taking more hour-long drives to San Francisco with their three kids to spend the day at the Embarcadero waterfront. "Those day trips are a big deal to us," said Greenlee, 38. "We've been eating ungodly amounts of food and watching our boys ride scooters and skateboards."'Extra Money' On average, Americans save a paltry 5 or 6 percent of their incomes so about 95 cents of every dollar of gasoline savings will be spent, according to Michael Gapen, chief U.S. economist at Barclays Plc. Restaurants and retail stores will benefit most, he said in an interview. Monica Gamble, 23, of Oakland, California, is a case in point. A waitress who is working toward a degree in health sciences, Gamble recently hit the local Walmart, where she spent some of her gas savings on additional school supplies, including notebooks and a graphing calculator. "The extra money comes in handy," she said. Much of the impact of lower gasoline prices is psychological, largely because they're posted in two-foot numerals at gas stations across the country. It's much like the so-called wealth effect, except that in this case it's not high earners feeling richer amid a bull market. It's middle-class Americans feeling better about their prospects because low gas prices are providing a tailwind to an already improving economy. It wasn't simply the $40-per-month in gasoline savings that prompted Melanie Gold, 46, to buy a United Airlines ticket to visit a friend in New Mexico she hasn't seen in 18 years. "I can't say I've been setting 10 bucks aside each week," said Gold, who commutes to her editor job in New York from Bangor, Pennsylvania. "But that's my justification for making the trip. Gas prices are very visible." That can cut both ways. In Houston, low gas prices are a reminder that the U.S. oil boom has hit a wall because a worldwide glut has made fracking less economical. Cordell Marshall, who has toiled in the industry for 30 years, is getting less work these days. "It's bittersweet," said Marshall, who has worked for producers including ConocoPhillips. "I'd rather pay higher gasoline prices and be able to earn money to make ends meet." Some Americans wonder how long it will be before gas prices reverse course and are spending the windfall now while the getting is good. Raymond and Valerie Frost, a 20-something couple from Oakland, are spending most of the $80 a month in gasoline savings on clothes for their three kids or eating out. "We have to enjoy it before gas prices go back up," Raymond Frost said. "This isn't going to last." | 3 | 5,871 | finance |
Novak Djokovic is now 3,800 points clear atop the ATP world rankings following his Australian Open triumph. The Serb is in clear water well ahead of second-placed Roger Federer who lost ground with a third round exit in Melbourne. Big movers in the top 10 were Andy Murray whose run into the Australian Open final saw him move up two places to fourth with Milos Raonic also climbing two spots to sixth. They both moved past Stan Wawrinka, who failed to defend his title in Australia and dropped five places to ninth. AFP | 1 | 5,872 | sports |
"There's no hiding the fact that there are two populations, the haves and the have-nots," said Sanjay Rawal, talking about his provocative documentary "Food Chains ." Rawal's film sheds light on those who eat food and those who produce it, and the disparity between what laborers contribute and their often meager living conditions. The documentary has earned rave reviews for its illuminating take on the food industry. Matt Pais of the Chicago news site RedEye called it "an educational and upsetting 81 minutes." Film Journal International recommended it for "every American who unquestioningly lifts fork to mouth for their three squares a day." Rawal is unique in the insight he brings to his subject. For a decade, he ran a tomato genetics company with his father and sold seeds to Florida growers. It's from this background his family's tomatoes are sold at Trader Joe's and Whole Foods Market that Rawal draws his story of food, migration and inequality. Spotlight on farm laborers "Food Chains" begins in southern Florida, where local tomato pickers formed a human rights organization in 1993. They named their group the Coalition of Immokalee Workers after the town where they live. Like many farm laborers, the workers were paid by the number of pounds they picked, and Rawal gives a front-row seat to their plea for better working conditions and livable wages. According to a 2008 report by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, workers who were paid by the piece were twice as likely to live below the poverty line as their salaried counterparts. Although "Food Chains" is grounded in the CIW's fight against mega-grocer Publix, Rawal packs in stunning footage of farm fields across the country, juxtaposing it with the hardship many laborers endure. In one guilt-checking scene, Rawal takes his cameras to America's wine capital, Northern California's posh Napa Valley. Away from images of quaint vineyards and luxurious resorts, he presents farmworkers struggling to put a roof over their heads. The shortage of affordable housing, Rawal said, forces some to cram up to 20 people in a small house. DeVon Nolen, manager of the West Broadway Farmers Market in Minneapolis, took her children to a "Food Chains" screening at the Film Society of Minneapolis/St. Paul , which has a history of promoting cross-cultural filmmaking. Nolen works on an urban agriculture initiative called the Homegrown Minneapolis Food Council. "It struck me how disconnected we are from our food source," she said post-screening. "The only way you can really solve this is to have a local sustainable food system ." Although today's consumers appear more concerned than ever with locally produced, pesticide-free and humanely raised foods, Rawal said there's one question that doesn't get asked enough: "Who produces my food?" The group Bread for the World Institute has one answer. It reports that seven out of 10 U.S. farmworkers are foreign born, and roughly half don't have documents. Migrant workers around the world It's not uncommon for a country's food production to be supplied by migrant workers. Southern European countries draw millions of farm laborers from North Africa and Eastern Europe. What's different in the United States is that whereas Spain, Italy, Portugal and Greece have carried out a combined 15 or more legalization programs since 1985, the U.S. has yet to grant legal protection for many of its most valuable yet underappreciated workers. A recent poll by the Southern Poverty Law Center found that 90 percent of female farmworkers in California cited sexual harassment as a major problem. Rawal noted that few challenge their unfair conditions for fear of getting deported. Such is the food workers' paradox. The food system depends on them, but they're beleaguered by being foreign born. "Our immigration policy is to keep our labor costs low," said lawyer Michele Garnett McKenzie, advocacy director at the Advocates for Human Rights in Minneapolis. In 2011, the CIW launched its Fair Food Program , a plan to double worker wages by instituting penny-per-pound increases on produce. This would cost the average family of four an additional 44 cents a year. Taco Bell, Burger King, McDonald's, Trader Joe's and Walmart all signed the contract (Publix has yet to join). The little guys are chiming in too. Lisa Kivirist boasts that her bed and breakfast, Inn Serendipity in Browntown, Wisconsin, is "carbon negative," meaning more carbon dioxide is sequestered than emitted. She is a big fan of the Fair Food Program described in "Food Chains ." "It brings authentic transparency and needed justice to our food system." Kivirist and her husband, John Ivanko, grow most of the food they serve to guests in their garden. Anything not produced on their property is bought from small-scale local producers or fair trade sources, which designate funds to social, economic and environmental development projects with an emphasis on fair worker wages. In order to be considered fair trade, a company must register with a certifying organization like Fair Trade USA or Fairtrade International. The challenge for those like McKenzie, Nolen and Kivirist is to bring others into the movement. For his part, Rawal urged support of companies that signed on to the Fair Food Program. He also tries to buy local and fair trade foods, and avoids grocery stores whenever possible. Despite being a farm kid, Rawal never realized until doing his film how much sacrifice goes into his food. "I'm more grateful for my food," he said. "That's the first step, as wishy-washy as it seems." Click here to view the video on YouTube . The documentary "Food Chains," which premiered in November 2014, is now available on iTunes and Netflix. Main photo: Farmworkers weed spinach by hand in San Luis Obispo, California. Credit: iStock/NNehring Ben Bartenstein reported this story for Round Earth Media out of St. Paul, Minnesota. He is active in the Asian American Journalists Association and is now reporting out of Rabat, Morocco. | 0 | 5,873 | foodanddrink |
Paying taxes is getting much harder. In addition to collecting revenue, the IRS helps Americans to navigate our complicated tax code. Up until recent years, the agency ran a robust customer service program, which combined telephone operators, walk-in centers and filing assistance. Increasingly draconian budget cuts over the past five years, however, have starved the IRS of resources and begun dismantling this support system. For taxpayers this means much less help when they need it, even at the same time as Obamacare requirements are adding a layer of complexity to tax filings. According to Patrick Sheehan, an Illinois tax attorney and former IRS agent, this is going to be a big problem. And it's not going to be a problem for government, corporate taxpayers or the wealthy. This is a problem that will hit home for the average taxpayer just trying to do his best. "We all dislike the IRS to some degree," Sheehan said. "Some people more than others of course, but honestly the IRS is a necessary evil in today's voluntary tax compliance system. You can look at the IRS like a policeman. The policeman makes sure that everyone pays their liabilities and obeys the law, and drops the hammer on them when they break it." When you leave the agency without enough money to do its job, he explained, "you handcuff the policeman." That's exactly what's happened as Congress has slashed the IRS's budget again and again over the past several years, totaling $1.2 billion in cuts since 2010. The motives, Sheehan said, are largely political. Republicans in Congress are trying "punish" the IRS for recent scandals such as allegations that it targeted Tea Party groups seeking tax exempt status. Others have theorized that opponents of Obamacare are trying to starve the agency into dismantling the law's enforcement mechanism. Regardless of motives, the result has been a 30% reduction in staff, fewer audits and dramatically cut public services. Today the IRS refuses to answer any but the most basic questions on tax law. The agency has also discontinued all help for off-season requests leaving, for example, anyone who has to file quarterly estimated taxes (a relatively complicated process) on his own. Hundred of thousands of people call the agency looking for help during tax season , according to Sheehan, and many of them are going to go underserved. "Right now, the taxpayer advocate is estimating that only half of those calls will be answered," he said. "The other half won't be answered at all." The upshot is that all of the money that Congress saved by gutting the IRS will come back out of taxpayers' pockets. Citizens left to their own devices will have to either hire professional help or run the risk of getting their taxes wrong. Accountants can cost hundreds of dollars to hire, but making a mistake with your income tax triggers interest, fees and penalties that can add up even faster. Read More: Owe the IRS? That's No Reason to Lose Sleep Mistakes will compound under this system, since hiring an accountant is generally more expensive than the refund is worth. Some people will get caught and penalized. Many won't. What about arguing that you reached out for help but couldn't get any? Turns out that's just not something the government is interested in. "Ultimately it falls up on the taxpayer to file an accurate tax return," Sheehan said. "If the taxpayer doesn't file an accurate return then certainly the taxes and the interest on the taxes is going to be their responsibility." An IRS agent or judge might be willing to waive penalties in the face of a good faith error, but even that's not guaranteed. And if a letter goes unopened because the understaffed IRS office simply couldn't get to it in time? Once again, this becomes the taxpayer's problem. Fees, interest and penalties will all collect while that envelope sits on a shelf. In the face of all of this, sooner or later some people will inevitably give up. Demanding that citizens keep up with increasingly byzantine tax laws while offering no support whatsoever will seem unreasonable. An overwhelmed agency won't be able to keep track of everyone who has and hasn't paid, and tax evaders will increasingly begin to slip through the cracks. Law abiding citizens will look sideways at their neighbor who no longer pays taxes and feel like fools for doing so themselves. It's a domino effect that Sheehan describes as the worst case scenario, and one that's not necessarily all that far away. "Collapsed is a really good word," he said, "because if you can't get work done with the IRS, what's going to happen is people are going to stop filing their tax returns." Without the "police officer" to monitor our voluntary compliance system, America could approach this breaking point where more and more people start opting out of the system. Even law-abiding citizens will eventually stop paying if they feel like chumps, and it only needs to start with a few frustrated taxpayers throwing up their hands after the second hour on hold for a simple question about the 1040. "I think it's going to be significant numbers," Sheehan said. "What drives people to file old tax returns is a letter from the IRS. That's what drives people, because they have an innate fear of the IRS . If those letters stop coming because the IRS is simply understaffed and overwhelmed, that guy's not going to file." Something needs to change to ensure accountability. "The IRS is doing the best that it can right now under really terrible circumstances, but at some point there's going to be so much momentum behind the people that stop filing their returns or people who stop paying their taxes, at some point there's going to be so much momentum that it will be hard to undo," Sheehan said. | 3 | 5,874 | finance |
Waking up groggy and unprepared does not make for a happy morning. Incorporate these bedtime rituals into your evening routine, and you'll immediately reap the positive benefits. Sip different : While a glass of wine or another boozy nightcap can make for a nice night, it is not supporting your goals for the next day. Stick with these better-for-you before-bed drinks that won't mess with your energy or sleep. Snack right : Certain snacking can support a healthy night's sleep. Opt for something light (around 150 calories) like these calm-inducing snacks . Pick up, pack up : Spend 10 minutes tidying up your home and packing up your work and gym bags for the following day. This way, you wake up to a clean, Zen space, and you'll have more time to linger over your coffee and breakfast. Write it down : Instead of trying to run down a long mental list (and inevitably forget something), write down what you need to do the following day - especially the things you tend to forget. Since I've adopted this habit, I'm much calmer in the morning and have not left my apartment without grabbing my lunch first. Turn it off : Keeping your electronics on all night is affecting your sleep patterns , which can zap your energy the following morning. Say goodbye to Netflix binges in bed, and unwind with a book or magazine instead. Get to bed : Listen to your body when it's tired! It's imperative to make sure you're getting at least seven hours of sleep every night, so you wake up feeling fabulous and ready to take on whatever tomorrow might bring. | 4 | 5,875 | lifestyle |
In never before seen footage a grizzly proves smarter than the average bear by stealing an electrified deer carcass from scientists.The bear made light work of an experiment aimed at deterring the animals from hunter's kills. Wildlife biologist Heather Reich, 39, and her husband, photographer, Derek, 55, have studied bears in Montana, USA, for more than a decade. The couple wired a dead deer up to a fence charger designed to shock bears coming too close to human areas. But the persistent animal showed his capacity for problems solving by disconnecting the battery and making off with the prize. Videographer / Director: Derek Reich Producer: Nick Johnson Editor: Ian Phillips | 8 | 5,876 | video |
There's countless advice out there on how to eat healthy, but this is often hard to do when false information about nutritious foods has become so commonplace. We're unknowingly spoon-fed food falsities on a daily basis most of which usually contain a kernel of truth, but leave out significant details that are important to keep in mind for our health. We've listened to these age-old food fables for years, but now it's time to get it straight. The next time you hear the following nutrition nuances, make sure you can separate these six food facts from fiction: "Carbohydrates make you fat." Carbohydrates are the primary and preferred fuel source for your muscles and brain. There is nothing inherently fattening about carbs. But eating more of any kind of food than your body needs will lead to weight gain. Instead, load up on the "good carbs," such as whole grains, fruit and veggies, and avoid sugary and refined carbs such as white bread, doughnuts and pasta in order to prevent disease and ensure you're getting a healthy amount of vital nutrients and fiber. "Multigrain is rich in whole grains." Multigrain and whole grain aren't interchangeable terms. Multigrain means that a food contains more than one type of grain, whereas whole-grain foods contain all parts of the grain kernel, including the bran, germ and endosperm. Sometimes, whole grains aren't even one of the grains included in multigrain foods. When choosing between the two, whole grain is the healthier option, containing the most nutrients, fiber and other plant compounds found naturally in the grain. "Eggs are bad for your heart." While eggs do contain cholesterol (about 200 milligrams per yolk), they also contain many beneficial nutrients such as protein, iron, phosphorus, zinc and vitamin B12 and D. Cholesterol is an important nutrient in the body. In fact, cholesterol is a requirement for growth and hormone production and is contained in every cell membrane. Additionally, the cholesterol you eat has little impact on how much cholesterol is in your blood. The liver produces cholesterol, and when you eat more of it, your body produces less. In contrast, when you eat less cholesterol, your body produces more. Most people can eat one egg per day without having any health issues. It's usually the foods that accompany eggs that are the problem the sausage, bacon, pancakes and syrup. "Oranges have the most vitamin C." When it comes to vitamins, it's important to know which foods pack the most punch. Despite their reputation of being loaded with vitamin C, oranges actually provide less than many other common fruits and veggies. For instance, a cup of chopped red bell pepper contains almost three times more vitamin C than an orange, and just a half cup of chili peppers contains 107.8 milligrams of the vitamin, compared to the 69.7 mg contained in a medium orange. These foods not only provide the amount of C you need, but they're also a good source of other helpful vitamins. Capsaicin, the ingredient that makes red bell peppers hot, can help reduce joint or muscle pain, and red bell peppers are loaded with vitamin A, which promotes eye health. You can also get your fill of vitamin C by eating broccoli, kale, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, guava, papaya, strawberries or kiwi. "It burns more calories to chew celery than to take it in." Many think that eating celery can cause weight loss, since celery only contains about six calories, and the process of digesting food burns energy. While this sounds good in theory, the truth is that the calories you need for digestion won't ever be more than the number of calories any type of food contains. However, this non-starchy, low-calorie veggie just like cucumbers or iceberg lettuce can help you lose weight, as its fiber and water content will keep you feeling fuller for longer. So keep munching on these veggies when you hit the salad bar. "Microwaving food reduces its key nutrients." If you do it right, cooking food in the microwave is actually one of the best ways to retain your food's vitamins and minerals. Microwave cooking often uses less water and allows for a shorter cook time; therefore, it can help minimize nutrient loss. But the longer a food cooks and the higher the temperature, the more it'll lose certain heat and water-soluble nutrients such as vitamin B and C. It's the heat and cook time that affects nutrient losses, not the cooking method itself. Knowing the difference between food fiction and fact will help you stay in line with your health and your diet. However, despite what you may hear, the best course for fighting disease and staying healthy is a well-balanced diet, adequate sleep and regular exercise. Remembering these facts can help you get there. Lauren Popeck is a registered and licensed dietitian at Orlando Health. She pioneered a new field as an outpatient dietitian for the hospital and currently specializes in internal medicine. With more than 14 years worth of diverse nutrition experience, Lauren is passionate about helping others understand and incorporate nutrition into their lives. Copyright 2015 U.S. News & World Report | 7 | 5,877 | health |
Football's world governing body FIFA announced on Monday that three candidates are bidding to unseat controversial long-time president Sepp Blatter. Asian Football Confederation vice-president Prince Ali bin Al Hussein of Jordan, former Portugal international Luis Figo and Dutch football chief Michael van Praag will go head-to-head with the 78-year-old Swiss. Two others who had been considering making bids -- former France international forward David Ginola and ex-FIFA executive official Jerome Champagne -- both failed to get the necessary backing from five national associations. A FIFA statement said that the candidature dossiers would next go before the investigatory chamber of an independent ethics committee to carry out integrity checks on the four men within ten days. "Upon receipt of the results of the integrity checks, the (FIFA) Ad-hoc Electoral Committee will reconvene in order to review all of the submissions and validate their compliance with the applicable FIFA regulatory provisions. "Following this process, the Ad-hoc Electoral Committee will formally admit and declare the candidates who are eligible for the office of FIFA President." After that the FIFA executive committee will meet in Zurich on May 29 and decide if Blatter will get a fifth term as president or bring in a new man. The Swiss bureaucrat is seen as an outstanding favourite to win a new term despite a storm of protest over the way he runs the organisation. | 1 | 5,878 | sports |
The Obama administration set a bold goal this week to change the way the government pays Medicare doctors. It hopes that by 2018, more than half of all payments will be tied to the quality of care doctors provide. Currently, the majority of traditional Medicare payments are based on the traditional fee-for-service model, where doctors are paid for every surgery, physical exam and CT scan they perform, regardless of patients' outcomes. But alternative payment methods are gaining traction in the health community based on the quality of care, doctors' performances, patient outcomes, readmission rates and patient experience to determine how much providers should be paid. This new model could work for doctors who are salaried by hospitals like the prestigious Cleveland Clinic, but for the vast number of doctors in private practice, the prospect of being second-guessed on the treatment they provide and their outcomes raises a red flag. For years, lawmakers, industry leaders and health policy wonks have agreed that the U.S. health care system should eventually ditch the current fee-for-service payment model and move toward alternative payment models tied to the quality of care. They say the current model incentivizes health providers to administer more services than are sometimes necessary, which has contributed to the ballooning costs of health care. Last year, Medicare's budget for fee-for-service payments was a whopping $362 billion. Doctors, of course, want to know how one decides "the quality of care" short of negligence, and who will make those decisions. The greatest fear some patients have is that big city doctors especially top surgeons and specialists will drop out of Medicare altogether, which has already started to happen . Steven Brill, author of America's Bitter Pill: Money, Politics, Back-Room Deals, and the Fight to Fix Our Broken Healthcare System , said, "It would certainly be more likely that doctors would agree to a regime like this if there was tort reform, if doctors wouldn't suffer the consequences of being sued for using the kind of cost-effective procedures that the new Medicare payment reform proposes." Many policy makers and health providers have pushed for ways to emphasize the quality of care over the quantity. The Affordable Care Act included several provisions that set up such alternative payment plans, including Accountable Care Organizations, Patient-Centered Medical Homes, bundled payments and other pay-for-performance programs. Currently 20 percent of traditional payments go through these programs. Now the administration's plan is to expand participation in these payment models by 2016, they expect 30 percent, then 50 percent by 2018. So, what will that mean for the patient? In theory, better care at a lower cost, though there is limited information about how successful some of the pilot initiatives have been, including Accountable Care Organizations or ACOs. While the shift away from fee-for-service would significantly transform the payment model, experts say the patients' experience really won't change all that much. "There are no specific patient-care requirements that are different from regular fee-for-service Medicare. It is difficult to say if or how a move away from fee-for-service will change care for patients," Kaiser Family Foundation's Cristina Boccuti said. The real change will be with how care is coordinated. Accountable Care Organizations Take ACOs, for example, which are just one of a handful of alternative payment programs. Under this setup, primary care physicians, hospitals and specialty doctors form networks to care for a population of patients. The entire network is then responsible for the cost and care of these patients. If it performs well on a number of metrics including patient outcomes, readmission rates, patient experience, etc., providers are rewarded with bonuses. If a patient's primary care physician joins an ACO, that patient now belongs to that network of doctors. The patient can seek care outside of that network, but it's unlikely Medicare will pay for that service. The whole idea is intended to make it easier to coordinate treatment. It's set up like a team, where the doctors can easily share patients' information with each other and stay updated on a patient's progress. "The theory is that because multiple providers within a given ACO share accountability for a given patient's care, coordination of services between the providers will improve," Boccuti said. Ellen Pryga, director for policy at the American Hospital Association explains why this model is more beneficial than the traditional payment model. "Fee for service medicine has inherent inefficiencies repeated tests, inefficiency transfer medicine when you're in a coordinated care setting, they're able to avoid those things," said Ellen Pryga, director for policy at the American Hospital Association. "When you have an integrated group of providers that are coordinating your care, you basically have a team, so it reduces some of the hassle factor of having lots of different clinicians involved." Still, some are concerned that ACO's are the new version of the reviled HMO's of the 80's and 90's. The healthcare teams earn bonuses by saving Medicare money as much as 50 percent of what they save. Two top doctors from the City University of NY School of Public Health who support Medicare reform David U. Himmelstein and Steffie Woolhandler wrote a blistering essay against Affordable Care Organizations in The Journal of General Internal Medicine in early January. In it, they accuse ACOs of being a new version of the reviled HMOs of the 70s and 80s: Their assessment was Physicians were pressured to withhold care, and to hide that pressure from patients; bonuses of up to $150,000 annually were offered to doctors who minimized specialty referrals, inpatient care, etc. Our protest of those incentives, and a contract provision forbidding their disclosure (a 55 "gag clause") led to "delisting." Award-winning physicians who often attract unprofitably sick 57 patients were also delisted. An academic leader admonished physicians: "[We can] no longer tolerate having complex and expensive-to-treat patients encouraged to transfer to our group." In the end, Americans concluded that fee-for-NON-service was even worse than fee-for service. Harvard's health economist David Cutler and others argue that HMO's were insurers who dictated to doctors the kind of care they could provide regardless of patients' needs. They claim that because ACO's are providers that good care will be mandated and that will be evident in the doctor and hospital evaluation outcomes. The Cost Curve Keeps Rising The abuses of overcharging for every service, every pill, every box of Kleenex for hospital patients is well documented by Brill and others who have found non-profit hospitals to be some of the most profitable "businesses" in the country. Although most industry leaders are on board with some kind of reform, many are treading cautiously until more details are released especially with regard to the incentives they will receive for participating, and if they will be enough to offset any potential financial risks. Another concern is how quality should be measured, as some have expressed frustration with the current way the pay-for-performance and accountable care models measure quality. The administration is still hammering out the details on how it plans to encourage providers to participate in these programs. So far, there is limited evidence to suggest the programs are yielding sufficient results and savings. Of course, that's partly because they're new; more time will yield greater information. "We look forward to learning more from HHS on how these new goals will be phased in," president of the American Hospital Association, Rick Pollack, said in a statement. "At the same time, we encourage the administration to fully evaluate and improve on the delivery system reforms currently in place to ensure that we are learning from the pilot and demonstration projects to best meet patient needs." Pilot Programs Disappoint So far, gathering intel on how well the pilot programs are doing has been tricky, and though the information is limited, what is available isn't all that great. For example, in December, the Health and Human Services Department reported to Congress that it didn't have results to determine if the bundled payment programs had saved Medicare money or affected the quality of care. What's more, only 220 of the 6,690 organizations approved to participate in the program actually went forward with the new payment model. Meanwhile, results for ACOs have been mixed. The quality measures have improved, but savings results are mixed. As Avalere Health noted , the ACOs' results demonstrate savings to Medicare and minimal savings to individual organizations or providers. Overall, Medicare saved $417 million through the first 220 accountable care contracts in its first year. "Make no mistake: the results to date on the performance of APMs (alternative payment methods) do not support the administration's enthusiasm," John O' Shea, visiting fellow at the Center for Health Policy Studies at the Heritage Foundation, wrote in a blog post. "Granted, fee-for-service may have its flaws, but before blindly pushing Medicare doctors and other medical professionals out of fee-for-service and over the cliff, the Obama administration should be sure they have a safe place to land." Still, experts caution it's too early to evaluate the programs. So now the big question is, will providers flock to the programs like the administration hopes? Or, will it be difficult to reach the 50 percent target by 2018? "Providers will embrace these payment approaches more readily if they believe the approaches are fair," Kaiser's Boccuti said, adding that industry leaders are at the table with the administration discussing how best to meet the goal. "If the providers share at least a small part of the risks and the benefits of proving better care with lower spending, then targets can be met." The administration's plan to shift away from single payer is meant to go beyond Medicare. During Monday's announcement, HHS Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell said the goals are meant to drive transformative change. As Peter Orszag notes in Bloomberg View, "Medicare, the gorilla of health care, is the place to send that message; it's large enough to set norms throughout the sector." | 3 | 5,879 | finance |
(Bloomberg) -- Coca-Cola Co. shares are outperforming Coca- Cola Enterprises Inc. as investors bet earnings will accelerate more for the soft-drink maker than for its international bottler this year. Coca-Cola, the world's largest beverage company, has climbed almost 11 percent since Feb. 21, 2014, and Coca-Cola Enterprises has fallen 11 percent, as the stock-price ratio for these Atlanta-based companies is rising from the lowest level since 1989 -- see chart. This ratio has increased in five of the past six months, as Coca-Cola closed at $41.17 on Jan. 30 and Coca-Cola Enterprises was at $42.10. Investors now favor the beverage maker because its earnings growth could outpace that of its third-largest worldwide bottler, particularly if Coca-Cola can improve profitability by "streamlining its operation," said Bonnie Herzog, an analyst at Wells Fargo Securities in New York. - Coca-Cola has an "increased sense of urgency to reaccelerate growth," she said, evidenced by a productivity program the company reconfirmed in October, which targets $3 billion in annualized savings by 2019 and should partly offset weaker sales from "shifting consumer preferences and currency headwinds." - It also plans to refranchise two-thirds of its North American bottling business by 2017, which will cut its operating expenses by an estimated $2 billion, bolstering future results, she said, citing information from the company. Meanwhile, Coca-Cola Enterprises faces "tougher comparisons" in the current fiscal year after cost-cutting helped boost its profitability in 2014, Herzog said. The consensus of analysts' estimates for last year is an increase of 13 percent, compared with a 2 percent decline for the soda- maker. Coca-Cola Enterprises handles about 8 percent of Coca- Cola's global volume and operates in Belgium, France, Great Britain, Luxembourg, Monaco, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden, according to the company's website. Coca-Cola is scheduled to report fiscal fourth-quarter results Feb. 10, followed by Coca-Cola Enterprises on Feb. 12. The implied one-day stock-price move after the announcements was 2.3 percent for the beverage company and 2.4 percent for the bottler on Jan. 30. This pair trade -- with investors buying Coca-Cola and shorting Coca-Cola Enterprises -- is rising after more than a year of declines, largely because of the timing of the companies' expense-reduction plans, according to Timothy Ghriskey, chief investment officer at Solaris Asset Management LLC in New York, who helps manage about $1.5 billion in assets. By reducing costs sooner than the soda maker, Coca-Cola Enterprises has delivered "solid" earnings growth, even as industry sales stalled. Coca-Cola's management has "woken up" recently and still has "more levers to pull" to spur its own earnings growth, which is contributing to the stock's relative strength, Ghriskey said. Part of the company's strategic plan is to spend some of its savings on increased marketing, which could help offset the decline in sales, he added. Sales fell an estimated 2 percent last year from the previous year. A downtrend in place for this pair trade since July 2012 broke -- see chart -- in August, said Jim Stellakis, founder and director of research at Technical Alpha Inc. in Greenwich, Connecticut. The ratio could "steadily rise further," similar to 2005-2007 -- see chart -- as investors increasingly shift money out of Coca-Cola Enterprises and into Coca-Cola, he said. While investors already are familiar with Coca-Cola Enterprises' cost-saving efforts, there's another possible catalyst for the stock: buying Coca-Cola's German bottling assets. Amid the soda-maker's plan to expedite refranchising, such a deal may happen this year and would be "very accretive" to the bottler's profitability, Herzog said. This acquisition would be well-received by investors, unless Coca-Cola Enterprises pays too high a price, thereby diminishing the potential benefit to earnings, Ghriskey said. Both companies continue to face weak industry sales and slower earnings, partly because of the stronger dollar, which prompted Herzog in late October to cut her profit estimates. She now projects Coca-Cola's 2015 earnings at $2.04 a share, down from her prior estimate of $2.15. Similarly, she reduced her forecast for Coca-Cola Enterprise to $3 a share from $3.22. Coca-Cola is relatively late to the "productivity party," though it's the only outperform recommendation Herzog maintains. While 2015 could be a transitional year for the company, its strategic initiatives should better align revenue with costs, making its earnings "more reliable," she said. "A lot of the changes Coke is making are very much welcomed by investors." --With assistance from William Maloney in New York. To contact the reporters on this story: Anna-Louise Jackson in New York at [email protected]; Anthony Feld in New York at [email protected] To contact the editors responsible for this story: Anthony Feld at [email protected] Melinda Grenier, Gail DeGeorge | 5 | 5,880 | news |
As Ukrainian troops fought Monday to defend a strategic railway hub, Russian-backed separatists pledged to boost the size of their force and Washington pondered whether to expand its assistance to Ukraine to include lethal aid. President Barack Obama has so far opposed sending lethal assistance, but an upsurge in fighting in eastern Ukraine has spurred the White House to take a fresh look at supplying Ukraine with such aid, a senior administration official said. Since the unrest in eastern Ukraine surged anew in early January, the separatists have made notable strides in clawing territory away from the government in Kiev. Their main offensive is now directed at Debaltseve a government-held railway junction once populated by 25,000 people that lies between the rebel-held cities of Luhansk and Donetsk. Almost 2,000 residents have fled in the last few days alone. Rebel forces have mounted multiple assaults on government positions in Debaltseve but all were repelled, a spokesman for Ukrainian military operations in the east, Andriy Lysenko, said Monday. "The units that have arrived in support of our troops in Debaltseve are counterattacking and denying the enemy the opportunity to complete the encirclement," he said. Separatist fighters burst through Ukrainian lines last week in the village of Vuhlehirsk on the road west of Debaltseve, getting access to a ridge overlooking the highway running north from the town. On Monday, Associated Press reporters saw Ukrainian tanks shooting from open fields at the tree line on that ridge. Minutes later, the tanks rolled back onto the highway, leaving a heavy trail of mud in their wake, and taking up new field positions a few hundred meters (yards) away. In a coordinated defensive maneuver, Ukrainian forces fired barrages from Grad multiple-rocket launchers toward the same area. Despite the government's insistence that it intends to retain control of Debaltseve, rows of trenches near a bridge 15 kilometers (9 miles) to the north suggested a backup plan in case the town falls. Elsewhere, the rebel stronghold of Donetsk came under heavy, sustained shelling once again. City authorities said Monday 15 civilians had been killed over the weekend in the fighting, while Ukraine authorities said five soldiers had been killed and 29 wounded overall in the east in the past day alone. Meanwhile, the leader of the separatists in Donetsk, Alexander Zakharchenko, said new mobilization plans aim to swell the ranks of rebels to 100,000 fighters. It's not clear how many fighters the rebels have now or how many able-bodied men are still available in rebel areas. Zakharchenko didn't say where he aimed to find apparently tens of thousands of troops. Russia has acknowledged that some of its citizens are fighting among the rebels as volunteers, but rejects the Ukrainian and Western charge that it's backing the insurgency with troops and weapons. Western experts say, however, that the sheer amount of heavy weapons under rebel control shows extensive help from Moscow. "While we still have time before the spring, new detachments will be able to receive military training," Zakharchenko said. "We expect mobilization to yield at least five additional brigades five motorized brigades, one artillery brigade and a tank brigade." Zakharchenko blamed Ukraine for the collapse of the latest round of peace talks in the Belarusian capital Minsk over the weekend and argued that the rebel offensive was the only way to protect residential areas from Ukrainian shelling. "Force is the only way to protect our cities, villages and streets from the shelling," Zakharchenko said. The U.S. official said Obama is reconsidering sending lethal assistance to Ukraine, but continues to have concerns about the effectiveness of that step and the risks of a proxy war between the U.S. and Russia. The official, who insisted on anonymity because he wasn't authorized to discuss the matter publicly, said Obama is specifically concerned about the besieged Ukrainian military's capacity for using high-powered, American-supplied weaponry. The president has also argued that no amount of arming the Ukrainians would put them on par with Russia's military prowess. The U.S. so far has limited its supplies to the Ukrainian military to non-lethal aid, such as gas masks and radar technology to detect incoming fire. Speaking in Moscow, Konstantin Kosachev, the head of foreign affairs committee in the Russian parliament's upper house, warned Washington that supplies of lethal weapons to Ukraine would lead to "further escalation of the conflict," the Interfax news agency reported. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who was on a trip to Beijing for a meeting with his Chinese and Indian counterparts, accused the United States of encouraging Kiev to crush the rebellion by force. In Budapest, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said her country will not provide weapons to Ukraine and supports negotiations and a diplomatic solution to the conflict. "It is my firm belief that this conflict cannot be solved militarily," Merkel said Monday. She said she prefers economic sanctions by the European Union and negotiations to "solve or at least mitigate the conflict." The conflict in eastern Ukraine that erupted after Russia's annexation of Crimea in March has claimed more than 5,100 lives and forced 900,000 to flee since April. | 5 | 5,881 | news |
Gisele Bundchen and Tom Brady's children watching the Super Bowl (cc) Instagram Gisele Bundchen is "so proud" of her husband Tom Brady after he inspired the New England Patriots to win the Super Bowl last night (01.02.15). The Brazilian beauty took to her Instagram account to post a picture of her kissing the quarterback and she wrote a heartfelt message to him from their two children, Benjamin, five, and two-year-old Vivian, after he put in a man-of-the-match performance to beat the Seattle Seahawks 28-24 in Glendale, Arizona. She added the caption: "We are so proud of you daddy!!! Congratulations!!!!#gopats #superbowl #sb49 Estamos muito orgulhosos de você papai! Parabéns!!!! #vaipats (sic)"The 34-year-old star also posted a picture of the couple's two children watching the American football game at the University of Phoenix Stadium while wearing mini replica kits with Brady 12 - their father's surname and number - printed on the back. She wrote: "Lets go daddy!! Let's go Pats !! Vamos papai !! Vamos Pats!! (sic)"Tom was inspirational through the game and after throwing four touchdown passes the 37-year-old star was named MVP (Most Valuable Player) to make it a career hat-trick of the accolades. Gisele supported her husband in the stadium and on her social networking sites throughout the game, posting a number of celebratory messages as the Patriots scored touchdown after touchdown. In a series of tweets, she wrote: "Yeeeeeeeeeeeaah!!!!!!!!!!!!"Let's go, Let's go pats!!!! Touchdown!!!!"Let's go Paaaaaaats!!!!!!!!"Touchdown!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (sic)"Gisele - who was overheard blasting Patriots players after the team's defeat to the New York Giants at the 2012 Super Bowl - wasn't the only big name who took to social media to show her support during the Super Bowl as actor Chris Evans was also delighted with the Patriots' victory. He wrote: "So much to say!! WHAT A GAME!!!!! Thank you to the Patriots organization for giving me more amazing memories than any fan could ever ask for (sic)"The 33-year-old hunk was sitting with fellow actor Chris Pratt during the game and while the 35-year-old star was disappointed that his beloved Seahawks lost, he took the defeat in good grace. He tweeted: "So proud of our @Seahawks What a great game. Cannot wait for next season. Love you with all our hearts. #12s #Psalm126:3 #CheckItOut (sic)"Evans poked fun at Seahawks-supporting Pratt throughout the game and actress Nina Dobrev did the same at the end as she shared a thumbs-up picture of herself standing next to the devastated actor with his thumb down. She captioned the image: "Ya win some and Ya lose some @prattprattpratt (sic)"As well as Pratt, Rihanna was left devastated that the Seahawks lost and she felt particularly upset when they missed a great chance to win the game with just seconds to go when Seattle quarterback Russell Wilson failed to pass to their star man Marshawn Lynch.She wrote: "How do you NOT send it back to my baby daddy Marshawn doe??!! (sic)"Taylor Swift had some fun while watching the game from her bed as she posted a video on Instagram of her cat Olivia catching some feline food and likened her four-legged friend's talents to an NFL star. She added the caption: "Instant replay of that interception" | 6 | 5,882 | entertainment |
The tooth fairy flaked last night, and it's not the first time. My daughter has been waiting patiently for weeks for her loose bottom tooth to come out. For almost 2 weeks she has been wiggling it, testing it, pulling at it in hopes of expediting the process. And finally, it came out while she was in school. She was so excited. She showed it to everyone, taking it out of the zippered silk pouch I gave her to take to school for just such a possibility. She revealed her tooth-less grin for anyone willing to watch and showed people how she could now sip on a straw with her teeth tightly clenched. This was exciting indeed. But the most exciting part was getting ready for the tooth fairy. We talked all evening about optimum location for tooth placement and the tooth fairy's going "rate" for a small front bottom tooth. At bedtime she positioned the whiteness of the teeny tiny chicklet right on top of a pink flower design of her sheet so was easier for the fairy to see and then she went to bed with high hopes. Then I went to bed…exhausted and didn't wake up till 7:30am the next morning when was standing at the foot of my bed with a very displeased pout. "The tooth fairy didn't come." I panicked. "Um…really? She didn't??" "No…(beat…angry stare)…She didn't." "That's so weird honey." I said searching the corners of my dusty mind for a way to fix the problem this stupid fairy had caused me. "I wonder why?" and I vamped "OOoooooh…you know what? I heard that LOTS of kids lost their teeth yesterday. She must have been really backed-up with work. Wow. That's such a shame, but I totally bet she'll come tonight if we try again." She wasn't completely convinced of my reasoning, but she was on board with the revised plan. The next night we tried again. Tiny tooth placed prominantly against the flower pattern. Livi must have checked it 4 times before going to sleep. "Do you think she'll come tonight?" "Yes, honey…for sure. She was just REALLY busy." She seemed satisfied and went to sleep. The next morning I woke up with a small hand tugging at my toe which was ticking out from under my comforter. I was still in the throes of REM sleep, but I still had enough guilt and neuroses inside of me to instantly snap-to and know what exactly what I was about to hear… "Moooooom! She didn't come again!" Livi said holding the teeny, tiny tooth in the middle of her teeny tiny outstretched hand for me to see. She looked like she was on the verge of tears. I couldn't BELIEVE I forgot AGAIN! 2 nights in a row! What kind of mother was I? How do you forget to be the tooth fairy 2 NIGHTS IN A ROW???! How hard was it to remember to take a tooth and put a dollar in it's place before I go to bed??! I was definitely going to be stripped of my fairy wings for this. I felt horrible and so sad for my little girl. I called upon my improvisational skills to come up with ever increasingly more satisfying answer as to how the Tooth fairy might miss two nights in a row. "Maybe the tooth fairy was confused by the bunk beds and didn't know where to look?" or "Maybe the tooth fairy was still too overwhelmed from all of the teeth that fell out over the past day or two…" and my favorite lame excuse "You know what? I think I read on-line that our neighborhood got a new Tooth Fairy because ours was relocated somewhere else. Maybe she's just trying to get used to her new job and catch up." Surprisingly, that excuse seemed acceptable to her. So that night, we placed the tooth even nearer to the edge of the pillow, again set against the bright pink design of one of her flower patterns and we wrote a big note and put it on the wall "Dear Tooth Fairy My tooth is right here!" and we put a big arrow pointing to Livi's head. I kissed her and told her FOR SURE the tooth fairy wouldn't be confused tonight and would get around to taking her tooth. I spent the whole evening working really hard to keep my mind on the fact that I had a job to do. "Don't forget the tooth. Don't forget the tooth…" I thought about it while I was clearing the table "Don't forget the tooth. Don't forget the tooth…"; I thought about it when I was cleaning the kitchen "Don't forget the tooth…"; and I thought about it while I was folding laundry in front of the TV "Don't forget the tooth. Don't forget the tooth, Don't forget the tooth…" When I was about to crawl into bed, I went into my wallet and couldn't find a $1 bill. But I did have a Ten. It was a ridiculous amount for a lower, front tooth, but I decided that the Tooth Fairy had to pay a late fee. A big one. The next morning Livi was at the foot of my bed jumping up and down and waving a $10 bill. "Mommy! The Tooth Fairy came and I got $10!!!!!!" "WOW, Livi! That's GREAT! I breathed a HUGE sigh of relief. I had finally gotten the job done. "And Mom! Feel this!" She grabbed my hand and put my finger in her mouth to test the wiggliness of another loose bottom tooth. This girl's gonna be rich. The post The Tooth Fairy Is An Idiot appeared first on Scary Mommy . | 4 | 5,883 | lifestyle |
In light of the terrible play call that ended last night's Super Bowl, a look at some of the worst corporate calls of all time, with the Squawk on the Street crew. | 3 | 5,884 | finance |
KANSAS CITY, Mo. When 13-year-old Billy Sticklen woke up the morning of Sept. 24, he discovered he couldn't lift his arms above his chest. Within days his paralysis had progressed to the point where he could only move his hands and feet. Now, with intensive physical therapy, he's been making steady progress, moving from a wheelchair to a walker, and just days ago to walking with a cane. Researchers once thought they might have an explanation for why this Joplin, Mo., boy and more than 100 other children from across the country have developed this poliolike paralysis since August. But as they collect more evidence, the cause has become less and less certain. "In fact, it's a medical mystery," said Mary Anne Jackson, chief of infectious diseases at Children's Mercy Hospital. Jackson and other doctors at Children's Mercy were among the first in the nation to recognize that a virus called enterovirus D68, or EV-D68, once considered rare, was causing an outbreak of often severe respiratory illnesses among children last summer. Since August, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has counted more than 1,100 confirmed EV-D68 cases nationwide, almost all among children, many who had a history of asthma. It's possible that millions of kids with milder symptoms also became ill. "It was the largest outbreak of its type ever reported in the world," Jackson said. About the same time that EV-D68 was sweeping the nation, poliolike cases started appearing among children, first in Colorado and then in 33 other states. Researchers suspected a link between EV-D68 and the paralysis because there were initial signs that some of the paralyzed children had been exposed to the virus. EV-D68 is a distant cousin of the polio virus. But as researchers have sifted through the evidence, they haven't been able to establish that connection. "Today, there is no association" between EV-D68 and the paralysis, Jackson said. "We just don't have any evidence that these two things go together." Jackson wouldn't say that EV-D68 has been ruled out entirely as a cause, but research into these paralysis cases has broadened considerably. Billy Sticklen's case suggests just how easy it might be to look at EV-D68 as a suspect. Over Labor Day weekend, he and two of his older siblings came down with respiratory illnesses. About two weeks later, he began experiencing headaches, fever and neck pain. His doctor diagnosed viral meningitis. When paralysis set in, Billy was taken by ambulance to Children's Mercy, where he stayed until Christmas Eve. As it turned out, Billy never had EV-D68. Neither did the two other paralysis cases that Children's Mercy has treated. Of the more than 300 confirmed EV-D68 cases at Children's Mercy, none ever developed paralysis or other neurologic symptoms. A CDC report earlier this month on the paralysis cases across the country said that some of the patients have tested positive for EV-D68, but others have tested positive for a variety of other respiratory and cold viruses. And among patients whose spinal fluid has been tested, none showed signs of EV-D68. "The specific causes of this illness are still under investigation, and causal relationship to EV-D68 has not yet been substantiated," the CDC said. Billy Sticklen isn't concerned that his illness remains a mystery. On the contrary. "I think it's kind of cool," he said on a recent evening before getting into the Children's Mercy physical rehabilitation pool for a swimming workout. "No parents want their kids to be a statistic, but I think it's cool. It's going to make a great story." His mother, Dawn Sticklen, has seen her son's optimism and confidence grow as his condition continues to improve. "That put our mind at ease, as well," she said. Although only one of the children who've suffered the paralysis nationwide has made a full recovery, about two-thirds of the children so far have seen improvement in their condition, according to the CDC. Jackson and other Children's Mercy researchers are continuing to examine the mysteries of EV-D68 and the poliolike illnesses. The hospital is collaborating with the CDC to look at blood serum from nearly 500 toddlers, children, teens and adults obtained in 2012, before the EV D-68 outbreak, to look for antibodies to the virus. This may show whether EV-D68 was circulating to any large extent before the outbreak. Children's Mercy doctors also are going back over several years of brain and spinal cord scans to look for evidence of the kind of neurological damage the paralysis causes. That damage can be hard to detect unless a doctor is looking for it specifically. "The suspicion that I have is that there are going to be a number of viruses implicated" in the paralysis cases, Jackson said. Jackson said research triggered by EV-D68 and the paralysis cases could eventually lead to better ways to diagnose viral infections and to new drugs or vaccines. "This is just the beginning of the story," she said. | 5 | 5,885 | news |
Turns out Madden NFL 15 is a pretty good predictor of the Super Bowl. Every year for over a decade, EA Sports has simulated the big game and this year they got not only the winner right, but also the final score and some big plays. Madden also accurately predicted that New England would be behind 24-14 in the third quarter and win the game on a touchdown pass caught by wide receiver Julian Edelman . Additionally, it predicted that Edelman would finish the game with eight catches for 106 yards; in reality, he had nine catch for a total of 109 yards. Watch highlights from the simulation . | 6 | 5,886 | entertainment |
Here's a hard dose of reality: If you're married to your job, it will inevitably drive you crazy. Yes, even if you're head over heels in love with it. We know this allllll too well, which is why we're always in search of ways to de-stress. The catch? We have no time to spend in a whole hour-long yoga class, which stresses us out more , which is why we're here with the modern woman's super-quick anxiety detox: 1. Trick your nervous system. "When we're stressed out, our stomach muscles contract, creating tension in the abdominal area and throughout the body," explains Irina Kushnir, an aromatherapy expert and health coach. "Chamomile and Ginger are soothing to the digestive system and grounding to emotions. Lavender, aka nerve tonic, is calming to the nervous system."1. Stash Organic Lavender Tea, $4.99; drugstore.com.2. Yogi Ginger Tea, $4.95; iherb.com.3. Celestial Seasonings Chamomile Tea, $4.99; soap.com. 2. Try a breathing exercise. Dr. Brian Ghessi, director of the Alive wellness center, recommends the following: Sit upright. Take a few slow, deep breaths, inhaling through your nose, and exhaling through your mouth. Repeat with hands placed atop your chest, making sure your chest expands away from the spine as you inhale, toward it as you exhale. Now place hands on top of rib cage and repeat. Place hands on top of stomach and repeat. For tense areas, release your breath while saying (quietly so your coworkers can't hear you, obviously) "ahhh." 3. Apply sandalwood to your clothing. Jitters before a board meeting or bi-annual review? "Apply two drops of sandalwood to what you're wearing to alleviate pre-presentation stress," advises Robert Tisserand, an expert in aromatherapy and essential oil research. 4. Take a time-out. Tension builds up quickly through the workday, as we all know. Take two or three minutes every hour or two to chat with a coworker or walk around anything that will help you relax and get into a different mindset, even for a moment. 5. Say no. "Women often have trouble setting limits, because they don't like to disappoint people who count on them," explains Priscilla Marotta. Ph.D., author of Power & Wisdom: The New Path for Women . If a task is going to make your blood pressure skyrocket, you should reassess before saying "yes." 6. Stretch at your desk. Considering that most of us spend all day staring at a computer screen, two of the most important areas to target are your neck and back. Tend to them while sitting in your office chair by rolling your shoulders once every hour 3 times back, and 3 times forward. 7. Mix essential oils into your foundation or moisturizer. Whether it's when you're first applying in the morning or for a midday reapplication, add 2-3 drops of oil to your daily skin care products. "A blend of clary sage relaxes face muscles with its antispasmodic therapeutic qualities," explains Kushnir. "Lavender and bergamot both uplift and help balance emotions. Ylang Ylang is also a hormone stabilizer." 1. Clary Sage Oil 2. Aura Cacia Lavender Oil 3. Aramacs Bergamot Oil 4. Jamaican Ylang Ylang Oil | 4 | 5,887 | lifestyle |
While Google and Apple have been getting the lion's share of attention for smartwatches lately, indie darling Pebble has been quietly soldiering on, improving its product and selling watches. In an exclusive interview, CEO Eric Migicovsky revealed that the company shipped its one millionth Pebble on December 31st of last year. That's more than double of what Pebble reported in March , indicating that price cuts and new feature additions later in the year successfully boosted sales figures. Pebble's biggest and most visible competitor so far has been Google's Android Wear , which launched in the middle of 2014 and is found on devices from Motorola, Samsung, LG, Sony, and Asus. Google has yet to reveal how many Android Wear watches have been sold in the six months or so it has been on the market, so it is difficult to determine if the platform is a success or not. Samsung allegedly shipped 800,000 of its Galaxy Gear smartwatches back in 2013, but the company has been mum on more recent figures. According to Migicovsky, Pebble plans to carry its momentum through 2015 with new products and a new software platform that is unlike anything else used on smartwatches to date. While Google and Apple's smartwatches have been focused on app paradigms, similar to smartphones, Pebble's new software will apparently be quite different. "We've found a new framework to use as an interaction model on the watch," boasts Migicovsky, before adding that while apps will continue to exist on Pebble, they won't be the main focus of the platform. "It doesn't look like what we have today, and it doesn't look like what's on your smartphone," added Migicovsky. Following the launch of the Pebble Steel in January, the company used 2014 as an "investment year," increasing its headcount from around 30 to over 100 and bringing aboard some of the webOS TV design team from LG , many of whom have been tasked with building the new software platform. Though Pebble has seen a good amount of success thus far, 2015 will most certainly present challenges for the company, most notably the launch of Apple's Watch in April . Google has been quickly iterating on its Android Wear platform, as well, and its partners are likely to bring second- and third-generation Android Wear smartwatches to market this year. Pebble has had a lot of success garnering support from third-party developers, with activity doubling since September. The company launched a web-based emulator just this month , which lets developers build and test apps without having to install any software on their computers. There are now 6,000 apps and watchfaces on the current platform, and Pebble says it has nearly 25,000 developers contributing worldwide. If Pebble is to continue standing its ground against Apple and Google, it will need all the help from those developers it can get. Migicovsky would not divulge further details on the company's hardware and software plans, telling us that we'll have to wait until later this year to see what the company has up its sleeve. The war for your wrist is just getting started, and 2015 is shaping up to see some intense battles go down. With 1 million sales under its belt and a new platform to ride on, Pebble is gearing up for the fight. | 5 | 5,888 | news |
ATLANTA (AP) Messages of support were being offered Monday as people awaited word on singer Whitney Houston's daughter, who authorities say was found face down and unresponsive in a bathtub over the weekend in a suburban Atlanta townhome. Twenty-one-year-old Bobbi Kristina Brown was taken Saturday to a hospital in the northern Atlanta suburb of Roswell, Georgia, police said. Brown is also the daughter of R&B singer Bobby Brown. Lindsey Harber, a spokeswoman at North Fulton Hospital, where police say Houston's daughter was taken, declined comment. "I can't confirm she's even there," Harber said Sunday. Brown's husband, Nick Gordon, along with a friend, found her in a bathtub Saturday, Roswell police said in a statement. The friend called 911 while Brown's husband performed CPR on her because they did not believe she was breathing nor had a pulse, said Officer Lisa Holland, a Roswell Police Department spokeswoman. Police gave Brown additional care before she was taken to the hospital, Holland said. La Toya Jackson is one of several celebrities who used Twitter to express her support Sunday. "Let's All Send Love Light & Prayers to Bobbi Kristina Brown!" Jackson tweeted. "Wishing Her A Healthy & Speedy Recovery!" Singer-songwriter Missy Elliott said on Twitter that she's also throwing her support behind Brown. "Still Praying 4 Bobbi Kristina," Elliott tweeted in part. The townhome is in a subdivision near a bend in the Chattahoochee River, about 20 miles northeast of downtown Atlanta. Whitney Houston was found dead in a hotel bathtub on Feb. 11, 2012, in Beverly Hills, California. The 48-year-old Houston had struggled for years with cocaine, marijuana and pills, and her behavior had become erratic. Authorities examining Houston's death found a dozen prescription drug bottles in the hotel suite. They concluded Houston accidentally drowned. Heart disease and cocaine use were listed as contributing factors in Houston's death. In September, the late singer's sister-in-law Pat Houston told The Associated Press that Bobbi Kristina Brown was doing well, and that she was proud of her. "Bobbi's a 21-year-old. She's doing good," Pat Houston said. "I always tell the kids not only her but the other nieces and nephews, 'You think you're grown. Just because you're 21, out of the house, you think you're grown,'" she added. "I mean, they make their decisions, they keep moving, you can only advise them and keep it moving, and that's what I do. But she's good. I'm very proud of Krissy." Over her career, Whitney Houston sold more than 50 million records in the United States alone. Her voice, an ideal blend of power, grace and beauty, made classics out of songs such as "Saving All My Love For You," ''I Will Always Love You," ''The Greatest Love of All" and "I'm Every Woman." Her six Grammys were only a fraction of her many awards. | 5 | 5,889 | news |
Remember when florist was just another job? Then Brooklyn flower girl Sarah Ryhanen of Saipua burst onto the scene with romantic, painterly arrangements that turned wedding flowers into an art form and spawned a generation of imitators. Today we visit Saipua's tiny Red Hook studio, open on weekdays by appointment only: Photography via Tacklebox Architecture except where noted. Above: When Ryhanen's business outgrew her first studio, Brooklyn-based Tacklebox Architecture designed a space for Saipua that serves a dual purpose: tiny retail shop and production facility. The studio is open from 12 to 6 pm on weekends and by appointment only on weekdays. Above: Photograph via Refinery 29. After an earlier career as an art gallery curator, Ryhanen founded Saipua in 2006 and started by selling olive oil soap and flowers. As the business has grown, so has her need for the locally grown, seasonal flowers she uses in her naturalistic, unstudied arrangements. Three years ago, Ryhanen and partner Eric Famisan began growing flowers upstate on a 107-acre farm called World's End. Above: In partnership with Brooklyn florist Nicolette Owen, Ryhanen also teaches floral arranging classes at Little Flower School. Coming this month: a six-hour Wedding Bouquet Intensive workshop; the cost is $1,600 per participant. Above: Ryhanen creates arrangements that evoke still life paintings. Describing her work, the blog Refinery 29 said, "Petals are her paint." Above: Saipua's design by Tacklebox was inspired by the idea of "an old dressmaker's sewing box," the architects said. "Life lies not in the wood and brass hinges from which the box is made, rather it is found within the multi-colored jumble of spools of thread and the assortment of pins placed at random in the pincushion. This is an arrangement that could only emerge from use the result of an ongoing act between the dressmaker, the dressmaker's tools, and the thing being made." Above: For Saipua, the "sewing box" is a freestanding box sited within the footprint of a warehouse. Weathered barn siding wraps the walls in two boxy rooms (one nested inside the other) and nooks and shelves display the shop's inventory. Above: The silvery weathered wood is a neutral backdrop for books, soaps and other items. Above: Says Ryhanen: "It's a really good time to be in the market for a florist there are just oodles of amazing, creative (mostly) women who are making gorgeous natural work." Above: The boxy backdrop inspires vignettes. Above: In a second room, production space where Ryhanen arranges flowers. Above: Saipua is at 147 Van Dyke St. in Brooklyn. For hours and information, see Saipua. For more of Sarah Ryhanen's work, see: Wild at Heart: 10 Unruly Autumn Arrangements World's End: Flower Farming with Sarah Ryhanen Perfect Peonies from the Little Flower School More Stories from Gardenista Cinderella Story: A Before and After Hideaway in the Alps Paints and Palettes: A Luxe Line of 84 Exterior Colors 11 Irresistible Garden Sheds and Outbuildings from the Gardenista Gallery | 4 | 5,890 | lifestyle |
Every month has deals and duds when it comes to shopping. What should you buy and avoid this month? | 3 | 5,891 | finance |
Who would have thought that six years after the global financial crisis, most advanced economies would still be swimming in an alphabet soup ZIRP, QE, CE, FG, NDR, and U-FX Int of unconventional monetary policies? No central bank had considered any of these measures (zero interest rate policy, quantitative easing, credit easing, forward guidance, negative deposit rate, and unlimited foreign exchange intervention) before 2008. Today, they have become a staple of policy makers' toolkits. This assortment of 'Austrian' economists, radical monetarists, gold bugs and bitcoin fanatics has repeatedly warned that such a massive increase in global liquidity would lead to hyperinflation, the U.S. dollar's collapse, sky-high gold prices, and the eventual demise of fiat currencies at the hands of digital cryptocurrency counterparts. Indeed, just in the last year and a half, the European Central Bank adopted its own version of FG, then moved to ZIRP, and then embraced CE, before deciding to try NDR. In January, it fully adopted QE. Indeed, by now the Fed, the Bank of England, the Bank of Japan, the ECB, and a variety of smaller advanced economies' central banks, such as the Swiss National Bank, have all relied on such unconventional policies. One result of this global monetary-policy activism has been a rebellion among pseudo-economists and market hacks in recent years. This assortment of "Austrian" economists, radical monetarists, gold bugs, and bitcoin fanatics has repeatedly warned that such a massive increase in global liquidity would lead to hyperinflation, the U.S. dollar's collapse, sky-high gold prices, and the eventual demise of fiat currencies at the hands of digital cryptocurrency counterparts. None of these dire predictions has been borne out by events. Inflation is low and falling in almost all advanced economies; indeed, all advanced-economy central banks are failing to achieve their mandate explicit or implicit of 2% inflation, and some are struggling to avoid deflation. Moreover, the value of the dollar has been soaring against the yen , euro , and most emerging-market currencies. Gold prices since the fall of 2013 have tumbled from $1,900 per ounce to around $1,200. And bitcoin was the world's worst-performing currency in 2014, its value falling by almost 60%. To be sure, most of the doomsayers have barely any knowledge of basic economics. But that has not stopped their views from informing the public debate. So it is worth asking why their predictions have been so spectacularly wrong. The root of their error lies in their confusion of cause and effect. The reason why central banks have increasingly embraced unconventional monetary policies is that the post-2008 recovery has been extremely anemic. Such policies have been needed to counter the deflationary pressures caused by the need for painful deleveraging in the wake of large buildups of public and private debt. In most advanced economies, for example, there is still a very large output gap, with output and demand well below potential; thus, firms have limited pricing power. There is considerable slack in labor markets as well: Too many unemployed workers are chasing too few available jobs, while trade and globalization, together with labor-saving technological innovations, are increasingly squeezing workers' jobs and incomes, placing a further drag on demand. Simply put, we live in a world in which there is too much supply and too little demand. The result is persistent disinflationary, if not deflationary, pressure, despite aggressive monetary easing. Moreover, there is still slack in real-estate markets where booms went bust (the United States, the United Kingdom, Spain, Ireland, Iceland, and Dubai). And bubbles in other markets (for example, China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Canada, Switzerland, France, Sweden, Norway, Australia, New Zealand) pose a new risk, as their collapse would drag down home prices. Commodity markets, too, have become a source of disinflationary pressure. North America's shale-energy revolution has weakened oil and gas prices, while China's slowdown has undermined demand for a broad range of commodities, including iron ore, copper, and other industrial metals, all of which are in greater supply after years of high prices stimulated investments in new capacity. China's slowdown, coming after years of over-investment in real estate and infrastructure, is also causing a global glut of manufactured and industrial goods. With domestic demand in these sectors now contracting sharply, the excess capacity in China's steel and cement sectors to cite just two examples is fueling further deflationary pressure in global industrial markets. Part of the solution for a world with too much supply and too little demand needs to be public investment in infrastructure. Rising income inequality, by redistributing income from those who spend more to those who save more, has exacerbated the demand shortfall. So has the asymmetric adjustment between over-saving creditor economies that face no market pressure to spend more, and over-spending debtor economies that do face market pressure and have been forced to save more. Simply put, we live in a world in which there is too much supply and too little demand. The result is persistent disinflationary, if not deflationary, pressure, despite aggressive monetary easing. The inability of unconventional monetary policies to prevent outright deflation partly reflects the fact that such policies seek to weaken the currency, thereby improving net exports and increasing inflation. This, however, is a zero-sum game that merely exports deflation and recession to other economies. Perhaps more important has been a profound mismatch with fiscal policy. To be effective, monetary stimulus needs to be accompanied by temporary fiscal stimulus, which is now lacking in all major economies. Indeed, the eurozone, the U.K., the U.S., and Japan are all pursuing varying degrees of fiscal austerity and consolidation. Even the International Monetary Fund has correctly pointed out that part of the solution for a world with too much supply and too little demand needs to be public investment in infrastructure, which is lacking or crumbling in most advanced economies and emerging markets (with the exception of China). With long-term interest rates close to zero in most advanced economies (and in some cases even negative), the case for infrastructure spending is indeed compelling. But a variety of political constraints particularly the fact that fiscally strapped economies slash capital spending before cutting public-sector wages, subsidies, and other current spending are holding back the needed infrastructure boom. All of this adds up to a recipe for continued slow growth, secular stagnation, disinflation, and even deflation. That is why, in the absence of appropriate fiscal policies to address insufficient aggregate demand, unconventional monetary policies will remain a central feature of the macroeconomic landscape. Nouriel Roubini, a professor at NYU's Stern School of Business and chairman of Roubini Global Economics, was senior economist for international affairs in the White House's Council of Economic Advisers during the Clinton Administration. He has worked for the International Monetary Fund, the Federal Reserve, and the World Bank. This article has been published with the permission of Project Syndicate An Unconventional Truth. | 3 | 5,892 | finance |
When parents are scrambling to feed hungry toddlers, the lure of convenient, pre-packaged food is strong. Unfortunately, new research finds that many foods marketed to the 1- to 3-year-old set are high in salt and added sugar. In fact, 72 percent of pre-made toddler dinners far exceed the recommend limits on their sodium content, according to the new study published today (Feb. 2) in the journal Pediatrics. Meanwhile, 32 percent of toddler dinners, and most fruit-based and savory snacks, include at least some added sugar , the researchers reported. "Some of the foods had about similar [sugar or salt] content to what we see in adult foods," study co-author Mary Cogswell, a senior scientist in the division for heart disease and stroke prevention at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) told Live Science. "For example, in the category of savory snacks or salty snacks, the average sodium concentration , or amount of sodium per 100 grams, was about the same as you see in plain potato chips." These findings are concerning, Cogswell said, because research shows that kids set their taste preferences early in life. If they become accustomed to the taste of lots of sugar and salt during their toddler years, they may end up with unhealthy diets as adults. Sweet and salty For the study, the researchers collected nutrition data on foods marketed to infants and toddlers from both Atlanta-area grocers (Kroger, Publix, Target, Costco and Walmart) and from the Gladson Nutrition Database, a collection of nutrition information on pre-packaged foods. The researchers excluded infant formulas, milk, yogurt, and fruit and vegetable juices without added sugars. In total, the researchers collected 1,074 products. The good news, Cogswell said, is that foods marketed for infants are mostly low in salt and added sugar. Of the 657 infant products studied, 655 had less than 140 milligrams of salt per serving, which is the level below which the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) labels foods "low sodium." Most infant products likewise avoided added sugar, with the exception of ready-to-serve mixed-grain and fruit products. More than half (52 percent) of those mixes included at least one type of added sugar, and 44 percent derived more than 35 percent of their calories from sugar. For toddlers, the nutrition situation was far worse. Both toddler dinners and snacks were high in salt. The savory snacks studied had an average sodium concentration of 496 mg per 100 grams of food. And surprisingly, Cogswell said, the majority of savory dinners and snacks also included added sugars. These sweeteners appeared in dishes that are not sweet, such as pre-made macaroni and cheese, or pre-packaged chicken and pasta meals. Tips for parents Toddlers can be picky, and sweet-and-salty foods are palatable. But Cogswell recommends persistence in getting kids to eat the healthy stuff. "Research shows that if you offer neutral foods, fruits and vegetables , at least eight times, kids are more likely to develop a taste for those foods," she said. The message, she added, is "keep trying." Parents should also turn an eagle eye toward nutrition labels . Not all pre-packaged foods are created equal. "Among toddler meals, we found a wide variation in the amount of sodium per serving, from about 100 milligrams per serving to about 905 milligrams per serving," Cogswell said. Finding sugar levels can be tricky, as added sugar can show up on labels under various names. Look for corn syrup, dextrose, glucose, fructose, lactose, sucrose, trehalose, juice concentrate, cane, malt, maltose or turbinado. In 74 percent of cases, the researchers found, these added sugars will be among the first four ingredients in the food (and thus, can make up a large portion of the food). Earlier research found that 79 percent of 1- to 3-year-olds exceed daily sodium intake recommendations, Cogswell said. Meanwhile, 23 percent of 2- to 5-year-olds are obese. In an editorial accompanying Cogswell's study, University at Buffalo doctors Susan Baker and Robert Baker drove home the link between packaged foods and lifelong health. "This study shows that toddlers are exposed to foods that have an unnecessarily high content of salt and sugar," the doctors wrote. "This could lead them to develop a desire for these tastes for the rest of their lives." Follow Stephanie Pappas on Twitter and Google+ . Follow us @livescience , Facebook & Google+ . Original article on Live Science | 7 | 5,893 | health |
We know you're familiar with day-to-night styling, but for Valentine's Day, we're looking for the reverse - midnight-to-morning hair. For date night, you want a style that won't take too much time, but still looks sexy enough for him to run his fingers through. Lauren Thompson at Nunzio Saviano Salon worked with us to create the ultimate sexy ponytail. Yes, a ponytail. This is not the style you throw your strands up into on a bad hair day. This look is all about textured waves pulled up into an easy updo, and we've spotted a similar style on sex kittens like Chrissy Teigen and Amber Heard. For your second-day hairstyle (ahem), all you need to pack in your clutch are a few bobby pins. Just swipe the beard comb lying on his bathroom counter, and whip your mane into a messy topknot. Your early-morning Uber escort will be none the wiser . . . Make Waves Give texture to the hair by spritzing strands with Oribe Dry Texturizing Spray ($42). Then curl with a medium-size wand, making sure to always point the point of the wand downward. "I like a tapered wand because it gets the ends a little more curled, and that is the first part that tends to drop," said Thompson. To get that messy texture, run your fingers through the waves while the hair is still warm. The Big Tease Tease the front "Mohawk" section, from hairline to crown, using a fine-tooth comb. Up and Away Loosely pull hair back into a midheight ponytail just under the crown. Then tease the middle of the ponytail for extra volume. Finish the style with Oribe Superfine Hairspray ($33). The Sexy Date-Night Ponytail Want our model's bold red lip for your date? Mehron Cosmetics makeup artist Michela Wariebi used three different products to get the ruby shade. First, she applied the L.I.P. Liner Pencil in Brick ($10) for a longer-lasting pout. Then she topped the shade with Mehron L.I.P. Cream in Big Apple ($8) and Glosstone Pro in Red Kiss ($12). Va-Va-Volume Tease the remnants of your textured ponytail from midshaft to base. This will give your topknot volume and height. The Swirl While holding the base of the ponytail, wrap the ends around in a circular pattern. Then secure with multiple bobby pins at the base. The Messy Morning-After Updo Makeup artist Wareibi used an iridescent loose powder, Mehron Celebré Precious Gem Powder in Citrine ($10), on the highest points of the cheeks as a highlighter. If you've got a similar product at home, pour the product into the cap, so your brush doesn't pick up too many particles. Then remember to tap off any excess. | 4 | 5,894 | lifestyle |
Exxon Mobil reported fourth quarter earnings on Monday morning, beating Wall Street's forecasts, but even the world's largest public energy company couldn't escape the fallout from falling oil prices. Earnings per share came in at $1.56, topping estimates of $1.34. But last year's EPS was $1.91, as profits fell 21% from last year: $8.4 billion down to $6.6 billion. On the revenue side, the company missed estimates with fourth quarter sales at $87.28 billion, whereas Wall Street was looking for $87.58B. While the company was hit by the precipitous drop in oil prices, earnings in its chemicals divisions jumped by $317 million to $1.2 billion. TheStreet's Scott Gamm has details from New York. | 3 | 5,895 | finance |
Chelsea made the biggest splash on a low-key transfer deadline day as the Premier League leaders signed Colombia winger Juan Cuadrado from Fiorentina on Monday. Blues boss Jose Mourinho had been linked with a move for Cuadrado for several weeks and he finally landed his target after making room in his squad by selling Germany winger Andre Schurrle to Bundesliga title challengers Wolfsburg just hours earlier. The 26-year-old, who agreed a four-and-a-half-year contract with the west London club, told Chelsea's website: "I am very happy and thankful for this opportunity I've been given. "This is a great club and honestly it is like a dream to join the Chelsea family and to know that the manager believes in me. I'm happy." Cuadrado, who had been at Fiorentina since 2012 after joining from Udinese, caught the eye with sparkling performances for Colombia at last year's World Cup, where they reached the quarter-finals only to be beaten by hosts Brazil. He is reported to have cost Chelsea an initial fee of £23.3 million ($34.9 million, 30.8 million euros), which could rise to £26.8 million. Cuadrado's move was the most eye-catching deal on a day when most Premier League clubs seemed to be opting out of the usual last-ditch spending spree. Robinho, Fernando Torres, Mesut Ozil and Radamel Falcao are among the players to have completed spectacular deadline-day moves in recent years, but the current transfer period has bucked the trend. The lack of activity was summed up by German centre-back Robert Huth's loan switch from Leicester City to Stoke City standing as the biggest move for several hours. Huth, 30, has fallen out of favour at Stoke after injury problems and he now follows goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer and striker Andrej Kramaric in joining bottom club Leicester during the January transfer window. "I'm not expecting to walk in the team. I have to prove my worth," Huth told Leicester's website. "I have watched enough Leicester games to be happy to come here, certainly the 5-3 win against Manchester United. And they beat Stoke at home, which was an upset for Stoke." - United flop Zaha to Palace - Wilfried Zaha's unsuccessful spell at Manchester United is set to come to an end, with the 22-year-old winger on the verge of rejoining Crystal Palace on a permanent deal after spending the first half of the season on loan at Selhurst Park. Palace had announced the deal on their website but had to remove the story as United believed some finer points of the transfer were yet to be resolved. However, it has been widely reported that the England international will leave United after just four appearances to rejoin the Eagles for an undisclosed fee, signing a five-and-a-half-year contract. United had high hopes for Ivory Coast-born Zaha when former boss Alex Ferguson signed him for an initial £10 million in 2013, but he failed to make an impact at Old Trafford and never started a league game. Brazilian midfielder Anderson's underwhelming seven-and-a-half-year spell with United also appears to be at an end, after team-mate Juan Mata revealed that the 26-year-old is returning to his homeland. "I want to wish good luck to my friend Anderson, who is back to football in his native Brazil. All the best, my friend!" Mata wrote on his blog. British press reports claimed Anderson, who spent time on loan at Fiorentina last season, was in talks over a move to Brazilian club Internacional. Newcastle United full-back Davide Santon rejoined former club Inter Milan on loan for the rest of the season. Santon struggled with injuries for much of his spell at St James' Park, while the emergence of Paul Dummett and Massadio Haidara at left-back pushed him further down the pecking order. Meanwhile, Sunderland's Greek midfielder Charis Mavrias has joined Panathinaikos on loan for the remainder of the season. | 1 | 5,896 | sports |
It's not long until spring break time for the college crowd. From February through March, students around the U.S. will be getting away from campus. An outing with the family may be in the cards, but for many the attraction is partying. Warm-weather getaways are traditional, but some more wintry destinations have their appeal too. Here's a handful of possibilities, both traditional and nontraditional: Panama City Beach, Fla. Families flock to this beach-laden town in Florida's Panhandle in the summer, but it also shows up on many lists when you Google "spring break partying." Twenty-seven miles of white sugar-sand beaches are an obvious attraction for those looking to work on their tans or beef up their volleyball serve. And there are more than 15,000 lodging options, ranging from condos to motels to beach houses. Getting there has gotten much simpler with the opening of Northwest Florida Beaches International Airport, which is served by Southwest, Delta and United Airlines. A highlight for spring breakers is the free Luke Bryan Spring Break Concert March 11 and 12. For the last six years, Bryan, the 2014 Entertainer of the Year in the Country Music Awards, has performed two days in March on the beach at Spinnaker Beach Club. Depending on who's doing the estimating, crowds range from 15,000 per concert to 100,000. Also popular for partying are places such as Harpoon Harry's, Hammerhead Fred's and Sharky's Beachfront Restaurant & Tiki Bar. You can get information on spring break lodging, special events and more in Panama City Beach at pcbeachspringbreak.com. Bahamas Also easy to get to and providing plenty of sun and sand are the Bahamas, just a short plane ride from Miami. Not that we're encouraging over-imbibing, but we are talking about destinations for partying, and the legal drinking age there is 18. Breezes Bahamas bills itself as a "super-inclusive" resort and sits on 1,000 feet of Cable Beach in Nassau. That super-inclusive tag means virtually all food, drink and activities are included in the daily rate, which can be as low as $175 per person double occupancy. Activities include rock climbing, tennis, volleyball, sailing, windsurfing and kayaks. And there's no tipping. Find info on Breezes at breezes.com, or look for deals on other resorts at tinyurl.com/psj24cc. Even if you stay at an all-inclusive, you may want to check out the scene at hot spots such as Senor Frogs or The Daiquiri Shack, both in Nassau. There are also plenty of companies offering "booze cruises" (their term, not ours) that will set you back $70 or so for an outing on the water that includes snorkeling, food, drinks and music. Boozecruisebahamas.com or Bahamas Cruise Excursions (tinyurl.com/a6397wo) are just two of the possibilities. Montreal Snowy and chilly Montreal may be one of the last places you'd think of for a spring break getaway, but its young residents do know how to party. A CNN ranking of the world's top night-life cities, which used criteria like how late and how often people party and the hotness of the locals, placed Montreal at No. 7 ahead of Las Vegas, Buenos Aires and Bangkok. MTL Blog, which keeps track of the entertainment, food and night scene in the city, pointed out in its 10 Reasons Why Montreal Is The Best City For 20-Year-Olds that its drinking age is 18 and it's one of the few cities in Canada where you can buy wine and beer without going to a liquor store. And many of those places are open 24 hours a day. There are also special events such as Igloofest, an outdoor celebration of electronic music, though it runs for four weekends in January and early February, so it might not match up with spring break. Because the city is also home to several major universities, there's a wealth of friendly young Canadians to meet up with at the many night spots. You can read all of MTL Blog's reasons the city is great for the college crowd and also check out where you can find good eats and interesting events at tinyurl.com/n4clqmq. Reykjavik, Iceland This is another colder-weather spot that might not be on your spring break radar but should be. Reykjavik is so popular for partying that some call it the Nightlife Capital of the North. Though it's in Europe, it's only about a five-hour flight from East Coast cities such as Boston and New York. Music's big in Iceland, and the city has many bars, pubs and clubs that serve up live entertainment nightly. During the week most bars must close by 1 a.m., but hours can extend to 3 or later Thursday through the weekend. You have to be 20 to drink there, and they do check IDs. There are also events such as Sonar Reykjavik (tinyurl.com/qj8p2e8), an international music festival taking place in mid-February this year. If you can drag yourself away from the pubs at night, there is the possibility of seeing the northern lights. During the day, if you haven't partied too hard the night before, there are activities in the countryside such as ice climbing, four-wheel-drive tours or snowmobiling. Or you can veg out with a soak in the Blue Lagoon, near the airport. Be aware, though, that Iceland can be pricey. Find info on the city's nightlife at tinyurl.com/pdgjfa4. Aspen/Snowmass, Colo. Colorado ski country makes for a good spring break party spot thanks to the 15th Annual Bud Light Spring Jam, scheduled for three weekends March 13-29. Among the attractions will be ski and snowboard competitions, including the KickAspen Big Air Invitational, featuring night competition at the base of Aspen Mountain. That's just for watching, of course, but there's also the Terrain Park Boot Camp with instruction for neophyte skiers and boarders. And, naturally, there are lots of runs to tackle. On the music scene there'll be the free outdoor CORE Party featuring Umphrey's McGee in downtown Aspen and the free Bud Light HiFi Concert featuring the Dirty Dozen Brass Band. Spring Jam events and lodging/ski packages are listed at tinyurl.com/k8n9wwa. | 2 | 5,897 | travel |
Question: I'm interested in going to Cuba soon but information is not easy to come by and some of it is conflicting. I know I can go, but should I go now or wait? Ruth Kramer Ziony, Los Angeles Answer: When to go depends on who you are as a traveler. The easing of Cuba travel restrictions this month has created a frenzy of interest in going and with it, misunderstandings about what you can and can't do. For instance, new Treasury Department regulations say, "Travelers will now be allowed to use U.S. credit and debit cards in Cuba." Note that the Treasury statement says this "will now be allowed." That's not the same as "You can do this right now." Infrastructure and financial agreements are not yet in place, and "navigating the financial landscape between the USA and Cuba is complicated," said Janet Moore, owner of Distant Horizons in Long Beach, Calif., which has sent groups to Cuba for years. Joe Diaz, co-founder of Afar Media, which also publishes Afar magazine, went to Cuba on Jan. 17, almost immediately after the announcement of the easing of restrictions. "My credit cards did not work," he said. Nor did his debit cards. "We did everything in cash," he said. "We brought a lot of cash." Another issue, Moore noted: "There are two currencies in Cuba for Americans and other visitors. The use of CUCs (Cuban Convertible Pesos) is mandatory for visitors to Cuba. The CUC is supposed to be on par with the dollar but, in practice, anyone changing dollars into CUCs faces a 10 percent penalty levied as a punishment to Americans. ... Then there is a 3 percent currency transaction fee. Bottom line: For $100 you get 87 CUCs." Cuba as a travel destination is, in Diaz's words, "raw." The Cuba of today is for about 5 percent of travelers, he said the most adventurous ones. Going now means you'll see the mostly unspoiled, un-Starbucksed country. Cuba is not unfamiliar with tourists. Winter-weary Europeans and Canadians, among others, have been visiting for years because they are unfettered by U.S. restrictions, but the number of rooms is limited, never mind the quality of those accommodations. Michael Boyd, president of Colorado-based aviation consulting firm Boyd Group International, shared his group's report, "Cuba: What Next?," that detailed some of the opportunities and problems associated with the easing of restrictions. "Yes, there is investment in new resorts and hotels in Cuba," the report said. "But it is carefully controlled. The problem is assuring that there's enough soap for the bathrooms once they are built." Be clear that Cuba isn't Club Carib. You won't have consistent Wi-Fi, if at all. Your cellphone may not work. If you're taking a bike trip in the countryside, you may have to carry your provisions because stores will be scarce as will the commodities. You still will have to fit into one of 12 categories for your visit, the Treasury Department says, although it's unclear how this will be enforced. Among the categories: family travel, religious or educational activities and, most curiously, "support for the Cuban people," which could be almost anything. Enforcement of these categories or stipulations is apparently on the honor system. That always works well. The regulations say you're supposed to be engaging in activities, not just lying on the beach. It's not clear whether there are "no-lying-on-the-beach" police on either the U.S. or Cuban side, but for now, I'd be careful about coming back with a tan. Be careful, too, about coming back with too much booze or too many cigars. You're limited to $100 total for both, and don't think for a minute about reselling either. Although U.S. airlines have expressed interest in serving Cuba, for now you'll probably be on a charter from the U.S. or go through other countries. (Diaz went through Panama.) Again, no magic wand will be waved that changes things overnight. Whether you go to Cuba now or you wait reminds me a bit of when China was opening to tourism in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Travelers who went first got to see a country that was free of the influences that can overwhelm the soul and spirit of a place. But they also encountered inconveniences and inconsistencies that make travel tricky and irritating. And, in the case of Cuba, you are supposed to comply with regulations even though the penalties for not doing so aren't spelled out just like a whole lot of other things. Cuba, Moore said, "is probably one of the hardest countries we work in but we have it down now." If you don't know the ropes or you aren't one of those 5 percent Diaz mentioned, your first trip might best be with a group, just as some of those first-time visitors to China let pros navigate the quirks and the conundrums. Take your travel temperature and then decide whether independent travel right now is just what the doctor ordered. (Have a travel dilemma? Write to [email protected]. We regret we cannot answer every inquiry.) | 2 | 5,898 | travel |
Harry Kane has signed a new five-and-a-half year contract with Tottenham, keeping him at White Hart Lane until 2020. The England Under-21 international has impressed under Mauricio Pochettino, netting his 20th goal of the season against West Brom on Saturday. No Premier League player has found the net more in all competitions since the start of the campaign, with the striker playing a key role in Spurs' run to the League Cup final. Very happy to have signed my new contract at Spurs! Excited for the future ahead! Thank you for all your messages! #COYS Harry Kane (@hkane28) February 2, 2015 Kane's recent form has also seen him tipped for a full international call-up, with the 21-year-old scoring eight goals in Tottenham's last eight league outings. That fine play has seen rumors of a departure to a bigger club intensify, with Real Madrid reportedly keeping tabs on the former Milwall loanee. | 1 | 5,899 | sports |
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