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Rafael Nadal put his health issues behind him to overcome Israeli Dudi Sela and advance to the fourth round at the Australian Open on Friday. The Spaniard, who struggled with stomach cramps and dizzy spells in his five-set second-round win over American Tim Smyczek, showed none of the symptoms as he beat Sela 6-1, 6-0, 7-5 in 2hr 4min on Rod Laver Arena. The world number three will take on South African serving giant Kevin Anderson in the last 16. The 2009 champion, who lost in last year's final to Stan Wawrinka, has now reached the round of 16 at the year's first Grand Slam for the ninth time. Nadal no longer has 17-time Grand Slam champion and great rival Roger Federer in his bottom half of the draw after the Swiss world number two was upset by Italian Andreas Seppi earlier Friday. "In general I think I was playing better than I did the other day, I was feeling better tonight," Nadal said. "I changed direction better and my forehand and serving was better. Dudi had some chances in the third set and I was a bit lucky at the end of that third set. "The other night was one of the toughest times I have spent on the court and my body wasn't very well and I felt very lucky to get through. I thought I was going to have to take the plane back to Majorca." Normal service was resumed for Nadal against Sela with 43 winners and 25 errors, while breaking the Israeli's service seven times from 18 break point opportunities and not having his own serve broken. The 14-times Grand Slam winner played only seven matches since Wimbledon last July due to ongoing back and wrist injuries and an appendectomy. His lack of match fitness was apparent in Qatar earlier this month on the way to Australia when he was humiliated in the first round by German Michael Berrer, a qualifier ranked outside the top 100. But he is still alive at the Australian Open following wins over Mikhail Youzhny, Smyczek and Sela. | 1 | 8,600 | sports |
Gunfire is not unusual in Baghdad but the salvos that rang out across the city Friday were fired by thousands of fans celebrating the Iraqi football team's win over Iran. Traffic jams formed on the streets of the capital, with young men spilling out of cars, chanting and waving the red, white and black flag of Iraq. The city had gone quiet as the tense Asian Cup quarterfinal played in Canberra between the two neighbours and archrivals came to a nail-biting finish. At a time when many would have been in mosques for Friday prayers, men massed in cafes to watch Iran come from behind twice in extra time before being edged 7-6 in a penalty shootout. In a city where many residents have had few reasons to rejoice lately, the famous win came as welcome relief from car bombs and sectarian talk. "Football is the only thing that brings Iraqis together and erases the Shiite-Sunni division," said Ahmed Mussa, a 22-year-old pharmacy employee waving a flag out of his car window. The crowds that transformed the security-obsessed city also saw Iraq's performance against the fancied Iranian squad as a boost to the country's fight against jihadists. "In spite of Daesh," many of the celebrating fans chanted, using an Arabic acronym for the Islamic State group whose 2014 offensive has brought Iraq to the precipice. Volleys of celebratory gunfire rang out in several neighbourhoods. "Victory to Iraq, victory to Baghdad," shouted Mazen Saud, a 29-year-old off-duty policeman leaning out of a car window in Baghdad's Jadriya neighbourhood. "It's a victory for all Iraqis, from the south to the north. It shows that Iraqis are able to win and even win against Daesh," he said. | 1 | 8,601 | sports |
Penguins general manager Jim Rutherford announced that Sidney Crosby would miss the NHL All-Star Game this weekend with a lower-body injury. Will this affect All-Star Game ratings? | 1 | 8,602 | sports |
During the offseason, the National Football League plans on taking a closer look at the chain of custody when it comes to handling footballs before the game, according to Mark Maske of the Washington Post. The process has come under criticism and scrutiny following the AFC Championship , in which the New England Patriots reportedly deflated 11 of their 12 footballs in a that game against the Indianapolis Colts . One of the potential changes in the process could be league officials holding onto the footballs after the referees sign off on them. Currently, team officials have possession of the footballs, leading to the issue which cropped up on Sunday. None of this will be a problem when the Patriots meet the Seattle Seahawks in the Super Bowl , because the league holds onto the footballs beginning two days before the game. Chicago Bears equipment manager Tony Medlin is in charge of the process for the Super Bowl, and the ball attendants were determined before the teams even reached the Super Bowl. Each team must provide a dozen footballs that it wants to use on offense, which will then be looked at and approved by the league two hours and 15 minutes before the Super Bowl. The home team also must provide an additional dozen balls as backups. | 1 | 8,603 | sports |
With the European Central Bank signing up for a large bond-purchasing program, the next obstacle for the European Union is the election in Greece. Greek voters elect a new parliament on Sunday, with the anti-austerity opposition party Syriza favored to win, but without an overall majority. "For all markets, if they gain control, all bets are off. We do not think it is possible for Greece to exit the EU. Or they could if they want to commit sovereign suicide," John De Clue, chief investment officer at the private client reserve at U.S. Bank Wealth Management, said. The polls put Alexis Tsipras and Syriza ahead of the ruling New Democracy party of Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras. Tsipras has vowed to convince the ECB and euro zone to write down the value of their Greek debt holdings to allow him to increase public spending and stimulate job growth. "There is a good chance they could win, and if they begin moving away from fiscal austerity, other members of the EU are going to say: 'No more lending, no more life support.' On Monday morning you'll know," De Clue said. "It's one thing when a country debases its currency, but imagine if all of a sudden, Greece is not using euros any more, what does that mean? They would have a run on banks," De Clue said. Markets will find it difficult not to stumble if Tsipras wins a majority, as it could reignite talk of a European meltdown, and could specifically be the reason that the ECB made its bold move Thursday, in anticipation of Greece, De Clue said. The Greek elections bring an "air of uncertainty" to global markets but will probably be a "nonevent," Bruce Bittles, chief investment strategist at RW Baird & Co., said. "Syriza no longer wants to leave the euro, and Europe is less vulnerable to a Greek exit than three years ago. However, any further crisis in a peripheral country is clearly unwelcome in a region which is long overdue for an economic recovery," David Kelly, chief market strategist at J.P. Morgan Funds, wrote in emailed commentary. After borrowing nearly $278 billion from the EU and International Monetary Fund, it'll be up to the next Greek government to negotiate a final bailout tranche. The worst economy in the euro zone is tied to a bailout accord that gives it financial aid in exchange for regular inspections by the IMF, the European Commission and the ECB reforms put in place in large part due to Germany. "Going into the weekend, (if) the Syriza party does win the election and we have a gridlock situation between Greece and its lenders. This situation is perfectly capable of elevating the volatility in the market towards its peaks and erasing all the gains which could have taken place as a result of the ECB's QE announcement," Naeem Aslam, chief market analyst at AvaTrade, said in an email. ECB President Mario Draghi said on Thursday that the ECB would not hold more than 33 percent of the debt of a single issuer, an edict that excludes Greece from accessing the ECB's bond-buying program until at least July. The ECB since 2010 has taken Greece's junk-rated government debt and state-backed securities as collateral in its refinancing operations so long as Greek goes along with austerity steps and reform promises made in a rescue agreement with the euro zone and the IMF. Regardless who wins the election, the heightened unease between Athens and its creditors means that either Tsipras or Samaras will find a tough road in satisfying Europe and the IMF without politically unpopular moves at home. | 3 | 8,604 | finance |
Jan. 23 -- Saatchi & Saatchi Executive Chairman Kevin Roberts discusses the strength of the U.S. economy on "Bloomberg Surveillance." | 3 | 8,605 | finance |
France's Franck Ribery says only Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi seem capable of winning the Ballon d'Or and has voiced his frustration after Bayern Munich team-mate Manuel Neuer missed out. Portugal's superstar Ronaldo won the prestigious award for the second year running earlier this month in Zurich with Messi second and goalkeeper Neuer third. Much to his frustration, Ribery missed out on scooping the 2013 title, also finishing third behind the superstar pair despite strong displays in helping Bayern win that year's Champions League title. "I was really angry, but it is the same every year: you don't know what you have to do in order to win the vote," Ribery told Munich daily AZ. The Frenchman questions whether it is even worth a Bayern Munich player bothering to attend the gala award ceremony in the future. Between them, Ronaldo and Messi have won the award for the past seven years and Ribery questioned what more Neuer could have done to dethrone them after winning the World Cup with Germany. "It clearly appears that winning the World Cup isn't enough," Ribery fumed. "For the last two or three years, Neuer has been the world's best goalkeeper and had won titles with the club. "In Brazil, he was the best goalkeeper and is a world champion, but that's clearly not enough. I don't understand it. "If a Bayern player is again nominated, we should consider whether it is worth travelling to the award ceremony. "For what? Perhaps to have a photo taken? No! That is just politics for me. "Every player needs to know: if Ronaldo and Messi are there, the third nominated player doesn't have a chance." Ribery has played for Bayern since 2007 and says he is set to finish his career at the Bavarian giants with his contract to expire in 2017 when he will be 34. "I'll have to see how I feel and how my body reacts. I can afford to stay relaxed about it," he said. "Perhaps it is important for Bayern that I play here for another year or two after that. We'll see." | 1 | 8,606 | sports |
A museum conservator says King Tutankhamun's beard broke off by accident when the mask fell as it was being cleaned at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. | 8 | 8,607 | video |
CNBC's Deirdre Bosa and Lawrence Delevingne found out just how expensive Davos, Switzerland is during the World Economic Forum. | 3 | 8,608 | finance |
1. We Love Our Kids. We love them deeply. We think about them all the time. We worry about them at school and them at home with the babysitter or at daycare. We want the best for them. We love them just as much as any other combination of work/home mom. It looks different, of course. We might text them after school or FaceTime them from a business trip or email them. We aren't there to pick them up from the bus stop and there are days where that kills us, just makes us want to rush home and bake some cookies and throw on an apron, but then we snap out of it, we realize that it's a myth, that we are chasing some ideal that doesn't exist, and that we are doing the best we can with what we've been called to do. And so we send that text or we hug them extra close that night and we know that life is complicated but love doesn't have to be. 2. We Need Other Moms. Friday I was about five minutes late to pick my kids up from school. One mom was waiting there with them and another called me to offer to pick them up if I was delayed. Five minutes, people. When I was growing up we left my brother at a strip mall outside the bank and didn't realize it for an hour. I feel loved and taken care of because other moms pick up the slack. I am constantly behind. I'm missing appointments and deadlines. I forgot to send in the PTA check. I didn't get to come be a mystery reader because I had a meeting. And so we need you. We need moms to include us. We need moms who are in the know to keep us in the know. We want your help and we appreciate your kindness. We need our teachers to give us a break when we bring the kids late, and mostly we need to give ourselves a break. So next time you are standing at Back to School night or the bus stop and you see that mom, the one in the heels and jacket or the scrubs, the one who's obviously rushing and doesn't look familiar to you, will you introduce yourself? Could you welcome her into your little circle of moms, the ones you might get to see a lot more than she does? She needs you. She wants to be friends. She may seem a little brusque but that's probably because she feels judged, and maybe you do too. But somebody's gotta break the cycle because let's face it, most of us realize as we pull away from the hospital, bellies still swollen, wide-deer-eyed scared and afraid of breaking our babies, OHDEARLORD I NEED FRIENDS. And we realize it again, when our daughters sass us and our kindergartener refuses school and our tweens get Instagram and our boys are taller than us, we realize it again and again, that we need one another. WE NEED ONE ANOTHER. 3. Our No doesn't devalue your Yes. We have to say no. We just HAVE to. We can't sign up to bring the teacher basket or serve the lunch. We say no to the school parties and sometimes the after-school parties. Even if we serve on the PTA we won't be able to give it as much time as we want. Sometimes our kids can't do as much because we just can't arrange another carpool. We can't make the cookies and our kids won't be dressed in the proper Pioneer gear. We sometimes forget that it's a field trip day and our kid bums a snack from your kid. We say no because we have to scrape time together from wherever we can find it. We didn't talk with you that long at the last school picnic because we really really wanted to watch our kids play with their friends, because we wanted to capture that moment on our lunch break before we go back to the demands of our work. But our No doesn't devalue your Yes. Your Yes is important. The way you serve in the classroom and host a birthday party and handle so many things is awesome. We love it and we are grateful for it. So if we don't answer your email or sign up for that next volunteer slot, please don't give up on us. Don't think we don't appreciate what you are doing and how you are doing it. But we've all got to play our notes well, to borrow a line from Jen. And we are playing our note, and our note involves the marketplace. We are playing that note out there, leading others, encouraging, helping, being excellent at whatever God's given us to do. So we want you to GO FOR IT and we want to GO FOR IT and we can all go for it together, we can love these kids and love this life and accept that it's crazy and complicated but it can still be good and we can be good for one another. The end. | 4 | 8,609 | lifestyle |
Saudi Arabia ushers in a new monarch after the death of King Abdullah, with investors wondering whether more uncertainty might be ahead in an oil market that's seen prices halve in six months. Kirsty Basset reports. | 8 | 8,610 | video |
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) Andy Murray usually avoids reading social media during tournaments, but he wasted no time issuing a scathing tweet at the Australian Open this week about those who've called him a ''drama queen'' in the past. And after beating Joao Sousa on Friday to book a spot in the fourth round against Grigor Dimitrov, Murray didn't temper his anger one bit. Murray said that when he suffered cramps during a match against Robin Haase on a hot, humid day at the U.S. Open last year, he was criticized for being dramatic and in need of a psychologist. When Rafael Nadal was similarly battling cramps against Tim Smyczek at Melbourne Park on Wednesday night, however, Murray said the Spaniard was praised for playing through the pain. ''Clearly Rafa was struggling pretty badly. It was a great effort to come through it, which rightly is what everyone was saying. But that certainly wasn't the case at the U.S. Open when I was in a similar state,'' he said. ''And I just don't understand why that would be the case. ''I was in quite a lot of pain in that match (in New York). Being told that I need to see a psychologist because of it I felt was a little bit unfair. I didn't hear anyone calling for Rafa to see a psychologist the other night.'' In his tweet on Thursday, Murray said after his U.S. Open win, he was called ''drama queen, unfit, needs to see a shrink, faker.'' It's not the first time Murray has been criticized for his on-court demeanor. Former Wimbledon champion Virginia Wade called him a ''drama queen'' at the 2012 French Open when he overcame back spasms to beat Jarkko Nieminen in the second round. Murray was certainly drama-free in his third-round win over Sousa on Friday, comfortably beating the Portuguese player 6-1, 6-1, 7-5. The three-time Australian Open finalist has yet to drop a set in three matches at Melbourne Park. He's also yet to face an opponent ranked in the top 50. He'll likely be tested more in his next match against No. 10-seeded Dimitrov, who overcame an inspired Marcos Baghdatis - and a stadium filled with chanting, singing Greek and Cypriot fans - to advance to fourth round Friday. Murray holds a 4-2 advantage in their head-to-head record, but Dimitrov has won two of the last three, including in straight sets in the quarterfinals of Wimbledon last year. Dimitrov is expecting to see a much more competitive Murray than the one he beat handily at the All England Club. ''I think you hardly ever see like top players to feel really flat early on in the match. I think it's a different scenario this time. I think he has a lot to look forward to,'' he said. ''In the same time, I'm feeling really ready, and I like my chances every time I go out on the court. So I think it's going to be a great matchup.'' As for Murray, his relatively quick matches this week have left him feeling fresh and ready for the challenge. ''You know, he's one of the young guys trying to make a breakthrough, so he'll be motivated,'' he said. | 1 | 8,611 | sports |
The main Facebook campus in Menlo Park, Calif., has all of the standard tech company freebies: free gourmet food, on-site gym and fitness classes, and creative outlets for music and art. But, the social media giant takes things further with a slew of over-the-top perks that make sure its employees are living the Silicon Valley dream. | 3 | 8,612 | finance |
TOKYO Junko Ishido shook and struggled to hold back tears as she talked about her hostage son, while camera shutters whirred. "Time is running out. Please, Japanese government, save my son's life," she said Friday to a packed room of journalists, at times wiping her tears with a white handkerchief. In Japanese fashion, she apologized repeatedly for "all the trouble" her son, Kenji Goto, was causing the country and its people by being a hostage of the Islamic State group. In a somewhat rambling message, Ishido said: "My son is not the enemy of the Islamic State. He went over there all by himself, simply hoping to rescue his friend." Ishido, 78, said she felt angry that her son had left for Syria just two weeks after his wife delivered a baby in search of the friend, Haruna Yukawa, but given his character, she understood why. The two Japanese men are captives of the Islamic State group, threatened with death unless their government pays a $200 million ransom. "Even before he could walk, even when he was just tottering on his feet, whenever he could be with other children, he would always show great kindness to them," she said. "So I believe he always cared about other people." | 5 | 8,613 | news |
Mino Raiola has announced his intention to run for FIFA president and challenge current chief Sepp Blatter at this year's election. The influential agent - who represents players such as Paul Pogba, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Mario Balotelli, Gregory van der Wiel and Henrikh Mkhitaryan among others - feels world football's governing body desperately needs change and is ready to lead the way. "I have been criticizing FIFA for years, so it's time to act on it. I've had enough of how Blatter and FIFA have been treating the game. It makes me sick just thinking about Blatter being re-elected," Raiola told VI. "FIFA should be there for the fans, professional players and amateur players, but they don't do anything for these three groups. "How dare you organize a World Cup in South Africa and then ask 150 euros for a ticket? It's a disgrace. FIFA wants to organize a party in someone else's house and then demands a huge entrance fee, but the owner of the house does not get anything. This has got to stop." Raiola went on to compare to say he can't understand why any FA would vote for the current FIFA head man. "It's incomprehensible that some FAs still vote for Blatter," he said. "If people vote Blatter, they vote North Korea, if they vote me, they vote South Korea. "If I don't manage to be a candidate this time around, I will give it another try in four years' time. I will find five FAs to back me. Which ones? I cannot say that just yet. A lot of things could change until the election." The 47-year-old faces competition from Jerome Champagne and Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein, as well as current president Blatter. | 1 | 8,614 | sports |
No. 2 seeded Roger Federer was upset by unseeded Andreas Seppi 6-4, 7-6 (5), 6-4, 7-6 (5) in the third round of the Australian Open. This was Seppi's first win against Federer in 11 matches. | 1 | 8,615 | sports |
Before you make any plans to spend your tax refund, here are a few of the best and worst uses for it. | 3 | 8,616 | finance |
It was another rough quarter at McDonald's, with the fast food giant reporting lower-than-expected sales and net income skidding 21%. The Golden Arches has been struggling to woo customers amid increased competition, food safety scandals in Asia and headwinds in Europe . Revenue fell 7% to $6.57 billion in the fourth quarter, while net income fell 21% to to $1.09 billion, or $1.13 per share. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected revenue of $6.67 billion and per-share earnings of $1.23. "2014 was a challenging year for McDonald's around the world. Our results declined as unforeseen events and weak operating performance pressured results in each of our geographic segments," said CEO Don Thompson. Global comparable sales were down 0.9%. Food safety scandals in Asia have been a particular drag on its top line, as diminished confidence in the restaurant chain has made people wary of returning. Comparable sales in the Asia, Pacific, Middle East and Africa region declined 4.8% in the fourth quarter primarily due to the "lingering impact" of supplier issues in China and Japan. Strong sales in Australia helped offset these declines. Europe's comparable sales fell 1.1%, due to lower consumer confidence in Russia and Ukraine after the government shut down restaurants on sanitary concerns. The restaurateur also reported weakness in France and Germany. Comparable sales in the U.S. fell 1.7% in the fourth quarter, which McDonald's attributes to fewer customers amid continuing broad-based challenges like heightened competition. This competition is coming largely from the burgeoning number of "fast casual" joints such as Chipotle, Five Guys and Panera Bread. In an effort to bring in customers, McDonald's has expanded its menu and pushed aggressively into breakfast offerings. They're also trying to woo younger customers. McDonald's, which already accepts Apple Pay, is said to be planning a mobile app and recently hired its first executive in charge of building a digital strategy. It's also working to give customers the option of customized ordering. A recent survey of millennials' favorite fast food chains found that McDonald's comes in fifth, after Taco Bell, Subway, Panera and Chipotle. "Our business continues to face meaningful headwinds," said Thompson. "Over the next 12 months, our charge is to ensure that we are adapting to the changing marketplace and maximizing the potential of our global growth priorities." Shares of McDonald's are down 1.5% over the last 12 months, and edged up 0.7% to $91.55 in pre-market trading. | 3 | 8,617 | finance |
We spend a lot of time pretending to know what we're talking about when we're ordering cocktails. We feel comfortable saying this out loud, because we know you do it, too. No shame necessary. Cocktails are confusing and mixologists (not bartenders - there's a difference) can be pretentious and intimidating. We're not saying that every cocktail bar we frequent makes us feel stupid for asking questions, but there are certain varieties (like the ones with no standing allowed) that tend to make us feel like jerks if we can't identify every ingredient in our drink. Sorry we don't know every obscure liqueur behind the bar, and you know what? We have no idea what bitters are. There, we said it. Do you know what bitters are? Bitters are alcoholic spirits that are infused with herbs, roots, fruit and leaves. They typically consist of water and alcohol, which has been steeped with a combination of botanicals. Made with high proof alcohol and strong flavors, bitters are highly concentrated; just a dash or two is necessary in a cocktail, and you're never supposed to drink them alone. (Potable bitters, or bitters you can drink on their own, like Italian amari, are a distinct category.) The Kitchn explains that bitters use high proof alcohol for "maximum flavor extraction and preservation," and that for a neutral flavor, vodka and grain alcohol, like Everclear, are best. You can also make bitters using other alcohols, like 101-proof bourbon or 151-proof rum. With so many possible combinations of botanicals and alcohols, the world of bitters is vast and varied. So what's their point? "Bitters are like the spice rack of the cocktail world," Ira Koplowitz, co-founder of bitters company Bittercube, told Journal Sentinel . You add a drop or two to a cocktail to balance out flavors and add depth to a drink. Liquor.com calls bitters the defining ingredient that makes a cocktail a cocktail, and not just another alcoholic beverage. Fine Cooking explains that a newspaper article from The Balance and Columbian Repository in 1806 defined a "cock tail" as "a stimulating liquor, composed of spirits of any kind, sugar, water and bitters." The "stimulating" factor made the "cock tail" an acceptable beverage to drink at breakfast, Esquire notes. This original concoction saw many variations, eventually forming cocktail culture as we know it today. According to Fine Cooking , when people started returning to the classic mix, they called it the "Old Fashioned." While they're used today to add flavor and depth to cocktails, bitters were originally sold as digestive aids. The two most iconic bitters, Peychaud and Angostura, were developed as medicinal tonics. The pharmacist Antoine Peychaud started selling Peychaud's bitters in 1838 in Louisiana, and the iconic red bitters are used in the classic New Orleans cocktail, the Sazerac. Angostura bitters were developed as digestive relief in the 1820s when a doctor by the name of Johann Gottlieb Benjamin Siegert was serving as Surgeon General to the armies of Simon Bolivar. They're floral and spicy and used to make Manhattans. Today, bitters are back. The boom in cocktail culture has seen a resurgence in the use of bitters, from the old standbys to new, small-batch bitters like Brooklyn Hemispherical Bitters, and even homemade bitters. You can also buy bitters in liquor stores and online at places like coctailkingdom.com or dandelionbotanical.com. | 0 | 8,618 | foodanddrink |
Self-made billionaire Jeff Greene discusses his investments, the markets, the importance of technology and robotics, the 2016 presidential election and his plans to sell a $195 million property in Beverly Hills. | 3 | 8,619 | finance |
NEW YORK McDonald's isn't lovin' it, and it's going to do something about it. The world's largest hamburger chain reported falling earnings and sales for its fourth quarter on Friday and says it is going to take action this year to save money and bring customers back. This includes slowing down new restaurant openings in some markets. It's also making changes to its menu and looking to offer customers more options to customize their burgers. But the fast-food giant said its problems won't be fixed overnight: It expects sales to remain weak through the first half of this year while it deals with the fallout from a food-safety scandal in China, global economic uncertainty and shifting tastes among diners. While it works to rev sales back up, it's cutting major investments. McDonald's plans just over 1,000 restaurant openings this year, down from 1,300 last year. "We believe this lower level of capital spending is prudent while we work to regain our business momentum and improve the sales and profitability at our more than 36,000 restaurants around the world," he said. Worldwide sales at locations open at least 13 months edged down 0.9 percent on weaker traffic. In the U.S., the metric declined 1.7 percent on fewer customer visits, tough competition and increased expenses. The performance was an improvement though, as the figure fell 3.3 percent globally and in the U.S. in the third quarter. The Oak Brook, Illinois-based company is dealing with competition on a number of fronts, including convenience stores that are selling more food and smaller chains such as Chipotle that market themselves as being of higher quality. In hopes of changing negative perceptions about its food, McDonald's recently invited customers to ask questions about its ingredients and sourcing. It also launched a new marketing campaign intended to play up the "loving" in its "I'm Lovin' It" slogan and associate its name with that positive emotion. McDonald's also wants to provide more menu choices at the local level and give customers multiple ways to order whether it be at a self-order kiosk or with a mobile device. "We know that when our customers feel good about us and about eating at McDonald's they visit us more often," President and CEO Don Thompson said during a conference call with investors and analysts. In Europe, sales at locations open at least 13 months fell 1.1 percent, hindered by softness in France and Germany and consumer confidence issues in Russia and the Ukraine. The figure dropped 4.8 percent in the Asia-Pacific, Middle East and Africa segment because of the impact of a supplier issue on sales and profitability in China, Japan and some other markets. Last year an undercover TV report in China showed one of McDonald's major suppliers repackaging meat that was alleged to be expired. The claim has not been publicly confirmed by the supplier or the government. The plant stopped operations, and many of McDonald's restaurants in the country were left unable to sell burgers, chicken nuggets and other items. The chain's reputation took a hit as well. Chief Financial Officer Peter Bensen said that the company estimates it will take at least three to six more months for McDonald's business in China to return to a normalized level. The executive said Japan has taken longer to recover. Worsening perceptions are expected to hurt Japan's results for "the foreseeable future." Overall, for the period ended Dec. 31, McDonald's earned $1.1 billion, or $1.13 per share. That compares with $1.4 billion, or $1.40 per share, a year earlier. Excluding 9 cents per share for a supplier issue, earnings were $1.22 per share. The results beat Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of $1.20 per share. Revenue fell to $6.57 billion from $7.09 billion. This fell short of the $6.73 billion that analysts polled by Zacks expected. Shares of McDonald's Corp. fell 90 cents to $89.99 in afternoon trading. ____ Elements of this story were generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on MCD at http://www.zacks.com/ap/MCD _____ Keywords: McDonald's, Earnings Report, Priority | 5 | 8,620 | news |
Whoo hoo! Ready for a nice, fat refund check from Uncle Sam? Taxpayers received, on average, $2,696 in refunds last year, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration reports . All too often that extra money makes people splurge, even while they imagine they're saving it, says CNBC . How do you make sure this year's windfall makes your life better long term? Money Talks News founder Stacy Johnson shares his advice and tips in the video below. After watching it, read on for nine ideas for using your refund to improve your life and four ideas to avoid. Put it in your paycheck First, remember that your refund isn't a gift. You earned it but chose to bank with the Treasury Department instead of taking it in your paychecks. This year, wouldn't an extra $225 a month make your life a bit saner? If so, do this: Gather your pay stubs and last year's income tax return. Use the IRS withholding calculator to learn if you should change the tax amount withheld from your paychecks. Read the instructions carefully to see if adjusting is a good idea for you. Fill out IRS Form W-4 , adjusting your withholding amount. Bring the completed form to your employer's payroll department. Now for nine ways to make life better with that refund money: Idea #1: Pay down high-interest debt High interest rates can lead to devastating debt. Eventually you can end up with payments so large that it becomes difficult to do more than pay the minimum required each month. That's a losing proposition, Stacy says : Suppose you've got a $10,000 credit card debt and pay 15 percent interest. If you pay $250/month, you'll pay the card off in five years and pay about $4,000 in interest. But lower the interest to 10 percent, and the same $250 will pay the card off in only four years, with an interest tab of $2,215. The lower rate saves you nearly $2,000 and a year of debt. Here's the No. 1 rational thing to do with a windfall: Use it to pay down, or pay off, if you can, your debts with the highest rates. Think of this way: Paying off a debt with a 15 percent interest rate is like earning 15 percent, risk-free and tax free; something virtually impossible to find these days. When you've paid down your debt, don't stop. Your goal should always be to improve your life. Charging and borrowing leads you in the opposite direction. If credit-card debt, payday loans or other high-rate debts have been a problem for you, use this moment to escape the cycle. Choose from the trustworthy sources of free credit counseling and get help so your 2014 refund improves your life permanently. Idea #2: Pay off small debts Paying off high rate debt first makes sense, but it may not work for you. Some people get more motivation from demolishing smaller debts first. US News explains why this strategy can make good financial sense: "[I]f you can focus enough to pay off your debts in a relatively short amount of time, the higher interest rates on other accounts may not add up to much extra money." We've said the same in posts like The Best Way to Pay Off Debt . Of course be careful here, too, not to run up new debt and dig yourself back into the same hole. Idea #3: Fatten your emergency fund You are debt-free? Bravo! In that case, strengthening your financial safety net may be the next best use of a tax refund. Opinions differ on how much to save for emergencies. Many experts advise keeping enough money to cover your expenses for six months. But maybe the question is: If you lost your job, how long could you expect to be unemployed? FiveThirtyEight, an economics blog, says how long people are unemployed depends on what the economy is like when they lose their jobs. That's obvious, I suppose, but it tells you the goal for your emergency fund may vary: smaller in fat times, larger in lean ones. The size of your fund also may vary depending on how hard it is to find work in your field, or how stable your current job is. And your savings should be greater if you're older because it often takes older workers longer to find work. MarketWatch quotes AARP's 2014 analysis of data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics on the average length of unemployment for workers: Age 54 and younger: 34.7 weeks (almost nine months). Age 55 and older: 45.6 weeks (nearly a year). I know someone who lived on savings for a couple of years while hunting for work during the recession. He'd set aside a big bonus so he did OK, but the experience made such an impression that he now tries to keep a year's worth of savings for an emergency. Idea #4: Save for retirement Retirement savers are a lot like professional football players, says Money Talks News writer Maryalene LaPonsie. They keep their eye on the clock, for instance. And they accept that you can make progress a few yards at a time. Read her six tips from the gridiron for retirement savers. Idea #5: Save for college Whether it's your education or that of your kids, apply your refund check to a college savings plan or 529 plan that offers tax benefits in addition to saving for college. Idea #6: Invest in your productivity Leverage your refund to grow your earnings: Get more education. Sign up for a workshop or course or go to a conference or webinar, whether to upgrade your skills or try out a new field. Subscribe. Sign up for professional publications, or the Wall Street Journal and New York Times, or cable TV or satellite radio channels that help your work acumen. Buy software you need to get ahead. Buy a premium LinkedIn subscription to network or find work. Invest in the right clothes. Get a tasteful, understated but impressive outfit for work or job interviews, one that makes you feel like a million bucks. Include good shoes. Buy the equipment you need. Get the new laptop, tool or piece of electronic equipment you need to move ahead in your field. Get therapy. Career advancement isn't only about the right tools, skills and credentials. A chip on your shoulder, depression, anxiety, a fear of success or problems at home can prevent you from reaching your earning potential. See WebMD's thorough primer, How to Find a Therapist . Idea #7: Hire a career coach Career coaching can help you learn your strengths, identify where you could use help, set goals and strategize. There are many ways coaching can help further your career. "Some people want to be coached through their job search, but others want help with their current work performance," Hallie Crawford, certified career coach and founder of the Atlanta-based company Create Your Career Path, tells US News . Next Avenue says : After an initial free consultation, most coaches charge hourly fees, ranging from $50 to $500 (the priciest tend to be coaching sessions with executives). The average cost is $161 an hour, according to the International Coach Federation. Get started with The Wall Street Journal's How to Find a Career Coach . Idea #8: Contribute to charity Do good for others while helping yourself earn a healthy tax deduction on your 2015 taxes by supporting a charitable cause. Make sure to get a receipt for your contribution, and be sure the organization you support is a legitimate 501(c)(3) charity, defined here by the IRS . Idea #9: Start a business Make your money your grubstake. Start the business you've been dreaming of, whether consulting, opening a coffee cart or retail outlet, selling your crafts or patenting an invention. Bonus: Four idiotic ways to blow your refund Because tax refunds inspire some of the dumbest splurging possible, we feel duty bound to warn you against: Frittering it away. Won't you feel like a dope if your money's gone and you can't say where it went? If you must spend it on consumption, use it for something memorable maybe an experience with family or friends that you'll remember forever. Going on a spree at the mall. Impulse buys are like drinking too much: You feel icky in the morning. When spending your refund check, aim for something that gives a feeling of increased safety and security. Creating more debt. Don't use that refund as a down payment on a car that puts you deeper in debt. Put that money instead in a bank account dedicated to saving enough to pay cash for a used car. Letting it gather moss. There's no standing still with money. Either it's growing in value or inflation (even the modest inflation today) is eating it away. Here's Stacy's guidance on investing in mutual funds. Let's hear it: What will you (really) do with your tax refund this year? Post your comments below or at Money Talks News' Facebook page . | 3 | 8,621 | finance |
Most Underrated Sports Cars Most Underrated Sports Cars The Acura NSX and Ford GT may be the hottest new dream machines right now, but there are plenty of good sports cars that have never received their fair share of time in the spotlight. Maybe they don't pack the most horsepower or look aggressive enough, but enthusiasts know how well they drive. Here are some of the most underrated sports cars in recent history. BMW E39 540i BMW's E39 is part of the brand's long-lived 5 Series lineup. Produced between 1995 and 2003, this oft-forgotten model featured a nearly 300-hp, 4.4-liter V-8 and a lightweight aluminum suspension. When paired with the M Sport package, it was a great alternative to the higher-priced, less fuel-efficient M5 of the time. Chevrolet Corvette Z06 The fifth-generation Corvette Z06 didn't carry as much under the hood as today's 650-hp model, but it did feature major improvements when compared to its predecessor. Its 5.7-liter small-block V-8 engine packed 405 hp, up 55 ponies from the previous year, and it still managed to return decent fuel economy. Excellent cornering and a sonorous exhaust note sealed the deal. Chrysler 300 SRT8 A sleeper sedan if there ever there was one, the Chrysler 300 SRT8 is much faster than it looks. Its 6.4-liter V-8 produced a total of 470 hp, and it's capable of hitting 60 mph in 4.3 seconds. This performance is complemented by a comfortable, spacious, and luxurious cabin. Related link: Research the Chrysler 300 Chevrolet SS The Chevy SS looks like a Malibu but screams like a ' Vette . And that is no surprise, considering the SS has a Corvette-derived 6.2-liter V-8 engine capable of delivering 415 horsepower under the hood. Despite its nearly 4,000-pound body, the SS manages to hit 60 mph in around 4.5 seconds. A new six-speed manual transmission should increase its legitimacy as a top sports car in its segment. Related link: Research the Chevrolet SS Dodge Challenger SXT Everyone might want the 707-horsepower Challenger Hellcat, but when it comes down to numbers, most buyers will end up opting for the V-6 model. Even the base SXT model holds its own on the track thanks to the smooth-shifting eight-speed automatic transmission, which is paired with the 3.6-liter V-6 engine good for 305 horsepower. Fuel economy hits 30 mpg on the highway, making it a practical choice for everyday drivers. Related link: Research the Dodge Challenger 2005-2010 Ford Mustang When examining the Mustang's rich 50-year history, enthusiasts often overlook the start of the fifth generation. Ford took a bold risk on the 2005 Mustang, deviating almost completely from the previous generation with its modern shape and mostly reworked chassis. (It took one more redesign in 2015 to get independent rear suspension.) Along with a boost in performance, this Mustang also featured improved ergonomics and higher quality interior materials. Hyundai Genesis Coupe The Genesis Coupe may not offer a V-8 like the sedan variant, but it brings hearty V-6 acceleration and excellent handling. R-Spec and Ultimate versions of this model come with larger brakes and a track-tuned suspension. Related link: Research the Hyundai Genesis Coupe Lexus GS Although not a bona fide sports car, the GS's engaging ride could have fooled us for a second. Available with an F Sport package, the GS can hit 60 seconds in just 5.5 seconds thanks to its powerful 306-hp, 3.5-liter V-6 engine. The true sports car -- the GS F (pictured above) -- is on its way and will bring 467 horses when it arrives later this year. Related link: Research the Lexus GS Mazda MX-5 Miata Although it doesn't match the competition in terms of horsepower, the Miata stands out for its superior handling characteristics. It also has one of the best manual transmissions you can find anywhere. Interest in it has faded a bit as its design has grown long in the tooth. Expect even better performance for the 2016 model year, when the storied Miata receives a stiffer chassis, a revised suspension, and a lighter, fully redesigned body. Related link: Research the Mazda MX-5 Miata Mazda RX-7 The 1967 Mazda Cosmo Sport officially introduced the world to the first production rotary engine, but it was the RX-7's rotary that later made a big impression on the industry. The car's sprightly acceleration, road-hugging drive experience, and excellent throttle response captured the hearts of enthusiasts. Rumors persist to this day that Mazda is looking for a way to bring back the RX-7 -- along with its rotary engine. Toyota Celica This affordable sports car provides excellent steering and a balanced ride. Despite its long legacy dating back to 1970, it is often overlooked when compared to the Ford Mustang, Mitsubishi Eclipse, or even Toyota's own Supra. Tesla Roadster Tesla's biggest success story is the Model S sedan, but there is no doubt that the Roadster -- the company's first all-electric car -- also played a large role in shaping the company. In standard guise, the Roadster packed just 248 horsepower but could hit 60 mph in under 4 seconds, Tesla claimed. Drivers could travel up to 227 miles without having to recharge, but this number will increase to 400 miles thanks to a new upgrade available on the car starting this year. Porsche Panamera Turbo S Many deride the Panamera for its odd looks, preferring the shapely 911 . But the Panamera Turbo S brings drivers the ultimate mix of performance and comfort. Along with its smooth ride, this posh family hatch offers 570 horsepower from a 4.8-liter V-8 engine. But expect to pay north of $180,000. Related link: Research the Porsche Panamera Saturn Ion Redline The ill-fated Saturn brand had its ups and downs, but it also had a solid sports car. The Ion Redline featured a 205-hp, 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine that distinguished it significantly from the Ion's standard 145-hp, 2.2-liter offering. That extra boost in horsepower was just enough to get a driver's blood pumping. Volkswagen Golf R This inconspicuous hatchback is more than you might expect from the outside. The first hint of its capabilities comes from the loud roar of its engine. Thanks to its precise steering, plentiful acceleration, and grippy feel, it can take on flashier competitors such as the WRX STI despite its relatively meager 290 horsepower. | 9 | 8,622 | autos |
By now, upgrading a smartphone has gotten fairly routine, so much so that it seems like consumers often do so simply out of habit. It's a costly one, however, with consumers coughing up over $11 billon each year for a new shiny gadget . Much of these expenses are often hidden in carrier contracts. The PuzzlePhone, developed by Finnish startup Circular Devices, is among a handful of bold concepts seeking to become a legitimate alternative to this viciously wasteful cycle. Similar to Google's widely-publicized Project Ara, it's designed to allow for certain parts to be interchangeable. For instance, fresh batteries can easily be swapped in and should the screen break, you can avoid costly repairs by simply buying a new one. But perhaps the biggest draw is that the phone, to some degree, would be future-proof. "A smartphone with modular parts make a lot sense now that we've gotten to the point where a lot of the core functions have more or less stabilized," says Circular Devices co-founder Alejandro Santacreu. "Screens are good enough and the same applies to megapixel cameras, so improvements will typical be progressive bumps to things like the processor speed and memory." On paper, the device is much simpler than the highly-customizable version Google has in the works. There are basically three parts: the brain (computing components), the heart (battery) and spine (display), which comes with dedicated compartments for both. While this limits the degree in which users are able to fiddle with their devices, the approach sidesteps the intricate challenge of uncoupling all the various functions something that the Google team has been ironing out . "What makes what they're [Google] doing very complicated is that they're cutting into pieces a system where 80 percent of the functionality is inside a single chip," Santacreu explains. "Sure, geeks and developers who test things on different devices would love it, but it's not compatible with what your everyday consumer actually cares about." "I mean who wakes up in the morning and says 'I need a faster Bluetooth,'" he adds. In some ways, it's a bit surprising that established handset companies have shown little interest in testing out modular designs. Besides serving as an attractive selling point for those tired of spending on upgrades, the approach can also eliminate costly inefficiencies. One example Santacreu cites is the cumbersome custom integration of firmware for each new Android model, a process developers refer to as "recompiling." Whereas easily installable operating systems such as Windows are easily installable and transferable on PCs, he estimates that custom-implementing Android can take up to two months. A modular system where the configuration of components are more or less standardized would eliminate much of the hassle, he says. But for big players such as Samsung and Apple, any potential savings that come from introducing such a platform would be canceled out by the possibility of a far greater cost. Modularity, in essence, would open up proprietary technologies to more competition from outside firms known as original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). Apple, in recent years, has taken steps to discourage consumers from altering its products beyond the point of sale. Processors and even onboard RAM memory for MacBooks are soldered in a manner that prevents users from making their own modifications. Batteries, while replaceable, are serviced at certified repair centers and Apple Stores. Santacreu is a bit of a radical in declaring that he'd be more than happy if third-party manufacturers ended up putting out a wide range of replacement options, ultimately crowding him out of that category. "Some people don't need more power, but maybe they need a bigger screen. It's up to them to invest not $600, but maybe just $150 into a new LCD, or $50 into a battery and use it until the next year without worries," he says. "The overarching goal is giving people these kind of choices." He asserts that his prime directive is to cut back on waste and the inefficiency. The role he sees his company playing is to provide a standardized ecosystem, which is necessary to spur widespread adoption. Participating vendors would have the option of either paying a fee to be officially certified or should a part be reconfigured to the point where extensive recompiling of Android is needed, they can provide such a service. "We're not gunning to be the next Apple or Samsung so I wouldn't mind at all if independent companies started selling parts for the PuzzlePhone and didn't bother to talk to us," he says. "Where we fit in is we're here to provide support." Since an injection of seed funding in September, the company has been busy assembling a prototype and hopes to release as commercial model by the end of the year. No suggested retail price has been set, but Santacreu says it wouldn't be a stretch for the products to eventually reach a price point that's competitive with other smartphones on the market, should the idea catch on. And even if the device retails for more out-of-pocket than a subsidized smartphone with comparable specs, users should expect to save money over the long term, he says. "We understand our designs probably won't endure forever, but we would be happy to provide something that can be of use for 5 to 10 years," Santacreu says. "Everyone deserves a better lifespan from their devices than what they're currently getting today." | 5 | 8,623 | news |
Tony Sparano was one of the finalists for the Oakland Raiders head coaching position, but has taken over as the 49ers new tight ends coach. Was this a good move by Sparano? | 1 | 8,624 | sports |
WHITEVILLE, N.C. (AP) A 70-year-old man was wrongly convicted in the stabbing deaths of a mother and daughter nearly four decades ago and should be freed from prison, a three-judge panel ruled Friday. The judges heard from a DNA expert who said none of the evidence collected in the case matched Joseph Sledge. A district attorney apologized to Sledge and promised to reopen the case into the 1976 slayings. "The system has made a mistake," district attorney Jon David said. "The wrong man is in prison." After the judges' decision was announced, Sledge was still for a moment, then hugged his lawyer and family members who attended the hearing. Sledge was being processed for release, which was likely to happen Friday afternoon. His nephew Maurice Sledge said the family planned to take him to Savannah, Georgia, to live with one of Joseph Sledge's brothers. Sledge was convicted of two counts of second-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison in the September 1976 slayings of Josephine Davis and her daughter, Aileen. They were found stabbed to death in their home in Elizabethtown, a day after Sledge had escaped from a prison work farm where he was serving a four-year sentence for larceny. Sledge is the eighth person exonerated after the state set up the North Carolina Innocence Inquiry Commission, the only state-run investigative agency of its kind. The commission found there was enough doubt to review Sledge's case, and the state Supreme Court appointed the three judges to hear it. In addition to fingerprints, DNA and hair gathered at the scene that didn't belong to Sledge, a key jailhouse informant, Herman Baker, signed an affidavit in 2013 recanting trial testimony. Baker said he lied at the 1978 trial after being promised leniency in his own drug case and he said he'd been coached by authorities on what to say. The commission began operation in 2007. It has completed reviews of about 1,500 cases. The nonprofit Innocence Project said there have been 325 post-conviction DNA exonerations in the U.S. | 5 | 8,625 | news |
We may not be able to label situps obsolete just yet, but hey, one step closer. Avocados These little green guys are nutrition goldmines! They contain lots of the "good" fats i.e. monosaturated fats which fill you up, but don't get stored as fat. This means you'll feel full for longer, without gaining weight (whoot whoot!). Plus, one 2014 study from Nutrition journal found that people who ate half an avocado for lunch were more full until dinner than those who didn't. Avocado toast, anyone?! Almonds These tasty nuts are great for your abs, as long as you snack on them in moderation. That's because they're filled with fiber and healthy fats, which is a great combo for curbing your snacking throughout the day. Stick with one shot glass per serving, plus a piece of fruit to get you closer to that "full" feeling, and you won't overdo it. Blueberries, raspberries and strawberries Not only are berries jam-packed with antioxidants, they're also loaded with fiber, which keeps you full for longer. Plus, they're a healthy carbohydrate, which means that your body doesn't turn the carbs into sugar and, thus, fat it uses them for energy. Blueberries in particular have even been found to help break down abdominal fat. White fish like tilapia and cod These white fish are packed with protein, which takes the most work for your body to break down compared to other macronutrients, fats, and carbs, meaning you won't be as a hungry as quickly. As a result, protein helps your body curb cravings, so you're less likely to take in unnecessary calories. Green veggies like broccoli and asparagus You know they're good for you and your waistline but why? All the fiber takes longer for your gastric juices to break down, plus it acts like a barrier that prevents sugars from entering your blood stream too quickly, which can lead to insulin resistance and belly fat accumulation. String cheese Holy cow (get it?)! Increasing your consumption of dairy foods and protein while you're trying to slim down helps you lose weight and gain lean muscle mass, according to a 2011 Journal of Nutrition study. The reason is rooted in two key ingredients in dairy: whey and calcium. Whey contains a lot of leucine, an amino acid which stimulates the formation of new muscle proteins. And as for weight loss, it's all about the calcium. It helps excrete fat in the intestine rather than absorbing it, meaning you'll absorb less fat overall. Pine nuts Sure, these babies are delicious sprinkled on hummus and in salads but they're also a major hunger suppressant. 2006 research presented at the Experimental Biology convention found that having half a teaspoon of pine nut oil, which is about a handful of actual pine nuts, may help you ward off your need to feed for at least four hours because they boost appetite suppressors up to 60%. Salmon The delicious fish contains tons of monounsaturated fats, which can help you slim down. Why? Healthy fat keeps you full for longer. A study published in the journal Cell Metabolism found that your body converts unsaturated fats into a compound that curbs your hunger. Just be sure to get the wild kind, not the farm-raised kind, because the farm fish are full of antibiotics and other chemicals, which could harm your health in the long run. | 7 | 8,626 | health |
Man forces woman into trunk at gunpoint in Texas | 5 | 8,627 | news |
Dress up your nail's with cute design ideas. Pile on Hearts It looks tricky, but this mani is actually pretty easy to recreate. Start with your favorite pink as a base, and add on layers of pink and red, just with a slight curve that mimics a heart. See more at The Knot » Start a Conversation Inspired by everyone's favorite Valentine's Day candy, blogger Jasmine used pale shades of blue, yellow, pink, and purple, plus a few shiny accents to capture the essence of Candy Hearts. See more at Californails » Butter Me Up Don't feel like you have to stick to traditional colors like pink and red. Unexpected shade like buttery yellow and black work just as well with heart shapes. See more at So Nailicious » Dock of Love Valentine's fan or not, we can all agree that this manicure is too cute not to try. Even better, on the 15th you can simply paint over the accent nail with red, and your lovely manicure goes from Valentine's Day appropriate to fun for the rest of the month. See more at Maryam Maquillage » A Little Rosy Valentine's Day wouldn't be complete without roses they are the flower of love after all. Nail blogger Sarah painted these pretty petals freehand, but if tackling a bouqet feels too daunting, there are always decals. See more at Chalkboard Nails » Red, White, and Gold All Over We can't get over how sweet that little gold heart is. See more at Clover + Dot » Unexpected French Turn your head just slightly... see the hearts? After you've mastered the traditional French manicure, swap in red and black polish, and add a little triangle for your own vampy version. See more at Nailside » Spell It Out Inspired by Scrabble pieces, this mani deserves way more than nine points. See more at One Nail to Rule Them All » Stained Glass Hearts? Check. Pretty colors? Check. Totally impressive design? This manicure has it all. See more at Dressed Up Nails » Just Add Stripes Who knew that baby blue would be the new color of love? Just add a bit of shiny striping tape and a touch of pink glitter for a whole lot of pretty. See more at Petite Peinture » A Bit of Sparkle If you're already rocking pale pink on your tips, add a bit of gold glitter for a chic half moon design. See more at Born in '82 » Shades of Pink Tips chipping on your red mani? Add a swipe of pink in seconds. See more at Isla Everywhere » | 4 | 8,628 | lifestyle |
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. It's showtime for Pluto. NASA's New Horizons spacecraft has traveled 3 billion miles and is nearing the end of its nine-year journey to Pluto. Sunday, it begins photographing the mysterious, unexplored, icy world once deemed a planet. The first pictures will reveal little more than bright dots New Horizons is still more than 100 million miles from Pluto. But the images, taken against star fields, will help scientists gauge the remaining distance and keep the baby grand piano-sized robot on track for a July flyby. It is humanity's first trip to Pluto, and scientists are eager to start exploring. "New Horizons has been a mission of delayed gratification in many respects, and it's finally happening now," said project scientist Hal Weaver of Johns Hopkins University's Applied Physics Laboratory. "It's going to be a sprint for the next seven months, basically, to the finish line," he said Friday. "We can't wait to turn Pluto into a real world, instead of just a little pixelated blob." Launched from Cape Canaveral in January 2006 on a $700 million mission, New Horizons awoke from its last hibernation period early last month. Flight controllers have spent the past several weeks getting the spacecraft ready for the final but most important leg of its journey. "We have been working on this project, some people, for over a quarter of their careers, to make this mission happen," said project manager Glen Fountain of the Applied Physics Lab, "and now we're about to hit the mother lode." The spacecraft's long-range reconnaissance imager will take hundreds of pictures of Pluto over the coming months. It snapped pictures last summer, before going into hibernation, but these new ones should be considerably brighter. It will be a few days before the new images are beamed back to Earth; scientists expect to release them publicly in early February. By May, New Horizons' photos should equal and then surpass the ones taken by the Hubble Space Telescope, with pictures of the plutoid and its moons improving with each passing day. The real payoff will come when New Horizons flies by Pluto on July 14 at a distance of 7,700 miles and speed of nearly 31,000 mph. It will whip past Charon, Pluto's largest moon, from 18,000 miles out. Scientists have no idea, really, what Pluto looks like way out in the Kuiper Belt beyond Neptune's orbit, home to little icy objects galore. Pluto is the biggest object in the Kuiper Belt. Together with mega-moon, Charon, roughly half Pluto's size, the two orbs could fit inside the United States with room to spare. Five moons have been found so far around Pluto. More could be lurking out there, awaiting discovery by New Horizons. The Applied Physics Lab in Laurel, Maryland, designed and built New Horizons, and is now managing the mission for NASA. Pluto was still officially a planet, No. 9 in the solar system lineup, when New Horizons departed Earth. It was the only planet in our solar system yet to be explored. But seven months later, the International Astronomical Union stripped Pluto of its planethood, classifying it instead as a dwarf planet. Later came the term, plutoid. Some scientists are hoping Pluto's upcoming close-up and expected cosmic buzz may prompt the group to reverse its decision. The nature of science, after all, is fluid, as even the astronomical union maintains. Streator, Illinois, hometown of Pluto's discoverer, the late astronomer Clyde Tombaugh already has declared 2015 the "Year of Pluto." Tombaugh spotted Pluto in 1930. New Horizons may, indeed, "turn the tide in some people's opinions into the other camp," Weaver said. "But that's not really so important." More important, he said, is finding out "what does Pluto really look like." ___ Online: Johns Hopkins University: http://pluto.jhuapl.edu/ International Astronomical Union: http://www.iau.org/ | 5 | 8,629 | news |
Raise your hand if you go to church. OK some of you are lying. That's what sociology professor Philip Brenner discovered in 2011 when he published research showing that Americans "exaggerate their frequency of attendance" at weekly worship services. Brenner followed up last year with new research documenting that Christians are not the only people to tend toward overreporting. This time, he expanded his research beyond traditionally Christian, Western democracies and focused on three predominantly Muslim countries: Pakistan, Turkey, and Palestine. His question: how often do Muslims pray versus how often do they claim to pray? In the March 2014 issue of Social Forces , Brennan said he found prayer was overreported in the Muslim world in a similar way to how church attendance was overreported in North America. Brenner's 2011 study asked do people go to church as much as they say they do? To measure the gap between word and deed, Brenner examined two types of data from 1975-2008. The first were traditional surveys asking people how often they attended religious services. The second type of data was collected by having participants keep a time diary . (This was a sneakier way of finding out what people were really doing, say, on Sunday morning at 9:30.) The differences between the two data sets were remarkable. Phillip found that between 35 and 45 percent of those surveyed said they went to church regularly, while the time diary method revealed that only about 25 percent of Americans actually attend weekly services. That means there's a gap of 10 to 18 percentage points between those Americans who say they go to church, and those who go to church. When he put this data in global perspective, Brenner found that the trend of overreporting is unique to the US and Canada. This inflated sense of church attendance hasn't really changed much in the past few years. The Public Religion Research Institute recently confirmed that people fib about going to church. In a study published in May 2014 humorously titled "I Know What You Did Last Sunday" PRRI wrote that "every subgroup of Americans inflates their levels of religious participation." Here's a chart breaking down how different religious groups responded. So what gives? Why are all these religious people lying? Is the trend in religious overreporting similar to the I-Work-Out phenomenon, when most of us check off that box at the doctor's office alleging we work out "4-7 days a week," when really the only energy we've exerted over the last month was during that one episode of Homeland when we lunged at the television. NPR's Shankar Vedantam suggested it may be similar to our relationship to flossing: "Lots of people say they do it, not many people actually do." According to Brenner, overreporting Muslims and Christians are not maliciously lying on surveys they're mishearing the question. Like the overreporting of church attendance in North America, the overreporting of prayer in the Muslim world is strongly associated with the individual's sense of what is central to his or her self-concept. The respondent interprets the conventional survey question about prayer pragmatically rather than semantically, allowing the question to become one about the respondent's identity, rather than actual behavior. In other words, when a religious person is asked, "Do you do religious stuff?" the question she actually hears is, "Are you the kind of person who does religious stuff?" If Brennan's and PRRI's research are any indication, lots of people in North America and the Middle East perceive themselves as the kind of people who do religious stuff even when they're not actually doing anything. | 5 | 8,630 | news |
Russian banks with at least 25 billion roubles in capital and willing to increase lending to key sectors of the economy will be able to participate in a 1 trillion rouble ($15.65 billion) recapitalization plan, Russia announced on Friday. The banks would also need to raise capital from other sources equivalent to 50 percent of the amount they receive, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov Siluanov said in an emailed statement giving details of the scheme announced in December. Banks are facing growing financial strain as sinking oil prices and Western sanctions linked to the Ukraine crisis push Russia into recession, with analysts warning even larger funds may be needed to stave off a banking crisis. Russia said in December it would provide systemically important banks with additional capital, in the form of government bonds that would be allocated by the state's Deposit Insurance Agency. The terms are similar to ones outlined by Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev on Jan. 14. Qualifying banks would need to have at least 25 billion roubles in capital on Jan. 1 2015, and banks would need to increase lending to "priority sectors of the economy" by at least 1 percent a month. The maximum amount that could be provided to a single bank would be equivalent to 25 percent of its capital. The statement on Friday also said that the Deposit Insurance Agency had approved a list of 27 banks that would be offered the chance to participate, which would now be presented to the government. The statement did not say which banks were included. "This is one of the anti-crisis measures of the government securing the stability of the banking system and supporting the growth of lending," the Finance Minister's statement said. "The measures are also aimed at supporting Russian companies and enterprises of the real sector, which are deprived today of possibilities for attracting external finance." (Reporting By Darya Korsunskaya and Lidia Kelly, writing by Jason Bush; Editing by Elaine Hardcastle) | 3 | 8,631 | finance |
You're having one of those days: You were already running late for work, and then your car broke down. An innocuous chat with your best friend turned into an inexplicable blowout fight. To top it all off, none of your texts seem to be going through to anyone. If you complain about any of these things, someone will probably say to you, "well, Mercury's in retrograde." Here's what that means and how it affects you. Illustrated by Tim Lahan. You're having one of those days: You were already running late for work, and then your car broke down. An innocuous chat with your best friend turned into an inexplicable blowout fight. To top it all off, none of your texts seem to be going through to anyone.If you complain about any of these things, someone will probably say to you, "well, Mercury's in retrograde." Here's what that means and how it affects you. Illustrated by Tim Lahan. What is Mercury retrograde? In mythology, Mercury was the messenger of the gods, and in astrology, the planet Mercury governs communication, travel, and learning. For this reason, Mercury retrograde has earned a ruthless reputation for sending conversations haywire, scotching carefully-laid plans, and wreaking havoc on everything from important work contracts to your home computer. Despite the phrase, Mercury itself doesn't actually move backward "retrograde" refers to the apparent change in motion of the planet when it's viewed from Earth. Fast-moving Mercury has a highly elliptical orbit, meaning that it travels more quickly when it's closest to the sun. Three or four times a year, the planet "catches up" to the Earth's orbit, giving the illusion that it's changing direction in the sky for around three weeks. Illustrated by Tim Lahan. Confused? Think of two cars traveling in the same direction on the freeway. If one keeps speeding up and slowing down, it will appear, from the viewpoint of the other car, to be moving back and forth even though its real forward-moving direction doesn't change. Illustrated by Tim Lahan. When will it happen? Mercury goes retrograde in the sign Aquarius from January 21 to February 11. This coincides with a new moon in Aquarius. New moons are viewed as new beginnings, so this is a great time to set intentions and lay plans for the month ahead.Mercury will go retrograde again in Gemini from May 19 to June 11, and in Libra from September 17 to October 9. Illustrated by Tim Lahan. How can I avoid the chaos? Making it through Mercury retrograde doesn't have to be an ordeal. It just may not be the best time to take a running leap into a huge project, lay down your hard-earned cash for a fancy computer, or sit your partner down and ask just where, exactly, your relationship is going. Expect the unexpected, especially when it comes to communication. Illustrated by Tim Lahan. Back up your data, triple-check travel plans, and, if you can't avoid signing contracts, read the fine print twice. It's better not to buy electronics during a Mercury retrograde, but sometimes those purchases can't be helped just be sure you have a warranty. Give other people the benefit of the doubt, and try not to take mishaps personally. Remember that responding to slights or perceived slights from a place of hurt and defensiveness only worsens skewed communications. Take a deep breath, and don't let misbehaving Mercury get to you. Illustrated by Tim Lahan. Are there any benefits to a Mercury retrograde? In astrology, it's believed that capricious Mercury can teach us flexibility, quick thinking, and, above all, patience. A Mercury retrograde can reveal what isn't working in your life (sometimes the hard way). Use the opportunity to rest and reboot to examine your habits and relationships and pick out the pieces that are no longer serving you. Instead of seeing Mercury retrograde as a giant pain in the ass (which it certainly can be), look at it as an occasion to finish projects and tie up loose ends.It's also the perfect moment to dump your garbage, literal and figurative. Rearrange your apartment, update your resume, donate that giant pile of clothes you're never going to wear again. While Mercury retrograde isn't the best time for big purchases, it's a great period for planning and research. Do your homework now and put your plans into action as soon as Mercury goes direct again. | 4 | 8,632 | lifestyle |
The resemblances are uncanny. | 8 | 8,633 | video |
@greens_in_reg wants to know if we will ever see a Super Bowl in London. | 1 | 8,634 | sports |
There are few things more infuriating about flying than waiting to get off an airplane. After flying across the country at hundreds of miles per hour, we spend dozens of minutes achingly close to our destinations, watching other people slowly get their bags out of the overhead bins and trod down the aisle. But here's the truly infuriating thing: there's a much better way to deboard, and no airline uses it. Using computer simulations, multiple groups of independent researchers have found that deboarding by aisle, rather than row, would cut deboarding times down significantly. In other words, you'd let all aisle passengers off first, then all middle seats, then all windows. A 2014 Northwestern study , for instance, found that this method would reduce deboarding times by more than 35 percent: Of course, these studies involved only simulations, not real-life experiments. But other work has found that similar changes in airplane boarding methods would speed up the process of getting on so it stands to reason that it'd work for getting off the plane too. Why we should let all the aisle seat passengers off first The way we deboard is so deeply ingrained it seems inevitable. Each row deboards one by one, with people in the aisle going first, then the middle seats, then the windows. But it's not the only way to deboard a plane. Instead of getting off the way we do now, row by row, we could let all the left side aisle seat passengers off first, then the right aisle, followed by the left middle seats, then the right, then the left windows, then the right. Here's a rough idea of what this would look like. (Note that this is a reversed version of an animation of boarding in this order , so it's not exact, and the passengers appear to be moving backward at times.) Initially, it might feel weird to wait this way, but it has a key advantage over the conventional method. Currently, each person moves towards the exit as soon as they physically can a decision that makes sense for them in isolation, but slows down everyone behind them because they often end up blocking the whole line as they get their bag down. The only real efficient use of the aisle and overhead bins comes right when the plane first parks, and all the aisle seat passengers are able to get their bags down at once without blocking others. This deboarding method would replicate this stage for the whole process. All middle and window seat passengers would similarly have a minute in the aisle to pull their bags down without blocking people behind them. At any given moment, use of the aisle space and overhead bins would be maximized, and the line would be blocked for a much smaller amount of time. These advantages are borne out in several different computer simulations. The Northwestern study modeled how it would affect deboarding times for 50-seat, 144-seat, and 182-seat cabins and found it reduced wait times for all three of them. These simulations might not perfectly reflect real-life passenger behavior, and could be a little overoptimistic. But the fact that this sort of modified method has been shown in real world tests to be faster in getting people on to a plane suggests it's probably also somewhat faster in getting people off. And while a four or five minute reduction might seem modest, it'd be enormous when multiplied over the 28,000 or so daily commercial US flights . So why don't airlines do this? This method would definitely require action on the part of airlines, at least at first, to remind people to wait. We're all very well-conditioned to get off the plane with the rest of our row, and it'd take a some effort to change that. But this isn't a real reason to avoid trying it out especially when airlines are already controlling passenger behavior as granular as whether they have their windows and tray tables down during takeoff. If one particular airline pioneered aisle-first deboarding and showed that it worked faster, passengers would surely learn it over time. The one major disadvantage of this method is that it would prohibit people who sit next to each other from deboarding together a real problem for families with small children, among others. Perhaps a policy could be instituted that makes exceptions for these people. But the real reason no airline has considered deboarding this way might be financial. Even though longer "turn times" (the time it takes to unload a plane and load it with new passengers for a second flight) cost airlines money, they make it up by selling first-class seats. And part of the allure of those seats are that they allow passengers to get off before the deboarding process. Many airlines also charge more for premium coach seats towards the front of the aircraft as well. Some have suggested that this sort of perverse reasoning it steals everyone's time, but makes the airlines more money is behind most airlines' outdated boarding processes. It might be the reason we deboard in such an inefficient manner too. Another thing airlines can do: use both doors At any airport with the right configuration and clement weather, a plane's back door can be opened, so some passengers can deboard by stairs and walk across the tarmac to get inside. This is already done for many flights arriving at Burbank's airport, and many international destinations. Boeing's calculations indicate that simply by using a second door at the front of the aircraft, deboarding times can be cut from thirteen to eight minutes for a 200-seat aircraft. Adding a second door at the back , instead, would likely reduce deboarding times further. Sure, there are many places where this might not be suitable cold-weather airports, for instance, and others where passengers need to wait for a shuttle to take them to the main terminal anyway. But the multiple door process works well at Burbank, based on customer satisfaction surveys , and there are many other US airports where it could probably be implemented as well. Airlines could also charge for carry-on bags This change would be unpopular, but charging for every bag you bring whether it's checked or carried on could dramatically cut down on both boarding and deboarding times. Baggage fees, contrary to what you might think, are a good thing: they allow airlines to charge lower base prices for tickets , and people who bring bags (and thus increase fuel costs) are appropriately charged for shipping extra weight across the country. But the current fee structure in which most airlines charge for checked bags, but not carry-ons has created a monster. Huge numbers of bags are carried on to flights, and have to be unloaded by passengers as they deboard. This interferes with the deboarding process, slowing everyone down and is one of the main reasons the current method is so inefficient. Over the last few decades, as airlines have instituted checked bag fees, Boeing has calculated that industry-wide deboarding rates have slowed by about 26 percent. The obvious fix is charging equally for both checked and carry-on bags something a few airlines, like Frontier, have started to do. This provides less of an incentive for everyone to cram the cabin full of baggage. Further reading : The way we board airplanes makes absolutely no sense . | 2 | 8,635 | travel |
File this under Earth-shattering Harry Potter news: Draco Malfoy is a Gryffindor?! | 8 | 8,636 | video |
Jarryd Salem and Alesha Bradford are 13 months into what could be five-year backpacking journey, trekking their way across Asia and into Africa. The catch? In a Paul Thereoux-esque move, the Australian couple is traveling only overland from Thailand to South Africa. Which means, no planes for the entire trip. The two bloggers run the popular travel website NOMADasaurus . Forbes caught up with the millennial couple while they were posted in the picturesque town of Phong Nha in Vietnam. "If you can get used to just the bare essentials, life can become a lot easier," says Salem, when discussing the complexities of living out of a backpack. "The one thing you quickly learn is that you really don't need many things." Salem's favorite thing in his backpack? His Leatherman. "I've used it to chop firewood in the woods of Canada, I've used it to fix my motorbike in remote villages, I've used it to dig out splinters that are buried in my hand. I've used my multi-tool for so many things," says Salem, with a laugh. That being said, the millennial does admit to road-fatigue at times, saying that travel burnout is one of the hardest aspects of long-term travel. He and his girlfriend just crossed the one-year mark of living on the road. After spending months traversing Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam on motorbikes , the couple decided to spend six weeks in Phong Nha, Vietnam. Salem admits that in addition to enjoying the feeling of coming home to the same place every day, the couple has befriended a dog. However, this respite does not mean that their adventures are over. The couple plans on moving onto China in March, when the weather there will be more amendable to hiking. After China they plan on heading to Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Iraqi Kurdistan, Iran and Turkey. Salem is quick to point out that traveling to Afghanistan and Iraqi Kurdistan depends largely on the safety situation in those countries at that time. And how do a 27 and 30-year-old fund this amazing, nomadic life? Salem says it is important to be savvy about personal finance. "It's all about structuring your life. If you earn $300 a week, you can learn to live on $300 a week. If you earn $3,000 a week, you can definitely learn to live on $3,000 a week," says Salem. "You learn that you don't need to kind of splash out on going out to fancy dinners or buying a new shirt." They are currently traveling using money they saved while working in Australia, and are also starting to generate some income through a combination of freelance work, and their blog, which they have monetized through affiliate sales, sponsored work and advertisements. They funded a previous adventure into Central America by working minimum wage jobs in Canada. His best money-saving tip? Go out less. "Cutting down on not going out is definitely a huge game changer," says Salem. He recommends inviting friends over for potluck dinners or having drinks at home instead of going to bars. It's important to explain a savings goal to friends and family, as that can make them understand the sudden lifestyle change. "If they are aware of why you are saying no to going out all the time, they tend to be quite supportive," explains Salem. In addition to saving money beforehand, one way to travel longer is to earn money while on the road. Salem recommends using a hostel as a jumping off point to network and find work. "If you are fine with quitting your job and landing in a country and going from there, arriving in hostels is a great way to do it, whether you at 18 or 80," says Salem. A few different careers he recommends is bartending, hostel management or working on an organic farm , through the organization World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms or WWOOF . Depending on where a person is in the world, these might jobs, especially if traveling in places like Central America or South East Asia, will probably only cover food and accommodation. "Finding entry-level construction jobs in Australia, New Zealand, Europe and North America can be quite easy for a traveler, and the pay is usually pretty decent, especially in Australia," says Jarryd, in an email. While in Canada, Salem earned money as a construction worker and used that to finance his travels in Central America. Another idea? Teach English. Countries like Thailand, Singapore, South Korea, Japan and Vietnam offer high wages as well as a good standard of living. Since it is something that a traveler can sort out before leaving home, it is a good option for a person who is more risk-adverse. "It's nice having a project while on the road," says Salem, when discussing balancing blogging with long-term travel. "If we didn't have this travel blogging project we would end up working a lot more in hostels or WOOFING. We would end up sitting in bars drinking a lot more than we do." | 2 | 8,637 | travel |
It's almost shocking that a home upgrade as minor as replacing the front door can boost your home's curb appeal in such a major way! Courtesy of Masonite, these before-and-after sequences prove, once and for all, what a difference a new entry door can make! The Key to Curb Appeal Breezing in and out of the front door day to day, we rarely pause to consider its vital importance. Besides keeping out the weather and intruders the front door makes or breaks a home's curb appeal. Maybe that's why Remodeling magazine found, among all popular home upgrades, front door replacement provides the single highest rate of return on investment. The project virtually pays for itself, even while it gives a facelift to the facade of your home. Click through to see eight before-and-afters that prove, once and for all, what a difference a new door can make! A Solid Slab Tudor, before: Characterized by a feeling of imposing solidity, this paneled door, relieved only by a pair of small lites, sits soberly within an otherwise featureless section of the stucco exterior. Rather than welcome visitors to the home, it seems to grumble, "stay away." The Wonder of a Window Tudor, after: Now featuring a Belleville fiberglass door from Masonite, available from The Home Depot, the entryway is now as refined as it is inviting. Finished in earthy brown, the door includes a decorative known as a dentil shelf. But of course the main attraction is the stained glass lite, which provides privacy without sending a message of aloofness out to the street. Dull and Drab Neoclassical, before: Flanked by lovely stone columns, the dull, drab entry door gets lost in the stone facade. Rather than serve as a focal point that complements the surrounding portico and exterior masonry walls, the door fails to entice the eye and ultimately creates an overall impression of heaviness. Crisply Contrasted Neoclassical, after: Saving the scene is the Barrington fiberglass door from Masonite, available from The Home Depot. The door's rich merlot finish offers an ideal contrast to the home's stonework. And with so much hard, opaque stone to be found here, it's particularly impactful that three-quarters of the Masonite door are given over to comparatively delicate and obviously transparent glass. Blink and You Miss It Brick, before: Completely lacking in ceremony, you might very well walk by this self-effacing blue door without noticing that it was there. That's fine and arguably desirable for a side door, but the main entrance to a home ideally would be, not only clearly visible to visitors, but also at least somewhat enticing. Bold and Beautiful Brick, after: Now featuring a Belleville fiberglass door from Masonite, available from The Home Depot, the entry area now clearly announces itself as such, grabbing attention without being ostentatious. The warm caramel finish manages simultaneously to match and stands out from the exterior, while the oval of glass balances out the rectilinear aspect of brick construction. A Sad Sight Farmhouse, before: Rough-hewn doors can be wonderfully evocative of simpler times, but this one looks, not shabby chic, but plain old shabby. While the house itself appears strong enough to weather an earthquake, its front door looks like it could buckle under a strong breeze. Totally Transformed Farmhouse, after: Built to last, the new steel Masonite door, available at The Home Depot, lends solidity to the entryway. The home no longer seems neglected. Whereas before the doorway was dark and forbidding, it now offers a bright, friendly welcome to guests, with the arched lite atop the high-definition panels even adding a bit of sparkle. | 4 | 8,638 | lifestyle |
I, like so many people, spend an ungodly amount of time each day checking email. Every time my phone pings, I eagerly look at my inbox hoping to see the musings of a loved one. More likely, it's the latest sale that the GAP wants to make sure I absolutely don't miss. Sadly, nobody sends me real emails anymore. Not since the days of AOL CDs aplenty have I received an electronic missive from a real human being whom I know. And yet, the email keeps coming. The Radicati Group, Inc. projects that email users worldwide will reach roughly 4.3 billion in 2015. Who's sending all that email? It's not your wacky aunt forwarding racist cartoons, meaningless petitions and urban legends easily debunked on Snopes.com. According to Radicati, 80% of content marketers use email to blast consumers with Wall-E style "Try blue, it's the new red!" bulletins. Between all the advertising mailing lists we can't recall signing up for, entreaties from Nigerian princes, and of course, our wacky racist aunts, can you blame us? Most people have at least three email addresses, which we need for work, to sign up on social networks and what have you. But we've have abandoned using email for actual communication in favor of texting, Facebook, Twitter or SnapChat. It's not the same. A picture with some text that's available for three seconds will never capture the same spirit of an email written to you by your best friend, especially when you may not be able to see that friend as often as you'd like. Social media offers are fast, quick communication and get the job done, but they detract from the very essence of why we communicate; to form and nurture a connection. Let's put a stop to the spam and reclaim our inboxes as spaces for personal communication. First, Face Your Mess If your inbox looks like mine, an episode of Hoarders but with way less mummified cats, then you know the feeling of doom associated with wading through thousands of messages that are there lingering for that day you decide you're eventually going to read them or file them. Fortunately for all of us (mostly me) there are lots of ways to do this as efficiently and pain free as possible. Unsubscribe from the lists. You can hit each one list by list or use a nifty and fast free service like unroll.me to do it for you. They'll assist you in deleting (or keeping) the email lists that you're currently subscribed to faster than the Grinch can steal the last can of Who Hash. Make like a Brita and filter it. Depending on your email client of choice there should be options for filtering mail as it comes at you, thus keeping your inbox free of clutter and as organized as I wish my closets were. Make sure to check out the help section to see what's available. Consolidate it. With nearly everyone having multiple email addresses, it's cumbersome to check each and every single account. Slingshot your mail to one centralized account for easier organization and to save time. Check to see what type of POP settings your client of choice offers and whether or not it's a free service. Delete it. Do you really need to keep it? Will you refer back to it? Have you looked at it in the last eight months? Is it a receipt from 10 years ago? Sure, there are some emails that everyone keeps to reflect on in later years, but chances are you don't really need it any longer. Make like Elsa and "let it go!" Now, Think of Something Cool and Tell Him I Said It Now that your email is completely organized, junk free and has that new inbox smell, it's time to fill it with things you actually want to read. Here are some ideas to get you started. Start with conscious emailing. When in doubt, just email people pictures of your children or pets. (People LOVE to see other people's children and pets, trust me.) Better yet, write an email. Maybe your grandmother is as tech savy and awesome as mine is. How about a significant other who would love to receive details about your life that you forget get to share at the dinner table? Perhaps your best friend lives on the other side of the country and going to get coffee and catching up just isn't in the cards. Whomever you want to connect with, ditch WhatsApp and KiK and sit down at the keyboard. Join an email subscription featuring content that you actually want to read. Websites like Dailylit.com provide one chapter a day from a wide variety of book titles. They'll give you something to look forward to everyday and cross that resolution off your list to read more all in one free swoop. Whichever tools you use to bleach your inbox and however you decide to take back control, making any sort of positive change in communication style is a job well done. And now that you've sent out dazzling emails to everyone in your address book, it's time to sit back, relax and wait for the soft ping to let you know 'You've Got Mail!' Lead image by Mike Licht | 5 | 8,639 | news |
Best actor Oscar nominee Bradley Cooper and the cast of "The Elephant Man" will be taking the hit Broadway play about a severely deformed man in Victorian England to the London stage this summer. Cooper, 40, has won rave reviews for his portrayal of John Merrick, a sideshow attraction because of his grotesque appearance, in the revival of the Bernard Pomerance play that opened on Broadway late last year for a limited run. The play will transfer to London's Theatre Royal Haymarket on May 9 and run through Aug. 8. "Never did we think we would have the privilege to perform this show on Broadway, let alone in London," Cooper said in a statement. Co-stars Alessandro Nivola, who plays the surgeon who rescues and befriends Merrick, and Patricia Clarkson, the English actress who introduces him to upper-class society, will join Cooper in London. Cooper, nominated for a best actor Academy Award for his role as Navy SEAL sharpshooter Chris Kyle in "American Sniper," does not use prosthetics. He contorts his face and body to convey the physical deformities of Merrick in a dazzling performance that Variety described as "stunning, deeply felt and very moving." The Broadway production will close on Feb. 21. | 6 | 8,640 | entertainment |
Anheuser-Busch is buying Seattle's Elysian Brewing Co., further expanding its collection of craft brewers as it tries to offset sagging sales of its flagship beers. The financial terms of the deal announced Friday were not disclosed. Anheuser-Busch is the U.S. arm of Anheuser-Busch InBev SA, a Belgian company that is the world's largest brewer. The company, which makes Budweiser and Bud Lite, has been combatting soft sales by buying up increasingly popular craft brewers. While nationwide beer sales declined 1.9 percent in 2013, craft beer sales rose 17 percent, according to the Brewers Association, which represents craft brewers. Anheuser-Busch announced in November that it was buying 10 Barrel Brewing of Oregon, raising the ire of many of its fans. That follows the purchase of Blue Point Brewing Co. on Long Island, New York, earlier in the year. It bought Goose Island Beer Co. in Chicago in 2011. InBev also has a one-third share in a Northwest group that produces Red Hook, Widmer and Kona beers. Anheuser-Busch and Elysian say the deal will bring the brewer's popular beers most notably Immortal IPA to a larger audience. The deal includes Elysian's brewery business and its four Seattle brewpubs. It is expected to close by the end of the first quarter. "Throughout our journey we've been focused on brewing a portfolio of both classic and groundbreaking beers and supporting innovation and camaraderie in the beer industry," Dick Cantwell, Elysian co-founder and head brewer, said. "By joining with Anheuser-Busch we'll be able to take the next steps to bring that energy and commitment to a larger audience." Elysian was founded in 1995 by Cantwell along with partners Joe Bisacca and David Buhler, who will stay on following the acquisition. The company is the fastest-growing brewery in Washington state. It sold more than 50,000 barrels of beer in 2014, with Immortal IPA accounting for more than a quarter of the company's total volume. It also makes a beer called Loser Pale Ale, which says "Corporate Beer Still Sucks" on its packaging. The beer celebrates Seattle-based independent music label Sub Pop Records and the line is a nod to the "Corporate Magazines Still Suck" T-shirt Nirvana's Kurt Cobain once wore the cover of Rolling Stone. Cantwell acknowledges that now the joke has another layer, but says the Elysian will keep brewing Loser Pale Ale after the acquisition is complete. The founders say they recognize some fans may be upset by their decision to sell to Anheuser-Busch, but say little will change. "We have some loyal fans that are questioning it, but we are hoping they will take a breath ... and see that what is still in the glass is amazing," Buhler said. Elysian's beer is distributed in 11 states in the U.S. as well as Canada, Taiwan, Australia and Japan. | 3 | 8,641 | finance |
Frequent fliers and SkyMall addicts worldwide may have to get their in-flight kicks elsewhere, because the wacky airline catalog announced today that it is filing for bankruptcy, citing its inability to keep up with evolving airline rules. The quarterly catalog plans on selling, but unfortunately for those of us who love SkyMall's more interesting items, no buyers are stepping up to the plate. Whether or not they call it quits, let us bask in the glory of some of the stranger items SkyMall sells - and kudos to the creative minds who came up with the wonderfully weird products. Remote Control Spider ($30) Winky Eye Cross Body Bag ($39) Sleep Mask With Music Input ($13) Booster Seat ($150) Inflatable Travel Bag ($29-$50) Lotion Applicator and Back Scratcher ($30) Carry On Luggage Scooter ($350) SkyRest Travel Pillow ($30) Bracelet Assistant ($25) Magic-Benefit Panties ($30) Pizza-Scented Shirt ($28) Beer Mitt Kuzy ($15) Dog Breed Toaster ($45) Litter Robots ($340-$360) Pongo Bongo Beer Pong Table Kit ($70) Sippy Wine Glass ($20) Support Like Crazy Knee-Highs $15) Thanks for Everything Frame ($23) Night Glow Toilet Seat ($50) NFL Mini Garden Tailgate Set ($29) Ninja Turtles Pajamas ($40) Compact Portable Footrest ($30) Tablift Hands-Free Tablet Holder ($60) | 2 | 8,642 | travel |
Ice hockey fans will get a new perspective on the fast-moving game when National Hockey League players don GoPro cameras, starting with this weekend's all-star fixture. It's the first time that GoPro has struck a partnership deal with a professional sports league, the league said Friday. "The NHL will use GoPro's innovative equipment and expertise to deliver hockey fans never-before-seen perspectives of the game," it said in a statement. Players on Saturday will take to the ice with helmet-mounted GoPros -- high-definition video cameras popular when filming extreme sports -- at the NHL's all-star skills competition, then on Sunday at the widely-watch all-star classic. Both games are being played in Columbus, Ohio. Going forward, regular NHL games will be captured on GoPro for national and regional telecasts as well as online streaming on GoPro and NHL websites, the league said. "On-ice footage of the best players in the world is among the point-of-view GoPro content fans can expect this season," it added. In return, GoPro will enjoy what the league called "prominent brand exposure" on NHL broadcast, digital and social media platforms. | 1 | 8,643 | sports |
Connecticut governor Dannel Malloy ordered a second round of spending cuts in two months on Friday, slicing $31.5 million more from the state's $20 billion budget as officials warned of "very tough choices" ahead. The move was aimed at closing a $31.6 million projected deficit this fiscal year that Connecticut's chief financial watchdog projected at the start of January. The state's fiscal year ends on June 30. Malloy, a Democrat, requested nearly $55 million in cuts shortly after winning a closely fought battle for reelection in November. "If necessary the Governor will take additional steps, or propose additional steps to the legislature, to keep this year's budget in balance," Benjamin Barnes, secretary of Office of Policy Management said in a statement. Although one of the wealthiest states, Connecticut's economy has been slow to recover from the financial crisis. Connecticut's rainy day fund is depleted and its pension system is among the worst funded in the United States. Friday's cuts affected a wide array of agencies and services. Community technical colleges and the state university lost $2.6 million and the department of developmental services had its budget cut by $8.3 million. (Reporting by Edward Krudy; Editing by Grant McCool) | 5 | 8,644 | news |
A mother happily freaks out when she finds out her daughter is pregnant. | 8 | 8,645 | video |
CLEVELAND -- After experiencing the most humbling and frustrating season of his career, Nick Swisher looks like he has come through everything in a better state of health and mind. Five months after having surgery on both knees, Swisher on Friday said that he has lost 15 pounds and hasn't felt this great since his junior year at Ohio State. How good? "I feel pretty (bleeping) good, man," Swisher said on Friday. "I've never been through a challenge like this. I never struggled like I did last year because I was hurt. For me to be able to deal with all that and to be on the backside of all that is great." Swisher began last season batting second and entrenched at first base. He homered in the home opener on April 4 and was hitting .231 after the first week of the season. That ended up being the highest his batting average got the rest of the year. By mid-May, he was dropped to sixth in the order. By the time his season ended, Swisher was batting .208 with eight home runs and 42 RBI in 97 games. In his final 48 games, Swisher ended up batting .206 and struck out 62 times in 175 at-bats while mostly being the designated hitter. With at least two seasons and $30 million remaining on his contract, Swisher had to hear plenty of rumors about the Indians looking to trade him. Swisher said that didn't talk to general manager Chris Antonetti about the rumors and that no one from the team approached him about being traded. If this was last season, this would be the point where Swisher would get chippy. Instead, the rehab time has allowed him to reflect on things. After playing with a huge chip on his shoulder last season over criticisms from fans and media over his play. Swisher has said he has buried all of it. "I've done a lot of thinking about all that stuff. I was fired up about it a little bit, but then after doing all that, it's like you're putting your energy in the wrong direction. So, I just think with where I am right now, and with everything that did go down, I learned a lot," he said. "The chip is gone, man. I'm going to be a happy, go lucky guy. I'm going to have a blast. I'm not going to stress about things anymore, man. "I'm going to go out there and play the game that I know how and the game that I love every day, because when you're going through those tough times, the love and the passion for the game start to go away a little bit. You have to find something inside yourself to bring all that back. Whatever it was, man, I found it and I have it again and I could not be more happy for that." Looking back on it, Swisher admits he should have opted for surgery earlier instead of trying to gut it out. Also coming in heavier than normal and a little more bulky to handle the everyday rigors of first base took a toll. Since getting into town on Tuesday, Swisher has done some running the past couple days indoors at the Browns facility in Berea after getting cleared last week. He said he has been doing some work swinging for awhile. Swisher added: "I feel like I can move around a lot more. And I always remember back when I was an outfielder, I never had any leg issues. Ever since I came over at first base, maybe that squatting, that side-to-side movement every single day, took a toll on my body. There's a lot of things that we needed to clean up. There were a lot of things that I needed to change just in my body in general." Where Swisher fits in to the current lineup remains to be seen. With Brandon Moss not beginning to swing until next week, Swisher could begin the season in right while also playing designated hitter and some first base. That is if Swisher is ready to go by the April 6 opener at Houston. Earlier this week, manager Terry Francona said that the team wasn't putting any artificial milestones in place for Swisher to be ready and that they wouldn't play him unless he was 100 percent healthy. A major reason why Swisher will mostly be in the outfield or DH is the play last season of Carlos Santana at first. When Swisher had his first stint on the disabled list due to a hyperextended knee, Santana took over at first and saw improvements in his defense and at the plate. The biggest area that Swisher is eager to try out is at the plate. He has reviewed plenty of video of his swing during the past couple seasons and said he has rebuilt it. In his two years with the Indians, Swisher is batting .231 with 30 home runs and 105 RBI in 242 games. He has also struck out once per 4.16 at-bats, which is 17th in the majors. Despite last year's trials and tribulations, Swisher wasn't about to call the year a failure. He has spent most of the offseason in New Orleans while his wife, JoAnna, is filming a television series and has been able spend time with his daughter, Emerson, who turns two in May. "It's such a special time in her life, so for me to get that opportunity and for me to be able to raise her and just develop that tight bond that a father and a daughter should have, it's one of the things that I was so blessed to have," he said. "I just think in general, man, I'm in a good spot right now, man. I really am. I feel like myself again. I don't feel guarded. I don't feel any of that stuff. I'm just excited to get back and be part of this organization and do whatever I can to help this team." | 1 | 8,646 | sports |
Cast in light and shadow high above sections 108 and 109 at Patriot Center, the Final Four banner watches over the George Mason men's basketball program like a hovering parent. It offers a reminder of an unfathomable feat almost nine years ago, when the Patriots became the first in a rush of midsize programs to crash a postseason party reserved for the sport's elite. Before Butler, Wichita State and Virginia Commonwealth, there was a giant-killer called George Mason . But while the others have maintained a national presence, the Patriots have fallen back into the cluttered well of dreamers. In eight seasons since the Final Four appearance, George Mason has won one NCAA tournament game , in 2011. And with a 6-11 record entering Saturday night's game against visiting Davidson, the Patriots are on a path to consecutive losing seasons for the first time in 17 years. The team has sputtered since leaving the lesser Colonial Athletic Association in 2013, dropping 16 of 21 Atlantic 10 games. Its lone visit to a postseason tournament under fourth-year Coach Paul Hewitt was the third-tier College Basketball Invitational two years ago. Attendance has declined to pre-Final Four years, an optic amplified by a 10,000-seat arena too large for the program's needs even in the best of times. "We have work to do, a lot of work to do," said Brad Edwards, the former Washington Redskins defensive back in his first academic year as George Mason's athletic director after two years at Jacksonville University. "We need to catch up on many things." So what happened to the program that inspired underdogs in college basketball and beyond? A blueprint for mid-majors Guided by Jim Larranaga, the Patriots were the model for mid-majors after parlaying a 2006 at-large bid into a Final Four run, upsetting Michigan State , North Carolina and Connecticut along the way. They were not going to return to the Final Four anytime soon, but that was okay with everyone involved because "the Final Four was a magical situation," said Tom O'Connor, who retired last summer after 20 years as George Mason's athletic director. "And that magic doesn't happen every day." Over the next five seasons, Larranaga oversaw an average of 21 victories and a pair of NCAA tournament appearances. In 2011, the Patriots upset Villanova in the NCAA tournament on Luke Hancock's late three-pointer. By spring, however, Larranaga and his assistants had left for Miami and Hancock was off to Louisville , where he was the most outstanding player during a Final Four celebration two years later. Enter Hewitt, who had guided Georgia Tech to the 2004 national championship game. The Patriots enjoyed a 24-win season in his first campaign and won 22 the following year but were just 10-8 in the CAA. Last season's move to the Atlantic 10 brought heavier competition, heavy defeats and an 11-20 record. The Patriots opened this season by losing to Cornell , which had been picked last in the Ivy League. After a brief resurgence, George Mason has dropped four in a row and five of six. "We have 13 games left, seven at home, so by no means am I looking at it like, 'Boy, this is a lost year,' " said Hewitt, whose five-year contract paying about $700,000 annually expires next year. "It can change quickly." While the Patriots seek to turn their fortunes, the other Final Four surprises have remained on high ground. Since its 2011 national semifinal appearance , VCU has won between 26 and 29 games and gone to three straight NCAA tournaments under the same coach, Shaka Smart. This season, the Rams boasted a 15-3 overall record and 5-0 mark in the Atlantic 10 entering Friday night's game at Saint Louis. "They kept going back to the tournament," Edwards said, "and that is what we have to do." Wichita State is 52-3 since advancing to the 2013 Final Four . And Butler followed its 2010 joyride with another visit to the national championship game the following year. The Bulldogs stumbled last season (14-17) but appear back on track this winter (14-6). Plans to catch up George Mason's dip and heightened competition in the Atlantic 10 have prompted Edwards to begin outlining plans to upgrade the program. The university has formed a committee to explore major renovations to Patriot Center (opened in 1985) or constructing a new on-campus arena. Edwards and other athletic department officials have toured facilities such as the University of Richmond's Robins Center, which reopened last year with fewer seats and upgraded infrastructure and amenities. Edwards is also looking to increase the number of charter flights and improve the team facilities and support system. "We recognize that athletics, principally basketball for us, is a marketing opportunity for the institution, and we want to maximize that," he said. "And we know the competition is not taking their foot off the gas. Now it's that point where the transition into the Atlantic 10 is underway and we have to take the next step." He has weighed George Mason's athletic budget to that of other universities without football, such as VCU and Wichita State. The Patriots are well behind, according to the Knight Commission, the reform panel that operates a database of athletic and academic spending. The university did apply a chunk of the Final Four earnings to the program, but in the Atlantic 10, George Mason is eighth or ninth in spending among 14 teams, Edwards estimated. The fundraising mission is daunting. George Mason is a young university without the breadth of potential donors. It is also situated in a major sports market with numerous pro and college teams fighting over sponsorship dollars and ticket buyers. Wichita State and VCU don't have such issues. Among the possible revenue-generators: for the first time, selling the naming rights to Patriot Center. "We should be comparable if not better" to programs of similar makeup, Edwards said. "With this university, we have a good foundation, and now we're in the right conference. It's on us now to put those pieces in place." Longtime backers are watching. "Disappointed? Sure. But we haven't lost faith," said Bud Morrissette, who serves on the Patriot Club advisory board. The family company, Interstate Moving, has sponsored the basketball program for years. "In D.C., we are an impatient group. When you have that success of 2006, you want a taste of it again or something close to it." George Mason's on-court shortcomings have impacted attendance. Through eight home dates, the team is averaging 3,513 29 percent less than last season's final figure. In fairness, crowd sizes traditionally increase as the conference schedule heats up, and regional rivals VCU, Richmond and George Washington have yet to visit Fairfax. As for the team's makeup, Hewitt's recent recruits seem better suited for the rigors of the Atlantic 10 than his older, CAA-caliber players. Shevon Thompson , a junior transfer, leads the conference in rebounding. Sophomores Jalen Jenkins and Marquise Moore are starters, freshman Isaiah Jackson has cracked the lineup and freshman Trey Porter is earning substantial time. "We have good enough players," Hewitt said. "We haven't capitalized on some situations we have created for ourselves, and offensively we've been woefully inconsistent." Whether Hewitt will be around next season is unclear. His pact runs through next season, but a third-year president, Angel Cabrera, and new athletic director, combined with the likelihood of another losing season, raises the specter of change. As he does with all coaches, Edwards said he will evaluate Hewitt's performance at the end of the season. "I look at where they are in their tenure, how they are doing in the conference, what we see on the court, what we see in the classroom and in the community," he said. "Certainly wins and losses are important at a place like George Mason, and we have to decide whether we are heading in the right direction." | 1 | 8,647 | sports |
CLEVELAND (AP) -- The Cavaliers are back on their game. LeBron James scored 25 points and Cleveland Cavaliers put on a dominant performance by routing the Charlotte Hornets 129-90 on Friday night for their fifth straight win. BOX SCORE: CAVALIERS 129, HORNETS 90 The Cavaliers have been through their share of injuries and controversy this season, which has also featured an eight-game winning streak and a 1-9 stretch that preceded the current run. "Right now, I feel like this is the team that I envisioned," James said. "This is the style of basketball I envisioned. Obviously the points we put up I don't envision that every night, but how we share the ball, how we defend, that should be our staple." Charlotte coach Steve Clifford agreed. "They were great," he said. "They're a championship caliber team and they played like it." The Cavaliers, with an artful display of shooting and passing, had the home crowd on its feet throughout the game. Cleveland's 75-40 lead at halftime was its biggest in franchise history and the margin reached 49 points in the fourth quarter. J.R. Smith scored 21 points on seven 3-pointers, and Kyrie Irving added 18 in Cleveland's biggest win of the season. Cavaliers coach David Blatt took a realistic view after the lopsided win in which Cleveland scored a Quicken Loans Arena record for points in a regulation game. "Let's not get ahead of ourselves," he said. "We've got a long way to go. I hope we can bring it again Sunday (against Oklahoma City), looking no further than that. We've got a lot of work ahead of us." Charlotte had won eight of nine, but was no match for the Cavaliers, who have again looked like title contenders since James returned from an eight-game absence with knee and back injuries. James added nine assists and six rebounds in a season-low 27 minutes. He was pulled late in the third quarter and didn't return. James is averaging 29.7 points and is shooting 51 percent in six games since his return. Al Jefferson led Charlotte with 22 points while Michael Kidd-Gilchrist added 15. Cleveland scored 14 straight points as part of a 24-4 run in the first half to put the game away early, leaving the rest of the night for open jumpers, fast breaks and dunks off alley-oop passes. Leading 14-9, the Cavaliers went on a 14-0 run keyed by 3-pointers from Irving and Smith. James was fouled shooting a 3 and made all three free throws in addition to scoring on a finger roll and hitting a jumper. James kept the Cavaliers rolling in the second quarter by hitting Timofey Mozgov with an alley-oop for a dunk, but the four-time MVP was just getting started. James stole a pass in the frontcourt and drove in for a dunk for a 55-25 lead. Less than a minute later, he took a midcourt pass from Smith and dunked, which sent the crowd into a frenzy and extended the lead to 60-27. James then hit Kevin Love with an alley-oop for a lay-in before Irving made another 3 for a 65-27 lead with 5:10 remaining before halftime. Cavaliers guard Iman Shumpert, who was out with a dislocated left shoulder, played for the first time since being acquired from New York on Jan. 5. He scored eight points in nine minutes. Cleveland defeated Charlotte 97-88 on Dec. 15 after starting the game on a 21-0 run. ------ TIP-INS Hornets: Jefferson and G Lance Stephenson came off the bench again Friday. Jefferson returned from a strained left groin three games ago, while Stephenson has played in five games since recovering from a pelvic strain. ... The Hornets were held to nine fast break points. Cavaliers: Cleveland has won six in a row over the Hornets and James has won his last 20 matchups against Charlotte. ... Mozgov had a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds. ... All 13 players scored for Cleveland. NO PROBLEM James wasn't upset that Golden State G Stephen Curry beat him out for the top spot in the fan voting for the All-Star Game. "I'm just excited I get another opportunity to be a part of All-Star weekend, and my fans voted me in," he said. "It means a lot." BAD NIGHT Clifford got right to the point when assessing his team's performance. "We were terrible," he said. "We just didn't come to play. We weren't here. We need to play defense and rebound to win games. We didn't do any of that tonight." UP NEXT Hornets: Host New York on Saturday. Cavaliers: Host Oklahoma City on Sunday. | 1 | 8,648 | sports |
"Mr. Cub" Ernie Banks passed away at the age of 83. | 8 | 8,649 | video |
Most meditation practices encourage us to find our center by connecting with our breath, but this technique takes that mindful strategy to an entirely new level. The founders of the Holistic Life Foundation in Baltimore, Maryland, joined HuffPost Live host Caroline Modarressy Tehrani and HuffPost blogger and guest Sharon Salzberg today to explain how to perform the "taco breath" -- an unusual, but beneficial exercise they teach students. "The taco breath is one of the few breaths that we teach where you inhale through your mouth, and you actually have to curl your tongue and inhale through your tongue like it's a straw," said Atman Smith. "It's really good for physically cooling down the body and mentally cooling you down. You have to sit with your back, neck and head aligned, feet flat on the ground, and inhale through your tongue like it's a straw. Then you swallow the breath while you're holding onto the breath, and then you exhale through your nose, pulling your bellybutton to your spine -- a long, slow, deep breath. It soothes any stomach aches... and it's good for arthritis." To hear more about this unusual but effective breathing exercise, watch the full HuffPost Live clip in the video above. | 7 | 8,650 | health |
Officials at the Internal Revenue Service spent a large amount of time trudging up to Capitol Hill in 2014 so that various Republican committee chairmen in the House of Representatives could berate them over the targeting of some conservative not for profits in the run-up to the 2012 election. It seems likely they'd have preferred to fly under lawmakers' radar in the 114 th Congress. If that's what they wanted, spending more than $4.5 million to hire the same contractor that botched the rollout of the Healthcare.gov website in 2013 probably wasn't the best move. Hiring CGI Federal to provide "critical functions" related to the further implementation of the Affordable Care Act, was practically asking for a Congressional investigation. On Friday, Rep. Pete Roskam (R-IL), who chairs the House Ways and Means Committee's Oversight panel, did what any self-respecting Republican in his place would do. He sent an incredulous-sounding letter to IRS Commissioner John Koskinen asking what, exactly, the agency was thinking. "As you know, in January 2014, the Department of Health and Human Services fired CGI Federal after its disastrous rollout of the HealthCare.gov website," Roskam wrote. "Shortly thereafter, Massachusetts followed suit, firing CGI for its poor performance developing the state health exchange website. Governor Deval Patrick called CGI Federal a 'disappointing partner.' In August 2014, Vermont also fired CGI Federal for its 'unacceptable' work creating its state exchange website. I am concerned that just months after the HHS and Massachusetts firings, the IRS selected the same contractor to provide critical technology services related to the administration of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act." Roskam demanded that the IRS provide his subcommittee with the contract between the agency and CGI Federal, as well as the bids submitted by competitors, and the agency's statement of the requirements for granting the contract. He also asked for "a description of when and how the IRS decided to hire CGI Federal, including the names of all IRS personnel involved in the decision-making process and a description of their roles in the process; all internal communications, including, but not limited to, e-mail correspondence and memoranda, regarding the IRS's decision to hire CGI Federal; and a description of the controls the IRS has in place for this project to ensure that the problems associated with Healthcare.gov and the state exchange websites do not arise with this project." Republicans in Congress have been starving the IRS of resources for years, and in a statement separate from the letter, Roskam suggested that moves like the hiring of CGI Federal justify the funding cuts. "The American people should know why the IRS spent millions of taxpayer dollars to hire the same company responsible for the botched Healthcare.gov rollout. From an agency clamoring for more funding, this isn't a confidence-inspiring use of resources." Top Reads from The Fiscal Times Putin's Rich Pal Says Russians Will Starve for Vlad Big ECB Asset Purchases Could Ding U.S. Growth GOP Women to Boehner: When It Comes to Abortion, Don't Mess With Us | 3 | 8,651 | finance |
Hong Kong police say they are hunting a girl aged between 12 and 14 years old over the theft of a diamond necklace worth more than HK$36 million (US$4.6 million) from a luxury jewellery store. Police say she helped carry out the audacious theft with two women and a man, all aged between 30 and 40. The adults "pretended to be customers choosing items from the shop" police said, while the girl stole the necklace. The gang of four then left the store before a staff member realised it was missing. The necklace was 100-carat gold embedded with more than 30 diamonds, the South China Morning Post said, and police confirmed it was worth HK$36 million. The young girl managed to steal a key from a drawer to open a cabinet while staff were distracted, the SCMP said, citing an unnamed police source. "The three adults posed as big spenders and demanded employees show them jewellery in an apparent move to divert staff attention," the source said. Local media reported that the theft was from the Emperor Jewellery store in the Tsim Sha Tsui shopping district, but the store would not confirm it had been targeted when contacted by AFP. The girl was caught on CCTV as she left the mall, the SCMP said, showing a picture of a girl dressed in black trousers, a blue shirt and a grey hooded top. Police described her as "slimly built". The gang spent around half an hour in the shop and staff did not notice the necklace was missing until later in the day, the SCMP added. | 5 | 8,652 | news |
The Disneyland measles outbreak is spreading and stirring a vaccine debate. CNN's Elizabeth Cohen reports on why some parents refuse to vaccinate their children. | 8 | 8,653 | video |
Kimberly-Clark Corp (KMB.N) is set to increase advertising and promotional spending for its diapers and launch new products in an escalating war with bigger rival Procter and Gamble Co (PG.N) in North America. Industry analysts say moms are either going upscale and choosing Pampers or going down-market with Luvs, both P&G brands, leaving Kimberly-Clark's mid-tier Huggies Snug & Dry line without a real identity. To compete better, Kimberly-Clark said on Friday it would cut prices and "improve" its Snug & Dry line starting this quarter, without giving details. Huggies is the core of Kimberly-Clark's baby care products business, which generates about $7 billion in annual sales. Pampers, P&G's largest brand, alone has sales of over $10 billion. "The consumer is shifting downward in price and they (Kimberly-Clark) don't have a lower-priced product," Sanford Bernstein analyst Ali Dibadj told Reuters. Dibadj said the company could play either end of the price spectrum: introduce a lower-priced brand or "a product that is of such high quality that people are willing to pay more for it." P&G and Kimberly-Clark control about 80 percent of the U.S diaper market, but the Kleenex maker is losing share, according to Euromonitor International data. Huggies' U.S. market share dropped to 8.50 percent in 2013 from 10.2 percent in 2008. Indeed, weakening sales of Huggies and other core products in North America is expected to lead to fall in sales in 2015, Kimberly-Clark said on Friday. Its shares fell 6 percent. To claw back market shares, Kimberly-Clark plans to launch new products this year and spend more on advertising them. Barclays analyst Lauren Lieberman estimates the company could cough up about $500 million for these initiatives. Kimberly-Clark spent about $3.71 billion on marketing and research in fiscal 2014. P&G spent nearly triple, $9.73 billion, just on advertising in 2013. Lieberman said Luvs sells at a roughly 20 percent discount to Huggies Snug & Dry, with the magnitude of the discount varying with promotional activity. For example, the lowest-priced Huggies Snug & Dry 44-pack for a size 1 newborn baby costs $8.97, while P&G's 48-pack Luvs for the same size sells for $6.99, according to Wal-Mart Stores Inc's (WMT.N) website. Luvs has been promoted for almost every week this year at one of P&G's main retail customers, Kimberly-Clark Chief Executive Thomas Falk said. "I think Luvs has picked up 2 share points so far this year." (Writing by Siddharth Cavale; Editing by Savio D'Souza) | 3 | 8,654 | finance |
Dustin Johnson is returning to the PGA Tour from a six-month break in which he said Friday ''it was time to grow up,'' though he refused to discuss a published report that a positive test for cocaine is what led to his leave of absence. ''I'm not worried about what people think or what they say,'' Johnson told The Associated Press in a telephone interview. ''I've just got to be me. I've got a son, a future wife, and I'm really happy. I'm going to enjoy my life.'' Johnson has not competed since he missed the cut at the Canadian Open on July 25. Five days later, he said in a statement he was taking a leave of absence to seek professional help for what he described only as ''personal challenges.'' Golf.com reported that he failed a drug test three times - for marijuana in 2009, and for cocaine in 2012 and 2014. The report said the PGA Tour suspended him for six months, though the tour took the rare step of publicly refuting that he was suspended. Still, the fact Johnson returns exactly six months from announcing his leave of absence is sure to raise questions. His first tournament back will be the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines on Feb. 5-8. Asked if the report was true that he failed a cocaine test, Johnson replied, No.'' And then he declined to say more. ''With that, I've said all I'm going to say,'' Johnson said. ''I think I've answered them, and I don't think I need to answer them again.'' He gave an interview earlier this week to Sports Illustrated and to ESPN, part of a strategy to ease back into golf. Still to be determined is how Johnson is received by the public and by his peers. He said he hasn't talked to many players except for the occasional round of golf and workout session with Keegan Bradley because they have the same trainer. Johnson is engaged to Paulina Gretzky, the daughter of hockey great Wayne Gretzky. She gave birth to a son, Tatum, on Monday in Los Angeles. Johnson said they are renting a home in Thousand Oaks, California, but he plans to live in West Palm Beach, Florida. ''The baby is healthy and we're really happy,'' he said. Johnson declined to say whether the tour threatened to suspend him or recommended he get help. He said he has never been to rehab in his life. He said his issue was how he handled stress - drinking and partying - though he said he did not drink to the point that he felt he needed outside help. ''It was more of a compounded thing,'' he said. ''I was not enjoying myself. I was not playing the way I wanted to play. I did my fair share of partying. It's not like I was drinking every day. It was more like alcohol abuse - that's not the right word, but more along those lines. When I drank, I drank too much.'' As for seeking professional help that he mentioned in his statement in August, Johnson said he was working with ''a few different people,'' including one man whom he described as a life coach. ''He's someone who helps me, give me advice,'' Johnson said, adding that what he was taught was ''nothing I didn't already know.'' ''What I've learned a lot is ... with what I do, there's a lot of stress that comes with it,'' he said. ''I never really learned to deal with it. To party was more my way of dealing with stress instead of going to the gym or going for a run. Things that were unhealthy, that was my way to get away.'' Johnson, 30, is among the most talented Americans and certainly among the most athletic figures in golf. He already has eight victories - last year was the first year he failed to win since he joined the PGA Tour in 2008 - and has contended in three majors. One of those was at Whistling Straits, where he grounded his club without realizing he was in a bunker on the final hole and was given a two-shot penalty. That kept him from a playoff in the 2010 PGA Championship. In his most recent major, Johnson played in the final group on Saturday at the British Open with eventual champion Rory McIlroy. He wound up tying for 12th. His leave of absence kept him from playing the PGA Championship, the FedEx Cup playoffs and the Ryder Cup, where he was assured a spot on the team. Johnson said he watched a little bit of the matches from Gleneagles and felt bad that he wasn't there. But he doesn't feel he owes an apology - or an explanation - to anyone. ''I don't care what people think,'' he said. ''I mean, do. I want my fans to know I do care about them, and I'm glad for all the ones who have stuck by me. I've had an unbelievable amount of support from my family, friends and fans. And those who aren't fans anymore, that's their choice.'' Johnson said he more excited than nervous about his return, and mostly he is happy about becoming a father. ''Obviously, I needed to better myself,'' he said. ''I used this time to work on me, and to work on becoming a better fiancee, soon-to-be husband, father. The son has been born now, and it's given me a whole new perspective. Nothing else in the world matters.'' | 1 | 8,655 | sports |
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) Eighth-seeded Milos Raonic reached the fourth round at a fourth consecutive Grand Slam tournament when he beat Benjamin Becker of Germany 6-4, 6-3, 6-3 at the Australian Open on Saturday. The 24-year-old Raonic fired 22 aces to advance to a match Monday against either Feliciano Lopez or Jerzy Janowicz, who were playing later Saturday. Raonic became the first Canadian player to reach a Grand Slam semifinal at Wimbledon last year after making it to the quarterfinals at the French Open. He also advanced to the fourth round at the U.S. Open. He warmed up for this year's Australian Open by making it to the Brisbane International final, losing to Roger Federer. | 1 | 8,656 | sports |
MINNEAPOLIS -- During the Timberwolves' 25-plus seasons of existence, they haven't been treated to a glut of high-level centers. There's some name recognition at the position. Randy Breuer commands respect, but his jersey number's being retired in the Williams Arena rafters, not those of the Target Center, on Saturday. Luc Longley spent three years here, too, but his best work came on those decent mid-90s Bulls teams with some guy named Michael. Felton Spencer was an above-average rebounder and defender. Dean Garrett had his moments. So did Rasho Nesterovic. But the Wolves are a product of the NBA and its evolution; the great centers are few and far between, and many of them played during a different era when brutality won more basketball games. There's potential then, for Gorgui Dieng and Nikola Pekovic to assert themselves at the top of Minnesota's all-time centers list, albeit a short one. The two of them even shared the floor for much of the second half in Friday's 92-84 loss to the Pelicans. "It's easier," Dieng said, "because (Pekovic) will have all the attention when he's on the court. I will help him get the ball better and find open areas." The dummied-down, "going-big" lineup coach and president of basketball operations Flip Saunders deployed Friday in the Wolves' (7-35) 10th straight home loss -- tied for the third worst home skid in club history -- was merely a visual of the organization's potential riches at center. Having a traditional, bang-'em-and-board big man like Pekovic is rare enough, but when he's part of a one-two punch that features a rim protector like Dieng (who's also improving daily on offense), that's a luxury Minnesota's never had. "Potential" remains the buzzword here, though. If Pekovic were able to stay healthy and Dieng continues to progress at his current rate, the two best fives in club history could be playing on the same team. And sometimes, alongside each other. "That's one of the reasons that we signed Pek," Saunders said, "and it's one of the reasons we drafted Gorgui." When he's in the lineup, Pekovic is a virtually insurmountable load. The 6-foot-11, 290-pound Montenegrin averages 15.7 points on 53.2 percent shooting and 8.3 rebounds since the start of the 2011-12 season. When he's in the lineup. Thanks to a series of nagging injuries, Pekovic's missed at least 17 games in each of his five NBA seasons, including 31 this year with wrist and ankle issues. "Things just start, like, coming one-by-one, just jumping out of the closet," said Pekovic, who had 13 points and nine rebounds Friday in his second game back. "You've got this, now it's this, now it's this." But since Pekovic's ankle bursitis that derailed his season last year, Dieng's proven almost as effective an option. His late surge then earned him all-rookie second-team honors. This year, Dieng is averaging 9.9 points, 8.2 rebounds (20th in the NBA) and 1.8 blocks (eighth) per game. "I'm just trying to get better," Dieng said, "trying to be the best I can." Excluding Al Jefferson, who's more of a power forward, Dieng and Pekovic's scoring and rebounding averages after their rookie seasons top the best career numbers in franchise history. And Dieng's just getting started. Pekovic, on the other hand, could go in the history book as wasted opportunity if he continues to miss large chunks of time. "They're both quality players," said Saunders, whose team fell for a second time against New Orleans (22-21) in front of 14,978 fans Friday. "The biggest thing is we're going to maybe be able to play them together some. That's the biggest thing. We'll have to work on it over time." Follow Phil Ervin on Twitter | 1 | 8,657 | sports |
To the traveler forced to surrender his cricket bat at an airport security checkpoint: I have located your valuable sports gear. I found it inside a state government office building in Pennsylvania, languishing on a shelf between a gardening trowel and a pipe wrench. If you want it back, follow these simple instructions. Head to the state surplus distribution center in Harrisburg between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m. during the workweek. Bring $15, cash only. The wooden club is now yours again. Just remember to check it next time around, or it will end up in TSA's paws again. We all know what happens when a passenger attempts to carry a banned item through security: That person advances to the boarding gate while the prohibited object stays behind. But the flier isn't the only one anticipating a journey; the unwelcome article also has an odyssey in its future, with a mystery final destination. Depending on certain variables, it could end up in a haz-mat can, or with law enforcement officers, or in the arms of a new owner. But I am jumping ahead. We must start at the beginning, in the airport screening area. The TSA official will take you now. Memories of carry-on-the-kitchen-sink travel are starting to fade. In a gentler time, you could bring items into the cabin that sloshed and sliced and thwacked balls into deep left field. But that carefree era of flying ended about two months after the 2001 terrorist attacks, when the federal government created the Transportation Security Administration. Over the years, travelers have learned proper screening etiquette. We can rattle off the 3-1-1 rule like our ABCs. We slip off our shoes without stumbling. However, every so often, we get lazy. We overlook a bottle of water in our tote bag or a Swiss Army knife in our doppler kit. "You hear, 'Oops, I forgot' a lot," said Daniel Derner, a TSA officer. The forbidden materials fall into several categories, and the label it earns determines the next step in the process. Beverages, for example, are tossed into a garbage receptacle. The officers hand over all guns and illegal substances to the local police. They might also alert the cops if the item and its owner flout a state or local law, such as possessing brass knuckles or billy clubs in New York City. The remaining objects, meanwhile, await their fate, which rolls up on wheels. On a recent Monday morning near New Jersey's Newark airport, Igor Markasyan set an empty blue tub and a cardboard box on a trolley and loaded the rig into a black SUV. The lead officer was dressed in TSA designs, his winter hat and heavy coat displaying the agency's acronym. He climbed into the car alone and drove off. Every day, at 450 airports nationwide, TSA employees empty out the banned and forgotten items amassed over a 24-hour period at the screening areas. At Newark, one of the largest facilities in the country, the "property custodian" visits 10 checkpoints in three terminals, dedicating several hours to the collection. The officer might gather 100 to 150 pounds on a typical day. The weight doubles over the holidays. Markasyan, who resembles Wallace Shawn and sounds like Boris, started the day's tour of duty in the busiest section of the airport, United's hub in Terminal C. He parked his cart near the checkpoint, unlocked a metal cabinet and pulled out a container filled with grooming and cleaning products, such as shaving cream, hairspray and a giant can of Lysol. He dumped the flammable items in one bin and the non-fiery substances (Vaseline, sunblock) in another. Before plunging into a second receptacle, Markasyan paused for a wardrobe change. He slipped off the blue plastic gloves and replaced them with a pair made of Kevlar. The protective gear is essential; he once cut his hand on a blender blade. Yes, he received stitches, and yes, people really do travel with blenders. A lot of people. The bin resembled a kitchen drawer messy with steak knives, cake cutters, screwdrivers, scissors, corkscrews and a railroad spike. Markasyan tossed the metal jumble into an empty box, creating a loud racket that sounded like the Tin Man falling out of bed. In addition to the obviously unacceptable items, the TSA also rules out objects that appear benign but harbor a dark streak. For example, air pumps and barbells can be used as bludgeoning instruments; wiry contraptions that evoke bombs and weapon-shaped novelty items, such as water pistols and iPhone cases with brass knuckle handles, could create hysteria. "We don't allow replicas because they could cause a panic," said Lisa Farbstein, an agency spokesperson. Markasyan tossed a plastic bow and a toy gun longer than a child's arm into the expanding stash. Before pushing off to the next checkpoint, he had one more load to gather: lost and found. People are forgetful, especially when juggling multiple bags and scrambling for their flight. They leave behind all sorts of odds and ends, including dentures, a single shoe and sleeping aids. The most common orphans are cellphones, laptops, keys, IDs and belts. "We have so many belts, we could give away a belt as a token of appreciation," said Ofelia Ruiz, the agency's customer support manager. "And glasses, glasses, glasses, glasses." Officers inventory every discovery, even the tiniest hairpin. "The simplest thing could mean the world to the passenger," Ruiz said. The morning's list of finds demonstrated this position: a black Hugo Boss belt, a silver tiara, glasses with a missing lens, a dog license and a smartphone that started to ring. "Your customer lost his phone," Ruiz explained to the voice on the other end, calling from Israel. "When he picks up his rental, let him know that he left it at TSA security. Thank you. Shalom." After three checkpoints, Markasyan's pace slowed as he strained against the growing poundage on the cart. He performed an unofficial weigh-in, estimating about 40 pounds of aerosols, 50 pounds of liquids and 70 pounds of "prohibs." He had seven more pick-ups to go. TSA wants to clear up a few misunderstandings. First, the agency does not "confiscate" banned goods; the passenger "surrenders" them. Second, giving up the goods isn't the only option. For instance, you can return to the airline's ticketing counter and check them, run them back to your car, or hand them off to a friend who is not traveling. Some airports also have a mail service so that you can be reunited with your belongings at home. When the passenger doesn't have the time or willpower to do any of the above, however, the only choice is to relinquish the itema non grata. Another monster misconception: Many people assume that the officers keep the items. Not true. The liquid and aerosol substances are destroyed, for instance. At Newark, they are stored in a small shed surrounded by tall reeds and sparse trees. Inside, several blue canisters hold the materials, which the employee separates by type (explosive, flammable gas, etc.). A contractor eventually hauls it away. After completing his rounds at the airport, I followed Markasyan to the disposal station. He barely glanced down as he chucked the stuff. I silently shed a tear for three bottles of Ron Barceló rum that would never see a cocktail glass or summer sunset. The remaining goods in his car continued onward, to the agency's office adjacent to the Keane University campus. The staff fills empty boxes with 50 pounds of prohibs and stacks them on shelves and any available floor space. Larger, longer items, such as golf clubs and bats, are arrayed like a bouquet of thick stems. Every three or four months, a truck carts off the loads and heads west to Harrisburg. Lost items valued at less than $500 are also in the mix. (The agency holds them for 30 days before shipping them out.) The 18-wheeler was scheduled to arrive the following day. I regarded the assorted sealed cartons and suddenly heard a siren's voice calling out, "Open me." I obliged. Farbstein cut open a taped box marked 12/28. "It's a sickle," she exclaimed, grabbing the crescent-shape tool from the top layer. "I have to take a picture of this!" (Farbstein contributes photos to the agency's Twitter and Instagram accounts. Some highlights include a green comb with a concealed blade and a gun sewn into a teddy bear.) I fished out a Hobbit letter opener still in its packaging, a half-dozen Leathermans, a bag of dirty nails and a cleaver. Farbstein grabbed the hatchet for a portrait. When I unearthed a pillbox in the form of a replica gun cylinder, instinct told me to unscrew the top and bottom sections. I noticed a dusting of herb-green flakes. "I found pot!" I declared with pride. A TSA officer sniffed a confirmation. Several major airports and many minor ones across the Northeast send their abandoned property to the State Surplus Distribution Center, which resides in a residential area of Harrisburg. The truck that picked up 2,975 pounds of prohibs and 1,275 pounds of unclaimed goods from Newark on Jan. 6 would later collect TSA wares from JFK and LaGuardia. Smaller facilities mail a box or two to the store every few months. (Washington-area airports funnel their items to the Wytheville Surplus Store/Distribution Center, in southwest Virginia.) When the goods arrive, the staff weeds through the mounds, searching for the bad apples in the bunch. They pull out any items that have no function beyond causing physical harm, such as the lipstick with the hidden knife and blades that fold up into a credit card shape. Handcuffs fuzzy or metal don't make the cut, either. "If it's a comb, it needs to be a comb," said Troy Thompson, spokesman for the Pennsylvania Department of General Services. "If it's a lipstick, it needs to be a lipstick." Some of the inventory goes online and is sold in bulk a 50-pound mixed box of knives, for example, or designer purses. The rest goes downstairs to the thrift store that also sells used government office supplies, such as desks, mugs and BlackBerry car chargers. Thompson says the shop's prices are about 50 to 65 percent lower than listings on eBay or at standard retail stores. To prove his point, he showed me a $50 vise-grip pipe wrench that goes for $90 at Lowe's. Despite the liquidation prices, the state has earned $1.5 million since the program began in 2004. (All proceeds go to the commonwealth. Oh snap, Jersey.) The five-year employee still shakes his head in disbelief at the strangeness of the pieces and laments the heartbreaking losses. "It always amazes me at how many people travel with kitchen items rolling pins, frying pans," he said. "One of the items that always makes me sad to see are the wedding cake knives, because of the sentimental value." The most recent crop was short on culinary tools and newlywed souvenirs. I found an unused 12-piece dinner-knife set, a package with three steak knives and a hippo-shape cheese knife. Total tally: $7. At the front of the shop, a glass case contained higher-end knives. I counted 18 basic Swiss Army knives for $5 each, plus two rows of deluxe versions of the cardinal-red tool ($15 or $20, depending on the number of extras). For the hunting knives, I asked Jeremy, a staffer with outdoors experience, for assistance. He told me that the five-inch Tomahawk blade with the scorpion image on the handle would please any deer-hunting mate. The five-inch Remington, meanwhile, could do some damage to a bear. And if I were to buy Jeremy a thank-you gift for his helpful services, I would spring for the "Made in Pakistan" knife with a wood handle, worn leather case and price tag of $5. For myself, oh, I had so many choices. Snow globes from NYC, Germany, London and the Land of Laughing Teddy Bears. Souvenir baseball bats for the Yankees, Mets and Red Sox. Sticks and rods used for a variety of activities: hockey, lacrosse, golf, billiards, curtain-hanging. Hand tools for $2 apiece. Scissors for three for a dollar. I was rummaging through $1 wine openers when an employee shouted, "You've got 54 minutes." I was hoisting a red power drill when she hollered, "Ten minutes." I was trying on a bullet-bedazzled belt when she informed me that I had only three minutes left. I left the store right at closing time, hearing the door lock behind me. Walking down the long hallway to the exit, I gripped the manila envelope filled with my TSA purchases: six knives and a hammer, plus a government invoice for $21.20. TSA Tips No traveler wants to lose his or her stuff, especially to the TSA. To safeguard your belongings at airport checkpoints, simply follow these tips and guidelines, then carry on. • TSA has an online tool and app called "When I Fly, Can I Bring . . .?" The feature covers more than 3,500 items, including bleach (no), peanut butter (special instructions) and scissors (yes, if the blades are shorter than four inches long). If you have any doubts, type in the specific item and wait for the results. • Many items prohibited in carry-on bags are permitted in checked luggage. For firearms and ammunition, consult with the agency on proper packing protocol. Also be aware of state and local laws that ban certain weapons and personal protection devices. You can be arrested at the airport for possessing such illegal materials. • If the officer prohibits your item, remember that surrendering it isn't your only option. You can mail it back home (some airports have on-site postal facilities), hand it off to a non-traveling friend, stick it in your car or send it in a checked bag. • Condense your items into one or two trays. Place all small and valuable items in your carry-on bag; avoid using multiple bowls. You can hold your cash or wallet in your hand inside the screening machine. And keep your jewelry on. If a piece sets off the alarm, the officer can wand you. • After the screening, first secure your laptop, then put on your shoes. • Tape a business card or contact info on all gadgets and computers. Attach name tags to all bags. This way, TSA can quickly track you down and return the lost item. • If you realize that you're missing something, contact TSA's lost-and-found office at the airport. The agency's Web site has a list of airport phone numbers. After you claim the item, an employee will set it aside for pick-up or shipping. (Postage will be paid by you.) • If you had to relinquish an item and miss it terribly, check government-auction Web sites or visit a state surplus store that sells TSA goods. For example, try GovDeals.com, the State Surplus Distribution Center in Harrisburg or the Wytheville Surplus Store/Distribution Center in southwest Virginia. You might not find your cherished object, but you could discover something similar or even better. | 2 | 8,658 | travel |
Chicago Cubs icon Ernie Banks passed away Friday night at age 83. The Cubs were the only team Banks ever played for during a 19-year career from 1953-71. Banks entered the Hall of Fame as a first-ballot selection in 1977. Banks earned the nickname "Mr. Cub" during his time playing in front of the Wrigley Field faithful. He was a two-time MVP, 14-time All-Star and ended his career with 512 home runs. He was known for his positive disposition and love of the game, attributes that manifested itself in a catchphrase he became known for: "Let's play two." Banks' No. 14 is retired by the Cubs and he has a statue outside Wrigley Field. He was named to the Major League Baseball All-Century Team and received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2013 for his contribution to the sport. Banks appeared in more major league games without a playoff appearance than anyone in the history of the sport at 2,528. He was a star shortstop for most of his career before moving to first base for his final few seasons. | 1 | 8,659 | sports |
One of the most anticipated features of the new Office for Windows 10 is its touch-friendly functionalities. Microsoft has added touch features in the new versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, and Outlook. These new apps will be pre-installed in all phones and tablets running Windows 10. On Thursday, Microsoft shared a video by Office Mechanics , where Ben Walters, Senior Product Manager of Office 365, gives a sneak peek at how these touch features exactly work on the new Office for Windows 10. Here are some of the coolest features. You can select cells on Excel with a touch of your finger. You can also resize cells or move things around with your finger. You can convert data into graphs by simply clicking on Insert -> recommended, which will give you a list of charts to use. On Word, you can read, add, and edit comments by simply clicking on the chat box next to the text. There's an "Insights" option where you can highlight a word and get all relevant information from the web. The "Help" tab on the top right is also easy to use. For example, if you search for "header" and click on it, it directly runs the "header" function right on the document. On PowerPoint, you can use a stylus pen to annotate slides. You can just touch the screen to select objects within a slide. The menu appears right next to the object, so you can easily copy and paste objects. Here's the full walk-through video: | 5 | 8,660 | news |
RENTON, Wash. (AP) All-Pro safety Earl Thomas returned to limited duty in practice for the Seattle Seahawks while cornerback Richard Sherman was a full participant all week. Seattle coach Pete Carroll said Friday that if the Seahawks had to play this Sunday both players would be able to go. With having another week to go, Carroll expects both to be fully ready for the Super Bowl. Thomas suffered a separated shoulder in the NFC title game, while Sherman sprained his elbow in the fourth quarter. Both played with the injuries against Green Bay. Guard J.R. Sweezy sat out practice this week, but Carroll said that was to rest his ankles and he should be fine. Starting right tackle Justin Britt (knee) and backup safety Jeron Johnson (elbow) both returned to practice and should be ready for the game. --- AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and www.twitter.com/AP-NFL | 1 | 8,661 | sports |
Patterned leggings, micro miniskirts, and skinny jeans - no matter what you're wearing, toned inner thighs will help you rock your look. Watch this video to learn five simple moves to keep this often-overlooked area strong and trim. Plus, the only prop you need is a pillow. Press play to learn how you can work out your inner thighs without ever leaving your bed. | 8 | 8,662 | video |
Sansa Stark is joining the mutant world in the new X-Men sequel! | 8 | 8,663 | video |
Falafel ice cream sandwiches, anyone? | 8 | 8,664 | video |
MELBOURNE, Australia Novak Djokovic fine-tuned his voice and his game at the Australian Open on Saturday, advancing to the fourth round with a straight-sets win over Fernando Verdasco and then urging the crowd of 15,000 to sing Happy Birthday to his mother back home. After his 7-6 (8), 6-3, 6-4 win, the four-time Australian champion had a lengthy on-court interview with Jim Courier discussing a range of topics including his childhood memories of tennis, when "I was constructing little trophies out of plastic and pretending I was a Wimbledon champion." The flashback jogged his memory. It was Jan. 24, his mother Dijana's birthday. "It's my mom's birthday, can you sing happy birthday?" he asked the crowd. He sang the whole song live on camera and strolled off court with a wave. The Williams sisters had their own celebration of sorts, progressing together to the fourth round of a Grand Slam tournament for the first time since Wimbledon in 2011. The sisters were playing on adjoining courts. When 18-time Grand Slam champion Serena noticed that older sister Venus was advancing to the second week, it inspired her own 4-6, 6-2, 6-0 win over No. 26-ranked Elina Svitolina. When top-ranked Serena walked onto Rod Laver Arena, Venus was already down a set and a break on Margaret Court Arena. Venus, who was diagnosed with an auto-immune condition called Sjogren's syndrome in 2011 and has struggled at the highest level ever since, rallied for a 4-6, 7-6 (3), 6-1 win over Camila Giorgi, and that inspired her younger sister. "I thought, 'Wow, she's been through so much with her illness, with everything that she's had to do. Gosh, if she can do it, I'm perfectly healthy, I'm fine. I should be able to do it, too," the five-time Australian Open champion said. "It just got me so motivated, really helped me push through those next two sets at a rapid rate." She'll have to be at the top of her game in the next round she meets No. 24 Garbine Muguruza, who beat her in the second round at the French Open last year. Muguruza defeated Timea Bacsinszky 6-3, 4-6, 6-0. In the other fourth-round match in that quarter, two-time champion Victoria Azarenka will meet 2014 finalist Dominika Cibulkova. Azarenka, the winner here in 2012 and 2013 but who is unseeded this year because of an injury-interrupted 2014, had a 6-4, 6-4 win over No. 25 Barbora Zahlavova Strycova. Cibulkova beat No. 19 Alize Cornet 7-5, 6-2. On the men's side, defending champion Stan Wawrinka cruised to his third straight-sets victory with service breaks to clinch all three sets on his way to a 6-4, 6-2, 6-4 win over Jarkko Nieminen. He'll have a score to settle in the next round against Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, who had a 6-2, 6-4, 6-4 win over Vasek Pospisil. Wawrinka lost to Garcia-Lopez in the first round of the French Open last year, making him the first first-time major winner in 12 years to lose in the first round of his next Grand Slam event. Eighth-seeded Milos Raonic reached the fourth round at a fourth consecutive Grand Slam tournament, firing 22 aces in a 6-4, 6-3, 6-3 win over Benjamin Becker of Germany. He will next play No. 12 Feliciano Lopez, who had a 7-6 (6), 6-4, 7-6 (3) win over Jerzy Janowicz. Two American men lost night matches, with No. 5 Kei Nishikori, the U.S. Open finalist, beating Steve Johnson 6-7 (7), 6-1, 6-2, 6-3 and Gilles Muller defeating No. 19 John Isner 7-6 (4), 7-6 (6), 6-4. Muller will next meet Djokovic. Venus Williams couldn't contain her delight after her win, beaming a smile as she turned to wave to all sides of the stadium. She said the sibling relationship, and rivalry, helped both of the Williams sisters. "I've been motivated by Serena though since day one. The way she faces her life, the way she is fearless on the court," Venus Williams said. "We've had the fortunate relationship to be able to motivate each other and grow from each other." The 34-year-old, seven-time major winner next faces sixth-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska, a semifinalist here last year and Wimbledon finalist in 2012, who advanced with a 6-0, 7-5 win over Varvara Lepchenko. In an all-American third-rounder, Madison Brengle beat Coco Vandeweghe 6-3, 6-2. Williams was as close as two points from defeat in the second set, and Giorgi also had a chance to serve for the match but couldn't hold. "I like to win titles ... that's what I play for," she said. "So, yes, it's great to be in the second week but is fourth round my goal when I come to these tournaments? No." | 1 | 8,665 | sports |
Ernie Banks, who played for the Cubs for the entirety of his 19 year career, has passed away at the age of 83. | 8 | 8,666 | video |
The Screen Actors Guild Awards are this Sunday, and we're giving you an exclusive look at how the Shrine Auditorium ballroom is prepared for the star-studded occasion. | 8 | 8,667 | video |
When her debut single "All About That Bass" topped charts in 58 countries last year, Meghan Trainor knew people were thinking of her as a "one-hit wonder" or simply the "Bass" girl. She knew it would be a short-lived reputation. "My confidence in my song writing had me feel like 'just you people wait, just wait a few months. I'll show you. I'm not a one-hit wonder and I'm here to stay,'" she told Reuters this week, just when the 21-year-old from Nantucket prevailed. Trainor's debut album, "Title," knocked singer-songwriter Taylor Swift's "1989" off the top of the weekly U.S. Billboard album chart, where it had been for nine of the last 12 weeks. Buoyed by "All About That Bass," a 1960s-inflected pop song about female body types, and follow-up hit "Lips Are Movin,'" "Title" marked the biggest debut for a female pop act's first full-length album in more than five years, Billboard said. Trainor described her album as "different and fun and very relatable and topics that not a lot of artists talk about and I think I went there, and I talked about them. "There's a song called 'Walk of Shame,' which pretty much explains it right there. There's different genres and feels, and it's fun," she added. While "All About That Bass" is an ode to a curvaceous woman's body, it has also spawned controversy for "skinny-shaming" thin girls. Trainor's lyrics state: "I'm bringing booty back. Go ahead and tell them skinny bitches hey." But the singer songwriter who wrote the song to help her with her own body issues says she was not targeting thin people. "Hi, people who are getting wound up about my 'skinny bitches' line," she said addressing her critics. "I don't hate skinny people. There it is. I didn't get a record deal and write this hit song just to tell skinny people I hate them." The single is nominated for two Grammy awards in the song and record of the year categories, and she thinks it has "a great shot" at winning at the Feb. 8 ceremony in Los Angeles. "I've made a name for myself and now people are starting to know Meghan Trainor instead of just the 'Bass' girl because that's what I was for a minute!" she said. "And I can't wait for the entire world to hear my album and see what Meghan Trainor's all about." | 6 | 8,668 | entertainment |
Richard Sherman recently disputed Tom Brady's golden-boy image in the media. Ephraim Salaam details if Sherman's assessment was correct and more. | 1 | 8,669 | sports |
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. With an eye on the future, Michael Shank Racing made massive changes to its program that just might pay immediate dividends. Shank changed his chassis, engine and driver lineup during the offseason, moves he believes will help him reach his goal of racing his team at Le Mans in 2016. The shake-up also could help the team owner win his second Rolex 24 at Daytona. Ozz Negri put the No. 60 Ligier JS P2 Honda on the pole for the twice-round-the-clock endurance race that begins Saturday at Daytona International Speedway. Negri's fast run continued a streak of domination the Shank team has had all week: In five on-track sessions, the team has led the speed chart. It's given the team a sense of hope that, barring reliability issues, the lineup of Negri, John Pew, AJ Allmendinger and 17-year-old newcomer Matt McMurry could collect brand new Rolex watches Sunday. "When you look at opportunity, there's been none better for us," Shank said Friday. "They've got to understand that opportunities like this don't come along very often. We've had it twice in 11 years that I felt like we could really, really win." Shank didn't know if he'd be in this position when he overhauled the program by leaving Ford and the DP Riley the organization had used since 2008. He did it in anticipation of rule changes IMSA is expected to make for the sports car series in 2017, and because switching into a P2 from a Daytona Prototype put him in a car that meets Le Mans specifications. "I needed to make a move for my business, this is all I do for a living, and I needed to try to figure out where we want to place ourselves the next five years," Shank said. "And, we needed a change. We were just not consistently competitive enough where we were." But the change was expensive, and Shank had to offset some of those costs by signing McMurry, a high school junior who made his Le Mans debut last year. The move came at the expense of IndyCar driver Justin Wilson, who was part of a lineup that had been unchanged since 2012 when Shank won his first Rolex 24. The team owner said it "crushes me" to not have Wilson participating. He even considered using Wilson as a fifth driver, but driver size differences and the adjustment to the Ligier made it too difficult. The flipside is that McMurry made Shank commercially successful, and the car is sold out of sponsorship races for the Rolex and Sebring. Allmendinger recognizes the team will have a speed drop-off from Wilson to McMurry, but the teenager who has to do homework between practice sessions only needs to race smart for the team to be successful. "You just need to know your role, go out there and not make mistakes and keep the car on the race track and keep it out of trouble," Allmendinger said. The speed in the Shank entry has gotten the attention of the paddock, which considers the No. 60 one of the cars to beat. Of course, the competition is stiff and Chip Ganassi's two entries have been right behind Shank in every session. For now, the No. 02 Ford EcoBoost BP entry commonly known as the "star car" has been more consistent. Three-time IndyCar champion Scott Dixon will open and close the race for that team, which includes Indianapolis 500 winner Tony Kanaan, Daytona 500 winner Jamie McMurray and Sprint Cup Series rookie of the year Kyle Larson. "I was out to lunch last year," said Larson, who was admittedly nervous about making mistakes before his Rolex debut and then made several in his first stint. "I'm way faster than I was last year, a lot more consistent. We'll see how the race goes, but I think I should be more competitive than I was last year." The No. 01 is headed by Scott Pruett, who will be seeking a record sixth win that will move him past Hurley Haywood's record. He's driving with new full-time teammate Joey Hand, and IndyCar drivers Charlie Kimball and Sage Karam. Pruett's all-American team has won three Rolex's since the Dixon-led No. 02 last won in 2006. Also expected to be in the mix is defending race winner Action Express Racing, which also won in 2010, and returned last year's winning lineup of Joao Barbosa, Christian Fittipaldi and IndyCar's Sebastien Bourdais. And, Wayne Taylor Racing is hoping to improve on consecutive runner-up finishes and earn its first win since 2005, when team owner Taylor was driving. The team now includes both of his sons, Jordan and Ricky, and longtime Taylor driver Max Angelelli. | 1 | 8,670 | sports |
COLUMBUS, Ohio - Lights, camera, stage fright? Columbus Blue Jackets forward Ryan Johansen admits to having some. It's not the spotlight of his first NHL All-Star Game or his friends and family who have come to Columbus to be there for Johansen's big weekend that have him a little nervous. It's his inclusion in the Honda NHL Breakaway Challenge, which will take place Saturday during the 2015 Honda NHL All-Star Skills Competition. Johansen knows "everyone" -- home fans inside Nationwide Arena, fans watching across the U.S, and Canasa, fellow all-stars -- will be watching the challenge, which features six shooters each taking three shots judged for style, creativity and flair, and he knows what's usually a home-ice advantage will bring home ice pressure. He's worried because he has no idea what kind of trick shot he'll try to pull off. "It's actually really hard," Johansen said Friday. "You're trying moves you've never really tried before. To execute them is pretty tough. So when you see guys doing these moves and they pull them off, it's impressive." It's been quite a year for the 22-year old Johansen, who missed all of training camp before signing a three-year, $12 million contract just before the start of the season. He had 63 points last season in helping the Blue Jackets to the playoffs and the franchises's first playoff win, and he leads the Jackets again this season with 43 points. His spot in the Breakaway Challenge came via fan vote on Twitter -- that's where each participant's shots can be voted upon Saturday night, too -- and that's part of the newfound fame and money he's earned. Many believe this All-Star Game is the first of many for Johansen, but he's just trying to enjoy it. "It really is a dream come true," Johansen said. As for the trick shots he'll attempt Saturday night, Johansen is open to ideas. "We had a week-long road trip so I never really had any time to try some goofy moves or anything," he said. "I'll have to think of some here in the next day and hopefully I can get some ideas from some friends or something. "I don't feel any pressure for the game (Sunday) itself. This whole experience is awesome. I just really haven't had time to work on anything for the skills competition, and obviously you want to put on a show." Johansen does have experience in the Breakaway Challenge; he was selected as one of the NHL's Young Stars at All-Star Weekend in Ottawa in 2012. This time around he's playing host -- "I'm staying at the (players) hotel and my family and friends are packed in my house," he said -- and anxious to skate Sunday on familiar territory along side the NHL's best. "It's special," Johansen said. "You can feel it in the city. People are excited about the All-Star Game. It seems everybody is enjoying it." | 1 | 8,671 | sports |
A cute little boy finds out his mother is pregnant and offers his hurtful truth. | 8 | 8,672 | video |
An unnamed Browns player told ESPN.com that quarterback Johnny Manziel was a "100 percent joke" in his rookie season. Was it unrealistic to expect for Manziel to grow up in one season? | 1 | 8,673 | sports |
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) Edmonton Oilers forward Ryan Nugent-Hopkins didn't have to wait this long the last time he was drafted. Nashville Predators rookie forward Filip Forsberg suddenly has another new car to go with the Jaguar he just bought two weeks ago. The players had the distinction of being the last two selected in the NHL All-Star Game Draft on Friday night. And both were awarded a new car in a departure from the past two All-Star drafts, when only the last player selected earned the consolation prize. ''You don't get to do too many of these things, so you have to enjoy it, and it was a lot of fun,'' said Nugent-Hopkins, who was the No. 1 pick in the 2011 NHL amateur draft. ''My last draft, I didn't have to wait too long, so it was a little different.'' Nugent-Hopkins was actually the second-to-last player selected in an online fan poll taken during the draft. He will play for Team Foligno, named after Columbus Blue Jackets star Nick Foligno. Forsberg was the last of the 45 players selected, and joins the team led by Chicago Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews. Team Foligno and Team Toews will compete in the skills competition on Saturday and the All-Star Game on Sunday. Forsberg was one of six rookies selected to compete in the skills competition, before being added the All-Star roster on Thursday to fill in for injured Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby. ''Hopefully, I can plan in another All-Star Game and climb a couple of steps in the draft in the future,'' said Forsberg, who leads NHL rookies with 40 points (15 goals, 25 assists). ''And I got a car out of it. It's not too bad either.'' He's just not sure what to do with his growing car collection. ''I've got to talk to my family if they want a new car,'' said the Swedish-born player. ''You can never have too many cars, I guess.'' There was added drama as the draft reached the final two rounds, with Washington Capitals star Alex Ovechkin openly campaigning to be the last pick by insisting he wanted to win the car. ''It was kind of funny that he was still there,'' Forsberg said. ''It would have been an honor to be drafted before Ovi.'' | 1 | 8,674 | sports |
Yellowstone National Park has shipped at least 200 bison near the park boundary with Montana to slaughter as the famed tourist destination seeks to reduce a herd by 900 animals this winter, a U.S. conservation group said on Friday. A park spokesman, Al Nash, could not immediately confirm how many bison may have been handed over to tribal partners and taken to slaughter. But he said 162 bison had been captured and placed into a holding facility as of a week ago. The Buffalo Field Campaign, which opposes the culling and has been monitoring it, said the bison had been dispatched to slaughter since Wednesday, and anticipated that 55 more could be sent on Monday. The culling plan allows the bulk of bison marked for death to be transferred to Native American tribes for slaughter and a certain number of the wandering buffalo to be killed by hunters. The strategy is designed to address worries by ranchers that bison infected with the bacterial disease brucellosis, which can cause miscarriages in cattle, could transmit it to their herds, potentially threatening Montana's brucellosis-free status. The plan this winter to reduce the bison population to 4,000 from 4,900 comes as conservation groups are seeking federal protections for a herd that is a top attraction for the 3 million annual visitors to a park that spans parts of Wyoming, Montana and Idaho. Buffalo Field Campaign spokeswoman Stephany Seay called the culling practice "the brutal abuse and slaughter of the only wild population of buffalo remaining in this country." The iconic hump-backed animals once roamed by the tens of millions west of the Mississippi until hunting campaigns reduced their numbers to the fewer than 50 that found safe harbor at Yellowstone in the early 20th century. The Buffalo Field Campaign said that roughly another 100 bison have been killed by hunters outside the park in Montana, while Nash, citing state officials, put that number lower, at 70. Nash said the park usually engages in culling in winter, when bison migrate to lower elevations in search of food. Federal and state officials on horseback have been capturing animals along the park boundary, both inside and outside the park. Conservationists petitioned the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service last year to provide federal safeguards for the Yellowstone herd, contending it was the only free-roaming band in the country to retain its genetic integrity. (Reporting by Eric M. Johnson in Seattle; Editing by Sandra Maler) | 5 | 8,675 | news |
A beluga whale scares kids at an aquarium window when it opens its mouth. | 8 | 8,676 | video |
ATLANTA (AP) -- The Atlanta Hawks romped to their 15th straight victory, the longest streak in franchise history. Don't expect them to savor it for long. This team is focused firmly on what's in front of them. Paul Millsap scored 22 points, Jeff Teague added 17 and the Hawks broke the record with a 103-93 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Friday night. BOX SCORE: HAWKS 103, THUNDER 93 "It's a good accomplishment," Millsap said, sitting in a rather somber locker room. "But it's just another win." The wins keep piling up for a team that no one expected to be a title contender at the beginning of the season. Before a raucous sellout crowd, the Hawks came out on top for the 29th time in 31 games to extend their Eastern-best record to 36-8. As usual, pretty much everyone chipped in. Four starters were in double figures and backup point guard Dennis Schroder led a spurt at the start of the fourth quarter that helped the Hawks pull away. He finished with 13 points and five assists, igniting the arena with a towering finger roll that dropped gently through the net. "Give me five really good guys," Millsap said, "and I'll go out there and win with `em." Russell Westbrook led the Thunder with 22 points, but it wasn't enough to extend their four-game winning streak. Kevin Durant added 21 points, while Serge Ibaka with 13 was the only other Thunder player in double figures. The Hawks were much more balanced. Al Horford had 14 points and 12 rebounds, while DeMarre Carroll chipped in with 13 points. Kyle Korver was the only starter who didn't reach double figures, but even he chipped in with a play that had everyone talking: another dunk in the waning seconds of the first half that sent the Hawks to the locker room with a 48-47 lead. They never trailed again, strolling off the court at the end with the public-address announcer screaming "15 in a row!" "It's cool to get your name in the record book," Carroll said. "At the same time, we've got bigger tasks at hand. That's making it to the playoffs and bringing an NBA championship to Atlanta." The crowd of 19,203 marked the third sellout in Atlanta's last four games. In a sign that the attendance-challenged city is really getting behind its team, most of the crowd came to cheer for the home team rather than to see an out-of-town star. "They've jumped on the bandwagon now," Durant said. "The crowd was great tonight and really helped them out." He's also impressed with what Atlanta is putting on the court. "They're a really good team," he said -- over and over again. Schroder led the decisive spurt after Durant started the fourth quarter with a free throw that closed the gap to 79-76. The lightning-quick German scored with a drive, hit two free throws, then laid off a pass that set up Horford's layin. Schroder's nifty finger roll capped the 8-0 run that pushed Atlanta to a double-digit lead for the first time, 87-76. The Thunder never got closer than eight and trailed by double digits pretty much the rest of the way. "My confidence is through the roof right now," Schroder said. Atlanta broke the franchise record set during the 1993-94 season, when they finished with the best record in the East but were upset in the second round of the playoffs. DR. DUNKENSTEIN Korver went 198 games without a dunk until he slammed one in during Wednesday's victory over Indiana. Now, he's got a dunk streak going, pushing his career total to 17 with a two-handed jam. Don't expect it to last. "I think those were the No. 1 and No. 2 all-time worst dunks," Korver said. "It's getting way too much attention. I'm going to backboard them the rest of the season." TIP-INS Thunder: Oklahoma City, which came in as the league's top rebounding team, was beaten on the boards 47-36. ... The Thunder went on a 10-0 run in the first quarter, forcing the Hawks to call an early timeout. Hawks: Atlanta was sloppy with the ball in the first half, turning it over 12 times to set up 16 points for the Thunder. They cut back to seven turnovers over the final two quarters, leading to just two points. ... The Hawks improved to 31-1 and 15-0 at home when leading going to the fourth quarter. UP NEXT Thunder: Travel to Cleveland to face LeBron James and the Cavaliers on Sunday. Hawks: Host Minnesota on Sunday, the fourth game in a seven-game homestand. | 1 | 8,677 | sports |
Bryce Petty is in Mobile for the Senior Bowl, and the Baylor QB believes he is the best QB in the NFL Draft. Realistically, where does Petty rank in this draft? | 1 | 8,678 | sports |
@dfbaer is wondering... If you could make one change to the NHL All-Star game, what would it be? | 1 | 8,679 | sports |
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) Defense attorneys for the former Vanderbilt University football players whose own cellphones show they participated in a dorm-room sex assault have placed blame on the elite Southern university, saying their clients' judgment was warped by a campus culture where drunken sex was common. The graphic evidence and testimony presented in court is all the more shocking because it shows that several others were at least partly aware that an unconscious woman was being taken advantage of or had enough evidence to show that something had happened to her, and did nothing to help her or report it. That bystanders' failure to act falls well short of the university culture Vanderbilt officials say they were trying to create on campus long before the morning of June 23, 2013. It also hints at the enormity of the challenge facing colleges nationwide as they try to establish campuses where students are safe, everyone understands the rules, and entire communities work together to make sure such crimes don't happen. ''I think we need to think about the range of bystanders who could have intervened before they got into that dorm room,'' said Jane Stapleton, a professor at the University of New Hampshire and an expert on intervention programs. And by not calling for help when the woman was seen lying unconscious and naked in a hallway afterward, the other athletes made such behavior seem normal, she said. The U.S. Department of Education issued its most specific guidance yet for how schools should handle sex assault complaints in 2011, and colleges including Vanderbilt updated their policies. Meanwhile, college women increasingly took matters into their own hands, networking with each other and supporting a national campaign to file Title IX complaints claiming their schools were mishandling cases. After these gang rape charges were filed in 2013, Vanderbilt became one of dozens of universities subject to more intense investigation. Sarah O'Brien, who spearheaded the Title IX complaint against Vanderbilt, said she's not at all surprised at the testimony showing how many people failed to help. Many at Vanderbilt and elsewhere tend to look the other way, she said. The first to be tried are former wide receiver Cory Batey and star recruit Brandon Vandenburg, whose dorm room became the scene of the alleged crimes. Also charged with aggravated rape and aggravated sexual battery are Brandon Banks, who played defensive back, and Jaborian McKenzie, a former receiver for the Commodores. All have pleaded not guilty. Banks and McKenzie will be tried later, and were not provided with plea agreements in exchange for their cooperation, prosecutors said. Defense attorney Worrick Robinson sought on Friday to prove a point he made as the trial opened: that Batey had been a promising young player before he ''walked into a culture that changed the rest of his life.'' ''Is there anything in their culture that might influence the way they act or the way they think or the way they make decisions?'' Robinson asked his expert James Walker, a neuropsychologist who said Batey claimed to have had between 14 and 22 drinks that night. ''Yes, at that age peer pressure is critical,'' Walker responded, ''because you're just going out on your own, you're not fully an adult, you're not fully a child. ... You tend to take on the behavior of people around you.'' Prosecutors objected, and Walker ultimately acknowledged that he had done no scholarly work on Vanderbilt's campus culture. But even prosecutors presented testimony and evidence showing that many people failed to intervene. Batey's defense, in particular, has suggested that drunken sex was commonplace because nobody apparently called for help when Vandenburg was seen carrying the unconscious student into the dorm. Cameras showed a crowd gathered around as Vandenburg pulled up to the dorm in a vehicle with his unconscious date. At least five students later became aware of the unconscious woman in obvious distress, but did nothing to report it. Rumors quickly spread around campus, and still no one apparently reported it. The assault might have gone unnoticed and uncorroborated had the university not stumbled onto the closed-circuit TV images several days later in an unrelated attempt to learn who damaged a dormitory door. They were shocked to see players carrying an unconscious woman into an elevator and down a hallway, taking compromising pictures of her and then dragging her into the room. Prompted by the video, school authorities contacted police, who found a digital trail showing one of the players sent videos about what they were doing as it was happening. The woman - a neuroscience student who had been dating Vandenburg before the alleged rape and returned to Nashville to testify - cried softly and the jurors stared wide-eyed as a detective narrated the videos Vandenburg shared and described the pictures taken on their cellphones. She testified that she woke up in Vandenburg's dorm room bed the next morning with her clothes on, and still has no memory of anything that happened after Vandenburg passed her drinks the night before, some of which were purchased for the players by a team booster. Dillon van der Wal, who just completed football season playing tight end at Vanderbilt, testified that he didn't tell anyone despite knowing the woman socially and seeing her unconscious in the hallway, with red hand marks on her buttocks. ''You thought well of her, you cared for her welfare,'' defense attorney Fletcher Long said. ''When you encountered her in the condition you found her with the marks you testified to, you called the police?'' ''I did not,'' van der Wal, replied. Vanderbilt officials say school rules go beyond federal requirements on sexual violence responses. The student handbook clearly lists resources available to victims and encourages anyone who witnesses possible sexual misconduct to take action and report it to law enforcement. However, university spokeswoman Princine Lewis said Friday that rulebook is ''meant to encourage reporting. It does not require it.'' Closing arguments are expected on Monday. | 5 | 8,680 | news |
TOKYO Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said early Sunday that Japan was still working to free two hostages held by the extremist Islamic State group while calling a new online video about their fate "outrageous and unforgiveable." The purported message claimed one of the Japanese hostages had been killed and demanded a prisoner exchange for the other. But the post was deleted quickly Saturday, and militants on a website affiliated with the Islamic State group disagreed about the message's authenticity. The Associated Press could not verify the contents of the message, which varied greatly from previous videos released by the Islamic State group, which now holds a third of both Syria and Iraq. Citing the release of the photo purporting to show hostage Haruna Yukawa had been killed, Abe said after a late-night Cabinet meeting: "Such an act of terrorism is outrageous and unforgivable. We feel strong resentment, and strongly condemn the act." Defense Minister Gen Nakatani said officials were still working to verifying the video and a photo shown on it. Patrick Ventrell, a spokesman for the White House National Security Council, said U.S. intelligence officials were working also to confirm whether it was authentic. "We stand in solidarity with Japan and are coordinating closely," he said, and called for the immediate release of people held by the Islamic State group. Abe said the government of Japan will not succumb to terrorism and will continue to cooperate with the international community in the fight against terrorism. He said Japan is still taking every possible step to win the release of both hostages and will continue the effort. The Islamic State group had threatened on Tuesday to behead the men within 72 hours unless it received a $200 million ransom. Japan has scrambled for a way to secure the release of 47-year-old Kenji Goto, a journalist, and Yukawa, a 42-year-old adventurer fascinated by war. Japanese diplomats had left Syria as the civil war there escalated, adding to the difficulty of contacting the militants holding the hostages. Abe had a telephone call with Jordanian King Abullah II on Saturday, the state-run Petra news agency reported, without elaborating on what they discussed. He also called the two hostages' families. One militant on the Islamic State-affiliated website warned that Saturday's new message was fake, while another said that the message was intended only to go to the Japanese journalist's family. A third militant on the website noted that the video was not issued by al-Furqan, which is one of the media arms of the Islamic State group and has issued past videos involving hostages and beheadings. Saturday's message did not bear al-Furqan's logo. The militants on the website post comments using pseudonyms, so their identities could not be independently confirmed by the AP. However, their confusion over the video matched that of Japanese officials and outside observers. Kyodo News agency reported that the same video has been emailed to the wife of one of the hostages. Japanese officials have not directly said whether they are considering paying any ransom. Japan has joined other major industrial nations in opposing ransom payments. U.S. and British officials said they advised against paying. Goto's mother, Junko Ishido, told Japanese public broadcaster NHK in a televised interview that Goto, in the purported message, "seemed to be taking seriously about what may be happening to him as well. "This is no time to be optimistic," said Ishido. ___ Associated Press writers Maamoun Youssef in Cairo, and Kaori Hitomi and Ken Moritsugu in Tokyo contributed to this report. | 5 | 8,681 | news |
Defending champion Stan Wawrinka avoided the same fate that befell compatriot Roger Federer on Friday with a comfortable victory over Finland's Jarkko Nieminen to move into the Australian Open fourth round. The 29-year-old Swiss, appearing on Rod Laver Arena virtually 24 hours after Federer had been shocked by Andreas Seppi on the same court, did not allow the tricky lefthander any opportunities to do the same in the 6-4 6-2 6-4 win. Wawrinka actually had major troubles with his first serve, with it hovering at less than 50 percent for much of the match, but still managed to win his service games and dominate the majority of the short rallies. He will now meet either Canada's Vasik Pospisil or Spaniard Guillermo Garcia-Lopez in the fourth round. (Reporting by Greg Stutchbury; Editing by Sudipto Ganguly) | 1 | 8,682 | sports |
Spaniard Feliciano Lopez showed a compassionate streak in addition to a dangerous serve by apologising to the ball-boy he struck in the groin at the Australian Open. Lopez, seeded 12th at Melbourne Park, unleashed a 196km/h serve which hit local teenager Sam Day during his second round match with Adrian Mannarino on Thursday. Lopez grimaced when he saw Day doubled over in pain and both he and Mannarino approached the ball-boy out of concern. Day was escorted off court for a while but came back to stoically complete his duties. Video of the incident went viral on social media. The 33-year-old Lopez advanced to the fourth round today by beating Pole Jerzy Janowicz in straight sets and told reporters he had caught up with his victim the previous day. "I just wanted to apologise and to make him happy for a while," Lopez said. "I gave him a T-shirt and a wristband from the match. "Yeah, it was very funny because he became very famous with his mates at school. Everybody was watching the video on YouTube. Thousands of viewers, I've heard. "He was happy in a way, but he was also very fortunate when he was hit that he was okay after five, six minutes. "He went out to sit down a little bit. I told him to go out. He wanted to continue to work. I told him, 'no, better that you sit down for a while and then you come back'. I told him, 'don't worry, it's going to be okay. This happened to me already a few times. So just go and sit down for a while and come back'. "This is what he did. Luckily he is perfect and he is fine." Left-hander Lopez will battle Canadian eighth seed Milos Raonic for a place in the quarter-finals. | 1 | 8,683 | sports |
DENVER A 19-year-old suburban Denver woman who tried to go to Syria to help Islamic State militants was sentenced to four years in prison Friday, even as she tearfully told a judge that she never wanted to hurt anyone and has disavowed jihad. Shannon Conley told the judge she was misled while pursuing Islam and learned only after her arrest about atrocities committed by the extremists she was taught to respect. "I am glad I have learned of their true identity here and not on the front lines," said Conley, whose black and tan headscarf clashed against her striped jail uniform. "I disavow these radical views I've come to know and I now believe in the true Islam in which peace is encouraged." But U.S. District Judge Raymond P. Moore said he doubted Conley's views had changed, and she needs psychological help. He also sentenced her to three years of supervised release and 100 hours of community service and barred her from possessing black powder used in explosives, saying, "I'm not going to take a chance with you." "I don't know what has been crystalized in your mind," Moore told her, adding that he hoped the sentence would discourage others with similar intentions. "I'm still not sure you get it." The three-hour hearing offered the fullest picture to date of Conley, who pleaded guilty in September to one count of conspiracy to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization. Prosecutors sought the four-year sentence, rather than the maximum penalty of five years, because was helpful and cooperative in ongoing investigations. Conley was arrested in April as she boarded a plane she hoped would ultimately get her to Syria, where wanted to marry a suitor she met online who told her he was fighting with the extremists. She told FBI agents she wanted to fight alongside him or use her skills as a certified nurse's aide to help. FBI agents became aware of her interest in jihad in late 2013, after she started talking about terrorism with members of a suburban Denver church. They met repeatedly with over several months, hoping to dissuade her. But she told them she was intent on waging jihad, even though she knew it was illegal. "Even though I was committed to the idea of jihad, I didn't want to hurt anyone," Conley said Friday. "It was all about defending Muslims." But Assistant U.S. Attorney Gregory Holloway also said Conley continues to defy authority, making vitriolic comments about law enforcement even though authorities showed restraint in their handling of her case. That's a troubling sign that she may reoffend, Holloway said. Moore described her as an isolated high school dropout with almost no friends her own age and a strange obsession with the military. In jail, she met with an imam who came to counsel her about faith and left disturbed that she preferred to discuss jihad, Moore said. And even before she was arrested, Moore said she was insolent and desperate for attention, wearing a T-shirt that read "Sniper. Don't run, you'll die trying" on her first meeting with FBI agents. "I'm not saying her actions were a direct product of mental illness, but she's a bit of a mess," Moore said. "She's pathologically naive." Her case came as U.S. officials are putting new energy into trying to understand what radicalizes people far removed from the fight and trying to prod countries to do a better job of keeping them from joining up. Federal defender Robert Pepin said Conley had grown, even changing her name as a show of her transformation. A lighter sentence would have shown others with similar intentions that "we really want them to be part of us again. That we are a beacon and not a sword." | 5 | 8,684 | news |
@jakubrudnik is asking the guys to pick the best dunk contest lineup from current NBA players. | 1 | 8,685 | sports |
MELBOURNE, Australia Once the most dominant duo in all of tennis, the family Williams has become a decidedly one-act show in recent years. That is not the case at the Australian Open this year, where Venus and younger sister Serena have revived their engagement with week-two tennis at a major, booking their respective places in the fourth round for the first time in nearly four years. That tournament was Wimbledon 2011, which came before Venus, now 34, announced that she had the autoimmune deficiency known as Sjogren's syndrome, an energy-zapping disease that she's had to learn to manage in the years since. "For me, I always believe in my ability, but sometimes, you know, you don't get results for whichever reason," said Venus, who had been eliminated from the last six majors in three-set affairs. "I've won big. It's not like I haven't done it before. For me, I like to win titles. That's what I play for. So, yes, great, it's great to be in the second week. But is fourth round my goal when I come to these tournaments? No." Yet it is a revelation for the seven-time major champion, because for much of the last three and a half years she's watched from the sidelines as Serena has continued that family domination all on her own, winning an 18th Grand Slam trophy at the U.S. Open this past year and etching her name as one of the greatest of all time. With their wins in Melbourne, the Williams sisters are two matches away from a Grand Slam semifinal meeting, nearly five years after they met on a major stage in the Wimbledon final. Serena, herself now 33, said Venus' success is something that brings little sister great joy. "She's just been doing everything well," Serena told reporters. "She's so focused. She has so much motivation. At the same time… she's super relaxed. It's really encouraging to see." The sisterly encouragement is mutual for Venus, long Serena's No. 1 fan. "I've been motivated by Serena since day one, since 1997," said Venus, who is 11-14 against her sister. "She's always been someone that anyone can learn from. The way she faces her life, the way she is fearless on the court, it's just I don't know anyone who doesn't learn from her. I don't think I could have done the things I've done without her." Venus faces No. 6 Agnieszka Radwanska in the fourth round on Monday, while Serena meets Garbine Muguruza, the player that shocked her at the French Open last year. "As angry as I was, it was the best loss I had the whole year last year," Serena explained. "I had a lot of them, but that one in particular made me realize what I needed to work on. It opened my eyes towards a lot of things." One of those losses also came to Venus, a three-set semifinal in Canada that was the first victory for Venus over her sister in five years. It was Venus' win on Saturday that served as a motivator for Serena, who had a fight of her own at Rod Laver Arena. Both sisters won in come-from-behind three-setters. "I saw her score and I thought, 'Wow she's winning, she's doing so well and I can do better,'" Serena said of Venus on court. "That helped." Big sister is helpful, on this day, and also victorious. On plays the Williams show. | 1 | 8,686 | sports |
His number billows on a flag attached to a Wrigley Field foul pole. For a franchise that hasn't had a real pennant to display for 70 years, Ernie Banks was the smile that epitomized the Chicago Cubs fan's never-ending view that there's always next year. Banks, 83, died Friday just as the Cubs are about to embark on one of their more hopeful seasons in recent memory. "Mr. Cub," the Hall of Famer and 11-time All-Star, was known by generations well beyond the playing career that ended in 1971 as the effervescent franchise ambassador who could be counted on to say, "Let's play two." He played 2,528 games a Cubs record -- but none in the postseason. That's a major league record for games without a playoff appearance. His 19-year career all with the Cubs had just one winning season among the first 14, but he was the National League MVP in 1958 and '59, two of those losing seasons. He was a first ballot Hall of Famer in 1977 but the impact of his contributions beyond his playing days was underscored when he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2013. When Banks received the medal from President Barack Obama, who grew up as a White Sox fan on the south side of Chicago, he explained the origin of the "Let's Play Two" slogan. "It was a very bad day in Chicago," Banks said. "I came into the locker room, and I was feeling great. And I said to all my teammates, 'It's a beautiful day -- let's play two!' That was a time in my life that I was really excited about going to Wrigley Field." Wrigley Field was a long way from Dallas, where Banks grew up one of 12 children and playing on a church softball team. He was discovered by representatives of the Negro Leagues and started his professional career with the Kansas City Monarchs in 1950. After two years in the U.S. Army, during which he played basketball part time for the Harlem Globetrotters, Banks signed with the Cubs. "That's Mr. Cub -- the man who came up through the Negro Leagues, making $7 a day, and became the first black player to suit up for the Cubs and one of the greatest hitters of all time," Obama said. "In the process, Ernie became known as much for his 512 home runs as for his cheer and his optimism, and his eternal faith that someday the Cubs would go all the way." The Cubs have four division titles through the years Banks has been the unofficial team ambassador. His statue stands outside Wrigley Field and his No. 14 the first number ever retired by the franchise flies from the foul pole. Everything but that elusive World Series. They don't have many chances to play two anymore. And baseball isn't likely to get many opportunities to be influenced by people like Ernie Banks. | 1 | 8,687 | sports |
Rondo sat for the final 5:11 in a loss to Chicago. Regardless of what you call it -- a matchup problem, a coach sending a message, a strategy that gave the Mavericks the best chance to win -- Rajon Rondo didn't play the final 5:11 in a loss to the Chicago Bulls at home on Friday. "Coach's decision," Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle said in explanation of the move after the game. But wait. In a 103-95 road win against Memphis on Monday, Carlisle said of Rondo, "A guy like that, you've just got to put him in there in crunch time and let him do what he does," per Tim MacMahon of ESPN Dallas. Why the change of heart? Carlisle stuck with his original answer in the Friday press conference. "It's just a coach's decision," he said. "Today is Friday. That was Monday. That's where it is." And when asked to follow up, did it again: "Listen, if you want to make it a blowup story, be my guest. Go talk to him. It's a coach's decision." And when asked one more time, just for good measure: "It's called: coach's decision," with a bit of an emphasis on each word. "That's how we're going to roll. Next question." One of the things Carlisle and others in the Mavericks' organization praised when they traded for Rondo in December was his ability to come up in big moments. "Playoff Rondo" is a relatively well-known phenomenon where Rondo shines in big games but also big moments. Don't except a drama-filled situation in the Dallas locker room, though. While disappointed he didn't finish, there were no angry words or veiled shots after the game from Rajon Rondo. "It was a coach's decision," he said, using that familiar phrase. "Coach made the decision, it's as simple as that. I've been in this game for a long time. It's not like the end of the world. I like what coach Carlisle has done for me this year and I don't have any regrets." He continued: "I don't think he was pissed off at me or anything, he just made a decision. That's what he went with. No big deal to me." The Bulls backcourt lit Dallas up all night. Derrick Rose started red hot in the first quarter and finished with 20 points, while Jimmy Butler had an excellent all-around line of 20 points, eight rebounds, six assists and 44.4 percent shooting. The Mavericks' defense has risen from no. 20 prior to the Rondo trade to no. 8 since (99.8 defensive rating), but their defense has also fallen from best in the league to no. 8 (106.0 offensive rating). The Mavericks trailed 92-85 in the fourth quarter when Carlisle opted to sub Devin Harris in for Rondo, who finished with six points on 3-9 shooting and four assists. Regardless, it's a situation the mercurial point guard handled much better than he might have earlier in his career. He's been benched in Boston by Doc Rivers , and especially in recent years, his career has taken him through some difficult times. "Absolutely," he said, when asked if he was better equipped to deal with this. "Maybe the [ACL] injury -- I'm just more appreciative of just playing the game, I'm very grateful to be playing the game I love. ... I'm a competitor. I'm pretty sure you all know I wanted to be in the game, but it didn't happen and did my best to cheer my teammates on." Carlisle has always been close-lipped about his in-game management. Without a doubt, the decision he made to bench Rondo was made with the Mavericks' best interest in mind. Whether or not he was right, who knows. That can be discussed ad nauseam . Regardless, it's one that's in the past. Carlisle is the coach. He made his decision. "There are very few correct decisions when you lose games," Carlisle said at the end of his press conference. "I've learned that after coaching 1,000 of these, you've got to roll with your gut. When you're in the position I'm in, you've got to take the heat and you've got to welcome the heat because that's what this job is. You've also got to roll with you gut, and so that's what we did. We just came up short -- all of us. And we all own it." | 1 | 8,688 | sports |
Top seed Novak Djokovic overcame a nervous start and feisty Fernando Verdasco to safely negotiate his way into the fourth round of the Australian Open on Saturday. With the surprise loss of Roger Federer still hanging over the men's draw, Djokovic was well aware the danger the 31-year-old Verdasco, a former top-10 player posed. The Spaniard had taken Rafa Nadal deep into the night in a five-hour, five set marathon during the 2009 semi-finals in Melbourne and only trailed the Serb 6-4 in their career head-to-head record. Verdasco harassed Djokovic at the start but once the world number one sealed the first set tiebreak after an hour of the tense baseline battle he ran away with the match in the next two to win 7-6(8) 6-3 6-4 and set up a fourth round clash with Luxembourg's Gilles Muller. | 1 | 8,689 | sports |
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) Novak Djokovic advanced to the fourth round of the Australian Open for the ninth consecutive year with a 7-6 (8), 6-3, 6-4 win over Fernando Verdasco on Saturday. Four-time champion Djokovic won the tiebreaker on his fourth set point when Verdasco hit consecutive shots wide. The No. 1-ranked Djokovic broke the Spanish left-hander at the start of the second set, then saved two break points with consecutive aces to take a 3-0 lead. There was some levity at the end of the second set when a man in the Rod Laver Arena crowd proposed to his girlfriend, offering her a ring. When the woman said yes, many in the capacity crowd of 15,000 applauded, as did Djokovic from his courtside chair. | 1 | 8,690 | sports |
Eastern Ukraine's main rebel leader says he has launched an offensive against the government-held port city of Mariupol. His comments came after a series of rocket attacks which Ukrainian media said had left 27 people dead and many others injured in the city. Grad rockets hit a market in a residential eastern area of Mariupol, the city's police chief said. Since April, more than 5,000 people have died in fighting in the east. The rebels have seized a large swathe of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions. More than a million people have been displaced. Rebel leader Alexander Zakharchenko said on Friday that he did not want truce talks with Kiev. A ceasefire was agreed in Minsk in September but never fully took hold. Many hoped that the lower level of hostilities it introduced would last, but the BBC's David Stern says that the fighting is beginning to approach what was seen last summer. Mariupol has a population of 500,000 and is in a highly strategic position, sitting between rebel-held eastern areas and Crimea, which was annexed by Russia last March. The city saw heavy fighting in August. 'Very scared' "Today an offensive was launched on Mariupol. This will be the best possible monument to all our dead," Alexander Zakharchenko was quoted as saying at a memorial ceremony in Donetsk. A rebel spokesman earlier denied any involvement in the attack on Mariupol. Unverified video footage on Saturday indicated that a number cars, houses and apartment buildings had been struck and were in flames. Our correspondent says the attack appeared to come from a multiple-rocket launcher, which fires a large number of missiles over a spread-out area. Ukraine's Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk has called for an urgent session of the UN Security Council to discuss what he says is Russia's role in the conflict in eastern Ukraine, 5 Canal TV reports. "Russia is not only breaching the Minsk agreements - Russia is violating the fundamental principles of international law and humanity. "They are stopping at nothing. The rockets even hit a children's shop," it quoted him as telling a meeting in Kiev called to discuss the escalation in Mariupol. The head of the OSCE security and monitoring group's mission to Ukraine, Ertugrul Apakan, described the shelling as a reckless, indiscriminate and disgraceful attack aimed at a heavily populated residential area. "I condemn this violent act in the strongest terms and call for a full investigation of the incident. "This dangerous situation can't continue. We need an immediate ceasefire." Mayor killed On Friday, rebel military spokesman Eduard Basurin said 24 rebels had been killed and 30 wounded in recent fighting. He called it "the heaviest losses in our ranks" in a 24-hour period. In another development, the rebel mayor of Pervomaysk, west of Luhansk, has been killed, reports say. The body of Yevhen Ischchenko was found in a car. Three other men were apparently killed along with him. The local rebel leadership blamed Ukrainian agents, but other sources said it was the result of infighting. Ukraine, Russia, France and Germany have all issued calls for an end to the fighting. Ukraine and its Western allies say Russian regular troops are fighting alongside the separatists, using Russian heavy artillery and tanks. Moscow insists that only Russian "volunteers" have joined the rebels. Ukraine: the human cost Some 5.2 million people live in conflict-affected areas and 1.4 million are considered "highly vulnerable and in need of assistance" More than a million people have fled their homes with 633,523 living as displaced persons within Ukraine and 593,622 living outside Ukraine, mostly in Russia More than 5,000 people have been killed in the fighting and more than 10,300 injured Source: UN report of 9 January for refugee figures; news reports for casualty estimates | 5 | 8,691 | news |
Defending champion Stan Wawrinka used service breaks to clinch all three sets on his way to a 6-4, 6-2, 6-4 win over Jarkko Nieminen in a third-round match Saturday at the Australian Open. Warwinka won his first career Grand Slam singles title last year at Melbourne Park, beating Rafael Nadal in the final. Later in the year, he and Roger Federer led Switzerland to its first Davis Cup triumph. Nieminen hadn't advanced to the third round here since a quarterfinal appearance in 2008. In the fourth round, Warwinka will play either Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain or Canada's Vasek Pospisil. | 1 | 8,692 | sports |
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) -- The sellout crowd chanted Klay Thompson's name. Both benches stood, equally stunned at what was taking place. Thompson's teammates just continued to get him open -- and get him the ball. "They just kept wanting to see the show. That's what they kept telling me," Thompson said. BOX SCORE: WARRIORS 126, KINGS 101 Thompson set a league record for the most points in a quarter Friday night, a thrilling 37-point third period that powered the Golden State Warriors to a 126-101 victory over the Sacramento Kings. He kept shooting. The ball kept going in. And by the time it was all over, Thompson had turned in a performance unlike any other in NBA history. "I was one of the luckiest NBA players ever to play with Michael Jordan, Tim Duncan, David Robinson and some of the greatest players ever," Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. "As many spectacular things as Michael did, which he did nightly, I never saw him do that." Thompson finished with a career-high 52 points, pleasing 19,596 fans at rowdy Oracle Arena with a performance that will long be remembered in the basketball-loving Bay Area. The All-Star hopeful made all 13 shots, including a league-record nine from 3-point range in a quarter, and hit both of his free throws during a 12-minute span of pure basketball bliss. "It was crazy. I don't even know what happened," Thompson said. His streaky shooting stroke helped the Warriors (35-6) erase a sloppy showing in the middle of the game for its franchise-best 18th consecutive home victory. Golden State became the 10th team to win at least 35 games halfway through a season. Thompson surpassed the 33-point mark set by George Gervin in 1978 and matched by Carmelo Anthony in 2008 for the most points in a quarter. Michael Redd and Joe Johnson shared the previous mark for most 3s in a quarter with eight. A day after backcourt teammate Stephen Curry received the most votes for the All-Star game and Kerr learned he would lead the Western Conference in the showcase game, Thompson let the world know he expects to be right next to them at Madison Square Garden on Feb. 15. Thompson stunned Sacramento -- and just about everyone in the building -- with a performance unlike any other in league lore. He hit one I-can't-believe-he-just-made-that basket after another -- including a 28-footer -- and added an alley-oop from Curry on the fastbreak just for good measure. Thompson said two other shots left him just as baffled: one in the corner with his feet off-balanced, another off a curl that got a "shooter's bounce." He also made one from about 10 feet beyond the 3-point line after a play that didn't count. After that, Warriors assistant Jarron Collins turned to Kerr and joked, "We have to get more balance." Thompson seemed to love every minute of it, flapping his hands to the crowd every time down court. At one point during a timeout, he sat on the bench with his hands over his head, staring at the scoreboard in disbelief. Thompson scored 19 consecutive points during one scintillating stretch, which ended with him zipping a left-handed pass to Draymond Green for a layup. Thompson left to a standing ovation with 9:28 remaining in the fourth quarter. "You always dream about it, being a big-time scorer and a big-time player. It's crazy it's reality," said Thompson, who finished 16 of 25 from the floor and 11 of 15 from long range. Thompson's touch made sure the Warriors matched the franchise's highest win total before the All-Star game. The defending champion 1975-76 Warriors went 35-13 before the break and finished with a team-best record 59-23. DeMarcus Cousins had 28 points and 11 rebounds in Sacramento's sixth straight loss, though he wasn't that frustrated after this one. How could he be? "I mean, the ball was barely touching his fingertips and he was releasing it. It's pretty hard to stop something like that," Cousins said. Rudy Gay also was ejected in the second quarter, leaving the Kings (16-27) short-handed. Golden State started with a flurry from long range, going on a 22-2 run in the first six minutes to build an 18-point lead. Kerr dug deep into his bench early, and with second-unit anchor Andre Iguodala getting the night off to rest, the Warriors had little punch off the bench. Sacramento sliced the deficit to just three early in the second quarter, trailed only 56-51 at the half and briefly took the lead early in the third quarter until Thompson took over. TIP-INS Kings: Fell to 5-14 since Michael Malone was fired as coach. ... Carl Landry, who played for Golden State during the 2012-13 season, missed his fifth straight game with a sprained right wrist. Warriors: Have won the first three meetings this season and seven straight against Sacramento. It's the longest streak in the series since winning seven in row in 1994-95. ... The Warriors are 20-1 at Oracle Arena this season. UP NEXT Kings: At New York on Monday. Warriors: Host Boston on Sunday. | 1 | 8,693 | sports |
Tax Hacks 2015: Avoid These 10 Common Filing Mistakes It's time. Your W-2s and 1099s are likely making their way to your mailbox or inbox right now, assuming they haven't already arrived. As you start filling in your tax forms, be aware that a mistake can cost you valuable time or money. Money Talks News finance expert Stacy Johnson spoke with Tom Sawyer, a CPA with Sawyer & Latimer PA in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, to uncover some of the most common tax-time mistakes. Mistake No. 1: Paying for tax preparation when you could get it for free The first mistake some people make is paying someone else to do their taxes. Depending on your income level, you may have more than one option when it comes to getting free tax prep services. Volunteer Income Tax Assistance: Sponsored by the IRS, VITA offers free tax preparation by trained volunteers. You may be eligible for the VITA program if your income is $53,000 or less, you have a disability, are elderly or have limited English-speaking ability. Tax Counseling for the Elderly: Also sponsored by the IRS, the TCE program is intended for people age 60 and older. Free File: If your income is less than $60,000, you can use an online software program to prepare and file your federal income tax return for free. For a list of software providers, head to the Free File website . If you'd rather have face-to-face assistance, you can find a list of VITA and TCE sites on this IRS webpage . Mistake No. 2: Getting your Social Security numbers wrong On its list of common tax mistakes , the IRS puts wrong and missing Social Security numbers at the top. Long gone are the days in which you could claim dependents without a Social Security number. Today, every member of your household listed on your return needs to have one. Make sure to double check all the numbers before submitting your return to ensure there aren't any transposed or missing digits. Mistake No. 3: Spelling your name wrong Sure, you know what your name is, but maybe you're typing too quickly and hit a wrong key. Or you could be interrupted while filling out the form and pick back up at the wrong spot. There are plenty of scenarios in which people can, and do, misspell their names on their income tax forms. Those simple errors can lead to rejected returns and delayed refunds. In addition, if you recently married or divorced and haven't registered a name change with the Social Security Administration, be sure to use your old name. You need the name on your forms to match the name listed in Social Security records. Mistake No. 4: Making math errors Fortunately, this becomes less of a problem if you use software to prepare and file your taxes. The computer program will do all the calculations on your behalf, which virtually guarantees you'll get it right. However, the computer program can't know whether the numbers you've entered are correct. Double check everything to be sure your return is completely accurate. It should also go without saying that if you're doing a paper return, use a calculator and do the math twice to confirm the results. Mistake No. 5: Forgetting your John Hancock There are two places this mistake can trip you up. This first is by failing to sign a paper return before mailing it. The second is failing to sign your check if you're sending in a payment. Either one can result in lengthy delays in processing your return. You can avoid this mistake by filing and signing your return electronically and having tax payments directly withdrawn from your bank account. Saves on postage, too. Mistake No. 6: Using the wrong tax form Most of the mistakes above have the potential to affect how quickly the IRS processes your return and issues your refund. However, they don't necessarily affect your bottom line. But using the wrong tax form could mean lost dollars. If you use the 1040EZ form, you get the standard deduction . For most people, in 2014, that amount is $6,200 for singles and $12,400 for couples filing jointly. These deductions are subtracted from your income so you don't have to pay taxes on those amounts. However, if you have a mortgage, home office, significant health care expenses or charitable contributions, you may be better off using a regular 1040 form so you can itemize and get a bigger deduction. Mistake No. 7: Selecting the wrong filing status Another costly mistake can be selecting the wrong filing status. This mistake may be most common for single parents. For example, unmarried parents who have a qualifying dependent and pay more than half the cost of keeping a home may be able to file as a head of household, a status that boosts their standard deduction by $2,900. In addition, you can be considered "unmarried" so long as your spouse did not live with you for the last six months of the year. Meanwhile, widows and widowers can still use the "married filing jointly" status for the year in which their spouse died. Then, if they have dependent children, they may be able to file as a "qualifying widow(er) with dependent child" for two more years, a status that allows the same standard deduction as those who are married and filing jointly. Mistake No. 8: Missing deductions or credits It's not enough to simply use the right form and the right filing status. If you want to maximize your refund, you also need to take advantage of every tax deduction and credit available to you. Fortunately, there are plenty of credits and deductions that have the potential to reduce your taxable liability by thousands. Here are a few of the bigger credits and deductions you don't want to miss. You may want to consult with a tax professional to learn more about whether you qualify. American Opportunity Credit: Available to college students of all ages, this credit is based upon college expenses and can provide up to a $2,500 tax reduction per year for four years. Earned Income Tax Credit: Offered to low income families, this credit is refundable, and that means the government will send you cash even if you don't owe any taxes. Sometimes this is overlooked when eligible families have incomes so low they aren't required to file returns, so they miss out on claiming the credit. That can be a costly mistake because the credit can be up to $6,044 for some families. Child Care Credit: If you pay someone else to watch your children while you work, you may be able to claim a credit on up to $1,000 of your expenses. Most eligible taxpayers will get a credit worth 20 percent of that amount, for a total credit of $200. State Income or Sales Tax: You can deduct any state income tax you pay from your federal return. If your state doesn't charge an income tax, you can use the amount you paid in state sales tax instead. IRA Contributions: While contributions to Roth IRAs are not deductible, you can deduct up to $5,500 if you put that money in a traditional IRA. If you're age 50 or older, the limit is increased to $6,500. Mistake No. 9: Failing to claim all your income You might also make the mistake of thinking you don't need to claim income unless you receive a W-2 or 1099 form for your work. In reality, you need to claim all income for the year regardless of whether someone paid you $20 or $2,000 for a side job. Here's what the IRS says (you can read more here): While most people are aware they must include wages, salaries, interest, dividends, tips and commissions as income on their tax returns, many don't realize that they must also report most other income, such as cash earned from side jobs, barter exchanges of goods or services, awards, prizes, contest winnings and gambling proceeds. Cheating the IRS may seem like a victimless crime, but you could be hurting yourself if you ever are audited. Mistake No. 10: Sending your return through the mail If you insist on being old school and send your return through the mail, you're making the last mistake on our list. Filing through the mail is a mistake for oh, so many reasons. First up, you greatly increase your chances of making one of the other mistakes listed above. There is less chance of missing Social Security numbers, forgetting to sign and making math errors. In addition, a good software program will help you root out all of those deductions and credits you may otherwise miss. It should also guide you to the right filing status. But more importantly, filing electronically means you could have your refund cash in hand in only a few weeks. In 2014, the IRS processed returns from 27 million taxpayers and deposited $146.3 billion in refunds through direct deposit. If you're not already e-filing, it's time to get on this bandwagon. Trust us, it will make tax time a relative breeze. | 3 | 8,694 | finance |
We spent a decent chunk of our Wednesday getting a load of what Microsoft's added to Windows 10 since the last time we saw it, and now the bravest among you can take (most of) that new stuff for a spin . The company launched the next build of the Windows 10 Technical Preview earlier this afternoon, and with it comes long-awaited features like Continuum - for when you're running Windows on shape-shifting devices -- and a new Xbox app that focuses on "the basics" . And the biggest addition to the mix? Cortana has finally migrated from her home on Windows Phone to the desktop , though not everything works the way it should just yet. A post on the company's Windows blog written by Microsoft engineering general manager Gabe Aul confirms that the virtual assistant can take down notes and answer questions about weather and finance, but she still has a little trouble transcribing more complex reminders. And the rub? A few of Microsoft's juicier tidbits still aren't ready for public consumption. There's no mention made of the new Project Spartan browser or the company's updated take on Office, but they're expected to become available to Windows Insiders later this year. Patience, grasshoppers. Blogging Windows | 3 | 8,695 | finance |
Kobe Bryant is expected to miss the remainder of the season. Kobe Bryant is expected to miss the remainder of the Los Angeles Lakers ' season, according to Ramona Shelburne of ESPN . Bryant injured his shoulder in the third quarter of the Lakers' game against the New Orleans Pelicans on Jan. 21. The team has not released an official report yet. This is the second season in a row Bryant will miss significant time due to an injury, playing in just six games through '14-15. Bryant enters the final year of his contract next season ($25 million, per Sham Sports ), and will once again be coming off of a serious injury heading into a new campaign. Byron Scott has reached out to Bryant, apologizing to him via text message, according to various reporters . Bryant has sent out a single tweet since the injury, joking that passing "too much" led to his injury . Kobe ends the season averaging 22.3 points, 5.7 rebounds and 5.6 assists per game while shooting a career-worst 37 percent from the field. Bryant took three games through Christmas for rest and returned to the lineup on a tighter minutes restriction. but still missed five of the Lakers' last eight games. Bryant told Scott earlier in the season his shoulder was hurting, according to Bill Oram of the OC Register , but Scott didn't revisit the issue, assuming it had passed . Kobe's baseline dunk against the Pelicans led to the injury: | 1 | 8,696 | sports |
Last year I spent nearly 150 days on the road researching the most noteworthy restaurants in America - though of course I also kept tabs on the freshest happenings in cities across the country. These fashions in eating, drinking, and aesthetics showed up coast to coast. Trend of the year: Middle Eastern food is emerging in regional splendour The foods of the Middle East, most often in the form of falafel or shawarma, have long been a part of our casual dining-out mix. But the defining moment for savoring the cuisines of these arid lands is upon us. The fragrant, sunbaked flavors transcend global politics, and country-specific cooking is emerging beyond establishments once given the imprecise label of "Mediterranean." Ana Sortun's sorcery with Turkish spicing at Oleana in Cambridge, Massachusetts, helped set the stage; so did Michael Solomonov's melting-pot Israeli cooking at Zahav in Philadelphia. (Both are on this year's National 38 list.) Now, cosmopolitan restaurants across North America are serving regionally specific Middle Eastern dishes with pride. Mamnoon in Seattle serves koussa mahshi, Lebanese stuffed zucchini bright and satisfying with tomato, mint, and rice. Bagdad Cafe opened this year in Atlanta touting samak masgouf, a grilled fish recipe that's one of the calling cards of Iraqi cooking. Takht-e Tavoos, on a stretch Toronto's multicultural College Street, delves into Iranian breakfast staples: One standout is kaleh pacheh, a potage of sheep's head and foot swirling with the scents of cinnamon and lemon. (Dizi sangi, a brothy lamb entree with white beans and potato, may be easier to stomach.) Servers at Damas in Montreal guide customers toward sumptuous Syrian fattet mozat, lamb shank jutting out above a fleece of yogurt and rice and scattered with almonds, pistachios, toasted pita and Aleppo pepper flakes. I'm betting we'll see more creative riffs on Middle Eastern cuisines as well like more of what Tel Aviv native Einat Admony does at New York's Bar Bolonat, with dishes such as lamb neck (a newly popular cut among chefs I've spotted on menus across the country) melded evocatively with chickpea puree, date, and preserved lemon. Also, look for more unchained variations on shawarma: Last year I had a particularly outré adaptation at Minibar in Washington DC, a chicken shawarma wrapped in oblate (transparent potato starch paper from Japan) with crackly chicken skin, herbs like mint and cilantro, and a dollop of Greek yogurt. The layered look Some of our most innovative chefs have adapted a composition style by which an ingredient or seasoning (a vegetable cut in circles for textural and visual contrast, for instance, or a blanket of spices) obscure a dish's primary element. Ignacio Mattos at Manhattan's Estela spearheads the approach: He pairs ribeye with melted taleggio and then covers them in crisp potato coins, and his most arguably famous creation is ricotta dumplings tiled over with button mushroom disks. Last summer at The Catbird Seat in Nashville, Trevor Moran similarly served pork lolling in chicken broth but hidden underneath translucent rounds of green apple and matsutake mushrooms. In his two Los Angeles restaurants, Trois Mec and Petit Trois, Ludo Lefebvre may conceal Dungeness crab salad under sheets of avocado, or bury beef tartare under an avalanche of frizzled shallot bits. Given these chefs' influence, expect kitchens nationwide to adopt the effect. The white plate is disappearing Bone china? Boring. Chefs across America have forgone the blank palette of the white plate for dinnerware made of ceramics, glass, and other materials. This trend reaches to every corner of the country, but I'll point out two I particularly remember. Dishes at Husk Nashville appear on freckled earthenware that's an extension of the restaurant's only-in-the-South aesthetic: Tennessee pottery maker Caroline Cercone is among those who supply plates to the restaurant. Sean Brock's deviled eggs and hot water cornbread arrive on platters fashioned from tree trunks. And at Iliana Regan's intimate, idiosyncratic Elizabeth in Chicago, the plates displayed on shelves hint at the diversity of dinnerware to land on the table over 20 courses. Beyond the meal's rainbow of ceramics, Regan's "bear rice crispy" arrived perched on an oblong stone, and a tiny glass bowl held a macaron-sized orb of red wine vinegar meringue. Blood sausage moves to the forefront Often relegated to the far corners of the charcuterie platter during the past decade's offal takeover, blood sausage is coming into its own as a star attraction. Meat sausages thickened or enhanced with blood (with grains sometimes added for additional bulk) may be regarded squeamishly in America, but they've been part of other cultures for centuries. In fact, menus may list it by names in other languages to break down stigmas. Parachute in Chicago, for example, lists its lush, spreadable version as boudin noir and gives it a French-Vietnamese restyling among petals of endive cradling crispy rice, peanuts, and mint. Portland's Ox, which takes its cues from Argentinian steakhouses, serves house-made morcilla solo and as part of its "asado for two" alongside skirt steak, short ribs, and the granddaddy of accepted offal, sweetbreads. Post-Neapolitan pizza: Rectangles are the new rounds The thin crust, often with a charred, puffy lip; the restrained toppings; the inferno temperatures at which they're baked: We've achieved Neapolitan, or New York-Neapolitan, pizza saturation across the country. Now enterprising cooks are looking to other parts of Italy for inspiration. Two newcomers stood out last year. Pizzeria Gabbiano seduced Seattle with Roman-style pizza, made by topping long loaves of thin focaccia bread (not the bouncy American aberration) with ingredients like mozzarella, mortadella, and pistachio-parsley pesto, or a combination of capicola, caramelized onions, and fennel fronds. The staff cuts off pieces using scissors and sells it by the kilo (or $32 per 2.2 pounds). Across the country in Portland, Maine, Stephen Lanzalotta opened Slab, highlighting Sicilian-inspired street food. His main draw: a one-pound slice of billowy flatbread thinly painted with tomato sauce and specked with mozzarella and provolone. It shares little in common with the dense, rectangular pies often served in Italian-American restaurants, but it was sublime enough to fully distract me from lobster and blueberry pie in midsummer New England. Fungi in cocktails I'm not the first to report on the trend of mushrooms in boozy libations, but I was amazed by how often fungi showed up on cocktail lists across the country. Examples of sightings: The bourbon based, straightforwardly named "Mushroom" drink at Pot in Los Angeles, flavored with shiitake; a White Russian made with candy cap-mushroom infused vodka, also at Pot; Champion Justino at New York's Booker and Dax, made with Cognac, shiitake mushroom "elixir," and mole bitters; and, at Boston's Alden and Harlow, a concoction called Forage and Fire, in which smoked shiitakes reinforce the campfire flavors of mexcal. Buckwheat is big Without much flash, humble buckwheat has insinuated itself as an ingredient used in many ways. Maybe its appearance is an offshoot of the gluten-free crusade, or perhaps its earthy nuttiness is simply in line with our predilection for bold flavors. I saw it appear in more savory than sweet dishes: buckwheat pita at Gato in New York; a buckwheat crepe enfolding peas and cauliflower at Vedge in Philadelphia; buckwheat "popcorn" as a starter at Trois Mec in LA; and buckwheat pasta lacy with chicken and matsutake mushrooms at Frasca Food & Wine in Boulder, Colorado. It did show up occasionally in desserts, including as a crunchy accent with Madrona bark tea ice cream and salted pear caramel at Seattle's Sitka & Spruce. Garnishes du jour: caviar and edible flowers Shiny orange trout and salmon roes have been pervasive grace notes in dishes of many for the last half-decade, but this past year I was surprised how often I encountered sturgeon caviar. Not the exorbitantly priced kind garnered from endangered species, but often domestically and sustainably produced varieties from suppliers like Sausalito-based California Caviar Co. And it wasn't a prominent garnish only in the expected fine-dining pantheons; it was added as a luxury touch in restaurants of all levels. One memorable surprise: the johnnycake capped with smoked salmon tartare and a thimbleful of caviar at Neptune Oyster Bar in Boston's North End. And I was amazed at how just how universally the trend toward edible flowers as a finishing touch took hold. It's easy enough to order multihued pansies from a restaurant supply company, but some wield the idea much more masterfully. At The Catbird Seat, Trevor Moran covered strip loin tartare with gorgeous citrus begonias that, beyond their beauty, also lent a rhubarb-like astringency. Nasturtiums and their greens are reaching ubiquity, but a particular up-and comer is oxalis, a lemony flowering herb that's part of the sorrel family. At his elegant Grace in Chicago, Curtis Duffy deftly wove in oxalis as the soprano line on a plate of lamb with brown butter-braised artichoke hearts, smoked paprika gastrique, and anchovies. Plus: Trends that show no let up The endless predilection for octopus, oysters, pistachios, and Brussels sprouts (though, mercifully, I've not seen them all appear on the same plate). Eighties playlists: I swear I heard Hall & Oates in dining rooms of every city I visited. Toast … though hasn't toast always been around? As bruschetta and then crostini? I, too, am over the avocado toast onslaught, but I don't mind crisped bread as a vehicle for sweeter fruits at dessert time. Specific shout-outs to the rhubarb toast surrounded by strawberries at Hotel Herman in Montreal, and toasted milk bread, somewhere between the texture of brioche and tea cake, topped with fresh and dried apricots and bathed in vanilla bean milk at Asta in Boston. And one trend I wish would take off Russian food/cuisines of the post-Soviet states I traveled and ate last year with my attention tuned mostly to established restaurants that clearly help define their city's dining scenes. Among the places I tried on the road that opened in 2014, one favorite was Kachka, a charmer in Portland specializing in Russian classics. I savored the creamy, pungent, stratified salad known as "herring under a fur coat;" Siberian pelmeni (meat-filled dumplings); cholodetz, a potent molded terrine of jellied beef shank and veal feet; and trout, mackerel, and Chinook salmon in various smoked and cured guises. There were the expected pleasures of caviar and blini and the unanticipated subtleties discerned in flights of premium vodka. Collectively, the meal felt like an awakening. Why aren't there more US restaurants that specialize in the foods of the former Soviet Union? Kachka's chef Bonnie Morales (née Frumkin) grew up outside of Chicago, eating the foods of her mother's native Belarus, which borders Poland to the West. Morales, like many other chefs with parents who are first-generation Americans, has honed her family's recipes into dishes that draw restaurant crowds. My meal at Kachka inspired me to read Anya Von Bremzen's recent memoir Mastering The Art of Soviet Cooking , which makes it clear how vast the cuisines of the post-Soviet states really are. Its sphere draws in flavors of cultures as far flung as Scandinavia, Hungary, Turkey, Afghanistan, Korea, and China. Which of the region's cuisines would most readily tempt American palates? I'd bank on the cooking of the Republic of Georgia, which harkens to Persian flavors with its lush combinations of meat and fruit and its lavish use of yogurt, already a trending ingredient in stateside restaurants. Would an enterprising chef with Georgian roots please step forward. | 0 | 8,697 | foodanddrink |
Google is rumored to be looking into going mobile and creating its own cellular service. Could Google's deep pockets mean big savings on your cell bill? | 8 | 8,698 | video |
By Zack Cox FOXBORO, Mass. Jeremy Lane made headlines Thursday by declaring that New England Patriots All-Pro tight end Rob Gronkowski actually isn't all that good . Gronkowski had a chance to send a zinger back the Seattle Seahawks cornerback's way when he spoke with reporters Friday, but he instead responded in typical Patriots fashion. "Everyone's entitled to their own opinion," Gronkowski said. "They've got a great defense. … We've got to make sure we practice hard and prepare hard all week. "I just keep doing what I've got to do. I just keep working hard in practice, keep bringing it in practice, keep preparing and just keep getting ready, because it's not just one player on their defense. There's 11 guys out there. And then you've got the backups, too." "Practice hard and prepare hard" was Gronkowski's answer du jour Friday, as he directed nearly every question back toward his preparation for Super Bowl XLIX. When asked how excited he is for next Sunday, however, the tight end's inner Gronk began to show through. "I'm super excited," Gronkowski said. "I'm super amped up. I can't wait. It's going to be a lot of fun. We're definitely playing a great opponent, and I'm super pumped and excited. I can't wait." | 1 | 8,699 | sports |
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