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Oh, did you think that drinking pee was going to be the weirdest beauty treatment we were going to talk about today? [ Family Feud buzzer sound.] Step aside, urine and donkey milk, the latest craze in South Korean skin care is "horse oil." Why Kate, that could be a hair oil meant to give you lustrous pony's-tail-like locks. Well, it's not: After a thoroughly scientific Google search, I've learned that horse oil is horse fat rendered into beauty-product sexiness. It's "known to sterilize and also renowned for its absorbent properties," Alicia Yoon, a Harvard Business School graduate and cofounder of Korean beauty site Peach and Lily, told The Cut. But is it really that strange? Soaps rendered from lard are commonplace; in the late nineteenth century, butchers sold their tallow to soap makers for extra cash, and today the DIY community is still crazy about the stuff. Creams and lotions with lanolin have a fancy-sounding word to hide behind, but they're made with fat rendered from sheep's wool. Beeswax is in lip balms and a slew of other products. And if your lip gloss or lipstick contains the red dye carmine, it's full of crushed up beetle bodies. Bottom line: There are a lot of animal products in beauty products. As natural as it may be, this life-long vegetarian is not quite ready to rub horse oil on her skin. But how about you? Would you give this ingredient a try? | 4 | 6,300 | lifestyle |
AT&T Inc is selling some data centers worth about $2 billion as it continues its streak of asset sales, people familiar with the matter said on Monday. AT&T, the No. 2 U.S wireless provider, has been exploring options to pay down its debt and raise funds for investments in recent months. The company declined to comment. The three sources requested anonymity because the matter is not public. AT&T and its rival Verizon have been selling non-core assets in recent months. Verizon is close to announcing divestitures of wireless towers and wireline markets worth $10 billion, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday. AT&T hired a financial adviser to assist in the sale. Following spectrum investments and pending acquisitions, AT&T's debt ratio may rise in the near term, the company said last week after spending close to half of the total bids in the record-setting $44.9 billion spectrum sale that concluded last week. AT&T emerged the top bidder in the AWS-3 spectrum auction by bagging 251 licenses worth $18.2 billion. The company has also been investing to expand its footprint in Mexico to grow its business, as the U.S. wireless market reaches saturation. It said last month it would buy bankrupt NII Holdings Inc's wireless business in Mexico for $1.875 billion. AT&T also sold its wireline operations in Connecticut to regional telephone operator Frontier Communications for $2 billion in late 2013 to raise cash for network upgrades. In 2013, AT&T completed a $4.85 billion sale of some of its towers to tower operator Crown Castle [CRCST.UL] and preserved its right to lease and operate them for about 28 years. The Wall Street Journal first reported AT&T's plans to sell its data centers on Monday. (Reporting by Liana B. Baker in New York and Malathi Nayak in San Francisco; Editing by Richard Chang) | 3 | 6,301 | finance |
News of a debt settlement proposal between Greece and the European Union eased U.S. investor worries on Monday, putting earnings back in focus. Analysts are particularly interested in consumer firms and small-cap stocks, which are only just beginning to report their fourth-quarter earnings and actually benefit from a stronger U.S. dollar. "Because of the strong dollar, you're seeing a rotation out of the larger S&P constituents into smaller caps (that focus on the U.S. consumer)," said Dan Veru, chief investment officer at Palisade Capital Management. "Consumer-oriented companies are likely to see better earnings results. So far we've only heard from banks and wholesale firms," said Jack Ablin, chief investment officer at BMO Private Bank. UPS (UPS) , health insurance provider Aetna (AET) , oil giant BP and luxury brand LVMH (MC-FR) report before the bell. Chipotle (CMG) and Disney (DIS) report after the bell on Tuesday. Last year's strong healthcare performers Gilead Sciences (GILD) and Edwards Lifesciences (EW) will also post earnings then. Stocks struggled for much of Monday to find a direction, with the Dow moving within a 200-point range. In the last half-hour of trade, stocks surged on Greek news, putting the S&P 500 above 2,000 points in the close and the Dow up nearly 200 points. The jump encouraged most analysts. "I want to make sure momentum stays positive," Ablin said. "If momentum breaks down in the U.S. market, we need to raise cash." That could mean taking some money off the table in order to increase cash holdings to 10 percent from zero percent, he said. "My concern is we are overvalued. The best thing we could see is higher revenue," Ablin said. So far, earnings have largely disappointed, with major firms missing already low estimates as the plunge in oil prices and the strong dollar hurt multinationals' revenues. "Market valuations are stretched," said Bruce Bittles, chief investment strategist at R.W. Baird & Co. "The growth rate of earnings (is) coming down significantly." Perceptions of an improving U.S. economy have also resulted in less-than-expected pessimism in the market, Bittles said. Tuesday's factory orders could further demonstrate the challenges that U.S. companies face from the stronger dollar, Ablin said. The monthly measure of new orders for U.S. factory goods is expected to show a 2 percent decline in December, after a 0.7 percent decline in November, according to analysts polled by Reuters. On Monday, ISM manufacturing figures came in weaker than expected for January. The disappointment sent the Dow Jones Industrial Average briefly down 120 points before the index recovered. Analysts noted that the report indicated slowing, not negative, growth. "The U.S. ISM was pretty good, still positive," said Douglas Cote, chief market strategist at Voya Investment Management. He sees resilience in the U.S. market and is optimistic on long-term earnings trends. "You have to look at the general accommodative stance around the world and low bond yields; you want to be in this market," he said. "You want to be an investor because corporations want to find a way to make money in this environment." | 3 | 6,302 | finance |
LONDON (AP) Europe's top clubs shunned any last-minute scramble for players on the final trading day of the season Monday, with Premier League leader Chelsea making the only major deal by completing formalities to sign Juan Cuadrado. The 26-year-old winger left Fiorentina for around $40 million on a 4 1/2-deal as Chelsea offloaded Andre Schuerrle to German side Wolfsburg. Cuadrado, who starred at the World Cup for Colombia, scored five goals in 17 matches for Fiorentina this season. He joins a Chelsea side competing for titles in the Premier League and Champions League, although the first chance for silverware comes in the March 1 League Cup final against Tottenham. ''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,'' Cuadrado said. It was a busy transfer deadline day at Tottenham which started by tying its breakthrough player of the season to a new contract. The 21-year-old striker Harry Kane signed a deal through 2020 after scoring 20 goals in all competitions this campaign. Benoit Assou-Ekotto's Tottenham career is over after being released from his contract. The defender has not played for the club since May 2013 and spent last season on loan at Queens Park Rangers. Winger Aaron Lennon was sent on loan to Everton until the end of the season after losing his place in the team and starting only three league matches this season. Southampton, which is fourth in the league, added midfielder Filip Djuricic to the squad for the rest of the season on a loan deal from Benfica. And defender Ryan Bertrand's loan move from Chelsea was made permanent. In south London, Crystal Palace signed up two wingers. Wilfried Zaha was already on loan from Manchester United, but has now permanently rejoined the club he left in 2013 on a 5 1/2-year deal. Zaha, who was Alex Ferguson's last signing as Manchester United manager, made only four appearances for the club. South Korea international Lee Chung-Yong joined Palace from Bolton on a contract through 2018. Here is a look at the other key activity on deadline-day in parts of Europe: --- ITALY As Juventus re-signed Alessandro Matri on loan from AC Milan, Sebastian Giovinco was sent on loan to Major League Soccer team Toronto. Monday also saw several other players rejoin former clubs, with Luca Antonelli returning to AC Milan, Marco Borriello signing up for a third spell at Genoa and Davide Santon moving back to Inter Milan on loan from Newcastle. --- FRANCE Marseille, which is locked in a three-way battle for the French title with Lyon and Paris Saint-Germain, strengthened its attacking options by signing winger Lucas Ocampos on loan from Monaco. PSG, whose ambitions are slowed by UEFA Financial Fair Play sanctions, did not invest a single euro on new players in the transfer window after selling midfielder Clement Chantome to Bordeaux for a reported fee of 750,000 euros ($851,000). --- GERMANY Schuerrle's deal to return to the Bundesliga underscores Wolfsburg's ambition to become Bayern Munich's closest challenger in the German league and a permanent contender in the Champions League. Wolfsburg stunned Bayern 4-1 to kick off the second half of the season on Friday to deal the defending champion its first defeat. Schuerrle signed through 2019, Wolfsburg said. Details of the deal were not disclosed, but German media speculated that Wolfsburg paid a club record 30 million euros ($34 million) for Schuerrle. | 1 | 6,303 | sports |
The widow of former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko told an inquiry into his radiation poisoning death in 2006 that her husband had suspected Vladimir Putin of being involved in "criminal conduct". She also said Litvinenko met with Putin when the now Kremlin leader was head of the Russian secret service to expose an alleged plot he had discovered to kill the dissident oligarch Boris Berezovsky. "Sasha (Alexander) said it was not a productive meeting at all and he didn't believe there will be any action," Marina Litvinenko said. Berezovsky, 67, was found dead on the bathroom floor at his home in southern England in 2013 with a ligature around his neck. A former KGB spy, Putin started out in post-Soviet politics as deputy mayor of Saint Petersburg in the early 1990s before going on to head up the FSB agency. "On his position of deputy mayor of St Petersburg, Sasha believed (Putin) was involved in some criminal conduct," she said, without elaborating. She also told the judge-led inquiry that Litvinenko had been working for Britain's MI6 foreign intelligence service at the time of his death, on a monthly retainer of £2,000 (2,600 euros, $3,000). Marina said that her husband was not "employed" as an MI6 agent but did "consult" for both the British and Spanish intelligence services. Asked by Robin Tam, the main lawyer in the inquiry, if he could have revealed the identities of Russian agents in Britain, she replied that she did not know. The inquiry hearings began last week and are expected to last another two months, with a report due to be published by the end of the year. The inquiry's chairman Robert Owen has already said he expects the hearings to reveal "prima facie evidence" of Russian state involvement. Russia has rejected any role in Litvinenko's killing. | 5 | 6,304 | news |
High incomes in these areas often reveal extreme income inequality In his recent State of the Union address, president Barack Obama asked, "will we accept an economy where only a few of us do spectacularly well? Or will we commit ourselves to an economy that generates rising incomes and chances for everyone who makes the effort?" Wealth in the United States is not equally distributed not across states, and not within states. Based on data from the Census Bureau's American Community Survey, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed the richest county in each state. Residents in the richest county in each state tended to earn more than most Americans. While the income gap between the richest and poorest counties was modest in some states, the gap was quite large in a majority of states. Households in Loudoun County, Virginia, for example, earned $122,238 annually, the highest of any county nationwide, and $94,122 more than the median income in Martinsville County, Virginia's poorest area. The nation's poorest counties tend to be either predominantly rural or urban. The wealthiest counties, on the other hand, are often suburban areas, located just outside a major metropolis. The wealthiest counties in New Jersey, New York, Virginia, and West Virginia, for example, are within commuting distance to New York City and Washington, D.C. The high concentrations of businesses in these cities likely provide higher-paying job opportunities. As in most wealthy areas, residents of these counties tended to be well educated. In all but seven of the wealthiest counties in each state the college attainment rates were greater than the national rate of 28.8%. In Los Alamos County, New Mexico, nearly 64% of adults had attained at least a bachelor's degree over the five years through 2013, the highest rate reviewed. Similarly, nearly all of these counties had healthy job markets. Only three of the wealthiest counties in each state had an unemployment rate higher than the national rate of 7.4% in 2013. The high incomes in these areas also often revealed extreme income inequality. Only five of the 50 counties reviewed had median annual incomes that were less than $10,000 greater than the comparable state figures. In addition, household incomes in most of these areas were more than double the comparable income in the states' poorest counties. In eight of the states' wealthiest counties, the median income was more than three times that of the poorest county in the state. To identify the richest county in each state, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed five-year estimated median annual household incomes from 2009 through 2013 from the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey (ACS). Other areas like parishes or boroughs, which the Census treats the same as counties, were also reviewed. In order to be considered, counties had to have a population of at least 10,000 people. Five-year estimated educational attainment, poverty, health coverage and homeownership rates also came from the Census Bureau. Annual unemployment rates are for 2013 and came from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Click ahead for the richest counties in each state. More on 24/7 Wall St.: States Where the Middle Class Is Dying States With the Highest (and Lowest) Gas Taxes The Poorest County in Each State 1. Shelby County, Alabama > County median household income: $68,770 > State median household income: $43,253 > Pct. households in county making $200,000 or more: 6.1% > 2013 county unemployment rate: 4.4% Shelby County households had an annual median income of $68,770 over the five years through 2013, the highest compared to all Alabama counties. While Alabama is home to some of the nation's poorest regions, Shelby residents still tended to have higher incomes than most Americans. A typical Shelby household earned $46,584 more than the median household income in Sumter County, the state's poorest county, one of the larger such gaps compared with other states. 2. Juneau City and Borough, Alaska > County median household income: $81,490 > State median household income: $70,760 > Pct. households in county making $200,000 or more: 6.6% > 2013 county unemployment rate: 4.6% With an annual median household income of nearly $71,000 between 2009 and 2013, Alaska was one of the wealthiest states in the nation. Residents of Juneau City and Borough, the state's wealthiest region, were even better off. A typical household in the area earned $81,490 over that period. As in most of the states' wealthiest counties, Juneau City's unemployment rate of 4.6% in 2013 was relatively low, versus the national rate of 7.4%. 3. Maricopa County, Arizona > County median household income: $53,596 > State median household income: $49,774 > Pct. households in county making $200,000 or more: 4.4% > 2013 county unemployment rate: 6.7% While the annual median household income in Maricopa of $53,596 over the five years through 2013 was the highest in the state, it was also roughly in line with the comparable national figure of $53,046. Nearly 17% of county residents lived in poverty over that time as well, an exceptionally high poverty rate compared to the other richest counties reviewed. Despite the fact that many residents struggle, the county attracted a number of new residents. The population grew by nearly 70,000 people between the middles of 2012 and 2013, however, the largest nominal increase among each state's wealthiest county. Related at 24/7 Wall St.: The poorest county in each state 4. Saline County, Arkansas > County median household income: $55,348 > State median household income: $40,768 > Pct. households in county making $200,000 or more: 1.7% > 2013 county unemployment rate: 6.2% A typical Arkansas household earned $40,768 annually over the five years through 2013, nearly the lowest figure compared with other states. Households in Saline County, the state's wealthiest area, had an annual median income of $55,348 over that period, not especially high relative to most of the states' richest counties. While residents in the wealthiest counties in the vast majority of states were relatively well educated, less than 24% of Saline County residents had at least a bachelor's degree over the five years reviewed. Only a handful of the wealthiest counties had a lower educational attainment rate than the comparable national figure of 28.8%. 5. Santa Clara County, California > County median household income: $91,702 > State median household income: $61,094 > Pct. households in county making $200,000 or more: 16.1% > 2013 county unemployment rate: 6.8% A typical household in Santa Clara County earned nearly $92,000 a year over the five years through 2013, the highest income in the state. Exceptionally wealthy households likely contributed substantially to this figure, as more than 16% of households in the area earned $200,000 or more annually over the five years through 2013, one of the highest such figures nationwide. While the county's poverty rate of 10.2% over that period was higher than in most other states' wealthiest counties, it was considerably lower than the national figure of 15.4%. 6. Douglas County, Colorado > County median household income: $101,591 > State median household income: $58,433 > Pct. households in county making $200,000 or more: 13.2% > 2013 county unemployment rate: 5.4% Douglas County residents are very well educated. Over the five years through 2013, 97.5% had at least a high school diploma, and nearly 56% had at least a bachelor's degree, both among the highest educational attainment rates nationwide. The area's poverty rate of less than 4% was also one of the lowest poverty rates. The county's well educated residents also had high incomes. Douglas County's households had an annual median income of $101,591 over the five years through 2013, one of the highest. Across the state, however, income was not particularly well distributed. Douglas County's median income was nearly $68,000 higher than the state's poorest county's income, one of the largest such gaps. Related at 24/7 Wall St.: The poorest county in each state 7. Fairfield County, Connecticut > County median household income: $82,283 > State median household income: $69,461 > Pct. households in county making $200,000 or more: 17.0% > 2013 county unemployment rate: 7.1% Windham County, the poorest in Connecticut, had an annual median household income of $59,333 over the five years through 2013 the only poorest county in a state to have an income greater than the national figure. On the other hand, Fairfield County, the richest in the state, had an annual median household income of $82,283 over that period, not especially high compared with other states' richest counties. Also unlike many of the other wealthiest counties reviewed, more than 7% of Fairfield County's workforce was unemployed in 2013, one of the higher unemployment rates. The residents' wealth is due in large part to the county's proximity to New York City, where many residents commute to work. 8. New Castle County, Delaware > County median household income: $64,537 > State median household income: $59,878 > Pct. households in county making $200,000 or more: 6.1% > 2013 county unemployment rate: 6.7% The income gap between Delaware's richest and poorest counties was not nearly as great as in many other states. Residents of New Castle County earned $64,537 a year over the five years through 2013, less than $12,000 more than the comparable figure in Sussex County, the state's poorest region. 9. St. Johns County, Florida > County median household income: $64,876 > State median household income: $46,956 > Pct. households in county making $200,000 or more: 8.4% > 2013 county unemployment rate: 5.6% St Johns County had an annual median household income of nearly $65,000 over the five years through 2013, the highest in the state. While incomes were not especially high compared to most of the other states' richest counties, it was roughly double the comparable income in Putnam County, the poorest in Florida. 10. Forsyth County, Georgia > County median household income: $86,569 > State median household income: $49,179 > Pct. households in county making $200,000 or more: 9.8% > 2013 county unemployment rate: 6.0% Nearly 86% of Forsyth County homes were owned by their occupants, one of the highest homeownership rates nationwide. High incomes in the area likely made homeownership more accessible to many residents. Forsyth households had a median annual income of $86,569 over the five years through 2013, the highest in the state, and among the higher incomes nationwide. Also at 24/7 Wall St.: States with the highest and lowest gas taxes 11. Honolulu County, Hawaii > County median household income: $72,764 > State median household income: $67,402 > Pct. households in county making $200,000 or more: 6.6% > 2013 county unemployment rate: 4.3% Hawaii had one of the highest annual median household incomes in the nation over the five years through 2013, at $67,402, which likely helped residents afford the state's exceptionally high cost of living. Honolulu County was the state's wealthiest. A typical household in the county earned $72,764 a year during that time. As for the state as a whole, residents also benefitted from a strong health care system. Less than 6% of Honolulu County residents did not have health insurance over the five years through 2013, less than half the comparable national figure of 14.9%. 12. Blaine County, Idaho > County median household income: $64,042 > State median household income: $46,767 > Pct. households in county making $200,000 or more: 5.5% > 2013 county unemployment rate: 5.6% Residents in the vast majority of the wealthiest counties were far more likely to have health insurance than most Americans. However, more than 18% of Blaine County residents did not have health insurance over the five years through 2013, one of the worst rates nationwide. County residents were still far better off than others in the state, as well as most Americans, however. Only 8.3% lived in poverty over that period, for example, much less than the comparable national figure of 15.4%. 13. Kendall County, Illinois > County median household income: $81,765 > State median household income: $56,797 > Pct. households in county making $200,000 or more: 5.0% > 2013 county unemployment rate: 8.3% Kendall County had an annual median household income of nearly $82,000 over the five years through 2013. Many Kendall County residents likely found higher-paying jobs in nearby Chicago, where numerous businesses and institutions are located. While higher incomes are often the result of good job opportunities, 8.3% of the county's workforce was unemployed in 2013. The county was one of only three wealthiest counties reviewed where the unemployment rate exceeded the national rate of 7.4% that year. Also at 24/7 Wall St .: Cities where crime is soaring 14. Hamilton County, Indiana > County median household income: $82,468 > State median household income: $48,248 > Pct. households in county making $200,000 or more: 10.0% > 2013 county unemployment rate: 5.3% More than 55% of Hamilton County adults had at least a bachelor's degree over the five year period through 2013, and 96.3% had a high school diploma or higher, both among the highest rates nationwide. High educational attainment rates likely helped residents earn the highest incomes in the state. Hamilton households had an annual median income of $82,468 during those years, more than double the comparable income in Fayette, the state's poorest county. 15. Dallas County, Iowa > County median household income: $73,847 > State median household income: $51,843 > Pct. households in county making $200,000 or more: 7.4% > 2013 county unemployment rate: 3.7% A typical household in Iowa's richest county, Dallas, earned $73,847 a year over the five years through 2013, more than $22,000 higher than the comparable figure for the state. This was not an especially large income gap compared to other states. As in most wealthy areas, Dallas residents were well educated. Nearly 44% had at least a bachelor's degree on average over the five years through 2013, and more than 94% had a high school diploma or higher, both among the higher rates in the country. With an unemployment rate of less than 4% residents also had access to a relatively strong job market. 16. Johnson County, Kansas > County median household income: $74,717 > State median household income: $51,332 > Pct. households in county making $200,000 or more: 8.2% > 2013 county unemployment rate: 4.7% Many residents of Johnson County commute to nearby Kansas City, where the concentration of businesses likely offers more employment opportunities and higher wages. The annual median household income in Johnson was nearly $75,000 over the five years through 2013, and less than 5% of the county's workforce was unemployed in 2013, one of the lower unemployment rates nationwide. Also at 24/7 Wall St.: The 10 richest U.S. presidents 17. Oldham County, Kentucky > County median household income: $83,391 > State median household income: $43,036 > Pct. households in county making $200,000 or more: 10.4% > 2013 county unemployment rate: 6.5% Kentucky had an annual median household income of $43,036 over the five years through 2013, one of the lowest incomes compared to other states. Households in Oldham County, the state's richest county, earned far more than that, with an annual median income of $83,391 over that period. In addition, more than one in 10 county households earned at least $200,000 a year, one of the highest rates even among other wealthiest counties. The median income among Oldham households was also roughly four times higher than the comparable figure in McCreary, Kentucky's poorest county one of the largest income gaps reviewed. 18. Ascension Parish, Louisiana > County median household income: $69,070 > State median household income: $44,874 > Pct. households in county making $200,000 or more: 3.5% > 2013 county unemployment rate: 5.3% While Ascension Parish was the wealthiest area in Louisiana, with an annual median household income of nearly $70,000 over the five years through 2013, residents fared worse than most Americans in other measures. For example, less than 25% of residents had at least a bachelor's degree over that period, versus the comparable national rate of nearly 29%. Ascension's poverty rate of 12.3% did not exceed the national figure, but it was still considerably worse than in most of the other states' wealthiest counties. 19. Cumberland County, Maine > County median household income: $57,461 > State median household income: $48,453 > Pct. households in county making $200,000 or more: 5.1% > 2013 county unemployment rate: 5.3% While Cumberland households were the wealthiest in Maine, the annual median income of $57,461 over the five years through 2013 was not especially high compared to the nation. Perhaps as a result, however, income was relatively well distributed in the state. Cumberland households earned less than $21,000 more than the five-year median income in Piscataquis County, the state's poorest area nearly the smallest such income gap nationwide. Related at 24/7 Wall St.: States where the middle class is dying 20. Howard County, Maryland > County median household income: $109,865 > State median household income: $73,538 > Pct. households in county making $200,000 or more: 18.1% > 2013 county unemployment rate: 4.9% Maryland had an annual median income of $73,538 over the five years through 2013, the highest of any state and higher even than the income in many of the richest counties in other states. In Howard County, located just outside Baltimore, residents were exceptionally wealthy. A typical household earned nearly $110,000 annually over that period, $71,418 higher than in the state's poorest county. Howard residents were also very well educated 60% had at least a bachelor's degree, more than twice the comparable national figure. 21. Nantucket County, Massachusetts > County median household income: $85,478 > State median household income: $66,866 > Pct. households in county making $200,000 or more: 8.9% > 2013 county unemployment rate: 5.9% A typical Massachusetts household earned nearly $67,000 annually over the five years through 2013, one of the higher incomes compared to other states. In Nantucket, the state's wealthiest county, the comparable figure was $85,478 over that period. While Nantucket's average poverty rate of 10.4% over that period was lower than the comparable national rate, it was not particularly low compared to other states' wealthiest counties. 22. Livingston County, Michigan > County median household income: $72,359 > State median household income: $48,411 > Pct. households in county making $200,000 or more: 4.8% > 2013 county unemployment rate: 8.1% The high incomes in Livingston County likely helped residents purchase their homes. More than 85% of housing units in the area were owned by their occupants over the five years through 2013, one of the highest homeownership rates nationwide. While Livingston residents tended to be wealthier than most Americans, the unemployment rate of 8.1% in 2013 was higher than the national rate. In addition, across the state, residents were not particularly well-off, as a typical family in Michigan earned $48,411 annually over that period, considerably less than the national median income for that time. Related at 24/7 Wall St.: The poorest county in each state 23. Scott County, Minnesota > County median household income: $86,112 > State median household income: $59,836 > Pct. households in county making $200,000 or more: 8.0% > 2013 county unemployment rate: 4.7% Scott County households had an annual median income of $86,112 over the five years through 2013, the highest in the state and one of the higher figures compared to other states' wealthiest counties. Just 5.5% of county residents lived in poverty on average during the five years, versus the comparable national figure of 15.4%. 24. Madison County, Mississippi > County median household income: $59,904 > State median household income: $39,031 > Pct. households in county making $200,000 or more: 8.5% > 2013 county unemployment rate: 6.3% MIssissippi households had an annual median income of less than $40,000 over the five years through 2013, the lowest of any state. Madison, the state's wealthiest county, was also not especially wealthy compared to the nation, with a median household income of less than $60,000 annually over that period. Still, county residents were less likely than most Americans to live in poverty and the unemployment rate of 6.3% was lower than the national rate of 7.4% in 2013. 25. St. Charles County, Missouri > County median household income: $71,077 > State median household income: $47,380 > Pct. households in county making $200,000 or more: 4.5% > 2013 county unemployment rate: 5.6% More than 80% of housing units in St. Charles County were owned by their occupants over the five years through 2013. This was one of the highest rates even among other states' wealthiest counties, where residents were far more likely to own their own homes than most Americans. The high homeownership rate was largely due to high area incomes. St. Charles had a median household income of more than $71,000 annually over that period. 26. Jefferson County, Montana > County median household income: $60,863 > State median household income: $46,230 > Pct. households in county making $200,000 or more: 4.0% > 2013 county unemployment rate: 5.1% Jefferson County's annual median household income of $60,863 was not especially high compared to the nation as a whole. Nonetheless, its residents were relatively well off. It was very common to own a home in the area, with nearly 86% of housing units occupied by their owners over the five years through 2013. The comparable national figure, by contrast, was less than 65%. In addition, just 7.8% of county residents lived in poverty over that period, roughly half the comparable national figure of 15.4%. Related at 24/7 Wall St.: The poorest county in each state 27. Sarpy County, Nebraska > County median household income: $69,965 > State median household income: $51,672 > Pct. households in county making $200,000 or more: 3.5% > 2013 county unemployment rate: 4.0% A strong job market may have contributed to high incomes in Sarpy County, Nebraska's wealthiest area. The county's unemployment rate was just 4% in 2013, one of the lowest nationwide. As in most of the states' richest counties, residents were also relatively well educated. More than 36% of adults had at least a bachelor's degree over the five years through 2013, considerably higher than the comparable national figure of nearly 29% 28. Elko County, Nevada > County median household income: $70,238 > State median household income: $52,800 > Pct. households in county making $200,000 or more: 4.0% > 2013 county unemployment rate: 5.9% With an annual median income of more than $70,000 over the five years through 2013, Elko County households were relatively wealthy by every standard we considered. While higher incomes are often associated with better educational attainment rates, this was not the case in Elko County. Some 83.2% of adults had completed at least high school, and 16.4% of adults had a bachelor's degree or more over the five years through 2013. Among states' wealthiest counties, both rates were among only a handful to not exceed the comparable national rates. Elko County residents were also less likely than most Americans to have health insurance. 29. Rockingham County, New Hampshire > County median household income: $77,348 > State median household income: $64,916 > Pct. households in county making $200,000 or more: 7.4% > 2013 county unemployment rate: 5.7% New Hampshire households tend to be wealthier than most in the nation. Rockingham County households had an annual median income of $77,348 over the five years through 2013, $12,432 higher than the comparable state figure. This was one of the smaller gaps reviewed. As in many wealthy areas, Rockingham also had a relatively low unemployment rate of just 5.7%. In addition, while 15.4% of Americans lived in poverty over that period, just 5.5% of Rockingham residents did, one of the lowest rates in the nation. Also at 24/7 Wall St.: States where the middle class is dying 30. Hunterdon County, New Jersey > County median household income: $106,143 > State median household income: $71,629 > Pct. households in county making $200,000 or more: 18.5% > 2013 county unemployment rate: 5.9% A typical household in New Jersey earned more than typical households in every state except for Maryland. Hunterdon County was not only the state's wealthiest, but also one of the wealthiest in the nation, with a median annual household income of $106,143 during the five years through 2013, more than double the comparable national figure. Many residents likely took advantage of the higher incomes and job opportunities in New York City, which was within commuting distance to much of the area. However, the county still reported a slight population decrease between the middles of 2012 and 2013, one of only a few counties reviewed where the population declined. 31. Los Alamos County, New Mexico > County median household income: $106,686 > State median household income: $44,927 > Pct. households in county making $200,000 or more: 13.7% > 2013 county unemployment rate: 4.0% Los Alamos County had an exceptionally high median annual household income of $106,686 over the five years through 2013. Yet, income was among the most poorly distributed in New Mexico as a typical household in Los Alamos earned nearly $80,000 more than a typical household in Sierra County, the state's poorest. Los Alamos residents also benefited from relatively low poverty and unemployment rates of 4.4% and 4.0%, respectively. 32. Nassau County, New York > County median household income: $97,690 > State median household income: $58,003 > Pct. households in county making $200,000 or more: 15.9% > 2013 county unemployment rate: 5.9% As is the case with numerous other wealthy counties, high incomes in Nassau can be partly attributed to its proximity to a major metropolis. New York City, where county residents can find higher incomes and job opportunities, is within commuting distance for many in the area. A typical household earned nearly $98,000 annually in Nassau County over the five years through 2013, $63,302 more than the comparable figure in the Bronx, the state's poorest county this was one of the highest such income gaps nationwide. Also at 24/7 Wall St.: The worst states to grow old in 33. Wake County, North Carolina > County median household income: $66,006 > State median household income: $46,334 > Pct. households in county making $200,000 or more: 6.8% > 2013 county unemployment rate: 6.2% During the five years through 2013, Wake County had a median annual household income of $66,006, the highest in the state although not especially high compared to the nation. The higher incomes were due in large part to the area's well-educated workforce. Nearly half of Wake County's adult residents had at least a bachelor's degree between 2009 and the end of 2013, one of the highest rates nationwide. 34. Williams County, North Dakota > County median household income: $76,210 > State median household income: $53,741 > Pct. households in county making $200,000 or more: 7.0% > 2013 county unemployment rate: 0.9% In recent years, residents of Williams County benefited substantially from North Dakota's rapid economic growth. Less than 1% of the county's workforce were unemployed in 2013, among the very lowest rates anywhere in the country. While in most affluent counties with a low unemployment rate the workforce was also well educated, this was not the case in Williams County. Less than one in five adults had at least a bachelor's degree over the five years through 2013 one of the lowest rates reviewed. Yet, households were still quite wealthy. Williams had a median annual household income of more than $76,000. 35. Delaware County, Ohio > County median household income: $89,757 > State median household income: $48,308 > Pct. households in county making $200,000 or more: 11.0% > 2013 county unemployment rate: 5.2% Delaware County had one of the highest median household incomes, especially when compared to the rest of Ohio. The county had a median income of nearly $90,000 over the five years through 2013, nearly $42,000 higher than the comparable state figure of just $48,308. Residents were well educated over that period, which likely helped households earn more. More than 50% of adults in the area had at least a bachelor's degree during the five years through 2013, one of the highest proportions nationwide. Also at 24/7 Wall St.: The best states to grow old in 36. Canadian County, Oklahoma > County median household income: $63,629 > State median household income: $45,339 > Pct. households in county making $200,000 or more: 3.3% > 2013 county unemployment rate: 4.6% Canadian County households had a median annual income of $63,629 over the five years through 2013, the highest in the state, but not especially high compared with the rest of the nation. Just 3.3% of households earned at least $200,000 over that period, the second lowest rate among the states' wealthiest counties. The county also had one of the nation's lowest poverty rates at 7% on average over the five years through 2013. The comparable national figure was more than double that. 37. Clackamas County, Oregon > County median household income: $64,352 > State median household income: $50,229 > Pct. households in county making $200,000 or more: 5.4% > 2013 county unemployment rate: 6.8% A typical household in Clackamas County earned $64,352 annually over the five years through 2013. Residents were not particularly wealthy compared to the wealthiest counties of other states, although they had the highest incomes statewide. As with other wealthy areas, Clackamas is located near a large city. County residents likely commuted to nearby Portland, where the higher concentrations of businesses likely offered more job opportunities. 38. Chester County, Pennsylvania > County median household income: $86,050 > State median household income: $52,548 > Pct. households in county making $200,000 or more: 13.0% > 2013 county unemployment rate: 5.8% Pennsylvania had a median annual household income of $52,548 over the five years through 2013, less than the comparable national figure. The household median income in Chester County, however, was not just the highest in Pennsylvania but also among the highest in the nation. The median annual income of more than $86,050 was well more than double the typical income in the state's poorest county. Many residents likely earned higher incomes due to the county's proximity to nearby Philadelphia, where more employment opportunities were available to people within commuting distance. Also at 24/7 Wall St.: States with the worst taxes for average Americans 39. Washington County, Rhode Island > County median household income: $72,138 > State median household income: $56,361 > Pct. households in county making $200,000 or more: 7.4% > 2013 county unemployment rate: 8.1% With a 2013 unemployment rate of more than 8%, Washington County was one of only three wealthy areas reviewed where the job market was worse than the overall national job market. Residents, however, were still quite wealthy as well as among the most likely to have health insurance. Less than 7% did not have health coverage over the five years through 2013, less than half the comparable national figure. 40. Beaufort County, South Carolina > County median household income: $57,316 > State median household income: $44,779 > Pct. households in county making $200,000 or more: 6.3% > 2013 county unemployment rate: 6.8% With a median annual income of $57,316 over the five years through 2013, Beaufort households were some of the poorest among the states' wealthiest counties. The area's poverty and unemployment rates were still slightly better than the comparable national figures. However, residents had relatively poor health coverage. More than 17% did not have health insurance over the five years through 2013, higher than the national figure. 41. Lincoln County, South Dakota > County median household income: $74,751 > State median household income: $49,495 > Pct. households in county making $200,000 or more: 5.6% > 2013 county unemployment rate: 2.9% In addition to high incomes, Lincoln County residents also benefited from a strong job market and good health coverage. Less than 3% of the area's workforce was unemployed in 2013, and 5% of residents did not have health insurance during the five years through 2013. Both were among the lowest rates nationwide. Also, just 4.5% of residents lived in poverty over that period, less than a third of the comparable national rate. Also at 24/7 Wall St.: Cities where crime is plummeting 42. Williamson County, Tennessee > County median household income: $89,779 > State median household income: $44,298 > Pct. households in county making $200,000 or more: 14.0% > 2013 county unemployment rate: 5.6% Tennessee is among the nation's poorest states. Due to exceptionally uneven income distribution, however, residents of Williamson County were both the richest state residents as well as some of the wealthiest in the nation. A typical household in the county earned nearly $90,000 annually over the five years through 2013, $62,965 more than the comparable income in Grundy County, the state's poorest area. County residents were extremely well educated nearly 53% had at least a bachelor's degree on average over that period, considerably higher than the national rate and among the nation's highest. 43. Rockwall County, Texas > County median household income: $86,119 > State median household income: $51,900 > Pct. households in county making $200,000 or more: 7.7% > 2013 county unemployment rate: 5.8% As in other states' wealthiest counties, high incomes in Rockwall County made it easier for residents to own their homes. Nearly 84% of area housing units were owned by their occupants between 2009 and 2013, considerably higher than the comparable national figure and even higher than most other wealthy counties reviewed. Rockwall incomes also reveal a relatively large income gap among Texas residents. The county had a median annual household income of more than $86,000, versus less than $25,000 in Starr, the state's poorest county. 44. Summit County, Utah > County median household income: $83,336 > State median household income: $58,821 > Pct. households in county making $200,000 or more: 14.4% > 2013 county unemployment rate: 3.9% Nearly 48% of adults in Summit County had at least a bachelor's degree during the five years through 2013, one of the highest rates nationwide. The high educational attainment rate likely helped area residents earn the highest incomes in the state. A typical Summit County household earned $83,336 annually between 2009 and 2013, one of the highest figures in the nation. Also at 24/7 Wall St.: Cities where no one wants to drive 45. Chittenden County, Vermont > County median household income: $63,989 > State median household income: $54,267 > Pct. households in county making $200,000 or more: 5.5% > 2013 county unemployment rate: 3.5% Chittenden County residents were able to access the larger and higher-paying job market in Burlington, Vermont's largest city, which is located in the area. Partly as a result, Chittenden's unemployment rate was just 3.5% in 2013, one of the lowest in the country. A typical household in Chittenden earned nearly $64,000 annually during the five years through 2013, the highest in the state, and just over $22,000 higher than the comparable figure in Orleans, Vermont's poorest area. This was one of the smaller such income gaps reviewed. 46. Loudoun County, Virginia > County median household income: $122,238 > State median household income: $63,907 > Pct. households in county making $200,000 or more: 19.8% > 2013 county unemployment rate: 4.2% With a median annual income of more than $122,000 over the five years through 2013, households located in Loudoun County were the wealthiest in both Virginia and the entire nation. On average, nearly one in five households reported an annual income of at least $200,000 over that period, also the highest proportion reviewed. Access to higher-paying jobs at the nation's capital located nearby likely helped many residents earn high incomes. Income in Virginia, however, was perhaps the most unevenly distributed, as a typical household in Loudoun earned nearly $95,000 more than a typical household in Martinsville City, the state's poorest area. This was the largest such gap considered. 47. King County, Washington > County median household income: $71,811 > State median household income: $59,478 > Pct. households in county making $200,000 or more: 9.1% > 2013 county unemployment rate: 5.2% Relatively high incomes usually provide people with the means to purchase homes and make other large investments. Yet, less than 60% of King County housing units were owned by their occupants. Only a handful of states' wealthiest counties had homeownership rates lower than the comparable national rate of 64.9%. Many county residents are likely employed or living in Seattle, which makes up a large portion of the county. Higher paying jobs were also likely available in the city. Related at 24/7 Wall St.: The poorest county in every state 48. Jefferson County, West Virginia > County median household income: $65,304 > State median household income: $41,043 > Pct. households in county making $200,000 or more: 4.5% > 2013 county unemployment rate: 4.6% Households in West Virginia had an annual median income of just over $41,000 over the five years through 2013, nearly the lowest of all states. Jefferson County residents were among the wealthiest in the state, with households earning $65,304 annually over that period. Residents were not especially well educated compared with those in other states' richest counties. Less than 28% of adults in the area had at least a bachelor's degree between 2009 and 2013, lower than the national figure and one of the lowest reviewed. 49. Waukesha County, Wisconsin > County median household income: $75,850 > State median household income: $52,413 > Pct. households in county making $200,000 or more: 7.6% > 2013 county unemployment rate: 5.9% Relatively high incomes in Waukesha County contributed to residents having one of the nation's best health insurance coverage rates, as well as a relatively low poverty rate. Less than 5% of adults in the area did not have health insurance, and 5.4% of residents lived in poverty over the five years through 2013, both among the lowest rates nationwide. 50. Campbell County, Wyoming > County median household income: $79,488 > State median household income: $57,406 > Pct. households in county making $200,000 or more: 4.4% > 2013 county unemployment rate: 3.9% Households in Campbell County had an annual median income of nearly $80,000 over the five years through 2013, the highest in the state as well as among the higher figures nationwide. However, residents were not especially well educated. Less than 19% of adults had at least a bachelor's degree over that period, one of only a few figures reviewed that did not exceed the comparable national figure of 28.8%. The high incomes in Campbell may be due to the sizable growth rates in recent years of the state's oil industry, which has also likely resulted in an unemployment rate of less than 4%. Related at 24/7 Wall St.: The Poorest County in Each State | 3 | 6,305 | finance |
Starbucks brings coffee consumers many different forms of liquid happiness all year long, from Pumpkin Spice Lattes to every sort of Frappuccino imaginable. But there's a hidden story behind the origins of the iconic Frappuccino that we didn't see coming -- and it involves a household name. Insert Kenny G, renowned jazz player and early investor in Starbucks, who told Bloomberg News on Monday morning that he actually helped Howard Schultz introduce the Frappuccino to the menu. "At the beginning Starbucks didn't have anything but coffee," said Kenny G, who added that another coffee company, Coffee Bean, was selling a "blended" sweet drink that people were raving about. "And I would always call Howard and say, "Howard, there's this thing that they do there and it's like a milkshake, or whatever. I think part of the reason they did [the] Frappuccino was people like me giving them that kind of feedback. So, I'd like to think that I was partially responsible for that." According to a Starbucks fact sheet, it was actually two employees that came up with the Frappuccino in 1993, after figuring out that customers wanted "ice blended drinks." The first Frappuccino officially hit the scene in 1994, after Starbucks tacked on the unique name from a company they acquired in Boston. To clear the air, The Huffington Post reached out to Starbucks for a comment on the matter, and a spokesperson told us: "Kenny has been a dear friend of Starbucks since the beginning of the company and we are very appreciative of everyone, including Kenny, who've been a part of the success of Frappuccino." There you (maybe, kinda) have it, folks! | 0 | 6,306 | foodanddrink |
HARRISON, New Jersey (AP) Australia midfielder Tim Cahill says he is leaving the New York Red Bulls and Major League Soccer after two years to join Chinese club Shanghai Shenhua. The 35-year-old Cahill has a year to run on his contract but has reached an agreement with New York to leave early and become a free agent. The attacking midfielder scored 14 goals during his MLS stay. ''I've enjoyed every moment of my time at the Red Bulls and leave with great memories. I joined with the ambition of helping to grow and positively affect soccer in the U.S. and I feel immensely proud of what we achieved as a team during my time in the MLS,'' he said. Cahill, who has played for Everton and Millwall in the English Premier League, said joining Shanghai would offer him a fresh challenge. ''I've done the Premier League, I've done America,'' he said. ''New York was amazing for me ... (but) China is a growing market in football. I'm at an age where I want to give something back to football and still play at a high level. ''It's all about doing what I want to do as footballer and trying different leagues, and I think it's exciting.'' Cahill signed with New York as a designated player in July 2012, and he played a major role the following season in helping the Red Bulls win the Supporter's Shield, scoring seven of his 11 goals and setting up two others in the final 11 games. | 1 | 6,307 | sports |
Check out who was at the center of the Pats postgame celebration: Kyle Arrington's son. | 1 | 6,308 | sports |
HoloLens was so two weeks ago. Microsoft has just released its newest product, and it's a lock-screen customization app for Android. Microsoft fans wielding Android devices might comprise a narrow market, but with Picturesque, they can modify their Google devices with Bing background images, Bing search, Bing news, and a host of other features giving Android users a taste of what the Windows Phone lock screen is like. But there hasn't been much demand for customization apps overall. Both Yahoo and Facebook have released similar apps customizing the home screen of Android phones with limited success. Mobile users have installed Aviate and Facebook Home somewhere between 1 million and 5 million times apiece, according to Google Play not quite the blockbuster status of Yahoo Weather (10 million to 50 million installations) or Facebook Messenger (500 million to 1 billion installations). Picturesque isn't even Microsoft's first Android customization app. That would be Next Lock Screen. Since its release last fall, that app has only been installed between 100,000 and 500,000 times. Both Picturesque and Next Lock Screen came out of an initiative called Microsoft Garage, which incubates experimental apps from employees. Ultimately, Microsoft will evaluate whether to support, iterate, or incorporate these apps as features into its products, a company spokesperson tells Quartz. Taking a step back, the release of Microsoft apps for other platforms represents the company's desire to "be everywhere" a recognition that it's not enough to be a giant in the PC industry anymore. We've seen this with the immensely successful release of Office apps for iPad. Picturesque is yet another attempt by Microsoft to stay relevant in the mobile world. | 3 | 6,309 | finance |
VOORHEES, N.J. Defenseman Michael Del Zotto hasn't changed much since he came to Philadelphia as a free agent last summer on a one-year deal. He still has the need to prove to everyone that he can be a productive NHL player. The New York Rangers, the team that drafted him in 2008, scratched him eight out of 35 games last season and traded him to Nashville. There, the Predators sat him five times in 30 games. "That's not something you lose or that goes away," Del Zotto said. "I think each day you have something to prove, whether it's to yourself, your teammates or the coaching staff. It's something that doesn't change. It's just a mindset that I have each day." But even as he has emerged as one of the Flyers' most trusted defensemen, he can't help but be wary. He has been scratched 11 times in 51 games this season, including nine in a row, and missed one game with an injury. "Personally, I come into the rink every day with a smile on my face ready to work hard and do whatever it takes," Del Zotto said, "whatever position I'm put in by the coaching staff to help the team win and that's all you can do. There's a lot that goes on that's out of your control. All you can control is how hard you work." The knock against the former first-round pick was his inconsistency, his play without the puck and the risks that he takes when he does have it. He has corrected many of those shortcomings this season. "He's reading the play real well and joining [the rush] at really good times," coach Craig Berube said. "He really creates a lot of good opportunities. I think our D are doing a good job, all of them, at different times." Del Zotto has averaged more than 20 minutes of ice time in each of his last 10 games and has a career-high six-game point streak to show for his recent efforts, including goals in each of his last two games where he picked the top right corner on the opposing goalie. "It's obviously great to contribute and get points," Del Zotto said. "Any way you can help the team win, that's the biggest thing right now. (Saturday) night probably wasn't our best game, but we found a way to win, which is huge. Every night we need to get two points." The 24-year-old doesn't like talking about his individual play in part because he still doesn't feel vindicated for sitting as a free agent until August. That's when the Flyers knew Kimmo Timonen would miss significant time with blood clots in his lungs and right calf and signed Del Zotto to a $1.3 million contract. He's at a point in his still-young career where he doesn't want to look too far into the future. He'd like to return to the Flyers next season, but he and his agent haven't talked about starting that process yet. "This is the closest group of guys I've ever played with," Del Zotto said. "It's a treat to come to the rink and work hard with these guys. It's so much fun being able to battle with them and have them on your side. At the end of the day, it's a business and I'm not looking past tomorrow." Even though the Flyers have young players like Shayne Gostisbehere (21) and Sam Morin (19) knocking on the door to crack next season's roster with four additional defensemen under contract, Berube would enjoy having Del Zotto back. "That's Ron's job," Berube said, referring to Hextall, the general manager. "Management and staff look after all that, but he's a very good kid … coachable. We really like him. We love his ability and his skating, his competitiveness." Dave Isaac writes for the (Cherry Hill, N.J.) Courier-Post PHOTOS: 2014-15 NHL season | 1 | 6,310 | sports |
It's freezing outside, and you're probably spending an unnatural amount of time indoors. Which is exactly why you'll want the right candle to create some much-needed ambience. Steer clear of cloying fir and oversaturated "mandles" (yes, Man Town and Riding Mower are real fragrances) and look instead to one of these new, subtler options. The scents range from cardamom and amber to leather, tobacco, and even Portable Fireplace which smells like the real thing but lights up a whole lot quicker.You Can Wear Floral Fragrances. Here's How. Cardamome, Habanos Leave, Portable Fireplace, Berluti x Cire Trudon From left: Cardamome ($95) by Byredo . Habanos Leaves ($175) by Kilian . Portable Fireplace ($70) by D.S. & Durga . Berluti x Cire Trudon ($261) by Berluti x Cire Trudon . Diptyque Le Redouté Smells Like: A hot toddy (cinnamon, clove, orange) by a roaring fire (cedar). By the time it's half-burnt, it'll look as good as it smells when the candlelight plays against the marbleized holder. $85, diptyqueparis.com Cire Trudon Byron Smells Like: A globe-trotting dandy's suitcase (saffron, vetiver, brandy, and leather). And the candlemakers at Cire Trudon would know they've been making candles for European notables since Marie Antoinette was in Versailles. $95, ciretrudon.com Paddywax Dark and Stormy Smells Like: The kind of drink you sidle up to in inclement weather (rum, lime, and ginger). Once you're finished burning and rinsing the glass, you've got a mid-century modern inspired rocks glass (and a cocktail recipe to boot). $16, paddywax.com Baxter of California Sweet Ash Smells Like: A California canyon hike (cedar, ginger, and orange) with a New Age trail guide (patchouli). $60, baxterofcalifornia.com Fellow Barber Barstow Smells Like: A desert (mesquite, rosemary, sage) and a campfire (pine smoke). It's enclosed in a lumbersexual tin cup you can refill at the nearest fresh spring glade. $60, fellowbarber.com MCMC Noble Smells Like: A secret garden in India (jasmine, vetiver, almond) because not every candle needs to smell like burning wood, and you probably won't enjoy real, live greenery for a few more months. $48, mcmcfragrances.com MiN New York Mudd Club Smells Like: A late '70s nightclub in Tribeca full of underground artists and bands (tobacco, leather, Sharpies, rose). The porcelain vessel decorated with what looks a street-art Rorschach test drives the vibe home. $195, minnewyork.com Byredo 1996 Smells Like: Last season's it fragrance in candle form, the limited-edition release takes you to the bottom of a whiskey glass (minus the alcoholic bit) with amber and honey notes, offset by bright, piney juniper notes. $95, byredo.com Ursa Major Trailside Smells Like: A railroad track in New England (mint, orange, and a spruce note that comes off almost like heady turpentine). $40, ursamajorvt.com Voluspa Black Figue & Chypre Smells Like: Part of Voluspa's "Maison Noir" collection, this recalls a walk in the woods in September (moss, currants, figs and crushed leaves). $27, nordstrom.com Fornasetti Malachite Smells Like: You're standing inside a basilica full of incense (patchouli, amber, frankincense, myrrh). It's packaged in a striated gold, green and black vessel with a handy topper to contain the scent and snuff the candle. $190, barneys.com Maison Francis Kurkdjian Aqua Universalis Smells Like: A freshly laundered shirt assuming you use great detergent (bergamot, light wood, sweet orange). $65, neimanmarcus.com Jo Malone Incense and Embers Smells Like: Another smoky contender, though this option is more like a glass of brandy at twilight (honey, amber, white pepper, fir). $65, jomalone.com Le Feu de L'Eau Le Feu Gris Smells Like: How you'd smell if you just spent an hour raking and burning dried leaves (smokey, musky, manly). $62, lefeudeleau.com Nest Woodland Truffle Smells Like: A rainy day in the forest (soil, wet wood, vetiver) followed by a quick stop at the bakery (vanilla, amber). $34, nestfragrances.com Joya x Katz's Delicatessen Chocolate Egg Cream Smells Like: An egg cream from New York's famous Katz Delicatessen (chocolate syrup, whole milk, vanilla.) Not as good as drinking one. But close. $25, katzsdelicatessen.com | 4 | 6,311 | lifestyle |
It's taken about fifteen years before most people could buy groceries online in a respectable manner that is, in the middle of the night, while wearing pajamas. But these internet supermarkets have moved beyond midnight-clicks and two-day delivery a quickly-growing list of new players in the business are offering same-day groceries, farmers' market-level quality, menu planning, pre-cut produce, and curated experiences that, well, take the shopping out of shopping. Overwhelmed by all the options? Here's a primer. WHEN YOU NEED GROCERIES IN MINUTES DRIZLY Wine, beer and booze delivery in 20-to-40 minutes, directly from a store in your neighborhood. No price markup, no delivery fee...and, as far as we can tell, no downside. Currently available in 12 major US cities. INSTACART Groceries from Whole Foods, Costco, or another affiliated grocery store, selected by you via app or website and collected by a "personal shopper." Instacart controls their own prices and charges for delivery. For $99, you get unlimited one-hour delivery for a year. It's a life-saver. Quickly expanding beyond the 15 major cities they're operating in now. GOOGLE EXPRESS For $10 a month (or $95 a year), Google Express will deliver groceries (or hiking equipment!) from stores such as Costco, Walgreens, Whole Foods and REI. Currently operating in San Francisco Bay Area, West Los Angeles, Manhattan, Chicago, Boston and Washington, DC, with plans for expansion. AMAZON FRESH Free same-day delivery on any order over $50 of groceries, amazon.com products, and anything you might need from affiliated neighborhood merchants and restaurants. Today, groceries are delivered in reusable shopping totes and coolers. Tomorrow, by drone. Currently serving Seattle, New York City, and parts of California, with plans for more in the works. WHEN YOU NEED GROCERIES TOMORROW PEAPOD The OG grocery delivery service, established in 1989, and affiliated with Stop & Shop and Giant supermarkets. Order delivery or arrange to pick up your groceries bagged and ready. Now delivering to the Chicago area, Milwaukee, southeast Wisconsin, Indianapolis, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, southern New Hampshire, New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Virginia, Washington D.C., Philadelphia, and parts of Pennsylvania. FRESH DIRECT High-quality groceries sourced directly from farms and food producers. Fresh Direct also offers ready-to-cook meal kits and "kitchen helpers" such as chopped veggies and homemade stocks. Serves New York City and surrounding counties, most of New Jersey, some of Connecticut, and parts of Pennsylvania and Delaware. WHEN YOU CAN'T MAKE IT TO THE FARMERS' MARKET GOOD EGGS Hyper-curated and hyperlocal farmers' market fare and groceries, ordered online and delivered two days later. Though mostly structured as a standard online grocery, Good Eggs also offers grocery "bundles" (like "Winter Veggies Basics") and seasonal farm shares. Currently operating in Los Angeles, the Bay Area, New Orleans, and Brooklyn. DOOR TO DOOR ORGANICS A weekly box of organic produce, selected based on what's in season and delivered to your doorstep. Choose to receive just fruit, veggies, or a mix, at whatever frequency works best for you. Natural and organic meats, dairy, fish, poultry and pantry items are also available. Operating in parts of New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Colorado, Missouri, Michigan, and Wisconsin. QUINCIPLE An Epicurious staff favorite, this tiny gourmet outfit curates a special box of goodies from local purveyors of meats, cheeses, and produce. Even includes recipe cards, if you're stumped on how to use an ingredient. $49/week. Currently available in New York City. WHEN YOU WANT SOMEONE ELSE TO PLAN YOUR MEALS HELLO FRESH Everything you'll need to make three meals a week, serving two or four people each. Even includes complete nutritional information. Omnivores can choose from five recipe options. Sadly, vegetarians get whatever they're given. Minimum order: $69/week. Available nationwide (and abroad!). BLUE APRON A weekly box of everything you need to make at least three meals for two people, customized based on your dietary preferences and including calorie counts. Recipes are inspired by unique seasonal or hard-to find ingredients and everything comes pre-measured and pre-cut a plus for super-busy cooks. Minimum order: $60/week. Available everywhere except the Midwest. PLATED Meal kits for the adventurous. Choose from nine recipes a week, some of which feature exotic items, and receive a box containing enough of those ingredients to cook each recipe for two, four, or six people. (The minimum order is four servings of one recipe or two servings of two). Calorie counts are included with each meal, and so is an option for dessert. Minimum order: $48/week. Available in 95% of the country. PEACHDISH The Southern option. Choose from four Southern-inspired recipes and receive a box of the (Southern-sourced, naturally) ingredients needed to make them. Minimum order: $50/week. Available nationwide. SCRUMPT A box for the kids, with weekly deliveries of pediatrician- and nutritionist-curated lunch components. A complete lunch kit with perishable ingredients is available in San Francisco for $34/week; a basic lunch kit of non-perishables is available nationwide for $13.50. | 0 | 6,312 | foodanddrink |
If you haven't refinanced your mortgage yet, you could be leaving tens of thousands of dollars on the table. Interest rates have bounced around historical lows for years, yet a surprising number of homeowners who could benefit from a refinancing still haven't taken advantage of the potential cost savings, Ed Conarchy, a mortgage adviser for Cherry Creek Mortgage in Gurnee, Illinois, said in a new Bankrate report issued Monday. The reasons for that may surprise a lot of us: Some people are simply unaware of their current rate or don't have the get-up-and-gumption to refinance, experts say. In 2014, the rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage averaged 4.24 percent. Rates have remained near the bottom, around 3.8 percent so far this year, down from well above 6 percent in 2008. The Mortgage Bankers Association forecasted that rates might increase to a little to over 5 percent by the end of the year. Even if refinancing a mortgage makes sense financially, there's always a portion of the U.S. population that fails to do so, economists from the University of Chicago and Brigham Young University found in a recent working paper for the National Bureau of Economic Research . "In December 2010, approximately 20 percent of households that appeared unconstrained to refinance and were in a position in which refinancing would have been beneficial had failed to do so," according to an NBER working paper called "Failure to Refinance." While refinancing doesn't always make sense for everyone, homeowners can find out pretty easily whether it's the right decision for their situation by doing some quick math. Refinancing a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage of $200,000 from 6.5 percent to 4.5 percent will save more than $80,000 in interest payments over the life of the loan, even after taking into account typical refinancing costs, according to NBER. With long-term mortgage rates at roughly 3.35 percent, this same household would save roughly $130,000 over the life of the loan by refinancing. That's several hundreds of dollars every month: Refinancing a $200,000 30-year loan from 6 percent to 3.8 percent would save $267 a month, according to Bankrate calculations. Refinancing it from 8 percent to 3.8 percent would save $536 a month. Beyond not knowing about the potential savings, many homeowners aren't aware of the interest rates on their loans or the details have gotten away from them in their day-to-day scramble that's one of the reasons they have ignored the current low interest rates. "As consumers, once we get the mortgage, we sweep the rate under the rug and we don't worry about it," Conarchy said. "So we don't look at rebalancing or refinancing opportunities." A Bankrate survey found that only 65 percent of homeowners said they are very confident they know their rate, while more than one third of borrowers (35 percent) are only somewhat confident, not confident or simply say they don't know their rate at all. The NBER working paper mentioned other reasons why people fail to refinance their mortgage despite obvious financial benefits. "There may be information barriers regarding potential benefits and costs of refinancing," the economists wrote, adding that psychological factors, such as procrastination, mistrust and the inability to understand complex decisions may also be barriers to refinancing. Top Reads from The Fiscal Times: The IRS Tax Scam That Can Rob You Blind 8 Things That Will Get Cheaper in 2015 The 10 Most Livable Cities in America | 3 | 6,313 | finance |
A Seattle man kept electing to pay a bridge toll he takes for work later. That bill is finally catching up to him. Patrick Jones (@Patrick_E_Jones) explains. | 8 | 6,314 | video |
NEW YORK (AP) Hall of Famer Frank Robinson is leaving his job as executive vice president for baseball development in the commissioner's office to become a senior adviser to Commissioner Rob Manfred. Robinson also was appointed honorary president of the American League on Monday in place of former Angels owner Jackie Autry. She had held the job since its inception in 2001, after then-Commissioner Bud Selig persuaded owners to eliminate the league offices. The 79-year-old Robinson hit 586 homers from 1956-76, won the American League Triple Crown with Baltimore in 1966 and became the first player to win MVP awards in both leagues, with Cincinnati in 1961 and the Orioles five years later. He became the first African-American manager with Cleveland in 1975 and also managed San Francisco, Baltimore, Montreal and Washington. He was Major League Baseball's vice president of on-field operations (2000-02), a special adviser to the EVP of baseball operations (2007-09), a special assistant to the commissioner (2009-10 and 2011-12) and senior vice president for major league operations from (2010-11). | 1 | 6,315 | sports |
Stocks pirouetted off of technical support on Monday after a harrowing early session slide looked set to continue the carnage from Friday afternoon. The initial decline was driven by a larger-than-expected slowdown in the U.S. ISM Manufacturing Activity report, which fell from 55.5 in December to 53.5 in January also missing the 54.7 mark that experts had predicted. That's the slowest growth in a year, reinforcing fears that troubles in Asia and Europe are hitting home. Data on personal spending in December was also weak. But stocks surged higher into the close after the Dow Jones Industrial Average bounced off of its 200-day moving average, a level that hasn't been tested since October. That gave the bulls the cover they needed to make a move. So they did. In the end, the Dow gained 1.1%, the S&P 500 gained 1.3% as it crossed back over the 2,000 level, and the Nasdaq Composite and the Russell 2000 each gained 0.9%. Also helping was some soothing words from Greece's new government, which suggested it would be open to debt restructuring rather than demanding debt forgiveness. The new anti-bailout/anti-austerity Syriza party in Athens has watched as its saber-rattling rhetoric roiled its stock and bond markets over the past week. This softening stance suggests that Greece and its European creditors could hammer out a deal. Crude oil posted its second consecutive rise, adding 3.4% to close to $50, to provide another point of positivity thanks to indications that the energy sector is finally starting to cut back on production. That helped power energy stocks higher for a sector gain of 3%. Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM) reported quarterly results that were down double digits from a year ago, but earnings per share beat the consensus estimate. Production declined nearly 4% from last year. A lack of downside guidance bolstered sentiment despite the firm cutting its share buybacks from $3 billion in the fourth quarter of 2014 to $1 billion this quarter. Shares gained 2.5%. Tech stocks were a drag as Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG, NASDAQ:GOOGL) and Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) lost 1% and 1.2% respectively. Technically, the situation remains vulnerable as market breadth continues to deteriorate, as shown above. That's a sign that fewer stocks are holding the market back from collapsing below its three-month trading range. In response, I've recommended a new put option position against weakening stocks, such as Best Buy Co Inc (NYSE:BBY) and Facebook, to my Edge Pro subscribers who recently captured a gain of nearly 160% on Walt Disney Co (NYSE:DIS) Feb $94 puts over a three-day holding period. Anthony Mirhaydari is founder of the Edge and Edge Pro investment advisory newsletters. More From InvestorPlace 9 Best Cheap Stocks for 2015 Outlook: A Bull Trap Is About to Be Sprung Why American Funds Are Underperforming The post Stocks Rebound on Support Despite Factory Slowdown appeared first on InvestorPlace . | 3 | 6,316 | finance |
A Seahawks fan tackled a TV after his team lost in the Super Bowl. The guys react to the fan's behavior. | 1 | 6,317 | sports |
NEW ORLEANS Paul Millsap and his Atlanta teammates didn't sound terribly concerned about the end of the Hawks' franchise-record 19-game winning streak. After all, the Hawks' 115-100 loss to surging New Orleans on Monday night in a game marked by Anthony Davis' ferocious play was only Atlanta's third defeat in 36 games. "We've got a lot of season left," Millsap said when asked to put the recent winning streak in perspective. "Nineteen games, that's good. We lost one 19-1 now. So it's just regrouping. ... We can't let one loss turn into two losses." Davis, returning from a left groin strain that sideline him one game, had 29 points and 13 rebounds to help the Pelicans win for the sixth time in seven games. New Orleans' recent run of good form has included victories over other contending squads, such as Dallas and the Los Angeles Clippers, and has pulled the Pelicans (26-22) within a game of Phoenix (28-22) for eighth place in the Western Conference. "We just need to continue to do what we've been doing," Davis said. "The past couple games, we've been rebounding, defending, sharing the ball. We don't care who scores. That's what we have to do." That sounds a lot like the recipe Atlanta has been using to pile up an Eastern Conference-leading 40 victories. "They had us on our heels from the very beginning," Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer said. "They deserve a lot of credit for us not starting well. "Give our guys a lot of credit for a lot of good work over the last month," Budenholzer added. "Tonight wasn't out night. I am very proud of them. We'll get back to work." Jeff Teague scored 21 for Atlanta, but the Hawks fell behind by double digits in the first quarter and trailed the rest of the way, getting within single digits for only a few brief stints. Eric Gordon scored 20 points for New Orleans, while Tyreke Evans scored 15 points and tied a season high with 12 assists for the fourth time in five games. Millsap had 15 points and Kyle Korver 12 for the Hawks, who made only seven of 22 3-point attempts. Omer Asik grabbed 17 rebounds for New Orleans, which outrebounded Atlanta 52-32. Davis grabbed eight of his rebounds on the offensive end, including one on a missed 3 that he corralled with his right hand and slammed home in one roundhouse motion. Ryan Anderson added 15 points for the Pelicans, who outshot Atlanta, 50 percent (43 of 86) to 44.9 percent (40 of 89). Atlanta briefly got as close as seven in the third quarter when DeMarre Carroll, returning from a strained left Achilles that sidelined him two games, hit back-to-back 3s to make it 60-53. But New Orleans kept scoring, and soon after went back up by 12 when Evans banked in a 3 late in the shot clock. Gordon's minutes were limited by foul trouble, but his backup, Jimmer Fredette, responded to additional minutes with 10 points, including a 3 that put the Pelicans up by 17 in the fourth quarter. Soon after, Asik's putback dunk gave New Orleans its largest lead at 101-82 and sent the crowd into a frenzy, sensing there was no way Atlanta could recover during the last 6:03. TIP-INS Hawks: Carroll played 23 minutes and finished with six points in his return. ... Atlanta came in having won 12 straight against Western Conference opponents and 12 straight on the road. ... The Hawks failed to hit 10 3s for only the second time in 16 games. ... Al Horford, who had eight points, shot below 50 percent for the first time in 10 games. Pelicans: Davis had 19 points by halftime, when New Orleans led 55-42. ... Davis has scored at least 20 in 11 straight games. ... The Pelicans improved to 17-6 at home. ... Gordon has had at least 20 points and seven assists in two straight games for the first time in his career. WARNING SIGNS The Hawks had looked a bit shaky in their previous victory over struggling Philadelphia, blowing a 21-point lead before escaping 91-85. In the first half in New Orleans, Atlanta shot 37.8 percent (17 of 45), including 2 of 14 from 3-point range as New Orleans opened a 13-point lead. "We were a little off, but that happens in games. We were due for one, but (New Orleans) just played well," Teague said. UP NEXT Hawks: host the Washington Wizards on Wednesday night. Pelicans: host the Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday night. | 1 | 6,318 | sports |
Cyclones' senior forward Dustin Hogue displays volleyball moves with this swatting block to stop Jayhawks' guard Frank Mason III from turning his steal into two for Kansas. | 1 | 6,319 | sports |
A "breakthrough understanding" to open India's nuclear power sector to U.S. firms reached during President Barack Obama's visit to New Delhi last month could be finalised this year, Indian officials say. The Jan. 25 announcement by Obama and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi followed six weeks of intensive talks, but few details were released beyond a framework based on India's acceptance of the principle that plant operators should bear primary liability in the event of a nuclear disaster. Significant work remains on the fine print of a deal aimed at unlocking projects worth tens of billions of dollars that have been stuck the drawing board for years. India wants to nearly treble its installed nuclear capacity, which would make it the world's second biggest market after China. U.S. officials say details of an insurance scheme to protect suppliers from crippling lawsuits need to be thrashed out and India still has to ratify a U.N. nuclear convention. Indian officials do not rule out completing the process this year. "We are committed to moving ahead on all implementation issues at an early date," said Syed Akbaruddin, chief spokesman at India's Ministry of External Affairs. "There are no policy hurdles left." General Electric and Westinghouse, a unit of Japan's Toshiba, were fully briefed on the meetings of a nuclear "contact group" that hammered out the nuclear compromise in London, say sources with direct knowledge of the talks. Bringing them into the mix was crucial because the prospect of huge lawsuits, like those against Union Carbide [DOWUNB.UL] over the 1984 Bhopal gas disaster, has until now kept U.S. and other foreign firms on the sidelines. India and the United States signed a landmark agreement to cooperate on nuclear power back in 2008. Yet an expected bonanza never materialized because India later passed a law that would expose reactor makers to liability if there was an accident. The liability issue has became a metaphor for the unrealized potential of the bilateral business relationship and a question mark against Modi's "Make in India" mantra. "NOT INCOMPATIBLE" As the days counted down to Obama's visit, Indian officials persuaded their U.S. counterparts that their law was "not incompatible" with international standards that place the burden of liability on the operator, said one senior U.S. official. New Delhi also proposed setting up an insurance pool with a liability cap of 15 billion rupees ($244 million). The state-run Nuclear Power Corporation of India would pay premiums to cover its liability. Suppliers would take out separate insurance against their secondary liability - which could not exceed that of the operator - at a "fraction" of the cost. India must still ratify the International Atomic Energy Agency's Convention on Supplementary Compensation for Nuclear Damage (CSC), which requires signatories to channel liability to the operator and offers access to relief funds. "We would be looking at how quickly we can ratify the CSC - this is part of our assurance to the suppliers, along with the insurance pool," said an Indian member of the contact group, set up by Obama and Modi at a Washington summit last year. The U.S. official said Washington expects the Indians to ratify with the IAEA in the near future, along with documentation "stating what their law intends" on the issue of liability, which should offer further reassurance to U.S. firms. A QUESTION OF DETAIL The U.S. industry would have preferred the issue to be settled by amending the liability law, something considered politically impossible for Modi to achieve at the moment. "We want to see all the detail before we say: 'Yes, it works for us'," Westinghouse President and CEO Daniel Roderick, who joined Obama's delegation, told Reuters. That note of caution, however, masks the extent to which negotiators engaged with the industry to address fears that it could end up on the hook in a disaster on the scale of the 2011 reactor blasts at Tepco's plant in Fukushima, Japan. "For the first time, we had a comprehensive inventory of concerns," said the Indian negotiator. Westinghouse has been granted land in Modi's home state of Gujarat to build six reactors, while GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy is eyeing a similar project in Andhra Pradesh. The liability roadblock has prevented commercial talks from starting on the projects, with a combined capacity of 10,000 megawatts. India has 21 nuclear reactors with an installed capacity of 21,300 MW. It plans to launch construction of 40,000 MW of capacity in the next decade. (Additional reporting by Sanjeev Miglani and Tommy Wilkes in New Delhi, Lewis Krauskopf in New York, Krista Hughes in Washington and Fredrik Dahl in Vienna; Editing by John Chalmers and Alex Richardson) | 5 | 6,320 | news |
CALGARY, Alberta (AP) -- Brandon Bollig and Raphael Diaz scored their first goals of the season to help the Calgary Flames beat the struggling Winnipeg Jets 5-2 on Monday night. Leading by one heading into the third period, the Flames struck on the power play at 4:24, making it 3-1 when Diaz let a rocket go from the blue line that found the top corner. Signed as a free agent in the offseason, Diaz scored his first goal in a Flames uniform. His previous goal came against Calgary on March 28, 2014, with the New York Rangers. Bollig made it 4-1 at 7:23, converting a pass from Joe Colborne for his first goal in 61 games. Bollig was acquired from the Chicago Blackhawks in a trade at last year's NHL draft. David Jones, Mason Raymond and Sean Monahan also scored for Calgary. Winners of seven of their last nine games, the Flames moved into third place in the Pacific Division. Calgary is two points ahead of Vancouver, although the Canucks hold three games in hand. Blake Wheeler and Bryan Little had the goals for Winnipeg, which owns the NHL's best road record (14-8-5). The Jets have come out of the All-Star break and lost four straight in regulation. They are back in action Tuesday in Vancouver. Jonas Hiller made 17 saves to improve his record to 16-14-2. Rookie goalie Michael Hutchinson stopped 23 shots for Winnipeg but fell to 14-7-2. Ondrej Pavelec stopped all four shots he faced in relief. Calgary broke a 1-all tie 2 minutes into the second period on a perfectly placed shot by Raymond. Picking up a loose puck and bursting into the Jets end, Raymond snapped a 20-footer inside the far post. His seventh goal of the season was his first in nine games and just his second since Oct. 19. The goal came right after a missed opportunity for Winnipeg's Mark Scheifele, who went around Diaz and then Dennis Wideman only to miss the net with his backhand. Scheifele is mired in a bad slump, with one goal in his last 20 games. Winnipeg opened the scoring 1:09 into the first period. After cycling the puck in the corner, Little sent a centering pass to Wheeler, who zipped a shot over Hiller's shoulder. The lead was short-lived. Calgary tied it 3 minutes later on a good individual effort from Jones, who bowled his way to the net from off the wing and watched his backhander trickle through Hutchinson's pads. The long breakout pass came from Mark Giordano. Playing in his 500th NHL game, he leads all defensemen in scoring with 43 points (11 goals, 32 assists). NOTES: Sven Baertschi was inserted for Calgary in place of Mikael Backlund (ill). ... Continuing his recovery from shoulder surgery, Flames 2014 first-round pick Sam Bennett practiced with the main group for the first time. He wore a yellow non-contact jersey. ... Calgary placed David Wolf on injured reserve after he cut his leg in his NHL debut Saturday. | 1 | 6,321 | sports |
SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) -- Defensive lapses, a blown late lead and an inability to score in the shootout left the San Jose Sharks wondering why they keep losing to teams at the bottom of the standings. Jordan Eberle had two goals in regulation and Rob Klinkhammer scored in the 13th round of the shootout to help the Edmonton Oilers snap a 15-game losing streak in California by beating the Sharks 5-4 on Monday night. After winning three straight against the past two Stanley Cup winners and the team with the best record in the NHL -- Los Angeles, Chicago and Anaheim -- the Sharks struggled once again against one of the league's bottom dwellers in what has become an all-too-familiar pattern this season. The Sharks are 7-0-2 against the four teams currently in first place in their divisions, but have now lost eight of 13 games against the bottom six teams in the league. "It's tough," forward Logan Couture said. "It's been that way for a while for us. I wish we could explain it. If we all knew the reasons why then it wouldn't happen."Scott Hannan and Matt Tennyson also scored for the Sharks, who had a three-game winning streak snapped to provide a dismal ending to what had been a strong seven-game homestand. Antti Niemi made 36 saves. Justin Schultz tied the game with 2:37 remaining and Derek Roy also scored for the Oilers, who last won in the Golden State on April 1, 2012, when they beat Anaheim 2-1. Edmonton had since lost five games each in San Jose, Los Angeles and Anaheim before breaking through against the Sharks. Viktor Fasth made 33 saves, robbing Joe Pavelski of a potential hat trick in the closing seconds of regulation and stopping 12 of 13 shots in the shootout. "What a great hockey game," Oilers coach Todd Nelson said. "We stuck with it and got rewarded. There were a lot of solid efforts. We faced some adversity there. ... They earned their goals. Overtime was exciting. Vic was outstanding, especially in the shootout." Scott Hannan and Matt Tennyson also scored for the Sharks, who had a three-game winning streak snapped to provide a dismal ending to what had been a strong seven-game homestand. Antti Niemi made 36 saves. Brent Burns and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins traded goals in the fifth round of the shootout and that was all either team would get until Klinkhammer ended it by beating Niemi on the first shootout attempt of his career. "I was laughing the whole time," Klinkhammer said. "I thought it was hilarious. And then I got the call and got lucky enough to get it into the net. I think we ran out of forwards so I had to go. I tried to move the puck a little bit to change the angle and open some holes. I was having fun with it. There's really not a lot of pressure." The Sharks looked as though they would avoid another loss to a lesser team when they got goals from Hannan and Tennyson in the first 4 minutes of the third period to tie the game at 3. Pavelski then gave San Jose the lead when he took a pass at the side of the net from Brent Burns and beat Fasth for his 27th goal of the season. But the Oilers tied it late when Schultz beat Niemi on a shot that deflected off Couture's stick to force overtime and Fasth took over from there. After falling behind 1-0 on Pavelski's early power-play goal, the Oilers got two goals from Eberle and one from Roy to take a 3-1 lead into the third. "We can't be all over the map," Sharks coach Todd McLellan said. "We had one line I thought tonight that played well, one line. We had too many passengers. It's what you get when you don't come and play as a full team." NOTES: Joe Thornton got his 600th assist with San Jose on Pavelski's second goal. ... The Sharks had an apparent goal by Tomas Hertl waved off in the final minute of the first period because James Sheppard interfered with Fasth. ... Oilers F Taylor Hall, who missed the previous three games with a foot injury, re-injured his foot and left the game early. Benoit Pouliot also left with a foot injury. | 1 | 6,322 | sports |
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Al Jefferson had 18 points and 12 rebounds Monday night, and the Charlotte Hornets' hot January carried over into Groundhog Day with a 92-88 win over the Washington Wizards. BOX SCORE: HORNETS 92, WIZARDS 88 Michael Kidd-Gilchrist added 13 points and 13 rebounds, Brian Roberts scored 18 points, and Gerald Henderson put in 17 for the Hornets, who have won six of eight to work themselves into playoff position in the perpetually middling Eastern Conference. They went 10-4 in January despite losing Kemba Walker to a knee injury that will keep him sidelined at least six more weeks. John Wall, who continues to battle a sprained right ankle and migraine-like headaches that give him an aversion to bright light - not a good scenario for anyone in an NBA arena - scored 16 points on 4-for-14 shooting with 10 assists for the Wizards, who have dropped three straight. Bradley Beal led Washington with 18 points and a season-high 11 rebounds. The Wizards trailed by six with a minute to play, but Paul Pierce hit a mid-range jumper and Wall converted a three-point play after a hard-collision with Jefferson while driving to the basket for a layup. Washington then forced a shot-clock violation with 22 seconds remaining, but Wall missed an open layup that would have cut the lead to one. Henderson and Roberts then each made a pair of free throws to put the game away. Runs were few and far between in a game in which the largest lead was 12 by the Hornets in the third period. Charlotte opened the second half with a 10-0 spurt, but Garrett Temple had three third-quarter steals that led to baskets in an 8-0 period-ending rally that helped closed the gap for the Wizards. --- TIP-INS Hornets: F Marvin Williams returned after missing two games with a concussion. ... It will be a home-and-home, back-to-back for the Hornets - but not for the Wizards - when the teams play again on Thursday in Charlotte. Charlotte gets two days off, while Washington has a road trip to Atlanta on Wednesday. Wizards: Slumping C Marcin Gortat shaved his Mohawk and declared on Twitter before the game that he was ready for a ''fresh start.'' It didn't have much effect. He went 2 for 6 from the field and played only two minutes in the fourth quarter. ... Pierce moved past Alex English into 15th on the all-time scoring list with a 3-pointer in the first period. ... Fs Kevin Seraphin and DeJuan Blair were game-time decisions because of illness, but both played. UP NEXT Hornets: Host Wizards on Thursday. Wizards: Visit Hawks on Wednesday. --- Follow Joseph White on Twitter: http://twitter.com/JGWhiteAP | 1 | 6,323 | sports |
NEW YORK (AP) -- Dan Boyle scored a deflected goal 8:10 into the third period, Rick Nash and Mats Zuccarello added insurance late, and the New York Rangers beat the pesky Florida Panthers 6-3 on Monday night. Boyle flipped a shot from the left point that hit the stick of veteran Florida defenseman Willie Mitchell and bounded past surprised goalie Roberto Luongo. Zuccarello made it 5-3 with 4:02 left. Carl Hagelin was stopped by Luongo on a penalty shot with 3:19 remaining to keep it a two-goal game, but Nash scored into an empty net at 18:07. The Panthers held a 1-0 lead in the first and dug out of a 3-1 hole in the second, but fell to 1-6-1 in their past eight and are eight points out of the final spot in the Eastern Conference playoff race. Nash scored twice to move back into a tie for the NHL lead with 31 goals, and Kevin Hayes and Marc Staal also scored for the Rangers, who won their second straight behind Henrik Lundqvist's 33 saves. Aleksander Barkov, Dave Bolland and Brandon Pirri had Panthers goals. Brad Boyes added two assists, and Luongo made 32 saves. After Hayes and Staal gave the Rangers a 3-1 lead in the second, the momentum shifted back to the Panthers. Lundqvist briefly stemmed the tide when he denied Jonathan Huberdeau, who came in alone, but he couldn't hold off Florida for long. Bolland cut the deficit to 3-2 with 7:09 left in the second after he put the puck off the crossbar. The rebound came right back to him, and he batted it in for his second goal. Then, during a power play, Bolland sent a hard pass from the goal line out front to Pirri, who dropped to a knee and fired in his seventh - and fourth in five games - with 4:30 remaining. New York seemed to be in control after getting even on Nash's first-period goal and then grabbing a two-goal edge when Hayes and Staal scored 6:37 apart. Hayes gave the Rangers their first lead at 2:51 of the second on the power play when Zuccarello sent a pass from the left circle to Hayes for a one-timer from the slot that produced his seventh goal. This one came as his older brother Jimmy - a Panthers forward - watched from the Florida bench. Staal, who played against his brothers Eric and Jordan in New York's 4-1 win over Carolina on Saturday, waited with the puck above the right circle and snapped a wrist shot past Luongo at 9:28 for his third. Yet the Rangers' inability to consistently get the puck out of their end proved costly. It was the same issue that helped Florida control the first half of the first period. Nash got the Rangers' offense jump-started by scoring in the first period for the second straight game. This one gave him his first 30-goal season with New York and eighth in 12 NHL seasons. Nash took the puck away and blew past 18-year-old defenseman Aaron Ekblad. He came in alone on Luongo and shifted from backhand to forehand for a sweeping shot past the helpless goalie to tie it with 11:11 left in the first. NOTES: RW Lee Stempniak was back in the Rangers lineup, replacing C J.T. Miller, who was scratched for the second time in three games. ... Nash is the first Rangers players to have 30 goals and four short-handed tallies in a season since 2000-01. ... The Panthers have no short-handed goals this season. The Rangers have six. | 1 | 6,324 | sports |
DALLAS (AP) -- Monta Ellis scored 23 points and the Dallas Mavericks won their first game without injured point guard Rajon Rondo, beating Minnesota 100-94 Monday night in the first game in nearly three months for Timberwolves point guard Ricky Rubio. BOX SCORE: MAVERICKS 100, TIMBERWOLVES 94 J.J. Barea had 10 points while starting in Rondo's place. Barea was only 4-of-14 shooting, but had the first and last field goals by Dallas along with two free throws with 17 seconds left to help hold off a comeback try by Minnesota. Rubio, sidelined since severely spraining his left ankle Nov. 7, had 10 points on 4-of-9 shooting with four assists in 21 minutes. Dallas led throughout after scoring the game's first 10 points. Rubio missed his first two shots before hitting a 21-foot jumper with 7:51 left in the first quarter to get Minnesota on the scoreboard. | 1 | 6,325 | sports |
Japanese electronics supplier Sharp Corp warned it will slip into its third annual net loss in four years as fierce pricing competition saps sales of smartphone displays, the business line it had been counting on for growth. Reporting it reversed into a net loss for the quarter ended December, Sharp said on Tuesday it will rethink strategy as it expects to book a net loss of 30 billion yen ($256 million) this fiscal year, compared with the 30 billion net profit it previously forecast. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters had expected a full-year net profit of 22.4 billion yen. Japanese technology firms like Sharp and Sony Corp have together lost billions of dollars in recent years as aggressive, cash-rich competitors like South Korea's Samsung Electronics Co and China's Huawei Technologies Co poached customers with keen pricing. Investors had hoped that by increasing sales to Chinese smartphone makers like Xiaomi Technology Co Ltd [XTC.UL], Sharp could reduce its dependence on Apple's iPhone and ensure higher margins. But Sharp warned two weeks ago that it would likely miss its targets, and the loss means the company will fail to meet an earlier pledge to its creditors to remain profitable this year. "I believe it is my responsibility to compile a new business plan as soon as possible," Chief Executive Officer Kozo Takahashi told reporters at a briefing in Tokyo. He said Sharp will unveil a new business plan for the 2015-2017 fiscal years around May. He said the company expanded its customer base in China to around 15 smartphone makers, but that the number of devices sold was weaker than expected. "We're seeing a glut in smartphones," he said, adding that it would take until the middle of the year to correct the over-supply situation. In recent years, Sharp has cut thousands of jobs and exited unprofitable operations such as solar panel production in Europe. It also received a $4.4 billion bailout from its banks, issued new shares and took in equity investments from Samsung and Qualcomm Inc. Analysts have said the company may come under pressure to sell off more assets or shut down plants in a bid to restore profitability and appease creditors. Separately on Tuesday Sharp said it agreed to sell Recurrent Energy LLC, a North American solar energy business, to Canadian Solar Inc for $265 million. Sharp said the impact of the deal, and an associated holding company transaction, on its consolidated financial accounts for the current fiscal year "is estimated to be immaterial". ($1 = 116.9400 yen) (Editing by Kenneth Maxwell) | 3 | 6,326 | finance |
Anderson Cooper looks back at how Bobbi Kristina Brown grew up around fame and suffered the loss of her mother. | 5 | 6,327 | news |
NEW YORK (AP) -- Jarrett Jack made a tiebreaking jumper with 1.3 seconds left, and the Brooklyn Nets used a late rally to beat the Los Angeles Clippers 102-100 on Monday night. BOX SCORE: NETS 102, CLIPPERS 100 The Nets ended a seven-game home losing streak by erasing a nine-point deficit in the final 1:35, getting two 3-pointers from Alan Anderson -- one a four-point play -- one from Joe Johnson and another from Deron Williams in his return from an 11-game absence. But they went to Jack for their final possession after Chris Paul's layup tied it at 100 with 8.6 seconds to go. Jack dribbled right and lofted a jumper over 6-foot-11 center DeAndre Jordan, who had switched onto him. Brook Lopez scored 24 points and Johnson had 22 for the Nets, who snapped an overall four-game skid and won at home for the first time since beating Sacramento on Dec. 29. Jordan finished with 22 points, 20 rebounds and two made free throws in 12 attempts for the Clippers. Paul had 20 points, eight rebounds and eight assists. The Clippers finished 8 of 25 (32 percent) from the free throw line and dropped their seventh straight road game against the Nets, a losing streak covering seven-plus years and two states. Jamal Crawford scored 18 points but was 7 for 22 from the field The Clippers beat Brooklyn by 39 in Los Angeles last month and it appeared they had finally done enough to win this one when a basket by Matt Barnes made it 96-87 with 1:46 remaining. But they failed to grab the rebound when Johnson missed two free throws, and when the ball was tapped back out to him, he nailed a 3 that cut it to 98-96 before Anderson made a 3 from the corner while being fouled, putting the Nets in front 100-98. Two nights after an impressive victory in San Antonio, the Clippers fell to 2-2 on their eight-game trip. They have dropped seven visits in a row to the Nets since a Dec. 11, 2007, victory in East Rutherford, New Jersey. Williams got a nice hand when he checked in during the first quarter, his first action since fracturing cartilage in his rib on Jan. 7. He scored 15 points. ------ TIP-INS Clippers: Starting guard J.J. Redick played only 4 minutes because of back spasms. ... The Clippers' trip covers 7,399 miles, the third-longest in the last five seasons. Nets: Lopez started the second half in place of Kevin Garnett, who had four fouls in the first half. Garnett finished with six points and 11 rebounds, moving past Nate Thurmond (14,464) for eighth place on the career rebounding list. In his 20th season, Garnett has 14,467. UP NEXT Clippers: Visit Cleveland on Thursday. Nets: Visit Toronto on Wednesday. | 1 | 6,328 | sports |
Seahawks OC Darrell Bevell said that he decided to call a pass because the Pats had their goal-line defense in. We ask B-Mac what he thinks about the play call. | 1 | 6,329 | sports |
REUTERS - Two blockbusters will have world premieres at the 65th Berlin International Film Festival opening on Thursday, but neither "50 Shades of Grey" nor the new Disney live-action "Cinderella" will compete for the main Golden Bear prize. That's because the festival is more geared to arthouse films, which it will have aplenty from directors including Terrence Malick, Peter Greenaway, Wim Wenders and Pablo Larrain. In all, 23 films are being screened in competition of which 19 are in contention for the main prize, to be awarded on 14 February, the festival says. This year's lineup will be "the usual mixture of anorexia, religious fanaticism, child abuse and torture", Berlinale director Dieter Kosslick said - tongue in cheek but only partly so. "That's what we show - and when you look at the news you can see that our program is situated right in the middle of today's social and political debate." In that vein, Chilean director Larrain's "The Club" is about four disgraced priests living together in a refuge who have trouble adjusting to the arrival of a fifth. Polish director Malgorzata Szumowska's "Body" is the story of a police investigator and single parent having to balance the demands of work with bringing up his anorexic daughter. Such films assure the festival remains true to its roots, but the film adaptation of the international best-selling S&M soft-porn novel, plus Cate Blanchett as Cinderella's stepmother in the film directed by Kenneth Branagh, focus world attention. Kosslick is unfazed by the suggestion that the festival is cashing in by showing "50 Shades", based on the E.L. James novels that have sold 100 million copies worldwide. "We would have been nuts to pass up having the premier in the Zoo Palace (a newly restored Berlin cinema). Millions of people want to see this film. It's going to be a hit, in the true sense of the word," he said. Similarly, "Cinderella" not only has star power but also is welcome on the basis of historical precedent. Disney's animated "Cinderella" won the Golden Bear for best musical film at the first Berlinale in 1951. "You can't have a diet only of films about child prostitution and rape and poverty, you need something to shake it up," Jay Weissberg, Rome-based film critic for trade publication Variety, said. "Is 'Cinderella' going to be that one? I have no idea, but at least it brings some stars onto the red carpet and that's a vital part of any festival." | 6 | 6,330 | entertainment |
News Corp (NWSA) and 21st Century Fox (FOXA) will not face charges in the U.S. over payments to public officials or phone hacking, the U.S. Department of Justice has told the two companies. The announcement, in a filing to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) late on Monday , marks another turning point in the scandal, which led to the division of the News Corp empire into 21st Century Fox and News Corp, and one of Rupert Murdoch's top U.K. executives serving jail time. The prospect of prosecution by U.S. authorities had loomed over the company ever since the scandal first broke, with the news that New Corp's now-defunct U.K. tabloid newspaper "News of the World" had tapped the voicemail of murdered schoolgirl Millie Dowler. In the fallout from the scandal, News Corp was separated into its print operations, under the News Corp brand, and broadcasting, under the 21st Century Fox label. Gerson Zweifach, general counsel of News Corp and 21st Century Fox, said in a statement that the companies had been told by the U.S. Department of Justice that it had "completed its investigation of voicemail interception and payments to public officials in London" and was "declining to prosecute either company." In 2013 and 2014, Rebekah Brooks, former head of News International, News Corp's U.K. print operations, and Andy Coulson, the former editor of the News of the World and chief communications adviser for U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron, faced a seven-month-long trial over the phone-hacking scandal. Coulson was found guilty of one charge of conspiring to hack phones, while Brooks was cleared of all charges. There are still four journalists from News Corp's "Sun" newspaper awaiting a re-trial in the U.K. over charges of making corrupt payments to public officials, after a jury failed to reach verdicts following a three-month trial. | 3 | 6,331 | finance |
MADRID Spain's Banco Santander SA said Tuesday that fourth-quarter net profit was lifted by stronger lending income, higher fees and with fewer funds set aside to cover potential loan losses. Santander reported net profit of €1.46 billion ($1.65 billion), up from €864 million a year earlier and against analysts' forecasts of €1.45 billion. Trading income was slightly weaker than a year earlier. Santander, the eurozone's largest lender by market value, said net interest income in the fourth quarter rose to €7.71 billion from €6.93 billion a year earlier. Analysts polled by data provider FactSet had forecast €7.6 billion. Net interest income, a key driver of revenue for retail banks, is the difference between how much a bank earns on clients' loans and how much it pays them for deposits. Provisions that Santander set aside for bad loans fell almost 12% in the fourth quarter to €2.5 billion. Bad loans as a proportion of total lending fell to 5.19% from 5.61% a year earlier. For the full year, net profit at Santander's U.K. unit was €1.6 billion, up 37% from a year earlier, including currency fluctuations. In Brazil, net profit was down 1.3% at €1.6 billion. In Spain, net profit more than doubled to €1.12 billion as the country chugs toward economic recovery.Those three markets make up the majority of Santander's net profit. Loans to clients in Spain, though, were down 2% in 2014 compared with a year earlier, as individuals and businesses in the country prioritize paying down existing debt rather than borrowing more. Only Spain and Santander's unit in Portugal saw an annual decrease in outstanding loans. Across the bank, net loans were up 7.3% in 2014 compared with the previous year. The bank said Tuesday that the annual results, "are set against a context of uneven slowdowns in Latin American economies, doubts about the eurozone's recovery" and "favorable growth expectations in the U.K. and the U.S." Santander, with units from Brazil to the U.K., had signaled to investors and analysts that it expected to report 2014 annual net profit of around €5.8 billion in a January regulatory filing tied to its €7.5 billion capital increase. Santander's capital ratio at the end of December, including the impact from the capital hike, was 9.7% under regulations known as "fully loaded" Basel III criteria. That figure was up from 8.3% as of September, Santander said. A bank's capital ratio is the amount of equity it holds in relation to risk-weighted assets on its balance sheet, and it provides a buffer against potential losses. The capital increase, meant to address concerns that Santander's capital cushion was too thin, is one of several major moves by the bank's new executive chairman, Ana Botín, who took the helm in September after the sudden death of her father. Ms. Botín has also made changes to the bank's management and its dividend policy. Santander said Tuesday that it had 12,951 bank branches worldwide as of Dec. 2014. Nearly one-third of those are in Spain. The country has more bank branches per person than any other European Union country except Cyprus. Santander and other Spanish lenders have made progress culling their extensive branch networks after a real estate boom went bust and as mounting bad debts forced regional lenders to merge, close or be nationalized. Santander cut 14% of its branch network in Spain in 2014. It has 3,511 branches. Write to Jeannette Neumann at [email protected] | 3 | 6,332 | finance |
FALL RIVER, Mass. Testimony in the murder trial of ex-NFL star Aaron Hernandez is set to resume with the girlfriend and mother of the man Hernandez allegedly killed taking the stand. Proceedings began last week but were suspended Monday when another snowstorm hit. The former New England Patriots standout is accused of the June 2013 killing of Odin Lloyd, who was dating his fiancée's sister. On Friday, Lloyd's girlfriend, Shaneah Jenkins, testified that Lloyd and Hernandez were cordial but not close. She is expected to be back on the stand Tuesday. Lloyd's mother, Ursula Ward, also is expected to testify. She was overcome with emotion and had to leave the courtroom twice last week when a prosecutor showed graphic photos of her 27-year-old son's body. The trial resumes as Patriots fans celebrate the team's fourth Super Bowl victory. Hernandez, 25, had a $40 million contract with the Patriots when he was arrested. Lloyd's body was found riddled with bullets in an industrial park near Hernandez's North Attleborough home, not far from Gillette Stadium. In a separate murder case that has yet to go to trial, Hernandez was charged last year in Boston with killing two men in 2012 after someone spilled a drink on him at a nightclub. The judge has ruled that prosecutors in the Lloyd case cannot tell the jury about those slayings. Hernandez faces life imprisonment if convicted of murdering Lloyd, a semipro football player. | 5 | 6,333 | news |
Corporate America's pain is U.S. consumers' gain. Company profits -- and their shares -- have been sideswiped by tumbling energy prices, a strengthening dollar and rising labor costs. Those same forces are lifting consumers' spirits as they pay less for gasoline at the pump and for imported suits at the mall while reaping the benefits of a tighter jobs market. "There are strong cross-currents in the economy" as households prosper and businesses suffer, said David Hensley, director of global economics for JPMorgan Chase & Co. in New York. "The balance, though, is positive for growth." While consumer spending fell in December by the most in five years, households were taking a breather after a surge in buying during the previous two months. For the fourth quarter as a whole, household expenditures rose at the fastest clip in almost nine years, according to data from the Commerce Department in Washington. Typically, a shift in income away from companies to workers marks the beginning of the end of an expansion: Stronger salaries lead to faster inflation, prompting the Federal Reserve to boost interest rates. But with wage gains muted and inflation below the central bank's 2 percent target, Fed policy makers have signaled they're in no rush to announce their first rate increase since 2006 and will be restrained in tightening credit once they do. "The expansion is still middle-aged," Hensley said. Best Performance Gross domestic product will advance 3.2 percent in 2015, its best performance since 2005, according to the median forecast of 81 economists, surveyed by Bloomberg News from Jan. 9 to Jan. 14. It climbed 2.4 percent last year. Consumers, whose spending accounts for close to 70 percent of GDP, are leading the way. Their confidence jumped to an 11- year high in the latest monthly survey by the University of Michigan as steady job gains and plunging gas prices boosted sentiment. Businesses are more reserved. Factory activity expanded in January at the slowest pace in a year as orders cooled, a sign that weakness in overseas markets is restraining U.S. manufacturing. The Institute for Supply Management's index dropped to 53.5 from 55.1 in December, a report from the Tempe, Arizona-based group showed on Feb. 2. That's still above the 50 mark that signals growth. Strong-Dollar Hit A variety of companies -- from consumer-goods corporation Procter & Gamble Co. to pharmaceutical maker Pfizer Inc. -- complained last week that the stronger dollar will cut into their profits by reducing the value of foreign sales. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index, which tracks its performance against a basket of 10 leading currencies, has risen about 9 percent since Sept. 30, 2014. Investors are taking note. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index has fallen some 3.3 percent since hitting an all-time high of 2,090.57 on Dec. 29. It was 2,020.85 at 4 p.m. in New York on Feb. 2. Yardeni Research Inc. last week cut its forecast for earnings of S&P 500 companies this year by $5 per share, to $120, partly in reaction to the rising dollar, president and founder Edward Yardeni wrote in a Jan. 28 note to clients. He also lowered the New York-based company's end-of-year target for the stock gauge to 2,150 from 2,300. "We have a problem with earnings," he wrote. Less Exposed The economy, though, is less exposed to the drawbacks of a stronger currency and weaker global growth, according to Jan Hatzius, chief economist at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. in New York. He sees GDP rising 3.3 percent in 2015. Foreign sales accounted for 46.3 percent of revenue for the S&P index companies in 2013, based on compilations by S&P Dow Jones Indices in New York. By contrast, U.S. exports comprised just 13.5 percent of GDP that year. Consumers, meanwhile, benefit as the robust dollar reduces price for imports, including oil. Joseph LaVorgna, chief U.S. economist at Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. in New York, reckons that each 1 cent per gallon drop in gasoline prices boosts U.S. household purchasing power by about $1 billion. The price for a gallon of regular gas has fallen 44 percent from late June, based on data from motoring group AAA. With transportation accounting for about 70 percent of U.S. petroleum consumption, households probably will be bigger beneficiaries from the oil-price decline than businesses, said Jonathan Cogan, spokesman for the U.S. Energy Information Administration in Washington. Quarterly Loss Oil companies, of course, are suffering. ConocoPhillips, the third-largest U.S. energy producer, reported its first quarterly loss since 2008 on Jan. 29 as new output failed to make up for the worst oil-price crash in five years. Workers are starting to enjoy the benefits of a shift in the balance of power in the job market. At 5.6 percent in December, the jobless rate is close to the 5.2 percent to 5.5 percent range most Fed policy makers reckon is equivalent to full employment. In addition, almost half of U.S. states raised mandated minimum wages for workers on Jan. 1. Alicia Courtney, 28, sees the improvement firsthand. Feeling "kind of stuck" in her old job, she said she began looking for a new one in August. Search service FlexJobs helped her land a position in mid-November as an account manager at EmoryDay LLC, a digital marketing company. "There are certainly more jobs available out there," said Courtney, who is earning about 20 percent more now and works from home in Lawrenceburg, Indiana. "This is exactly what I wanted. I was pretty confident I'd find a new job, and it wasn't too difficult." Earning Squeeze The shift is problematic for corporate earnings, unless bosses get more production out of their employees. Peter Bensen, chief financial officer at McDonald's Corp., said rising labor costs are squeezing earnings at the world's biggest restaurant chain. The profit "margin in the U.S. will continue to be a little bit pressured," he told analysts on a Jan. 23 conference call. Even with the squeeze, the economy still is set for growth this year of about 3 percent, according to former Fed vice chairman Alan Blinder. "It looks like things are falling into place and clicking" for the U.S., said Blinder, now a professor at Princeton University in New Jersey. To contact the reporter on this story: Rich Miller in Washington at [email protected] To contact the editors responsible for this story: Chris Wellisz at [email protected] Melinda Grenier, Mark Rohner | 3 | 6,334 | finance |
WASHINGTON The president's nominee to be the next Pentagon chief says he would consider changing the current plans for withdrawing all U.S. troops from Afghanistan by the end of next year if security conditions worsen. In written comments to the Senate Armed Services Committee, Ashton Carter responded "yes" when asked if he would consider recommending changes to the current pace and size of the drawdown plan to address security concerns. He also said he is aware of reports that Islamic State militants may try to expand into Afghanistan, and said he will work with coalition partners to ensure that doesn't happen. Carter's comments were included in his answers to a committee questionnaire that was obtained by The Associated Press. They come as Afghan leaders express concerns about the U.S. troop withdrawal and worry that local forces may not be ready to secure the country on their own. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and chairman of the committee, has repeatedly questioned the wisdom of setting and announcing a hard end date to the U.S. presence in Afghanistan. And military commanders have told Congress that they would have preferred a "more ambiguous" withdrawal schedule that would not tell the enemy exactly when U.S. forces would be gone. The committee is scheduled to hold a hearing Wednesday to consider Carter's nomination, and while he likely will face some pointed questioning during the session, he is expected to easily get confirmed. The questionnaire provided a vivid preview of some of the more challenging subjects senators will raise, pressing him on U.S. national security strategy in hotspots around the globe. Carter largely toed the administration line in the 91-page, 328-question document, as he answered queries on Russia, China, North Korea, Yemen and the ongoing military operations in Iraq and Syria. Asked about Iraq, Carter said he would encourage efforts to arm and integrate Sunni tribal forces into the Iraqi military to help fight Islamic State militants who have taken control of large sections of the country. He reiterated persistent complaints from military and defense leaders about the potential effects of more budget cuts on the armed services. He said U.S. forces can still defeat one regional enemy, battle another and conduct various counterterrorism operations at the same time, but the risks are growing. Any additional budget cuts would require more reductions in the size of the military, he said. In other comments: Carter said that as the U.S. begins to normalize relations with Cuba, there is an opportunity to carefully consider whether to expand defense relations with the island nation. He was asked whether women should be subject to a military draft if one was ever implemented. Carter said that since "most military career fields are now open to women, a review of the military selective service act would be prudent." He added, "this is not solely a defense issue, but rather part of a much broader national discussion." He said competition between Islamic State militants and al-Qaida for jihadi dominance could increase the threat to the homeland and western interests "as each group increases external plotting efforts in an attempt to bolster their credentials within the global jihadist movement." He said the U.S. should expand counterterrorism cooperation with Pakistan in the fight against al-Qaida, and said America should try to foster more cooperation between Afghanistan and Pakistan. He said he is worried that the Pentagon is not providing enough resources to bolster its missions in Latin America. He said that, if confirmed, he would direct his team to look at whether the department can do more to help fight corruption, battle criminal organizations and assist countries in securing under-governed areas. Known as a policy wonk, Carter worked in the Defense Department under two Democratic presidents. He held the No. 2 job at the Pentagon from October 2011 to December 2013, and prior to that served as the technology and weapons-buying chief. During the Clinton administration, he was the assistant secretary for international security policy. If confirmed, he would be Obama's fourth defense secretary, replacing the current chief, Chuck Hagel, who resigned under pressure in December but has stayed on until Carter is in place. | 5 | 6,335 | news |
Lindsay Lohan and her mother are suing Fox News. The 'Mean Girls' star and her mother, Dina, have taken legal action against the channel after it aired an episode of 'Hanity', in which journalist Michelle Fields made a comment about the pair doing cocaine together, on 4 February last year. According to a document filed on behalf of the 28-year-old actress and her mum and obtained by E! News, they had previously launched a complaint over the comments in February last year, demanding Fox write a retraction and remove the clip, as well as any related material, from its website. However, the programme only opted to issue a statement in which they admitted Michelle's comment about the pair's drug use wasn't verified and failed to remove the clip which continued to circulate on the web. The claim was made during the 'Great American Panel' section of 'Hannity' during a discussion about the late actor Philip Seymour Hoffman's heroin overdose and which celebrities could potentially follow in his footsteps. Michelle quipped: "Lindsay's mom is doing cocaine with her." The mother daughter team are reported to be seeking compensation and punitive damages, claiming that since the comments aired they have suffered "severe mental and emotional distress; embarrassment and humiliation; pain and suffering; and economic loss, including loss of income, entertainment and acting contracts, present and future diminished income and economic opportunities." Lawyer David J. Hernandez and Attorney Mark Jay Heller - who officially filed the complaint - have also rendered the comments "outrageously slanderous and defamatory" and "false." | 6 | 6,336 | entertainment |
Amid recent rumors of ill health or his possible death, Cuban state media has released 21 photos of former leader Fidel Castro. CNN's Patrick Oppmann reports. | 5 | 6,337 | news |
CNBC's Phil Han reports on why McDonald's has decided to sell limited edition bottles of its Big Mac sauce. | 3 | 6,338 | finance |
Lawyers for Rory McIlroy requested that the start of the world number one golfer's case with his former agents be deferred by three hours for the two sides to narrow the issues ahead of a possible eight weeks in court. The four-times major winner terminated his contract with Horizon Sports Management in September 2013 to form his own company, prompting a protracted dispute which forced McIlroy to take time away from the golf course to prepare for the case. Dressed in a navy blue suit and wearing black-rimmed glasses, the 25-year-old Northern Irishman arrived at Dublin's High Court on Tuesday to a scrum of some 30 photographers and camera crews amid intense international media interest. His lawyer Paul Gallagher was granted the request to defer until 0900 ET(1400 GMT) in order to "narrow the issues at hand." After signing a number of lucrative sponsorship agreements, including a deal with Nike in early 2013 worth a guaranteed $100 million over five years, McIlroy decided that his relationship with Horizon was no longer in his best interests. McIlroy, who will probably take the stand at some point, is suing his former agents over the "unconscionable" contract he signed, while Horizon are counter-suing him on the grounds that he owes them millions of dollars in commission on contracts up to 2017. Irish bookmaker Paddy Power thinks it likely the case will be settled, offering odds of 1/3 on the two sides reaching agreement outside court and 9/4 on the trial being decided by a verdict. (Reporting by Cathal McNaughton; Editing by Padraic Halpin and Ed Osmond) | 1 | 6,339 | sports |
The White House is looking to counter-program a vote by House Republicans to repeal ObamaCare by inviting a group of Americans who have benefitted from the law to meet President Obama. "Today's meeting comes as Republicans in the House of Representatives vote to repeal the law and take these benefits away from millions of Americans," a White House official said. "Congress has tried to repeal or undermine this law more than 50 times, but the President will continue to stand with the families who have better care and choices as a result of the law." The House on Tuesday is expected to pass legislation sponsored by Rep. Bradley Bryne (R-Ala.) that would completely repeal the president's signature law, and asks the relevant committees to draft alternative legislation. Republican leaders, including Ways and Means Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-Mich.) and Education and the Workforce Committee Chairman John Kline (R-Minn.), plan to create a task force to craft replacement legislation. It will be nearly the 60th time House Republicans have voted to undermine ObamaCare. The bill is not expected to gain traction in the Senate, and the White House has vowed a veto. The White House meeting also comes with less than two weeks left until the Feb. 15 open enrollment deadline. The administration has said it hoped to enroll 9.1 million people by the deadline, although 9.5 million have already selected a plan or reenrolled in their current insurance. The White House has worked hard to highlight those benefiting from the law in recent weeks. After the State of the Union, Obama granted an interview to YouTube celebrity Hank Green, who said he suffered from a chronic illness but was able to reduce his prescription costs because of ObamaCare. Green went on to ask Obama to sign a picture of his pharmacy receipt. The president has also sought to encourage enrollment through interviews with radio hosts Ryan Seacrest and Colin Cowherd. | 5 | 6,340 | news |
Aetna closed 2014 by matching Wall Street earnings expectations, and the insurer raised its forecast for 2015 thanks in part to a price break it got on some expensive hepatitis C treatments. The nation's third-largest health insurer said Tuesday that it now expects full-year operating earnings of at least $7 per share, up a dime from its previous forecast. That is short of average analyst expectations for $7.14 per cents per share, according to FactSet. But Chief Financial Officer Shawn Guertin told analysts that the new forecast was a floor the company aimed to exceed. He said Aetna raised its expectation for the year because medical enrollment came in higher than projected and it worked out a preferred drug contract covering hepatitis C treatments. Aetna said last month that it had reached a deal with Gilead Sciences Inc. on discounts for Sovaldi and Harvoni, two ground-breaking treatments for the liver-destroying virus that have list prices of about $84,000 and $94,000, respectively, for a course of treatment. The insurer hasn't detailed the discount. Insurers have warned for more than a year now about a spike in medical expenses due to a wave of new and pricey specialty drugs like Sovaldi, which debuted in late 2013. Competition has since hit the market for some of these drugs, and drugmakers have started negotiating more on price to preserve their market share. In the fourth quarter, Aetna's earnings slid 37 percent as it spent more to grow its business. The insurer earned $232 million, or 65 cents per share, down from $368.9 million, or $1 per share, in the final quarter of 2013. Operating earnings for the most recent quarter totaled $1.22 per share. That matched the average estimate of analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research. Operating revenue, which excludes investment gains and losses, rose 13 percent to about $14.8 billion. That beat analyst expectations of $14.55 billion. The insurer saw operating expenses jump 22 percent to $3.07 billion in the quarter as it spent more to build its consumer and government businesses and paid fees tied to the health care overhaul. In November, Aetna said it would spend $400 million to buy Bswift, a privately held company, as it pushes into the relatively small but growing market for private exchanges. These exchanges let people with employer-sponsored health coverage pick their own plans. The insurer's enrollment climbed 6 percent to 23.5 million people compared with 2013. Aetna gained about 560,000 members through the overhaul's public insurance exchanges. It participated in 17 individual insurance exchanges in 2014, making it one of the largest players in that new market. Aetna Inc. shares climbed 92 cents to $93.14 Tuesday morning, while broader trading indexes also rose slightly. Shares of Aetna rose nearly 30 percent last year, hitting several all-time high prices. | 3 | 6,341 | finance |
CNN's Randi Kaye takes a closer look at the case against Chase Merritt, who has been charged with murdering the McStay family. | 5 | 6,342 | news |
An original part of one of the UK's pioneering computers has been found in the US. The part is a significant chunk of Edsac - a machine built at Cambridge in the late 1940s to serve scientists at the university. It came to light because of publicity surrounding an effort to rebuild the computer. The part has now been donated to the rebuild project and will be incorporated into the finished machine. Edsac, the Electronic Delay Storage Automatic Calculator, ran its first programs in May 1949 and through its working life aided many scientists by analysing data generated by many different experiments. Before now, it had not been known what happened to the parts of Edsac after it was decommissioned and dismantled in the 1950s. The uncovering of the part, called the Chassis 1A, solved part of that riddle, said Dr Andrew Herbert who is leading the reconstruction project at the National Museum of Computing at Bletchley Park. It now appears that at the end of Edsac's life it was sold off in an auction but it is not known who bought all the parts. "Details of the 'auction' are unclear, but there is a possibility that other parts of the original Edsac still exist and could even be in the Cambridge area stored away in lofts, garden sheds and garages," said Mr Herbert. Book shelves The Chassis 1A found its way to the US after being bought by Robert Little, who currently lives in Pennsylvania. He got it from a Cambridge scientist called Dr Robert Clarke in 1969, who had bought several Edsac pieces in the auction intending to turn them into bookshelves. Mr Little contacted the Edsac reconstruction team after reading about the project online. The Chassis is designed to hold 28 of the 3,000 valves that formed the main computational elements of Edsac. The 12 vertical racks of Edsac held up to 14 individual chassis on to which the valves were fixed. Dr Herbert said the donated chassis was "quite distressed" by corrosion after being in storage for several decades. Work is now under way to see how much of it can be incorporated into the reconstructed Edsac. "It would be a major task to return this particular chassis to operating condition," he said. "However, we hope to try to use some of the valves, if they are still functional, in our reconstructed Edsac thus providing a very tangible connection with the original machine." The chassis is the second Edsac artefact that publicity about the reconstruction has brought to light. In June last year, detailed circuit diagrams of Edsac were discovered and are now aiding project workers. The reconstruction of Edsac is due to be completed by the end of the year. | 5 | 6,343 | news |
Motor-mad Ryan Camp transformed an old pick-up truck into the ULTIMATE racing vehicle. Ryan decided to build his own mud truck, which cost up to £66,000, after attending events and watching other drivers compete. His truck, Sick 50 Mega Truck, can jump over hills and race through four-feet deep mud.The 429 stone truck started life as an old 1950 Chevrolet full body truck. It took Ryan, 35, from Georgia, USA, a year to complete his dream mud truck. Videographer / Director: Hector Ortiz Producer: Samantha Grillo / Nick Johnson Editor: Kyle Waters | 8 | 6,344 | video |
Abdullah Sholeh of Malang, Indonesia is an Islamic student who has become best friend and a full-time nanny to the tiger. Mulan's owner, Noer Muhammad Sholeh, 51, asked Abdullah to take care of the tiger when it was a 3-month-old cub at Dilem Village, Kepanjen District, Malang, East Java. Abdullah Sholeh regularly sleeps, plays and fights with the huge tiger. The pair are so inseparable, he often shuns his own bed to sleep alongside the big cat in her enclosure. Mulan now weighs 178 kg, is three meters long including the tail and one meter high. For security reasons, they have had to install metal bars to separate them when they are together in the enclosure. Mulan is fed 6kg of chicken or goat meat twice a day. Videographer / Director: Jefri Tarigan Producer: Nick Johnson Editor: Sonia Estal / Ian Phillips | 8 | 6,345 | video |
After 30-plus years of working and socking away savings, you can finally see retirement on the horizon. But it's not time to coast just yet. The actions you take in the final decade before you quit working are crucial to getting the next phase off to a smooth start. Here are 5 things you must do now. 1. See if you're saving enough. If you haven't recently, take stock of where you are and where you need to be. For example, to replace 70% of your earnings by age 65, you'll need to accumulate 12 times your pay at 65. But even if you're playing catch-up, you can still make it to the finish line with what you need. Your choice: Seriously power-save, or work a bit longer while saving less. Say you have five times your income; you could sock away 33% a year for the next 10 years, or delay retirement 24 months while banking 20%. Either way, don't miss out on catch-up contributions! Those 50-plus can put $6,000 extra in a 401(k), $1,000 more in an IRA in 2015. 2. Stagger your retirement with your spouse. Among two-income couples, nearly one in five retires in the same year, and another 30% within two years of each other, reports the Urban Institute. But quitting in tandem isn't necessarily the best move. If one spouse works just a few years longer, you can draw less from your portfolio in those initial years. 3. Don't automatically quit on stocks. To achieve returns to sustain a 30-year retirement, you need to still be investing for growth. Stocks should make up 50% to 60% of your allocation, with the rest in bonds. The caveat: Those within 10% of their ultimate savings goal can choose to dial back to 40%. 4. Do the math on your mortgage. Of course you don't want to carry credit card debt into retirement, but what about the mortgage? The old advice was to burn it before you left work, but in today's low-rate environment, maybe not. Assuming that your rate is less than 5% and that you'll be able to afford the payments from guaranteed-income sources in retirement or if you're planning to move there's no rush. You may do better by investing money you would have put toward the loan. On the other hand, if you won't be able to swing the nut later on, or simply want peace of mind, use the repayment calculator at bankrate.com to figure out how to erase the debt sooner. Or consider a cash-in refi to a shorter-term loan. Say you have $200,000 and 20 years left on a 30-year mortgage at 5%. Refinancing to a 15-year at 3% and putting in $50,000 would shave off five years and cut the monthly payment from $1,381 to $1,074. Keep up the original payment, and the loan will be paid off in 11 years, plus you'll save $10,300 in interest. 5. Make friends with the young'uns. Sure, you still want to dazzle your boss, but you'd better be working just as hard to make allies below you. Your younger coworkers are likely to move up the ranks over the next 10 years and have a say in whether you stay or go. Hanging onto your job for the next decade will be essential to keeping your plan on track. So train subordinates, mentor up-and-comers, and look into a "reverse mentorship" in which a junior colleague teaches you something new. Answer this question to get more financial advice tailored to your place on the Road to Wealth: Which best describes your financial life? a) A disaster b) I have a little savings c) I've got a nest egg but big goals too d) Doing great | 3 | 6,346 | finance |
The walls of our homes have the power to speak volumes about our lives. Filled walls produce a lived-in look packed with personality, while blank walls suggest that you don't plan to stick around for long. All that empty space is just a missed opportunity. Perplexed by a blank wall? Here are 10 uniquely creative ways to jazz it up without having to reach for a brush and bucket of paint. Literally Speaking No need for expensive wallpaper when you can adorn your walls with the pages from an old book. This is a wonderful project for thinking outside the binding outdated textbooks, dictionaries, and coffee table books are great resources. Hang In There Pay tribute to the good old '70s with a splash of macramé on your wall. You can buy or DIY samples of this classic hand-knotted art for a happy hanging that's not-so-standard. Wall of Washi Change your wall decor as easily as you change your mind with washi ! This wildly popular Japanese masking tape comes in several widths and literally hundreds of designs, so there's never a shortage of inspiration. Stripe your wall vertically, horizontally, or even diagonally to create a wallpaper-like pattern that's easy to remove. Plans to Decorate You'll always remember the creative phase of your remodelling project when the blueprints are memorialised on your walls. Mimic the look of this custom-printed wallpaper by Design Your Wall by decoupaging your own old blueprints on the walls of a small space. Magnificent Mural A large-scale mural guarantees that a wall will make a statement. An elegant backdrop like this mural of the Musée du Louvre may appeal to you, or you can enlarge a black-and-white photo of your own and print it out panel by panel in several engineer prints for something more custom. Natural Elements For a soft and earthy look, try lining an accent wall with a sheet or tiled squares of cork. You'll be excited to know the end result is both eye-catching and eco-friendly: Natural cork tiles are a renewable resource, because the bark is merely "trimmed" and allowed to grow back. Stick To It Give any space an instant makeover with an easy-to-adhere wall decal. Don't be fooled: These stickers are not just for kids' rooms anymore. Polka dots not your style? The sky's the limit. Vinyl decals are widely available in countless shapes, sizes, and themes. Worldly Design A wall-to-wall map adds a dramatic, globe-hopping thrill to any room. The look is impressive, but wall murals or even just giant classroom maps like these are easy to install and just as easy to take down, so you can take the world with you wherever you may go. Gallery Appeal Create the sense of a sophisticated gallery with a wall collage of photos from the pages of magazines. Start with a unifying theme whether it's black-and-white portraits or world architecture and then flip through titles known for spectacular photography, like Vanity Fair or National Geographic, for your clippings. Weave Walls One temporary, renter-friendly fix for a blank wall is to stick up your favourite print fabric. Look for a piece large enough to cover most of the wall; tapestries, patterned rugs, window treatments, or even shower curtains will get the job done. | 4 | 6,347 | lifestyle |
NEW YORK ( TheStreet ) -- Chipotle Mexican Grill has been very successful because it knows how to give customers what they want. When it reports fourth-quarter and full-year earnings after the close Tuesday, its stock will be hot, too. The fast-casual restaurant star, with its fresh ingredients and commitment to " food with integrity ," is a prime reason for much of McDonald's suffering. Chipotle shares closed Monday at $712.55, up 4.10% for the year to date. By comparison the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 , are down 2.59% and 1.85%, respectively. Chipotle stock is now just 2% away from a new 52-week high of $727.97 -- a mark it should easily reach Tuesday. Must Read: 10 Stocks Carl Icahn Loves for 2015: Apple, eBay, Hertz and More Where McDonald's and Yum! Brands have struggled, Chipotle has thrived with consumers while keeping margins and profits up by constantly re-inventing its store concept. For instance, by launching smaller restaurants, the Denver company has increased its store value and boosted traffic at the same time. Construction costs are less on the smaller stores, boosting Chipotle's returns on capital while saving on occupancy costs. Its new concepts have helped Chipotle offset the rising costs of beef and chicken. The company has posted double-digit growth profits in its past 15 reporting periods except one. Analysts have raised the company's earnings-per-share estimates by 3 cents over the past three months and see no signs of Chipotle slowing down. For the quarter ending in December, Wall Street will be looking for earnings of $3.79 per share on revenue of $1.07 billion, up 27% year over year, according to Thomson Reuters . This means earnings are projected to grow almost 50% year over year -- and 18 percentage points faster than what Chipotle has averaged in the preceding three quarters. For the full year, Chipotle is projected to earn $14.04 per share, up 34% year over year, while revenue is projected to grow 28% year over year to $4.11 billion. As strong as these numbers appear, there is also the chance Chipotle -- which raised its menu prices about 5% to 6% in the second quarter -- will blow these projections out of the water. Getting those dissatisfied McDonald's customers won't hurt either. Chipotle stock has a consensus buy rating and belongs in every portfolio. Management has shown it can squeeze every penny out of each sale and return value to shareholders. With the company projected to increase earnings at a 26% annual rate over the next five years, these shares won't get any cheaper. So buy now. Must Read: Apple Becomes Top Luxury Brand Among China's Millionaires Follow @Richard_WSPB TheStreet Ratings team rates CHIPOTLE MEXICAN GRILL INC as a Buy with a ratings score of B+. TheStreet Ratings Team has this to say about their recommendation: "We rate CHIPOTLE MEXICAN GRILL INC (CMG) a BUY. This is driven by multiple strengths, which we believe should have a greater impact than any weaknesses, and should give investors a better performance opportunity than most stocks we cover. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its robust revenue growth, impressive record of earnings per share growth, compelling growth in net income, good cash flow from operations and solid stock price performance. We feel these strengths outweigh the fact that the company shows low profit margins." You can view the full analysis from the report here: CMG Ratings Report It's Official: Action Alerts PLUS beats the S&P 500 with Dividends Reinvested! Cramer and Link were up 16.72% in 2012. Were you? See what they are trading for 14-days FREE. | 3 | 6,348 | finance |
One of iTunes' earliest slogans was "Rip, Mix, Burn," encouraging us to digitize our CD collections and recording custom playlists that were about as third as romantic as a mixtape. At some point, you've probably wished that you could do the same for your book collection, probably because you forgot how much effort it would take to scan in every page yourself. Despite this, Amazon is launching Kindle Convert, a way for you to rip books from their pages and bring them to your Kindle. Once you've paid and installed the software, you'll be asked to begin scanning the book you want to preserve. According to the company, Kindle Convert will save handwritten amendments, autographs and images, although the system works best with books that are mostly text with no images or fancy layouts. Once uploaded, should the title be one in Amazon's content library already, you'll be given the option of buying an already formatted version rather than creating your own. The system will preserve handwritten amendments in the same way that you can currently see cover images: by marking those sections as an image file. Everything else, however, will be OCR'd into a format that works on the Kindle, but in order to get your book to that point, you've got to put in a huge amount of effort. For instance, after scanning, you'll then have to highlight the text portions on every page, mark chapter headings, subheadings and then edit the text to amend issues. Once the back-breaking labor is complete, Amazon will push the book to your cloud drive, enabling you to download it to any Kindle or Kindle App in your possession. You may be wondering, given Amazon's heritage as a bookseller, why it would be encouraging people to do an end-run around giving it more money. Judging from the amount of effort that'd be required just to convert a single book, it looks like this platform is really only for die-hards and preservationists. In addition, the company is selling the software for $49 (although it's currently discounted to $19) so it's probably making enough in the one-off fee to take the hit on any lost sales. Jeff Bezos and co had better not hope that someone invents a super-cheap book scanner (like the one below) that takes all of the effort out of the process.Amazon | 3 | 6,349 | finance |
Taxi service app Uber has opened a research center in the U.S. to explore new mapping and driving technology a move analysts believe could eventually mean driverless cars. Uber will set up an Advanced Technologies Center in partnership with Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) in Pittsburgh. "The center will focus on the development of key long-term technologies that advance Uber's mission of bringing safe, reliable transportation to everyone, everywhere," the company said in a blog post on Monday. Uber is joining an increasingly frenetic race, with major automakers and technology companies already heavily investing and testing products . Google (GOOGL) , which invested $258 million in Uber in 2013, could be on a collision course with Uber following a Bloomberg report that it is working a cab hailing app of its own . Bloomberg said that Uber employees had seen screenshots of the app currently being used by employees. But a follow-up report in the Wall Street Journal said the story was "blown out of proportion", citing sources, and it was only testing an internal carpool app that helps Google employees get to work. Google followed up with a cryptic tweet to Bloomberg which read: "We think you'll find Uber and Lyft work quite well. We use them all the time." Uber uses Google's mapping technology and the Mountain View, CA-based company worked with Lyft, another car hailing app, to allow users to order a taxi on Android Wear Google's smartwatch operating system. Uber CEO Travis Kalanick has hinted that the company would adopt driverless cars as a way to reduce the cost to consumers. "This is the way the world is going," Kalanick said at the Code Conference last year. The new research center will have Uber's name on it, but will leverage expertise from CMU, the institution that developed software for NASA's Mars rovers. But experts say driverless cars are still a long way off given the high cost of producing the vehicles and a lack of regulation. | 3 | 6,350 | finance |
LONDON (AP) FIFA vice president Prince Ali bin al-Hussein says the United States was among the national associations to nominate him to stand against Sepp Blatter for the top job in world football. The Jordanian also disclosed he was endorsed by his home federation, Belarus, Malta, England and Georgia. At his campaign launch in London, the prince said: ''There is a bit of a culture of intimidation within FIFA but, having said that, this is a candidacy for the whole world.'' But his inability to gain widespread backing beyond his homeland in the Asian Football Confederation highlights the tough task unseating Blatter, who is running for a fifth, four-year term in May. Michael van Praag of the Netherlands and Portugal great Luis Figo are also vying for the presidency. | 1 | 6,351 | sports |
If you walked into my house at 6 p.m. today, you might think I'm a terrible mom. You would see me walking around the living room and kitchen, doing minor chores while my almost-two-year-old follows me around screaming his head off. Full on wailing. Serious waterworks. The whole bit. It would look for all intents and purposes like I am flat out ignoring a helpless crying toddler who only wants my attention. It would look pretty darn bad. It might look even worse if you dropped by a little later because you'd find a still tear-streaked Bo in the living room digging dirt out of the houseplants with the television on in the background. And P. sitting at the table watching cartoons on my phone while eating dinner. Me? I'm drinking a glass of wine and making banana bread. I mean, who does that? Who really uses the television as a babysitter? Who lets their kindergartner eat dinner in front of Netflix on a weekday evening? Who drinks wine at 6 p.m. on a Wednesday with their kids in the same room? Bad parents, that's who. Right? Wrong. Here's what you didn't see because you walked in when you did… Two hours prior, Bo started bawling because I wouldn't let him poke through the fridge. When I offered him string beans (and they're really nice string beans) in case he was actually starving (which I knew that he wasn't) his response was to try to bite me. Of course, I put him down. But when I saw how upset he was I attempted to pick him up and got a smack for my troubles. Did he want to be soothed by my hugs and cuddles? No. Did he want to read his big truck book? No. Did he want his Oggie or to play trains or a song or anything else except to browse the refrigerator? No. What he wanted was to poke through the fridge, and after more than half an hour of him kicking up one heck of a fuss, hollering and tugging at me, I finally couldn't take it anymore. So I opened the door and said, "What in the world do you want?" Tortilla. He wanted a freaking tortilla. I double checked. I took the package out and asked again. He swore up and down insofar as an almost-two-year-old can swear that what he wanted more than anything else in the world was a flour tortilla straight out of the refrigerator. Cross my heart. So I gave him one. And he screwed up his little face, resumed yelling at top volume, and threw that tortilla on the floor. Did he want a tortilla? No. Milk? No. Juice? No. What I'm thinking about then is that what I want is to get in the car and turn it on and turn up the radio until I can't hear the awful sound of my son expressing himself anymore. P. rolled into the kitchen just then on the stupid trike that has been driving me bonkers all week because I'm constantly this close to tripping over it and said, "You know, mama, it really hurts my ears when Bo screams like that." I'm pretty sure I gave her the stink eye hardcore and consider myself completely justified since he was screaming directly into my ear at that moment. Just like that, I was done. I have a list and banana bread was on that list and if I didn't use those bananas today they were going in the trash. Dinner needed to get made. Life had to go on. "Bo, do you want to watch big trucks?" Sudden beautiful gorgeous silence. He looked me in the eye. "Buddy," I said, "you can watch big trucks but you have to cool your jets. Got it?" "Ya," he said in that funny accented voice of his. "Ya. Yaaaah." "If he's going to watch something…" P. hollered from her room because she has this magical sixth sense when it comes to things that might not be entirely fair. "Fine," I hollered back, having settled Bo in the big living room chair with his Oggie to watch Mighty Machines sans sound the way he likes it. "Fine fine fine. But you have to watch in the kitchen on my phone and when I say you're done, you're done." And that's when I poured myself the glass of red. The point of the story is that you shouldn't judge the mom that's in front of you because you're not seeing her whole story. Her five minutes ago or her two hours ago or even her ten years ago may have shaped what you're seeing now in ways you can't possibly understand or in ways you'd understand all too well if you had a time machine. Until you do, make sympathy (not judgment) your default. It's the kind of kindness we are all in a position to need from time to time. One of these days it may be you with the wine glass in hand. And mama, I won't judge. | 4 | 6,352 | lifestyle |
Christian Delbert/Shutterstock Persistent growth in the use of smart phones, plus the adoption of wireless wearable devices and will cause the total amount of Global wireless data traffic is expected to rise by 10 times its current levels by 2019, according to a forecast by networking giant Cisco Systems out today. The forecast, which Cisco calls its Visual Networking Index, is based in part on the growth of wireless traffic during 2014, which Cisco says reached 30 exabytes, the equivalent of 30 billion gigabytes. If growth patterns remain consistent, Cisco's analysts reckon, the wireless portion of traffic crossing the global Internet will reach 292 exabytes by the close of the decade. To put that 292 exabytes in terms you might be able to understand: Imagine every person on Earth taking 23 Instagram selfies a day, every day, for an entire year. It would add up to about 65 trillion pictures. One key driver will be the raw number of mobile users, which should rise to 5.2 billion from 4.3 billion now. Of the 7.2 billion people on the planet, about 59 percent have a mobile phone now. By 2019 that figure should rise to 69 percent of a population of about 7.6 billion . Add to that 3.2 billion wireless devices used for machine-to-machine communications essentially machines of one sort or another sharing data with other machines in industrial and other business settings. But included in that figure are 578 million wearable devices fitness trackers, wireless wearable cameras and the like. Data from wearables will grow by a factor of 18 by 2019, Cisco says, and most but not all of it will be channeled through smart phones. Naturally managing this explosion will become a priority for carriers. One technique Cisco said will help them do that is the offloading of wireless traffic to Wi-Fi networks. Last year less than half of wireless traffic 46 percent was offloaded to Wi-Fi. By 2019 that figure will rise to 54 percent. Additionally more than half of all voice calls will be routed over Wi-Fi networks. On a regional basis, traffic in the Middle East and Africa will grow the most at a compound annual rate of 72 percent. Traffic in Central and Eastern Europe will grow almost as fast at 71 percent. Traffic in North America will grow at a slower rate of 47 percent a year. However in terms of raw traffic generated, Asia will lead the world, and will be responsible for almost 10 exabytes a month by 2019, followed by North America with nearly four exabytes a month. In building out its forecast, Cisco reliedf partially on independent reports from analysts, and studies of real-world traffic patterns combined with its own estimates on how the wireless market will evolve. Cisco is the world's largest vendor of networking equipment to Internet and wireless service provider around the world. | 3 | 6,353 | finance |
Premier League clubs spent a record £950 million ($1.4 billion, 1.2 billion euros) combined in the 2014/15 pre-season and mid-season transfer windows, according to a report published by financial analysts Deloitte on Tuesday. The report said spending in the January transfer window concluded Monday equalled the £130 million amount during last year's corresponding buying period. Although Monday's deadline day was relatively low key, with Premier League leaders Chelsea's signing of Colombia winger Juan Cuadrado from Fiorentina the headline purchase, clubs stil spent more on the final day of this particular window -- £45 million -- than they did at the climax of the January 2014 market (£35 million). However, the final figure of £130 million was well below the record January spend of £225 million in 2011 when Chelsea broke the record for a transfer between two British clubs by signing striker Fernando Torres from top-flight rivals Liverpool for £50 million. Nevertheless, the total spent by clubs across the two windows has surpassed the previous highest of £760 million in the 2013/14 season and is a further example of the increased financial strength of leading English clubs, who have benefitted from increased television and other broadcast revenues. "Given the record level of spending seen in the summer (pre-season),it is not entirely surprising that we haven't seen a new record for the January window," said Dan Jones, partner in the Sports Business Group at Deloitte. "However, with all Premier League clubs recording record revenues, we might have expected one or two more major deals in this window." He added: "Despite the relative restraint we have seen in the January window, 2014/15 is still a record season for Premier League spending. "Last season saw Premier League spending surpass the £700 million threshold for the first time, and the revenue growth at Premier League clubs is such that they have been able to record a combined transfer spend this season of over £950 million." | 1 | 6,354 | sports |
In his record-breaking $4 trillion budget proposal released Monday, President Barack Obama ignores budget caps imposed under the Budget Control Act and boosts domestic and defense spending by 7 percent. The budget plan represents welcome news for nearly every federal agency, namely those responsible for the most important items on Obama's agenda: immigration, climate change, health care, infrastructure and defense. Congressional Republicans, however, have already deemed the budget dead on arrival, in part because it imposes new taxes on the wealthy to help finance initiatives aimed at the middle class, including free community college, and because it carries a $474 billion deficit price tag with deficits extending into each of the next 10 years. The White House's 2016 blueprint nevertheless offers the best glimpse at the president's priorities. The Defense Department and the Department of Homeland Security would see some of the biggest spending increases, in part to combat growing r threats from ISIS and other terrorist groups. The proposal also beefs up the Environmental Protection Agency's budget as Obama attempts to charge ahead with major climate change initiatives. It also ramps up the Internal Revenue Service's budget as the agency begins enforcing 46 new provisions crucial to Obamacare's success. A number of agencies, however, received only moderate increases or even some small spending cuts, including the Army Corps of Engineers. Related: Obama Would Slash Overseas War Budget by 21 Percent Obama also wants Congress to consolidate several programs under the Department of Health and Human Services, including the Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service and the Federal Drug Administration's food inspection program. The plan seeks to create a new department that merges the Commerce Department, the Small Business Administration, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, the Export-Import Bank, the Overseas Investment Corporation and the U.S. Trade and Development agency part of an effort to save money and avoid overlap. It's unlikely that Congress will grant the president the authority to do this. The proposed changes all come from discretionary spending. Any real savings can only come through changes to mandatory spending, which comprise about two thirds of the total budget and include entitlement programs such as Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security. Here's a look at how well five agencies fare under Obama's budget: Environmental Protection Agency (+5.8 percent) The budget plan calls for $8.6 billion for the EPA -- roughly $450 million more than allocated last year. There are also other initiatives to combat climate change, including setting up a $4 billion fund for states to help curb pollution at power plants, provided Congress agrees to it, and $2.3 billion for a clean drinking water program for states. Department of Transportation (+31 percent) Obama has repeatedly said improving America's crumbling infrastructure is a top priority. The DOT's $23 billion operating budget would go toward infrastructure reform: repairing and improving roads, bridges, rails, etc. The plan would hike highway and transportation spending to $487 billion over the next six years and would seek taxes from wealthy corporations on profits made overseas to help pay for the massive plan. Housing and Urban Development: (+10.3 percent) The plan calls for an operating budget of $48.3 billion, in part to allow HUD to restore more than 67,000 housing vouchers to the poor that were eliminated under sequestration. The budget would also allocate $500 million for a new housing program to help communities devastated by natural disasters. Department of Homeland Security : (+ 9.1 percent) The budget proposes $48 billion for DHS as Obama presses for immigration reform. An extra $162 million would go toward dealing with the crisis at the border, where unaccompanied minors are illegally entering the country from Mexico. It gives Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) an extra $27.6 million to help transport children caught across the border and beefs up Customs and Border Patrol's technology and IT budget by $373 million. Meanwhile, the Secret Service would get an extra $8.2 million to retool White House security after several embarrassing breaches. Defense Department (+ 7.7 percent) The Pentagon's spending cap would be lifted by $35 billion, increasing its overall 2016 budget to $585 billion, with operations and maintenance getting $209.8 billion, military personnel $136.7 billion and procurement $107.7 billion. The requests include an extra $10.6 billion for 57 F-35s, the embattled aircraft program, and provide $1.4 billion for submarines, $1.2 billion for a long-range bomber and $9.6 billion for missile defense systems. Service members and civilians would receive a 1.3 percent raise. Meanwhile, the overseas war budget would be reduced by 21 percent . Top Reads from The Fiscal Times : How Obamacare Will Impact Your 2014 Taxes Obama's $4 Trillion Tax-the-Rich Budget Called 'Envy Economics' Pentagon's 'Too Big to Fail' F-35 Gets Another $10.6 Billion | 3 | 6,355 | finance |
Florida wildlife officials, opening a new front in the war on invasive snakes, are recruiting the general public for "python patrols" that teach them how to identify and even capture some of the hissing, snapping reptiles. "We consider (Burmese pythons) established, which means the hope of removing them is pretty slim," said Jenny Novak, a Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) biologist, during a recent training session with 20 volunteers in south Florida. "We're in management mode now." On Sunday the volunteers spent an hour in a classroom learning how to distinguish between invasive and native snakes and how to safely capture and contain them. Later, the group moved outside where coiled up pythons were released and volunteers used poles to pin their heads, sometimes with mouths agape, to the ground. They then grabbed the snake at the base of its head and carefully maneuvered it into a bag sealed with electrical tape. "I'm not that worried about her," said Mark McCarthy, 63, as his daughter, 29-year-old Keeley Philbrook, readied to grab hold of a five-footer (1-1/2 meter). She bagged it with some help from a fish and wildlife technician, and still shaking afterward said she would not try it alone. Several classes are to be held monthly and officials say they hope to train hundreds of volunteers. After taking the class and applying for a permit volunteers can hunt for snakes on some FWC-owned properties. Those who do so are encouraged to turn snakes over to wildlife officials to be euthanized or kept for research. But officials are coming under fire from critics who say the public should stay away from the non-venomous pythons, which kill by constricting their prey. "This is ridiculous," said Kenneth Krysko, a senior herpetologist at the University of Florida. "You can't have Joe Schmo grabbing these snakes." Krysko said he thinks the civilian patrols will also be ineffective in reducing the python population. Florida is a hub for the exotic pet trade and a hot bed of invasive species that have snuck into the tropical environment. An estimated 150,000 Burmese pythons now occupy the state's southern half, according to officials. Since the snakes were first spotted in the 1970s, they have become top predators in the ecologically fragile Everglades, gobbling up whole alligators and other native species, and growing more than 18 feet (5-1/2 meters) long. The latest concern is a small population of aggressive North African "rock" pythons several miles west of downtown Miami. Since they were first discovered in 2001, 69 have been spotted and 29 have been captured, according to Krysko. Officials hope they have the rock pythons contained through what Novak called an "an early detection, fast response program." But Krysko said it is too little, too late after Burmese python numbers mushroomed during decades when sales weren't outlawed and wildlife agencies had few programs to deal with unwanted pets or snakes released in the wild. (Reporting by Zachary Fagenson; Editing by David Adams and Eric Beech) | 5 | 6,356 | news |
Activist's business failed to pay taxes | 5 | 6,357 | news |
Who doesn't love a great kiss? For those of us who are true romantics at heart, let's take a look at some iconic scenes from pop culture and see if you can guess where the memorable smooch took place. When this American film was released in 1953, it revived Frank Sinatra's film career , scandalized audiences with its depiction of an extramarital affair - and won eight Academy Awards. Deborah Kerr and Burt Lancaster's kiss on a secluded beach is timelessly steamy. BING: WHICH FILM HAS THIS SURF-WASHED SMOOCH? | SEE VIDEO OF THE KISS The beach where the kiss was filmed is still an idyllic spot. It's known for its neighboring blowhole, where ocean spray shoots up at high tide, a favorite of sightseers. Singer Nicki Minaj also frolicked in the surf here for her 2012 "Starships" video. BING: WHERE IS THIS BEACH? | SEE MORE PICTURES OF THE COVE This British landmark framed two iconic royal wedding kisses. In 1981, Lady Diana Spencer, the Princess of Wales, kissed her new husband, Prince Charles (left). In 2011, their son Prince William (right) kissed his new wife, Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, in the same spot after their own wedding. BING: SEE VIDEO OF PRINCE CHARLES'S KISS | SEE VIDEO OF PRINCE WILLIAM'S KISS Both princes kissed their brides at one an exceptionally grand office: the London residence and administrative center of the British monarch. Both princes were christened at this palace, and the Queen annually bestows knighthoods here. Civilians are welcome too, since the state rooms are regularly open to the public. BING: WHICH PALACE IS THIS? | SEE MORE PICTURES OF THE PALACE On June 15, 2011, a riot erupted in this city after the Stanley Cup Finals. As police tried the quell the violence, a photojournalist spotted a man trying to protect his girlfriend, kissing her in the midst of chaos. BING: WHO WAS THE KISSING COUPLE? | WATCH FOOTAGE OF THE SCENE Local response to the riot was characteristic of this city: The next morning, locals showed up in droves to clean up the area and leave messages of apology and support. The ESPY Awards later that year included a spoof of the puckered-up pair. BING: WHERE DID THIS TUMULTUOUS KISS HAPPEN? | DID THE COUPLE STAY TOGETHER? Richard Linklater's 1995 film "Before Sunrise" sparked a trilogy (so far) following the relationship of Jesse and Celine, who first meet on a train from Budapest. They spontaneously get off the train and explore another city together, knowing they must separate in the morning. BING: DISCOVER THE INSPIRATION BEHIND THIS FILM Celine (Julie Delpy) and Jesse (Ethan Hawke) end up riding a Ferris wheel at sunset. Jesse stammers and Celine gets to the point: "Are you trying to say you want to kiss me?" BING: SEE VIDEO OF THE KISS | WHICH CITY DO THEY EXPLORE? On Victory Over Japan Day (V-J Day), August 14, 1945, photographer Alfred Eisenstaedt captured a sailor kissing a woman in a white dress. The picture ran in "Life" magazine and became a classic wartime image. Many people later came forward, claiming to be one half of the couple, but their identities were never proven. BING: SEE MORE PHOTOS FROM V-J DAY | WHO WAS MOST LIKELY THE NURSE? On the anniversary of V-J Day, couples still gather here to re-create that passionate embrace. A commemorative (and to some, controversial) statue called "Unconditional Surrender" was displayed on the spot in 2010. BING: WHERE DID THE KISS HAPPEN? | SEE THE STATUE INSPIRED BY THE KISS It's an evocative image found on countless dorm room walls: anonymous lovers on a busy street, lost in each other despite all the passersby. Famed photographer Robert Doisneau shot this for "Life" magazine in 1950, but the image really shot to fame in the 1980s, when Doisneau allowed it to be reproduced. Francoise Bornet, shown here, claimed that she and her then-boyfriend were the kissing couple. BING: SEE MORE ROMANTIC PHOTOS BY ROBERT DOISNEAU The image helped cement this capital's status as one of the most romantic places in the world. Bornet stated: "The photo was posed, but the kiss was real." BING: WHERE WAS THIS KISS CAPTURED? | WHAT ARE OTHER ROMANTIC PLACES IN THIS CITY? In the 1985 film "A Room with a View," two English tourists, George (Julian Sands) and Lucy (Helena Bonham-Carter) cross paths in a pensione in Florence. During a sightseeing trip out of town, they share an unexpected - and forbidden - embrace. BING: WATCH VIDEO OF THE KISS | WHAT ARIA PLAYS IN THIS SCENE? "I have a theory that there is something in the Italian landscape which inclines even the most stolid nature to romance," says one of the film's characters. Even now, the scenery and the view of Florence from this vantage point is breathtaking. BING: WHERE DID GEORGE SURPRISE LUCY WITH A KISS? | WHAT ARE THE MOVIE'S BEST LINES? In 1960, the film "La Dolce Vita" seduced audiences with its decadent glamour. In this legendary scene, journalist Marcello (Marcello Mastroianni) follows a movie star, Sylvia (Anita Ekberg), into a famous fountain at dawn. The moment is actually a near miss, not quite a kiss - one of the most memorable in movie history. Just as Marcello is about to kiss Sylvia, he's startled, looks away, and the moment is lost. BING: WATCH VIDEO OF THE NEAR-MISS KISS | WHAT WORD WAS POPULARIZED BY THIS FILM? There's a tradition attached to the Baroque fountain where Marcello and Sylvia flirted: If you toss in a coin, you'll come back to this city. BING: WHERE'S THIS FAMOUS FOUNTAIN? | WHAT HAPPENS TO THE COINS? | 2 | 6,358 | travel |
News of a debt settlement proposal between Greece and the European Union eased U.S. investor worries on Monday, putting earnings back in focus. Analysts are particularly interested in consumer firms and small-cap stocks, which are only just beginning to report their fourth-quarter earnings and actually benefit from a stronger U.S. dollar. "Because of the strong dollar, you're seeing a rotation out of the larger S&P constituents into smaller caps (that focus on the U.S. consumer)," said Dan Veru, chief investment officer at Palisade Capital Management. "Consumer-oriented companies are likely to see better earnings results. So far we've only heard from banks and wholesale firms," said Jack Ablin, chief investment officer at BMO Private Bank. UPS (UPS) , health insurance provider Aetna (AET) , oil giant BP and luxury brand LVMH (MC-FR) report before the bell. Chipotle (CMG) and Disney (DIS) report after the bell on Tuesday. Last year's strong healthcare performers Gilead Sciences (GILD) and Edwards Lifesciences (EW) will also post earnings then. Stocks struggled for much of Monday to find a direction, with the Dow moving within a 200-point range. In the last half-hour of trade, stocks surged on Greek news, putting the S&P 500 above 2,000 points in the close and the Dow up nearly 200 points. The jump encouraged most analysts. "I want to make sure momentum stays positive," Ablin said. "If momentum breaks down in the U.S. market, we need to raise cash." That could mean taking some money off the table in order to increase cash holdings to 10 percent from zero percent, he said. "My concern is we are overvalued. The best thing we could see is higher revenue," Ablin said. So far, earnings have largely disappointed, with major firms missing already low estimates as the plunge in oil prices and the strong dollar hurt multinationals' revenues. "Market valuations are stretched," said Bruce Bittles, chief investment strategist at R.W. Baird & Co. "The growth rate of earnings (is) coming down significantly." Perceptions of an improving U.S. economy have also resulted in less-than-expected pessimism in the market, Bittles said. Tuesday's factory orders could further demonstrate the challenges that U.S. companies face from the stronger dollar, Ablin said. The monthly measure of new orders for U.S. factory goods is expected to show a 2 percent decline in December, after a 0.7 percent decline in November, according to analysts polled by Reuters. On Monday, ISM manufacturing figures came in weaker than expected for January. The disappointment sent the Dow Jones Industrial Average briefly down 120 points before the index recovered. Analysts noted that the report indicated slowing, not negative, growth. "The U.S. ISM was pretty good, still positive," said Douglas Cote, chief market strategist at Voya Investment Management. He sees resilience in the U.S. market and is optimistic on long-term earnings trends. "You have to look at the general accommodative stance around the world and low bond yields; you want to be in this market," he said. "You want to be an investor because corporations want to find a way to make money in this environment." | 5 | 6,359 | news |
(Bloomberg) -- Oil and natural gas producers confronting a cash drain are auctioning off the family silver: pipelines and processing plants. Bakken shale billionaire Harold Hamm and Canadian gas giant Encana Corp. are among the latest to peddle some of their most valuable assets and steadiest earners. They don't have much choice -- as the oil price collapse deflates the value of drilling operations, pipes and plants are about the only things attracting big payments for producers vying to stay afloat. The deals for quick cash are another facet of the energy industry meltdown leading to more than $40 billion in spending cuts and thousands of job losses. The capital infusion comes with a trade-off because producers pay more to process and transport fuel over the lines and in the facilities they used to own. "At some point they all get desperate enough," said Michael Formuziewich, a fund manager at Leon Frazier & Associates Inc. in Toronto. Low prices will spur a rise in deals, he said. "The longer it goes on, the more we'll see." Midstream operations, as they're known in the oil and gas industry, have retained their value even with crude trading near six-year lows because they act as toll booths that generate dependable cash, regardless of commodity prices. Offloading them lets producers avoid selling the oil fields at the heart of their businesses at steep discounts. Hamm's Sale The Hamm family's Bakken pipeline network went for $3 billion, including debt, to billionaire Rich Kinder's empire in a deal announced last month. Encana is reaping C$412 million ($328 million) from the sale of gas pipelines and plants in Western Canada's Montney shale region to Veresen Inc. and KKR & Co., in a December deal. Before the oil rout, Royal Dutch Shell Plc and Devon Energy Corp. were already cashing in on infrastructure built when the shale boom took them into new regions not connected to the existing grid. Now, the incentive to give up pieces of these cash- generating treasure troves is that much stronger. "The decline in commodity prices should free up some assets that are embedded in various producers," said Salim Samaha, a partner at Global Infrastructure Partners, an investment firm based in New York. Higher Value For Hamm's Hiland Partners LP, Kinder Morgan Inc. is paying 15 times what the assets will earn this year, before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, or Ebitda, according to RBC Capital Markets LLC. An exploration and production company would sell for less, between three and 10 times Ebitda, said James Sullivan, an analyst at Alembic Global Advisors in New York. Hamm only agreed to the sale after being certain the Bakken producer he runs, Oklahoma City-based Continental Resources Inc., would have a good, long-term relationship with Rich Kinder's Kinder Morgan, Hamm said in a Jan. 28 interview in Houston. "Kinder Morgan is somebody we can work with," Hamm said. The swings in the two billionaires' fortunes illustrate how the value of midstream assets is surviving the energy industry's turmoil. Shifting Fortune Hamm, a 69-year-old wildcatter who pioneered extraction in the Bakken, has seen his net worth shrink almost $5 billion since November to less than $12 billion as Continental Resources' value slumps along with crude's price, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Seventy-year-old Kinder, who built the world's most valuable pipeline company shipping oil and gas across North America, has caught up with Hamm after becoming approximately $1 billion richer over the same period. Pioneer Natural Resources Co., based in Irving, Texas, is seeking a similar windfall to Hamm's Hiland deal with the sale of its EFS Midstream in the Eagle Ford shale, which it owns with India's Reliance Industries Ltd. They expect to net more than $3 billion, people with knowledge of the process said last month. "They need to plug a hole in the balance sheet," Alembic's Sullivan said of Pioneer. "In order to keep growing, they have to spend, and they have to way, way outspend their cash flow." Avoiding Spending Encana's sale to Veresen and KKR will allow it to avoid spending $150 million on required infrastructure expansions this year, Mike McAllister, the Calgary-based company's chief operating officer, said Jan. 22 at an investor conference in Whistler, British Columbia. "I'd rather be putting that money into wells and generating a better return than putting it into facilities," McAllister said. The smallest and most cash-strapped producers will be the most pressured to sell their midstream businesses, said Alembic's Sullivan, suggesting U.S. shale operators Oasis Petroleum Inc. and Laredo Petroleum Inc. as candidates. Permian shale producers Reliance Energy Inc., Diamondback Energy Inc. and RSP Permian Inc. said on Monday they're selling their Coronado Midstream Holdings pipeline venture to a unit of Devon Energy for $600 million. SandRidge Energy Inc., another small producer, could bring in more than $1 billion with its plan to spin off a water- handling business in Oklahoma and Kansas, according to Mark Hanson of Morningstar Inc. in Chicago. Southwestern Energy Co., a larger operator, has a gas- gathering system worth about $3 billion, Hanson estimates. Kinder's Opportunity Kinder Morgan is among the best positioned to pursue additional midstream acquisitions, particularly in Permian, Marcellus and Utica shale regions in the U.S., RBC analysts led by Elvira Scotto said in a Feb. 1 note. "There will be some premium opportunities for the right asset," said Tim Fenn, a Houston-based partner at law firm Latham & Watkins LLP. "The overall rationale has shifted since commodity prices have fallen, from opportunistic selling at high multiples to selling to fund drilling, at any cost." Richard Wheatley, a Kinder Morgan spokesman, declined to comment on potential deals. Southwestern doesn't have plans to divest of its pipelines, with the exception of a gas-gathering system in northeast Pennsylvania that it has been trying to sell, Christina Fowler, a spokeswoman, said in an e-mail. Representatives for SandRidge and Laredo declined to comment and spokesmen for Oasis and Pioneer didn't return messages. Canadian Pipes In Canada, there is more than C$5 billion of midstream acquisition opportunities as producers controlling about 75 percent of Alberta's gas processing capacity seek to shore up balance sheets, National Bank Financial analysts led by Patrick Kenny wrote last month. Canadian Natural Resources Ltd., the nation's largest gas producer, is considering the sale of some midstream assets, though it's wary of the higher processing fees it would have to pay in the future, Corey Bieber, chief financial officer of the Calgary-based company, said at the Whistler conference. Tough Decision "If it's going to erode returns or increase costs so significantly that returns are eroded for the base business, it makes no sense to do," Bieber said. Like Shell and Devon, many of the largest North American oil and gas companies have already taken advantage of demand for their pipes and plants by selling or spinning them off before the price slide. With midstream companies in the driver's seat now, the challenge for producers that still have assets to sell will be garnering the same high prices of the last few years. Kinder Morgan's Bakken deal with Hamm offers some hope, said Alembic's Sullivan. "That type of thing would incentivize people to think they can go out and get a similar valuation," Sullivan said. "The question is whether they in fact can." --With assistance from Harry R. Weber in Houston, Divya Balji in Toronto and Matthew Monks in New York. To contact the reporter on this story: Rebecca Penty in Calgary at [email protected] To contact the editors responsible for this story: Susan Warren at [email protected] Carlos Caminada, Tina Davis | 3 | 6,360 | finance |
SN's Ross Tucker makes the case for Tom Brady being the best quarterback in NFL history. | 1 | 6,361 | sports |
While filing taxes this year you may notice a new question on the form: Did you have health insurance throughout 2014? If yes, check the box. If no, a penalty will be deducted from any refund or added to the amount you owe. With the size of the penalty increasing in 2015, and the February 15 deadline for enrolling in a health insurance plan through government-run exchanges quickly approaching, it may be time to assess your options. Of course, the matter of health insurance is fraught with assessments of risk. It's hard to part with thousands of dollars knowing that, under the best of circumstances, you'll get nothing in return. If you do get sick or injured, though, you'll collect on that insurance bet and heave a sigh of relief. What Is Required to Avoid a Penalty? As long as you have "minimum essential coverage" as defined by the federal government, you're in the clear. The minimum includes coverage through Medicare, Medicaid, veterans' health programs, and employer plans, among others. In fact, you won't be fined even if there's a lapse in coverage lasting less than three months. There are some exemptions to the mandate. For example, if you belong to a recognized religious sect that objects to insurance coverage; if the cost of insurance is more than 8 percent of the household's income; if you are a member of a Native American tribe; on so on. (The full list of allowed exemptions is available at HealthCare.gov.) There are also hardship exemptions that can last for up to a year, depending on the circumstances. Use this free exemption-check tool posted by Turbo Tax to see if you qualify. A word of caution if you're looking for a free pass. Some exemptions are granted when you fill out your tax return , but others require an application. If you plan to apply for one for the 2014 tax year, do so ASAP. The petitions are reviewed by people, not computers, and the approval process can take weeks. Your tax return must include the unique certificate number assigned when your appeal is approved. How Large Is the Penalty? Without an exemption, you must pay the penalty, known as the individual shared responsibility payment in IRS jargon. For the 2014 tax year, this payment is the greater of 1 percent of household income above the tax-filing threshold ($10,150 for a single person, $20,300 for a couple filing jointly) or $95 for each adult and $47.50 for each child under 18. The fee is based on the number of months you go without coverage and is prorated. In 2015, the penalty rises to 2 percent of income or $325 for an adult and $162.50 for a child; it jumps again in 2016 to 2.5 percent of income or $695 for an adult and $347.50 for a child. The per-person penalty is capped at the national average cost of a bronze-level plan (e.g., $2,448 in 2014) and then multiplied by the number of people in the family. The cap is lower for households using the fixed-dollar-amount formula. The Tax Policy Center has created an Affordable Care Act Tax Penalty Calculator that shows estimated penalty amounts for 2014, 2015, and 2016 based on your income, filing status, family size, and several other factors. For a family of four making $75,000 a year, for example, the penalty jumps to $1,235 this year from $620 in 2014 and to $2,085 in 2016. Michael Mahoney, senior vice president of consumer marketing at GoHealthInsurance, told Cheapism.com that many people don't realize that the fine has increased in 2015. Because the penalty is paid at tax time, "the fear is that people think they'll get a big refund but they'll actually owe the government money." The IRS, however, currently lacks authority to chase after taxpayers who don't qualify for a refund and don't pay the penalty. Making Insurance Make Sense. The penalty cap helps limit the damage, but it's still a hefty burden for many families. Using 2009 data, researchers found that nearly half of Americans would have a hard time coming up with $2,000 in cash within 30 days. And while the economy has improved significantly since then, median earnings have grown only slowly. Taxpayers who want to buy a plan to avoid the penalty may be eligible for financial assistance. To qualify for premium assistance, available on all but the catastrophic plans, an applicant must earn less than 400 percent of the federal poverty level. In 2015, that figure amounts to $46,480 for an individual or $95,400 for a family of four. See this chart for a breakdown of eligibility. How low can premiums go? "I've seen near zero," Mahoney said, "but it really depends on your geographic location and age." The penalty isn't intended to force anyone into buying insurance, he added, but to teach people that they're going to have to pay for something. Given that the penalty increases annually, mandate resisters soon may be paying hundreds or thousands of dollars for nothing. More Questions? Weighing the pros and cons of paying for a plan versus paying the penalty can be as complicated as understanding the exemptions and coverage options. For help with the health insurance application process or for answers to questions about coverage, visit the local help section at HealthCare.gov. People earning $53,000 or less, as well as the elderly, disabled, and limited-English speakers, also can turn to The Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program. | 3 | 6,362 | finance |
The ascent of exchange-traded funds has many investors wondering whether to abandon mutual funds and join the stampede into ETFs. It's not hard to understand why. ETFs didn't gain popularity until the turn of the millennium, but they have been on a tear in recent years. There are now more than 1,600 U.S.-listed ETFs with some $2 trillion in assets under management, although that's still a fraction of the $13 trillion in open-end mutual funds, according to Morningstar. Last year ETFs had their strongest yearly inflows ever, more than $241 billion, and asset managers rolled about 200 new funds. Most ETFs are passively managed, meaning they track a stock or bond index, and that helps to keep their costs low compared to actively managed mutual funds. For many advisors, ETFs are an easy, low-cost way to provide clients with exposure to certain market segments when putting together a diversified investment portfolio. Anyone with a brokerage account can buy shares in an ETF, which is a pool of securities that trades on a stock exchange. ETF prices are updated throughout the day, while mutual funds are priced once a day after the markets close. "You have a growing adoption of passive investment strategies, and that has helped ETFs gain popularity," said Alex Bryan, an analyst at Morningstar. "After the financial crisis, a lot of people were disillusioned with the poor performance of actively managed funds." Yet even advisors who have embraced ETFs say investors shouldn't be too quick to buy into the notion that mutual funds are passé. Some advisors say the proliferation of ETFs has led to confusion among consumers and that many individual investors don't fully appreciate the risks associated with some of the exotic ETFs that have hit the market in recent years. "Pushing the overall cost of investing down is a good thing, as ETFs have done, but I also believe the competitive marketing environment has contributed to the proliferation of ETFs," said Tim Maurer, a certified financial planner and director of personal finance at Buckingham and The BAM Alliance. "There is this notion that if a little bit is good, than a whole lot is better." He added, "That's essentially where we are right now." Many investors believe ETFs are cheaper than comparable mutual funds, but that's not always the case, said Artie Green, a CFP and a principal at Cognizant Wealth Advisors. "There are numerous examples of mutual funds in certain asset classes that are less expensive than their ETF counterparts," wrote Green in a blog posting. A recent Morningstar study comparing the average expense ratios of index-based ETFs and comparable mutual funds found that ETFs were only cheaper than their mutual fund counterparts in a few categories, on an asset-weighted basis. Asset weighting gives larger funds greater influence on an average, mitigating the influence of small funds, which tend to have higher expense ratios. For that reason, an asset-weighted average is a better representation of the average investor's experience than a simple average, according to Morningstar's Bryan. The Vanguard Group's dominance in the mutual fund arena had a big influence on the study's key finding when it comes to comparative asset-weighted expenses, Bryan noted. "Vanguard prices all their funds at cost, so their large presence in the mutual fund space pulled down average asset-weighted expenses," he said. While expenses are important, they certainly aren't the only factor to consider when deciding between an ETF and comparable mutual fund, experts say. The tax efficiency of ETFs, which is tied to the way they handle redemptions, gives them a big advantage over mutual funds for those investing through a taxable account, Bryan said. On the other hand, investors building a portfolio through small, regular contributions might be better off using mutual funds, many of which can be bought on a no-load, or commission-free, basis directly from fund companies. ETFs are typically sold through a brokerage, and in most cases investors must pay commissions to buy shares. While many of the first ETFs simply tracked the major indexes, investors can now choose from a mind-boggling array of products. Advisors say it behooves investors to look under the hood, as they should do with any type of investment product. "There are four to five indexes that cover the large-cap space, and they are all a little different," said Green at Cognizant Wealth Advisors. "Depending on the index and trading strategy, you can have a difference in returns among comparable ETFs." So-called strategic beta funds are one of the fastest-growing categories of ETFs. The number of strategic beta funds which are also called smart beta, alternative beta and enhanced index funds, among other monikers has nearly doubled over the past four years to some 400, according to Morningstar. The funds had more than $402 billion in assets under management at the end of last year. Strategic beta funds deviate from the strategy of simply tracking market-cap weighted indexes. The funds track tailored benchmarks in an effort to boost returns or manage risk. For instance, Vanguard's Dividend Appreciation ETF (VIG-MX) tracks the Nasdaq U.S. Dividend Achievers Select Index (.DVG) , which is derived from the Nasdaq U.S. Broad Dividend Achievers Index (.DAA) and includes stocks that have a history of increasing their dividends in each of the last 10 years. In theory, strategic beta funds should be less expensive than similar actively managed funds because they track indexes, said Morningstar's Bryan. In addition to considering cost, investors ought to focus on funds that provide actual performance information, not back-tested results, and detailed information about the construction of the indexes they track, he said. Although ETFs have gained a strong following among advisors, some of the funds have raised a few eyebrows. Green, at Cognizant Wealth Advisors, said he avoids leveraged ETFs "like the plague." The funds use derivatives to amplify the returns of an underlying index. According to Green, they generally perform as expected if the indexes they track consistently rise or fall in value over time. But during times of volatility, their structure tends to exaggerate losses more than gains, which can produce nasty surprises for investors who don't fully know what they are getting into, he said. "The only people these would really appeal to are day traders, and as far as I am concerned, they are gamblers trying to predict short-term movements of individual stocks or asset classes," Green said. | 3 | 6,363 | finance |
Brazilian rookie Felipe Nasr upstaged former world champions Kimi Raikkonen and Fernando Alonso as he went fastest on the third day of pre-season testing in Jerez. Nasr's Sauber C34 car has been an early season hit and his best time of 1min 21.545 in 108 laps was enough to end Ferrari's dominance on the leaderboard from the opening couple of days. However, technical problems persisted for McLaren and Red Bull as Alonso and Daniel Ricciardo were at the back of the grid both in time and laps completed. "It is only testing, it doesn't mean anything to be leading the testing today because I don't know what the others are doing with fuel," said Nasr. "But so far it's so positive and much better than I expected." Raikkonen took over from new teammate Sebastian Vettel in the SF15-T, but couldn't match the pace set by the German on the opening two days as he was 0.205sec behind Nasr in his 92 laps. "I think the whole team has done a very good job over the winter after last year when we had difficult times," said the Finn. "It was a positive day, a lot of improvements. It is a good starting point." Double world champions Mercedes continued to prioritise mileage over speed as Nico Rosberg racked up 151 laps to add to his world record 157 lap effort on day one. Rosberg could even have managed more, but his W06 had to be towed back to the garage after stopping on the track midway through the day. McLaren looked to have put a disappointing opening couple of days during which Alonso and Jenson Button managed just six laps apiece behind them early in the day. Alonso was able to log 32 laps on Tuesday morning, albeit 14 seconds off the pace set by Nasr. Yet, worse was to come as cooling pressure problem in the power unit prevented any running after lunch to once again leave them as the team with the least amount of mileage on the day. The Spaniard will now have to wait until the second test in Barcelona later this month to get back in the Mp4-30 as Button will take over for Wednesday's final day in Jerez. "This morning it was just a relief to see the car get out of the garage and nine o'clock and running faultlessly during a few hours," said McLaren's racing director Eric Boullier. "We could have run maybe half an hour at the end, but instead we decided to wait and make sure it's right for tomorrow." Barcelona will also be a big test for the only non-Mercedes driver to win a grand prix last season as Ricciardo has been restricted to just 83 laps over two days in Jerez. "Obviously we were a bit limited with our running today, the last hour was a bit better. We got some long runs done, but I think testing is where you get to know the car a bit better and feel how it uses the tyres," said the Australian. "It's always tricky to rack up a lot of laps at the first test. Obviously some teams have done it and I think we've got a few more opportunities in Barcelona." Red Bull's unreliability is even more alarming as another rookie Carlos Sainz gave the Spanish fans more to see than the home hero Alonso as he completed 136 laps for their junior team Toro Rosso. | 1 | 6,364 | sports |
An underground explosion in Brooklyn, New York, blew off a manhole cover and it was all caught on camera. | 5 | 6,365 | news |
Hillary Clinton has taken the virtual route to start wading into the fray over vaccines, tweeting in part, "#vaccineswork. Let's all protect our kids." Although science evidence indicates that vaccines are effective for the vast majority of people, vaccinating has come under political fire recently. Here's how Clinton weighed in on Monday: The science is clear: The earth is round, the sky is blue, and #vaccineswork . Let's protect all our kids. #GrandmothersKnowBest Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) February 3, 2015 The statement from the likely 2016 Democratic presidential candidate contrasted starkly with views espoused by some potential Republican presidential hopefuls , including Chris Christie, the governor of New Jersey, and Rand Paul, a senator from Kentucky. Christie on Monday stated that "parents need to have some measure of choice in things," like vaccines. His team then scrambled to revise and clarify the statement, with his spokesman Kevin Roberts insisting that "the Governor believes vaccines are in important public health protection." Paul, meanwhile, said he had heard of children "who wound up with profound mental disorders after vaccines." On Monday President Obama urged parents to vaccinate their children, saying in an interview with NBC's Savannah Guthrie , "A major success of our civilization has the ability to prevent diseases that in the past have devastated folks." He added, "The science is…pretty indisputable." The debate over vaccinating is not the first time a medical and scientific issue has been caught up in the realm of politics. Abortion, specifically, and a woman's reproductive rights and control over her body more generally have divided politicians and the public for decades. The question of choice and government control has been pervasive as well in debates related to obesity and the consumption of sugar, as well as smoking and tobacco use. Anti-vaccination sentiment dates back centuries, but the current "anti-vaxxer movement," as it's frequently called, can be traced back to a widely discredited 1998 study that linked the Measles, Mumps, and Rubella (MMR) vaccine to autism. As the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) points out on its website, a scientific review by the Institute of Medicine rejected any causal relationship between the controversial vaccines and autism. Still, belief is growing among Americans that the risks of vaccines outweigh the benefits, even though mass immunization is considered one of the greatest public health achievements of the 20th century, responsible for the reduction or elimination of several major communicable diseases, including smallpox and polio. | 5 | 6,366 | news |
Cristiano Ronaldo will finish his career at Real Madrid, the Portuguese superstar's agent said Tuesday as he put a £300 million ($452 million, 298 million euros) price-tag on the world footballer of the year. "He is the best player ever in the world. You can't compare him with anybody else," agent Jorge Mendes said of Ronaldo in an interview with the BBC. "If for any reason the club decide to sell him tomorrow for £300 million, someone will pay," Mendes added. But the agent said there was no danger of his 29-year-old compatriot, voted the world's best player for a third time last month -- beating Barcelona's Lionel Messi to the award -- leaving Real's Bernabeu Stadium. "Cristano Ronaldo? One billion. His buyout clause one billion, so it is one billion. It is impossible to find someone like him." Asked if Ronaldo, who joined Real from Manchester United for a world record £80 million in 2009, would end his career with the Spanish giants, Mendes said "for sure". "He will not leave Real Madrid," Mendes insisted. | 1 | 6,367 | sports |
In its battle to take a shred of market share and design swagger from Nike, Adidas may have no greater ally than the rapper Kanye West. With his first sneaker collaboration with Nike, Kanye (as he's generally known) catapulted himself, Air Jordan-style, into the realm of seriously desirable sneakers, with resale values far beyond their original sticker price. With the sequel, Nike's Yeezy 2, he did it again: "The fact that Yeezy 2 resale prices never seriously fell off just goes to show that sometimes the hype no matter how outsized is justified," wrote Russ Bengston at Complex, in a piece titled "The 25 Most Hyped Sneakers of All Time." That 2012 shoe, in two different color-ways, still holds the top two rankings on Campless, a site that uses data points including total sold, price volatility, and resale prices to analyze the power of specific sneakers. Since Kanye announced that he would take his Midas touch to Adidas in 2013, sneaker and fashion blogs have covered every incremental step toward the third coming of Yeezy: It will be released in June no, November; Here's a leaked image of a prototype; He's talking about it on the Ellen DeGeneres Show! Now, Adidas is at once feeding and the hype and streamlining the sales system for rabid sneakerheads with a new app. It's called Confirmed, and is specially designed for selling limited-edition sneakers whose demand far outstrips the supply. Simon Atkins, who oversees US brand marketing for Adidas, told Quartz that Confirmed will be the primary way for Adidas fans to get at those products, adding that a recent sneaker designed with the rap artist Pusha T would have been a good candidate for the app. "Consumers are frustrated," he said, describing the current systems for buying shoes with potentially high resale values, which often involve lotteries for reservations, long lines, and no guarantees. "It's not an even playing field," he said. "On Twitter, you're faced with bots." That last comment was likely a jab at Nike, whose Twitter-based system, RSVP, has been hacked before. Once users download Adidas' app, they will receive push notifications when a certain shoe is available in their geographic zone. Then, they'll be able to pick out a pair in their size, and make a reservation to complete the purchase in a nearby store. Some may say an app that requires fans to own smartphones doesn't exactly level the playing field, and there will likely be those who feel nostalgic for the days sneakerheads lined up outside the store. "In effect, the line is in your app," said Atkins. "It's a virtual line in your hand." No doubt, many will download the app and start lining up. Atkins confirmed that the Kanye West collaboration would be released on the app, though he wouldn't divulge the date. | 5 | 6,368 | news |
Plunging oil prices have pushed major oil and gas producers to curtail their projects and slash their budgets, which means thousands of jobs are at risk. The rapid decline in oil prices has served as a boon to consumers who are saving money each month, but extremely low prices will affect the 9 million Americans who owe their livelihoods to the energy industry among the 32 states which produce commercial quantities of oil and natural gas. The dramatic drop in oil prices isn't all good news for the American economy, said Bernard Weinstein, associate director of the Maguire Energy Institute at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. A conservative estimate is that about 33% of the oil and gas extraction jobs, or 65,000 positions, will vanish during 2015. Other industries such as oilfield service companies, manufacturers of drilling equipment and transportation services related to oil and gas extraction will also be hit, although estimates for those jobs are harder to determine, he said. Companies such as Halliburton, Schlumberger and Baker Hughes have already announced huge layoffs, although most of them are likely to be outside the U.S. Although Texas, Alaska and North Dakota are the largest producers of hydrocarbons, 29 other states also produce commercial amounts of oil and natural gas. "The geographic impacts of the downturn in the industry will be felt nationally," Weinstein said. "For example, the Marcellus Shale in Pennsylvania and West Virginia is now the nation's number one producer of natural gas both dry gas and natural gas liquids such as ethane and propane." Alaska, North Dakota and Texas will face a dramatic drop in revenue in 2015 due to the plunging oil prices, which results in less drilling and more laid-off workers, said Chris Faulkner, CEO of Breitling Energy, a Dallas oil and gas exploration and production company. In Texas, 125,000 direct and indirect jobs could be at risk while North Dakota could see 50,000 to even 75,000 jobs "evaporating" if low oil prices remain "for any length of time," he said. "Keep in mind that the oil and gas industry pays some of the highest wages in this country and these jobs are not easily replaceable in another industry," Faulkner said. "This is not a matter of one of our employees getting laid off from Hilton and getting hired over at Hyatt. These jobs at this pay level are very hard to find outside of the oil and gas industry." The long-term effect of extremely low oil prices could produce a "huge price swing in the other direction" when "too many unprofitable producers throw in the towel in the next year or so," Faulkner predicts. "Losing too much investment or stimulating demand could create a price shock in future years as the necessary supply growth cannot return quickly once curtailed," he said. "If anything, removing the OPEC wildcard should raise the hurdle rate required on oil projects, which may require even high prices for higher cost and risky projects." The downside to cheap oil is that a fair number of higher paying jobs in the oil field and oil field services industry will be lost, affecting housing and property values, said Patrick Morris, CEO of HAGIN Investment Management in New York City. "With modest to slow growth in most other sectors, the loss of tens of thousands of higher paying energy sector jobs is going to have a pretty big negative impact," he said. "The alarming fact is that many of the areas, certainly in North Dakota, that were the biggest beneficiaries, will now be the big losers. Property values will decrease." McKinsey, the management consulting firm, estimated in 2013 that the shale oil boom would create 1.7 million new jobs and add up to $690 billion a year to GDP by 2020. "This is a pretty big number to lose, but over five years it works out to about 28,000 jobs per month that will not be created at this level," Morris said. The states which rely heavily on oil and gas tax revenue to contribute to their budgets will now see that money is at "risk and so are programs like education, transportation and intrastate expansion projects," Faulkner said. Another downfall of low oil prices limiting production is that the risks of outages increase, he said. "As prices fall, outage risks rise particularly from financially stressed nations like Venezuela and Nigeria, which cannot maintain their current subsidies," Faulkner said. "As subsidies are lifted, the risk of civil unrest tends to rise, putting production at risk. With little spare capacity today, the market has few options to deal with a large outage." The glut in the current supply of oil will decrease as demand will rise each year, said Morris. As production for some companies starts to rise again and oil prices stabilize, some jobs will reemerge. "Whether oil stabilizes at $70 or $85 a barrel is nothing that I can forecast precisely, but in that range the employment opportunities in the space will improve fairly dramatically and the outlook for drillers and operators is also pretty good," Morris said. | 3 | 6,369 | finance |
Parts of northern Japan were digging out Tuesday from nearly six feet (1.8 metres) of snow after a massive winter storm dumped record amounts. Around 50 troops were pressed into action in Hokkaido to shovel paths to snow-blanketed houses in Rausu on the eastern tip of the island. The town was the worst-hit part of Japan when a major snowstorm whacked into the country at the weekend. The meteorological agency which gave the snowfall figure warned of strong winds and further snowfall still to come in the region. "We are telling our residents to stay home if possible," a town official told AFP by telephone. "It's quite dangerous to go outside in this storm," the official said, adding that there had been no immediate reports of injuries or damage. The snowfall on Monday forced railway operators to cancel nearly 100 train services, affecting some 4,660 passengers, according to local media. The severe weather comes as the US city of Boston was suffering with its own record snowfall of 40 centimetres (1.3 feet) on Monday, forcing the postponement of a victory parade for Super Bowl winners the New England Patriots and spelling travel misery. | 5 | 6,370 | news |
A Spanish judge charged the president of FC Barcelona, Josep Maria Bartomeu, on Tuesday with tax fraud linked to the signing of Brazilian star Neymar. Judge Pablo Ruz at the National Court in Madrid ordered Bartomeu in a written ruling to appear before him on February 13 as a suspect over alleged tax evasion worth 2.85 million euros ($3.26 million). | 1 | 6,371 | sports |
SN's Ross Tucker says he understands Pete Carroll's decision to pass with the Super Bowl on the line, but it was still the wrong call for a multitude of reasons. | 1 | 6,372 | sports |
On Monday, Lands' End -- the casual/preppy American retailer often associated with its mail-order catalogs -- announced that Federica Marchionni, Dolce & Gabbana's U.S. president, will be the company's next CEO. Marchionni joined the Italian brand in 2001 as a global group director and became president in 2011. "She is a multi-talented, visionary business leader with a complete set of creative, strategic and analytical skills to grow a multi-channel apparel brand in a highly competitive and evolving global environment," said Josephine Linden, chairman of the board, in a statement. "She also fully embraces the principles of quality, value and service on which Gary Comer founded Lands' End in 1963. We are confident she will build upon the Company's legacy as a classic American brand with a keen eye toward its future as a global lifestyle brand." The current CEO, Edgar Huber, is resigning at the company after almost four years. "With the successful completion of the spin-off of Lands' End from Sears Holdings Corporation, I have accomplished what I came to achieve at Lands' End and I look forward to the Company's success in the future," he said in a statement. In truth, the spin-off of Lands' End from Sears -- which Sears bought for $1.9 billion 2002 -- was not so smooth . The 50 year-old preppy American retailer hoped leaving the struggling department store conglomerate would increase business, but merchandise sales and services decreased 2.8 percent to $373.1 million in the third quarter of 2014 compared to 2013, due to a 1.2 percent decrease in direct sales and an 11.5 percent decrease in retail sales. The board is hoping Marchionni's luxury experience will revitalize Lands' End. The company's statement calls out her experience overseeing the opening of major D&G stores across the country, including the New York City flagship. With only 14 freestanding stores and a decreasing amount of floorspace at Sears, it's reasonable to speculate that more retail locations are in store for Land End's future. This article was written by Chantal Fernandez from Fashionista and was legally licensed through the NewsCred publisher network. | 4 | 6,373 | lifestyle |
One of the perks of living in L.A. is that you're always within a five-block radius of a taco. Of course, everyone has their favorite spot the place they always hit up when in need of a serious taco fix. But, where do the true taco fans go? Now, that's the real question.Don't fret: We've got your back. We've narrowed it down to the absolute best bites that the city has to offer. From unassuming food carts that gather lines of hungry taco fanatics to small storefronts to long-established classics, we've rounded up the spots that every aficionado knows and loves. Taco crawl, anyone? Photo: Courtesy of One of the perks of living in L.A. is that you're always within a five-block radius of a taco. Of course, everyone has their favorite spot the place they always hit up when in need of a serious taco fix. But, where do the true taco fans go? Now, that's the real question.Don't fret: We've got your back. We've narrowed it down to the absolute best bites that the city has to offer. From unassuming food carts that gather lines of hungry taco fanatics to small storefronts to long-established classics, we've rounded up the spots that every aficionado knows and loves. Taco crawl, anyone? Photographed by Phoebe Chuason. Ricky's Fish TacosWhen it comes to fish tacos, Ricky Piña's Baja-style versions are what's up. Serving golden, fried fish filets, fresh pico de gallo, and shredded cabbage in a homemade tortilla, they embody the best of Ensenada in one bite. Cover with white sauce and fresh, hot salsa, and get ready to enter Mexican-food heaven.Ricky's Fish Tacos, 1400 North Virgil Avenue (near De Longpre Avenue); 323-906-7290. Photo: Courtesy of Bar Amá. Bar AmáIf a breakfast taco is what you're craving, there's none as good as Bar Amá's. With fillings of carne, potato and egg, sausage and egg, or bean and cheese, it's the perfect plate to start your day not to mention an excellent hangover cure.Bar Ama, 118 West 4th Street (near South Spring Street); 213-687-8002. Photo: Courtesy of Chichén Itzá. Chichén Itzá RestaurantServing up delicious Yucatán cuisine from their outpost at south L.A.'s Mercado de Paloma, the Cetina family has kept Chichén Itzá high on every taco lover's list throughout the years. The region's Spanish-, Lebanese-, and Mayan-influenced cuisine is represented wonderfully throughout the menu, but the must-order item is the Cochinita Pibil: a dish featuring achiote-rubbed pork wrapped in banana leaves, slow-roasted for hours on end before it's shredded, placed in a fresh tortilla, and covered with red pickled onions.Chichén Itzá Restaurant, 3655 South Grand Avenue (near West 37th Street); 213-741-1075. Photographed by Phoebe Chuason. Sky's Gourmet TacosTurns out, you don't need to venture south of the border for taco inspiration. With items like filet mignon and crawfish tacos on the menu, this soul food-influenced shop may not be serving up your traditional fare, but we aren't complaining one bit. With more than 20 years of serving their "Southwest meets Louisiana" offerings, Sky's Gourmet Tacos shows you how traditional the nontraditional can become. Sky's Gourmet Tacos, 5408 West Pico Boulevard (near La Brea Avenue); 323-932-6253. Photo: Courtesy of Petty Cash. Petty CashOffering up semi-authentic and supremely tasty takes on Mexican street food, this taquería headed by Chef Walter Manzke is more about interpretation than replication, in all of the right ways. Super-traditional ingredients, such as blue-corn tortillas, meet nontraditional items like maitake mushrooms, creating a nod to the classic taco that's totally unique.Petty Cash, 7360 Beverly Boulevard (near North Fuller Avenue); 323-933-5300. Photographed by Phoebe Chuason. Tacos QuetzalcoatlSlinging rarer Mexican fare from the Chalmita region, Tacos Quetzalcoatl has everything you want when it comes to tacos. Go for the trifecta of the cecina (a Mexican-style beef jerky), the sumptuous pit-roasted lamb barbacoa, and one of the best vegetarian tacos out there: tacos de huauzontles. A blend of stewed Aztec spinach, alfalfa sprouts, red amaranth, and a mixture of cheeses, it's good enough to stand up to the best of the meat tacos out there. While you're waiting for your order, we suggest digging into the self-serve consommé station that holds piping-hot, intensely flavorful lamb stock made from the leftover bones and drippings of the lamb barbacoa. Top it with rice and chickpeas, then sit back and watch as your tortillas are made to order. Tacos Quetzalcoatl, weekends at East Olympic Boulevard (at the northwest corner of South Ferris Avenue); weekdays at South Central Avenue and East 8th Street; no phone. Photo: Courtesy of Flautas. FlautasTake a taco, roll it, then deep-fry it, and you'll have yourself a deliciously crunchy form of taco known as a flauta. The best in town are made by Jaime Martin Del Campo andRamiro Arvizu at this restaurant. In the traditional Jalisco style, these unbeatable flautas come with an array of fillings from cochinita to papa con chorizo and are nicely smothered in sauces, moles, and salsas.Flautas, 3650 West Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard (at Crenshaw Boulevard); 323-299-9314. Photographed by Phoebe Chuason. Leo's Taco TruckWith a near-cult following, this truck's al pastor is definitely one of the best tacos in L.A. Make your way to the coveted spot in front of the spit and watch as your citrus-, spice-, and pineapple-marinated al pastor gets shaved off, then tossed onto a tortilla and handed straight to you. Leo's Taco Truck, 1515 South La Brea Avenue (at Venice Boulevard); 323-231-5116. Photo: Courtesy of Guerrilla Tacos. Guerrilla TacosFine-dining expat Wesley Avila's Guerrilla Tacos has quickly risen to the top of L.A.'s taco scene. And, for a good reason! Its daily-changing menu laden with meat, fish, and veggie offerings uses a variety of fresh and locally sourced ingredients to produce some of the straight-up best elevated versions of Mexican street food you can find. Guerrilla Tacos; various locations. Photo: Courtesy of Mariscos Jalisco. Mariscos JaliscoWhile the fleet of copycat trucks will try to deceive you, there's nothing quite as good as Raul Ortega's shrimp tacos dorados at Mariscos Jalisco. These wonderfully briny, crispy shrimp morsels topped with fermented, cabbage-laced salsa and fresh avocado often create lines that can stretch down the block. But, believe us, it's well worth the wait and then some!Mariscos Jalisco, 3040 East Olympic Avenue (near South Dacotah Street); 323-528-6701. Photo: Courtesy of Guisados. GuisadosGuisados aims to highlight the simple yet delicious flavors of traditional Mexican braises. Translation? This beloved spot is home to some of L.A.'s tastiest takes on home-style tacos. In fact, there are so many solid options to choose from here that we recommend going for a sampler to get a taste of them all.Guisados, 2100 East Cesar E Chavez Avenue (at North St. Louis Street); 323-264-7201. Photo: Courtesy of Aqui es Texcoco. Aqui es TexcocoBarbacoa fans know that when it comes to pit-roasted lamb, Aqui es Texcoco is the king. Simple and traditional, their lamb-centric menu ranges from fried-lamb's-brain tacos to lamb soft tacos that are so popular that they usually run out. Be sure to get there before the midday lunch rush!Aqui es Texcoco, 5850 South Eastern Avenue (at Slauson Avenue); 323-725-1429. Photo: Courtesy of Tacos Punta Cabras. Tacos Punta CabrasTacos Punta Cabras on the west side takes inspiration from its geographic namesake, serving Baja-influenced, predominantly seafood and vegetarian tacos in house-made corn tortillas. The regulars on the menu include shrimp, scallop, and tofu, with additional rotating specials.Tacos Punta Cabras, 2311 Santa Monica Boulevard (near Cloverfield Boulevard); 310-917-2244. | 2 | 6,374 | travel |
There's the West Coast , the East Coast , the Amalfi Coast ... ugh, coasts are so overrated. And really, we don't even need them, because apparently there are landlocked beaches in this world. That's right: This beach looks tropical and gorgeous, but it is NOT directly on the ocean. It's in the middle of a field in Spain. You'll find Gulpiyuri Beach in a meadow near the Spanish town of Llanes . The town itself is coastal -- but perhaps its most amazing "beach" is actually this inland sinkhole that fills with water as the tide rises. Visitors say it's "really amazing to see" such an awesome "force of nature." They recommend coming at high tide, when the pool fills up and it's easy to swim. Oh, and if you're craving the real thing, the actual beach is just a short trip across the meadow . We call this the best of both worlds... and also the coolest thing in the world. | 2 | 6,375 | travel |
Winter weather cancels thousands of flight into and out of Northeast | 8 | 6,376 | video |
Over the next few years, more longstanding and iconic American businesses from Sears (SHLD) to JCPenney (JCP) to the makers of the Yellow Pages telephone directories could easily follow RadioShack (RSH) into oblivion. That might sound like bad news, but it's not. It's exactly what we need in this country. If anything, we should root for more business failures to help us climb out of the Great Recession once and for all. Don't get me wrong. I know RadioShack's ruin will be a major disruption for its thousands of employees, as well as its shareholders. But like almost every other bankruptcy I've witnessed in my thirty years in the investment business, I am certain it will be a net positive for our private sector and our economy. The Onion lampooned RadioShack's obsolete business model way back in 2007 and, since then, the company has tried valiantly to remake itself, but it has simply failed to adapt to changing consumer tastes. There's nothing tragic about that. It's the sign of a healthy market ecosystem. In much the same way a forest fire thins diseased trees and allows new seeds to sprout, RadioShack's bankruptcy will clear market share for better-managed and more innovative competitors. As paradoxical as it might seem, a high rate of corporate failure is a key ingredient in a thriving economy. Take Silicon Valley. It's the world's epicenter of smart, creative entrepreneurs. It's also an epicenter of rampant failure. I've been visiting management teams there since the 1980s and I can tell you that for every powerhouse like Google (GOOGL) that emerges from the Valley's crucible, there are dozens, even hundreds of less-famous flameouts. Talking about these failures in a positive way isn't meant to mock or disparage the businesspeople who failed. Quite the opposite. I hope to take away some of the stigma of failure by showing just how common it is, and how vital it is to our economic wellbeing. New ventures in Silicon Valley are tested ruthlessly and rapidly. The good ones catch fire. The bad ones die quickly so that their founders can learn from their mistakes and come up with better ideas. This crucial "freedom to fail" is what drives innovation and business expansion. It's free market, American-style capitalism at its best. Unfortunately, during the financial crisis, we abandoned our commitment to failure when we bailed out some of the most inept corporations in our history, and we're still paying it. Imagine if our political leaders in Washington suddenly decided to inject huge amounts of taxpayer money into RadioShack. The idea is absurd, and yet financial institutions like Bank of America (BAC) and Citibank (C) made far more disastrous business mistakes than RadioShack. Instead of going into bankruptcy or receivership as they so richly deserved they were kept afloat. Worse still, the very managers who committed those calamitous errors were allowed to stay in their jobs. Perhaps worst of all, years of low (to no) interest rates have allowed those companies and many others to borrow cheaply, refinance debts, and live on far past their normal expiration dates. That has prevented better managed financial institutions like Wells Fargo (WFC) from gaining market share. It's also led healthy companies like Apple (AAPL) to spend borrowed money on economically useless initiatives like stock buybacks. Add it all up and throw in the fact that vanishingly low interest rates have punished prudent savers and you've got a recipe for sluggish economic growth. In other words, exactly what we've seen since 2008. If we want to get back to robust growth, we need to learn to love failure all over again. It's nothing to be ashamed of. It happens every day to some of the smartest people in the world. Commentary by Scott Fearon, the founder and president of Crown Capital Management. He is also the author of "Dead Companies Walking: How a Hedge Fund Manager Finds Opportunity in Unexpected Places," which chronicles his 30 years of experience in the investment management industry. | 3 | 6,377 | finance |
Standard & Poor's $1.5 billion settlement with the U.S. Justice Department, more than a dozen states and the biggest U.S. pension fund today will let the world's biggest rating company move beyond a bruising legal battle, at a steep cost. S&P, a unit of McGraw Hill Financial Inc., will pay more than a year's profit to settle suits that it inflated ratings on subprime-mortgage bonds at the center of the 2008 financial crisis. S&P sealed the deal without admitting wrongdoing. Ending the costly legal battle will help the company close a profit gap with its biggest competitor, Moody's Corp. The $1.375 billion settlement to be split evenly with the Justice Department and 19 states and the District of Columbia caps a rancorous two-year court battle during which S&P accused the Justice Department of cracking down unfairly on the company after its 2011 decision to downgrade U.S. sovereign debt to AA+ from AAA. S&P was the only credit rater sued by the Justice Department, even though its competitors also issued top ratings for similar subprime-backed securities. The Justice Department has denied there was any connection between the downgrade and the lawsuit. S&P reached a separate $125 million settlement with the California Public Employees Retirement System, or Calpers, to resolve claims over three structured investment vehicles. Financial Sting The company and regulators "settled this matter 'to avoid the delay, uncertainty, inconvenience, and expense of further litigation,'' Catherine Mathis, an S&P spokeswoman, said in a release. The settlement arguably delivers a greater financial sting to McGraw Hill than did last year's deals with the banks that admitted they misled investors about the quality of securities assembled from subprime loans. S&P's cash payout is equivalent to about a year and a half of profit for McGraw Hill. By comparison, the majority of the Justice Department's $16.7 billion settlement with Bank of America represented a pledge that the bank would write down or forgive mortgage- holders debt; the bank's cash payout was $9.7 billion, or about 85 percent of its year-earlier profit. Also in 2014, Citigroup's $7 billion settlement with the Justice Department required it to pay out $3.8 billion in cash -- roughly the equivalent of its second-quarter profit that year. Net income at McGraw Hill amounted to about $964 million last year, according to six analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg. In late 2012, the Justice Department began settlement talks with S&P over the company's ratings of the subprime mortgage- backed bonds. The discussions were derailed when S&P refused to admit wrongdoing, according to a person familiar with the talks. In February 2013, the government sued S&P, alleging it awarded investment-grade ratings to those securities in a bid to win business and accused it of lying about its rankings being free from conflicts of interest. Geithner Called In court filings, Harold W. McGraw III, chairman of McGraw Hill, said that Timothy Geithner, who was Treasury secretary at the time, had called him days after S&P downgraded the U.S. debt in August 2011 and told him the company would be held accountable for its action. Geithner told McGraw there would be a ''response" to the downgrade, McGraw said in the filings. McGraw, who was also CEO when the suit was filed, said in February 2013 that his company would fight "vigorously" against the "meritless" claims. The Justice Department has said its investigation predated any alleged comments Geithner made to McGraw. S&P's lawyers asked the government to hand over documents related to its decision to sue the company. In April 2014, David Carter, a federal judge in Los Angeles, ruled that the company should be allowed to see the documents. A few months later, government attorneys contacted S&P's lawyers about a possible settlement, according to a person with knowledge of the matter. Legal Strategy Meanwhile, McGraw Hill's legal strategy had begun to shift. In July 2014, new chief executive officer Douglas Peterson hired Lucy Fato as the firm's top lawyer and moved to wrap up the claims. The settlement also reflects concessions from the government, which had sought as much as $5 billion in civil penalties against S&P for losses by federally insured financial institutions that relied on the company's investment-grade ratings for mortgage-backed securities and collateralized-debt obligations. In its bid to put legal wrangling behind it, S&P also resolved a case with the Securities and Exchange Commission Jan. 21. The company agreed to pay almost $80 million to state and federal authorities over claims it misled investors in 2011 about ratings of commerical-mortgage backed securities. S&P accepted a one-year suspension in part of that market. McGraw Hill, which was founded in 1888, has transformed itself into a financial services provider after selling its publishing division to Apollo Global Management LLC in March 2013 for $2.4 billion. S&P now makes up about half of McGraw Hill's revenue. Other businesses include S&P Dow Jones Indices, which licenses benchmarks, and financial data provider, S&P Capital IQ. Separately, the Justice Department is seeking to advance a more-than-five-year probe into whether Moody's Investors Service inflated ratings during the U.S. housing boom, three people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg News Sunday. The U.S. government is continuing interviews with former Moody's executives on whether the credit rater bent criteria on how to assess structured-finance products to win business from Wall Street banks, according to two people familiar with the matter. It's unclear whether the probe will result in a lawsuit, and any action against the company wouldn't be imminent, one of the people said. All three of the people asked not to be identified because the investigation is ongoing. Anthony Mirenda, a Moody's spokesman, declined to comment about the ongoing investigation. Patrick Rodenbush, a spokesman for the Justice Department, declined to comment. --With assistance from Keri Geiger in New York and Tom Schoenberg in Washington. To contact the reporters on this story: Matt Robinson in New York at [email protected]; David McLaughlin in Washington at [email protected] To contact the editors responsible for this story: Shannon D. Harrington at [email protected]; Sara Forden at [email protected] Richard Bravo | 3 | 6,378 | finance |
With baseball's off-season dealings all but complete, USA TODAY Sports examines the moves of all 30 teams. The grades for the American League: A Chicago White Sox: They "won the winter" in the traditional sense of making a bunch of moves to keep the hot stove toasty. They also composed an excellent roster, from a rotation deepened by Jeff Samardzija, to a balanced lineup with a potentially devastating middle of the order: Melky Cabrera, Jose Abreu, Adam LaRoche and a breakout candidate in Avisail Garcia. Even the bench Emilio Bonifacio, Geovany Soto and others holds promise, and David Robertson might be the best closer in the AL. Los Angeles Angels: This is more of a 12-month achievement award for general manager Jerry Dipoto, who has acquired 22 of 40 players on their roster via trade. In 2014 he assembled much of a 98-win team largely on the fly, and this winter he created admirable pitching depth by trading for Andrew Heaney and Nick Tropeano. Matt Joyce balances the lineup and gives the Angels insurance against health or performance woes from Josh Hamilton. A- Tampa Bay Rays: The Rays lost GM Andrew Friedman as the offseason began, but newly installed Matt Silverman scarcely missed a beat, as a whirlwind of moves fulfilled the club's never-ending younger/cheaper mandate while fielding a representative club for 2015. There are many question marks can Steven Souza be an everyday outfielder, for one but also a ton of upside. The Rays could win 75 games, 90 games or something in between. B+ Boston Red Sox: They swooped in to corner a thin market on hitters, spending big but not wildly on Pablo Sandoval ($95 million) and Hanley Ramirez ($88 million) after an aggressive makeover at the July 31 trade deadline. Boston now has depth, trade chips and a solid rotation with little long-term liability. But can it win the East with Rick Porcello, Wade Miley and Justin Masterson leading the way? Houston Astros: They look more and more like a major league team each year and will trot out a lineup reinforced by Evan Gattis, Colby Rasmus and Jed Lowrie. Luke Gregerson and Pat Neshek give the Astros a legitimate bullpen. Is the lineup too strikeout-prone? Will the prospects traded most notably infielder Rio Ruiz come back to haunt them? The Astros seem confident both answers are no. B Toronto Blue Jays: Another solid step forward, particularly if the slight overpay for catcher Russell Martin (five years, $82 million) doesn't hinder future spending. Trading for four seasons of Josh Donaldson should be a significant coup. Yet with the reliance on so many developing pitchers, why not bring in one more veteran starter? Kansas City Royals: Still a good team. Avoided impulse buys merely to "do something big" after a breakthrough year. Can still flourish if sluggers Alex Rios and Kendrys Morales flop; cannot if new starter Edinson Volquez does. B- Seattle Mariners: Should be strong but will they eventually regret committing $57 million to Nelson Cruz, who'll be 38 by deal's end? Perhaps. Snaring J.A. Happ for the back of the rotation was fine. But his 166 innings pitched in 2009 represents the highest season total among the projected Nos. 3-6 starters. They're pinning a lot on the health and development of James Paxton and Taijuan Walker. Cleveland Indians: Some buy-low bets on Brandon Moss and Gavin Floyd, who were injury-stricken in 2014. Otherwise, this 85-win team seems to be lying in the weeds and comforted by the fact five of nine lineup members will be in the peak years of 26 to 28. C+ Texas Rangers: Aided greatly by the trade for Yovani Gallardo, who gives them a crucial innings-eater and rounds out a decent trio with Yu Darvish and Derek Holland. It's a lost year without bounce-backs from sluggers Prince Fielder and Shin-Soo Choo anyway, but the nether reaches of the rotation, bench and bullpen could use more inspired reinforcements. C New York Yankees: Avoided big-ticket items and got aggressive on the trade market. Didi Gregorius replaces Derek Jeter at shortstop, Nathan Eovaldi makes the rotation younger and Garrett Jones provides depth at designated hitter and first base should Mark Teixeira or Alex Rodriguez get hurt. With so many pitchers facing health issues, are the Yankees penny-wise and pound-foolish for failing to land a rotation anchor? Perhaps. Detroit Tigers: Actual moves were fine, particularly if Anthony Gose pans out in center field and Shane Greene turns into a solid starter. But it's getting harder to reverse the decimation of a once-peerless rotation that began with the 2013 trade of Doug Fister. If they fail to re-sign David Price, they'll have lost Max Scherzer, Drew Smyly and Price, with only draft picks to show for it. Minnesota Twins: Once again, the Twins opted to spend, ahem, Target prices on starting pitching, giving Ervin Santana ($55 million) a four-year deal closely resembling Ricky Nolasco's ($49 million) from a year earlier. They also tacked three years onto Phil Hughes' deal after his excellent 2014. Hard to imagine their rotation peaking at the same time their young hitters blossom. Then again, it beats shopping at Walmart for pitching. C- Baltimore Orioles: It's hard to fault them for failing to commit $101 million to retain outfielders Cruz and Nick Markakis. You can fault them for failing to replace them, along with key reliever Andrew Miller, who defected to the Yankees. The Orioles are clearly counting on huge rebounds from infielders Chris Davis and Manny Machado, but that might not be enough. D+ Oakland Athletics: We'll dare Billy Beane to prove us wrong: That Ike Davis can get his groove back, that Marcus Semien is an everyday shortstop, that Brett Lawrie can stay healthy, that DH Billy Butler is worth $30 million and that dealing Donaldson will serve the club's present and future well. Right now, it all looks a bit impetuous. Perhaps by 2017, it will look brilliant. | 1 | 6,379 | sports |
Virginia bounced back from a Duke loss on Saturday to defeat the North Carolina Tar Heels 75-64 on Monday. How far do you see the Cavaliers going in the postseason? | 1 | 6,380 | sports |
In case you missed it, the Super Bowl happened Sunday night. Gisele Bündchen's husband won. Much, much more importantly, Katy Perry 's halftime show happened, and it happened to all of us . Per usual, the singer's Jeremy Scott -designed outfits were completely bananas. Here are all the things they looked like. Katy vs. Will Farrell vs. Peter Griffin The Internet sprung to life when Katy Perry rode onto the field atop a giant lion (tiger? Trojan horse?) singing "Roar," and how could it not? While Perry's fiery dress looked like one of those super cool cars tricked out in flame decals, Twitter agreed that the much more accurate comparison was to Will Ferrell's ice skating outfit in "Blades of Glory." Or, Peter from "Family Guy." Dancing Sharks vs. "Street Sharks" Perry's outfit for her "California Gurls" bit was supposed to look like a beach ball, and it did. Very literal mission accomplished. BUT THOSE DELIGHTFUL DANCING SHARKS. They looked like sad, passive versions of the half man/half shark stars of "Street Sharks," but with no pants. Katy vs. Liza Minnelli in "Sex and the City 2" Speaking of no pants, who wore it better: Katy Perry or Liza Minnelli that time she performed "Single Ladies" in the second "Sex and the City" movie? Katy vs. "The More You Know" star That's all. We're done. This article was written by Eliza Brooke from Fashionista and was legally licensed through the NewsCred publisher network. | 4 | 6,381 | lifestyle |
On Monday, the Cleveland Browns announced that quarterback Johnny Manziel had entered a treatment facility on the Wednesday before the Super Bowl. According to Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain Dealer , Manziel entered the program voluntarily after admitting to his family and to the Browns that he needed help and he is being treated for "possible dependence on alcohol." Manziel's off-field partying ways have been well-documented, and many of the stories involve alcohol. The most recent came when Manziel failed to show up at the Browns' facilities for an injury treatment and team security found him at home hungover , with one ESPN source describing him as "drunk off his a--." On at least two occasions, the 22-year-old Heisman Trophy winner has spent the night in jail with alcohol playing a factor. In high school, Manziel spent the night in jail after a store clerk smelled alcohol on his breath, according to the New York Times . This came after Manziel's father had struck a deal with his son to abstain from alcohol in exchange for a new car. In another incident at Texas A&M, Manziel spent the night in jail after his involvement in a bar fight. According to the police report, Manziel was too intoxicated to answer questions from the police. However, by the end of Manziel's rocky rookie season, which included just two ugly starts, his tone seemed to have changed, saying he needed to stop "looking like a jackass" and to be accountable for his actions . It is unclear how long Manziel will be at the inpatient treatment facility. According to the report, a typical treatment starts at 28-30 days but can take up two or three times longer. | 1 | 6,382 | sports |
LONDON (AP) Queens Park Rangers manager Harry Redknapp resigned on Tuesday because immediate knee replacement surgery meant he cannot continue to fully commit to the struggling club. QPR lay 19th in the 20-team English Premier League, but Redknapp insisted his knee problem was the reason he was leaving with 15 games to go. ''Sadly, I need immediate surgery on my knee, which is going to stop me from doing my job in the coming weeks,'' Redknapp said in a statement on the club website. ''It means I won't be able to be out on the training pitch every day, and if I can't give 100 percent, I feel it's better for someone else to take over the reins.'' The 67-year-old Redknapp informed chairman Tony Fernandes of his decision early Tuesday. ''My relationship with Tony Fernandes has been one of the highlights of my footballing career, and I wish the club every success,'' Redknapp said. ''I am confident they will survive in the Premier League this year.'' Redknapp took over in November 2012, but QPR was relegated that season. He led the team back into the Premier League through the second-tier playoffs last year. Fernandes said QPR and Redknapp part on amicable terms. ''I ... thank Harry for everything he has done for QPR during his time in charge,'' Fernandes said. ''I ... wish him all the best for the future.'' Les Ferdinand and Chris Ramsey are in temporary charge of the team. | 1 | 6,383 | sports |
According to a new Bloomberg Politics/Des Moines Register poll , 40 percent of potential Iowa GOP caucus-goers agree with former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee (R) on Beyoncé: that girl is poison. Huckabee criticized the singer as " mental poison " in his new book, God, Guns, Grits, and Gravy . The former governor and potential 2016 presidential candidate also criticized President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle for letting their two daughters listen to Beyoncé's music. "I don't understand how on one hand they can be such doting parents and so careful about the intake of everything -- how much broccoli they eat and where they go to school," Huckabee writes in his book. "And yet they don't see anything that might not be suitable [in Beyoncé's lyrics and her choreography that's] best left for the privacy of her bedroom." The Bloomberg Politics /Des Moines Register poll, which surveyed 402 registered Iowa voters who say they will likely attend the 2016 Republican caucuses, asked respondents if they think Huckabee is "mostly right about Beyoncé, or did he go too far?" Thirty-eight percent of respondents said the Republican went too far, while 22 percent responded they weren't sure. Huckabee has regularly criticized Beyoncé while promoting his book, even accusing her husband, rapper Jay Z, of being a "pimp" who exploits the singer " as a sex object ." "The Daily Show" host Jon Stewart called out Huckabee over the remarks, saying the Republican is "diminishing Beyoncé in a way that's truly outrageous." But Huckabee's not limiting his criticism to Beyoncé -- in a recent radio interview, he spoke out against women cursing in the workplace, calling it " trashy ." | 5 | 6,384 | news |
The 8th-ranked Jayhawks defeat 11th-ranked Iowa State Monday night in Lawrence thanks in part to some hot shooting. | 1 | 6,385 | sports |
WASHINGTON Guys, if you want to get the girl, try bringing flowers to her mother. In a new poll, 6 in 10 young women say when they're thinking of getting serious with someone, their mother's approval is "extremely" or "very" important. In the Associated Press-WE (wee) tv national poll, 4 in 10 young women say they would consider breaking up with a guy if mom didn't like him. Sons in the survey worried a little less than daughters about what mom thinks of their dates. Still, half of 18-to-29-year-old men say their mother's approval is extremely or very important when a relationship might get serious. Dads also have their say. The poll finds their opinions are more important to daters under 30 than what friends or siblings think. | 5 | 6,386 | news |
LOS ANGELES Marion "Suge" Knight, the former hip-hop mogul now charged with murder, attempted murder and hit-and-run, is expected to appear in court Tuesday. Prosecutors filed the charges against Knight on Monday, alleging he intended to run down a friend and another man after an argument on a movie set on Thursday. He is scheduled to appear in court to be arraigned on four felony counts, which include murder in the death of 55-year-old Terry Carter, "attempted, willful, deliberate and premeditated murder" involving 51-year-old victim Cle "Bone" Sloan, plus two charges of hit-and-run. Knight's attorney, James Blatt, says Knight accidentally ran over the men as he tried to escape a vicious attack. He turned himself in the following day. Also Monday, Knight's $2 million bail was revoked after a court commissioner agreed with authorities that he was a potential flight risk and could intimidate witnesses. The ruling came after homicide detectives told the bail commissioner that the 49-year-old founder of Death Row Records could face a lengthy prison sentence because of a violent criminal past, said Los Angeles County sheriff's spokeswoman Nicole Nishida. Knight was out on bail in a separate robbery case when the men were hit. Knight was at the center of one of the most notorious rap conflicts of the 1990s, pitting Tupac Shakur against Biggie Smalls in an East Coast-West Coast rivalry. Knight was sent to prison for nearly five years for badly beating a rival with Shakur at a Las Vegas hotel, just hours before Shakur was fatally shot while riding in Knight's car just east of the Strip in 1996. In the current case, Knight struck two men with his pickup in a Compton burger stand parking lot. The collision killed his friend Carter, a founder and owner of Heavyweight Records who was viewed as a local father figure and tried to help mentor young men in the community, said Doug Young, a friend and hip-hop music promoter. Also injured in the collision was Sloan, an actor and film consultant. Authorities said Knight visited the set for "Straight Outta Compton," a film about the rise of the rap group N.W.A., and argued with Sloan, who was working at the location on Thursday. Sheriff's deputies providing security asked Knight to leave. A short time afterward, the argument resumed in a parking lot a few miles away where Knight and Sloan exchanged punches through a window of the pickup before the two men were run down, authorities said. Blatt has said Knight was attacked by four people, including Sloan, as he pulled into the parking lot after Carter requested he show up for a meeting. Blatt said Knight hit the gas and fled in fear. Because a conviction in the case could result in Knight's third serious felony under California's three strikes sentencing law, Knight could face up to life in prison if he's convicted. ___ Tami Abdollah can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/latams. | 5 | 6,387 | news |
Cincinnati might have more marketing brainpower per capita than any other American city. The global headquarters of consumer packaged goods giant Procter and Gamble is here, so the ancillary firms are legion, and one of the biggest is LPK, an employee-owned branding agency with 95 years of history. When you're redesigning or inventing products for million-dollar brands, your creative team has to be in top shape. (LPK has clients including giants such as P&G, Bayer and Nestle, though the exact projects they work on are confidential.) And your relationships have to be tight: Client service is a huge component of any agency. So LPK had an idea: Unplug the company for a day and get down to brass tacks. Certainly many people have attempted to go unplugged for a day or a month to recharge their batteries and report on the experience. But I couldn't find any examples of entire companies trying to go offline for a day. So I went downtown. LPK's Cincinnati offices flank Piatt Park, a slim green space that wouldn't be out of place in lower Manhattan. (They've also got offices in London, Geneva, Guangzhou and Singapore.) The main building is on the south side of the park, and the Brand Innovation Center, a former senior center turned LPK conference facility, was the site of the tech turn-in, a lockable room to be guarded by an office administrator. It takes a lot of preparation to be unplugged: Setting up out of office messages, printing off copies of anything you need to work on from the server, remembering to bring a watch that works. (Pro tip: If you can't find a watch, carry around your full-sized kitchen clock like Flava Flav.) People parting with their devices attached nametags to them and themselves and stacked the laptops and smartphones on a large table. "I just need 10 more minutes with my device," a woman said as she scrolled. "I have to find a real phone to call London at 11:30 is there one in this building?" one marketing team member asked as another changed all of LPK's social media account images to reflect their offline status before her laptop ran out of battery. "I'm having second thoughts," a latecomer said. "I'm supposed to build a Powerpoint deck today." The firm planned ahead to ensure every moment of the unplugged day was documented: A freelance videographer exempt from being unplugged was filming interviews with a digital camera. One woman took snaps with a Fuji Instax Mini camera to create an analog Instagram stream; a makeshift social media wall of butcher paper and markers lined the hallway of the third floor; someone brought a 10-pack of disposable film cameras from Amazon. Disconnected from their usual feeds, two communications people walk to a bookstore to get the Wall Street Journal, New York Times and Cincinnati Enquirer, documenting the three-block journey with an old-school Hi8 camcorder. On the elevator as they returned, a freelancer was arriving for the day and told the unplugged: "I'm holding. Are you jealous?" A naming brainstorm for a client's new eyewear product was powered by paperback thesauri and Post-Its rather than laptops and projectors. As a project lead described the results of field research with customers and salespeople, and copywriters called out portmanteaus and puns, I noticed hulking Yellow Pages hiding under the cart the speakerphone is on; the directories were from 2007. LPK is often a silent partner in the development of a new product for a client. The scope and details of the eyewear project is confidential, but I can tell you that millions of customers will be seeing it next year. The copywriters and project managers made analogies to pizza, cars and beer. "Should we remove the vowels?" There are no bad ideas in these brainstorms; even an idea the copywriter offered with a disclaimer goes on the board as potentially workable. "Or with a Q instead of a K to make it sound smarter." One guy who recently worked on a shapewear account had a lot of synonyms for thin to add to the mix. I was mostly unplugged in solidarity, writing in a Field Notes cahier and using a vintage Polaroid camera for eight select shots. But in a meeting-induced boredom reflex, I pulled out my phone to check my notifications (there were very few, and none of any importance whatsoever) and immediately felt like a cad for doing so. "Our whole point was to make people feel like assholes," Chief Creative Officer Nathan Hendricks later joked. The sixth floor of LPK was especially unplugged: The recently renovated space has no landlines at all, so the intercom system used to page people on other floors was useless. (Rumor had it that someone was running down messages from the seventh floor when necessary.) This is where the trend department of LPK lives, and it is intense: Their trend analysts regularly create five- and 10-year forecasts for clients, identifying large cultural movements and influences that will affect consumers' lives. Research into the past is key to determining the future: They create "backcasts" by digging through old issues of magazines to see how the trajectories of past trends have played out. Sometimes clients have them monitor trends and scrape web data; what they're after is the global zeitgeist, the metatrends. By monitoring shifts in values, they can see trends emerge and predict how future events can inform clients' decisions today, tomorrow or in 10 years. The team recently did a 50-year forecast for a client; the analysts read a lot of science fiction to digest how the way we imagine the future has changed in the past 20 years. Tech has decentralized the generation of trends and has accelerated the churn. The general lifespan of a trend often starting in fashion, then going to beauty and home décor before landing in the baby care and pet care spaces is getting shorter. That trend diffusion used to take two or three years; now it can happen in eight months to a year, creative director Bryan Goodpaster tells me. The economic downturn majorly shifted values. A series of charts in one of the trend war rooms outlines seven big categories they've identified, each broken down to three or four macro trends, with micro trends under each of those. (The micro trends are what you'd actually see on the pages of Vogue or morning talk shows.) Many of the products the trends team is working on won't go to market for another decade. So is LPK predicting trends or prescribing them? It's hard to say. On the same floor, designers specializing in patterns and prints are working on creating a pattern that evokes LPK itself. Pattern creation is an exercise they do for clients all the time but are just now doing for themselves. It's especially essential in the baby care and feminine care spaces; I spot a foam-core board covered in unfurled maxipads nearby. The in-house pattern project kicked off last month with coloring books of sorts sent to their international offices. The team developed their own ideas, based on five concepts, and they're now tearing apart the books to add the ideas to the mix. The creative team all women, most of them young seem to have a uniform of skinny jeans and boots. (Other departments trend all-black euro-cool or lumbersexual.) Some of them sit cross-legged on the floor as people talk about the patterns on the 3×5-foot boards they've developed. An intern braids colored pipe cleaners into analog watches and friendship bracelets. "Can you make me one with a sundial?" creative director Jenny Sauer asks. The intern offers one to Hendricks, who has poked his head in, and he says, "Yes." After the team has talked through the iterations, it's time to powerdot everyone gets three hot-pink stickers to vote for the concepts they can't live without. The goal is to create 100% ownable artwork for LPK. The team often buys artwork they manipulate to create on-trend patterns for clients, but for this project they want the final result to be all them. The pattern will be added to the brand's toolbox, for presentations, internal documents and their upcoming website redesign. "It's playful, but it's also serious business," Sauer says. "We want to avoid being really corporate and boring but not so off-the-wall that people can't see themselves in it." The device room wasn't supposed to reopen until 4pm, but I am notified on a walkie-talkie that the doors have opened early because some people had to leave. This causes a bit of a reconfiguration of plans. They want to make the release dramatic for their documentarian: "I want a military tarmac moment," Hendricks says. Sitting in the device room after they've shut the doors again, all of the phones start buzzing and beeping for the 15-minute reminder of when everyone can have their devices back. Though I did look at my phone a number of times throughout, I didn't touch my MacBook Air once; the only thing I got for lugging around my three pound security blanket was a back spasm. All told, about half of the more than 200 employees at LPK's Cincinnati headquarters unplugged; many in London and Geneva joined in, and a select few from the Asia offices disconnected in solidarity. Since many employees were going to be out of the office for the holidays after Friday, some couldn't pull themselves away from their computers. But most of them got creative: The feminine care group did an offline brainstorming session about get this digital audits. Creative work largely happens offline anyways, but without tech distractions, you work much more efficiently. One executive said all of her meetings ran 15 minutes short of their scheduled times. "Meetings went a lot faster because everyone was paying attention," says Vice President Amy Steinmetz, who usually is based in London and Geneva. Rather than creating a massive slide deck to give her year-end European financial update, she sketched out the bullet points on a single piece of paper and photocopied it. She presented it in four minutes. Another employee reported connecting with his coworkers more, rather than turning to Pinterest or Twitter any time he was bored. Some found being unplugged refreshing and freeing; others found it anxiety-inducing. One designer estimated she spent a cumulative hour of her day just walking around the building trying to find people she needed to talk to. Staffers coped in different ways: One wrote texts to her boyfriend on sticky notes to give him when she got home. Another put a Post-it pad in her back pocket as an ersatz phone. When the device room doors opened at 4, staffers excitedly grabbed for their phones and then seemed disappointed that the world didn't end without them. "No new notifications," one reported. "I'm apparently not that popular." "My first message: 'Check your email.'" "Three emails, no texts. Dumb. Stupid. Put me down for another 24 hours." You can follow Grace on Twitter at @GraceDobushToGo . We welcome your comments at [email protected] . | 3 | 6,388 | finance |
Wish your Android device's lock screen was a bit more scenic? Microsoft's Garage team has you covered with Picturesque, then. It pulls the daily image from Bing's homepage and throws it to your phone in addition to adding a box for Redmond's search engine of the same name, as spotted by AndroidCentral . Not a fan of the photo of the day? You can shake it off for one from the past six days. Notifications for missed calls and messages are here too like with Garage's previous effort, Next Lock Screen , but there are a few functional differentiators. For instance, with Picturesque you can read full news articles without unlocking your device, and Indian users get a few regional bits like Muhurat measurement. It's worth noting that you're trading music player controls and a few other things, though. Sound like something that'd be up your alley, regardless? Well, it's available on Google Play right now -- you know what to do. Google Play | 3 | 6,389 | finance |
Japan's football authorities said Tuesday they were sacking national coach Javier Aguirre, who is embroiled in match-fixing claims relating to a previous post in Spain. "We came to think that we must avoid risks that these things affect the World Cup Asia qualifiers," Japan Football Association president Kuniya Daini told a nationally televised press conference. "We have reached the decision to terminate the contract with coach Aguirre at this time." Aguirre, who only signed on the dotted line with the Blue Samurai last year, has been under a cloud since claims emerged that he had been involved in fixing results when he was manager of Spanish side Zaragoza in 2011. The 56-year-old took over in Japan after the World Cup with a record salary for a coach of the national team, earning an estimated $2.45 million a year. However, his side disappointed in the Asian Cup, flopping out of the competition in the quarter finals. | 1 | 6,390 | sports |
Oil major BP beat profit expectations for the fourth quarter of 2014 on Tuesday while taking a $3.6 billion impairment charge and cutting capital expenditures due to low oil prices. The firm reported underlying replacement cost profit at $2.2 billion versus expectations of $1.5 billion. BP said it took a $3.6 billion post-tax net charge mainly relating to impairments of upstream assets in the North Sea and Angola due to lower oil prices and resulting in a fourth quarter replacement cost loss of $969 million. The company said it would cut capex to $20 billion in 2015 from $22.9 billion in 2014. It maintained its quarterly dividend at 10 cents per ordinary share. "We have now entered a new and challenging phase of low oil prices through the near and medium term," said Bob Dudley, BP's chief executive. "Our focus must now be on resetting BP." BP said its stake of just under 20 percent in Russian state oil major Rosneft generated a profit $470 million, down from $1.1 billion in the same quarter a year ago but up from just $110 million in the third quarter. It added the figures were based on provisional numbers and could change. BP's peers, including Chevron and Royal Dutch Shell, have responded to the drop in oil prices by around 60 percent since June by cutting spending over the next few years. Shell said it would trim its planned investments by $15 billion over the next three years but warned against "overreacting" to the declines. Chevron executives slashed the company's 2015 capital budget by 13 percent to $35 billion. BP has sold $40 billion of assets since the 2010 Gulf of Mexico spill and announced an additional $10 billion disposal by 2015. BP said production for full year 2015 is expected to be higher than 2014 despite plans to reduce exploration expenditure and postpone marginal projects. BP's net debt at the end of 2014 was $22.6 billion and the debt-to-capitalization ratio 16.7 percent, slightly above the 16.2 percent ratio a year earlier. | 3 | 6,391 | finance |
The ball swung to the top of the key, and Wayne Selden set his feet on the right wing. He stood all alone, open by close to 15 feet as the noise inside Allen Fieldhouse raised an octave and the anticipation grew. More than 12 minutes remained in No. 8 Kansas' 89-76 victory over No. 11 Iowa State on Monday night at Allen Fieldhouse. For Kansas, it was 12 minutes to avenge its only conference loss with a second-half knockout. For Selden, the Jayhawks' enigmatic sophomore guard, it was 12 minutes to toss aside a season of doubts, of questions and quiet performances, and bury the Cyclones with a perfectly-timed breakout. Kansas guard Frank Mason caught the ball at the top of the key, and without hesitation, swung the ball to Selden on the wing. The shot was perfect, swishing through the net as the old barn exploded again. "You just got to think next shot," Selden said, "and know the next shot is going in." Next shot. Next play. Next game. This is what Selden would repeat in the moments after he matched a career high with five three-pointers on Monday night. He scored 19 of his 20 points in the second half, and the Jayhawks improved to 8-1 in the Big 12 and maintained sole possession of first place in the conference race. For Kansas, a sense of order was restored. Just 16 days earlier, Kansas found itself inside Hilton Coliseum, dazed and disorganized after an 86-81 road loss at Iowa State. On Monday night at Allen Fieldhouse, the Jayhawks exhibited complete control for most of the second half. Revenge. Redemption. Payback. Call it whatever. "We thought about last game so much," Selden said. For Kansas, this victory was about protecting its home turf. And this night was also about Selden, who had averaged just 8.4 points per game in conference play. A few weeks ago, as the Jayhawks took control of the Big 12 race, Kansas coach Bill Self took stock of his team and offered up one area for growth. If Selden could find himself, Self said, it could change Kansas' future. Mason has grown into one of the Big 12's most valuable lead guards. Freshman wing Kelly Oubre hits the glass and scores in transition. Sophomore Brannen Greene is shooting better than 50 percent on three-pointers. Then there's Selden. "Wayne is such a key," Self said. "If you've got Wayne and Brannen, and the way Kelly has played, and Frank - you've got four really good perimeter offensive players. That makes us much harder to guard." For most of Monday, Iowa State appeared to sag off of Selden, daring him to shoot. He finished seven of 12 from the floor. He drilled five of seven from beyond the arc. He looked confident in the half-court offense. He bobbed his head in celebration after his fifth three-pointer went down. "My teammates drove it," Selden said, "and they've got to help." Just 16 days ago, the Cyclones had been relentless in the open floor. The Jayhawks gave up 21 fast-break points. Self shrugged and called it pitiful. Kansas freshman Devonte' Graham captured the night with a cutting, one-word description: "Lazy." On Monday, the Jayhawks dedicated themselves to getting back on defense. They allowed just 12 points in transition. "It's been haunting us, ever since it happened," Selden said. "And we've just been thinking about it, thinking about it. We were really looking forward to this one." So on Monday night, Kansas welcomed Iowa State back into Allen Fieldhouse for The Rematch. Yes, capital letters. In 11 seasons at Kansas, Self had never been swept by a conference opponent in a home-and-home series. Perhaps those inside Allen Fieldhouse - a pumped-up crowd of 16,300 - could sense the moment and the stakes. As the Jayhawks pieced together a 35-28 halftime lead, the building rocked with an intensity reserved for a night where the theme is revenge. For the opening 20 minutes, Iowa State appeared content to pack its defense inside the three-point line and dare Kansas to do its damage from long distance. For the opening stretches of the half, the gambit appeared to work. But then Greene came off the bench and buried a three-pointer with just more than 9 minutes left in the half, and the momentum appeared to shift. Junior forward Perry Ellis finished with 17 points, while Mason added 12 points and eight assists. The Jayhawks were a complete unit. But in the final seconds, it was Selden who strolled over to the KU bench and embraced Self. Nearly 20 minutes later, someone asked Selden about the Jayhawks' streak of 10 straight Big 12 titles. Kansas, after all, is barreling toward another title. Selden heard the stat - 10 straight titles - and then looked on incredulously. "We have?" he said. Selden didn't smile. He didn't break character. He just stayed in the moment. Next shot. Next play. "We can't think about that," Selden said. "We just have to think about next game." To reach Rustin Dodd, call 816-234-4937 or send email to [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @rustindodd. | 1 | 6,392 | sports |
Bruce Jenner is set to do a tell-all interview about his transition from male to female. The 'Keeping Up with the Kardashians' star is to open up to ABC News journalist Diane Sawyer about his life change in a one-off special which is expected to be aired in May. A source revealed the 65-year-old former athlete opted for the established broadcaster because she has long been a supporter of transgender rights. The insider said: "Diane has always been very supportive of the LGBT community." Work on the "major sit down interview" is set to commence this week, with progress on creating an unscripted E! series following his transition - tentatively titled 'Bruce Jenner - My Story' - already underway. Speaking about the series, a source told Us Weekly: "The world will see his full transformation." It's a docuseries featuring the Jenner family talking about Bruce 'coming out'." Last week, the publication reported his decision to air an exclusive interview with ABC as well as a docuseries of his own is causing "internal consternation" in NBC's news division, which is owned by the same company as E!, as they were hoping they would be able to secure the chat. Bruce's step-daughter Kim Kardashian West recently spoke out in support of his life decision, describing his change as part of a "journey". She said: "I think everyone goes through things in life, and I think that story and what Bruce is going through, I think he'll share whenever the time is right. I feel like that's his journey to talk about." Diane, 69, stepped down as ABC's World News anchor last year to focus on one-off specials and high-profile interviews. | 6 | 6,393 | entertainment |
Hackers sympathetic to Syrian President Bashar Assad successfully stole confidential information from opposition groups by posing as women on online chat forums and luring their victims to download spyware, according to a new report by cybersecurity group FireEye. The hackers -- described as "femme fatale" avatars in the report -- took on female identities to lure Syrian rebels into online conversations on services like Skype, and stole gigabytes of data. The hackers, according to the report, sent files containing images of the "women," and once the victim opened the file, viruses would be automatically installed on the device used for the chat, sending data back to the hackers. "The threat group created several Skype accounts with female avatars to target (male) individuals in the Syrian opposition," the FireEye report said. "The female avatars, which had generic but country-appropriate names and profile images, would develop a rapport with the victim before sending a malicious file. The female avatars approached their targets with a series of personal questions that appeared to be part of a script." The hacking occurred between November 2013 and January 2014 when the hackers stole 7.7 gigabytes of data. The stolen data revealed "the Syrian opposition's strategy, tactical battle plans, supply needs, and troves of personal information and chat sessions belonging to the men fighting against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's forces," the report said. "While we do not know who conducted this hacking operation, if this data was acquired by Assad's forces or their allies it could confer a distinct battlefield advantage." The hackers also used social media to tempt targets by creating a fake Syrian opposition website, which would include women's profiles with links to a "LiveCam ID" as well as Facebook accounts. Clicking on the "LiveCam ID" would direct the user to a page including a malicious software, or malware, while clicking on a Facebook link took the user to a fake Facebook login page that was actually a phishing page used to collect private credentials, according to FireEye. Some of the victims appeared to be located within opposition-controlled areas of Syria, while others were located in other countries, including Lebanon, Jordan and the Persian Gulf, the report said. "Unlike other threat activity that we have profiled, this is not just cyber espionage aimed at achieving an information edge or a strategic goal. Rather, this activity, which takes place in the heat of a conflict, provides actionable military intelligence for an immediate battlefield advantage," FireEye said, in the report. | 5 | 6,394 | news |
Did someone spike the watercooler in Dearborn with steroids? Because Ford woke up one morning and decided to flex its muscles in everyone's faces. At the Detroit show, Ford squashed its rivals' pitiful showings by revealing the 450-hp F-150 Raptor, the Shelby GT350R Mustang, and the new GT supercar in a head-spinning few minutes that had hacks scrambling for fresh superlatives. But this wasn't just a flash-in-the-pan, willy-waving exercise to steal its hometown show. Ford has fully committed itself to an unprecedented rollout of 12 new performance cars by 2020. All of those will be developed under the new global Ford Performance banner that brings together racing, performance vehicles, and parts to spread costs and deliver more fast Fords, erm, faster. We sat down with Tyrone Johnson, senior vehicle engineer for Ford Performance, who explained just how the master plan will work. "There will be three categories that each of these 12 cars will fall into," he said. "Enhanced technology -- models like the Fiesta ST and Focus ST. High performance -- things like the F-150 Raptor, Mustang GT350R, and Focus RS. And then ultra high-performance, which is the new GT." We already know a psychotic four-wheel-drive Focus RS will be added to that list in the coming weeks, but today we're focusing on lowest rung of the ladder. Some photos depict Euro-spec Focus STs, including the not-for-U.S.-sale wagon. In line with the rest of the Focus range (now the world's best-selling nameplate), the ST has received a comprehensive midlife face-lift both to the exterior and interior styling and to the more interesting bits underneath. Ford hasn't been drawn into a power war with higher-powered European rivals such as the 280-hp Vauxhall Astra VXR or the 275-hp Renaultsport Megane. Instead it has stuck with a round 250 hp from its 2.0-liter, direct-injection, turbocharged EcoBoost engine. It's still only available with a six-speed manual gearbox, which could hamper its sales prospects over here, but new front springs, firmer dampers all around, a quicker steering ratio, and newly developed Michelin tires (only available on the 19-inch wheel) are all included to enhance the ST's handling. Ford has thrown in a curveball, too. In Europe and other selected markets around the world, you can now have your Focus ST with a 185-hp 2.0 TDCi diesel engine. Ford says the diesel's trump card is its fuel economy and CO2 emissions of 56 mpg and 0.39 lb/mi of CO2 and that it's identical in every way to the gas model (except for straight-line performance and an unavoidable extra 40 pounds in the nose), but more on that later. Back to the gas model: The performance gap is wider than the identikit looks and mechanicals suggest. The 0-62-mph scramble takes 6.5 seconds (versus 8.1 seconds for the diesel), and top speed is 154 mph. In a world that includes the 367-hp, four-wheel-drive Audi RS3 hatchback capable of crushing 0-62 mph in 4.3 seconds, that might not seem particularly fast, but in anything other than a straight line it's still plenty to keep your hands twirling, feet tapping, and eyes bulging. Without a front limited-slip differential, the electronic torque vectoring system does its best to lightly brake the wheel with the least grip, but wheelspin is virtually unavoidable even on a bone-dry surface. On the wet Spanish mountain passes we encountered, caution was the way forward. Carry too much speed into an apex, or jump on the throttle too early, and the front tires break loose, forcing the nose straight on rendering the steering wheel useless in your hands. Exercise patience, though, find the grip, and the ST's balance and poise is second to none. It feels flat, planted, and secure at anything up to 10 tenths, at which point that understeer, or lift-off oversteer, comes into play. Regardless of how hard you're pushing, though, the engine fizzes away under the bonnet, responding immediately to your right foot and producing a just enough of a growl to keep you interested. With less grunt at its disposal, the diesel feels more secure and manageable on wet roads but less of a firework when the surface is sticky. It changes direction, steers, and hangs on every bit as well, though, so we like to think of it as ST Lite. Ford has even managed to dial in an impressive synthetic snarl that's pumped in through the speakers and responds not just to throttle position but also engine revs, speed, and overall driving style, making it the most convincing of its type we've tested so far. Electromechanical steering systems are bemoaned for their lack of feedback and artificial feel, but Ford's recalibration team has worked a little bit of magic on the ST. By dialing up the ratio, the front end reacts instantaneously to the tiniest twitch of your wrists, which takes some getting used to but quickly means you're diving into corners will little more than a flick. There's a meaty weight to the wheel, too, and without a plethora of driving modes to adjust the steering and throttle response, it's delightfully simple to just jump in and drive. The same could be said of the manual gearbox that snaps beautifully between the six ratios, adding another layer of interaction between the driver and machine. Lovers of the smart and sensible VW Golf GTI are unlikely to fall for the ST's styling. Available in a palette of eye-watering colors, it now comes with 18- or 19-inch wheels, bigger intakes in the front bumper, slimmer headlights and a tweaked roof spoiler. Inside, Ford has ditched the old car's confusing mass of switchgear and replaced much of it with an 8-inch touchscreen on top-spec models running the Sync 2 system. Differentiating it from the standard model are partial or full-leather two-tone Recaro sports seats that strike a perfect balance between soft and supportive, and illuminated door plaques light the way on a dark night. The Focus ST might be confined to the beginners group in Ford's global performance car plan, but don't let that fool you. This is a hot hatchback undiluted in its quest for global appeal, tuned to deliver sharp responses and a snap of acceleration when required and long-legged cruising ability when not. As a starting point for all future fast Fords, it's a big win for the Blue Oval. | 9 | 6,395 | autos |
Amazon is reportedly in discussion with RadioShack to buy some of the company's brick-and-mortar stores after the troubled electronics chain files for chapter 11 bankruptcy. Bloomberg says that the Seattle-based e-commerce giant is considering using the stores as showrooms for its hardware, and as pick-up and drop-off centers for items purchased online. Both Amazon and Radio Shack declined to comment on the situation, but two people apparently familiar with the matter said that Amazon may use the locations to give people a chance to try its growing range of hardware, including its range of Kindle tablets, its Fire smartphone, and its new Echo speaker. RadioShack was suspended from the New York stock exchange today Radio Shack has been hemorrhaging money for the past two years, and saw its shares, which had been at less than $1 since November, drop 13 percent on Monday to $0.24. The 92-year-old company was suspended from trading on the New York stock exchange today after it notified the exchange it did not intend to submit a business plan, a move that sees it slip further towards bankruptcy. Amazon isn't the only company interested in the ailing RadioShack mobile carrier Sprint has reportedly discussed purchasing between 1,300 and 2,000 of the company's 4,000-plus US stores, and may co-brand the venues with both companies' names. Where tech competitors like Apple have maintained a glitzy retail presence in shopping areas for years, Amazon has kept most of its storefronts online, only occasionally opening pop-up stores in malls to show off specific hardware. The company has apparently toyed with the idea of a physical presence on shopping streets reports surfaced late last year claimed that the company would open a store in New York's Midtown in time for the holidays, but the store never materialized . Should Amazon lock in a deal for RadioShack's stores, it will mark the company's biggest foray into traditional brick-and-mortar retail, and with the shells of a once-huge electrical retailer occupied by the company that helped force them out of the market act as a fairly ironic reminder of the meteoric growth of internet shopping. | 3 | 6,396 | finance |
UPHAM, N.M. The only thing interrupting the creosote and mesquite that makes up one of New Mexico's most remote stretches of desert is a pristine runway where Virgin Galactic plans one day to launch the world's first commercial space-line. In the four years since its completion, however, the runway has seen little use. No constant roar of jet engines. No screeches from landing gear. Just promises, year after year, that it would shuttle paying passengers to the edges of Earth. Virgin Galactic had proclaimed 2015 was finally going to be the year. That was until the company's rocket-powered spacecraft broke apart over California's Mojave Desert during a test flight last fall, killing one pilot and igniting speculation about the future of commercial space tourism and Spaceport America. Virgin Galactic CEO George Whitesides said things are on track now and testing will take off again this year. "I really think we're turning the corner," Whitesides said. "We've gone through one of the toughest things a company can go through and we're still standing, and now we're really moving forward with pace." He said the company and its investors aren't backing down from the goal of making space accessible. Virgin Galactic's manufacturing crew is about two-thirds done with building a new spacecraft, and the operations team is ramping up for a test-flight program that will serve as one of the last major hurdles to getting off the ground. "Our company has spent a lot of time and money to get to the point where we can carry out successful commercial operations at Spaceport America. We're still committed," he said. Whitesides has always been reluctant to attach a timeline to the milestones the company needs to reach, but he's certain test flights will resume later this year. That's what New Mexico taxpayers want to hear. They've already funneled nearly a quarter of a billion dollars into the world's first purpose-built spaceport, and state lawmakers are being asked for nearly $2 million more this year to make up for the lost fees stemming from the delay in Virgin Galactic's commercial flights. Some lawmakers have called for pulling the plug, adding fuel to criticisms that the project first initiated by former Gov. Bill Richardson, a Democrat, and British billionaire Richard Branson is a boondoggle. Others, including Republican Gov. Susana Martinez's administration, say the state has a chance to carve out a new niche for economic development and position itself on the front end of space tourism. New Mexico has struggled to rebound from the recession, creating only 14,000 jobs over the past year while neighboring states have bounced back to 2008 employment levels. Whitesides visited Spaceport America in December. The runway was quiet, but workers inside the massive, futuristic hangar continued to outfit it for the day Virgin Galactic opens. "I really think we're on the edge of something truly incredible, which is enabling people and students to experience space, whether going themselves or sending their experiments," he said. He added, "These things are hard. That's why they haven't happened yet." Christine Anderson, the head of New Mexico's Spaceport Authority, pointed to the ill-fated Apollo I test launch and the 1986 Challenger explosion as examples of space exploration efforts that resulted in tragedy. Still, astronauts and scientists pushed on, and she said those backing Virgin Galactic and Spaceport America are doing the same. "We have invested $218 million, so there's absolutely no reason to stop now," she said. Virgin Galactic continues to pay its lease, and more money will come from lease and user fees related to the testing scheduled to begin this spring for a reusable rocket being developed by Elon Musk's SpaceX. But Anderson acknowledged that the spaceport needs to entice more tenants and host other events, including fashion and auto photo shoots, conferences and more rocket launches by companies such as UP Aerospace. The spaceport in late February also expects to open its visitors' gallery at the site, which spans more than 28 square miles. "The challenge was to build a commercial spaceport here. There was absolutely nothing here. We did it," Anderson said. "It's amazing to think of it." | 3 | 6,397 | finance |
Can't seem to stop cheating on your diet? The following tips can help you make real, lasting changes that will help you see and feel the results you've been working toward. Take out temptation : If you can't seem to say no to junk food when it's lurking in your cabinets, simply take it out of your house. Make your kitchen a safe space. Don't overdo what's good for you : Overeating healthy foods defeats the purpose of keeping them on hand. Always keep portions in check - even with good-for-you foods. Plan ahead : There is room for indulgence on a healthy diet! When you have a special date on the horizon, eat clean for the days leading up to the event, and schedule a workout for the next day. Check in with your breath : Take three deep breaths before eating anything. This tip will help you enter meals with a calmer, more relaxed mind that can prevent you from eating more than you anticipated. Eat at home : Sure, it is possible to eat healthy at a restaurant, but it can be hard to say no to those big calorie bombs on the menu! Preparing your own meals at home is the best bet to keep your calories and ingredients in check. Skip happy hour : When there's booze in your system, you're less likely to say no to sliders or french fries on the table. Refraining from alcohol helps you make smart, well-thought-out food choices. Bring your lunch : Save yourself time, money, and temptation by packing up your own healthy homemade lunch instead of falling victim to fast food. Find awareness : Do you always eat when you're stressed? Angry? Being aware of your mental state before you eat will help you get real about what lurking issues you have with emotional overeating. Sit down : All that mindless snacking out of the pantry or fridge adds up! Sit down whenever you eat to make sure you're taking stock of what's going into your body. Designate mealtime : Delineating a special time every day just for eating will allow you to be more mindful of what you put in your body. Turn off your electronics and focus on your plate. Wait for 10 : Eat half your portion, drop the fork, and take a 10-minute break before thinking about another bite. You'll find that you're satisfied from less food than you realize. Write it down : Can't figure out when you're cheating? Keep a food journal of everything you eat a day for at least one week. You'll see where unnecessary snacking or minimeals are sneaking their way into your diet. Practice self-compassion : After a diet slipup, be kind to yourself. When it comes to a lifestyle change, self-compassion works for the long haul! | 7 | 6,398 | health |
German league leaders Bayern Munich look to get their Bundesliga campaign back on track against Schalke 04 on Tuesday following their shock defeat at VfL Wolfsburg. Second-placed Wolves cut Bayern's lead to eight points on Friday as Bas Dost and Kevin de Bruyne both struck twice as the Bavarian giants suffered their heaviest league defeat for six years. Roberto di Matteo's Schalke, who are fourth in the table, are seeking only their fourth away league win of the season and their first at Munich's Allianz Arena since 2009. Bayern's Gelsenkirchen-born goalkeeper Manuel Neuer is relishing facing his home town club. "It would have been worse if we'd had to wait eight days for our next game," said the ex-Schalke shot-stopper. "Wolfsburg wasn't a good start to the second half of the season for us, that is obvious, we had imagine things would go differently. "It wasn't a catastrophe, but we know we still have a lot of work ahead of us." Netherlands winger Arjen Robben said Pep Guardiola's Bayern must respond after their "wake-up call" against Wolves. "We have to learn our lessons and perhaps it's not so bad for the future," added Robben. Schalke will be without Netherlands star striker Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, the league's top scorer last season, who is suspended after being sent off for a reckless tackle in the 1-0 home win over Hanover 96 last Saturday. "Klaas is obviously disappointed, it's a real shame. We'll have to see how we can cope with his loss," said Di Matteo. The Schalke coach is also waiting on the fitness of midfielder Marco Hoeger, who limped off after scoring Saturday's winner with a thigh injury. Second-placed Wolfsburg are hoping to include Chelsea's Andre Schuerrle for Tuesday's away match at Eintracht Frankfurt if they sign the Germany winger before the transfer window closes. Schuerrle has said he wants to join Wolves, who are offering a four-year deal and a transfer worth 30 million euros, but the deal is reported to be stalling over the money offered to Chelsea. Bottom side Borussia Dortmund have their work cut out as they chase their first win in six games when they travel to Augsburg on Wednesday. Augsburg climbed to fifth after securing their tenth win of the season with a 3-1 victory over Hoffenheim on Sunday while Dortmund have lost 10 of their first 18 matches. Borussia earned a precious point with a goalless draw at fellow Champions League side Bayer Leverkusen on Saturday, but are only three points from mid-table. Fixtures (All times 1900 GMT) Tuesday Bayern Munich v Schalke 04, Bor. Moenchengladbach v Freiburg Hanover 96 v Mainz 05, Eintracht Frankfurt v VfL Wolfsburg Wednesday Borussia Dortmund v Augsburg Hoffenheim v Werder Bremen, Hertha Berlin v Bayer Leverkusen, Cologne v VfB Stuttgart, Paderborn v Hamburg | 1 | 6,399 | sports |
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