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Don't neglect your bathroom - it's the perfect place to go luxe. | 4 | 7,000 | lifestyle |
If you're one of the world's 1.3 billion regular Facebook users, you'll know the feeling of being consumed by your news feed. If you don't use Facebook, you need only get on a busy train or bus to see countless people browsing Facebook on their phones, inspecting photos of their "friends" enjoying themselves. Young women in their teens and early 20s spend around two hours on Facebook every day. When constructing a profile on Facebook, most people choose to present an idealised version of themselves. They upload only the best photographs of themselves to their profiles and remove any images that they find undesirable. Facebook users post around ten million new photos every hour. This provides users with regular opportunities to compare their appearance with others. We know that women who often compare their appearance with others are less satisfied with how they look, particularly when they compare themselves with others who they think are more attractive. Decades of research also shows that viewing images from traditional forms of media, such as magazines or television, can cause young women to be dissatisfied with their body and put them in a more negative mood. But our recent research shows that while spending time on Facebook increases some young women's concerns about their face, hair and skin, it doesn't necessarily affect how they feel about their body. This could be because Facebook contains more images of people's face than images of their overall body. So when browsing your news feed, you are likely to have more opportunities to compare with other people's faces than with their weight and shape. In our study, 112 female university students spent ten minutes browsing either their Facebook account or an appearance-neutral control website. We then asked them to rate their current mood and levels of body dissatisfaction. We also asked participants to describe three things they would like to change about themselves and categorised these responses as being weight and shape-related changes or face, skin and hair-related changes. One week later participants reported on how often they generally compare their appearance. We found that spending time on Facebook did not impact how they felt about their body. Instead, after spending time on Facebook, women who compared their appearance with others more often were more motivated to change their facial features, skin, and hair than women who viewed the appearance-neutral website. This is consistent with other research, which found no difference in weight and shape preoccupation between young women who spent 20 minutes on Facebook or a control website. We also found that spending even a short time on Facebook put young women in a more negative mood. This may be because they were comparing themselves with others on other non-appearance aspects, such as how often they go out with friends or how much they have travelled. People will compare themselves with others on aspects that are important to them. Despite rumours that Facebook usage is in decline, it remains the most popular form of social media. Rather than encouraging young women to avoid social media, parents and educators can talk to girls, from an early age, about the idealised nature of images and content posted on social media and the impact that comparing such content can have on their mood and appearance concerns. We can also encourage young women to post less appearance-based content to their profiles and to follow or "like" pages that promote better self-esteem and more positive body image. This article was originally published on original article. | 4 | 7,001 | lifestyle |
Staples Inc (SPLS.O), the No. 1 U.S. office supplier, agreed to buy nearest rival Office Depot Inc (ODP.O) in a $6.3 billion cash-and-stock deal to better compete against online and big-box retailers. Staples said it would pay $7.25 per share in cash and 0.2188 of its shares for each Office Depot share. The offer, which is likely to face close antitrust scrutiny, values Office Depot at $11.00 per share, based on Staples closing price on Feb. 2, the last trading day prior to media speculation that a deal was near. The offer price is a premium of 44 percent to Office Depot's Monday's close. Online retailers such as such as Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O) and big-box chains such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc (WMT.N) have eaten into the sales of office supply retailers. Last month, activist investor Starboard Value LP called for the two companies to merge, saying a combined entity would lead to greater cost savings. Starboard, known for its aggressive shareholder activism, had a 5.1 percent stake in Staples as of December and boosted its holding in Office Depot to nearly 10 percent the same month. Staples said on Wednesday that it began talks to buy Office Depot in September. The deal is expected to close by the end of 2015. Office Depot's shares closed up 21.6 percent at $9.28 on the Nasdaq on Tuesday after the Wall Street Journal reported that the two companies were in advanced talks. (Reporting by Yashaswini Swamynathan in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D'Souza) | 3 | 7,002 | finance |
We may be a month into 2015, but it's never too late to explore new beginnings especially when it comes to updating your wardrobe. Often, all it takes are a few added touches to take an outfit from good to spectacular. And, while San Francisco may be known for its hoodie-and-flip-flop style, we're also home to some of the best accessories designers around. From Àplat's practical and pretty carryalls to Bryr's clogs that are a slice of shoe heaven, there have been so many stand-up-and-take-notice brands that have emerged over the last few years with more new names cropping up each season. That's why we're shining the spotlight on our favorite Bay Area accessory brands you may not know, but totally should. Read on, and have your wallet at the ready your closet will thank you. Hair And Makeup: Alexi Ogle, Paper Props: Chloe Fleury, Model: Charis Briley/MDT Agency, Studio: Lola Creative, Assistant: Jenna Gundelach. Àplat Inspired by the French notion of "art de vivre," Àplat is a new line founded by Shujan Bertrand (IDEO and InCase) that rethinks the way we tote around baked goods, flowers, and wine. The products are ideal for gifts and dinner parties and are 100% made and designed in S.F. Aplat Denim Sac de Fleur, $60, available at Aplat . Yep, this tote is as sweet as pie. Aplat Sac A Plat, $45, available at Aplat . Because, every baguette needs a cool carrying case. Aplat Sac A Pain, $55, available soon at Aplat . Bryr Designer Isobel Schofield decided it was time to ditch her corporate job and focus on her true passion shoemaking. After a stint in New York, the S.F. native found herself in Cole Valley, building beautiful clogs with high-quality American leathers. Her designs go beyond the clunky, wooden shoe, featuring updated silhouettes with modern touches and colors. This spring, she has added metallics and bright orange into the mix. In other words, you're going to want every pair. Pssst: Use Bryrlovesrefinery29 for 10% off your purchase at Bryr. Bryr Champagne Miranda Sandal, $230, available at Bryr . Your feet have never looked so good. Bryr Camilla Lace Up, $230, available at Bryr . Future Glory Co. Sure, we love Future Glory Co.'s easy-to-wear bags for their style. But, we think the social-rights message behind the brand is pretty noteworthy, as well. Not only does the company donate a portion of proceeds to local organizations like Freedom House and Because Justice Matters, it also has an apprenticeship program for young women who need help getting back on their feet. Future Glory Co. Moto Tote In Chestnut, $189, available at Future Glory ; Future Glory Co. Palms Mini Bucket Bag, $175, available at Future Glory . Shaking things up. Future Glory Co. Moto Fringe Clutch, $95, available at Future Glory . Costalots This Oakland-based sunglasses brand by Matt Costa which was originally born out of a pair of repurposed safety glasses is about as cool as they come. Don't let the name fool you; while these modern shades may look pricey, they actually won't cost you, well, a lot. Costalots Diego Mute Black, $237.50, available at Costalots . An army of good-looking sunnies. The eyes have it. Costalots Diego Honey With Gray, $237.50, available at Costalots . Young In The Mountains Inspired by her childhood in rural Montana and in Southwestern deserts, designer Mariele Ivy of Young in the Mountains crafts jewelry that is both rustic and modern. Using striking design elements and materials like reclaimed wood, silver, and porcelain, she creates gorgeous statement pieces that fit seamlessly into any wardrobe. The jewelry is produced in Mill Valley, while her ceramics (definitely a must-see) are crafted in Berkeley. Young In The Mountains Inlay Reflection Ring, $145, available at Young In The Mountains . Sharp! Young In The Mountains Sierra Spring Necklace, $120, available at Young In The Mountains. Larissa Hadjio Larissa Hadjio is a bit of a vet on the London design scene. The Central Saint Martins grad's whimsical bags have been featured everywhere from Grazia to InStyle to Vogue. Now that she's moved half of the company to the City by the Bay, we couldn't be more excited. Her designs are playful, thoughtful, and definitely statement-making (hello, crab-shaped fanny pack). Circling around a theme each season, Hadjio's been inspired by everything from sea creatures to teeth. Color us obsessed. Larissa Hadjio, Watersnake Daja Fanny Pack, $390, available at Larissa Hadjio . Diamonds are forever. Larissa Hadjio Big Bling Tote, $618.20, available at Larissa Hadjio . Larissa Hadjio Silver Mini Clutch, $209, available at Larissa Hadjio . We could really sink our teeth into this bag. Larissa Hadjio Teeth Shoulder Bag, $661, available at Larissa Hadjio . Traveling Miles Studio Made with sustainable dyes and fabrics, Traveling Miles Studio's silk scarves embrace old-school practices and modern yet classic silhouettes. Whether worn as a gorgeous head wrap or around the neck, the delicate pieces are a wardrobe must. Traveling Miles Studio Madder Root Silk Scarf, $125, available at Traveling Miles Studio . Breezy. Traveling Miles Studio Madder Hand Painted Silk Scarf, $200, available at Traveling Miles Studio . Rainbow Kimono Rainbow Kimono is an Oakland-based line of colorful, ceramic-and-fringe necklaces and knickknacks that are out of this world. According to designer April Rose, every piece is inspired by kinetic energy and surrealism. Layer the items like we did here, or sport them solo. Either way, you can bet you'll turn heads. Rainbow Kimono Trinity Fringe Necklace, $95, available at Rainbow Kimono . Yes, please. Rainbow Kimono White Light Necklace, $110, available at Rainbow Kimono. Ilano When Oakland designer Roseli Ilano set out to launch her line, the former social-justice educator and writer knew she wanted it to have a human-rights component. Her brand taps women around the globe to produce pieces in fair working environments, partnering with indigenous weavers to create updated items like totes and blankets that appeal to a savvy, fashion-conscious set. Ilano Double Sided Seeing Eye Tote, $225, available at Ilano . Want! Ilano Show Me Your Stripes Tote, $200, available at Ilano . Rustee Pace Rustee Pace, a collaboration between metalsmiths Rustee Pace and Mike Danielson, was founded in October 2014 and is largely influenced by natural shapes and textures. Consisting of reclaimed materials from the designers' studio, each artistic piece oozes understated elegance. Rustee Pace Two Toned Straight Cuff, $590, available at Rustee Pace ; Rustee Pace Two Tone Bangle In Silver, $225, available at Rustee Pace ; Rustee Pace Two Tone Bangle In Brass, $125, available at Rustee Pace ; Rustee Pace Blackened Bangle, $125, available at Rustee Pace . Kin/K With Kin/K, twin sisters Sara Brady and Ashley Cornil wanted to create an approachable line inspired by their world travels. Their wool and straw hats embody West Coast casual, with a wink of European sensibility. For spring '15, the sisters are debuting these light straw caps with colorful, globally influenced adornments. Kin/K Mykonos Jigsaw Hat, $126, available in March at Kin/K . Tropical vibes. Kin/K Mykonos Aqua Pom Hat, $120, available in March at Kin/K . Swap Socks Your sock game is about to get way better. Swap Socks was founded by three guys Rodger, Match, and Cole who wanted to create a product with a socially responsible focus, specifically benefiting the vision-impaired. The designs offer approachable and playful prints in vivid colors, and every pack sold provides funds for a person with eye-care needs. Swap Socks Cool Ocean, $32, available at Swap Socks . We'd love to slip into these babies! Swap Socks True Blues, $32, available at Swap Socks . | 4 | 7,003 | lifestyle |
Ohio State, Oregon, Alabama, Florida State. Campus Insiders' recruiting expert Allen Trieu of Scout.com gives Shae Peppler his take on how last season's College Football Playoff teams will fare today. | 1 | 7,004 | sports |
More than 1 billion people regularly use Facebook, but that doesn't mean they're all well-acquainted with the social media site. It's constantly being refreshed, and between profile redesigns , new apps and privacy changes , it's hard to keep up. Here are five tricks to make sure you're on top of your Facebook game: Read the first Facebook message you ever sent to a friend Get ready for a trip down memory lane (and for a great #tbt) without endlessly scrolling through conversations. The easiest (but slowest) way to see the first Facebook messages you sent to a friend is to download all your Facebook data, which you can do by going to General Settings and following the bottommost link. This can take hours or days because the function compiles every single message you've ever sent, among other data. Here's a faster way. On Facebook for desktop , go to https://m.facebook.com/messages/ . (This is the mobile site, and its URLs display differently, which you'll use to your advantage.) Now click on a friend's chat. Right click on the button See Older Messages... and open the link in a new tab or window. In this new page, you'll see a long URL with a lot of numbers. Look for the part that says &start=7 . The "7" refers to the indexed messages that appear; your messages are indexed from 1, 2, 3 ... from most recent to least recent. You're going to want to set that number as close to the total number of Facebook messages you've ever sent to your friend this will get you straight to the oldest messages. To get this number, open Facebook messages on the desktop link: https://www.facebook.com/messages/ . Click on a friend's chat, and scroll up you'll see something like Load Older Messages (51583) , which is approximately how many messages you have with this friend. Swap in that number in the long URL from before, and reload the page. From here, you'll have to click a few more times on See Older Messages... and now you'll be back to the very first message. Disable read receipts Trying to ignore someone? Then you're probably not a fan of read receipts that note that says "Seen " followed by the time or date you opened the message. There's no way to disable read receipts within Facebook, so you'll have to turn to third-party applications. These only work for desktop browsers. For Chrome users, there's the Facebook Unseen App . There's also Crossrider's Chat Undetected , which works for Chrome, Firefox and Internet Explorer. ABC News warned last year to attempt any of these methods at your own risk, as Facebook's Terms of Service state, "You will not do anything that could disable, overburden, or impair the proper working or appearance of Facebook." Remove "Last active" time on Facebook Messenger Here's another common grievance for those concerned about their activity privacy that line that says something like "Active 1m ago" on Facebook's mobile Messenger app. Unfortunately, there's no dependable in-Facebook solution or third-party app that can get rid of this feature. The only surefire method is to delete Facebook Messenger from your phone, and use Facebook only on desktop, or through your mobile browser. Maximize photo privacy First thing's first what can people see on your Facebook profile? To find out, go to your profile, and select View As... from the menu button on the bottom right corner of your cover photo. Now you'll be able to see what your profile looks like to the public as well as to specific friends. You might've noticed if you type "Photos of John Doe" into Facebook, you'll still see photos of your friend John Doe even if he's set his tagged photos on his profile to private. That's because the friends who uploaded tagged photos of John have set the photos' settings to Public , Friends or Friends of Friends , and you fall under one of those categories. If offending photos of you uploaded by somebody else are set to Public or Friends of Friends , then it's possible that people who aren't even your Facebook friends can see those photos. So how do you know which embarrassing photos might be visible to non-friends or friends? Go to your Activity Log (it's under the triangle-shaped button in the top-right corner). On the left-hand column, click on Photos , then select Photos of You . On the top banner, choose Public , Friends of Friends or Friends after Shared with: to see which photos of you are out there for which groups of people. If a friend uploaded an embarrassing photo of you that's set to Public or Friends of Friends , your only options are to ask him or her to change the setting to Friends. (You could also ask him or her to set it to Only Me if it's that bad, or delete it altogether.) Or, you can untag yourself. It's a slow process to manually check your photos, but it's a thorough inspection, and it does the trick. Check hidden Inbox messages Here's a quick and easy trick if you didn't know about it. Messages you receive from people who aren't your Facebook friends don't show up in your Inbox. They're in a different folder that most people think is reserved for annoying Event messages. So go to Messages and click on Other (99+) . Chances are you'll find a few messages you missed. Read next : 9 Super Simple Ways to Make Facebook Less Annoying Sign up for THE BRIEF and more view example Listen to the most important stories of the day. | 5 | 7,005 | news |
Participants from over 70 countries are competing in FIS Alpine World Ski Championships 2015 that began on February 3 in Vali/Beaver Creek, Colorado, United States. The event will conclude on February 15. A United States fan waves a flag as they wait for the start of the women's super-G competition. Tiger Woods (C) arrives to watch his girlfriend Lindsey Vonn, of the United States, compete in the women's super-G race. Tina Maze of Slovenia races in the women's super-G race. Monaco's Alexandra Coletti slides into the safety netting after crashing in the women's super-G race. Stacey Cook of the United States in the women's super-G race. Daniela Merighetti of Italy crashes in the women's super-G race. Germany's Viktoria Rebensburg celebrates after completing her run in the women's super-G competition. Lindsey Vonn of the US reacts after seeing her leading time beaten in the super-G race. Vonn finished in third place. Tina Maze of Slovenia, Anna Fenninger of Austria, and Lindsey Vonn of the United States stand on the podium following the Ladies' Super-G in Red Tail Stadium. Silvan Zurbriggen of Switzerland during training for the men's downhill at Birds of Prey Racecourse. Ivica Kostelic of Croatia during training for the men's downhill race. Jared Goldberg of the United States during training for the men's downhill race. France's Adrien Theaux races down the course during a training run for the men's downhill competition. Ivica Kostelic of Croatia during training for the men's downhill race. Marcel Hirscher of Austria during training for the men's downhill race. Christof Innerhofer of Italy trains for the men's downhill race. Matthias Mayer of Austria during training for the men's downhill competition. Natko Zrncic-Dim of Croatia during the men's downhill training. Ondrej Bank of the Czech Republic during the men's downhill training. Matthias Mayer finishes his run during the the men's downhill training. Carlo Janka of Switzerland during training for the men's downhill. | 1 | 7,006 | sports |
Despite a pair of record-setting snowstorms, die-hard New England Patriots fans are expected to hit the streets of Boston on Wednesday to celebrate their team's Super Bowl victory with a downtown parade. The parade, held in World War Two-era amphibious trucks known as "duck boats," will go on amid snow drifts that are piled 6 feet (1.8 meter) high in places after Boston received more than 40 inches (1 meter) of accumulation over the past week. Mayor Marty Walsh had initially scheduled the parade for Tuesday, but he pushed it back until 11 a.m. Wednesday due to a heavy Monday snowfall. He warned parade-goers not to climb on snowbanks to try to get a closer look at players including star quarterback Tom Brady and Malcolm Butler, the rookie whose interception in the final seconds sealed Sunday's victory over the Seattle Seahawks. "I'm asking you not to climb on snowbanks ... it's very dangerous," Walsh told reporters, adding that he was convinced the parade could be held safely despite the snow. "A lot of people are excited about a parade, they want a parade. It's what we've done," Walsh said. "If I felt it was going to be a public safety issue, we would cancel it."The parade route begins at Prudential Tower and ends at City Hall, but it will not feature the traditional City Hall rally afterward, because of cold temperatures and snow. Patriots fans are calling Sunday night's game one of the best Super Bowls in history. The team clinched its fourth National Football League championship after a heart-stopping sequence of plays in the game's final minutes. (Reporting by Tim McLaughlin; Editing by Scott Malone and Eric Beech) | 1 | 7,007 | sports |
A lunatic with a boxcutter slashed three people in the face and slapped another woman in Union Square early Wednesday, police said. The unhinged attacker, who cops say was missing a tooth, started his violent spree by slashing a 31-year-old man in the face during an argument on the uptown No. 4 train at the Bleecker St. station around 1:30 a.m., police sources said. The gap-toothed man then detrained at the 14th St. Union Square station, where he slapped a 20-year-old woman in the face on his way out of the subway, cops said. Authorities say the maniac then attacked a third victim, a homeless 58-year-old man, at a bus stop near 13th St. and 4th Ave. after the victim refused to give him dollar, cops said. The victim told police he thought he recognized his assailant but cops were unsure if the suspect was also homeless. The knifeman then slashed another man, age 46, in the face outside the Food Emporium on Union Square East, according to police. The three men were taken to Bellevue Hospital and were in stable condition Wednesday morning, officials said. The woman refused medical attention. Police sources described the slasher as a heavy-built and clean shaven black man with a missing tooth, 5-foot-9, 180-pounds, age 20-25. He was last seen wearing red and white sneakers, a black knit hat and a grey hoodie and was heading south towards Broadway from the train station, they said. With Rocco Parascandola [email protected] | 5 | 7,008 | news |
NEW YORK ( MainStreet ) Deborah Hanlon is like many people when she shops at the grocery store. She buys the healthy foods fruits and vegetables we know we're supposed to eat. And then? "Hardly any of it is eaten!' she says. It goes bad, and she has to throw it out. "I am a single mom of three boys, and I drive myself crazy with this," says Hanlon, who also owns and runs a center for mindfulness called The Center for Being, Knowing, Doing. Besides missing out on the nutrition, it's costly to throw out groceries. "I probably 'throw out' a good $50 a week from this," Hanlon says. "It's shameful. And yet ... I'm like Pavlov's dogs. I go to the store, see the fresh fruits and veggies aisle and voilà I go into a buying frenzy." Hanlon is far from alone in this particular form of money-wasting. According to the Natural Resources Defense Council , the average American throws away between $28 and $43, which accounts for about 20 pounds of food each month. Some 35% of what's thrown out is fruits and vegetables, and meat accounts for some 35% of what we toss in the waste bin. Financial Dieting Part of curbing this trend hinges on changing your spending habits. Kathleen Quarterman, a real estate agent with Weichert Realtors, also throws away a lot of fresh produce. "I end up throwing away all of my fresh herbs…because they rot before I can use it all," Quarterman says. "Most often, I also end up trashing romaine lettuce, bell peppers, tomatoes." Quarterman has reduced the amount of canned goods she throws out due to their expiration dates. "I was purchasing too many with coupons and not eating it enough," Quarterman says. Hanlon and Quarterman have plenty of company. Lori Bruhns, a time management and organizing expert, teaches clients on how not to waste the food they buy by coaching them on how to buy the right amount. Bruhns says taking a quick inventory of your pantry weekly can ultimately result in big savings. "Doing this on weekly basis will help you become familiar with the food you … currently have and over time to understand what are main staples for the family," Bruhns says. Plan meals using the staples in the pantry for the main ingredients and shopping for the rest, she suggests. "My favorite site to help in the meal planning process is allrecipes.com ," says Bruhns. "You can put the ingredients you do have in your pantry and get recipes that include them." "Don't be influenced [to buy an item] just because it's less expensive," says Gary Foster, a psychologist and chief scientific officer at Weight Watchers. "Many foods high in fat and high in sugar are on sale, sold in limited quantities and advertised, helping to encourage consumers to purchase these items, because they feel like they are getting a deal," he says. Another tactic? Be aware of product placement. Foster conducted a study on the shelf placement of cereals. "The healthy ones were on the bottom shelf, and those high in sugar were on the third shelf eye level for toddlers and children and within arm's reach for adults," Foster says. "This helps to influence the purchase of the more sugary items, because they are more visible." And, of course, eat before shopping, and avoid impulse items by making a list and sticking with it, Foster says. As for Quarterman, she's found another way effective way not to over-buy at the grocery store. She says she began researching how to plant her own produce garden so she can eat healthier and use what she grows, as needed. | 3 | 7,009 | finance |
Audio recordings from 9/11 include chilling words from the lead hijacker as the attacks were in progress. | 8 | 7,010 | video |
If the best economic news you've heard in a while is that you can now buy a half-liter of cheap vodka for $2.65, you know times are bad. And when you learn at the same time that your country's new military ally may be the pariah state of North Korea, well, go ahead and insert your own cheap vodka joke here. That's the position, sadly, that the Russian people find themselves in this week. As the country's economy continues to crumble, the Kremlin recently acted on a promise to cut taxes on the popular liquor, dropping the price as ordinary Russians watch the cost of virtually everything else soar. The move came just a day after a senior Russian military official announced the Kremlin is planning to expand its contacts with other countries' militaries, something he said could include joint training exercises with the forces of North Korea . The Russian people's purchasing power has been practically halved due to the declining value of the ruble and a regimen of international sanctions. Those sanctions were imposed because of Russia's invasion of Ukraine's Crimean peninsula as well as its continued support of the armed revolt in Eastern Ukraine. While the move to lower the price of vodka could be seen as Russian President Vladimir Putin's means of damping social unrest, the truth is likely more related to the country's finances. The plan to lower vodka prices has been in the works since late last year. It follows a failed attempt to improve public health by reducing alcohol consumption fueled partly by sharp increases on vodka taxes. However, the effect of the tax increase, according to Russian authorities, was an equally dramatic surge in the popularity of bootleg vodka, and a sharp decline in the government's tax revenue. According to the state-owned media outlet ITAR-TASS, Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Khloponin estimated that the Russian government was losing somewhere between $450 million and $760 million in tax revenue because of the surge in illegal liquor sales. Related: Russia's Eroding Economy Risks Putin's Economic Union That might not have mattered as much to Russian leaders a year ago, when the price of oil Russia's primary export was over $100 a barrel. But with prices at between $45 and $55 per barrel these past several months, losing the revenue has had real fiscal impact. The decision to pursue a military relationship with North Korea is harder to explain. The two countries share a relatively tiny border, and allying with a regime known for subjecting its people to what amounts to a perpetual famine while spending lavishly on its nuclear-armed military is hardly raising Russia's profile on the global stage. Taken together, the moves paint a picture of a Russian government struggling to find answers to an increasingly toxic combination of economic and political problems. A government facing a citizenry that has suffered massive losses of economic power at the same time that it is increasingly isolated on the international stage is not in a position of power. Neither cheap liquor nor alliances of convenience are likely to protect it for long. Top Reads from The Fiscal Times: Three Hidden Messages Behind ISIS's Bloody Rampages 5 Winners in President Obama's Budget Proposal For Obama, It's Deficits as Far as the Eye Can See | 3 | 7,011 | finance |
SACRAMENTO, Calif. Privacy advocates are calling for more safeguards related to a state collection of DNA samples from 16 million Californians in a nondescript government warehouse in the Bay Area. The biobank holds blood taken with the prick of a heel from almost every baby born in California for the last three decades. It is used to screen for 80 health disorders, such as cystic fibrosis and sickle cell anemia. Unlike most states, California keeps the frozen samples indefinitely and shares them with genetic researchers, for a fee. State officials say the samples are secure and are used to save lives. But the privacy advocates and an influential state lawmaker, concerned about the potential misuse of DNA information, say parents and donors should have a clear choice about whether the state can keep theirs. "Throughout the process, from the point of screening to the point of storage to the point of third-party use, public understanding, knowledge and consent is almost completely" absent, said Jeremy Gruber, president of the nonprofit Council for Responsible Genetics. The blood samples are stored on special paper cards without names just numbers that can be used to find identifying information stored separately, according to officials. Names are not provided to researchers. But Assemblyman Mike Gatto, D-Glendale, chairman of a new committee created to address privacy issues in a world where technology is seen as outpacing the law, says that "whenever data is stored, data can fall into the wrong hands." "Imagine the discrimination a person might face if their HIV status or genetic predisposition to a mental disorder were revealed to the public," he said. The lawmaker wants the state to get written consent from parents before storing children's blood samples indefinitely and allowing their use in research after the initial screening. Parents can already opt out if they do so in writing, but Gatto said many don't realize it. He wants to require that the state get them to opt in, to make sure parents consider the issue. Gatto said he plans to amend such a proposal into a bill he has introduced, AB 170, that would allow the blood donors, when they turn 18, to have their samples destroyed. He said he may also include stiff financial penalties against researchers if DNA information in their possession is breached or leaked. One researcher who has used the blood samples to make a breakthrough in public health said requiring parental consent would be "very damaging" to work like hers. "The parents who don't suspect anything is wrong with their kids are going to say no, because they are not going to understand" how research might help their children or others later, said Jennifer M. Puck, a professor of immunology in the Department of Pediatrics at the University of California, San Francisco. Puck developed a test for severe combined immunodeficiency, or "bubble boy" disease, using blood samples from 20 newborns who later developed the malady. That test has been used since 2010 to identify dozens of infants who could ultimately lose their immune systems without treatment, Puck said. California's biobank "has been exceedingly useful in my clinical work and my research." All 50 states collect and test blood samples from newborns. California is one of 20 that keep blood samples after screening. It has samples dating to 1982 and adds to the collection with every birth. California is one of seven states that release samples for research without parental consent and one of four that charge a fee for their release, according to a survey published recently in the medical journal Pediatrics. The state Department of Public Health collected $71,000 in processing fees and approved six research requests in the current fiscal year, according to Scott Sandow, a spokesman for the agency. A 16-page brochure given to all expectant parents when they arrive at the hospital says they may decline to have their child's samples stored after the initial screening by sending a written request to the state, Sandow said. Gatto, who with his wife has been through the childbirth experience twice in the last four years, says he does not remember anything said about blood samples kept indefinitely and used in research. "Obviously, when that blood is taken, it's a very emotional time, and it's a very fast-moving time," Gatto said. At the births of both of his daughters, he and his wife were absorbed in "arguing about what we were going to name them." Gatto said he has spoken to hundreds of parents who were not aware that their children's DNA was kept by the state. "You assume they will test your child for the disease and then burn the (sample) as medical waste," Gatto said. Gatto envisions a notice that parents would receive well before entering the hospital to give birth, with a box they could check to allow storage of and research with their child's blood after screening. Robert Nussbaum, chief of the Division of Medical Genetics at UCSF, said that there is no such thing as a guarantee of absolute security but that new restrictions are unnecessary. The state program is doing a good job of keeping the information stored in the samples confidential, he said. The program's benefits to healthcare, he said, "outweigh the risks" of any data compromise. | 5 | 7,012 | news |
Columbus, Ohio - Post-mortems on a loss are never all that pleasant, and Tuesday night was no exception. They lost 4-1 to a road-weary Arizona Coyotes team that played better 'Blue Jackets hockey' than the hometown team did, extending their loss streak to three. "You would think that we would come out and play," said a clearly frustrated Todd Richards after the game. "I don't have an answer for you. You're professional. This is what you're paid to do, come out and play. We weren't ready to go." The Blue Jackets led in most statistical categories when the final horn sounded. They led 31-29 on the shot counter and 54-46 percent in the faceoff circle. They had 36 hits to the Coyotes 16 and led in blocked shots 15-14. But, the eye-test rarely lies and this game never 'looked' right from the moment the puck was dropped to signal the game had commenced. There wasn't a cohesive team effort in the way they played. Poor chemistry between seemingly ever-changing line combinations saw passes miss their mark repeatedly, resulting in a choppy, ragged 'feel' to the game Tuesday night. "For me, it was how we started the game," said Richards. "There were some guys that were ready to go, but there weren't enough that were ready to start the game. And you could tell that in the first ten minutes. We didn't start the game on time." Brandon Dubinsky, a catalyst for the team last season but somewhat absent recently, decided halfway through the first stanza that it was time for a spark. Looking for a dance partner, he settled on Arizona's Kyle Chipchura for the 'wake-up call' that he needed as much as the Blue Jackets did. "I'm relied upon a lot in this dressing room," Dubisnky said. "I'm disappointed in myself. I've got to come up with some big plays to help this team win. If I'm not coming up with those big plays, it hurts our team. I've got to find my game, too." At this point of the season, the catchphrases have lost their meaning. Playing with desperation? It rarely happens anymore after they have been speaking of playing a desperate game for so long. Where is the pride that these players should have? They have 45 points and are 16 points out from a playoff position with 33 games to play. In fact, they are closer to dead last in the league, currently occupied by the Buffalo Sabres (33 points), than they are to a playoff berth. Maybe the time has finally emerged to resurrect the talk of this team needing a captain. There has to be one guy on this roster that is worthy enough to wear the "C" on his chest. While the team may think that it's more symbolic than anything else, that there are leaders in the room, the very definition of insanity is repeating the same thing over and over expecting a different result. It's time to admit that the current situation is not working and try something new and different. You never know. That might just be the spark that they need to play with pride. The fans will respect a team that shows the effort night after night, whether they win or whether they lose. | 1 | 7,013 | sports |
Kristina Brown and Nick Gordon have never married, her father has claimed. While the 21-year-old aspiring actress - who is in a medically-induced coma "fighting for her life" in hospital after being found unresponsive in a bathtub at her townhouse in Atlanta, Georgia on Saturday, 31 January - previously insisted they had wed, her father Bobby Brown's lawyer claims they have never tied the knot. Christopher Brown of Brown & Rosen LLC told Us Weekly in a statement: "We are currently investigating the events that led to the hospitalization of Bobbi Kristina. "To correct earlier reports, Bobbi Kristina is not and has never been married to Nick Gordon." The attorney also had a message from Bobby asking for people to show "love and support" for his daughter, whose mother was late singer Whitney Houston, who accidentally drowned in a bathtub in a Beverly Hills in February 2012. It read: "We continue to request privacy in this matter. Please allow for our family to deal with this matter and give Bobbi Kristina the love and support she needs at this time." Nick and a friend found Bobbi in the bath at her home, and Lisa Holland of the Roswell Police Department described him as the star's "husband" when revealing to Us Weekly that he had performed CPR on her. Bobbi and Nick - who Whitney unofficially adopted when he was 12 years old - previously announced their marriage on Twitter in January 2014 and even shared a picture of themselves both wearing rings. She tweeted: "@nickgordon! #HappilyMarried SO #InLove. If you didn't get it the first time that is. (sic)" The couple later insisted her grandmother Cissy Houston had given the marriage "her blessing", but previous reports had suggested some of Bobbi's family weren't so approving about their relationship. Following Bobbi's hospitalization on Saturday, police have now launched an investigation after drugs were found at her home. She was placed in a medically-induced coma after being found with "no heartbeat" and was thought to have spent up to eight minutes underwater in the bath tub. | 6 | 7,014 | entertainment |
At a remote spot in the Sinai desert last month, a commander of Egypt's most feared Islamist group outlined his hopes of toppling the country's government. "We execute the wishes of God," the commander told a Reuters reporter who had been taken to the location blindfolded in mid January. The militant spoke in a small room with an open window. Outside, a desert wind blew over the barren landscape. "We will create an Islamic state in Egypt," he said. The militant said he was from the Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis group, which has killed hundreds of security forces since the military ousted Mohamed Mursi of the Muslim Brotherhood from Egypt's presidency amid popular unrest in 2013. Last week the group claimed responsibility for attacks on a military base and hotel in north Sinai that killed 25 and wounded at least 58, including nine civilians, on January 30. It was the heaviest toll on government forces for three months. Despite those attacks, however, Reuters' visit to the Sinai earlier that month showed how the jihadists' mission has become tougher: Current President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, a former head of the army, appeared to be gaining ground in his drive to crack down on Islamist groups. Even the militant commander said he faced greater difficulties. "Our numbers are smaller than before," he said. "Lots of people were killed. Lots of people were detained. Security forces are everywhere." Since taking office in June 2014, Sisi has neutralised the Brotherhood, taken bold steps to repair the economy and announced a series of mega-projects designed to create jobs. He has also made a dramatic call for a "revolution" in Islam, saying that Islamist militants are destroying the religion and harming its reputation. All those ambitions depend on maintaining national security and taming militants in Sinai, a remote but strategic part of Egypt located between Israel, the Gaza Strip and the Suez Canal. So Sisi has poured more troops into the area and won support from some Bedouins, who have helped the army locate weapon-smuggling routes used by jihadi groups, security officials said. The tactics have brought gains. Early last year, Ansar was in control of about a third of the villages in Sinai and several areas were no-go zones for the army. Now the picture has changed, according to the Ansar commander, security officials and Sinai residents. Their accounts of the struggle suggest the militants, while still capable of deadly attacks, have lost some of their previous momentum. "A year ago we could not get to places where they hide," said a police captain, referring to a traditional Ansar stronghold. "Now we are spread across north Sinai." In Husaynat village, a collection of one-storey cement structures in northern Sinai where chickens and goats roam, gasoline trader Eid Salman said that militants have all but vanished from the area. Attacks by military helicopters, which once took place daily, have subsided, though there are occasional clashes at night, said Salman. "We used to see lots of Ansar pass in front of our house in cars waving their black flags one year ago," said Salman, wearing a traditional Bedouin galabiya robe. "Now we barely see them. Life is much calmer." TUNNELS DESTROYED One measure of the pressure on the militants was how hard it was to meet the Ansar commander. Last year similar meetings were far easier and fighters could be seen in the streets. This year, the militants were much more cautious. After making contact with a Bedouin middleman, the reporter was blindfolded and had his cellphones taken away. The driver who transported the reporter paused at the roadside briefly every 20 minutes or so in an apparent attempt to evade anyone who might be following. Asked why he was taking such steps, he said: "It's none of your business." Speaking with a heavy Bedouin accent, the militant said he and his comrades were inspired by Islamic State, the al Qaeda offshoot that has seized large chunks of Iraq and Syria, and imitated their practices. Ansar recently changed its name to Sinai Province after pledging allegiance to Islamic State, which has called on Ansar to keep up attacks against Egyptian security forces. "We capture anyone who betrays us. We behead anyone who is a traitor. This scares other people so that they don't act against us. This is the language and ways of Daesh," the militant said, using an Arabic acronym for Islamic State. But the militant seemed less confident than comrades interviewed by Reuters last year. "About 1,000 of us have been killed and about 500 or 600 arrested," he said. The government declared a state of emergency in parts of Sinai late last year and is clearing a buffer zone where Sinai's northeast corner abuts the Gaza Strip. The militant said security forces have destroyed tunnels from the Gaza Strip, depriving fighters of what authorities say were vital arms supply routes. "There are far fewer weapons because tunnels have been destroyed. It is difficult to move weapons," said the militant. Sources in Israel declined to comment on Ansar or the tunnels, but said relations with Egypt over unrest in Sinai were better than under Mursi. "The situation on the border is stable. The Egyptians have been taking action to secure Sinai, knowing that insecurity is a threat to Egyptian rule," said an Israeli military officer briefed on ties with the Egyptian armed forces. "We coordinate when it comes to activities near the (border) fence in order to prevent terrorist attacks potentially spreading into Israel." An Egyptian official said that Israel was providing Egypt with intelligence help to track Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis. "I can't say whether it is useful, but I can say that it is appreciated," the diplomat said. In Sinai, Egyptian security forces have boosted their presence across the north. They were better equipped with flak jackets and helmets and appeared far more alert than last year. To combat suicide bombers, security forces had stationed police vehicles in front of checkpoints and increased the number of metal detectors. A senior security official said Sisi had doubled troops in Sinai since last year. He would not give specific numbers. Checkpoints once manned by a handful of soldiers are now being guarded by about 30. Militants have responded with hit-and-run operations, kidnappings of police and assassinations of Bedouins suspected of cooperating with intelligence officials. They have released videos showing militant fighters beheading Bedouins whom the group said had cooperated with security forces. AFRAID OF BOTH SIDES Though Sisi's forces have made gains, the militants still pose a dangerous threat, both to lives and to Egypt's fragile economy. Two of last week's attacks were notable for targeting Port Said and Suez, cities at either end of the Suez canal, which is a vital source of revenue for the country. The military said those and the other attacks came in response to its success in putting the militants under pressure. Successive Egyptian leaders have found it impossible to stamp out militants completely. Egyptian officials say they have valuable information on Ansar leaders, but that good intelligence on rank-and-file fighters is harder to come by. The militants still live among ordinary civilians, blending into the local populace in a way that makes it difficult for security forces to identify them. "People could come by now and talk to us pretending to be civilians and after a few days they blow themselves up at a checkpoint," said a senior police official. "Once we went to attack a village and found one of them (a militant) had passed by us days earlier telling us 'may God give you victory over the terrorists.' A few days later we arrested him during clashes in a village." Stepping up security operations could cause civilian casualties and spread resentment among Sinai residents, especially Bedouins who have long complained of neglect by the central government. "The authorities have to find a way to protect us," said Osama Shabana, a teenage student in the village of Toma. "We are afraid of both sides - the security forces and the terrorists. When we hear shooting, we hide at home." An army officer who has interrogated militants gained insight into the risks of pushing too hard. "One of them recalled how his brother was killed by security forces. He described how his sister-in-law cried and urged him to take revenge or else he would look weak," said the officer. He also noted that some fighters were foreign and had trained in Syria, complicating efforts to stabilise the Sinai. A further difficulty, said the police captain, is that after Egyptian authorities destroyed tunnels from the Gaza Strip, Ansar militants built similar structures in Sinai to conceal weapons and other equipment. Tensions in the wider populace remain evident. In the run-up to the anniversary of the uprising that toppled autocrat Hosni Mubarak in 2011, anti-government protestors clashed with security forces in the capital and other cities. Authorities said 25 people were killed. They blamed the Brotherhood for the bloodshed. Militants and opponents of the government accuse the security forces of being heavy-handed. After the violence, authorities in northern Sinai extended the curfew there for another three months. Sisi still faces a tough fight to impose his authority and maintain stability in the most populous Arab state. But he appears determined to do so, judging by a meeting with security officials a few weeks ago. According to a senior security official he told the meeting that he wanted more progress and that within six months he "didn't want to hear about any terrorism in Sinai." (The name of the correspondent is being withheld for security reasons; Additional reporting by Ali Abdelaty in Cairo and Dan Williams in Jerusalem; Editing by Michael Georgy and Richard Woods) | 5 | 7,015 | news |
If you are paying for a credit protection plan that will help you make payments if you become disabled or unemployed, you no doubt hope it will provide some peace of mind in the event you have to use it. But that peace of mind may be shattered when you learn that using it could result in an unexpected tax bill. That's what happened to our reader Asia. She said she's been paying for credit protection for a while "When I went on maternity leave they made two monthly payments for me, which is part of the coverage of having the payment protection," she wrote in an email. "After 90 days they paid off the balance of the card $3,900." She explains the plan benefits this way: "In order to be eligible to claim the benefit you have to be out of work either permanently or because of a disability or family leave (birth of a child, adoption, etc.) once you claim the benefit they make your minimum payment for you, which is during a 90-day period, after the 90 days they pay the balance in full up to $10,000. I took a 6-month maternity leave approved by my job. The company requires paperwork from my employer and doctor confirming my leave and then they pay." Asia said she received correspondence that referred to a potential tax liability, but couldn't get any specific information, despite several attempts to connect with the issuer and benefit provider. That's Income? When most of us think of income, we think of paychecks or perhaps commissions. But the IRS definition encompasses a lot of other types of payments that most of us wouldn't think are income, such as canceled debts. Are benefits received under a credit protection plan one of them? The IRS website says this: Credit card insurance . In most cases, if you receive benefits under a credit card disability or unemployment insurance plan, the benefits are taxable to you. These plans make the minimum monthly payment on your credit card account if you cannot make the payment due to injury, illness, disability, or unemployment. Report on Form 1040, line 21, the amount of benefits you received during the year that is more than the amount of the premiums you paid during the year. Not so fast, says Edward Zollars, a CPA and partner with the tax practice of Thomas, Zollars and Lynch in Arizona. "That is a disclaimer to cover themselves on the outside chance she somehow ended up with that protection paid for under some method when she could exclude income she received to pay the premiums from her income," he wrote in an email. "I'm not even sure *HOW* you could do that with a credit card plan, but I suppose it's theoretically possible." What Zollars is referring to is the fact that generally consumers who get employer paid benefits like disability insurance usually have to include benefits they receive under those plans in their income. But when taxpayers pay for a disability insurance plan out of pocket, benefits typically aren't taxed. (Even the Internal Revenue Service confirms this.) "If we presume she just paid for the protection each month as part of her bill on the card then there's not an issue," he says. "She got no tax benefit from paying for the protection (which is a form of short-term disability protection) so there's no income when receives the payment." He compares that to employer-paid maternity leave. "Since you didn't pay for the coverage out of pocket, nor is each employee charged with the value of such protection on each payroll when it's not used, an employee ends up picking that amount up as income." Taxes & More Taxes Of course this is the tax code we're talking about, so things are rarely as simple as they may seem. Zollars pointed out a case that made it to U.S. Tax Court (Khen Thi and Hong Van Huynh v. IRS T.C. Summary Opinion 2001-131) where the IRS found that payments made by a credit card protection plan after the cardholder became unemployed were taxable. Part of the Tax Court's argument was that "gross income includes income from discharge of indebtedness," and that the couple purchased items with those credit cards and "received goods or services for these purchases and, therefore, realized economic benefits from such purchases. " Zollars says that, "Obviously they are interpreting that (case) to go after disability insurance in that publication, though I don't find any case where they have prevailed on the disability insurance aspect." That leaves Asia in a bit of a dilemma. The IRS may not find out that she received these benefits, but if they did, she would likely have to argue that they were disability benefits and therefore not taxable. "While I have my doubts about prevailing, it also would likely cost more to challenge than to pay in a case like that," Zollars notes. She can deduct the portion of the premiums she paid toward the benefit she received but even that's tricky: She may have to determine "how much she paid for the disability coverage, separate from the unemployment coverage," Zollars says. Another Reason to Say No? Consumer advocates often criticize these plans because they are expensive relative to the benefits provided, details in the fine print can make it difficult to collect, and overall very little in benefits is paid relative to the premiums paid. And now there may be another reason to think twice about getting this coverage: Benefits may be taxable. Instead, try to pay down debt if possible. Of course that is often easier said than done, but the less debt you have, the less you'll have to worry about if your income is interrupted. Need some incentive? Find out how your debt affects your credit scores. (You can do that by checking your credit scores for free online .) Paying down debt can often be beneficial to your credit scores and your wallet. | 3 | 7,016 | finance |
PARIS (AP) You can pass go, get out of jail free and collect real money. The French version of Monopoly is celebrating its 80th year by slipping cash into 80 boxes of the game. One box will have the full complement in real money 20,580 euros ($23,600) as well as the Monopoly money needed to actually play the game, one of the most popular in France. Another 79 boxes will have smaller amounts, according to Hasbro. The promotional offer runs from Feb. 2-March 30. The Paris version lets players buy the Champs Elysees, four railroad stations and other famous avenues of the French capital. | 5 | 7,017 | news |
There are plenty of celebrity couples who have managed to make their relationships last in Hollywood, but for every duo who stands the test of time, others just couldn't keep it together - even after getting married. There are some surprising celebrities who have headed to the altar together over the years. Remember Angelina Jolie's first husband, Jonny Lee Miller, or Jennifer Garner's onscreen romance-turned-marriage to Scott Foley? Take a look at the shocking nuptials, and then see all the stars who married young. Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Esposito Bradley Cooper married Jennifer Esposito in 2006, and the couple divorced in 2007. Bradley then went on to date Renée Zellweger. Emmy Rossum and Justin Siegel Emmy Rossum made it official when she secretly married her music producer boyfriend Justin Siegel in February 2008 but could not keep her relationship status confidential when Justin filed for divorce in September 2009. James Cameron and Kathryn Bigelow James Cameron, who has been married five times, tied the knot with fellow director Kathryn Bigelow in 1989 and divorced in 1991. Scott Foley and Jennifer Garner Scott Foley and Jennifer Garner met on the set of Felicity in 1998 and were married in October 2000. Jennifer filed for divorce in May 2003 and went on to date Alias costar Michael Vartan before meeting Ben Affleck in 2004. Drew Barrymore and Tom Green Drew Barrymore married comedian Tom Green in July 2001, and Tom filed for divorce in December of that year. The comical duo starred together in Charlie's Angels and Tom's Freddy Got Fingered before calling it quits. Julia Roberts and Lyle Lovett Julia Roberts married country singer Lyle Lovett in June 1993. They separated and divorced in March 1995, a few years before Julia began dating Benjamin Bratt. Michael Douglas and Diandra Luker In March 1977, Michael Douglas married 19-year-old Diandra Luker, the daughter of an Austrian diplomat. The couple had one son, Cameron, together but divorced in 1995. Michael has been married to his current wife, Catherine Zeta-Jones, for over 15 years. Tom Cruise and Mimi Rogers Before Nicole Kidman and Katie Holmes, Tom Cruise wed actress Mimi Rogers in May 1987. They finalized their divorce in February 1990. Mario Lopez and Ali Landry Mario Lopez tied the knot with model and actress Ali Landry in April 2004, but the couple annulled their union only two weeks later. Cindy Crawford and Richard Gere Cindy Crawford and Richard Gere were married from 1991 to 1995. Madonna and Sean Penn Madonna and Sean Penn got married in 1985 but were divorced by 1989. The duo starred in Shanghai Surprise together, and Madonna dedicated her third album, True Blue , to Sean. Kid Rock and Pamela Anderson Kid Rock and Pamela Anderson married in July 2006 on a party yacht in St.-Tropez but divorced that November. Renée Zellweger and Kenny Chesney Renée Zellweger and Kenny Chesney wed in May 2005 on the Caribbean island of St. John and announced their annulment four months later, in which Renée cited "fraud" as the reason for the split. Ryan Reynolds and Scarlett Johansson Ryan Reynolds and Scarlett Johansson married in September 2008 in a quiet ceremony, but in December 2010, the couple announced they were separating. Ryan went on to marry his Green Lantern costar Blake Lively. Nicolas Cage and Lisa Marie Presley Nicolas Cage and Lisa Marie Presley married in a lavish Hawaiian ceremony in August 2002, but by November, Nicolas had filed divorce papers. Kate Winslet and Sam Mendes Kate Winslet married director Sam Mendes in May 2003 on the island of Anguilla. While the couple has a son together, Joe, they separated and later divorced in March 2010. Jennifer Lopez and Ojani Noa J Lo married her first husband, Cuban actor Ojani Noa, in February 1997, but their marriage lasted less than a year. Shannen Doherty and Ashley Hamilton Shannen Doherty married Ashley Hamilton, son of actor George Hamilton, back in October 1993 after two weeks of dating. They divorced that April when Ashley accused Shannen of allegedly threatening him. Janet Jackson and René Elizondo Jr. Janet Jackson and René Elizondo Jr. met in the '80s and secretly married in 1991 before divorcing in 2000. René went on to sue Janet for $10 million over a "flimsy prenup agreement" and won. Carmen Electra and Dennis Rodman Carmen Electra and Dennis Rodman were married in Las Vegas in November 1998 for only nine days before calling off the union. Carmen later compared her decision to marry Dennis in Vegas to "getting a cheeseburger at a fast-food restaurant." Hank Azaria and Helen Hunt Hank Azaria and Helen Hunt were married from 1999 to 2000, but in 2001 Helen began a relationship with Matthew Carnahan. Angelina Jolie and Billy Bob Thornton Angelina Jolie and Billy Bob Thornton met in 1999 while filming Pushing Tin and were married in 2000. They divorced in 2002, with Angelina taking custody of their newly adopted son, Maddox. Angelina Jolie and Jonny Lee Miller Angelina Jolie married her first husband, British actor Jonny Lee Miller, in March 1996 but ended the union in February 1999. Brooke Shields and Andre Agassi Brooke Shields started seeing Andre Agassi in 1993, and the duo were married from 1997 to 1999. Brooke is now married to television writer Chris Henchy, while Andre is married to fellow tennis player Steffi Graf. Sophia Bush and Chad Michael Murray One Tree Hill fanatics may know Sophia Bush and Chad Michael Murray exchanged vows in April 2005 but sadly split after only five months of marriage. | 6 | 7,018 | entertainment |
CHAPEL HILL - Marcus Paige shared some strong words with his teammates - and with reporters - Monday night after North Carolina's 75-64 loss against Virginia. I wrote a lot about them. They're worth revisiting. He said: "We can't keep talking about change. We've got to have guys look in the mirror and decide they're going to change, buy in, and then some good things will happen." And: "It's nothing we haven't learned from earlier losses. You look at the Kentucky game, the Iowa game. It's the same type of story. ? It is February, you know. The season's rolling. Great teams at this time are meshing together. You don't have to keep preaching effort, keep preaching buying in, not worrying about your individual self." And: "I'm not going to sit here and call guys out but us as a whole, myself included, just has to do a better job of (doing) what (coach Roy Williams) says. I know buying in is a term people use a lot and it's kind of cliche, but when you do, when you invest and stop caring about yourself - I don't care about how many rebounds, how many steals I got. "I care about what I can do in the moment to help North Carolina play, to help my teammate, to get us the ball, to get us possession. That's when things start clicking." Strong stuff. I asked if Paige felt there was a disconnect between Williams and the team, whether some guys just aren't getting it. "Yeah, I think so," he said. Part of this, it's likely, can be attributed to the emotions that come with a difficult loss, and with the first losing streak of the season. The Tar Heels led Louisville by 18 points Saturday before losing in overtime, and they led Virginia at halftime before another second-half meltdown doomed them. So there's frustration, and undoubtedly Paige is feeling some of that. You can't conclude that all of what he said, though, is the byproduct of blowing off steam after a difficult loss. Paige hinted at some pretty significant problems on this team, and basically implied there are chemistry issues and some players simply aren't heeding Williams' message. That would be troubling at any point, but it's especially so now, in February. I've covered just about every game this season (missed the Alabama-Birmingham game while in Detroit for the Quick Lane Bowl) and at least on the surface it doesn't look like the Tar Heels have chemistry issues. Clearly, though, something is off with these guys if Paige is saying there needs to be a better sense of buying in, and that some players need to forget about individual success and focus more on the team. The question everyone wants to know, of course, is who was Paige talking about? It's impossible to answer based on what we in the media get to see (nothing, beyond games) but there have been times when the Tar Heels' body language could be better. Brice Johnson has had his head-hanging moments, and J.P. Tokoto, too, can seem frustrated at times. That doesn't say anything, of course, about their level of "buy-in." Johnson and Tokoto have been instrumental to UNC's success, when the Tar Heels have been successful. Both players, though, can be enigmatic. Johnson seemed to turn a corner before finishing with just two points at Louisville. Tokoto had a single point - and one rebound - against Virginia. Those are Paige's classmates - all three are juniors - and the inconsistency has to be frustrating for everybody involved. To his credit, Johnson said Monday: "Everybody has to go and look and in the mirror, myself included, and ask yourself whether you're playing as hard as you can or if you're doing everything you can to help this team." Things change in a hurry. Late Saturday afternoon the Tar Heels were leading Louisville by 18 points. They seemed headed for their seventh consecutive victory and, perhaps, their most impressive win of the season. Then everything fell apart, and did again in the second half Monday night. And here we are, with a lot of uncomfortable questions about effort and buying in and commitment. Andrew Carter is the UNC athletics beat reporter for The News & Observer and Charlotte Observer. Follow him on Twitter at @ andrewcarter . | 1 | 7,019 | sports |
General Motors Co. reported a 91% jump in its fourth-quarter profit, beating analyst expectations and capping a tumultuous year for a chief executive wrestling to revive the giant auto maker. The Detroit company said it plans to boost its dividend starting in the second quarter. It will later this month pay about 48,000 U.S. hourly workers profit sharing checks of $9,000 based on its 2014 financial performance. Fourth-quarter profit earnings before dividends rose to $1.99 billion compared with $1.04 billion a year earlier. Excluding some charges, the company earned $1.19 a share, handily beating analyst estimates of 83 cents a share. Revenue for the quarter was $39.6 billion, down somewhat from $40.5 billion a year ago. Net profit after dividends increased to $1.11 billion compared with $913 million a year earlier. GM said it also intends to raise its dividend starting in the second quarter by 20% to 36 cents. The move must still be approved by the auto maker's board of directors. "Our intention to increase the dividend is consistent with our balanced capital allocations strategy and reflects the confidence we have in growing the strength of our business," Ms. Barra said in a statement. GM earnings come hours after Toyota Motor Corp. raised its full-year net profit outlook by 6.5% to another record high of ¥2.13 trillion ($18.1 billion)in fiscal year ending March. Toyota continues continuing to reap the benefits of a depreciating yen and strong U.S. auto market. GM's fourth-quarter finish gives Chief Executive Mary Barra a springboard heading into 2015. She now has cash in the bank, a portfolio of new vehicles and is surrounded by a senior leadership team with a year of working together under their belts. She must now deliver on turning GM Europe profitable this year while closing the gap with rival Ford Motor Co. when it comes to profit margins in North America. For the quarter, North America's operating profit jumped to $2.21 billion from $1.88 billion as the company's profit margins increased to 8.7% from 7.5% Much of that came from consumers spending to buy the auto maker's new cars and trucks. Europe's loss widened to $393 million from $363 million. The results include Russia's financial performance, where the auto maker has been slashing output amid currency fluctuations. For the year, Europe lost $1.37 billion compared with $869 million. In South America, rocked by economic turmoil, GM saw its operating profit more than double to $89 million while international operations increased to $396 million from $228 million. Write to Jeff Bennett at [email protected] | 3 | 7,020 | finance |
Setting up the day in college basketball: Best bet: By most projections, Purdue hasn't quite played itself into the field of 68. But the Boilermakers are trending in the right direction entering the February stretch drive. They've won three in a row, with victories against Iowa and Indiana enhancing the résumé. Purdue gets another chance for a quality 'W' tonight as No. 20 Ohio State comes to Mackey Arena (6:30 p.m. ET, BTN). In addition to balance on the score sheet, the Boilermakers have improved steadily on the defensive end. They're going to need it this evening against Buckeyes' freshman sensation D'Angelo Russell, who is not only OSU's leading scorer (19.4 ppg) but an excellent passer as well (5.2 apg). Purdue must also keep track of Russell when he doesn't have the ball, as his backcourt mate Shannon Scott (6.6 apg) doesn't need much of an opening to find him. Number of the day: 3.9. No. 18 Virginia Commonwealth dropped its first Atlantic-10 contest over the weekend to crosstown rival Richmond, but the more significant loss for the Rams was senior G Briante Weber's season-ending knee injury. Weber's national-best 3.9 steals a game will be hard enough to replace in VCU's pressing defense, but his leadership and team-high 4.3 assists a game at the offensive end will also be missed. The Rams look to regroup at George Mason (7 p.m. ET, CBS Sports Network). Days until Selection Sunday: 39. | 1 | 7,021 | sports |
You know that financial security hinges on good habits, like saving regularly , keeping your spending in check, and not doing anything stupid with your investment portfolio . Still, it's equally important to manage your career. Decisions you make at work can, arguably, have the biggest impact of all on your future comfort. Here's advice to help you max out your earnings whether you're just starting out or hitting your peak. Earlier in your career… Be socially savvy. You probably know that a strong profile on social media sites goes a long way in helping your career, now that the majority of employers use Linkedln, Facebook, and Twitter to find talent. Make it easy for hiring managers to find you and be impressed by your accomplishments. LinkedIn has found that a complete profile greatly increases the likelihood you'll be contacted about a job; a photo in professional context helps too. Play the numbers. Professionals who don't negotiate their salaries early in their career can lose more than $500,000 in income by age 60, according to Linda Babcock and Sara Laschever, authors of Women Don't Ask: Negotiation and the Gender Divide . Start by putting a number on the table to sway the final offer. Find out what's reasonable by talking to peers in your field including, ideally, someone who works at your target company and check salary data sites like Glassdoor.com and PayScale.com. Stay in the game. Taking time off to care for kids can be a big blow to lifetime earnings because of lost wages and career momentum. In one Harvard study, female MBAs who took 18 months off earned 41% less over their careers than male colleagues. Before you quit outright, see if you can negotiate flextime, work part-time, or freelance. Don't lose touch. If you quit your job, do "strategic volunteering" something that dovetails with your career and can be added to your résumé. And keep up with co-workers. "When you're not working is exactly when you need to keep those connections strong," says Carol Fishman Cohen, co-author of Back on the Career Track . Dazzle the higher-ups. People with senior level mentors earn $7,000 more a year, according to workplace researcher Catalyst. So create situations where you'll stand out: Seek assignments that allow you to interact with top brass and join industry groups favored by movers and shakers. Get moving. People who exercise at least three times a week earn 6% to 9% more than those who do not, according to research by Cleveland State University professor Vasilios Kosteas. He cites growing evidence that fit employees are more productive and manage work-related stress better, which can lead to faster career advancement. Later in your career… Give your résumé a facelift. You're 40% more likely to land a new job with a professionally crafted résumé than a DIY one, found job site The Ladders. Via an industry association, find a résumé writer who knows what works in your field. Been working for while? Lop off everything but the last 10 years. Decades of experience are nice, but employers care more about what you've done lately. Hit up your contacts. Half of job openings aren't advertised, says Duncan Mathison, author of Unlock the Hidden Job Market . Tap connections to ask about opportunities where they work. Go where you're wanted. Getting up there in your career? Some companies seek experienced workers. Find leads at AARP's site Life Reimagined and CareerBuilder's Prime CB . Be tech savvy. "Bust the myth that older workers don't have the most up-to-date skills," says HR expert Martha Finney. Have a strong social media presence and be able to discuss how the latest technological trends affect your industry. Build your brand. At Yola.com you can create a professional website free; for $10 a month you get hosting, Facebook, and mobile-publishing support. Showcase your work, posting articles, presentations, speeches, and client testimonials, and add new examples regularly. A blog can bolster your rep too. Says CareerXRoads CEO Mark Mehler: "The blogs with the most readers are the ones with the most frequent updates." Protect your paycheck. High earners are vulnerable in a cutback and slower to rebound. A vice president over 50 takes 20% longer to get rehired than a 41- to 45-year-old, recruiter ExecuNet found. So add skills constantly, even if they're not a perfect fit with your current job. "Companies often seek out hires who can bring new thinking," says author and restructuring adviser Duncan Mathison. Adopt a colleague. Managers with protégés earned an average of $25,075 more a year than their non-mentoring peers, workplace researchers Catalyst found. "The ability to develop talent is highly valued," says Catalyst's Anna Beninger. Answer this question to get more financial advice tailored to your place on the Road to Wealth: Which best describes your financial life? A disaster I have a little savings I've got a nest egg but big goals too Doing great | 3 | 7,022 | finance |
Saudi Arabia's Kingdom Holding (4280.SE), the investment firm owned by billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, sold most of its stake in media giant News Corp (NWSA.O) as part of a portfolio review, it said on Wednesday. The sale of a 5.6 percent stake in News Corp generated 705 million riyals ($188 million) of cash for Kingdom and leaves it with a one percent holding, according to a bourse statement. The amount of profit or loss booked on the investment was not disclosed. Kingdom has held a stake in Rupert Murdoch's media conglomerate since 1997, according to its website. It has been a turbulent few years for the media company, after it emerged in 2011 that one of its British tabloid newspapers, the now-defunct News of the World, had been hacking phones and bribing public officials. News Corp said on Tuesday it would face no charges in the United States over the matter, although it still faces multiple investigations and court cases in Britain. "We remain firm believers in News Corp's competent management, led by chief executive Robert Thomson, and are fully supportive of Rupert Murdoch and his family," Alwaleed said in a separate emailed statement. The action would not impact on Kingdom's 6.6 percent holding of Twenty-First Century Fox (FOXA.O), the emailed statement added. Both News Corp and Twenty-First Century Fox were part of the same company until they were spun off into separate listed entities in June 2013, representing the previous firm's publishing and broadcasting businesses respectively. SALE PROCESS The sale of shares by Kingdom was "predominantly executed" in the first half of 2014 and finalised by the end of the year, the statement said. News Corp hit its highest level since the stock was split on Mar. 5, 2014, when it traded intraday at $18.53, and was as high as $18.29 on July 24 before slipping to an intraday low of $14.28 on Oct. 16, according to Thomson Reuters data. The media firm, which is due to report second-quarter earnings on Friday, closed on Tuesday at $15.61. Kingdom's stake decreased from 13.18 million class B shares, representing approximately 6.6 percent ownership, to 2 million class B shares, representing around 1 percent ownership. The funds generated from the sale will be reinvested elsewhere, the English-language bourse statement said. However, in an Arabic-language statement on the bourse website, Kingdom also said part of the proceeds will be used to reduce some of the company's debts. (Additional Reporting by Nadia Saleem and Sami Aboudi in Dubai and Marwa Rashad in Riyadh; Editing by Elaine Hardcastle) | 3 | 7,023 | finance |
Jordan swiftly responded to the brutal killing of one of its fighter pilots by ISIS, announcing the executions of two jihadist prisoners. | 8 | 7,024 | video |
Most people think of vaccines as a requirement for children and college freshmen, but adults need some regular updates, such as the annual flu shot, a whooping cough vaccination every 10 years, or one-time shingles protection. Put updating your vaccination history on your to-do list as one of the healthy steps you need to take for yourself and your family. Vaccines to update include: Measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR). Typically the measles, mumps, and rubella combination is part of the childhood vaccination series. However, certain older adults might not have received this vaccination. "If you were born before 1957, the thinking then was that you would have had natural immunity, so adults older than 53 should be considering the MMR," says internal medicine specialist and pediatrician Stephen Russell, MD, assistant professor of medicine at the University of Alabama in Birmingham. There have been pockets of measles outbreaks in the United States, so vaccination against measles might be helpful for older adults and even some immigrants who have not previously received it, he says. The Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices recommends at least one dose of MMR in patients born before 1957 if they do not have documentation of MMR vaccination, a diagnosis of measles from a physician, or lab evidence of immunity. Pertussis. Pertussis, or whooping cough, is caused by the bacterium Bordatella pertussis. Pertussis vaccination is also part of the childhood series, but experts now recommend that teens receive the vaccine again and that adults also get a boost once every 10 years. Whooping cough is not a big health concern for adults, but once infected they can pass it to young children and infants, for whom the infection may be fatal. Tetanus. Tetanus is common and can be acquired as easily as stepping on a rusty nail, so don't ignore this one. "We all get immunized for tetanus in the primary immunization series. That [protection] wanes after about 10 years," says Dr. Russell. One way to cover your tetanus shot and your pertussis update at the same time is to get a combination vaccine called Tdap (tetanus, diphtheria, and pertussis). Then after that, you can go back to getting your tetanus vaccination every 10 years. Adults should have at least three tetanus-diphtheria vaccinations over the course of their lives. If you can't remember when you had your last tetanus, just know that you can get it again without adverse effects as long as it's been more than three to five years since the last one. Flu. Every year the flu, whose season runs from October to March, leads to thousands of illnesses and some deaths. The CDC recommends that everyone aged 6 months or older receive an annual flu shot. The flu shot protects against the types of flu that are statistically likely to appear in a given year. Some people may get the flu anyway, but "there's some suggestion that those who have been immunized are going to be protected somewhat," says Russell. "If you can be less sick with the flu than you might be otherwise, there's some utility in getting that shot." Shingles. If you're over age 60, get a shingles (zoster) vaccination. "It reduces the chance of shingles and shingles pain," says Russell. Adults who have already had shingles may want to get the vaccination at an earlier age to provide protection against a recurrence. Chicken pox. It's a good idea to get this vaccination (also called varicella) if you have never had chicken pox or the vaccination. "We're now starting to see a generation of young adults who never had the infection or the immunization, so they would be at risk," says Russell, adding that this is most often an issue for nursing and medical students. HPV. Vaccinating against the human papillomavirus (HPV) may prevent certain types of cervical cancers. Previous guidelines recommended routine and catch-up vaccinations only for women up to age 26, but a new report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices now recommends the vaccine for boys ages 11 to 12 and up to age 21. For both sexes, the vaccine is given in three doses over a six month period. Pneumonia vaccine. All children get this, and it is available for adults as well. "Anybody who is over the age of 65 is eligible for one dose of pneumonia vaccine," says Russell. "Under age 65, people with diabetes, people with some other kind of chronic illness, such as kidney problems, people who have a spleen that doesn't work, and other people who are going to have trouble clearing a lung infection should get this vaccination." If you aren't sure about your vaccination history, talk to your primary care doctor about how to proceed. In some cases, a blood test to check for signs of immunity to key infections can help you figure out whether you need to update your vaccines immediately or can wait a few years. | 7 | 7,025 | health |
Meet Miss Vintage UK who believes if you dress like a lady you will be treated like a lady claiming its time teenage girls ditch their short skirts and cover up. With her hair rolled in traditional pin curls and her cleavage gently protected with a silk scarf, Holly Foster states if you "dress like tart men will treat you like a tart." The 22-year-old said girls her age are too quick to follow in the footsteps of artists like pop star Rihanna by stripping off and 'ask for trouble' wearing short skirts and bearing too much flesh. Miss Foster, from Kent, said: "If you compare a modern day woman with a vintage 1950s lady, the difference is just that she's a lady. Videographer / Director: Bahareh Hosseini Producer: Emma Lowe Editor: Sonia Estal | 8 | 7,026 | video |
A 19-year-old American student who disappeared over the weekend while skiing in the Swiss Alps was rescued Tuesday, alive but suffering from hypothermia, police said Tuesday. After searching for more than 48 hours, rescuers finally found the US teen, who went missing while skiing off-piste Sunday near the Diablerets resort in southern Switzerland, police in the canton of Vaud said in a statement. "The man was found conscious, in a state of hypothermia and exhaustion, and stuck waist-deep in the thick blanket of snow," the statement said, describing his survival as "miraculous". He had told his rescuers that he had left the prepared slopes to "free ride" back to the resort. But on his way down the mountain, he had gotten lost and broken one of his bindings. He had tried to continue on one ski, but had fallen into a stream. Exhausted and soaked, the 19-year-old was then caught in a storm, which snowed him under and trapped him for the next two days. "The skier was relatively well-equipped when it came to clothing, but had no working means of communication and none of the vital material needed when skiing off-piste," including shovels and sensors, the police said. The skier, whose life was not in danger, was taken by helicopter to the Zweisimmen hospital near Bern. The American's rescue came after 11 off-piste skiers were killed in avalanches in the Swiss Alps over a period of four days, following heavy snow-fall. | 5 | 7,027 | news |
At least seven people are dead after a Metro-North Railroad train crashed into a Jeep in Valhalla, New York. CNN's Deborah Feyerick reports. | 8 | 7,028 | video |
Congratulations. You took the leap. You've heard about coconut oil. You've wondered about its taste and cooking prowess. And now, you finally bought a jar. (Or maybe you did months ago, but have yet to crack it open.) Now what? Introducing a new ingredient into your kitchen, no matter how simple or basic, is a little intimidating. It's hard to know where to begin. We will tell you: right here . We put together just the recipes you need to go from novice coconut oil user to seasoned pro. Whether you've bought coconut oil for health reasons, you like to experiment or just because you really love the taste of coconut, we have a well-rounded collection of recipes that will show you everything this oil is good for. From baked goods to curries to popcorn, here is coconut oil at its absolute best. Want to read more from HuffPost Taste? Follow us on Twitter , Facebook , Pinterest and Tumblr . | 0 | 7,029 | foodanddrink |
Feb. 4 -- In today's "Single Best Chart," Bloomberg's Brendan Greeley displays the number of vaccination exemptions for kindergarteners in the state of California in relation to other U.S. states. He speaks on "Bloomberg Surveillance." | 8 | 7,030 | video |
Right now, whether you're at work or at home, in a drawer somewhere near you is probably a packet of soy sauce a squishy, likely clear pouch of transclucent saltiness left over from a late-night Chinese-takeout binge or a hurried workday lunch. These packets are remarkably common: In terms of sales, soy sauce is the third-most-popular condiment in the U.S. , behind only mayonnaise and ketchup. But as ubiquitous as soy-sauce packets are, no one knows where they first came from. The major players in the to-go soy-sauce industry today KariOut and W Y Industries don't claim to have created the packet. Some have attributed the design to Ben Eisenstadt the founder of the sugar-substitute manufacturer Sweet'N Low and the designer of his company's trademark bubblegum-pink packets but that connection remains unconfirmed. The first sign of a soy-sauce packet that resembles the one popular today is a 1955 patent, filed by two men named Harold M. Ross and Yale Kaplan, that outlines a "dispensing container for liquids." The packet would hold "a single serving" of "sauce or syrup," which could be extracted with a squeeze. But a key feature of Ross and Kaplan's design that differs from soy sauce packets today is that "the flow of fluid will stop and any possible leakage will be prevented" as soon as the pressure is released. As anyone who has stained his or her shirt with errant soy sauce can attest, the brown, salty liquid isn't nearly viscous enough for this to hold true; Ross and Kaplan's brainchild was much better suited to ketchup. From this vantage, soy-sauce packets appear not to be optimized for the substance they contain a substance that, it should be noted, isn't even technically soy sauce. Packaged soy sauce is often a cocktail of processed ingredients that resemble the real thing: water, salt, food coloring, corn syrup, MSG, and preservatives. But soy sauce, strictly defined, refers to a fermented combination of soybeans and wheat whose earliest direct predecessor was first mentioned in writing in the year 160. (Less-direct ancestors of modern-day soy sauce existed in China as far back as about 3,000 years ago .) In the millennia since, arguments have brewed over what exactly constituted soy sauce. William Shurtleff and Akiko Aoyagi trace these disputes in their book History of Soy Sauce (160 CE to 2012) . The manufacturers of traditional fermented soybean paste at one point banded together and, through a proposal authorized by the Japanese government, contested the right of companies such as La Choy and Kari-Out to call their products soy sauce. These old-school outfits outlined an elaborate classification system for varieties of the product. In the end, it was too hopeful, and the proposal was withdrawn in 2005. * * * Even though the soy-sauce packet's origin is an unsolved mystery, the story of how it became popular is not. That's the story of Howard Epstein, who, as the founder of the dominant soy-sauce brand Kari-Out, is seen as the ambassador of packaged American soy sauce . Epstein became interested in food packaging because his father manufactured the long, flimsy plastic packaging for freezer pops.Epstein's first venture into his father's trade was a popcorn-packaging business, which he bought for $5,000 over 50 years ago. That business failed to gain traction, and Epstein, now 81, was looking for a change when one of his father's salesmen, who sold tea bags, suggested he consider the soy-sauce-packaging business. In 1964, Epstein founded Kari-Out, and he says he arrived to the industry right as it was becoming commercially viable. He ran his new business out of the popcorn factory he owned. At first, Epstein was regarded with suspicion, primarily because he, a Jew from the Bronx, was different from most people in the industry. "No one trusted me because it was the old times. The Chinese ran the business," Epstein says. His attempts to sell his packets to wholesalers were met with apathy and even cold-shouldered silence. "I had one potential customer," he says. "I went in and asked him if he would be interested in selling my soy sauce. He didn't speak. He never talked to me." But Epstein persisted, and his familiarity with freezer-pop packaging proved helpful in solving the problems with soy-sauce packets at the time: They leaked and they were too flimsy. "The only difference is a freezer pop has a much longer bag," Epstein says. Epstein's break came in the form of affordable air travel, which went mainstream in the 1970s. To serve the newly airborne hordes of families and businessmen, airlines began offering prepared foods onboard. Epstein found his first major foothold as the primary provider of soy sauce for these in-flight meals. Cheap airfare also allowed Epstein to travel the country in search of new customers. He was scouting at a time when Chinese takeout joints were becoming as commonplace as nail salons and convenience stores in strip malls around the country. "Chinese business was growing at this time because China was not as business-friendly," he says. "People were leaving China and coming into the United States to open a restaurant and cook. The industry was booming." He soon built up a widespread network of customers, and Kari-Out's products appeared in the Chinese restaurants across the country. Now, he estimates that Kari-Out has a 50 percent market share. The company's soy-sauce packets remain ubiquitous Epstein recalls finding Kari-Out packets at a concession stand in rural Iceland a couple years ago. "We've survived 50 years," Epstein says. "I never get sick of Chinese food or soy sauce." * * * But has the American public gotten sick of soy sauce packets? Sometimes they squirt their contents in unintended directions, and they're fairly wasteful, often dispensing too much sauce, or not enough. But in the more than 50 years that they've been around, little has been done to change their design. Reinventing a condiment package with decades of cultural inertia is difficult, but it has been done before. H.J. Heinz Company upgraded its traditional ketchup packets the tear-at-the-corner annoyances that invariably produce messes and yield too little sauce by hiring an industrial design firm to think about alternate sauce-delivery mechanisms. They came up with the Dip & Squeeze , a small plastic tub that can be opened fully from the side and dipped in, or opened partially from the top and squeezed out cleanly. Can soy-sauce packets be made better too? Gary Murphy thinks so. Murphy, the founder and CEO of Little Soya, is an unlikely soy-sauce pioneer with a loud laugh. A Texan, he has built up a business selling furniture and once worked as a legal courier in Houston. Even when Murphy started working as a food-services consultant, soy sauce was plain and ignorable just another nuisance to deal with when eating late-night Chinese takeout on the road. His perspective changed when, in 2008, he was approached by Jeffrey Frederick, who helps oversee the food and beverages served at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. Frederick wasn't satisfied with the soy sauce being served at the casino's buffets he deemed it too salty, too metallic-tasting, and lacking in the rich, savory dimension of flavor known as umami and its disposable packaging bothered him as well. When Murphy, at Frederick's request, sought out a more natural, authentic, and sustainable alternative, he found nothing. So he set out to make his own. On top of his packed work schedule, Murphy went to grocery stores near and far, buying bottles of soy sauce to taste, sniff, and swish about. He'd prowl aisles for hours "People would get suspicious of me," he says and study the products' packaging and ingredients. What Murphy found was that the market was concentrated among a few Japanese brands, such as Kikkoman, which all produced a similar brown liquid that has come to symbolize soy sauce in the U.S. Murphy says that American soy sauce is sweeter than Asian soy sauces, which leads to the metallic taste that many complain about. He says his sauce corrects this, and is gluten-free to boot. (While this fact may play into American food trends, it's worth noting just how far a departure gluten-free soy sauce is from the fermented wheat paste of yore.) But the most interesting feature of Murphy's work for Little Soya is the packaging that Frederick requested the first meaningful improvement on the classic disposable soy-sauce packet. Where the soy-sauce packet is straightforward and defined by right angles, Little Soya's packaging, which was modeled on existing packaging from other parts of the world, is quirky, rounded, and efficient. It is a small translucent plastic fish whose mouth puckers into a bright green cap, which can be screwed back on to save any unused sauce for later. The fish is not just a cute brand differentiator but also a means of avoiding waste. Its top screws back on to save soy sauce for later a solution that Murphy noticed had already caught on in Korea, China, Vietnam, Thailand, and Norway. Little Soya and its fish have seen a growth in popularity as the company has negotiated deals with gourmet home-delivery services, such as Plated, which place a higher premium on aesthetics than the average Chinese restaurant. The market presence of Little Soya's upscale, diet-trend-friendly sauce plays into an industry-wide rise in production of premium condiments. A report put out by the market-research firm Euromonitor International last November stated that even as the economy has recovered, many Americans still elect to eat at home, but now seek out high-end sauces and condiments to replicate the experience of eating at a restaurant. Sales of high-priced barbecue sauce, salad dressing, and soy sauce are seeing large gains as a result; Little Soya, while still small, now brings in about $1 million in revenue per year. The cap proved useful in another, more unexpected context, too. After hearing that astronauts complained about the messiness of using traditional soy-sauce packets in space, Murphy provided NASA with some of Little Soya's fish. While the fish might be the long-awaited soy-sauce solution here on earth, mainstream soy sauce still isn't fully optimized for interstellar travel Murphy had to boost the flavors in the NASA batch because space turns people into less-sensitive tasters. This article was originally published at http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2015/02/the-salty-murky-story-behind-soy-sauce-packets/382469/ | 5 | 7,031 | news |
FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. -- Not even 24 hours into his new job as head coach of the Atlanta Falcons, Dan Quinn smiled as he answered a barrage of questions he wasn't prepared to, and definitely didn't want to answer. Quinn can forget about any grace period or a few weeks to get up to speed. The local and national media that packed the house at the Falcons' training facility on Tuesday were laser focused on a common goal. A quick, half-hearted 'Welcome-to-Atlanta' greeting was a veiled precursor to the question at hand. How will you fix these Falcons, coach? Quinn was offered the gig as head coach of the Falcons after two seasons with the Seahawks as defensive coordinator -- two seasons where his unit was ranked No. 1 in the NFL, and Seattle made back-to- back appearances in the Super Bowl. Over that same span, Atlanta compiled a combined 10-22 record and gave up 12,442 yards (compared to Seattle's 8,652) and 860 points (the Seahawks allowed just 485). Quinn's move to Atlanta, defensively speaking, has the makings of a rough riches to rags story. Feast to famine. For Quinn to show why he was the right person to take on Atlanta's reconstruction, he's going to have to turn this Falcons defense into something as close to the unit he left in Seattle. And that transformation has to made as quickly as possible. Luckily for Atlanta's new head coach, Quinn's coaching genius is focused exactly around one of the Falcons' biggest areas of need. Expect Quinn's focus, and possibly his biggest area of impact, to center around the defensive line. "I coached that position for so long that it is really where my eyes have gone to first," said Quinn, a former college defensive lineman before getting into coaching. "If I can lend expertise in that area, I certainly will. I know to be good in this League you have to be good on both sides of the line of scrimmage. I wholeheartedly believe in that. That will be a real focus for us. "The toughness of your team, the ability to run the ball and finish games and then on the defensive side, the ability of those guys to rush and affect the quarterback, when you have those two things in line you usually have a pretty good chance of how you are going to play." Atlanta's defense has had trouble stopping the run for some time. The Falcons haven't ranked inside the top 20 versus the run since 2011, when they ranked sixth in the NFL and held opponents to 97 yards per game. It's been even worse in terms of getting pressure on the other team's quarterback. Only one team (Cincinnati) had fewer sacks than the Falcons' 22 last season. And over the last three seasons, Atlanta has never finished higher than 28th in sacks, and has been behind the league leader by an average of 27.7 sacks per year. Because of his expertise, Quinn should be able to immediately make an impact on Atlanta's defensive line. But it won't be solely an on- the-field transformation. The Falcons are going to have to add personnel through free agency and via the draft. Enhancing the pass rush is expected to be a huge area of concern during the offseason. If a team is going to have a deficiency, it's best that the guy in charge of fixing the problem is an expert. No one calls a plumber to fix the roof. The Falcons needed help on defense, so they found a defensive mastermind to come in and steer the ship. Quinn admitted on Tuesday that his first step in the process was to learn the Falcons' roster from top to bottom. After he familiarizes himself with the players, there's no one better to start manipulating those pieces -- especially the defensive parts -- than Quinn. | 1 | 7,032 | sports |
Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen was fastest in the final morning of pre-season testing in Jerez on Wednesday as McLaren and Red Bull's hopes for a problem free day were dashed. Jenson Button twice failed to get beyond the pitlane as a nightmare week for the new McLaren-Honda partnership continued. McLaren racing director Eric Boullier warned on Tuesday that any more setbacks in testing would delay their chances of being competitive once the season gets underway in Australia in six weeks' time. However, Button managed just seven laps on Wednesday morning to take the team's total for the week to just 51, the same number as world champion Lewis Hamilton completed before lunch despite suffering a spin earlier in the day. Red Bull haven't faired much better in the southern Spanish city and Daniil Kyvat managed just eight laps before being brought to a halt on track by a power unit problem. The youngest ever driver in Formula One, Max Verstappen, had no such troubles though as the 17-year-old whizzed around for over 50 laps in his Toro Rosso, setting the third fastest time behind Raikkonen and Hamilton. | 1 | 7,033 | sports |
Ainsley Earhardt reports | 5 | 7,034 | news |
WASHINGTON Congressional support built Wednesday for increased U.S. military assistance to Jordan following a video purporting to show Islamic State militants burning a captured Jordanian air force pilot to death. West Virginia Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin said Jordan's King Abdullah II who met with lawmakers and with President Barack Obama on Tuesday must be given "all of the military equipment" he needs to combat the group. Sen. John McCain, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said he expected his panel to swiftly approve legislation. "We'll be looking at legislation we can pass rapidly," McCain told CNN. "We've got to get them the weapons they need," especially sophisticated weaponry McCain said the U.S. has been slow to provide. In the current year, the United States is providing Jordan with $1 billion in economic and military assistance. The Defense Department is also giving an unspecified amount of help to Jordan to secure its border with Syria. Islamic militants have grabbed significant swaths of territory in Syria and Iraq. McCain repeated his criticism that the Obama administration has "no strategy" for dealing with the Islamic State group. He said he hoped the video of the death of the Jordanian air force pilot, Lt. Muath Al-Kasaesbeh, will galvanize not only U.S. leadership but "the Arab world." Manchin said that at Tuesday's session with the king Abdullah did not ask for ground troops. On the House side, Armed Services Committee Chairman Mac Thornberry, R-Texas, said the king "expressed frustration that it takes so long for our bureaucracy to get help to him." "I think we have to support the leaders ... who are trying to encourage Muslim leaders to reclaim their religion," Thornberry said. Appearing Wednesday morning with Manchin on MSNBC, Thornberry said he hopes the death of the 26-year-old Jordanian pilot has an impact on the West because "that sort of cruelty is pretty unimaginable for most of us." Obama hosted Abdullah at the White House for a hastily arranged meeting, hours after the video emerged online. Abdullah, who was on a previously scheduled trip to Washington, arrived after nightfall and made no remarks to reporters as he and Obama sat side by side in the Oval Office. In the meeting, Obama offered "his deepest condolences" to the king over the pilot's death, the White House said. "The president and King Abdullah reaffirmed that the vile murder of this brave Jordanian will only serve to steel the international community's resolve to destroy ISIL," said White House spokesman Alistair Baskey, using an acronym for the extremist group. Al-Kaseasbeh, who fell into the hands of the militants in December when his Jordanian F-16 crashed in Syria, is the only pilot from the U.S.-led coalition to have been captured to date. His death sparked outrage in Jordan, where the country's participation in the coalition against the Islamic State group has not been popular. The video emerged following a weeklong drama over a possible prisoner exchange with an al-Qaida operative imprisoned in Jordan. | 5 | 7,035 | news |
Housing is one of the biggest expenses most people shoulder, so reducing your monthly housing bill can make a big difference in your overall budget. For the millions of people who have a mortgage, refinancing provides one of the best options for saving money. And with interest rates hovering near record lows, the savings can be substantial. Refinancing with a lower-rate mortgage will reduce monthly payments. For example, the monthly payment on a typical $200,000, 30-year loan at 6.6 percent is $1,277. (We'll ignore taxes and insurance payments, as these vary widely depending on the location of the house and other factors.) Reducing the loan's interest rate to 4.5 percent cuts the monthly payment to $1,013, for a monthly savings of $264. Even more substantial savings can be captured over the long run by refinancing at a lower rate. The National Bureau of Economic Research provides an example: On a typical $200,000 loan with a 30-year term at 6.6 percent, reducing the interest rate to 4.5 percent saves the borrower more than $80,000 over the life of the loan (refinancing costs factored in). More impressive yet, a reduction of the rate to 3.35 percent results in eye-popping savings of $130,000 over the 30-year period. Where to Look for Savings. Homeowners can save on mortgage costs in different ways. There are several basic elements to play with: the size of a loan, the term of the loan, the rate of the loan. Additionally, the fees involved in refinancing are variable and can be reduced. Here are some factors to consider: Shop around for the best deal. There is quite a bit of variation in rates and fees from different lenders, so it pays to look at many potential providers. Call multiple brokers and banks for quotes; the more options you gather, the better your chance of landing a good deal. Use online calculators to test the numbers. And don't look at only the big lenders. HSH.com, a good source of information on mortgages, encourages borrowers to consider credit unions in particular. While not all credit unions offer refinancing, those that do usually provide excellent customer service and a friendly environment. Consider different loan terms. Most borrowers are aware that lower rates mean savings in both the long and short term. But another important variable is the length of the loan. Do the math on a 20-year or even a 15-year loan versus the more typical 30-year package. Although the monthly payment will likely rise a bit, the long-term savings are usually substantial, and shorter-term loans usually have lower rates. For example, a 30-year loan for $200,000 at 5 percent costs $1,381 a month. Over the term of the loan, total interest amounts to $186,512. The same $200,000 obtained through a 15-year loan at 3 percent costs about $300 more a month, but the total interest paid is only $48,609 -- a savings of $137,903. Have your paperwork in order. One of the biggest hurdles in the refinancing process is the sometimes onerous requirements for proof of income, taxes, insurance, and other financial details. To make sure the best offer doesn't slip away, get all of your paperwork ready. This list of documents to gather, supplied by Chase, is a good starting point. Fix your credit score. A weak credit score makes refinancing much more difficult. Borrowers should make sure they know their credit scores . By law, everyone is entitled to a free annual credit report from the big credit-reporting agencies: Experian, Trans-Union, and Equifax. Get your reports and review them for fixable problems or mistakes. Even the most vigilant consumer can end up with an unpaid medical bill or a false report of an unpaid debt. Fixing those problems can help move your credit score toward the magic 720 level, when home credit becomes much easier to get. Government programs. For homeowners who are having trouble making their current mortgage payments, the federal government may be able to help. The Making Home Affordable Program run by the Departments of the Treasury and Housing and Urban Development offers loan modifications to eligible borrowers. While the program has been criticized for a lack of effectiveness and weak participation levels, it does provide options for potentially millions of borrowers. The website includes a tool that enables homeowners to explore what's available. You can also check with mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac directly to discuss eligibility. Contact Fannie at 1-800-7-FANNIE and Freddie at 1-800-FREDDIE during business hours. If refinancing fails, consider other options. Some borrowers will be unable to refinance regardless how well they shop around and prepare. Lenders may be unwilling to overlook weak credit scores, job loss, or soft property values. But all is not lost. Even without refinancing, there is a way to save on the total long-run cost of the mortgage: Pay extra money each month (if you can afford it) to shrink the amount of interest paid over the life of the loan. Financial gurus note that "prepaying" might save a homeowner as much as refinancing would. This calculator lets you create different prepayment scenarios. You can enter a target interest rate, and the calculator will compute the extra payments required each month to match that rate. Prepayment may cost more on a monthly basis, but the long-term savings can make it worthwhile. Why Hesitate? Despite the potential savings, many homeowners have not opted to refinance even as mortgage rates hover in historically low ranges. The economist Mark Thoma recently wrote that potential savings worth billions of dollars are waiting to be grabbed by homeowners if they would only refinance. Experts aren't sure why so few have done so, but stagnant wages, lack of knowledge about a complex system, and widespread mistrust of financial institutions following the collapse of the housing bubble are likely candidates. Whatever the cause, millions of owners stand to benefit and should be encouraged to investigate their options. | 3 | 7,036 | finance |
Beyoncé has become the latest celebrity to endorse the vegan diet, partnering with a home delivery meal service after taking the vegan challenge along with hubby Jay Z. The megastar is lending her name power to the 22 Days Nutrition program, spearheaded by her trainer and 'exercise physiologist' Marco Borges. Based on the principle that it takes an average of 21 days to make -- or break -- a habit, subscribers will be able to choose among plans that deliver one, two to three meals a day that may include southern black beans and vegetables; sesame cabbage lentil bowl; and curried Indian cauliflower and sweet potato bowl. The program is available across the US and prices start at $14.85 a meal USD. Foods are delivered fresh and made with organic produce and gluten-free grains and are dairy and soy-free. Other famous vegans include Alicia Silverstone, Anne Hathaway, Carrie Underwood, Joaquin Phoenix and Jared Leto. | 7 | 7,037 | health |
Brady bunch Benjamin Brady (L) holds the Lombardi trophy next to his dad, Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, on a duck boat during the New England Patriots victory parade on Feb. 4 in Boston, Massachusetts. A cast of thousands Thousands of fans lined the parade route on the snow-covered sidewalks of Boylston Street to watch the New England Patriots celebrate their Super Bowl win in a duck boat parade. Bringing home the hardware New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft shows the Vince Lombardi Trophy to the crowd as he passes by during a parade in Boston Feb. 4. Gronk being Gronk New England Patriots Rob Gronkowski catches a football while riding duck boat on Boylston St. during New England Patriots football team Super Bowl parade in Boston, Mass. Feb. 4. He signed the ball and returned it to the crowd. Here come the ducks New England Patriots fans cheer as the team passes by in a procession of duck boats during a parade in Boston Feb. 4. Extrovert New England Patriots wide receiver Julian Edelman acknowledges the crowd's cheers during a parade in Boston Feb. 4. Moment of silence The New England Patriots End Zone Militia has a moment of silence at the Boston Marathon finish line during the Super Bowl XLIX rolling rally parade. All smiles New England Patriots cornerback Derrelle Revis waves to fans during a parade in Boston, Feb. 4. Run it up the flagpole A worker secures a New England Patriots flag on a flagpole atop a building prior to a victory parade in Boston Feb. 4. Unlikely hero New England Patriots safety Malcolm Butler, who intercepted a pass in the final minute of Super Bowl XLIX, celebrates with fans during a parade in Boston, Feb. 4. Boylston Street The New England Patriots travel down Boylston Street through Copley Square on duck boats during the Super Bowl XLIX rolling rally parade. All smiles New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick and his partner Linda Holliday wave to fans during a parade in Boston Feb. 4. Happy fans New England Patriots fans cheer as the team passes by in a procession of duck boats during a parade in Boston Wednesday, Feb. 4. Early birds Fans camp out at the finish line of the Boston Marathon before the New England Patriots Super Bowl victory parade on Feb. 4 in Boston, Massachusetts. Snow job A worker blows snow in front of the Boston Public Library in Copley Square before the New England Patriots Super Bowl victory parade on Feb. 4. Privileged perch Wearing Tom Brady jerseys, J.P. Martin, 6, left, and T.K. Faria, 5, watch New England Patriots football team Super Bowl parade from a ballroom at the Four Seasons Hotel in Boston, Mass. Feb. 4. | 1 | 7,038 | sports |
Greece's casually-attired finance minister can dress as he pleases when he visits Berlin this week, German officials said on Wednesday, provided he offers a sharp account of his government's plans. Yanis Varoufakis has attracted as much attention for his style as for his policies as he tours European capitals to drum up support for the new leftist-led Greek government's bid to renegotiate its debts and scrap austerity measures prescribed by Germany. "The German government has never judged its interlocutors by whether they are wearing a tie, a leather jacket or a classic jacket," Chancellor Angela Merkel's spokesman Steffen Seibert said when asked by reporters about the "new style" in Athens. "It makes no difference to us. What we expect from the new Greek government is to present us their economic and financial strategy." A spokesman for Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble, who is scheduled to meet Varoufakis on Thursday, said there was no dress code for visitors. Varoufakis wore an open-necked shirt and a billowing black leather coat to visit the dapper, suited British finance minister George Osborne on Monday. His prime minister, Alexis Tsipras, also eschews a tie and received one as a gift from his Italian counterpart Matteo Renzi. (Reporting by Stephen Brown; editing by John Stonestreet) | 5 | 7,039 | news |
Depending on whom you ask, advances in artificial intelligence are either humanity's biggest threat or our best shot at curing diseases. On one side of the debate are billionaire entrepreneurs such as Elon Musk and Bill Gates and physicist Stephen Hawking, who say AI is a potential menace to humankind with super-intelligent machines that could run amok. Some of its biggest backers include billionaires Paul Allen and Jack Ma. With criticism on the rise, supporters - led by researchers at Allen's AI institute and Stanford University - are seeking to give their field an image makeover. Allen's group recently began touting an AI project aimed at improving medical care. Stanford is undertaking an AI study on ethics and safety set to run for 100 years. It's all part of a deliberate push in the AI community to address growing concerns about the technology as the field expands, with venture capital funding in the area rising 20-fold since 2010 and dozens of new startups popping up. "Someone has impugned us in very strong language saying we are unleashing the demon, and so we're answering," said Oren Etzioni, chief executive officer of the Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence. "The conversation in the public media has been very one-sided." The more organized effort now marks the first sustained moves by scientists and entrepreneurs to engage the public and try to quell their fears. Max Tegmark, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology physics professor and co-founder of the Future of Life Institute, is one researcher trying to carve out common ground. Tegmark began circulating an open letter in early January in Puerto Rico at the institute's first conference, which was attended by Musk, among others. The letter, whose signers now include Musk, Etzioni and many researchers and advocates on both sides, was made public on Jan. 12. "There had been a ridiculous amount of scaremongering," said Tegmark, who sometimes goes by "Mad Max." "And understandably a lot of AI researchers feel threatened by this." Talking about how to imbue intelligent agents with human ethics is "common sense," said Stuart Russell, a professor at University of California at Berkeley and co-author of the textbook Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach . Take the example of a household robot, he said - sort of like Rosie the maid from The Jetsons . "It has to understand human values so it doesn't do stupid things," he said. "You don't want it to accidentally cook the cat for dinner." Until recently, researchers mostly ignored these issues, Russell said - they were either coming from cranks or seemed a long way off. That's changed, with some of the world's best-known scientists and innovators raising the alarm. "Things are moving faster and there's been a lot of investment in making things quite fast," he said. "So the attitude in the field has changed." On Jan. 28, Microsoft Corp. co-founder Gates joined the conversation, saying he's in the camp that is concerned about "super-intelligence." In December, Cambridge University Professor Hawking toldthe BBC that more advanced uses of AI "could spell the end of the human race." In October, Tesla Motors Inc.'s Musk said AI is humanity's "biggest existential threat" and called for more oversight. In January, following the release of the open letter, Musk donated $10 million to the Future of Life Institute, whose website says its focus is "mitigating existential threats facing humanity." Musk and Hawking are both on the institute's scientific advisory board. Neither returned e-mailed requests for comment. Now researchers have stepped up their media game. Etzioni is among proponents who have recently focused not on technical papers, but on writing columns to tout AI's benefits to a broader audience, including one for the website Medium. He's also been coordinating efforts with Microsoft research director Eric Horvitz, a former president of the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence, and the man behind the Stanford study. Etzioni wants to show how the work to create thinking machines will help mankind in practical ways. An Allen Institute program called Semantic Scholar is designed to show how the field can improve medical care. The project scans reams of journal articles, extracts metadata, classifies papers and homes in on the key citations. Etzioni's goal is to speed the time it takes new discoveries to become practice among care providers. "If it's really good, it will help us find scientific papers more quickly and help us solve cancer," Etzioni said of AI research. Horvitz, meanwhile, is working on the Stanford University One Hundred Year Study of AI, a project that will study ethical conundrums as they emerge and examine how AI will play out in areas like national security, psychology, automation and privacy. "These concerns I don't think should be dismissed out of hand," Horvitz said. "The community of AI researchers and scientists need to say, 'here's why we're not concerned.'" More demonization of the field may lead to a rise in government interference and limits on research, Etzioni said. There is a dangerous precedent for such limits, he said, citing U.S. restrictions on stem-cell research enacted amid questions about the ethics of creating and destroying human embryos. "AI escaping from the lab and running amok may make a great plot for a Hollywood movie, but it is not realistic," said Etzioni, who has been a researcher in the field for more than two decades. "We have a very hard time building programs that do a small amount of learning, let alone this kind of runaway learning that people imagine in their worst nightmares." The fear of artificially intelligent beings going rogue and setting about to destroy their human creators is a pervasive one, from Mary Shelley's 1818 novel "Frankenstein" to morally confused computer HAL 9000 in Stanley Kubrick's 1968 movie "2001: A Space Odyssey." In 2013, moviegoers watched an adaptable operating system break a man's heart in "Her." This year will bring the film "Chappie," about a robot built with the ability to learn and feel. AI technologies have been in development since the 1960s, though they've yet to yield a machine or system that can mimic human intelligence at even a grade-school level, Horvitz said. There has been renewed optimism and increased investment in recent years, though, as companies, public agencies, hospitals and governments contend with reams of data that require new tools for more efficient analysis. The AI research team at Microsoft is behind a product for the Skype Web-calling service that automatically recognizes speech, translates it and then reads it aloud, allowing multilingual conversations. Etzioni's Allen Institute, backed by tens of millions of dollars from Microsoft co-founder Allen, is working on training a machine to pass elementary school standardized tests in science and math. Other companies are getting into the mix. Google Inc. in January 2014 purchased London-based DeepMind Technologies Ltd., while Allen and Facebook Inc. CEO Mark Zuckerberg are investing in AI research. Funding for AI startups surgedto $309.2 million last year from $14.9 million in 2010, according to CB Insights. It's not AI that will destroy humankind, Horvitz said -- it's the absence of these technologies that is already killing people, he said, citing medical errors and ineffective disease treatment that could be prevented and improved using AI. Even if he's not expecting an attack by a robot horde, Horvitz said AI scientists do need to wrestle with the ethical questions that will arise. He cited concerns about how these technologies might be used to sway public opinion in elections, for example, or the possible use of large public data sets like social-media posts to predict whether someone is suffering from depression. Horvitz ran a similar study at Microsoft to scan for postpartum depression in a subject's posts on Twitter. Assessing what's appropriate is part of the mandate of the Stanford project. "These concerns have been around for a long time," he said. "When there are concerns, we need to actually as scientists address them in a mature, receptive manner." | 3 | 7,040 | finance |
CNN Aviation analysts Miles O'Brien and Mary Schiavo both agree there is evidence that suggests the TransAsia plane had engine failure before crashing. | 8 | 7,041 | video |
The 2014 season is over, and every team's season-long picture is now clear. Though some teams proved tough to capture, every franchise had a play, game or turning point that could encapsulate the year. Here are the moments that defined every franchise this season: NFC EAST Dallas Cowboys: Forget the no-catch call on Dez Bryant against the Packers in the playoffs for a second. Dallas' season was best summed up by its 38-27 win over Philadelphia in Week 15. After watching a 21-0 lead be erased two weeks after a humiliating Thanksgiving loss to the Eagles, Tony Romo and Co. proved they weren't the Cowboys of old by rallying with a late resurgence. The win set up the Cowboys for an unblemished December to wrap up the NFC East. Philadelphia Eagles: For the first half of the season, the Eagles looked like a possible threat for the NFC's top seed. But when Cardinals wide receiver John Brown split cornerback Cary Williams and safety Nate Allen for a 75-yard touchdown in the final minutes of a 24-20 loss in Week 8, it marked the beginning of the end in Philadelphia. An inability to stop the pass (31st in the league) cost the Eagles a playoff spot. New York Giants: Few moments this season can measure up to Odell Beckham Jr.'s incredible catch against the Cowboys in Week 12. But New York somehow let Dallas back into the game after what should have been a backbreaking play. Though Beckham Jr. gave the Giants reason for optimism down the stretch, the 31-28 loss amid a seven-game slide was a reminder of how far off they were from competing. Washington Redskins: A franchise in as much turmoil as the Redskins can't be summed up by its on-field accomplishments. When Jay Gruden called out Robert Griffin III for both his play and comments about the team after a 27-7 loss to the Buccaneers in Week 11, it showed a serious disconnect between coach and quarterback. Griffin was later benched, and his standing with the team remains murky. NFC WEST Seattle Seahawks: The Seahawks could fit an entire season's worth of defining moments into their final two games against the Packers and Patriots. Fairly or unfairly, the season will be remembered for Malcolm Butler's interception at the 1-yard line in the closing moments of the Super Bowl. Beyond the decision to pass itself, Seattle couldn't get the break it needed all year long from a passing attack that never found its stride. Arizona Cardinals: The "next man up" mantra was an admirable way for the Cardinals to cope with their spate of injuries. Carson Palmer's season-ending knee injury in Week 10, however, revealed the limitations of having to resort to that mind-set. As its passing game wilted, Arizona quickly lost its contender status by dropping five of its final seven games. San Francisco 49ers: Despite all their shortcomings, the 49ers were still a playoff threat at the time of a Thanksgiving showdown with the Seahawks. Then Colin Kaepernick airmailed two interceptions to Richard Sherman , and San Francisco fell apart in a 19-3 loss that set a four-game losing streak in motion. Kaepernick's regression best embodied the disappointing end of a remarkable run by Jim Harbaugh. St. Louis Rams: St. Louis was one of the league's hardest teams to pin down; the Rams knocked off both the Seahawks and the Broncos but were blown out by the Vikings and the Chiefs. The bizarre fake on a punt-return touchdown against the Seahawks might have been the height of the season's weirdness. But the Rams never found a replicable way to jolt a languishing offense. NFC NORTH Green Bay Packers: No team knows remorse better this season than the Packers, who watched a 19-7 lead over the Seahawks with roughly four minutes remaining become a 28-22 overtime loss in the NFC Championship Game. But for all of Green Bay's errors in the fourth quarter, Mike McCarthy's decisions to kick three field goals in fourth-and-1 or fourth-and-goal situations were the game's most regrettable moments. McCarthy's unwillingness to turn MVP Aaron Rodgers and his potent offense loose gave Seattle the space it needed for a comeback. Detroit Lions: The Lions won't soon forget the reversed pass interference call that helped set up the Cowboys' 24-20 comeback victory in an NFC wild card game. Detroit didn't do itself any favors, however, with a 10-yard punt on the following play. Bad call or not, the Lions didn't do enough to keep the game out of Tony Romo's hands. Minnesota Vikings: Teddy Bridgewater took the reins to the Vikings' offense by necessity after Matt Cassel in a Week 3 loss to the Saints. But being forced to play the rookie was the best route for the rebuilding franchise. Bridgewater showed impressive traits and could stabilize a team that long has suffered from rocky quarterback play. Chicago Bears: In 2014, Chicago hit a new low almost on a weekly basis. The blowouts were just the byproduct of a team in turmoil. Aaron Kromer's criticism of Jay Cutler in an anonymous report, as well as his tearful apology, was the true crystallizing moment of the season. NFC SOUTH Carolina Panthers: When Cam Newton was injured in a car accident, Carolina was 4-8-1 and mostly a playoff afterthought. Twelve days later, Newton somehow returned to action and willed the Panthers to a 17-13 win over the Browns in Week 16. Newton was the engine behind the Panthers' NFC South title, and this was the quarterback at his most resilient. New Orleans Saints: The lack of another threat in the woeful NFC South kept the Saints atop the division through most of the season. But when New Orleans fell to a 30-14 loss to Atlanta in Week 16, the playoffs were completely out of reach. Drew Brees' interception in the final minutes might be viewed as the closing of the Saints' window. Atlanta Falcons: Mike Smith made a series of bad decisions in his final season in Atlanta. His worst might have been in the Falcons' final minutes of a 22-21 loss to the Lions in London, with his bungled play calls and time management sending the team to their fifth straight loss. Smith was fired at season's end, giving the franchise the fresh start it needed. Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Lovie Smith's arrival made the Buccaneers a popular sleeper pick to make the playoffs. But Tampa Bay's array of shortcomings were on full display by Week 3, when the Falcons jumped out to a 56-0 lead before allowing two meaningless fourth-quarter touchdowns. Smith's defense settled down somewhat, but the Buccaneers lost their last six games and finished tied for the worst record in the league. AFC EAST New England Patriots: Without the dominant passing attack or defense of Bill Belichick's past Super Bowl teams, this year's version of the Patriots made their mark with their adaptability. New England kept opponents guessing all season by dialing up a play tailor-made for the moment. Julian Edelman's 51-yard touchdown pass to Danny Amendola trick-play TD erased the second two-touchdown deficit of the AFC divisional showdown with the Ravens, proving the Patriots were capable of almost anything. Buffalo Bills: The Bills went all in on Sammy Watkins, trading this year's first-round draft pick to move up for the wide receiver in the 2014 draft. Watkins showed plenty of promise as a rookie, but his season will be remembered for prematurely celebrating a would-be touchdown against the Jets in Week 8 and allowing himself to be tackled. Though Buffalo won the game and finished with its winning season in 10 years, Watkins' blunder was one of several instances in which the Bills showed they weren't quite capable of finishing the job. Miami Dolphins: Leading the Packers 24-20 with four minutes remaining and possession of the ball in a Week 5 showdown, Miami let a win slip away in almost every way imaginable. The offense was unable to drain the clock or back Aaron Rodgers into a corner, and the defense couldn't stop his game-winning touchdown march in the final minutes. Joe Philbin, whose clock management was questionable at best, added another near-miss to his resume in the Dolphins' sixth straight season without a playoff berth. New York Jets: With shaky play at quarterback and in the secondary, the Jets were outmatched for most of the season. But Gang Green began its eight-game losing streak with a different kind of suffering Jeremy Kerley's potentially game-tying 37-yard touchdown against the Packers was called back due to a Jets timeout , and New York fell 31-24 in Week 2. Though Rex Ryan didn't call the timeout (offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg and defensive lineman Sheldon Richardson both accepted blame), the coach would be criticized throughout the season until his firing. AFC WEST Denver Broncos: Whatever was amiss with Peyton Manning in Denver's AFC divisional loss to the Colts wasn't the first sign of a problem with the signal-caller. Manning's pick-six to Bengals cornerback Dre Kirkpatrick to seal a 37-28 Week 6 loss sparked questions about his ability to carry the team to another Super Bowl. The four-interception performance served as a harbinger for the team's playoff ouster and an offseason of uncertainty. San Diego Chargers: The Chargers were one of the league's most uneven teams throughout the year. San Diego's Week 17 faceplant against the Chiefs shouldn't have been a surprise, then. A win would have secured a playoff birth for the Bolts, but Philip Rivers and Co. were off the mark all game. Kansas City Chiefs: At some point during the season, the Chiefs wide receivers' touchdown drought turned from a trivia bit to a serious hindrance. By Week 16 against the Steelers, Alex Smith's inability to make a play to the outside was Kansas City's undoing. The Chiefs went 0-4 in the red zone and fell 20-12, putting them behind in the pecking order for the last AFC wild card spot. Oakland Raiders: The Raiders had to wait until Week 12 for their first win of the year. But the depth of their woes was first apparent in a 37-0 Week 4 thrashing by the Dolphins. Dennis Allen was fired the next day, revealing that Oakland was once again adrift. AFC NORTH Baltimore Ravens: Even with two separate 14-point leads over the Patriots, Ravens fans couldn't have felt too comfortable as they watched their team in an AFC divisional showdown. With New England essentially abandoning its run game to let Tom Brady throw 50 passes, Baltimore's secondary was bound to come unglued. The Ravens' season-long struggles re-emerged in the second half, most notably on Brady's 10-play, 74-yard touchdown drive to win the game, 35-31. Cincinnati Bengals: Re-signing Andy Dalton was designed to be a step toward breaking the Bengals out of their stasis. But Cincinnati once again proved incapable of running with the league's elite teams, and Dalton shrunk in those games. A 27-0 loss to the Colts in Week 7 served as a preview of yet another wild-card exit. Pittsburgh Steelers: Ben Roethlisberger looked untouchable in back-to-back games against the Colts and Ravens at midseason. But Big Ben couldn't turn his production into a sustained streak, as the Jets shook the Steelers with nine sacks in a 20-13 loss in Week 10. Roethlisberger couldn't carry the team by himself, which was clear when the Steelers were without running back Le'Veon Bell in their AFC wild-card loss to the Ravens. Cleveland Browns: For all of the Browns' drama, first-year coach Mike Pettine had Cleveland in the thick of a tight AFC North race into late November. Then a five-game losing streak began, with its low point coming in Johnny Manziel's starting debut. Manziel's dud of a performance in a 30-0 drubbing by the Bengals in Week 15 was another push toward uncertainty for the franchise's future at quarterback. AFC South Indianapolis Colts: Andrew Luck's potential in his third season was enough to sustain Indianapolis. Yet there appeared to be a gulf between the Colts and the rest of the league's title contenders, especially after regular-season losses to the Patriots, Broncos and Cowboys. Even after falling short in the AFC Championship Game to New England, Indianapolis' win over Denver in the previous game was a significant breakthrough. Houston Texans: J.J. Watt's renaissance-man act for the Texans was often a feat of necessity. Never was the unanimous Defensive Player of the Year's ability more apparent than in a 23-17 win over the Bills in Week 4. His 80-yard interception return for a touchdown inspired belief that he could carry the Texans to the playoffs, though deficiencies elsewhere on defense and at quarterback held Houston back. Jacksonville Jaguars: Whether Blake Bortles sat or start, there was little question the rookie quarterback wouldn't be in a position to succeed. The Redskins' 10-sack performance in a 41-10 romp revealed just how troublesome Jacksonville's offensive line would be all year. The Jaguars gave up a league-worst 71 sacks and derailed any progress made elsewhere. Tennessee Titans: Jake Locker's trial run with coach Ken Whisenhunt was never likely to result in a long-term pairing. But Locker's benching before Week 8 transitioned the team into a new era. With Locker's contract up in 2015, Tennessee can finally move away from its wait-and-see plan at quarterback. | 1 | 7,042 | sports |
After obliterating Wall Street's expectations, Walt Disney (DIS) stock is a must, CNBC's Jim Cramer said Wednesday. "Everyone has to own Disney," Cramer said on CNBC's " Squawk on the Street ." "This is what you get your kids. Forget about Hasbro (HAS) ." Cramer made his remarks a day after the media and entertainment giant blew past analysts' forecasts, posting earnings of $1.27 per share on $13.39 billion revenue. The Street expected the company to post earnings of $1.07 per share on $12.87 billion revenue, according to a consensus estimate from Thompson Reuters. Disney shares breached $100 Wednesday morning, setting an all-time high of $101.43. In the past three years, DIS is up 152 percent, while the Dow is up 37 percent. Disney's outlook for the rest of the year also looks promising. "They've got a lot of new Pixar things coming up," Cramer said, adding that the company was being underestimated by many analysts for several reasons. "You had all of these 'really smart' hedge-fund guys putting a gigantic short on Disney [because of the rising dollar]," Cramer said. "It was one of the great short spoils ever." Cramer also compared the company to fellow Dow constituent Procter & Gamble (PG) . "Disney is [Procter & Gamble] during their heyday. [They] have 11 billion-dollar franchises, [and] they keep adding to them. This is the way Procter was when [they] were the great American company before it lost its growth." Disclaimer Disclosure: Jim Cramer's charitable trust does not own Disney stock. | 3 | 7,043 | finance |
When Harper Lee's lawyer and close friend, Tonja Carter, went combing through the secure archive near the author's Alabama home last fall, she only intended to check on the condition of the original manuscript of Lee's beloved best-seller, To Kill A Mockingbird . What she found was something else entirely: a complete second book, believed to have been lost for more than 50 years. The discovery, and Tuesday's announcement that the uncovered manuscript , Go Set A Watchman , would be published this summer, shocked both the publishing industry and the legions of Lee fans who had long ago given up hope that they'd ever read a new work by the 88-year-old Pulitzer Prize winner. In an interview late Tuesday, Harper publisher Jonathan Burnham offered more details but no spoilers! about the new book, the unearthing of the manuscript, and plans for its release in July. Go Set A Watchman was written before Mockingbird but takes place about 20 years later, during the civil rights movement. Scout Finch, the precocious 12-year-old narrator of Mockingbird , is now an adult woman who has returned home to Alabama after living and working in New York City. Burnham also addressed Lee's health, amid questions about exactly how much involvement she's had in the agreement to publish Go Set A Watchman . Her late sister, Alice Lee, described her in 2011 as mostly blind and deaf following a stroke four years earlier. "She's very much engaged in the process," Burnham said. He hasn't personally spoken to her, but he said her agent spent two days with her in January and reported back that she was "feisty," "full of good spirits," and reading voraciously. Lee won't be doing interviews or other publicity when the book comes out, but Burnham said Harper may ask her to write a new introduction. In the announcement Tuesday, the publisher provided a statement in Lee's name. She recalled that when she turned in the manuscript for Go Set A Watchman , her editor asked her rewrite the book from the perspective of Scout as a child. "I was a first-time writer, so I did what I was told," Lee said in the statement. Burnham wouldn't disclose the terms of the publishing deal with Lee. Due for release on July 14, Go Set A Watchman will have an initial print run of 2 million copies, which he said was at the level "of a major best-seller." Here's a transcript of our interview with Burnham, edited for clarity and length. Russell Berman: Without spoiling it, what can you tell us about Go Set A Watchman? Jonathan Burnham: It's set 20 years after the events of To Kill A Mockingbird , which takes place during the Depression. This takes place during the mid-1950s during a turbulent time in American racial politics. There was civil unrest, which particularly affected the South and Alabama, and that's part of the background for this novel. Scout, who's now a grown-up woman living and working in New York City, goes back to the town where she was born and revisits old friends and family and sort of encounters old ghosts and comes up against new ideas and opinions. It's a complicated, very adult novel that sweeps in family, politics, love, the South. It's an extraordinary work. Berman: To Kill A Mockingbird is a staple in American school classrooms. When you say it's a "very adult novel," does that mean it wouldn't be suitable for schoolchildren to read? Burnham: I think it could be read in schools. The protagonist in this case is an adult woman. It has a different feel to it, obviously. Mockingbird is told from the point of view of Scout, who is 12, so it's a different angle and therefore probably more accessible to younger readers. But I think younger readers will respond to this too. Berman: Is this accurately referred to as a sequel, or is it as some scholars had suspected an original draft of To Kill A Mockingbird ? How much overlap is there between the two? Burnham: There's virtually no overlap. It's a difficult thing to qualify. In a way, it's a pre-sequel, if that could exist. None of the material from Go Set A Watchman can be found in To Kill A Mockingbird . All the scenes are new. The writing is new. There are occasional idioms or sentences that already exist. There are some references back to the years of To Kill A Mockingbird , but nothing that comes to reckon on the book. So it's in every respect a different novel. It's not a draft of To Kill A Mockingbird . Berman: How was the book found? And what has happened in the months since it was found? Burnham: It was found in this safe location near Harper Lee's home. It was attached to an original copy of the manuscript of To Kill A Mockingbird . Harper Lee's lawyer and friend, Tonja Carter, discovered it, sort of picked up the manuscript and flipped through it and then saw that some of the scenes and characters in the book had no relation to Mockingbird and realized it was actually two different books. This was the first time the manuscript had been found since heaven-knows-when. Harper Lee lost track of it in the '60s. Berman: What was Tonja Carter looking for when she found it? Was she looking for that or did she just stumble upon it? Burnham: She stumbled upon it. As I said, she was checking on the state of being on the original, very valuable manuscript of To Kill A Mockingbird. And it had become affixed to the back of that manuscript. It was an accident. Berman: What was Harper Lee's reaction when she was told it had been found? Burnham: She was thrilled. She believed it to have been lost. She was delighted it was found. She's always been a self-critical writer, so she shared it with some close friends and advisers, and they told her that it was extremely and eminently publishable. So she was thrilled. She's very much engaged in the process, and she's happy that it's coming out. She knows that today's the announcement date. She won't be doing publicity for the book. She never has done well, she hasn't done any interviews since 1964, so that probably won't change. Berman: Obviously she is a very private person, often described as reclusive. Did she need any convincing to publish it knowing that it would bring a whole new round of personal attention on her? Burnham: That did not seem to concern her too much. She is very private. She's protected. It's unlikely that the media will invade her private space, and I think she can enjoy this, as it were, from a slight distance. Berman: How is her health? She has been living in an assisted living facility and has been described as mostly deaf and blind. Can you describe any more about her engagement in this process? Burnham: Well I can only report that her agent spent a couple of days with her in January down in Alabama and described her to us as feisty and full of good spirits. She's a fanatical reader. She reads all the time. She just started reading a biography of Queen Victoria by A.N. Wilson just embarked on. So, no, she's in fine fettle, by reports. Berman: What condition was the manuscript found in? Was it completely finished or was there anything that needed to be done by her or anyone else to get it ready for publication? Burnham: It is completely finished. It needs virtually no editing. The only editing I think it needs is perhaps a light copy edit. It looks to me like a book that's been worked on and polished, and is very much a finished thing. So it's not going to go through any extensive editorial process. Berman: You said she won't be doing publicity, but do you expect her to write an introduction or any kind of original material to go along with the release of the book? Burnham: You know, that's a possibility, but we haven't quite got to that point yet. We may turn to her and ask her to write some introductory material. Berman: Did Carter find any other manuscripts or material that had not been discovered before? Burnham: No, but there was some interesting attached publishing material that we are looking at. There's the original submission letter and some correspondence about the novel. So we are looking at that right now. We looked at it before, but we're thinking about publishing some of the materials as an addendum of some kind. We're not quite sure how. This article was originally published at http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2015/02/How-the-Long-Sequel-to-Harper-Lees-To-Kill-A-Mockingbird-Was-Found/385131/ | 5 | 7,044 | news |
David Duval thinks the perceived importance of a Ryder Cup captain is a "little overblown" but nonetheless believes the next American leader should be closer to the age of the players than Tom Watson. Eight-times major champion Watson was 65 when he captained an American team that lost to Europe last year, prompting criticism that he was too autocratic with his players and did not effectively communicate with them. Phil Mickelson was particularly outspoken, saying the U.S. had "strayed from a winning formula" used by victorious 2008 captain Paul Azinger. "Tom Watson is a legend without question, but when you get older players like that it's sometimes hard for a 22-year-old kid (to relate)," Duval, a new Golf Channel analyst, told Reuters. "We need to bring in people who are closer to competitive days and closer in age to players who are going to be on the team." Former world number one Duval played in two Ryder Cups, part of the winning U.S. team that made a huge comeback in 1999. He also was on the losing side three years later. "You can't blame the captain for poor play. He's not hitting any shots," Duval continued. "In '99 we were getting blitzed and (captain) Ben Crenshaw was catching some heat and there was no reason for it. "The putts were lipping out and on Sunday they stopped lipping out and started lipping in. It's such a fine line in that competition and every half-point matters so much. "Players have to perform ... but I think it's important to have a captain the team wants and can relate to the players." Asked if he would be interested in being involved with next year's team, Duval said he did not think he was on the radar. Duval once said he would like to be a Ryder Cup captain eventually, but he perhaps is persona non grata with the PGA of America after saying back in 1999 that players should receive payment for the Ryder Cup, designated to a charity of their choice, something that now happens. Duval is not part of the 11-man task force (which includes eight players, among them Phil Mickelson) the PGA of America has brought together to map a blueprint for what it hopes will be future Ryder Cup success. The U.S. has lost the past three Ryder Cups and eight of the past 10 biennial competitions. (Reporting by Andrew Both in Cary, North Carolina; Editing by Frank Pingue) | 1 | 7,045 | sports |
A commuter train hits a vehicle on the tracks north of New York City, killing six people and injuring 15, officials say. | 8 | 7,046 | video |
DETROIT If it weren't for the recalls, 2014 would have been a stellar year for General Motors. Even with $2.8 billion in pretax costs to fix more than 42 million recalled vehicles worldwide and $400 million set aside for death and injury claims, GM still managed to turn a $2.8 billion profit. It plans to raise the quarterly dividend. Except for the recalls, most of the stars lined up last year for the Detroit automaker. Gas prices dropped more than a buck to $2.26 per gallon. The U.S. economy gained steam. Cheap credit was abundant. Combined, they sent buyers to GM's newly redesigned and lucrative pickup trucks and large SUVs in North America, the company's most profitable market. At the same time, chief competitor Ford's truck plants were down much of the year while it switched to a new pickup with a risky aluminum body. Sales in China grew faster than the market. Global sales rose 2 percent to 9.9 million vehicles, a record. Things were so good, GM plans to raise its dividend 20 percent next quarter, to 36 cents, pending board approval. And the company said the dividend could go even higher this year once GM gets a better handle on recall costs. Yes, there was trouble in Europe, Russia and South America, but by and large, GM had a good year. Investors agreed. GM shares rose 5.4 percent Wednesday. The gain could be the largest one-day increase since July 3, 2012, when the stock closed up 5.6 percent. For the full year, GM's net income fell 26 percent, from $3.8 billion in 2013. The company earned $1.65 per share. Excluding one-time items, GM earned $3.05 per share, beating Wall Street's expectation of $2.64, according to FactSet. Revenue rose slightly to $155.9 billion. "We're really going to carry the positive momentum into 2015," Chief Financial Officer Chuck Stevens said. "We expect both aggregate earnings and profit margins to improve in all of our automotive regions." Stevens said earnings were strong when recall costs aren't counted. The company earned $6.5 billion before interest and taxes last year, and that would have been more than $9 billion without the recalls, he said. Legal expenses rose by more than $300 million, and that's expected to continue in 2015. Overall, the recalls cost GM $1.10 per share. In North America, GM's most profitable region, the company earned $6.6 billion before taxes, 11 percent below 2013. That will bring record profit-sharing checks of about $9,000 for 48,400 eligible union factory workers later this month. To reward employees, GM excluded recall costs and measured the profit-sharing based on core earnings. Stevens said the company is on its way to achieving a 10 percent North American profit margin next year. Last year the margin, which is the percentage of revenue a company gets to keep, was 6.5 percent. Without recalls, it was 8.9 percent. GM expects increased pickup truck and big SUV sales this year, and it's looking for ways to increase factory output, Stevens said. The company's pretax loss in Europe widened almost 60 percent for the year to $1.37 billion, mainly on Russian currency problems. International operations profits, including Asia, fell 3 percent to $1.2 billion. South America reported a full-year loss of $180 million, compared with a $327 million profit in 2013. Stevens said the company is still predicting a pretax profit in Europe in 2016. In the fourth quarter, GM earned $1.1 billion, or 66 cents per share. That's 21 percent better than a year ago. The same factors that helped GM overcome the year of the recall remain today, so the company needs to perform well, Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Jonas wrote in a note to investors. "We may be looking at as close to an alignment of forces in GM's favor as we're going to see this decade," he wrote. Still, there are uncertainties. Recall costs could grow. Sales in Europe and Russia could falter. Cheap leases and financing for six years or longer have likely pulled sales from future months, Jonas wrote. Even so, investors liked GM's results. Shares rose $1.85 to $35.83. The stock has traded from $28.82 to $38.15 in the past year. | 3 | 7,047 | finance |
Amazon opened its first-ever brick-and-mortar store at Purdue University, offering free shipping to students who send their purchases there. | 3 | 7,048 | finance |
Cooking dinner night after night can be a chore. No matter how much you love to cook, thinking up and putting together dinner recipes every night can feel like a burden. But it doesn't have to be this way. If you arm yourself with some essential ingredient combinations, making dinner can be almost effortless. Whether you're a pro or a novice in the kitchen, keeping a few trusty food partners in your mind palace is a surefire way to alleviate potential cooking stress. If you're buying one ingredient, just make sure you also have one or two others, and you'll be in business. If you're buying chicken, for example, make sure you always have lemon and garlic. Nothing can go wrong with this winning combination. Take a page from the Flavor Bible and commit the following 11 food matches to memory. They'll be the starting point for endless dinner recipes and will inspire you to bookmark your own reliable food combinations. Let us know your favorites in the comments. Dinner (and life) just got infinitely easier. One last tip: Always have an onion or two on hand -- always. Every single combination above would be enhanced by the presence of an onion. For onions you have no excuse: they're cheap and you can find them pretty much anywhere. Once you master the simple art of chopping an onion correctly , you'll never go onionless again. Follow HuffPost's board Dinner Recipe Ideas on Pinterest. Want to read more from HuffPost Taste? Follow us on Twitter , Facebook , Pinterest and Tumblr . | 0 | 7,049 | foodanddrink |
Matt Finn takes us inside the jaw dropping $35,000 a night "Sky Villa" suite in Vegas | 2 | 7,050 | travel |
What is college? To Madison Comer, a confident 6-year-old, it is a very big place. "It's tall," she explained, outlining the head of Tuffy, the North Carolina State mascot, with a gray crayon. "It's like high school but it's higher." Elizabeth Mangan, who plans to be a veterinarian because she loves her puppy, pointed out that she, too, would attend North Carolina State. "Me and Madison are going to the same college," she said. And what is college? "It's someplace where you go to get your career." Billy Nalls, meanwhile, was drawing curving horns and jagged teeth on Rameses the Ram on a paper pennant representing the University of North Carolina. "I'm drawing him as angry," he said. In college, Billy wants to learn to make a Transformer ("It's like a robot that comes from Cybertron"). And what happens at college? "You get smarter and smarter every day." Matriculation is years away for the Class of 2030, but the first graders in Kelli Rigo's class at Johnsonville Elementary School in rural Harnett County, N.C., already have campuses picked out. Three have chosen West Point and one Harvard. In a writing assignment, the children will share their choice and what career they would pursue afterward. The future Harvard applicant wants to be a doctor. She can't wait to get to Cambridge because "my mom never lets me go anywhere." The mock applications they've filled out are stapled to the bulletin board. "The age-old question is: 'What do you want to be when you grow up?' You always ask kids that," Ms. Rigo said. "We need to ask them, 'How will you get there?' Even if I am teaching preschool, the word 'college' has to be in there." Forget meandering the messaging now is about goals and focus. "It's sort of like, if you want your kids to be in the Olympics or to have the chance to be in the Olympics," said Wendy Segal, a tutor and college planner in Westchester County, N.Y., "you don't wait until your kid is 17 and say, 'My kid really loves ice skating.' You start when they are 5 or 6." Credit President Obama and the Common Core Standards for putting the "college and career ready" mantra on the lips of K-12 educators across the country. Or blame a competitive culture that has turned wide-open years of childhood into a checklist of readiness skills. Whatever the reason, the fact remains that college prep has hit the playground set. One has only to search Pinterest to see the trend. Dozens of elementary schoolteachers share cute activities that make the road to college as clear as ABC. One cut-and-paste work sheet has students using circles and squares to sequence the steps. There are four: mail your application, get accepted, graduate high school and "move in, go to class and study hard!" "College weeks" have become as much a staple of elementary school calendars as the winter band concert. And campus tours are now popular field trips. Charter schools have long put the college message front and center. For at least a decade they have been taking low-income students to visit campuses, to provide incentive for hard work and offer concrete knowledge about the mysterious world of their wealthier peers. Now everyone wants to check out higher education options. A four-year-old program in Santa Cruz County, Calif., takes 3,000 fourth graders on a single day in May to a local campus for tours, information sessions and a sampling of classes, including sociology and women's studies. Rice University, which has a teacher resource page ("Picture your students at Rice"), last year led 91 elementary and middle school tours and sent out 357 classroom packets with activities, literature and iron-on transfers for making T-shirts, nearly triple the number two years earlier. The University of Maryland has been deluged with requests. After leading 8,000 children on guided tours in 2012-13, the program director for visitor services, Betty Spengler, said they had to limit slots. "We had so many requests, we were doing tours five days a week," she said. "It became impossible to sustain." She hopes a new teacher resource site unveiled last month will help those who can't get tour dates. What do sixth graders do on a tour? When a group of 65 children from Magnolia Elementary School, tucked into a neighborhood of modest homes on small, tidy lawns in Prince George's County, Md., spilled off school buses at the university's welcome center, the first stop was the model dorm room, behind glass. If there's one thing about college that children struggle to grasp, it's sleeping at school with strangers. The students, many clad in Magnolia Elementary hoodies, jostled to get a glimpse of the room with the perfectly made beds. They wanted to know: Can you pick the person you live with? Can you stay up as late as you want? "Your mom is not there to wake you up so you got to wake up by yourself so you can go to your classes," explained Belal Mobaidin, a cherubic 11-year-old who wants to be a brain surgeon. The goal is to get students to picture themselves on campus. But not literally, warned Laura Browning, their teacher. "No posting! No selfies! No texting!" Ms. Browning sought order as they strolled by stately white-columned brick buildings. "Ladies and gentlemen, there are sidewalks. Please use them!" For exuberant and chatty preteens (who did snap selfies), the tour hit what mattered: food, fun facts (the seventh floor of the library is so quiet that if you open chips everyone can hear) and the physically impressive. They gawked at the 54,000-seat football stadium and discovered that there is a Chick-fil-A in the basement of the student center. Enija Wright was surprised, but excited, to learn that candy is sold on campus. The tour guides Javier Scott, a peppy junior from Columbia, Md., and Carley Pouland, a senior from Fort Worth briefly struck a serious note, urging students to chase their dreams. "College can help you do that," Mr. Scott said. "When you work hard, more opportunities will open up to you." By lunchtime, having rubbed the mascot Testudo's nose for good luck (twice!) and piled their cafeteria trays with chicken fingers, fries and pizza slices, students were sold. David Oladimejij, 11, plans to attend. "At first I wanted to go to Harvard," he said. "In the news I heard that Harvard is the best college, but I think Maryland is the best." It's a soft sell Rice's classroom PowerPoint says that attending " any college," not just Rice, is what matters. But Mikayla Donoho, a fifth grader who toured the campus with her class at Pine Forest Elementary School in Humble, Tex., is all in. What struck her? "We got to eat our lunch in this beautiful garden." Reaching out to children years ahead of serious college consideration can seed brand awareness for the university. Or amp up an already anxiety-laced process. "Children need to make mistakes and find themselves in dead ends and cul-de-sacs," said Joan Almon, a founder of the Alliance for Childhood who worries that the early focus cuts short self-exploration. "I'm concerned that we are putting so much pressure around college that by the time they get there they are already burned out." Some agree. A number of colleges refuse to host tours for children in grades below high school, expressing sentiments similar to those on the Boston College website, which notes a "desire not to contribute to the college admissions frenzy." In some quarters, that frenzy is well underway by middle school. The perception that it's harder to get into top colleges has parents starting earlier. "It's created a little bit of a panic," said Megan Dorsey, a private counselor and founder of College Prep in Sugar Land, Tex. She points to a state law requiring public campuses to admit the top percentages of each high school class, making admission to the University of Texas, Austin, and Texas A&M particularly tough. "I see a lot of parents with junior high-age students who are really concerned," she said. "They want to know: Before high school, what should they be doing." The impulse to line up achievements and to consider how a child's record will play on a college application is contagious, said Mary Meyer, whose sons are in fifth and eighth grades in the Lamar Consolidated Independent School District near Houston. "It is the game we are playing these days. It is too much, but I don't see it changing, so you have to join in or you will be left behind." When her boys join the science club, volunteer at the food bank, even serve on the elementary school safety patrol, Ms. Meyer said, she can't help but view it as a steppingstone to college. "You have to have this résumé built or your kids will not even be looked at." Barbara Poole is a seventh-grade English teacher at Rachel Carson Middle School in Fairfax County, Va., which is one of the nation's wealthiest suburbs and home to the perennially top-ranked Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology. She estimates that 60 percent of her students already know where they want to go to college. Ms. Poole was among the first to pilot a middle-school version of Naviance, a college-prep subscription service that high schools offer their students. It's known for its scattergrams, which reveal the acceptance history of the school's students to specific colleges by test score and grade-point average. Ms. Poole said the software's résumé-building feature it allows students to input extracurricular activities, awards, volunteer work and more has made her students "more aware" of building that extracurricular record for college. "We talk about endurance," she said. "If you are in band one year, but you don't do it eighth-grade year, it shows." Even as Ms. Poole is "reminding them that they are just kids," she also tells them, "It is competitive out there and what can you do and what are you doing other than going home and playing video games?" She nudges them. "You are 12 years old. Do you give back?" The early planning trend shows in the Naviance numbers. Five years ago, the company began selling software that lets students as young as fifth grade explore career interests, majors and the colleges that offer them; 1,700 middle schools have signed on, representing nearly 1.1 million students. "We've seen an amazing rate of adoption," said Stephen M. Smith, a co-founder, adding that it is part of a larger shift toward making students mindful sooner about consequences of course selections. "When they get to middle school, it is the first time they are asked which math class they want to take, which science, whether they want to take a foreign language," he said. Choices "can really change their trajectory as a student." That trajectory, like an invisible dotted line leading to coveted colleges or not has applied fresh pressure on preteens to make smarter choices. For example, the math you take in middle school determines if you reach calculus by 12th grade a common expectation of elite colleges. That means finishing Algebra I in eighth grade. Even a foreign language pick in sixth grade has a college prep purpose, said Ms. Segal, the college planner, who warns that choosing French "because it sounds pretty" could have consequences later. "You have many, many more options if you take Spanish," because classes are taught often while French may be offered only once. "And what if it's at the same time as A.P. bio?" This may sound overwrought, but Joan Nachman, the guidance counselor at Magnolia Elementary School, points out that colleges want Advanced Placement courses on transcripts but high school students can't just sign up. They must prepare with honors courses in middle school, which means strong work in elementary school. "You have to set the groundwork now," she said. Magnolia draws from a middle-class African-American and Hispanic community where only about a quarter of adults have a college degree. Parents may not realize how choices now shape opportunities later, which is why last year the school added "Kids2College," a national college-awareness program, to the curriculum. "We want to make certain children understand that they have options" and "the criteria for those options," Phyllis L. Gillens, the principal, said. Research shows that the college advantage is growing only for students from educated, high-income families. Since 1970, the rate at which affluent students earn bachelor's degrees has nearly doubled (from 40 percent to 77 percent) while it has barely moved (from 6 percent to 9 percent) for low-income students, according to a report out this month from the Pell Institute for the Study of Opportunity in Higher Education and the Alliance for Higher Education and Democracy. "The advantage has been widening based on family income," said Laura W. Perna, executive director of the alliance and a professor at the University of Pennsylvania. Families in upper-income brackets have lots of resources, she said, "and they are mobilizing those resources to maximize advantage." Ms. Poole's seventh graders, for example, have parsed program options at the five high schools they can attend from their middle school. "They already know how they will achieve in high school to get to college," she said. "It's crazy. Not crazy. It's what they are doing." When Ms. Rigo graduated from Morningside College in Sioux City, Iowa, in 2009, she became and remains the only person in her family, which includes seven siblings, to earn a college degree. It didn't come easily. It took eight years at three institutions in two states. "I was lost," said Ms. Rigo, who dropped out first semester, aghast to discover textbooks cost $600. "I didn't have anybody to talk to about that." A well-organized mother of three who likes colorful charts and careful work (students must draw their college pennants in pencil before using crayon), Ms. Rigo has a calm teacher voice that grows sturdy when discussing the college project she has created for her first graders at Johnsonville. She wants students to know what she did not: the effort, cost and planning required to earn a degree. "They have to understand there are lots of steps, that you can't all of a sudden be a teacher." In Harnett County, where prefab homes sit amid tall pines and undulating fields, just 18.5 percent of adults have a college degree. The best jobs are connected to the military, at Fort Bragg. Most piece together a living at fast-food restaurants Bojangles', Wendy's, Taco Bell, KFC and retail stores like Walmart. There are factory jobs at 3M and Coty Inc., the cosmetics company. In Room 102, where Ms. Rigo retreated after guiding her first graders onto their buses, the phone rang. It was a parent upset at being expected to provide a binder for homework. The family couldn't afford it. The college project, this year adopted by all five first-grade classes, has pleased some parents and puzzled others. One, Lora Collins, a Kansas State graduate, thought the college talk was useful. For many local families, she said, "it is just not in their mind, in their thought process, to think about going to college." A few have not been so receptive, complaining that students should be focusing on reading, writing and math. Another first-grade teacher, Jennifer Agnew, said she "had a couple of parents who were like, 'Their thoughts and feelings will change, why should we be talking about this now?'" Young children simply cannot understand what college is, according to Marcy Guddemi, executive director of the Gesell Institute of Child Development. "You may as well be talking about Mars. It's totally meaningless." As for older children, they can grasp college but developmentally struggle with making choices, she said, so early planning may not be fruitful or fair. "We are robbing children of childhood by talking about college and career so early in life," Dr. Guddemi said. "Kids being pressured to think college, to pick a college, that everything you do is for college, you miss the here and now." Also, she observed: "Not every child will go to college. That is just a fact." Equating degree-earning with success may set up some to feel like failures. How you view the early start on college planning depends on where you sit. Ms. Rigo became convinced of its importance after working as a teacher's assistant in the Chapel Hill public schools, where parents were professors, doctors and lawyers. Census data show three-quarters of adults there have college degrees. At Johnsonville Elementary, most of her students would be the first in their families to attend college. "When I came here," she said, "I realized they were not getting the same message." | 5 | 7,051 | news |
Forget the sleek startup pad. More than a third of Silicon Valley young adults are still bunking with Mom and Dad. In the 18- to 34-year-old segment, 32.4% lived with one or both parents from 2009 to 2013, according to a yearly report conducted by think tank Joint Venture Silicon Valley. A full 25% of the population in the area is under 18 years old, and 28% are 20 to 39. While the percentage living at home is on par with the national average of 30.3%, Silicon Valley residents earn more than the average U.S. worker. The average salary in Silicon Valley was $116,033 as of the second quarter of 2014, well above the national average of $61,489, according to the report. The majority of Silicon Valley workers, at 67.3%, were employed in high-skill, high-wage jobs and mid-skill, mid-wage jobs, the report found. However, those numbers must be weighed against housing costs in the area. A median home cost $757,585 in 2014 and rents were $645 a month higher than average rents in California, and $1,198 a month higher than average rents in the U.S. Another caveat is that the segment doesn't cover the employees of startups alone--it encompasses the population of all of Santa Clara county, San Mateo county and a few cities in Santa Cruz and Alameda counties. This is telling as Silicon Valley is home to a large income gap, with a median $91,804 difference between high-skill, high wage jobs and low-skill, low-wage jobs. The number of young people living at home has risen since 1980, when 21.3% lived with a parent, rising to 23.4% in 1990 and 24.3% in 2000. To get around the high rental costs, startup workers in the Silicon Valley and San Francisco area are "hacking" their housing, by living in a 50-person communal tech house or subletting a four-person room in a tech house for $1000. Living with Mom and Dad may not look so bad, when compared with a house with 50 roommates. | 3 | 7,052 | finance |
Not For US Consumption: Top 10 Coolest Cars We Can't Buy Not For US Consumption: Top 10 Coolest Cars We Can't Buy True, we do have it made. Nearly any vehicle produced today can be purchased for use on American streets. But, of course, not every one. There are still certain gems that will never be officially sold here for a number of reasons, most of which pertain to economics, emissions, safety, and, in some cases, selfishness. So grab a seat and have your search engine ready -- you'll almost certainly want to further investigate the rides you're about to see. Mercedes-Benz Unimog One of the German brand's coolest, most rugged, most versatile, and biggest trucks ever has never officially made it to the States. For decades it's been adored the world over. Name a task or a terrain, and the Unimog's torquey clean-diesel BlueTec engine, massive payload and towing capacities, all-wheel-drive configuration, and modern amenities will likely conquer it. Toyota Land Cruiser 70 30th Anniversary Its legendary status within the SUV and truck realms has earned it a limited-run return to the Japanese market. Within its classic, robust body and ladder frame reside a modern 4.0-liter V-6, four-wheel drive, and five-speed manual transmission. Engineers added airbags, ABS brakes, and updated headlights for it to better comply with today's roadway requirements. Volkswagen Scirocco R With nearly 280 horses and all-wheel drive at its disposal, this non-U.S.-market V-dub has the speed and stick to match its beautiful exterior. Inside, the racier theme continues with highly bolstered seats, a racing-inspired steering wheel, and unique instrumentation. Porsche Panamera Diesel Here's proof that comfort, speed, and efficiency aren't mutually exclusive. Having a 3.0-liter turbodiesel engine gets this luxury sedan to 62 mph in 6 seconds flat while returning an estimated combined fuel rating of 37 mpg. Not too shabby. BMW Alpina B4 Bi-Turbo Convertible Though unassuming and handsome, this cleanly designed BMW offers bigtime performance. Its 3.0-liter inline-six has been massaged to crank out 410 horsepower, its brakes are bigger, and subtle aerodynamic elements such as the front air dam aid in its sleekness. In traditional Alpina fashion, the cabin receives careful attention, as well. Audi RS3 Sportback Holy hot hatch, Batman. Within its modest small-car shell lives a feisty 367-horsepower, 2.5-liter, turbocharged inline-five cylinder, torque-vectoring Quattro all-wheel drive, and seven-speed S tronic dual-clutch gearbox. A lowered suspension and optional 14.6-inch carbon-ceramic brakes ensure it sticks and stops as well as its speeds. Donkervoort D8 GTO Bilster Berg Edition Named after a famous German circuit, this 14-unit special edition boasts a tauter suspension setup, a distinct darker nosepiece, and even more carbon fiber than the standard model. Its 1,500-pound build means that with an Audi-sourced, 380-horsepower, 2.5-liter five-cylinder aboard, it'll get to 62 mph in just 2.8 seconds. The regular-spec Donkervoort GTO is shown here. HSV Gen-F GTS Maloo Australia's most powerful production car gets unique paint, bigger AP brakes, and a revised front end in this special 250-unit edition. The 'Ute packs 577 horsepower and 546 lb-ft of torque thanks to a supercharged, 6.2-liter LSA engine from General Motors. Those are stats that'll make most sports cars nervous. Honda Civic Type R Though not on European roads just yet, we know for certain that we won't be getting it. At least not anytime soon, that is. The "CTR" (as aficionados call it) will arrive with more than 275 horsepower derived from an all-new 2.0-liter, turbocharged four-cylinder (the first Type R ever to use a turbo), a close-ratio six-speed manual, driver-selected drive modes, and adjustable dampers. Nissan March NISMO Whoever said all economy cars are boring is wrong. This little compact is stuffed with racing-bred parts such as functional aerodynamics, stiffer suspension, more robust seat bolstering, and stickier tires. ECU tuning gives the 1.5-liter heart a smidgen more grunt, too. Subaru Levorg Take all the versatility and sportiness of a WRX, wrap it in a stylish wagon physique, and you'll end up with this, the utterly cool and Japanese-market-only Levorg. It's available with a variety of engines and interior trims and can be outfitted with a growing list of STI parts. | 9 | 7,053 | autos |
Dustin Johnson is making his return to competitive golf for the first time in six months. Jessica Marksbury gives her expectations for DJ as he makes his return to the TOUR. | 1 | 7,054 | sports |
The three-star athlete has joined the 2015 class as Michigan's 12th commitment. Another surprise for the Wolverines. Michigan has landed its second commitment of the day in the form of 2015 athlete Keith Washington (Prattville, Alabama), who has flipped his pledge to the Wolverines from California. Signed (9:33 a.m.) " Keith Washigton ( @Im_Grindin2 ) #UMSigningDay pic.twitter.com/9FG5CNJc58 Michigan Football (@umichfootball) February 4, 2015 Washington has played a variety of positions in his high school career but defensive coordinator DJ Durkin said during Michigan's live stream that he will start out at cornerback and go from there. Washington is the 76th ranked athlete in the country according to the 247 Composite and held offers from Louisville, North Carolina, TCU, Miami (FL), Missouri, and many more. Michigan has a definite need at cornerback in this class with guys like Shaun Crawford and Garrett Taylor decommitting throughout the process. Their chances at five-star cornerback Iman Marshall seem rather slim, as well. That being said, the Wolverines have already had two surprises today with more potentially on the way. | 1 | 7,055 | sports |
Indian budget smartphone maker Micromax overtook Samsung Electronics Co Ltd (005930.KS) in the fourth quarter as the leading supplier in India's booming smartphone market, research firm Canalys said. Samsung disputed the rankings, saying it was still a clear leader in the category with a volume market share of 34.3 percent in the October-December 2014 quarter, citing data from market research firm GfK. Canalys said in its report published on Feb. 3 that Micromax accounted for 22 percent of smartphone sales in India in the October-December quarter, ahead of Samsung's 20 percent. In total, 21.6 million smartphones were sold in India in the period, a 90 percent surge from a year earlier. "The other report takes into account smartphone shipments. At Samsung we go by retail sales," Asim Warsi, marketing vice president of Samsung's India mobile business told Reuters. Samsung said it has a manufacturing facility in India, which could have resulted in a mismatch in calculating shipment levels. "The number of smartphones we retail in India is more than double than that of the next player," Warsi said. He did not say what percentage of Samsung's smartphones are made in India. Samsung does not break out manufacturing numbers for smartphones. Industry sources said Samsung makes about 90 percent of all phones it sells in India locally. India, which has the world's second-highest number of mobile phone accounts after China, is the third-biggest market by number of smartphones sold. Low-priced smartphones are the top sellers in a country where many buyers are upgrading from feature phones. Canalys said Micromax's performance was partly due to its continuing appeal to mobile phone users upgrading to smartphones. It estimated nearly a quarter of smartphones sold in India in the fourth quarter were devices priced under $100, while 41 percent of devices sold were in the $100-$200 range. Micromax and Samsung were followed by two other Indian budget smartphone brands, Karbonn and Lava, by number of handsets sold in fourth quarter, Canalys said. Micromax is planning a stock market listing later this year, according to press reports. (Reporting by Nivedita Bhattacharjee and Devidutta Tripathy; Editing by Kenneth Maxwell and Jane Merriman) | 5 | 7,056 | news |
Vanguard Group Inc., the largest U.S. mutual fund firm, said it attracted more investor cash in January than in any month in its 40-year history as investors flock to passive investments. The company got $33.2 billion in investor money into its mutual funds and exchange-traded funds in January, following the previous record of $29.8 billion set in December, John Woerth, a spokesman for the Valley Forge, Pennsylvania-based firm, wrote in an e-mail. Last year, Vanguard won $219 billion into its mutual funds and ETFs, according to Chicago-based Morningstar Inc. Vanguard, which manages about $3 trillion, is benefiting from a growing preference for index funds as investors lose faith in the ability of stock pickers to beat the market. In 2014 just 20 percent of the funds that buy U.S. stocks topped their benchmarks, according to Chicago-based Morningstar Inc. "Investors continue to want exposure to equities and they prefer to get it through indexing," Woerth said in telephone interview, adding that $26.1 billion of the total January flows went into indexed equity funds. Vanguard was founded in 1975 by John Bogle on the theory that investors would be better off in low-cost index funds. Vanguard's mutual funds charge an asset-weighted average of 15 cents for every $100 invested, compared with 70 cents for the mutual fund industry, Morningstar data show. Berkshire Hathaway Chairman Warren Buffett gave the company an endorsement in March in his annual letter to shareholders. Buffett said he told the trustee managing his affairs that after his death he wanted 90 percent of the cash he leaves for his wife put into a very low-cost Standard & Poor's 500 Index fund. "I suggest Vanguard," he wrote,'' saying the results are likely to be "superior to those attained by most investors." To contact the reporter on this story: Charles Stein in Boston at [email protected] To contact the editors responsible for this story: Christian Baumgaertel at [email protected] Sree Vidya Bhaktavatsalam | 3 | 7,057 | finance |
Ohio State continued stocking its roster for future returns to the College Football Playoff with a verbal commitment from one of the nation's top offensive linemen Wednesday morning. Isaiah Prince, a four-star prospect from Greenbelt (Md.) Eleanor Roosevelt, chose the Buckeyes from a final three that also included Maryland and Alabama. Earlier in the morning , Ohio State also snagged an out-of-state prospect who was considering the Crimson Tide in K.J. Hill, a receiver from Arkansas. Scout.com ranks Prince the sixth-best offensive tackle prospect in the country and the No. 74 player overall regardless of position. He is the No. 1 prospect in the East region and the state of Maryland. Prince gives Ohio State six offensive line commits for the 2015 class. He is the highest-rated by far of four tackles. Grant Schmidt of Sioux Falls (S.D.) Roosevelt , Kevin Feder of Don Bosco Prep in New Jersey and Branden Bown of Draper (Utah) Corner Canyon are all three-star prospects. Of the guards, Matthew Burrell is a four-star prospect from Woodbridge (Va.) C.D. Hylton and Mirko Jurkovic Jr. is a three-star from IMG Academy in Florida. | 1 | 7,058 | sports |
The jury trying former glam rock singer Gary Glitter on historic child sex abuse charges has retired to consider its verdicts. Mr Glitter, 70, whose real name is Paul Gadd, denies one count of attempted rape, seven counts of indecent assault and two other sexual offences. The alleged offences are said to have taken place between 1975 and 1980. The jury was told not to use Mr Gadd's previous child pornography convictions against him. 'Sense of revulsion' After the two-week trial, the jury of seven women and five men at Southwark Crown Court in south London were reminded to keep in mind all of the evidence before them. Referring to Mr Gadd's 1999 child pornography convictions, Judge Alistair McCreath said: "Don't let your natural sense of revulsion about such material allow you to use it against Mr Gadd in a way that is prejudicial or unfair." One woman claims she was under the age of 10 when the then-singer tried to rape her in 1975. Mr Gadd, of Marylebone, central London, is also accused of inviting a 12-year-old girl into his hotel suite and plying her with champagne before having sex with her. Another woman claims he invited her into his dressing room at a nightclub in Watford when she was 13 and forcefully kissed her and slid his hand up her skirt between October 1979 and December 1980. Mr Gadd was the first person to be arrested as part of Operation Yewtree. | 5 | 7,059 | news |
The number of billionaires in the world grew by 222 in 2014, bringing the total to a record 2,089, according to a new report. The three richest men in the world Bill Gates , Carlos Slim and Warren Buffett now have a combined $244 billion, up $52 billion over the past year, or about $100,000 a minute, said the report, which is an annual list of the world's richest individuals. Gates is the richest with $85 billion, up 25 percent over the past year. Slim is just behind with $83 billion, up 38 percent, and Buffett is third with $76 billion, up 19 percent. But not all billionaires were as fortunate. Of the 2,089 billionaires in the world, 869 saw their wealth decrease while 649 saw increases, said the China-based Hurun Report. In total, the world's billionaires saw their wealth drop by 1.5 percent to $6.7 trillion. That's still more than the combined GDP's of Japan and South Korea. There were 341 new billionaires, but 95 dropped out of the billionaire ranks, leaving a net gain of 222. Many of the new faces were in tech. "Tech has been leading the way again for new billionaires," said Rupert Hoogewerf, chairman and chief researcher at Hurun. "It's all eyes on the new economy." Meanwhile, the slowdown in many emerging markets, especially Russia, has reduced the fortunes of the billionaires. Fully 60 percent of Russia's billionaires saw their wealth drop, lead by Vladimir Yevtushenkov and Vagit Alekperov of Lukoil, whose wealth fell by 77 percent and 73 percent, respectively. For the first time, India topped Russia to the take the number three slot in countries with the most billionaires. The U.S. had the most, with 537, followed by China with 430, India with 97 and Russia with 93. China added the most billionaires, with 72, followed by the U.S. with 56 and India with 27. | 3 | 7,060 | finance |
The following article is provided by Rolling Stone. By PATRICK DOYLE For his current Rolling Stone cover story, Sam Smith gave hours of interviews, both on his home turf in London and in Atlanta as he prepared to launch his first arena tour, giving us so much material that we couldn't possibly print it all. Smith, 22, who is nominated for six Grammys this weekend, opened up about everything from his cross earrings to listening to Lana Del Rey in the bath. Here are 22 highlights: 1. He wasn't afraid to speak up for equality at his Catholic school. "From what I can remember, they believe that you can be homosexual, but you just can't practice it, which is ridiculous," he says. "I would just say, 'I am proof that it's genetic. It has to be, because it wasn't a choice.' And that's it. That's my only argument, you know? You love who you love, and I can't help that I like guys." 2. He's not sure he ever wants to get married. "My views on marriage actually don't come from what's going on in the gay community. They actually come from my mom and dad splitting up," Smith admits. "I'm a bit unsure as to whether I want to [get married]. I don't understand why you have to wear a wedding ring to warn people off. You should be able to be faithful to that person without anything on your body to show that you are with someone. You know what I mean? [But] I'm a 22-year-old boy, I have no idea what I want yet. In terms of marriage, I change my mind every week. I've changed my mind every week on what my type is. I change it all the time. But it depends on the person I've met. If I fall in love with someone who really wants to get married, then I think I'd do that for them." The Liberation of Sam Smith: Inside Rolling Stone's New Issue 3. He's planning to go back to school. "I want to go back to school for two months towards the end of next year, because I did film for [my] A-level [secondary school], and I just want to learn more about film and directing so that I can start directing my own shit. I think I'm going to go to New York." Smith says he'll go to NYU "if they'll have me" or otherwise "do a crash course with a director. It'd be interesting. I'm just very intrigued by that world." 4. He hasn't forgotten his days as a barback. "Working in a bar for three years, I will always be so respectful of the people working behind the bar. People treat you like shit," he says. "Especially in the financial [district]. Rich men would just treat Tiffany [Smith's best friend, with whom he's lived for four years] like a piece of meat. And well, me, they just had no time." 5. He thought fame would make him less lonely. "Me and Gaga were talking about this, actually: I always thought I was going to fit into this world. Growing up, being the only gay guy in my school and in this small village, my mom used to always say to me, 'You're going to find your people, Sam. You'll find your group of people.' And I thought if I would become really well known, then I'd find my group of people. But they're not my group of people. There's amazing people, but still, I'm still in search of my people. [I have] an amazing team, I've got my best friends... But I haven't found that group of people that are just like me, going through exactly what I'm going through. And I think I've maybe come to terms with the fact that maybe I'm not going to find a group of people going trough what I'm going through, because maybe what I'm going through is really, really rare, you know?" ">Sam Smith and 11 Pop Stars Who Broke Via Dance Records 6. When you stare at him, he's silently freaking out. "I get really self-conscious about people staring at me. It sounds so weird. As a performer, as an artist, these should be the things that I'm used to. But that's not the case," Smith explains. "When people stare at me, I freak out. You know when everyone stares at you you're like, 'Oh, God'? It just feels really awkward. Especially when you're on a plane, because my hair goes funny every time I'm on a plane." 7. He's a huge "Lost" fan -- and actually liked the ending. "I loved it, loved it. True 'Lost' fans like it." 8. He's been really getting into "The Real Housewives of Atlanta." The day he kicked off his arena tour, Smith relaxed with two episodes of the Bravo series. His favorite cast member? "NeNe's amazing. She's great. Everyone loves her. She's amazing." 9. He has no time for pot. "I can't handle weed. I'm way too emotional. Last time I took it, I thought I had clamps in my mouth. [I was like] 'No, no no!'" 10. He bought a French bulldog for $3,000, but had to give it back. "I bought a dog and had to give it away two weeks later. I realized I just couldn't handle it. That was the most lavish thing I did, which backfired. I got it and then I freaked out." Rolling Stone's 20 Best Pop Albums of 2014 "I want to be a pop star that isn't really skinny, a pop star who doesn't have a perfectly even face. I want to change what a pop star is." 11. His mother, who was a trader for major brokerage firm Tullett Prebon, taught him to be ambitious and assertive. "I think I'm a know-it-all. I get that from my mom, sometimes," Smith admits. "My mom can be a bit of a know-it-all. She'd even say that, too. I can see it when I'm with my band and my team. I know how to be authoritative. Even if I don't know what the fuck I'm doing, I pretend like I do. It's all for show. That's true for anyone, I think. You've gotta convince yourself that you know what you're talking about sometimes." 12. Smith recently called some pop stars "just awful," but clarifies: "I'll say this to you candidly, and please publish this: The pop stars I'm talking about are not the pop stars anyone would expect. And I'm not talking about 20, 30 people. There's probably a few people, here and there, over the last two years, they're not horrible, but they're just not very kind and not very supportive to up-and-coming artists. That was it. It was only a few people." He adds, "I said to my dad on the phone, 'Who am I dissing here? Are all pop stars going to be offended by that comment?'" Because I think it's common knowledge that some people are dickheads, right? I could be a dickhead. People probably think I'm a dickhead, sometimes. But it's just common knowledge. I didn't think that was a bad thing to say. . .I hope that Taylor Swift and Ariana Grande don't think I've started dissing them, because I think they're lovely." Rolling Stone's 50 Best Albums of 2014 13. He loves Nicki Minaj. "She said something I actually really agreed with. She did a documentary for the Pink Friday tour. She said something like, 'When I'm assertive, I'm a bitch. When a man is assertive, he's a boss.' I could see where she comes from." 14. Rihanna's an idol and a close friend. "I fucking love Rihanna," Smith gushes. "She came to my show in L.A. She speaks to me all the time. For someone that famous, she's really real. Love her." 15. He really likes to take baths. Smith says he listens to "a lot of Lana Del Rey in the bath. She's good bath music. Or the soundtrack to 'Elizabeth: The Golden Age.'" He adds, "I make time for a bath. No matter what happens in life, no matter how famous I get or how upset or sad I get, how lonely I get, how happy I get, how heartbroken I get, the one thing I can always go to sleep knowing is there will always be baths." 16. He considers himself spiritual. "I believe in God, but I don't know what it is if it's a he, she, a he-she, or anything. [Laughs] Who knows what it is. All I know is that I feel like there's something else there." 17. He has a specific way of describing his own incredible voice. "It's not falsetto, it's just chest voice. I just power through. Sometimes I do head voice. It's hard to explain. I just sing. . .I am technical, but I don't know what it is because I've never heard it before with other guy singers. I belt in my high register. It's hard. It's quite operatic, the way I sing, sometimes." Rolling Stone's 30 Greatest EDM Albums of All Time 18. The Catholic Church influenced his style. "I went to Catholic school 'til I was 18. There's a connection there, you know?" he says. "For a lot of things I do, it's a symbol. . .I used to change my earrings up all the time, every day. I'd have different pairs for each day. The day that I shot the acoustic video to 'Lay Me Down,' it just so happened that I wore cross earrings. And I remember when I watched the video back, I was like, 'That can be my thing.' There's a little meaning behind wearing crucifixes in my ears, you know? But I would never go into it." 19. He wants his overall style to be "iconic." "That's all I want. I want what I wear to be iconic. Not even what I wear, the way I hold myself. I don't know, I like clean-cut things that are just iconic. I like wearing things that I would look at pictures of in 60 years' time and they'll still be in fashion, do you know what I mean? That's what I like." 20. Don't expect him to play Russia. "I don't hate Russia, but I just will never go to Russia [because] what they do to gay people there is just disgusting and it makes me very angry," Smith says. "I've even said, no matter how many billions of pounds you could offer me, I just couldn't, which makes me sad because I have Russian fans. They contact me on Twitter, it makes me sad." 21. He wants his next album to be more personal than his first. "I'm very passionate about being relatable. On my second record, instead of looking like I have more money, more airbrushing, I want to actually be more raw and more honest on my second album than my first," he says. "I want to be a pop star that isn't really skinny, a pop star who doesn't have a perfectly even face, where in my music video, I don't look my best, [but] I look raw and human. I want to change what a pop star is. I think that's deep down what I really want to do in music. I want to change that whole idea of, 'When I'm older, I want to be perfect.' I want to change people's idea of what perfection is. That's what I really want." 22. He's excited about a new song called "Scars," a letter to his parents. "After 'In the Lonely Hour,' I was thinking, 'How do I become relatable when I'm not relatable?' [Most] people don't go to [fancy] restaurants, can't treat their families and take their sisters out. People don't have that. And how could I write an album that people can relate to when people can't relate to [me], you know what I mean?" Smith says. "It's really scary, and I had that moment where I was like, 'I could lose everything on my second album, because I'm no longer relatable.' And also [I had] that pressure of, 'OK, shit, now I need to fall in love. Something like that needs to happen for me to become relatable again.' Then I wrote that song ["Scars"] and every kid who has come from a divorced family is going to listen to that. And I feel weird, because I shouldn't give too much away. My album, it's going to be another year and a bit." | 6 | 7,061 | entertainment |
The White House has signalled it may be ready to change tack and start supplying arms to Ukrainian troops battling pro-Russian separatists, but what does Kiev want -- and what can Washington provide? Kiev has said it hopes for an announcement of military aid during a visit by US Secretary of State John Kerry on Thursday, after a US think-tank report called for a massive upscaling in the quality of weapons available to Ukrainian forces. The US government in November committed $118 million in "non-lethal" equipment and training for the Ukrainian military, of which around half has been delivered, including body armour, night vision glasses, mortar radar and medical equipment. While Ukraine is one of the world's biggest arms producers, it lacks the hi-tech systems needed to match the separatists' arsenal, allegedly supplied by Moscow. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin said on Wednesday that "we have enough Kalashnikovs," and what is needed is sophisticated equipment for "modern warfare" -- including secure radios, jamming equipment for separatist radios, reconnaissance drones and more radar systems to locate mortar, rocket and artillery fire. "What we need is exactly modern warfare, which we've been lacking all this time," Klimkin told Western journalists in Kiev, adding that the separatists were currently able to "intercept our soldiers talking on mobile phones and then steer their fire." Ukraine's needs also include training to use sophisticated equipment, Klimkin said: "It's not about buying a couple of more tanks." - 'Fire-and-forget' - The US report published Monday by a group of former senior civilian and US military leaders said the West must "bolster deterrence in Ukraine by raising the risks and costs to Russia of any renewed major offensive." Kiev and its Western allies have accused Russia of pouring columns of heavy armour over the border to bolster the rebels, but Ukraine's stocks of light anti-armour weapons are in an "abysmal condition," said the report by the Atlantic Council, the Brookings Institution and the Chicago Council on Global Affairs. The White House is reportedly considering giving Ukraine "fire-and-forget" Javelin anti-tank missiles, which use shaped charges to squirt deadly jets of molten metal through thick armour. Shaped charges were used to deadly effect by insurgents in Iraq targeting the armour of US-led coalition forces. The report said that Washington should provide $1 billion in military assistance "as soon as possible", followed by another billion in 2016, and again in 2017. In order to overcome the superiority of the separatists' capabilities, it noted, the US should provide radar to pinpoint the locations where Grad rockets are being fired "out to a range of 30-40 kilometres (around 20-25 miles)". Reconnaissance drones would be essential to detect troop movements on the largely flat terrain of east Ukraine. Such drones would be non-lethal and likely human portable. Armoured Humvees would provide "all-weather mobility, speed, reliability and a measure of protection as they move between positions on the battlefield," the report said. The survival rate of Ukraine's casualties, 70 percent of which are from rocket and artillery fire, would also be greatly improved by the provision of field hospitals, the report said, calling the current military medical system "relatively underdeveloped and severely under resourced". Beyond the US, NATO members using former Soviet equipment compatible with Ukraine's arms inventory could prove particularly useful with contributions to air defence systems to discourage large-scale Russian airstrikes. "Procuring advanced US air defence weapons would be expensive, and integrating them into the existing Ukrainian air defence system would take time," the report said. Foreign Minister Klimkin was blunt about Ukraine's objectives. "We can't win the war against Russia... what we need is not to lose the war," he said, voicing hope that Kerry would announce some "deliverables" during a visit to Kiev on Thursday. "There are discussions ongoing about additional military technical assistance and I very much hope that could materialise in the nearest future," Klimkin said. | 5 | 7,062 | news |
Classic Stonewashed Straight-leg denim jeans ($180) by Marc by Marc Jacobs, mrporter.com A pair of straight-leg, lightly-washed jeans ought to be a fixture in every guys wardrobe: no denim has ever been or will ever be this reliable, long-lasting, or versatile. This is the classic look people think of when they think of an ordinary American pair of jeans, and its ubiquity is not without reasonwhat it lacks in distinctiveness and originality it more than makes up in durability and traditional style. This pair from Marc by Marc Jacobs is fairly priced and cut well, with light distressing adding just a touch of individuality. Pair it with: A tee shirt and leather jacket; a button-down Oxford and black or blue sportcoat; sneakers or dress shoes depending on temperament. Selvedge 1967 505 slim-fit dry selvedge denim jeans ($200) by Levi's Vintage Clothing, mrporter.com Selvedge denim, has established itself over the last several years as the most popular style among fashion-conscious men, replacing their lighter denim as a more authentic or high-grade alternative. Think of it as the single-malt scotch to the lighter jeans blend: not the only option for the distinguished gentleman, certainly, but unquestionably the finest. Selvedge denim tends to be considerably thicker and stiffer than an ordinary pair of jeans, which makes it difficult to recommend if youre, say, working outdoors in the middle of July. But that thickness speaks to its caliber, and one of the best things about selvedge is that it bears the mark of its individual owner: the heavy, saturated denim gets worn in as you wear it, so that after six or seven months of regular wear the jeans will look like yours and nobody else's. Pair it with: Designer dress shirts and high-quality blazers or jackets; a plain, white T-shirt. Thin and Stretchy LHomme Placid Slim-Fit Dry Denim Jeans ($185) by Frame Denim, mrporter.com On the opposite side of the spectrum lies the stretchy, wafer-thin jean. Where classic denim styles evoke a rugged and rough aesthetic, connected as they are to construction work and the cowboys of the American frontier, this contemporary approach is considerably more modern and even elegant. This very fine pair from Frame Denim looks and feels impeccably made, and boasts a narrow silhouette better suited than other styles to occasions that lean a little less casual. The dark indigo wash in particular makes this the ideal pair of jeans for a night out to dinner or at the club. Maybe not the best for the great outdoors or strenuous manual labor, but hey, not everybody is into that sort of thing anyway. Pair it with: Crushed velvet blazer; suit jacket and tie; anything luxurious. Waxed Waxed-denim jeans ($460) by Alexander McQueen, mrporter.com While the time-faded and self-distressed texture of dark denim remains all the rage, sometimes you want a pair of jeans with a bit more polish and shinesomething with a sheen thats just a little less jean-like in design. A wax coating may be the answer: this treatment adds a subtle, jet-black finish to denim, retaining the classic appeal of a good pair of jeans but invigorating it with something more striking. This pair from Alexander McQueen has a texture and glow almost like leather, though without any of the negative connotations a pair of leather pants would no doubt carry. Try this if you want a pair of jeans that shade more toward sleek than rough-hewn. Pair it with: biker gear; a leather jacket; dress boots. | 4 | 7,063 | lifestyle |
1. Trying to get him to be more motivated. If he can't get a job he actually likes (so he's not constantly complaining about how horrible his social work job is because he hates children) on his own, you're not going to be able to move his lazy-ass mountains. 2. Thinking that his past relationships don't necessarily mean anything. So he dated someone who was a "total whore"? Yeah, guess what? He's going to call you that too. If anything, she was probably a "whore" you'd get along with and you could bond over the sexist idiot you both dated. 3. Not paying attention to the way he talks about other women. See above, but also the way he talks about his female friends or even just the way he talks about Mindy Kaling or Lena Dunham; all of it adds up and speaks volumes. Don't ignore it just because he has nice abs. (I have done this and I am very smart, but also: abs.) 4. Not putting enough time into the relationship. I get it. You're working, you're busy, you don't have 24 hours a day to put into some relationship that might not go anywhere. But it's 100 percent not going to go anywhere if you don't spend a tiny bit more time and energy on it. 5. Not hanging out with your friends as much because he is your future. And maybe he is! But you don't want to stop watching Friends marathons with Katie and Jill. Even if he is your future, it's still important to have more people in your life than one. That's not what "The One" means. 6. Not paying attention to early warning signs or thinking that they don't really matter. If the fact that he only eats stale dinner rolls for lunch bugs the hell out of you in the beginning, you're going to throw one at his face six months from now. 7. Just being too lenient in general. It's good to let the little things slide, but if you're letting every annoying as hell thing he does slide, you won't realize that you don't actually like him that much. Which is basically the Lane of Relationships Past. I'm better now, I swear. 8. Not thinking it's weird that you never hang out with his friends. It is weird. Meeting a guy's friends is so important because if they're jerks, he's probably a secret jerk too. Or, if you're like me, you meet his friends and realize one of them is way hotter/cooler than the guy your dating, thereby making you realize you don't really like the guy you're dating. Sobering stuff. 9. Going back to the same guy who treats you like shit over and over again. You deserve oceans of good things! Wait until you get them. 10. Disregarding your friends' opinions of him. Their opinion isn't the most important thing, but it's a red flag if they all hate him. I mean, ideally, they're all like "OMG how is he so great? Marry him right now... or whenevs, NBD." 11. Settling for a guy who isn't up to your standards and then trying to change him. He's not going to magically become obsessed with reading all the books you love at age 28. You're better off just joining online groups built around a shared love of Buffy The Vampire Slayer and Veronica Mars like I definitely didn't. 12. Keeping a guy around way too long because it was so hard to find a decent guy and you don't want to have to go through The Search again. Let me tell you something, the search is in fact terrible. But I truly believe it is not as terrible as being with a guy who is a pile of garbage wrapped in scraps of old meat. 13. Making all the plans. If he's just agreeing to show up somewhere, he's not making much effort. He's just chillin' with you 'til it's time to touch your boobs. You deserve a legit night out that he actually planned for both of you. If not more than one night out. Lots of them, quite honestly. 14. Thinking that because he's spending tons of money on you that means he loves you and is not just… him spending lots of money on you. It's awesome when someone is treating you like The Beyonce of Beyonce Castle in terms of gifts and going places and doing cool shit. I love that stuff so much. What I don't love is when that's all the person is doing because they can't articulate a single feeling in their brain or body (ahem, Mark and also Dave). 15. Letting one adorable well-timed text compensate for a shit personality. Aww, it's cute that you miss me. But you've also never told me I'm pretty and we've been dating three months. | 4 | 7,064 | lifestyle |
Gina Torres, who stars as attorney Jessica Pearson on Suits, stopped by our POPSUGAR studio just after the truly jaw-dropping season premiere to dish on what's ahead. Gina dropped a few hints about the firm's future and gave us a window into what it's like to have access to the show's impeccable wardrobe closet. She also weighed in on another of her TV roles, as Bella Crawford on Hannibal. Gina is confirmed to return in the next season of the series and told us what it's like to play wife to her real-life husband, Laurence Fishburne, on the show. Hannibal returns this Spring, and you can catch Suits tonight at 10 p.m. EST/9 p.m. CST on USA. | 6 | 7,065 | entertainment |
A man on a sled is pulled by an ATV. | 8 | 7,066 | video |
Sports Weekly takes an in-depth look at each major league organization during the offseason, from the major leagues to the farm system. We start with teams with the worst records and move up. *** The Toronto Blue Jays made major upgrades in the offseason, but they weren't the ones anyone expected. By trading with the Oakland Athletics for Josh Donaldson and signing Russell Martin to a five-year, $82 million contract, general manager Alex Anthopoulos added two All-Star-caliber players. Donaldson ranks among the game's top third basemen with an average of 27 home runs a season and an on-base-plus-slugging percentage (OPS) of .840 since 2013. While Martin hasn't historically hit for that kind of power (his career high in homers is 21), the Blue Jays expect him to hold his own at the plate at hitter-friendly Rogers Centre while impacting the game defensively with his throwing arm and catching skills. "He's a total package as far as I'm concerned," Anthopoulos says of Martin. "There are no holes in his game." However, there are holes elsewhere on the roster. The weak spots that existed entering the offseason are still there. The Blue Jays bullpen had a poor showing in 2014, and manager John Gibbons has a lack of established late-inning options at his disposal. Second base remains a potential concern for a team that has lacked steady production at the position in recent years. The Blue Jays have options, but none of the candidates for regular playing time offers much certainty. And while the starting outfield features plenty of upside, the Blue Jays don't have an established center fielder or much in the way of reliable depth after losing 2014 starters Melky Cabrera and Colby Rasmus to free agency. Dalton Pompey will get the chance to win the job in center after an impressive rise through Toronto's minor league system, but the 22-year-old has limited experience against major league pitchers. Newcomer Michael Saunders provides upside and a much-needed left-handed bat, but he has battled injuries in recent years. Still, the Blue Jays should score plenty of runs thanks to a lineup anchored by Jose Bautista, Edwin Encarnacion, Jose Reyes, Donaldson and Martin. Their starting rotation a major concern this time a year ago looks solid thanks to durable R.A. Dickey and Mark Buehrle and promising young right-handers Drew Hutchison, Marcus Stroman and Aaron Sanchez. Add it all up, and the Blue Jays have a talented roster with a realistic shot at surpassing last year's total of 83 wins and competing for the playoffs in the two-team wild-card era. The Blue Jays might own the longest current playoff drought in baseball (since 1993), but after a busy winter they have reason to hope it won't stay that way for long. *** POSITION-BY-POSITION (*prospect): Catcher: The addition of Martin gives Toronto enviable depth behind the plate. He provides above-average offense for the position (combined 26 homers the last two seasons with the Pittsburgh Pirates) while adding plenty of value with his glove. Dioner Navarro drew trade interest after Martin signed, but the Blue Jays held on to the switch-hitting catcher in the hope that he'll hit in a part-time role. The duo should provide plenty of offense in Toronto. The Blue Jays are expecting 21-year-old Kennesaw State University product Max Pentecost to continue his progression in 2015. Depth chart: Martin, Navarro, Josh Thole, *A.J. Jimenez, *Pentecost. First base: With three consecutive 30-home run, .900 OPS seasons, Encarnacion deserves to be considered one of the league's best power hitters. Justin Smoak adds intrigue at first base, though he had a down year in 2014. If the switch-hitting 28-year-old can convert his potential into results, the Blue Jays are certain to find him everyday playing time while shifting Encarnacion to the designated hitter spot. Smoak hit 20 home runs as recently as 2013, so the Blue Jays know the power's there, though he has never quite lived up to his billing as a top Texas Rangers prospect several years ago. Depth chart: Encarnacion, Smoak, Danny Valencia, Bautista, Daric Barton. Second base: There's no bigger question mark in Toronto's lineup. While Maicer Izturis has a history of production, he missed most of the 2014 season because of a knee injury. Ryan Goins has a great glove but limited offensive upside. And Devon Travis has yet to play above Class AA. All told, there's a lot of uncertainty at second and it looks like a weak spot in an otherwise strong lineup. Depth chart: Izturis, Goins, *Travis, Jonathan Diaz, Steve Tolleson. Third base: Donaldson has finished in the top 10 in AL MVP voting in each of the last two seasons, so he immediately becomes a fixture in Toronto's potent lineup. He hit a career-best 29 home runs in 2014, and moving from Oakland's spacious park to homer-friendly Rogers Centre could allow him to build on that total. The Blue Jays also like the fact that Donaldson has been durable since his 2013 breakout, playing 158 games in each of the last two seasons. Depth chart: Donaldson, Valencia, Izturis, Tolleson, Matt Hague. Shortstop: At his best, Reyes remains a dynamic leadoff hitter. He stole 30 bases while posting a .726 OPS last year, and he'll lead off again in 2015. Even so, the Blue Jays must find ways of providing him with the occasional reprieve from Toronto's unforgiving artificial playing surface to ensure he stays healthy. Still, Reyes played in 143 games last season, his second-highest total for a season since 2008. Izturis offers experience, and Goins might be Toronto's best defensive shortstop. Depth chart: Reyes, Goins, Izturis, Diaz, *Kevin Nolan. Left field: The Blue Jays acquired Saunders to play every day with the hope he can stay healthy and build on the success he had in Seattle (career-high .273 batting average and .791 OPS last season). While he strikes out often, he has power and the ability to play all three outfield positions. Replacing Melky Cabrera won't be easy, but the Blue Jays like what Saunders offers. He has hit as many as 19 home runs in a season (2012). Depth chart: Saunders, Kevin Pillar, Ezequiel Carrera, Caleb Gindl, *Pompey. Center field: Pompey was impressive with the Blue Jays in September, showing advanced plate discipline and hitting a home run off Felix Hernandez. If he beats out Pillar and Carrera for the everyday center-field job, the Blue Jays would have three Canadians in their starting lineup (Martin and Saunders also are expected to start for Toronto). But the question of Pompey's citizenship is secondary to his performance. He had a breakout 2014, rising from Class A to Toronto while posting a .861 OPS in the minors. Starting this spring, he'll get the chance to prove himself at the highest level. Depth chart: Pompey, Saunders, Pillar, Carrera, Bautista. Right field: Bautista anchors Toronto's lineup as one of the game's best right-handed batters. The five-time All-Star hit 35 home runs in 2014, earning a top-six MVP finish for the third time in five seasons. With Reyes and Martin hitting ahead of him in the order, he'll have plenty of chances to do more damage in 2015. Depth chart: Bautista, Pillar, Carrera, Saunders, Gindl. Designated hitter: By trading Adam Lind to the Milwaukee Brewers, the Blue Jays opened up their DH spot and created the possibility of rotating in numerous players. Encarnacion figures to DH often, and Navarro and Valencia also could be mixed in given their success against left-handed pitching. The newfound flexibility even could allow Reyes and Bautista to DH occasionally and stay fresh. Depth chart: Navarro, Encarnacion, Bautista, Valencia, Reyes. Starting pitchers: Thanks to big seasons from Stroman and Hutchison, Toronto's rotation held its own in 2015. The top four starters are returning, and prospects Sanchez and Daniel Norris will compete with Marco Estrada for the final rotation spot. (Sanchez got into 24 games last season, and Norris appears ready for more extended MLB action.) Beyond that group, Toronto's starting depth starts to fall off because of offseason trades of J.A. Happ, Kendall Graveman and Sean Nolin. Still, this group looks more than capable of keeping the Blue Jays in contention. Depth chart: RHP Dickey, LHP Buehrle, RHP Stroman, RHP Hutchison, *RHP Sanchez, *LHP Norris, RHP Estrada, LHP Andrew Albers, RHP Todd Redmond, RHP Chad Jenkins. Bullpen: Toronto's bullpen ranked 25th in the major leagues with a 4.09 ERA last year, and there's no question a turnaround is needed. The Blue Jays haven't landed any elite free agents, focusing on trade candidates. But early trade talks didn't lead to moves, so the Blue Jays bullpen looks thin. Unless they make a late-winter addition or two, they'll be leaving their most glaring weakness unaddressed. The Blue Jays view Sanchez as a starter long term, but it might be tempting to use him in relief after a dominant debut in the bullpen. Now it's just a question of whether he's starting or pitching high-leverage relief innings. Depth chart: LHP Brett Cecil, LHP Aaron Loup, RHP Redmond, RHP Jenkins, *RHP Sanchez, RHP Estrada, LHP Rob Rasmussen, RHP Steve Delabar. *** PROSPECTS TO WATCH CF Dalton Pompey: Pompey established himself as a top prospect with a 2014 season in which he posted a .861 on-base-plus-slugging percentage with 43stolen bases across three minor league levels. Pompey, 22, is positioned to earn Toronto's starting center-field job with a strong spring. The Blue Jays are about to find out if their switch-hitting prospect can replicate his minor league success at the major league level. LHP Daniel Norris: A season that began in the Florida State League ended in the big leagues for Norris, who established himself as one of Toronto's top young arms along the way. The 21-year-old left-hander struck out a remarkable 163 batters in 1242/3 innings across three minor league levels while going 12-2 with a 2.53 ERA. He'll likely compete for the No. 5 starter's job in spring training, or the Blue Jays could use him in relief. C Max Pentecost: When the Blue Jays selected Pentecost in the first round of the 2014 draft, they knew they were getting a skilled catcher with the potential to advance rapidly through the minor leagues. A wrist injury ended his debut season prematurely, but not before he batted .324 with three home runs in 25 minor league games. On the cusp of his first full season as a professional, Pentecost has the athleticism to make big strides in Toronto's system. RHP Aaron Sanchez: The 22-year-old posted a 1.09 ERA in 33 major league innings, striking out more than three times as many batters as he walked and generating a steady stream of ground balls. He even picked up three saves, showing the Blue Jays he's capable of handling a late-inning relief role. One way or another, the Blue Jays will be relying on Sanchez in a big way in 2015. | 1 | 7,067 | sports |
Our Horned Frogs insider Brian Estridge examines the team's latest recruiting class including who will be next season's impact freshmen. | 1 | 7,068 | sports |
Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) is pushing to nearly double the 18.4-cents-per-gallon federal gas tax that is traditionally used to pay for federal transportation projects. Blumenauer is reintroducing legislation he offered last year to increase the gas tax by 15 cents over the next three years, matching a proposal that was included in the 2011 Simpson-Bowles budget reform proposal. The legislation comes as lawmakers are searching for money to pay for a new infrastructure funding bill this year. The current surface transportation measure is scheduled to expire in May, meaning the Department of Transportation's Highway Trust Fund will go bankrupt this spring if Congress does not act to replenish it. Blumenauer's legislation would result in drivers paying 33.4 cents per gallon on gas purchases, in addition to state fuel taxes, to help pay for infrastructure improvements. Blumenauer has said the hike would bring the federal gas tax to the level it would have reached had it been indexed to inflation when it was last increased in the 1990s. "Because Congress didn't index the gas tax to inflation, it has not kept up with spending since it was last raised in 1992," he said on his website about the proposal, which is known as the Update, Promote and Develop America's Transportation Essentials (UPDATE) Act. "By increasing the gas tax by fifteen cents, which is what has been recommended by multiple bipartisan budget commissions, my legislation basically makes the same change that would have occurred had we tied the gas tax to inflation back in the early 1990s," Blumenauer continued. Transportation advocates have pushed for a gas tax increase to boost U.S. infrastructure funding as prices at the pump have fallen to their lowest levels in years. The money would be used to close an approximately $20 billion shortfall in infrastructure funding that has developed as construction costs have risen and cars have become more fuel efficient. U.S. residents were also driving less frequently and companies shipping fewer goods during the economic downtown that began in 2008, which exacerbated the problems with the gas tax being the primary source for federal transportation funding. Transportation advocates in Washington said Blumenauer's proposal to double the gas tax now was the easiest way to close the funding gap, though lawmakers have been reluctant to ask drivers to pay more at the pump for more than two decades. "Congressman Blumenauer's proposal to adjust the gas tax to pay for desperately needed investment to make our roads and bridges safe is a bargain American motorists will accept if Congress and the President lead on the issue," Laborers' International Union of North America President Terry O'Sullivan said in a statement. "While roads and bridges crumble contributing to an estimated 10,000 deaths a year, according to research on poor road conditions the main way our country pays for surface transportation has been frozen since 1993," O'Sullivan continued. "Since then, the gas tax has lost 40 percent of its value. Congress has many viable options to choose from, but one thing's certain: It's time to end the ideological logjam over taxes." Conservative groups in Washington have mobilized in opposition to the idea of raising the gas tax, arguing that drivers should be able to keep any savings at the pump in their pockets. "Falling gas prices are the first significant relief many Americans have experienced in years," Americans for Prosperity Vice President of Government Affairs Brent Gardner said in a statement last week. "Congress should let them take advantage of it rather than treating it as just another opportunity to reach into people's pockets and take more away in taxes," Gardner continued. "Lower-income Americans deserve a break from trying times, not to be slapped with another tax that disproportionately affects them." O'Sullivan invoked former Republican Presidents Dwight Eisenhower and Ronald Reagan's support of gas tax increases to rebut conservative criticism. "For a little courage, there's a proud tradition to lean on when it comes to adjusting the gas tax. President Roosevelt did it," he said. "As did Presidents Eisenhower, Reagan, Bush and Clinton. It's time to be grown-ups and acknowledge to the American people that we get what we pay for." Republicans leaders like Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) have signaled that they are opposed to asking drivers to pay more at the pump to finance transportation projects, although some GOP senators have said they would be open to discussing an increase in a broader discussion about taxes and infrastructure spending. President Obama meanwhile has suggested using revenue from taxing corporate profits that are stored overseas to pay for a $478 billion transportation bill through a process that is known in Washington as "repatriation." The White House said publicly Obama is opposed to increasing the gas tax, but transportation advocates believe he privately supports the proposal. Blumenauer's previous version of the legislation to increase the gas tax was co-sponsored former Republican Rep. Tom Petri (R-Wis.). Petri retired at the end of 2014 and was replaced by Rep. Glenn Grothman (R-Wisc.). Grothman has supported previous proposals to increase state gas taxes in Wisconsin, but he has not yet weighed in on hiking the federal fuel levy. Blumenauer is scheduled to unveil his legislation to increase the federal gas tax during a news conference on Wednesday. | 5 | 7,069 | news |
It's just a 4-star running back, right? Best answer: Yes, but no. Mike Weber (Cass Tech, Detroit, Mich.) stuck with his commitment to Ohio State instead of flipping to Michigan on Signing Day. When it comes to Ohio State vs. Michigan, everyone keeps score about everything. So yes, technically it's Urban Meyer 1, Jim Harbaugh 0. But no, it's not like Weber is going to walk in and take over as a starter for Ezekiel Elliott , who as you might remember closed the season with 696 rushing yards and eight TDs in Ohio State's last three games. It's not even about Weber in Columbus. MORE: Signing Day tracker | Seven reasons to hate Signing Day | Who is the best five-star QB? It's about killing the perception Harbaugh can just walk into a living room, turn loaves into khakis and flip anybody, especially a Meyer commit. Cass Tech coach Thomas Wilcher played with Harbaugh at Michigan. Weber said several former Michigan players tried to sway him to Ann Arbor. Weber is right there in the backyard. This was a chance to fire the first shot in the second coming of "The 10-Year War" and shout, "Get off my lawn!" Meyer won't back down like that. Ohio State's hold is Michigan's loss. So yes, there's work to do in Ann Arbor. But no, it's not a show-stopper. If Michigan beats Ohio State in Harbaugh-Meyer I (yes, it deserves that kind of billing), then Mike Weber will be less than a footnote in what's coming this season. Michigan has depth at tailback, and the Wolverines flipped running back Karan Higdon from Iowa. Once that happened, you could see Weber to Ohio State coming, even if the delayed announcement spurred a one-hour firing squad on Twitter. Will he? Won't he? MORE: Top 10 Ohio State Buckeyes | Top 10 Michigan Wolverines It's just a 4-star running back, right? Yes, but no it's not the last time this is going to happen. Harbaugh and Meyer are more mechanisms than men, and their relentless approaches flirt with maniacal. Weber isn't the first 4-star recruit choosing between Ohio State and Michigan or Meyer and Harbaugh and he won't be the last. In three years, Meyer is 38-3 with a national championship and fourth consecutive top-10 class in the books. Ohio State is 12-2 against Michigan since Jim Tressel took over in 2001. The Buckeyes have a two-lap lead and the foot on hyper-speed. Keep in mind they have never lost a true road game under Meyer. Think about that. Ohio State's last road loss was to Michigan in 2011. Yes, that's insane. But no, it won't be easy when they visit the last team to beat them in a Big Ten regular season game on Nov. 28. Ohio State's last two defending national championship teams lost the following year in Ann Arbor. Everybody on both sides knows scores from 1969 (24-12) and 2003 (35-21). Harbaugh needed a month to get the Wolverines back in the conversation with several of the nation's top recruits. He'll close the deal with several more in 2016. Yes, Ohio State won the first skirmish with a 4-star running back. But no, this war is far from over. For those keeping score, the first major battle is still 297 days away. | 1 | 7,070 | sports |
Yet another study confirms a warning that many of us ignore on a nightly basis: staring at a screen before bedtime can make you take longer to fall asleep, and then sleep for less time. In this latest study, published in BMJ Open, researchers analyzed a 2012 survey of more than 9,000 Norwegian teens mostly high school students, between the ages of 16 and 19 to determine their screen and sleep habits. They found that about 90% of girls and about 80% of boys use a cell phone in the hour before bed. More than 80% also used computers. The scientists found that the teens who used electronics in that last hour were likely to experience sleep onset latency of at least 60 minutes (meaning they took more than an hour to fall asleep) as well as sleep deficiency, defined as sleeping at least two hours less than they should. Certainly this is not the first study to decry the use of electronics in bed. These results reinforce past research on the effects of engaging with electronics, though more research is needed to determine the underlying causes, and the differences between the effects of different kinds of screens, the latest study's authors wrote. One likely explanation of the sleep pattern disruptions is very simple light wakes us up, and smartphones shine light directly onto the face of whoever is looking at the screen of one. That can make a person more alert and less sleepy, and can cause children especially to fall asleep at later times and then report more sleepiness during the day, the National Sleep Foundation notes. The blue light in particular can prevent melatonin release in teens and adults, interfering with an important aspect of regular sleep. Another possible explanation, the study suggests, is that screens are time-consuming: smartphones are a gateway to the endless rabbit hole that is the internet, and in using one your mind becomes engaged, instead of powering down. | 5 | 7,071 | news |
By Matt Lombardi ESPN's Britt McHenry is in Happy Valley Wednesday to cover Penn State's National Signing Day happenings, and as most Nittany Lions fans are aware, she's been tough to miss on campus. McHenry has been wearing a bright red sweater for the occasion, much to the chagrin of PSU head coach James Franklin. In fact, at one point, he handed her a blue Nike windbreaker to wear on top. It's clear that Franklin isn't a fan of McHenry wearing the main color of some of the team's rivals. Perhaps next year ESPN sends McHenry to Columbus instead. | 1 | 7,072 | sports |
Plus-sized model, Ashley Graham, is making history by posing in Sports Illustrated's annual swimsuit issue. | 6 | 7,073 | entertainment |
So: Shake Shack has gone public . It opened big, went bigger, and I have no doubt that it will get bigger still. (I would buy stock in it if I could, but the Securities and Exchange Commission has established that my liver has inapproriate ties to the chain and its products.) How can it not? Somehow, this late in the day, and with such absolute assurance, the tiny chain has managed to reinvent our national dish, the most powerful food idea our nation ever produced. How did they do it? What makes Shake Shack special? Shake Shack understands hamburgers. It sounds so simple. How can a hamburger business not understand hamburgers? And yet they rarely do. A hamburger is supposed to be brown, not gray; brown crust tastes good, and provides a craggy, tactile undercrunch below a viscously smooth layer of melted American cheese. (And it goes without saying that it is meant to becovered by American cheese, whose melting properties are, literally, designed for the blanketing of burgers.) Because brown crust tastes good, hamburgers need to be flat, so you can get as much crust as possible. It needs an edge fitted to its bun, so that you won't bite into empty bread, an experience akin to missing a step when walking down stairs. It needs to be fresh, because frozen meat is broken and up and dried out but the miniature glaciers that gouge out its insides. And it needs to be left alone once it's cooking, because pressing it down squeezes out its life essence to drain away on the grill like blood on an abattoir grill. It also needs a soft, nearly invisible white bun, the absence of which is the Shack burger's only flaw a chewy potato bun that does nothing but get in the way of hamburger happiness. But even Homer nods, as the saying goes. Shake Shack is a fine dining restaurant. For the last twenty years, the nation's chefs have collectively tried to revamp and reimagine the canon of American mainstays, and typically have done a shitty job of it. Who wants dry-aged meatloaf? Shake Shack took the ultimate American trash food and approached it not as an object for postmodern reinterpretation, but as a dish to be executed. Danny Meyer's Union Square Hospitality Group took the burger seriously when nobody else in the culinary world did. The tomato and lettuce on the Shake Shack burger were the same ones you got in a salad at Union Square Cafe; the custard was developed by Eleven Madison Park's then-pastry chef Nicole Kaplan for use in one of the country's most elegant restaurants. The Shack, it should be remembered, really was a shack in the park; the name wasn't a joke. But really, it was more like an Eleven Madison Park kiosk than anything else. Shake Shack has an almost McLuhan-esque grasp of media. Most restaurants, when their small, cramped quarters can't make enough food to feed their customers, register it as a disaster, issuing public apologies and/or committing acts of penitential self-immolation. Shake Shack just made it part of its platform. That huge line of people snaking down the park, waiting 45 minutes for a hamburger? They're having a good time! The line is part of the Shake Shack experience! Such was the party line coming out of the omnipotent Danny Meyer broadcast tower, and we all bought it bloggers, business reporters, coolhunters, burger nerds. This neat Aikido move is totally typical of Shack's media mastery. You will find no clowns, no boo-yeah hotties , no freak-show stunts like Hardee's "Monster Thickburger" or Wendy's "Baconator." Shake Shack is smarter than you. It has seen your criticism coming, and preempted it. Hamburgers are made of meat, and Shake Shack's is the best. We all love to talk about buns, cheese, toppings, and other fundamental elements of hamburgerdom, but these are all basically frames and frills; the burger itself matters most, and Shake Shack controls the quality of its burger in a way no chain ever has. One butcher, Pat LaFrieda, makes its beef, and always has the blend is itself a proprietary bespoke one that he created for the project. The New York Shacks are all supported by a supply train that begins at the LaFrieda shop in New Jersey, but even the chain's most far-flung outposts in Miami, London, and Dubai have local butchers schooled and overseen by LaFrieda to follow the New Jersey meatmonger's almost OCD commitment to producing ground beef. The burgers are good because they are made from the same meat he sells to good restaurants, as opposed to being made from ground-up dairy cows. They are juicy because they are made from whole muscles, and their fat content comes from the marbling in those muscles, rather than just being added afterward a cheap shortcut used by nearly the entire burger world. "When you add fat, it just comes out as soon as the meat hits the grill," the meat mogul once told me. The Shack burger has fat aka flavor, moisture, juice, soul built into it, so much so that the burgers are almost impossible to overcook. LaFrieda's genius move, though, was creating a machined "puck" meant to be pressed down on a hot grill, once, while still cold. Meat tastes good when it is salty. Salt, as all chefs know, is more than just a seasoning. It's a flavor enhancer. It's basically cocaine for the palate, and Shake Shack uses more of it on their burgers than anybody I ever saw before. When you eat a Shake Shack burger, your palate is as wired up as Grace Jones on a midnight laughing jag at Studio 54. Shake Shack has a Kremlin. Unlike nearly all other burger chains, whose franchisees have a pretty free hand, every Shake Shack is an expression of a single intelligence. As with the meat, it's been necessary of Shake Shack to outsource its infrastructure, but its overboss, Randy Garutti, runs the chain from its hamburger Kremlin in New York, and when any store deviates from its standard, that store is more or less immediately chastened and corrected by nerve impulses traveling instantenously along its axons. That's why there aren't more stores but it's also why Danny Meyer's Union Square Hospitality Group now spends so much of its processing power on Shake Shack that a lot of us think that he is moving inexorably toward getting out of the fancy restaurant business entirely. Shake Shack is marketed as a luxury good. When McDonald's or Five Guys opens a new "unit," the fact barely registers on local media; when Shake Shack opens a new store, the fact is treated as a story, and even as a news event, like when Jaeger-LeCoultre announced that it would open a watch boutique in New York. That isn't an accident. It's a function of the company's top-line marketing machine, which was the best in the restaurant business before Shake Shack was even born. Go back and look at the fawning coverage USHG has always received. There is hardly a bad word to be found. Even the ultra-clean, Art Deco design motifs the chain created have a power all their own a fact not wasted on the chain's off-brand knockoffs, who continue to slavishly, shamelessly emulate it. There are other secret weapons of Shake Shack, too many to get into without writing a book-length appreciation. They use expensive Keating "Miraclean" grills whose massive surfaces maintain heat (and hence browning power) even when wave after wave of cold burger patties are hitting them all day. They think of smart things like kiddie dungeons and ice cream-only express lanes. They have a whole company, called "Hospitality Quotient," dedicated to massaging the feelings of customers. And they have flaws, too. No matter how hard they try, not all the Shacks are equally good. Their hot dogs are an afterthought, no better than something you would get at a highway service plaza, and their fries are no better than they have to be, which is not much. But whatever. They're the future of the hamburger and the world knows it. | 0 | 7,074 | foodanddrink |
WASHINGTON, Feb 4 (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama's top communications adviser and a longtime member of his inner circle, Dan Pfeiffer, is stepping down from his post in March, the White House said on Wednesday. Pfeiffer has advised Obama since the 2008 presidential campaign and is one of the last of the president's close confidants from that period to be leaving his immediate orbit. "Like everyone else in the White House, I've benefited from his political savvy and his advocacy for working people," Obama said in a statement. "He's a good man and a good friend, and I'm going to miss having him just down the hall from me." Pfeiffer served as White House deputy communications director and communications director before taking on the title of senior adviser. He is fond of sparring with reporters on Twitter and has spearheaded the administration's effort to use social media to spread its message, sometimes seeking to bypass traditional news organizations in the process. Obama has been criticized routinely for relying too much on an insular group of advisers, many of whom stemmed from his Chicago-based campaign. But communication gurus such as David Axelrod and David Plouffe, who both spent stints in the White House after helping get him elected, have long since moved on. Pfeiffer has experienced some health difficulties in recent years, including stroke-like symptoms. He informed the president about his decision to leave last month, a White House official said, and had been thinking about it for a long time. | 5 | 7,075 | news |
I have never had long hair. Growing up, I always had short, cropped cuts, due to multiple surgeries. I had long-ish hair at one point: slightly past my shoulders. I could make a basic ponytail, but it was nothing to write home about. Braids weren't thick and pretty; they were flimsy and resembled a rat tail as they lay on my neck. Updos were "meh." My hair was almost always down, either stick straight or in waves. Once I graduated college, I realized that my hair stopped growing completely, possibly from my birth control. I took vitamins, every hair-growth pill on the market, and even changed my diet for healthy hair to no avail. My hair was shiny and strong. But long? Nope. When I started at POPSUGAR, I decided to use clip-in extensions. It's interesting, because extensions are a bit taboo. Some feel women are "conforming to society" if we want long hair. Or, on the flip side, we (women) don't want to admit that we want long hair but can't achieve it on our own - that we had a little help. I'm all about embracing your God-given beauty, but hey, if you want long hair, what's the big deal? Extensions make all the difference. In fact, Enzo Angeleri, the man behind Charlize Theron and a bevy of other Hollywood A-listers, applied a few to my hair for this tutorial and insisted I keep them for fullness. Extensions are the norm on red carpets and photo shoots. They can add instant length or make your hair full and voluminous - or both. I became addicted. I wasn't just wearing them for shoots, I was wearing them every day! I loved my long hair. I could create works of art that I was never able to achieve B.E. (That's "before extensions.") But at the end of the day, they would be removed with just a clip. Here's the thing: I didn't mind taking them out. It was nice to have versatility with my hair: shorter, Courtney Love waves one day; long, mermaid strands the next. But to keep the clip-ins in place and to help hide them, backcombing (or "teasing" to some) the hair is crucial. It did some damage to my roots and, ultimately, affected the integrity of my hair. So I stopped wearing them altogether. Then I ventured to the mecca of hair extensions here in Los Angeles, Nine Zero One salon. Nikki Lee and Riawna Capri built this salon five years ago, bringing on a bevy of expert stylists and colorists, and have made themselves a reputation for serving A-List clientele. Some of the stars who have extensions, cuts, and color from the salon? Oh, Selena Gomez, Vanessa Hudgens, Julianne Hough, Emma Roberts, and even Steven Tyler, to name a few. In a matter of an hour and a half, two extensions specialists, my girl Nicole Leal, and her partner, Shaylee Blatz, applied keratin-tipped bundles of hair to my natural hair. Sixteen inches, to be precise. Once applied, they cut and styled my new locks, and off I went, with hair I couldn't grow myself, that will last three to five months. All in less than two hours. I have to admit that it wasn't just a "pop in and book an appointment" experience. I had been color matched for my extensions a few weeks prior - crucial to the process - then went in and had them applied. The color matching is essential, given you shouldn't color your extensions and, chances are, you'll want them to match your natural hair color. A few things about Great Lengths hair extensions: I love them. You can't wash your hair for 48 hours after application. Once you do wash your hair, focus shampoo directly on the scalp, and conditioner at the ends of the hair. Applying conditioners directly to the bonds can loosen them up and make them slip through your hair. They're very secure, though. But when you brush your hair, be gentle. Brush your hair twice daily to avoid tangles; sleep in a loose ponytail with a ribbon tie. Sleep on a silk pillowcase if possible. Don't apply heat directly to the bonds. If you curl or straighten your hair, apply the heat a few inches away from the bond. Update 2/3/15: I've had my Great Lengths extensions for about four months now - a little longer than recommended - and I absolutely love them. So much so, that I'm going to get them again! Over the past few months, only about 6-8 extensions have come out, which is normal. As my hair grew, they felt even more natural, and flowed beautifully onto my shoulders. I've gotten my hair cut and colored and have had plenty of blowouts with these babies, and they held up quite nicely. One thing I always get told from my stylists is that I take good care of them: they aren't tangled, dreading or look like a mess. I attribute this to brushing through my hair a few times a day and also making sure to pick apart the extensions at the root so they don't get tangled within one another. For this segment, I received more hair than I probably would have normally gotten (for transformation purposes), but I'm glad I went extra long for my first go-around. And I can't wait to get my new "hair lingerie" in a few days! I'll let you guys know how my hair looks once I get them out. | 8 | 7,076 | video |
Squirrels cautiously eat nuts near a man and his dog. | 8 | 7,077 | video |
Can I confess something? Before I do, let me just say that I have spent the last five years answering to countless people on the subject of children. As in, "When are you two going to have children?" or "Do you have kids?" If I had a dollar for every time I was asked one of those questions well, let's just say I wouldn't have any trouble right now paying my IVF bills. The question of, "When are you two going to have kids?" usually was always asked by some friend or family member, and always with some crying, leaking baby held in their arms. Not a single one of my childless friends or family ever asked me this. And I get it. You have this little bundle of joy and you feel the need to ask anyone without one why they don't have one too. The "Do you have kids?" question always came from a stranger or acquaintance. Again, I get it. Most people think this is a pretty innocent question. It's the less personal equivalent of "What do you do for a living?" But for someone who cringes at the thought of ever having kids or someone trying desperately for a baby, this is a question that can be either royally obnoxious or intensely hurtful. A few years ago, when we were preparing for our first IVF cycle, we were visiting a friend of my husband who had two kids of his own. The kids were racing around the house, squealing and slipping around on the wood floors and generally making me grind my teeth together. Which brings me to my confession. Please don't judge me. I just get tired of my infertility. "So!" our friend remarked to my husband and I, swiping one of the kids spectacularly out of the air as they came tearing past us, "When are you guys going to have some of your own?" By "your own" I assumed he meant the precious little girl dangling from his arm with ketchup smeared across her face. "Er," I started, shifting uncomfortably and almost stepping on a headless Barbie under my feet. "We're trying," my husband said cheerfully, "Hopefully soon." His friend laughed and looked at me, a huge grin on his face. "You guys sure you're doing it right?" Whoa now. I clamped down my jaw, biting my tongue and feeling my breaths come a little faster. I was torn between wanting to burst into tears or rip his head off and hide it wherever one of his daughters hid their Barbies. I wish I could have said something cool like, "I'm hoping so!" or something jabbing like, "I don't know, why don't you take my husband into the bathroom and show him?" But all I was able to do was stare at him speechless as he already moved on to grabbing his beer and taking a giant swig. "Get me the fuck out of here before I lose it," I hissed in my husband's ear. So I've had a lot of years coming up with explanations that make both parties cringe. "Oh, we're trying," I'd say in a wavering voice, "It's just taking a bit longer." "Actually," * cough * "I'm, uh, going through IVF treatments." "Oh no, no, we don't have kids. We want them, but we've been going through infertility." Yes, I try to take these opportunities to educate people. I try to normalize infertility. Unfortunately, many times it just leads to looks of pity or extreme discomfort. I'm left feeling like a total loser. Which brings me to my confession. Please don't judge me. I just get tired of my infertility. I take opportunities when I can to spread awareness that infertility is a disease. Most of the time, it's awkward. On our last vacation, my husband and I were taking a road trip to Colorado and on our way, we stopped at a gas station and my husband went to use the bathroom. I was wandering the aisles and eventually came up to the cash register where this hippie guy and girl were bickering to each other about which cell phone carrier was best. We started making small talk and I told them we were going to stay in the mountains at a resort. They asked me how long we've been married and I told them six years. And then it happened. "Do you have kids?" And I swear, I was all ready to give my spiel and make them feel sorry they ever asked. I was about to tell them, "No. We don't. We're trying though." But I didn't. Instead, my face broke out into a smile, I tossed my head back a bit and chuckled, "Kids?" I flicked my wrist, "Ha! No, no we don't want kids. We want to travel, see the world and all." The guy and girl laughed right along with me. "That's cool, girl," the guy nodded, "I respect that." He then asked me where else we've traveled. And I felt normal, you guys. I felt confident. I felt liberated. And yes, I felt guilty. It's tiring, all this infertility. I take opportunities when I can to spread awareness that infertility is a disease. Most of the time, it's awkward. People suddenly clam up and don't know what to say. Every once in awhile, I will tell someone that, hell no, we don't want kids. I've said that maybe someday we'll think about kids, but right now we're enjoying our freedom. For just a moment, I can let go of the stresses of trying to have a baby. There will be plenty of time for that tomorrow. | 4 | 7,078 | lifestyle |
Lucasfilm is demanding that popular photo-sharing site ImageShack cough up the identity of one of its users the studio says uploaded an infringing photograph connected to its upcoming Star Wars movie. ImageShack has already deleted the picture from user "Darth-Simi" whose account was used to post a picture that was described as a villain from the upcoming Star Wars: The Force Awakens movie. The image included a glimpse of a red crossguard lightsaber like the one showed in a teaser trailer officially released in November. Lucasfilm's parent company, Disney, is seeking a San Francisco federal court to order California-based ImageShack to turn over Darth-Simi's personal information. The studio is making the demand [PDF] to remove the picture "Star Wars Episode VII Costume Design and Photograph" under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. The DMCA requires Internet Service Providers like ImageShack to remove images upon a rightsholder's request or become legally liable for hosting them. The act grants rightsholder's the right to sue infringers for up to $150,000 per violation. The DMCA also gives a rightsholder the power of subpoena to unmask infringers. The J.J. Abrams-directed movie is expected to debut in December. ImageShack, of Los Gatos, Calif., did not immediately respond for comment. | 5 | 7,079 | news |
"Culture has more impact than scheme. It has more to do with winning than scheme." - Kevin Stallings One yard-length of sod stood between the Seahawks from football immortality. The mechanisms that went into that now imfamous play -- from Darrell Bevell's choice to use Seattle's three-wide receiver personnel grouping, to Pete Carroll's apparent directive to his coordinator to throw the ball after seeing New England's defensive front, to the actual play, to the actual throw -- are innumerable. The Jermaine Kearse release on Brandon Browner, the footwork and handwork of Ricardo Lockette, the throw and touch by Russell... we'll probably agonize over the details for months and the despair we all felt when the ball was intercepted will be lodged indelibly somewhere deep in our collective memory ... probably for the rest of our lives. That piercing shot of anguish will blast into our consciousness often, at first, then taper off in frequency as we become distracted with other things, then down the line it will become less of a shooting pain and more of a dull regret. I watched the vine of Pete Carroll reacting to the interception Tuesday night, writing this article, and I'm guessing if I was hooked up to an EEG machine, it would show that the physical pain I felt was coming from the same spot that the memory of the play lives, and will live, forever. Seattle's chance for glorious back-to-back Super Bowl wins, one of the most elusive feats in professional sports, seemed like a near certainty as they set up for a 2nd and goal from the one-yard line with 26 seconds remaining. That legacy, that place in the history books, that point of civic pride was hacked unceremoniously and abruptly from our collective futures as Malcolm Butler jumped Ricardo Lockette's route, knocked Lockette's hand out of the ball's trajectory a quarter-second before it arrived, then somehow managed to corral the ball. Pete Carroll, the architect behind the Seahawks rise to among the NFL Elite, threw his headset onto the ground in horror, then tried to make sense of what had just happened, hands grasping at each other as that terrible kind of grief-adrenaline pumped into his heart. I don't know what Carroll said to the team when they trudged into the locker room afterword, but the series of tweets we saw from players -- overwhelmingly positive, upbeat, inspirational -- was, in my opinion, a direct reflection on the type of culture that Carroll has cultivated within his organization. Carroll will regret that outcome for the rest of his life. There will be repercussions from it too that the team will have to deal with. Will the memory of this play, this decision, become a malignant undercurrent that divides players from coaches and sets teammates against each other, or will it become a shared memory that acts as a galvanizing force? That's a very real, very serious crossroads that this team now faces. To go from the brink of incredible "success" in winning it all for the second year in a row to devastating, humiliating, demoralizing "failure" in the blink of an eye could have profound psychological effects on the overall mindset of the team. I put "success" and "failure" in quotations because it's hard to imagine that coming one yard from becoming world champion the second season in a row, in a league where parity is incredibly strong, is a true failure. But keeping that perspective, and convincing themselves that winning the NFC is a huge feat, that coming back from a flat first quarter, a fourth quarter letdown, and getting themselves into the position to win the game in the closing minute is something to be proud of? That will be the hard, maybe impossible part. "[We're] a very young team that has a lot of future and a lot of hope and we're going all kinds of places and everybody knows that," Carroll told reporters as he and the team left the hotel to return to Seattle yesterday. "But with that, the shock of disappointment that this game gets away from us and goes another way right at the finish line. It's something that we have to deal with that in the long run of it will make us stronger and we'll be able to put it in some kind of perspective. It's pretty hard right now. I think y'all understand that." "But the interactions with the players last night and this morning, their determination and their resolve about where we're going and what we're doing is absolutely clear and they're very strong about it and the future is very, very bright for us and we all know that." Carroll is always, always messaging. Messaging, messaging, messaging. And that's important. It permeates. It gets under your skin. "So, you know, just disappointed we have to bring this home to our fans that are following and all the families and all that because it was so close to being on the other end of the spectrum a million miles from where we are right now. It's just something we have to just live with." This is Carroll's process, and it really matters. And, as an aside, I really, genuinely subscribe to Carroll's unassailably positive philosophy and "something good is going to happen" mentality, so maybe I'm just a sycophant but I honestly don't think there's any other way to live life. Carroll's said all the right things. He's taken full responsibility for the decision. He's apologized for it. He has the credibility to bear it. But he has not, nor will he ever, backed down from from his philosophy. Carroll has unwavering, unconditional dedication to positivity. He's even applied this messaging to the worst play in Seahawk history. "Let me say this too, we don't ever call a play, I don't ever coach these guys even one time to thinking that they're going to throw an interception, thinking that we're going to fumble the ball or thinking that they're going to do something, catch the ball and take it back for a touchdown. I don't ever think that." Visualization. Confidence. Belief. Positive self-talk. It's all engrained in Seattle's culture, staring with Carroll, and it's apparent in many of their biggest plays. "And so, when we make our decisions, just like we make the decision with six seconds left in the half, we're counting on our guys and trusting the process." "We were doing what we do," Carroll echoed Tuesday with Brock and Salk on 710 ESPN. "We use all those downs, make sure we have every opportunity available to us. Trusting that we're going to do it right. Let me say that, I want you to understand that. We have developed a mentality that is based on: If we prepare ourselves for the situation, we're going to trust that we're going to carry it out. I got a play caller, I got a quarterback, I got a center that's going to snap it right, I got guys that have been through these situations. "Take it back to halftime - that's exactly what happened at halftime. If guys are like, 'whoa whoa we better kick it' - there were some guys that had that thought, but no, 'we're ok here,' Russell gets it, he knows, he's got six seconds to get the ball up and down, let's take our chance at the touchdown, counting that we'll have our field goal after that. "That's the same, exact mentality that the people that have watched us here for the past five years have seen. It hasn't changed. We prepare ourselves to succeed. We prepare ourselves to do right by the work that we've put in. And the focus. And the attention to detail so we can." Trust the process. Trust your preparation. Don't sit there wondering if things won't work out. That plants seeds of doubt. That sabotages positive visualization. It's the death of confidence and playing in the absence of fear. "That's the thought we want there," Carroll continued. "I'm not worried one bit that we're going to win. 'We're going to win!' I'm just not sure which down it's going to happen on. The throw, the pass, it's a great idea to throw the ball to get their touchdown against those guys, unless it doesn't happen and we have to throw it incomplete, and the clock stops, now we go to the next situation, we call whatever we want, and we use the timeout for the last play. "That doesn't help people, I know, because they're not as far into this as we are, and you can have all those other thoughts, it's just fine for people to have those thoughts, that's just not how we have prepared oursevles." They're not as far into this as we are. For some reason I really liked that exact phrasing. It speaks to the culture Carroll has created -- it's almost indoctrination of positivity and belief in each other, the system, and the process. Indoctrination has a negative connotation but in this sense it's been one of Seattle's core strengths. You could go through every big play the Seahawks pulled off this year, probably, and figure out a few reasons for why it was too risky or why it was illogical. But we don't do that, because they worked, in a large part because the players had the confidence in themselves and in their preparation, to execute them. Situational football is a real thing here and perhaps the slant route wasn't the safest play Seattle could've run (I will forever regret their decision to not roll Wilson out instead, or to run play action), but go back to all the mechanisms that went into that being a failed play for Seattle and if you alter even one, we may have a different result. It was a perfect storm. "We go with what we know and what we've learned and how we can believe in our guys and that's why we do what we do," said Carroll, defiantly. "And that's why sometimes, you know, we get scrutinized for stuff. 'Why would you do this? Why would you do that?' It's because we believe that it's going to work. We believe that things are going to happen. Why do you call the fake field goal? Because we believed that it was going to go and that it was going to work. So, that's maybe difficult on the outside to understand that, but that's how we go." By the way, if A.J. Hawk had not bitten on the Jon Ryan run on that fake field goal, it's highly likely Ryan would've been tracked down and tackled from behind (not by Hawk) before reaching the first down marker. Perhaps Seattle would've lost that game (likely), and the course of NFL history would be different. One variable had to go the Seahawks' way, and they were lucky enough that Hawk determined that he needed to attack Ryan instead of taking Garry Gilliam downfield (he was incorrect). We hail Pete Carroll and Seattle's coaching staff as ballsy and genius for that risky call, but what if Malcolm Butler had hesitated even one half-second before breaking on the pass? He'd have been carried into the endzone by Ricardo Lockette and we'd be living in an awesome, joyous alternate dimension where Seattle is back-to-back champs. "So, there was a not a thought in my mind that we would make a mistake on that play. And really, the "mistake" was a tremendous play by the guy on the other side. He made just an unbelievable decision and choice to make a play that changed a game and that won them their championship." This cannot be understated. "That's what it feels like. That's the kind of thoughts that we have." That's football. Period. There are a thousand decisions that go into every single game. Agonizing over one decision, one step, one throw, one second of indecision or one minuscule mistake will drive an athlete or coach crazy. Seattle cannot afford to let this happen. Russell Wilson has been through some of the most incredibly crushing losses in his career -- back at Wisconsin when he lost a shot at the national championship when his team lost on a hail mary, back in 2012 when Seattle lost a shot at the NFC Championship Game when Atlanta made a miraculous comeback to hit the game-winning field goal. He's used these moments to get better, and I think his team will follow his lead when he does it again. Hearing Russell describe the play gives you an idea of his mindset. "He made a great play," Wilson said Tuesday. "It was one of those bang-bang plays. That's how it usually is in a goal line area, a red zone area. The guy played a great game, honestly. A guy that I think was undrafted just made tons of plays. Play after play. You've got to give him a lot of respect. He won the game for them right there." "It looked wide open-open enough, I shouldn't say wide open-but it looked open enough to get it in there and make the play. I thought we were going to. When I threw it, I was like, 'touchdown, second Super Bowl ring, here we go.' And it didn't happen. You just learn from experience. That's why you play the great game, because you look forward to the next opportunity. Win, lose, no matter what the circumstances are, that's the way I've always been. I always look forward to the next opportunity I have to have the football in my hand. Every time I'm in that situation again, I believe I'm going to have success again." Got-damn. "I think that's where our mindset is, that's where my mindset is, 'Okay, how can I move on in the future?'" he continued. "Just like last year when we won the Super Bowl - I was already thinking about the next opportunity. Even though we lost the game, we felt like we should have won it. Okay, now it's to the next opportunity that we had and that's how we've always been ever since I've been here and thinking about it. . . . "I always kind of write down stuff," said Wilson, "and I wrote down this, 'Let's keep the focus on the future, not what's behind.' I think that's a really, really important thought in terms of staying positive. What can I do for the next opportunity that I have? What can I learn? Good or bad - if we had won the Super Bowl or if we had lost in the fashion that we had. I would still be thinking the same way and I think keeping that consistent approach to life in general and this is a lot bigger than obviously, losing the game is tough but any life circumstance - losing my dad. What do I do next? How can I learn from the lessons of losing him? And obviously losing a game is completely different than losing a family member. "Those are the type of things that I think about. That's how I try to prepare my mind for the next opportunity that I have - the next thing that I have in my life that comes up." Again, huge. There is literally nothing you can do to alter the past and there's nothing you can do to change things that are out of your control. What you can control is how you react to things that are immediately and forever in the past. Wilson's mindset is exactly in line with Carroll's, and that's why Wilson is so important for this franchise and why he's a de facto coach as the quarterback. When asked what Carroll said to Wilson after the game, he replied , "We have a common dialogue about stuff that keeps us in the mindset that we know things are going to work out, and they're going to work for us. He feels that way, and I feel that way. That's why we've been in such concert for so long. I can't tell you why that happened -- I didn't teach him that -- he came to us like that." "But we sat in the locker room in my office for a half-hour after the game," Carroll continued, "the two of us, just trying to figure it - let our feelings come out and just talk it through, and try to get to a sense of it. Then it was about 4:30 in the morning, that was the next communication with a text, then it was first thing in the morning, just working our way through it. To try to make sense, and try to help the people around us understand that we can see our way to the next step. We can see the next step that will allow us to be strong, and move forward. But we needed to know and we needed to help others. That doesn't mean it didn't hit us. It hit him like a ton of bricks that next morning. He didn't sleep. It hit him like a ton of bricks today. It took days for me to get to that point where I would let that feeling wash over me, because I needed to respond and come back and help, you know? "It's about resiliency," Carroll said. "You have to face these types of difficult times to be as strong as you can possibly get. This team, our community, and our following, will be able to walk with us as we restructure, and reconstruct. The mindset that allows us to be really powerful moving forward. To do the things we're capable of doing. And it ain't easy. It ain't going to be easy. It's hard on everyone. We'll hopefully help guide the way. "I think through doing the right things, getting to the truth, getting through the pain, coming back out of the discomfort that we all share, allows us, in time, to make this right. And, we'll make it right. Because, all of the rest of the plays - the thousand, eleven-hundred plays we went through this year to get us to this point, all of the work we did to position ourselves, two inches away from walking away with the trophy and all that, that is who we are. This moment should not define us. "What should define us is this process. This journey that we've been through, and the attitude, and the approach, and the mentality that allows us to move forward, no matter how difficult it is, no matter how hard, how tough it is, we will outlast this. We will be on the other end of this. It's just going to take some time. When you don't have that, when you can't quite feel that, maybe you lean toward those that can sense they do. That's all we're really asking. "I believe, that in time, we will be stronger than ever," he continued. "The messaging with these guys -- I've been with these guys since we flew back the night after the game, there was a great sense of where we're going and what we're doing in the future and all that. They know. "They know through our language and our upbringing, we want to move to the next thing." Our language and our upbringing... Again, speaking to the creation of Seattle's culture. And, Carroll brings up a good point, here, because as we saw last year, even if you win a Super Bowl, there's a minefield of psychological issues that you have to navigate as well. So, either way, it's going to be tough (though in totally different ways). "Even if you win, you've got to move to the next thing," said Carroll. "Because, if you get trapped in it, and you get lost in it, you lose your way. It's just the other end of the spectrum this time around, and we'll deal with it really well." "Everything has helped," Carroll replied when asked if his experiences in the past will help with this process. "Everything I've ever been through has added to the mentality that's there now. I'm in charge of this deal, you know? I've got to be clear about it. "I need to hopefully skillfully share this with the guys around so they can hopefully use their power of resiliency, they can go to the grit that is the makeup of this team of players, and they can bounce right back, in the way that we need to bounce back. We're going to be stronger for this, we're going to be better for this. It's just cruddy right now that we have to feel this. It is what it is and we're going to do that. It's just going to take some time." What's important here is that the same mindset that Carroll carefully cultivated over the past five years, which helped Seattle win it all in 2014, will also help them bounce back in 2015 after losing on the biggest stage, especially in such a crushing manner. He has created a collective mindset that has his team on another plane of confidence. The constant messaging starts with Carroll, and filters down through his coaching staff, then through the team leaders, and has created an incomparable team chemistry and vision. From the top-down, the coaches and players have been conditioned into that culture. And, Carroll said some things to reporters on Monday that I think will be important this offseason. "I have said for a lot of years with these guys that when we are right, it takes extraordinary things to beat us." "Somebody is going to make a big play that you couldn't explain. I always go back to the Vince Young night (when USC lost the National Title game to Texas), because that's when I first realized it, that if we are on our game and we play like we play, and this has been a long time, then things like happened last night have to happen. Otherwise we are going to find a way." (Butler was that guy on Sunday for the Patriots. Seattle will have to try to bounce back and get back to being who they are. USC, following that devastating loss, remained among the nation's best teams the next three years). "And that's the way we believe and that's the way we operate," said Carroll. "And I don't think that maybe that's understood. And I don't think that's cocky. I think it's based on what's happened. And that's why our belief is so strong and we really have to do some wacky things to give up things or somebody has to make a great play. And Butler made a great play. He made a great play. That's how it goes." Carroll echoed this with Brock and Salk on Tuesday . "That game was one where you're on the precipice of winning a third straight national championship, 19 seconds left on the clock, 4th and 7, so, that play then, those 20 seconds now, they don't define who you are, what defines who you are is how you step forward after that, and how you respond to that. That's what we're charged with, and I know this might sound crazy, but we're fortunate that we are where we are, and we can go ahead and do this and we can show people how we get this done, so we'll do this in hopefully and exemplary fashion." | 1 | 7,080 | sports |
Long-distance dating is hard. It sucks when you can't do stuff like cuddle or have sex. You have to settle for doing things like talking on the phone a lot, which is a living nightmare for some people. But barring the fact that you have the sex life of a single, agoraphobic shut-in, long-distance relationships can be totally great, as long as you're both serious about it. Here's how to be a great long-distance girlfriend (but a lot of these go both ways). 1. There's no such thing as too many sexts. It is impossible to send these at a bad time. Even sending them when he's in the middle of a meeting is great. You could literally take a different picture of your boobs every day from the exact same angle and he would save every single one of them. Every one. Your boobs would become a fixed cost in his life because he'd have to start paying for monthly cloud storage. 2. You (both) need to make an effort to check in regularly. It doesn't have to be every day necessarily, but you should figure out a time that works best for both of you in advance and do your best to talk. Don't just wing it when you have time, or you'll wind up spending weeks forgetting to talk to each other. 3. But don't make him feel bad if he can't make a Skype date. As much as you want to always stay in touch, don't fault each other if you have to skip out every once in a while in favor of drinks with coworkers or a family event. Getting home late or falling asleep is OK. It shouldn't feel like a burden keeping in touch. 4. Go on remote dates. You don't always just have to just talk on the phone. "How was your day?" only takes a conversation so far. Watch a movie together or try cooking the same dinner or play a board game long-distance. You can still both get some candles and wine, and have a romantic dinner together without being in the same place. 5. Plan visits way farther in advance than you think necessary. You'll always feel a lot better if you have something to look forward to. Don't leave your next visit in limbo. Depending on the distance and ease of travel, you can try to do scheduled visits or at least agree on the next convenient time. Even if you have to wait six months, at least you know when you'll see each other again. 6. If he comes to visit you, offer to split the bill. You don't want to have one person constantly visiting the other, even if it's technically easier for one of you to take off work and/or travel. Split expenses. Make sure traveling isn't stressing one of you out. 7. It's OK to not plan things when you visit. You don't have to turn every visit into a vacation. In fact, that might just tire you out. Stay in. Have a bunch of sex. You're not wasting time you spend together. That's impossible. 8. Learn to enjoy your free time. Sure, you might have been spending your weekends with your lover, but now you can catch up on reading or go to the gym more or even just enjoy sleeping in. It's tough having to spend time apart, but appreciate it. You have the best of both worlds right now! Well, the best of one world and the kind of medium-OK of the other world, but still. 9. Trust. Honesty. Patience. Unfortunately, since you're not always there to know what they're up to, you have to trust that the other person isn't messing around behind your back. The second one of you feels like they're getting policed, you're fighting an uphill battle to keep the relationship working. 10. Don't text constantly. It's fine to check in, or send jokes or cute messages and pictures (see No. 1). But unless texting is your only feasible form of communication, you don't want to feel like you've done all the talking you need already or have nothing to share when it's time to call/text. Make sure you're keeping those as your real form of communication. Too much texting isn't a good thing. 11. Initiate tons of long-distance sex. It's not as good as the real thing, but talk dirty to each other, or have phone sex or Skype sex. Even if you feel weird about it, it'll keep you two focused on each other. Plus, you're building up a lot of sexual tension for when you finally see each other again. Follow Frank on Twitter. | 4 | 7,081 | lifestyle |
Although it would increase his cool factor, Pope Francis isn't replacing his popemobile with his Harley-Davidson motorcycle anytime soon. Instead, he's actually selling the hog. A Harley-Davidson that belonged to the two most recent Popes is up for sale in Paris Thursday and could break a new record for the most valuable motorcycle sold at auction. Related: Superman Comic Book Goes for Sky-High $3.2M The surprising thing isn't to find the words Pope and Harley-Davidson in the same sentence, but rather the fact that this isn't the first time the Vatican has sold its fleet of Harleys. At the beginning of last year, a 2013 Harley-Davidson 1,585CC FXDC Dyna Super Glide Custom, formerly the property of Pope Francis, sold for about $330,000 in Paris , making it the 19th most valuable motorcycle sold at auction at the time. Auction house Bonhams, which his holding a sale of historic cars, Les Grande Marques Du Monde Au Grand Palais this week, estimates the motorcycle will sell for anywhere between $17,000 and $28,000, but this is conservative. "There's every reason to believe the bike in question will sell for a lot more than its book value and given its association with two Popes, maybe even more than last year's bike," Gizmag wrote in a January article . Just as with last year's sale, the proceeds from the sales will go to charity. Two commemorative motorcycle fuel tanks were presented to Pope Benedict XVI in a special countdown to Harley-Davidson's 110th anniversary celebrations, according to Bonhams. His signature was added serigraphically since he was too ill to sign it himself, and the tanks sent back to the company's U.S. headquarters in Milwaukee where they were fitted to their respective motorcycles. Related: Bob Dylan's 'Like a Rolling Stone' Lyrics Sell for Record $2M One remains in the Harley-Davidson museum in Milwaukee while the other motorcycle, the FLSTC 103 Heritage Softail Classic on sale this week, was retained for a special ceremony where it would be presented to the Pope in front of tens of thousands of Harley-Davidson riders at 2013's 110th anniversary celebrations. However, since Pope Benedict XVI abdicated in January 2013, the Softail Classic was duly presented to the newly inaugurated Pope, his holiness Pope Francis, at a ceremony in Rome together with the FXDC Dyna Super Glide Custom sold by Bonhams in 2014. The Harley sold last year was presented to Pope Francis at a ceremony in Rome in 2013 where he blessed a gathering of some 800 bikers and their machines in St. Peter's Square. To p Reads from The Fiscal Times: 10 Surprising Tax Deductions in 2015 5 Stupid Tax Proposals Hidden in Obama's Budget February's Best and Worst Consumer Buys | 3 | 7,082 | finance |
You may live in denim (we do), and be under the impression that it's relatively indestructible (we were). But while wearing jeans can feel blissfully low-maintenance, taking care of them is a little more tricky. And because we're all aiming to have our Levi's 501s outlive us, it's time to tackle these common denim faux pas once and for all. 1. You're washing your jeans way too often. Experts recommend that you don't wash new denim for at least four to six months! From then on, you should wash them as little as possible. Grossed out in the meantime? Pop 'em in the freezer to kill any bacteria. 2. Your jeans aren't tailored to the correct length. This is what causes those annoyingly frayed hems. Yes, the look can be a trend, but it rules that pair out for office-wear. 3. When you do wash, it's not by hand. Not only does the washing machine disrupt pigmentation and cause color bleeding, but the tumbling motions wear on the stretch of the fabric. It's a labor of love, no doubt, but you'll be wearing your favorite jeans much longer because of it. Annnd for the lazy among us: If you are going to use a machine, keep in mind that the newer the jeans, the gentler the cycle needs to be. Also, you should always wash with cold water and use a color-preserving detergent, like Tide TotalCare. Pro tip: Turn your jeans right side out as it will help minimize any damage. 4. You're using the dryer. We all know that denim loosens as we wear it, so we're always tempted to toss 'em in the dryer so that they're skin-tight when we put them back on. Alas, this is a no-no. "It damages the denim fibers," confirms Francine Rabinovich, founder of Denim Therapy. Since you don't want to cause any creases in the fabric, air-drying by hanging them from their belt loops is the way to go. 5. You're not taking advantage of a steamer. Instead of washing your jeans, give them a quick steam. It will not only smooth out some of the creases, but will help get rid of any unsavory scents. 6. You're buying the wrong size and it's causing not-ideal wear. Distressing at the knee? Chic. Holes in the butt? No, thank you. "Prevention begins with buying the right size, which is not too high on the knees and bum," explains Rabinovich. "The stretchier and softer the fabric is, the more likely they will tear." 7. You're bleaching your white jeans. "Using bleach makes the yarn deteriorate," Rabinovich warns. To avoid harming the fabric, wash with White Brite, a laundry whitener that tackles yellowing and dinginess. As far as prevention, use a fabric protector like Scotchgard to treat a pair before you wear them. 8. You're storing your jeans wrong. Instead of hanging them in your closet (or leaving them in a crumpled ball in your laundry basket [guilty]), you should be folding instead. "It prevents creases and helps keep the shape of the jeans," says Rabinovich. 9. You're keeping stuff in your pockets. Cell phones, Metrocards, and lipstick we're all guilty of sticking said objects in our back pockets and forgetting about 'em. "Doing that too often affects the shape of your jeans, leaves permanent marks, and makes them more prone to tearing in those particular areas," Rabinovich explains. 10. You're treating stains incorrectly. Instead of scrubbing a spot with excess soap or detergent, let a Magic Eraser do the work. It won't disrupt the dye, and take it from us, it work wonders when you spill red wine on your favorite flares. | 4 | 7,083 | lifestyle |
Move over, millennials, kids are once again the top priority for marketers. Thanks to a confluence of factors, children have become the most valuable consumer segment of all. As a father, I can tell you that my kids dictate the majority of our household purchasing decisions. Since children influence how the family budget is spent, they're prime targets for TV advertisers. But in the last couple of years we've seen a fundamental shift in children's media consumption habits. Online gaming on tablets and smartphones have taken over as the ultimate first screen for connecting with kids. Marketers need to start thinking differently about how to develop relationships with this critical young audience. They can start by looking to the independent publishers who create child-safe, rich media environments. Today's Kids and Tweens Are True Digital Natives Kids nowadays will never experience life without smartphones and the Internet. Many of them become tech savvy before they can walk: 29 percent of children start using mobile devices as toddlers, with an impressive 70 percent mastering them completely by elementary school age. Moreover, parents are more likely to own smart mobile devices. Nearly 70 percent of parents have a smartphone, while 44 percent have a tablet. Compare that with 47 percent of non-parents who own a smartphone and 29 percent who have a tablet. These figures probably don't come as a surprise to parents, who often rely on tablets and smartphones to explore entertaining and educational content with their children. Not only are these "digital natives" adept at using computers and mobile devices at a young age, but there is also a wealth of digital content geared especially toward them. Kids are the Key to Long-Term Brand Loyalty A third of American parents believe their kids are "extremely influential" on household spending. Kids determine spending on everything from big-ticket items like vacations, to smaller things like personal care products and breakfast cereals. Reaching kids can be more effective than marketing to teens and young adults, who tend to be more jaded. Children internalize brands early, so it's not surprising that the brands we're loyal to as adults are often the ones we developed an attachment to early in life. Savvy marketers understand the power of "kidfluence ," but their tactics are outdated. Members of this coveted demographic kids and tweens aged 6 to 12 are no longer entranced by passive entertainment like TV. When adults or teens live tweet while watching TV, their smartphones function as companion devices. But for kids, playing games is the ultimate first-screen activity; everything else is secondary. While there's been a lot of talk of kids second-screening, there's a misguided assumption that the television still reigns supreme. The problem with television is that it's a passive experience. Kids can pause it, mute it or simply ignore it. Compared to other options, children don't find TV as compelling as they used to. When children consume content on multiple devices, TV is relegated to the second or third screen, so much of the advertising geared toward kids ends up as background noise. Games, however, are dynamic and they require active participation, reducing the likelihood of multitasking. For kids and tweens who seek active entertainment (rather than reaching for the remote), online games are the most exciting content available today. Such a high level of engagement offers brands a desirable opportunity to integrate marketing into gameplay. Video-based ads whether they run pre-game, between levels or within the game are seamlessly woven into this rich, interactive medium. With reward-based actions like downloading coupons to unlock additional levels, ads can also be integrated into the play itself. And unlike TV commercials, there is a focused audience waiting to play, so ads are always in view. Protecting Quality Publishing for Children The growth of online gaming will have positive impact for publishers, advertisers and the target audience. It's a boon to marketers because they don't need to commit large chunks of their budgets to television-based, linear programming with the likes of Disney and Nickelodeon. With games, advertisers have an attentive, lean-in audience that is hungry for non-linear, interactive entertainment. And publishers producing child-friendly content are tapping into an undervalued demographic, shining a light once more on the importance of kids. Of course, protecting children's online privacy is a major concern, and today, ad inventory must be compliant with the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act and the Children's Advertising Review Unit to ensure that kids and tweens are gaming in safe environments. Ultimately, online gaming is about more than marketing. Independent publishers are also helping to protect innovation in children's media by creating content that the target audience truly enjoys. The more talented publishers we have, the richer and more diverse the content will be, giving children more to experience and discover. | 3 | 7,084 | finance |
CLEVELAND (AP) The Indians say they are aware of a police investigation involving pitcher Danny Salazar. General manager Chris Antonetti released a statement Wednesday and says the team will not comment any further because of the potential of a legal matter. Cleveland Police did not immediately return telephone messages. Salazar is expected to compete for a starter's job at spring training. The 25-year-old went 6-8 in 20 starts last season, when he bounced between the Indians and Triple-A Columbus. He opened 2014 in Cleveland's starting rotation, going 1-4 with a 5.53 ERA in his first eight starts. Salazar soared through the system in 2013 and started Cleveland's wild-card playoff game against Tampa Bay. Indians pitchers and catcher are scheduled to report to Goodyear, Arizona on Feb. 18. | 1 | 7,085 | sports |
Kanye West 's history with Fashion Week is turbulent at best and the rapper will be the first one to admit it, as proven in his many rants on the topic over the last couple of years. West's number one grievance is that the powers that be in the industry refuse to take him and his design work seriously due to the fact that he's a celebrity (Anna Wintour famously told Eric Wilson at the Times to "ask someone else" when he inquired about her thoughts on West's ready-to-wear debut in Paris in 2011), but he's hoping to turn his reputation around with his upcoming Adidas collaboration , which is set to hit stores in the coming weeks. West has repeatedly stated that Adidas has put trust in his talents and has given him the creative freedom he needs to truly shine take that , Nike which is why we were pretty excited when rumors started spreading around the Internet that he would be unveiling his collection for the sportswear brand with a presentation at New York Fashion Week. According to Complex , invitations to the event (which will reportedly take place on Feb. 12) have already been sent out, and the site referenced a (now-removed) Instagram screenshot of an e-mail sent to menswear buyer Ramon Ehlen as proof. Reps for Adidas did not respond to our requests for comment. If this presentation goes down, it will likely be very different from West's first Fashion Week outings in Paris for spring and fall 2012, which were more about grandeur than the clothing: The front row was filled with the likes of Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, Lindsey Lohan, Sky Ferreira and Riccardo Tisci, and the casting was comparable to the best labels in the business, with Karlie Kloss, Jourdan Dunn, Anja Rubik and Chanel Iman all walking the runway. Despite all that star power, the clothes were embarrassingly bad, and we're betting that West has learned his lesson. (Especially if you take into account that he held an intimate showroom presentation to introduce his collaboration with A.P.C. in Paris last year.) A New York Fashion Week presentation done the right way at a modest venue, with the appropriate editors and buyers in attendance instead of a laundry list of celebrity pals could really get West back on track with his design career, which seems to be his number one goal for this Adidas partnership. Despite his rocky start as a fashion designer, we're rooting for him, and we're hoping that this season marks the turning point he's been working for. Whether the collection gets a full-out event or not, we'll be watching, Mr. West. This article was written by Alyssa Vingan from Fashionista and was legally licensed through the NewsCred publisher network. | 4 | 7,086 | lifestyle |
NEW YORK (AP) The Grammy Awards, airing live on Sunday, include predictable nominees like Beyonce and Taylor Swift, and awards like best rap song and best country album. But we take a look at interesting factoids in this year's nominations, including Joan Rivers battling Jimmy Carter for an award and Miley Cyrus earning her first-ever Grammy nomination. ___ JUSTIFIED (SORT OF) It's still surprising that Justin Timberlake's comeback album, "The 20/20 Experience," didn't earn a nomination for album of the year at last year's Grammys. The pop star was also shut out of the other major categories including song and record of the year and he opted out of attending the big show. But this year marks a redemption for the singer sort of. Timberlake is nominated twice for the coveted album of the year award on Sunday, thanks to his guest vocals on "Brand New" from Pharrell's album "G I R L" and for co-producing "Partition" on Beyonce's self-titled release. Dust off that suit and tie, Mr. SexyBack! ___ LONG LIVE THE DEAD Joan Rivers, who died last year, is nominated for best spoken word album for "Diary of a Diva." It's the comedian's second Grammy nomination and first since 1983, when she competed for best comedy recording. Her competition includes actor James Franco, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, singer Gloria Gaynor and former President Jimmy Carter. Johnny Winter, the skilled blues guitarist who also died last year, is nominated for best blues album with "Step Back," which was released two months after he died. ___ MALCOLM-JAMAL WARNER (MUSIC GROUP) Yes, the former "Cosby Show" star is nominated for a Grammy Award. Jamal Warner is up for best traditional R&B performance for his spoken word portion on the song "Jesus Children" from the Grammy-winning Robert Glasper Experiment. The song also features Lalah Hathaway; its competition includes Anthony Hamilton, Marsha Ambrosius and Kem. Go, Theo! ___ PHARRELL VS. PHARRELL VS. PHARRELL Pharrell is his own worst enemy: The megaproducer-songwriter-singer-rapper-hat icon is nominated three times for album of the year, thanks to his own album "G I R L" and for his production work on Beyonce and Ed Sheeran's albums. Usher, too, will battle himself Sunday: His four nominations include two for best R&B performance with "Good Kisser" and his appearance on Chris Brown's "New Flame." Both tunes, which Usher co-wrote, are also nominated for best R&B song. He should probably take it "Nice & Slow" when releasing back-to-back music. ___ THE REAL MASTERS The real race for album of the year is between Tom Coyne and Bob Ludwig. The engineers are both double nominees in the top category: Ludwig is the mastering engineer behind Pharrell's "G I R L" and Beck's "Morning Phase," while Coyne is part of the group of mastering engineers who worked on Smith and Beyonce's No. 1 albums. ___ SHE'S BACK When Miley Cyrus didn't earn any Grammy nominations last year despite having big hits with "Wrecking Ball" and "We Can't Stop," she didn't attend the show. Instead, she posted videos of herself playing video games while Pharrell and Daft Punk cleaned house. This year, Cyrus has reason to twerk (or celebrate like a normal woman): Her album "Bangerz," which includes those songs, is nominated for best pop vocal album. It wasn't released in time for last year's awards, but voters still cared to recognize Cyrus' work. Her competition includes Katy Perry, Coldplay, Ariana Grande, Ed Sheeran and Sam Smith. On second thought, she might as well stay home. ___ SEEDY SUBMISSIONS? Part of earning Grammy nominations comes from knowing how to work the system. For instance, though U2's "Song of Innocence" was not innocent when it popped up on your iPhone and was released for sale two weeks after the Grammy eligibility, the band quietly released its vinyl version in time to be considered for nomination. Now, it's up for best rock album. If you were surprised or unhappy that Pharrell's "Happy" wasn't nominated for song or record of the year, that's because it originally came out in mid-2013. Pharrell submitted a live version of the track, but voters weren't convinced and it didn't earn a nomination for a top prize. The live rendition is up for best pop solo performance where it will compete with a live version of John Legend's "All of Me," another No. 1 hit that qualified for last year's Grammys. ___ WHAT A GIRL WANTS ... IS A GRAMMY Is Christina Aguilera a V.I.P or a plus-one? The pop singer is nominated for best pop duo/group performance for "Say Something" with A Great Big World. She was nominated for the same award in 2012 for "Moves Like Jagger" with Maroon 5. Her last solo Grammy nomination was back in 2008 (we won't count her nomination for the "Burlesque" soundtrack in 2012). Her stance on the Billboard chart is similar: Her latest Top 10 hits include those Grammy-nominated songs as well as Pitbull's "Feel This Moment," despite releasing two solo albums in the last five years. ___ AND ALL THE AWARDS GO TO... Because of release dates, most songs nominated for Oscars will compete at the following Grammy Awards. For Glen Campbell, it's all happening at the same time. The country music icon's "I'm Not Gonna Miss You" is nominated for best original song at the Feb. 22 Academy Awards as well as best country song and song written for a visual media at Sunday's Grammys, where he will go head-to-head with "Frozen." It might as well "Let It Go." | 6 | 7,087 | entertainment |
Save time by prepping a few quick snacks, meals, and desserts to take on the go. Spicy Orange and Sesame Chicken Sandwiches Glazed with marmalade mixed with sesame oil, these skinless, boneless chicken breasts have just the right Asian essence and pack nicely as a portable pita that's better than Chinese takeout. Recipe: Spicy Orange and Sesame Chicken Sandwiches Browse: More great recipes for foods on the go Falafel with Cucumber-Tomato Salad It's portable! Pack up pita, patties, and salad separately for a meal to go. Dip pitas in tahini, hummus, and/or store-bought tzatziki. Recipe: Falafel with Cucumber-Tomato Salad Browse: Healthy lunch ideas Spiced Beef Turnovers Spicy ground beef, plump, sweet raisins, and briny olives make a delicious, Mediterranean-inspired filling for flaky pastries. If you're worried about spoiling your guests' appetites, make mini versions of these savory bites. Recipe: Spiced Beef Turnovers Layered Chicken Salad with Coriander-Yogurt Dressing Taking a cue from French verrines, these portable, layered chicken salads could also be assembled in one big glass bowl. Recipe: Layered Chicken Salad with Coriander-Yogurt Dressing Ellie Krieger's Greek Salad Pitas with Feta Spread and Turkey Here, all the mouthwatering Greek salad essentials are stuffed into portable pita pockets. Be sure to include the fresh mint it really lights up the sandwich. As a bonus, the lemony feta spread doubles as a dip that's fantastic with cool, crisp veggies, like cucumber, celery, or red bell pepper. Recipe: Ellie Krieger's Greek Salad Pitas with Feta Spread and Turkey Salad Skewers with Tarragon Vinaigrette Salad goes portable with these easy vegetable skewers perfect for outdoor dining! Use the tarragon vinaigrette as a dip or drizzle over top of skewers. Recipe: Salad Skewers with Tarragon Vinaigrette Scrum-diddly-umptious Trail Mix Take this tasty trail mix to-go but beware, with something so yummy you will have to share! Recipe: Scrum-diddly-umptious Trail Mix Raspberry-Rhubarb Crumb Bars These bite-size fruit bars are sweet and tangy, and the perfect size for serving at festive spring gatherings. Recipe: Raspberry-Rhubarb Crumb Bars Chewy Oat Bars One batch of these flavorful oat bars will be top-sellers at any bake sale or as an afternoon snack. Recipe: Chewy Oat Bars | 0 | 7,088 | foodanddrink |
The New York Rangers have ruled out Henrik Lundqvist from Wednesday's game against the Boston Bruins because of an injury related to the deflected puck to the throat he took in Saturday's win against the Carolina Hurricanes. Lundqvist, who could not breathe and was in distress for a brief while after being struck by the puck after teammate Ryan McDonagh's stick had accidentally lifted Lundqvist's mask just as the deflected puck was incoming played on Monday and beat Florida. But he skipped practice Tuesday for what was termed a maintenance day, and coach Alain Vigneault said that Lundqvist would play Wednesday. That changed Wednesday morning, when Vigneault told reporters that Lundqvist has the over-used "upper-body injury" and that it was not a concussion, but that more info would not be available until later. Cam Talbot will start against Boston as the Rangers wrap up a four-game homestand and then head for a four-game road trip. Talbot was in goal for the Rangers' 3-0 loss in Boston Jan. 15, his last appearance. Goalie Mackenzie Skapski, a top prospect for Hartford (American Hockey League) was recalled to serve as Talbot's backup. Rick Carpiniello writes for lohud.com PHOTOS: Notable injuries across the NHL | 1 | 7,089 | sports |
Top-ranked Serena Williams, coming off her 19th Grand Slam singles title at the Australian Open, said Wednesday she will end a 14-year boycott of the Indian Wells WTA tournament. Williams, in a essay written for Time magazine, related happier times at the event, her feelings over racial insults she heard after a controversial 2001 appearance and her hopes for playing the event next month. "It has been difficult for me to forget spending hours crying in the Indian Wells locker room after winning in 2001, driving back to Los Angeles feeling as if I had lost the biggest game ever -- not a mere tennis game but a bigger fight for equality," Williams wrote. "I'm fortunate to be at a point in my career where I have nothing to prove. I'm still as driven as ever, but the ride is a little easier. I play for the love of the game. And it is with that love in mind, and a new understanding of the true meaning of forgiveness, that I will proudly return to Indian Wells in 2015." Williams has twice won the Indian Wells event, now known as the BNP Paribas Open, first when she was just 17 in 1999 by downing Steffi Graf in the final, and again in 2001, when she rallied from one set down to defeat Kim Clijsters in the championship match. But in the final, hecklers booed and taunted Williams following the controversial nature of her semi-final, in which her sister, Venus Williams, withdrew rather than play Serena. It was a move many felt was orchestrated by their father Richard and deprived them of a semi-final classic to gain an edge for Williams in the final. "I said a few times that I would never play there again. And believe me, I meant it," Serena williams wrote. "I admit it scared me. What if I walked onto the court and the entire crowd booed me? The nightmare would start all over. "I'm just following my heart on this one," Williams added. "Indian Wells was a pivotal moment of my story, and I am a part of the tournament's story as well. Together we have a chance to write a different ending." Tournament chief executive officer Raymond Moore was delighted to welcome back the world number one and predicted a warm welcome for Williams at the March 9-22 event. "We are thrilled that Serena Williams, one of the greatest women players in the history of the game, is returning to play," Moore said. "We know our fans will welcome her for the magnificent champion that she is and we really look forward to watching her compete again." | 1 | 7,090 | sports |
If only they didn't ask so many hard questions. 1. "You have to stay in your bed. It's the safest place for you. At night time, there are trolls in my room." 2. "Yes, the egg comes from a chicken. It's like a baby chicken before it… uh… wait…" 3. "How are babies made? Well, a man gives the woman a seed that she takes like a vitamin and then the baby grows in her belly like a flower." Yeah, try getting your kid to take a vitamin after that. 4. "Don't worry, your blanket is magic and will protect you from monsters. But you don't have to cover your head because monsters don't like to eat heads." 5. "That's where you were conceived." (Points at bathroom.) 6. "Because I said so." It was bad to hear it as a kid, but it's infinitely worse to say it. 7. "Hmm, yeah, I guess Jesus is sort of like a zombie. No, no, wait!" (Child is gone, telling the whole neighborhood.) 8. "Your cat isn't really dead if we talk about him and remember how much we loved him. Well, no, he is dead. I didn't mean he's alive. No, honey, he isn't coming back. He's dead, sweetie. I'm sorry, don't cry." 9. "Dad, which one of us do you love most?" "Probably your brother." | 4 | 7,091 | lifestyle |
1. Stuffed animals multiply like Gremlins. There's no way you actually bought the 2.7 katrillion fuzzy lions, tigers and unicorns that have taken over your 8-year-old's bedroom is there?! 2. Three outfit changes is just the warm-up, whether you have a toddler or a teenager. 3. Tea parties are totally adorable and surprisingly…boring. 4. Science is not a boy thing. 5. You secretly hope she wants to raid your closet one day. 6. If you'd put what you spent on cute little dresses and hair bows into a college savings account, that sh*t would be paid for. 7. There's no point in trying to get her to put some clothes on those poor naked Ken dolls. 8. Your 9-year-old wants to go on a diet NO! 9. Of course she has to wear a skirt over her snow pants so she can look like a snow princess. 10. It's not worth it to argue about whether pink and purple flowers match orange and red stripes if it gets her out the door on time. 11. By 12, she will roll her eyes at everything you say, but she will also hear (some of) it. 12. The day your daughter turns 13, she will basically turn into an evil, attitude-filled monster for the next few years. 13. In order to keep up with conversation, you follow Taylor Swift, Selena Gomez, and Ariana Grande on Instagram. 14. At some point they will get into your lingerie drawer and you will have to answer some high-pressure questions. 15. American Girl is not a toy it's a lifestyle. A lifestyle you will never escape. Also check out: MSN India Women's Day special | 4 | 7,092 | lifestyle |
India is the world's largest democracy and its economy has been growing rapidly over the past few decades. As a country, it also holds the second largest native population behind China. Not surprisingly, India has produced a number of billionaire businessmen and women. Although there are still many poor among the Indian population, the country maintains a long tradition of entrepreneurship and wealth creation. (For more, see: An Introduction to the Indian Stock Market .) Some of India's notable entrepreneurs 1. Jehangir Ratanji Dadabhoy Tata (1904-1933) JRD Tata was born in Paris to Indian and French parents. He was trained as an aviator in Europe and later became India's first commercial airline pilot. Working for the family business, TATA group , he set out on his own and built TATA airlines, which ultimately became the modern Air India. By the time of his death, TATA owned nearly 100 different businesses across many industries. Notably, his automobile venture, Tata Motors ( TTM ), produces economical automobiles that nearly all working Indians can afford to own. JRD Tata is descended from Jamshetji Tata who founded the TATA group of companies in the mid-1800s. 2. Dhirubhai Ambani (1932-2002) He started out humbly by selling traditional snacks to religious pilgrims. His business soon grew, and he expanded and diversified, eventually building India's largest private company, Reliance Industries . Reliance has interests in telecommunications, power generation, information technology, consumer goods and logistics. Ambani's sons now run Reliance and are some of India's wealthiest people: Mukesh Ambani, 57, is worth over $18.6 billion and Anil Ambani, 55, is worth an estimated $5.1 billion. 3. Nagavara Ramarao Narayana Murthy Aged 68, Narayana Murthy co-founded Indian IT giant Infosys (INFY) with an initial investment of 10,000 rupees, or just a few hundred dollars in today's money. He is often referred to as the father of the Indian IT industry, serving as CEO of Infosys from 1981 until 2002, and then its chairman until 2011. Infosys currently has a market capitalization of around $40 billion. 4. Azim Premji Aged 69, Azim Premji is worth an estimated $15.3 billion and is the chairman of Wipro Industries ( WIT ), a diversified software and technology company that many have compared to Microsoft. Premji is sometimes referred to as India's Bill Gates as a result. 5. Lakshmi Niwas Mittal Aged 64, Mittal began his career working for his father's steel business. He later set out on his own due to family infighting and created what is now one of the largest steel makers in the world, ArcelorMittal ( MT ), which has a market capitalization of $16 billion. Mittal himself is worth nearly $17 billion. 6. Ghanshyam Das Birla (1894-1983) He started his first company in the early 1900s operating a cotton and textile mill. By 1919 Birla's businesses also included significant paper and sugar production. By the time he died, Birla Group was a multi-sector global conglomerate . His son Kumar Birla now runs the company and commands a net worth of $7 billion. 7. Dilip Shanghvi Aged 59, Dilip Shanghvi started Sun Pharmaceuticals in 1982 with a meager 10,000 rupee investment. Today, that investment has grown to a value of nearly 2 trillion rupees, making Sun India's largest pharmaceutical company. Today, Shanghvi has a net worth of around $12.8 billion. 8. Mukesh "Micky" Jagtiani At 62, Micky Jagtiani is an Indian businessman who has spent most of his life outside of India. He was educated in Mumbai and Beirut, eventually settling in London. While in London, he dropped out of college and began driving a taxi before starting his first company which eventually grew into the retail and real estate giant Landmark , now based out of Dubai. Landmark has expanded into e-commerce, creating India's version of Amazon ( AMZN ). Jagtiani is worth over $5 billion. 9. Shiv Nadar Aged 69, Shiv Nadar founded HCL Infosystems in 1976 with an investment of a few thousand dollars, selling calculators and microcomputers. HCL soon expanded to Singapore and the far east, generating over 1 million rupees in sales not long after its expansion. HCL has continued to grow making Nadar a billionaire worth over $11 billion. 10. Ardeshir Godrej (1868-1936) He co-founded the Godrej Group , a diversified conglomerate with interests in real estate, consumer products, security, household appliances, and industrial tools. The company had modest beginnings Adreshir and his brother succeeded at locksmithing after failed ventures into hand fashioned medical devices. Godrej Group was founded with a 3,000-rupee investment, and the Godrej companies are worth over half a trillion rupees today. (For more, see: India Is Eclipsing China's Economy As Brightest BRIC Star . ) The Bottom Line India has a long tradition of entrepreneurship, but with its own distinct flavor. Rather than founding technology firms, many of India's entrepreneurs came from hard-working, humble beginnings and created conglomerates that were passed down from generation to generation as a family business. But that's not to say that future Indian entrepreneurs won't focus on technology and help drive India's economic growth in the coming decades. | 3 | 7,093 | finance |
Tom Brady says he's going to try to get his Super Bowl XLIX MVP truck to Malcom Butler, the guy who clinched the game for the Patriots. | 8 | 7,094 | video |
Jordan's King Abdullah vowed a "relentless" war against Islamic State on their own territory on Wednesday in response to a video published by the hard-line group showing a captured Jordanian air force pilot being burned alive in a cage. Jordan hanged two Iraqi jihadists, one a woman, on Wednesday and vowed to intensify military action against Islamic State. "We are waging this war to protect our faith, our values and human principles and our war for their sake will be relentless and will hit them in their own ground," state television quoted the king as saying during a security meeting. U.S. officials said on Wednesday that the United Arab Emirates had withdrawn from flying air strikes in the U.S.-led coalition campaign against Islamic State after the Jordanian pilot's plane went down over Syria in December. Jordan, which is part of the U.S.-led alliance, had promised an "earth-shaking response" to the killing of its pilot, Mouath al-Kasaesbeh, who was captured after his F-16 crashed. Government spokesman Mohammad al-Momani said on Wednesday: "We are talking about a collaborative effort between coalition members to intensify efforts to stop extremism and terrorism to undermine, degrade and eventually finish Daesh." Daesh is used as a derogatory Arabic term for Islamic State. He said it was a continuation of Jordan's long standing policy in fighting hard-line Islamist militants and that King Abdullah, who cut short a trip to the United States, headed a meeting with senior security officials on Wednesday. "All the state's military and security agencies are developing their options. Jordan's response will be heard by the world at large but this response on the security and military level will be announced at the appropriate time," Momani said. Islamic State had demanded the release of Sajida al-Rishawi in exchange for a Japanese hostage whom it later beheaded. Sentenced to death for her role in a 2005 suicide bomb attack in Amman, Rishawi was executed at dawn. Jordan also executed a senior al Qaeda prisoner, Ziyad Karboli, an Iraqi man who was sentenced to death in 2008. The Jordanian pilot was the first from the coalition known to have been captured and killed by Islamic State. Jordan is a major U.S. ally in the fight against hardline Islamist groups and hosted U.S. troops during operations that led to the invasion of Iraq in 2003. It is home to hundreds of U.S. military trainers bolstering defences at the Syrian and Iraqi borders, and is determined to keep the jihadists in Syria away from its frontier. CALLS FOR REVENGE The fate of Kasaesbeh, a member of a large tribe that forms the backbone of support for the country's Hashemite monarchy, has gripped Jordan for weeks. Some Jordanians had criticised the king for embroiling them in the U.S.-led war that they said would provoke a militant backlash but the pilot's killing produced a wave of outrage and calls for revenge. Jordan's authorities have not commented on how many missions the air force has carried out against Islamic State. In a televised statement to the nation, the king urged national unity and said the killing was a cowardly act of terror by a criminal group that has no relation to Islam. Muslim clerics across the Middle East, even those sympathetic to the jihadist cause, also expressed outrage, saying such a form of killing was considered despicable by Islam. President Barack Obama's nominee for defense secretary Ashton Carter on Wednesday vowed to understand and resolve reported delays in U.S. arms sales to Jordan. Obama has sought to attract a broad coalition, drawing on as many regional countries as possible, to avoid the appearance that the campaign is just an endeavour involving Western powers. The U.S. officials who said the UAE had withdrawn from the air campaign spoke on condition of anonymity. "I can confirm that UAE suspended air strikes shortly after the Jordanian pilot's plane went down, but let me be clear that UAE continues to be an important and valuable partner that is contributing to the coalition," one official said. There was widespread shock and anger across Jordan at the brutality of the pilot's killing, which drew international condemnation. The European Union combined a statement of solidarity with Jordan over the killing of the pilots with criticism of its immediate execution of two Iraqi jihadists. Kasaesbeh's father said the two executions were not enough and urged the government to do more to avenge his death. "I want the state to get revenge for my son's blood through more executions of those people who follow this criminal group that shares nothing with Islam," Safi al-Kasaesbeh told Reuters. Islamic State has seized large areas of Iraq and Syria, Jordan's neighbours to the north and east. In the pilot's home village of Ay, mourners said Jordanians must rally around the state. "Today we put our differences behind us and rally behind the king and nation," said Jabar Sarayrah, a shopkeeper. DAWN EXECUTION The prisoners were executed in Swaqa prison, 70 km (45 miles) south of Amman, just before dawn, a security source who was familiar with the case said. "They were both calm and showed no emotions and just prayed," he added without elaborating. Rishawi, in her mid-forties, was part of an al Qaeda network that targeted three Amman hotels in suicide bombings in 2005. She was meant to die in one of the attacks - the worst in Jordan's history - but her suicide bomb belt did not go off. Only two other prisoners are on death row in Jordan - Mohammad Hassan al Sahli, a Syrian who was convicted of plotting and executing a rocket attack in August 2005 against a U.S. navy vessel and the Israeli port city of Eilat, and Jordanian Muamar Jaghbeer, a leading al Qaeda operative. There are at least 250 Islamist militants in prison, almost half of them were arrested in the past year and are Islamic State sympathisers. Jordan said on Tuesday the pilot had been killed a month ago. The government had been picking up intelligence for weeks that the pilot was killed some time ago, a source close to the government said. "The horror of the killing, the method of killing is probably going to generate more short-term support for the state," said a Western diplomat. "But once that horror dies down, inevitably some of the questions revert on Jordan's role in the coalition." The Syrian government condemned the killing and urged Jordan to cooperate with it in a fight against Islamic State and the al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front in Syria. The United States has ruled out Syria as a partner in the campaign against Islamic State, describing President Bashar al-Assad as part of the problem. The executed woman came from Iraq's Anbar province bordering Jordan. Her tribal Iraqi relatives were close aides of the slain Jordanian leader of al Qaeda in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, from whose group Islamic State emerged. Islamic State had demanded her release in exchange for the life of Japanese journalist Kenji Goto. However, Goto was beheaded by the group, video released last Saturday showed. Jordan had insisted that they would only release the woman as part of a deal to free the pilot. (Additional reporting by Sami Aboudi in Dubai; Editing by Peter Millership and Pravin Char) | 5 | 7,095 | news |
Less than a year after Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG) raised prices nationwide, the chain is mulling increasing them again to cover escalating beef costs a jump that analysts say will not deter customers. Although Chipotle already raised prices 6.3 percent last year, CFO Jack Hartung said it is considering increasing prices on steak and perhaps its braised beef barbacoa later this year to account for a sharp increase in beef. It costs Chipotle about a dollar more to serve steak versus chicken, but the chain only charges about 70 cents more on average, Hartung told analysts. If the company increased prices to make up for this gap, customers in some pricier areas like New York City would be looking at a $10 steak burrito with tax. During the fourth quarter, Chipotle's food costs jumped 1.1 percent to 35 percent from a year ago. Wall Street's disappointment in the company's latest report sent its stock tumbling Wednesday. (Click here (CMG) for the latest price.) While Lynne Collier, managing director and senior restaurant analyst at Sterne Agee, said the chain cannot raise prices every year, she thinks it still has pricing power to hike beef entrée prices. "Historically we haven't seen any push back from consumers, and I would expect that to be the same case in the event they put in targeting beef price increases," Collier said in a phone interview. The Chipotle "customer base is slightly less sensitive than McDonald's (MCD) or Sonic (SONC) or Jack in the Box (JACK) customers," she added. Chipotle diners seem to have absorbed last year's price increase, which doubled the price difference between chicken and beef items, with relatively little blinking at the higher totals. "We expected to see some tradeoff from steak and barbacoa as a result of the higher relative price, though we saw virtually no trade down," Hartung said on the call. Indeed, the chain's average check increase eclipsed the menu price increase, which indicates customers were ordering more. Nick Setyan, vice president of restaurant equity research at Wedbush, said to some extent customers expect regular inflation at the restaurant checkout. Chipotle would prefer to hold off on raising prices for as long as possible to remain accessible price-wise to more people. "I'm all for it," Setyan said in a phone interview. "I think they should take even more price." "Beef costs have been just a dramatic headwind we're talking about double-digit cost increases year over year for some years now," he added. | 3 | 7,096 | finance |
(Reuters) - An 86-year-old Detroit man whose family said he disappeared a day after winning $20,000 in the lottery in December was found stabbed to death in a vacant house, authorities said on Wednesday. Arthur Neal Jr., whose family said he went missing on Dec. 20, was found dead on Sunday afternoon, said Officer Nicole Kirkwood, a Detroit police spokeswoman. Neal was reported missing on Dec. 28, she said. Family members told local media that Neal won $20,000 in the lottery on Dec. 19. Police have not confirmed the lottery win, Kirkwood said. A Michigan Lottery representative could not be reached immediately for comment. An autopsy determined that he died from multiple stab wounds, the Wayne County Medical Examiner's Office said. (Reporting by David Bailey in Minneapolis; Editing by Sandra Maler) | 5 | 7,097 | news |
HOUSTON The son of an Episcopal priest has been charged in the brutal killings of his parents and his 5-year-old brother at their Houston apartment, police said Wednesday. Israel Ahimbisibwe, 51, his wife Dorcus Ahimbisibwe, 47, and their son Israel Ahimbisibwe, Jr. were found dead in their apartment Monday morning. Authorities arrested Ahimbisibwe's son, Isaac Tiharihondi, about 2:30 a.m. Wednesday in Jackson, Mississippi. The 19-year-old remained jailed in Mississippi pending extradition to Houston. He has been charged with two counts of capital murder. According to court documents, Tiharihondi had told his family he had joined the Marines and was about to report to duty on Friday. But his parents thought he was lying and had planned to confront him about this before they were killed, according to an affidavit. Police said the U.S. Marine Corps had no record of Tiharihondi ever enlisting. Authorities allege Tiharihondi beat his parents to death with a lamp, a baseball bat and a hammer. The couple had "blunt force trauma to their heads," according to the affidavit. Israel Jr. was stabbed and had wounds to his neck and back. Autopsy reports have not yet been completed on the couple and their son. The couple also has a 17-year-old son who was attending boarding school in California at the time of their deaths. Israel Ahimbisibwe, who served as Vicar at Houston's Church of the Redeemer, was described by friends and parishioners as a humble and caring man who had come to the United States after fleeing the violence of dictator Idi Amin's regime in his native Uganda. "He was literally running for his life from the troops of Idi Amin," said the Rev. Howard Castleberry, a friend of Ahimbisibwe for many years. "He was a very joyful man." His parishioners became worried when he and his family didn't show up for church on Sunday. Dick Bird, the congregation's treasurer, said a couple of parishioners who lived near Ahimbisibwe went to his apartment on Sunday but no one answered the door. Church members waited until Monday morning and when they still couldn't contact Ahimbisibwe, they called police. "We're still in shock and we still can't believe it," Bird said. "He really cared about his flock." Castleberry, who runs an Episcopal church in Nacogdoches, said he was shocked by Tiharihondi's arrest. Castleberry said the last time he saw Ahimbisibwe was in October at a retreat for clergy and the only thing he had mentioned about Tiharihondi was that his son was going to join the Marines. "He didn't sound terribly excited about it but he wasn't upset by it," Castleberry said. Castleberry said he had not seen Tiharihondi or his two brothers in several years but he remembered "they were a joy to watch growing up." "It was a happy house. Dorcus loved to laugh. There was no indication of anything sad or dysfunctional going on," he said. ___ Follow Juan A. Lozano on Twitter at www.twitter.com/juanlozano70 | 5 | 7,098 | news |
One-dimensional, by definition, means shallow, surface level, lacking in depth. In other words, it's not a word we usually throw around as a compliment. But forget all that, because the prettiest colors for spring are rich, impactful and yes one-dimensional. Click through to see the best shades for the upcoming season. Copper Red Remember when red was a wild color you didn't expect to see on more than one or two actresses at an awards show? How times have changed. "Red hair is major right now and will be for spring, too," says colorist Aura Friedman. And with a little tinkering of the shade, it can work on anyone. (Pictured: Emma Stone) Copper Red Julianne Moore Chestnut Red Julia Roberts Strawberry Red Jessica Chastain Strawberry Red Maggie Grace Monotonal Brunette Good news for brunettes who've spent all winter out of the sun: Keep the dark, solid color you already have for spring and maintain it with regular glosses. Monotonal Brunette Katie Holmes Monotonal Brunette Felicity Jones Monotonal Brunette Olivia Munn Caramel Blonde If you're blonde and can't resist the call of highlights, this is how to do it: Ask for warm, caramelly, buttery tones like Karlie Kloss', and once they're blended in as well as can they be blended in, ask for more blending. The point is to avoid that dreaded striping and anything resembling ombré at all costs. And since the summer sun will keep them looking fresh and natural, you can go longer between appointments. Caramel Blonde Rosie Huntington-Whiteley Caramel Blonde Poppy Delevingne Caramel Blonde Diane Kruger Caramel Blonde Bar Rafaeli | 4 | 7,099 | lifestyle |
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