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The sparkling $1.2 billion Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif., welcomes parents and their young kids with family restrooms equipped with changing tables, but one mom thinks more can be done. Blair Fikse, a former Bay Area resident who now lives in Pennsylvania and calls herself a faithful fan, started a petition on Change.org last month calling for breastfeeding suites. In her petition, Fikse explains these lactation rooms would include comfortable armchairs for nursing and bottle-feeding parents, outlets for plugging in breast pumps, diaper-changing areas, a sink, trash cans, lockers for renting, temperature control, and most importantly, display and sound of the live game and privacy from the passing crowd. What's more, while stadium policy allows parents to bring diaper bags into the stadium, she asks that they also permit breast pumps and small coolers. If this sounds absolutely preposterous, consider the fact that the Minnesota Vikings announced last month they'll be the first NFL team to install "lactation suites' in their home stadium. Two 4-by-8-foot mobile pods with benches, electrical outlets and a locking door will be available before their Oct. 18 home game against the Kansas City Chiefs. Fikse points out that the Bay Area should be leading the way in accommodating new parents as it has "always been known for being cutting edge in technology and in human rights advocacy." The "Let New Parents Cheer for the 49ers" petition has received 295 supporters and Fikse hopes to receive a total of 500.
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We're increasingly living in a mobile world, and Google wants to make it a better experience. The search giant on Wednesday an initiative called " Accelerated Mobile Pages " (AMP) that makes viewing news articles on a smartphone even faster, the company announced at an event in New York City. The recently-renamed Alphabet Inc. ( NASDAQ: GOOG ) has partnered with 38 media outlets worldwide, including the New York Times, The Washington Post and BuzzFeed, to create versions of their article pages on the web that load on phones instantaneously -- ads included. Google pitched the project as building a "library of content" that is more universally and instantly accessible. "The web today is not fully satisfying the user experience ... pages load slowly ... advertising, which is the lifeblood of many companies on the web, often presents an experience that's annoying rather than helpful," said Richard Gringas, Google's head of news and social products. "These things can change." Time spent on mobile devices, including smartphones and tablets, is expected to reach 2 hours and 54 minutes per day, according to new research from eMarketer . That's more time than users spend staring at PCs or laptops (2 hours, 14 minutes). Faster Mobile What is the ideal access speed for mobile reading? "Instant," Gringas said. Google will achieve that through presenting sites as cached Web pages, called "AMP" files. Media partners who use Google's new system will have their pages load in about a second when readers access them via Google search on mobile. Twitter ( NYSE: TWTR ) also partnered with Google to allow the same function on the Twitter mobile app. When users elect to use Google as a web browser on Twitter, the pages of media partners will load instantly under the same system. Not unlike Facebook "Instant Articles," the project is intended to improve the consumer experience of faster web browsing. Last month before a room of advertisers and marketers, Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg pitched the initiative as alleviating from the reader drop-off that comes from having to wait an average of 8 seconds for a page to load. Google's project is open-source, meaning that partners can iterate on the technology instead of relying on a standard system. "Any publisher no matter their size has that opportunity to present their content," Google's Gringas said. "Open-source is important for allowing us to do this." That's one way in which the system differs from Facebook "Instant Articles." Launched in May, Facebook's initiative requires publishers to use a separate content management system to upload their content to Facebook. Google's system is simply an additional HTML code. Facebook had nine launch partners, and nearly 30 have signed on since and chosen different strategies for what to distribute. For instance, The Washington Post has elected to upload all articles to Facebook. Search vs Social Yet, The Washington Post is also a launch partner on Google's project. That idea is part of the fragmented ecosystem that digital media companies have embraced in an effort to maintain readership as more consumers get their news content from mobile and from social networks rather than a print product or a media outlet's desktop homepage. Cory Haik, The Washington Post's executive director of emerging news products, emphasized that Google's product is for better browsing from the web while Facebook's system and Apple's News app are based on app discovery. "They're different initiatives. [Google's AMP] is a mobile web standard. If we have an article that's shared on Facebook and not instant-fied … it still can be AMP," Haik said. "This is a real opportunity to solve problems on the Web. We want to find audiences wherever they are." Media outlets are continuously adapting to providing more mobile-first products. Sixty percent of The Post's readers are on mobile, Haik said, and the company has created several native apps for its content. Nearly 75 percent of mobile users in the U.S. use smartphones, according to data from comScore . Over 60 percent of Facebook and Twitter users report getting their news from social networks, Pew Research reports . Building The 'Lifeblood' For now, Google does not have an advertising revenue share based on the "Accelerated Mobile Pages Project." Publishers in Facebook "Instant Articles" get to keep 100 percent of the revenue when they sell their own ads or 70 percent if Facebook sells them. For those sites that use AMP, the page's native content -- meaning text, video and tweets and Vines (with Twitter's partnership in the code) will load first and then followed by ad experiences and the embed codes of sites that are not yet partners, such as Facebook. Therefore, a Web page's load time will depend on these additional layers. "Ads actually fund content. It's really important that ads work really well on this model," David Besbris, Google's vice president of engineering for search. According to Google's team, the algorithm will not favor a site that uses Google's open-source project. That move is a striking difference from the company's April update to the algorithm , which favors sites that are configured for mobile viewing.
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Some morning in the future, you take a pill maybe something for depression or cholesterol. You take it every morning. Buried inside the pill is a sand-sized grain, one millimeter square and a third of a millimeter thick, made from copper, magnesium, and silicon. When the pill reaches your stomach, your stomach acids form a circuit with the copper and magnesium, powering up a microchip. Soon, the entire contraption will dissolve, but in the five minutes before that happens, the chip taps out a steady rhythm of electrical pulses, barely audible over the body's background hum. The signal travels as far as a patch stuck to your skin near the navel, which verifies the signal, then transmits it wirelessly to your smartphone, which passes it along to your doctor. There's now a verifiable record that the pill reached your stomach. This is the vision of Proteus , a new drug-device accepted for review by the Food and Drug Administration last month. The company says it's the first in a new generation of smart drugs, a new source of data for patients and doctors alike. But bioethicists worry that the same data could be used to control patients, infringing on the intensely personal right to refuse medication and giving insurers new power over patients' lives. As the device moves closer to market, it raises a serious question: Is tracking medicine worth the risk? Making each pill count The new device looks to tackle one of the simplest and least discussed problems in medicine: patients don't always take their prescriptions. Most studies find around half of patients skipping out on prescribed medicines, which makes it hard for doctors to know if a given medicine isn't working because it's badly suited to a patient or because it isn't being taken at all. Some patients forget medication, endangering their treatment, while others stop treatment early, needlessly prolonging illnesses. It's a massive source of waste in the medical profession, and solving it would add billions to hospitals and insurers' bottom lines. Proteus was formed with an eye towards solving that problem, according to the same health-tracking logic as Fitbit and Apple's HealthKit . If patients can see how well they're doing, they'll want to do better, and adding in external measurements can give them a direct sense of how the medication is helping them get better. "Once a patient is using our solution, they can see how they're using their drugs, they can see how it affects their body, and we can create all kinds of behavioral tools that enable them to keep doing that," says Proteus CEO Andy Thompson. The Proteus device will still only monitor pill intake, but it can be paired with other metrics for a much more comprehensive picture of how your body responds to the medication. "It means much, much more than just that we can track your compliance," Thompson says. "It means patients are going to be actively engaging with their health care on a regular basis just by using their smartphone." Self-tracking or surveillance? But not everyone's convinced that the ability to track pills will be good news for patients. The right to refuse treatment is an important, fragile principle in health care. Many are worried that tracking whether a pill is being consumed will be the first step towards punishing patients that don't comply. While doctors can't force a patient to take a pill, court orders frequently mandate treatments involving specific drug regimens. NYU bioethicist Arthur Caplan says he can imagine a judge using Proteus to enforce medication as part of a sentence: miss a pill, and your parole is revoked. "The temptation in the legal system to say, 'I can monitor you and make sure you're not a threat' is going to be huge," Caplan says. "Maybe that's good, maybe it's bad, but it's a different world than saying I consent to taking these pills." Those court orders are rare at the moment, since there's no way to ensure a patient is taking medication outside of a controlled treatment facility but as pill-tracking becomes easier, those measures could become much more common. That's particularly likely given the way Proteus is entering the market. The device's first partnership bundles it with Abilify, a powerful antipsychotic most commonly used to treat mood disorders, schizophrenia, and Tourette's. The most common effects are improved concentration and decreased hallucinations, but it comes with extreme side effects like increased suicide risk and a lower seizure threshold. It's most often prescribed in cases of severe mental illness, often in psychiatric institutions or as part of a court-mandated treatment program exactly the scenarios bioethicists like Caplan are most worried about. Another tool for courts Patient's biggest protection are medical privacy laws like HIPAA, which prevent medical data from being shared with anyone outside the hospital system. That would stop your boss or your parents from using Proteus to make sure you haven't fallen behind on your anti-anxiety medication. But those laws won't keep data out of the hands of healthcare providers, and Caplan is concerned the pill could also be used to enforce compliance. Insurers might offer a discounted rate on tracked pills, then hit patients with a $100 co-pay for every treatment they miss. It's not as oppressive as a court order, but the end result would be similar. Proteus says it's already consulting with patient advocates and bioethicists on the ethical issues involved, but acknowledged that there are serious questions at stake. "We think Dr. Caplan has thoughtfully raised important points," the company said. "We agree with everything he says." Still, those concerns are unlikely to keep Proteus out of the hands of doctors. The upcoming FDA approval will focus largely on safety and efficacy, leaving the larger ethical challenges to be solved after the drug is released to doctors and patients at large. With the technology available, it will be up to the courts to decide when it's legal and ethical to use it. As far as Proteus is concerned, the power of the technology outweighs the risks. "There are challenges with bringing digital into any sector," a company representative said. "The reason to embrace the challenge in health care is because the need is so great."
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DETROIT A 26-year-old woman has pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the death of her newborn son whom she stuffed into a plastic bag after giving birth to him at her suburban Detroit workplace. The Wayne County prosecutor's office says Kimberly Pappas entered the plea Wednesday during a court conference. It comes with a sentencing agreement of 9 to 20 years in prison. Police say the baby was discovered on March 31 at Pappas' desk, shortly after his birth in the restroom of a Redford Township business. The cause of death was suffocation. Pappas, of Wyandotte, is scheduled to be sentenced Oct. 26 in Wayne County Circuit Court.
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In 2016, it will be the year of the monkey on the Chinese lunar calendar. It is supposed to be the year of the duck in the NHL. The Anaheim Ducks are the trendy pick to win the Stanley Cup next June. They weren't far removed from winning it all last season. But there are many obstacles standing in the Ducks' path. Here's a capsule look at what we will see this season, starting Wednesday: Who will win if the Ducks don't? 1. Tampa Bay Lightning; 2. New York Rangers; 3. Nashville Predators; 4. Chicago Blackhawks; 5. Washington Capitals. Non-rookies who will make vital contributions to new teams: 1. Paul Martin (San Jose Sharks); 2. Brandon Saad (Columbus Blue Jackets); 3. Cam Talbot (Edmonton Oilers); 4. Phil Kessel (Pittsburgh Penguins); 5. Ryan O'Reilly (Buffalo Sabres). Goalies with pressure to be sharper this season: 1. Kari Lehtonen (Dallas Stars); 2. Robin Lehner (Buffalo Sabres); 3. Mike Smith (Arizona Coyotes); 4. Jimmy Howard (Detroit Red Wings); 5. Jonathan Bernier (Toronto Maple Leafs). Likely to be in Norris Trophy race: 1. Drew Doughty (Los Angeles Kings); 2. Erik Karlsson (Ottawa Senators); 3. Shea Weber (Nashville Predators); 4. Mark Giordano (Calgary Flames); 5. P.K. Subban (Montreal Canadiens). Players who could be traded before the season is over: 1. Eric Staal (Carolina Hurricanes); 2. Tyler Bozak (Toronto Maple Leafs); 3. Joffrey Lupul and everyone else on the Toronto Maple Leafs; 4. Kyle Okposo (New York Islanders); 5. Radim Vrbata (Vancouver Canucks) Players who will have breakthrough seasons: 1. Alex Galchenyuk (Montreal Canadiens); 2. Teuvo Teravainen (Chicago Blackhawks); 3. Jonathan Drouin (Tampa Bay Lightning); 4. Jakob Silfverberg (Anaheim Ducks); 5. Mikael Granlund (Minnesota Wild). Game changers this season: 1. Three-on-three overtime introduced; 2. Expansion looks likely; 3. Mike Babcock and Lou Lamoriello going to Toronto; 4. New York Islanders moving to Brooklyn; 5. Coaches challenge for offside and goalie interference. Things that make sense: 1. Milan Lucic playing in Los Angeles. He was born to play Kings' style of hockey and for Darryl Sutter to be his coach; 2. Kessel playing in Pittsburgh. This is a franchise with a goal-scoring tradition, and he is one of the better scorers in the game; 3. Jeff Blashill coaching in Detroit. He is a native Detroiter who has paid his dues. His dad was once a Detroit police officer; 4. Ray Shero following Lamoriello in New Jersey. He will maintain the team's strong defensive tradition, but he will make sure this team is entertaining. 5. Connor McDavid landing in Edmonton and Jack Eichel going to Buffalo. The Canadian city gets the next Canadian star and the hard-working fans of Buffalo get the All-American boy in Eichel. Candidates to end up with best lottery position: 1. Toronto Maple Leafs; 2. New Jersey Devils; 3. Arizona Coyotes; 4. Carolina Hurricanes; 5. Philadelphia Flyers. Coaches on the hot seat: 1. Ken Hitchcock (St. Louis); 2. Jack Capuano (New York Islanders); 3. Claude Julien (Boston Bruins); 4. Darryl Sutter (Los Angeles); 5. Everyone else except Mike Babcock because every coach is on the hot seat. Babcock is fire-proof because he has a $50 million contract. Three-on-three groups we would love to see: 1. Duncan Keith, Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane (Chicago Blackhawks); 2. Evgeni Malkin, Sidney Crosby and Phil Kessel (Pittsburgh Penguins); 3. Triplets Line (Tampa Bay Lightning); 4. Drew Doughty, Anze Kopitar and Marian Gaborik (Los Angeles Kings); 5. Tyler Seguin, Jamie Benn and John Klingberg (Dallas Stars). Point increases projected: 1. Crosby (Pittsburgh) will go from 84 to 106; 2. Saad (Columbus) will go from 52 points to 72; 3. Nathan MacKinnon (Colorado Avalanche) will go from 38 to 67; 4. Tyler Ennis (Buffalo Sabres) will go from 46 to 69; 5. Chris Kreider will go 46 to 60. Don't miss: 1. Chicago Rookie Artemi Panarin. He's worth the price of admission. He's like a water bug on ice. 2. Watching Crosby and Kessel. The over-and-under for Kessel goals if he plays with Crosby has to be at least 35. 3. The Winter Classic in the New England Patriots' home stadium. The Bruins vs. Canadiens outdoors? That's hard to top; 4. Read all you can about Auston Matthews, the Arizona native who is playing in Switzerland. He will be the No. 1 in the draft, and he's ready to play in the NHL today. He has the same potential as Eichel or McDavid; 5. The Islanders' third jersey. It's sharp. Be confident of this: 1. Alex Ovechkin will score 50 goals for the seventh time in 11 seasons; 2. Despite key changes, the Blackhawks will be a playoff factor next spring; 3. Shootouts will become an endangered species. Three-on-three will decide more than 80% of games that are tied after regulation; 4. A good team in the Metropolitan Division will miss the playoffs. No one is safe, not even the Rangers; 5.That loud cannon in Columbus is going to startle many, many people this season because the Blue Jackets will score often.
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Curtis Jackson, also known as 50 Cent, has filed a lawsuit accusing a Wall Street law firm of giving him shoddy representation during a protracted legal battle over a deal to market headphones using the rapper's brand. 50 Cent who filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in July submitted the complaint against Garvey Schubert Barer in the Connecticut bankruptcy court Tuesday seeking $75 million in damages. The rapper claims the law firm did a terrible job representing him while he was dealing with the legal fallout from a failed venture with a company called Sleek Audio. Inspired by the success of Beats by Dre , 50 Cent began working with Sleek in 2010 to create his own brand of headphones called "Sleek by 50." Sleek missed its launch deadline and never ended up marketing the headphones, according to 50 Cent's complaint . The rapper decided to form his own company, SMS Audio , to launch the headphones, and he claims his lawyers at GSB assured him he wouldn't be infringing on intellectual property rights held by Sleek. Despite GSB's alleged assurances, Sleek filed an arbitration proceeding against 50 Cent, claiming he misappropriated its trade secrets while marketing his own headphones. The arbitrator ultimately awarded Sleek more than $11 million plus almost $5 million in attorney fees. Fitty accuses the firm's lawyers of failing to "employ the requisite knowledge and skill necessary to confront the circumstances of the case." The rapper's complaint added: Among GSB's numerous failures was its inexplicable decision not to call technical and damages experts to rebut expert testimony offered by Sleek failures relied upon by the arbitrator in crediting Sleek's experts and entering an eight-figure award in Sleek's favor. Craig Weiner, a partner at Robins Kaplan who's representing 50 Cent in his bankruptcy proceedings, said the rapper only filed the lawsuit against GSB after it was determined a settlement couldn't be reached. "In connection with this legal representation, as set forth in the complaint, Mr. Jackson became saddled with liabilities exceeding $18 million, not including the millions he spent in legal fees," Weiner said in a statement. When he filed for bankruptcy in July, 50 Cent blamed his inability to pay his debts on expensive litigation, including the Sleek battle, as The Wall Street Journal noted at the time . Before his bankruptcy, 50 Cent also lost a high-stakes legal battle filed by a woman whose sex tape he published on the internet . GSB sent us this statement in response to the 50 Cent lawsuit: We understand that Mr. Jackson is disappointed in the outcome of Sleek Audio's arbitration against him. However, Mr. Jackson' s complaint against GSB omits a number of relevant facts and misstates a number of others, and we will respond to the allegations in accordance with the court's rules. Our attorneys properly counseled Mr. Jackson and his sophisticated team of financial and operational advisors about the transactions and the arbitrations with Sleek. Unfortunately, the arbitrator in the Sleek case found Mr. Jackson responsible for his actions and the actions of those who performed services for him or his companies. We look forward to demonstrating that our attorneys handled the Sleek matters appropriately in all aspects.
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If you're frequently feeling heated, try these breathing exercises to calm yourself down now . According to this new study in the journal Social Science and Medicine , anger is directly linked to an earlier death. Researchers crunched 35 years worth of data from 1,307 20- to 40-year-old men who participated in the Panel Study of Income Dynamics . As part of the study, the men answered survey questions yearly. For example, they were asked if they "get angry fairly easily" or, if it takes "a lot to get them angry." Turns out, the people in the "top quartile" (AKA the angriest 25% of the men) had a 1.57 fold increase in the risk of dying at follow-up, compared to the least angry folks. So, how do they link anger and mortality? "Prior work has linked anger with a variety of negative physiological processes, including atherosclerosis and endothelial dysfunction," the researchers say, both serious diseases which can impair health and result in a heart attack. On a more pleasant note, this study found that happiness is linked to living longer. Try these foods to boost your mood and find out what makes people truly happy here .
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health
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10 Halloween Costumes Every Guy Already Has in His Closet The Brawny Man The last thing you should spend your money on is a polyester superhero costume with enough foam padding to keep a life raft afloat. But if peer pressure or romantic obligations mean you do have pull together a Halloween costume this year, get it from your own closet. It's faster, cheaper, and far less annoying for everyone involved to wear things you already own. Herein, a handful ideas that won't cost you any money but will mostly keep you warm during your party-hopping jaunts. A Personal Trainer If America's obsession with getting in shape hasn't filled your closet with workout gear, this costume might not work for you. But so long as you own a pair of athletic shoes, basketball shorts, a shirt designed with cross-training in mind, you can make a pretty convincing health and wellness professional . The coach's whistle necklace is optional. James Bond You don't need much more than a tuxedo (or, absent that, a black suit and a bow tie) to transform yourself into 007. If anyone is confused about who you're dressed as, take a sip of your martini shaken, not stirred, thanks and answer, "The name's Bond. James Bond." The Dude art of the brilliance of dressing up and abiding like The Big Lebowski's main character is the costume's ease. There's the robe to stave off any chilliness late-October might serve up, slip-ons for the ultimate in comfort and mobility, and the grubby t-shirt and plaid shorts you already don't care about just in case someone spills their punch in your direction. Literally Any President You own a suit. There might even be an errant American flag pin somewhere in a junk drawer. And if you can imitate George Bush's distinctive Southern twang or even our current president Barack Obama's trademark speech cadence, you've got yourself a costume. Inspector Gadget Trench coat? Check. Black brogues? Check. Fedora from our nation's passing fancy with swing dancing in the early aughts? Check. If you want to give people absolute clarity, you could always carry around a wrench. But if you're an angry drunk, that might get dangerous. Steve Jobs Between the Hermès edition of its Watch , stellar sales in general, and the kind of zeitgeist-dominating place it occupies in our culture, Apple is on a roll right now. Don't be surprised to see a few guys dress up like Steve Jobs (seen played by Michael Fassbender in a new biopic out this month). Do be surprised if any of them are wearing the same Issey Miyake mock turtleneck sweater the tech titan wore in real life. John Travolta in Grease It's easy to put on black trousers, roll up the sleeves of a black t-shirt, slick back your hair, and call it a day. But it looks a lot more fun if you can convince your friends to wear gray jumpsuits and pretend to be your backup dancers all night. A Rebel Without a Cause Everyone thinks the jacket James Dean wears in the movie Rebel Without a Cause is black, but it's actually a bright shade of red . Still, don't let that stop you from wearing your black or navy blue bomber with a white t-shirt and jeans, and yelling "Just once, I want to do something right!" at the top of your lungs. Tom Cruise in Risky Business People have been dressing up as Joel Goodsen the character who memorably performed a sock-footed, half naked performance of Bob Seger's Old Time Rock n Roll for years. If you go that route, remember that Goodsen's shirt wasn't white. It was white with red stripes.
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When Kim Jong Un isn't preoccupied with his role as supreme leader of North Korea, he likes to take selfies on the street, shoot some hoops and barhop for a good time on the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign campus. Well, at least someone who looks a lot like the real Kim Jong Un does. Minyong Kim also referred to as "Dragon" is an international student studying international business at the University of Illinois . He also likes to impersonate the supreme leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and it's gained him ardent admirers on the U. of Illinois campus. To prep for the role, he's made a few key physical adjustments, from getting a trapezoid-shaped haircut to putting on weight and even purchasing a black Mao suit. "He's very outgoing and very different,"says Nick Pugesek, Kim's floormate. "I mean, for someone to go through with being Kim Jong Un and having to deal with the day-to-day things that go along with (it). … I went out with him one night (and) we had to have gotten stopped at least 30 times. It was just hilarious how he went along with it." The 25-year-old student was born in a working-class family in Seoul, South Korea, and enrolled into the U. of Illinois in 2009. Since Kim had to fulfill his military service mandated by South Korea, he packed his bags in 2010 and served under the Republic of Korea Air Force for two years. Though Kim returned to the U. of Illinois campus in 2012, he decided to take a gap year and return to South Korea to work as an SAT teacher to help alleviate the costs of college tuition for his parents. The impersonator's road to stardom began while working at the educational facility in South Korea. Since the instructors were required to dress up for Halloween, he chose to dress up as Kim Jong Un. Because the costume was a "huge success" at the party, he says he wanted to take it out onto the streets, which eventually led to starring in commercials, movies and dramas in South Korea. Kim's first commercial aired in April 2015, featuring him and a Barack Obama impersonator named Reggie Brown, who also attended the U. of Illinois. The commercial advertised eNuri , an online electronic store in South Korea, and featured both of them lip-syncing a cover of All By Myself by Eric Carmen. "I meet impressionists all the time. Some people are good at it, and some people aren't. Some are just lookalikes, but they can't really impression," Brown says. "Some people really embody it, and it was really cool to see that in Dragon, especially for someone who isn't a trained actor. He's got what it takes … it's going to take him a long way in the business if he chooses to continue to portray his character." Though Kim has not had any opportunities for acting in the U.S., he says his sole reason for impersonating the supreme leader of North Korea on campus is to make people happy. "The college life is very hard and stressful, if people can laugh for a while for 10 seconds, I'll be happy with it," Kim says. "Walking on campus, people have asked me if I take can take a photo more than 100 times a day. Maybe some people will think that I feel uncomfortable with that, but I'm not. I'm totally okay with taking photos with them and having new friends." While Kim may be dressing up as Kim Jong Un for comical reasons, Kevin Kuk, co-president of Liberty in North Korea U. of Illinois chapter a nonprofit organization that rescues North Korean refugees who have escaped from North Korea thinks otherwise. "It's really awesome that he wants to make people happy, but at what cost? He's desensitizing an issue that's touching over 20 million people and he's kind of laughing about it," Kuk says. "He's trying to get the world to laugh about it. I think that's a little irresponsible, but at the same time he has a pretty noble reason for doing it." Kim says he does not support Kim Jong Un's politics, but finds common ground with the supreme leader of North Korea through basketball and his love for the Chicago Bulls. Kim will return to Seoul after he graduates this semester and will pursue his dreams of opening his own teaching institution called "Dragon English," which will focus on a college-based curriculum to prepare students for school in the United States. "As Kim Jong Un becomes older, I will also become older, so I can do it for the next 20 or 30 years, nobody knows," Kim says. "Of course I won't do commercials or movies for the purpose of my life … I'm quite interested in teaching students and learning the business based on that, but I would also like to be in dramas, comedy shows and commercials."
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Houthi rebels have contacted UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to notify him they were ready to join peace talks, their representatives said on Wednesday. "The Houthis have agreed in writing to implement the UN resolution 2216," a document outlining the UN-brokered proposal, UN envoy on Yemen Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed wrote on Facebook. The plan envisions the troops loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh and their Shiite allies, allegedly backed by Iran, to give back the territories they seized. The rebels are also to disarm and hand over their weapons to state institutions controlled by Yemen's internationally recognized government. The government, led by President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, has repeatedly stated that they would not take part in peace talks before the insurgents accept the UN peace resolution. The party of ex-president Saleh, General People's Congress, also contacted Ban, urging for an "implementation mechanism" on for the UN resolution that would "organize withdrawal from cities and disarmament of all parties." Pressure from activists Houthi forces took over large parts of Yemen late last year, eventually forcing Hadi to seek refugee in Saudi Arabia. In March, a Riyadh-led coalition launched airstrikes in support of Hadi, helping loyalist fighters make significant gains. Recently, Hadi's troops have retaken swathes of territory in the south of Yemen and set their sights on rebel-controlled capital, Sanaa. Earlier attempts to hold peace talks in June failed without the conflicting parties ever sitting down in the same room. Despite recent victories, the Saudi-led coalition has been under increasing pressure from human rights organizations for allegedly targeting civilians. On Wednesday, Amnesty International urged the US and the UK to stop arming the coalition members, citing "damning evidence of war crimes." dj/sms (dpa, AFP, Reuters)
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It's looking more and more like the Golden State Warriors will uproot from Oakland to San Francisco at some point in the not-so-distant future. Hellbent on erecting a state-of-the-art waterfront arena in downtown San Francisco, the Warriors came to several preliminary agreements with political leaders in the city. These agreements also include the world-renowned University of California San Francisco (UCSF) Medical Center a major hurdle for the organization to overcome during its relocation efforts. "I'm happy to announce that we've reached a consensus on the most critical issues, and now we're ready to move forward together," San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee said a about the agreements, via CSN Bay Area . "For residents and visitors alike, San Francisco is already one of the world's greatest cities. With these agreements and solid working partnerships in motion, Mission Bay will now be home to UCSF, one of the finest medical institutions in the world, and the world-champion Golden State Warriors at a state-of-the-art, privately funded events center." Getting political leaders in the state of California to come to some sort of a consensus on any professional sports complex has been like pulling teeth. Just ask both the Oakland Athletics and Oakland Raiders locally in Northern California as well as the San Diego Chargers a bit down south. While Mayor Lee spoke in absolutes, there are obviously further steps to this process steps that need to be taken before the Warriors can start putting a shovel to the ground in San Francisco. The arena project, which would be built using private funds in San Francisco's Mission Bay District, will now go through the generic environmental impact report something every stadium project must pass through. In addition to this, San Francisco's Office of Community Investment and Infrastructure still has to approve the project. More so than any other arena/stadium project that's reached this stage in California, there seems to be more optimism here. It could be because the arena is going to be privately funded taking any decision away from the voters and not forcing the citizenry to foot some of the bill. It could also have to do with the fact that this venue will act as an events center in addition to a basketball arena. Even as one of the most popular cities in the world, San Francisco doesn't boast a large-scale indoor venue to host concerts and other entertainment events. Heck, the Bay Area itself is limited in this scope with Oracle Arena in Oakland and the SAP Center in San Jose as the two most legitimate indoor venues today. Considering the Warriors already purchased this plot of land and the environmental review is expected at some point prior to the end of the calendar year, this project is on the verge of being fast tracked. With the franchise planning to open this arena in time for the 2018-19 season, construction is expected to start some time next year. Check out Vincent's other work on eDraft.com and follow him on Twitter @VincentFrankNFL .
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sports
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You've never seen an episode of Cops quite like this. There's no telling what was going through this Australian man's head when he decided to evade police by driving an SUV down the beach and into the ocean, other than "this'll probably get a ton of views on YouTube." Police have just arrested a man after a pursuit through Two Rocks. STORY: http://t.co/YRbSy8XdRN #7News https://t.co/14GuXhv7NV 7 News Perth (@7NewsPerth) October 6, 2015 The car is thought to be stolen, and the driver (diver?) has been apprehended. Local police were not impressed by the escape attempt. Think you can escape us in your stolen 4WD at #Wilbinga ? We have 4WDs too, and air support #youloose #seacruiser pic.twitter.com/7aJxsAj7P6 Yanchep Police (@Yanchep_Police) October 6, 2015 Maybe if he'd thought this through, he would've taken a page out of James Bond's book and rented one of these:
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We promise, you'll learn so much. We promise, you'll learn so much. She was homeschooled until age 9. At the time, it was common for upper-class children to be taught at home by a tutor. After her parents' divorce, Diana attended Riddlesworth Hall in Norfolk, where her family resided. At 12, she was sent to an exclusive boarding school , the West Heath School. She was not a strong student. After failing two exams , she left the West Heath School when she was 16. Her father enrolled her in a Swedish finishing school but she insisted on returning home. She was a kindergarten teacher. After leaving finishing school in Sweden, Diana worked part-time as a cleaning woman and babysitter before finding a job at the Young England School . She wanted to be a ballerina. She studied ballet as a child , but became too tall to continue to excel. But her love of classical dance led her to become a big supporter of the English National Ballet until her death. Here, she greets ballerinas at the Royal Albert Hall before a performance of Swan Lake. Her grandmother, Ruth Fermoy, was lady-in-waiting to the Queen Mother. Lady Fermoy served the Royal family for nearly 40 years . She was a close friend of Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother, and many assumed the two encouraged the marriage of their grandchildren. However, they denied this and it was reported that Diana was not on speaking terms with Lady Fermoy, who died in 1993. Her sister dated Prince Charles first. While Lady Sarah Spencer and Prince Charles were seeing each other , Diana met the Prince at a family gathering. She was 16. She became engaged to Prince Charles at age 19 and married him at age 20. The Prince, who was 12 years her senior , was under increasing pressure to find a bride. She selected her engagement ring from a catalog. Although royal engagement rings are usually custom made, Diana selected hers from the Garrard jewelry collection catalog. The ring, which consists of 14 solitaire diamonds around a 12-carat sapphire set in white gold, now belongs to Duchess Kate Middleton . The heavy, 25-foot silk train on her wedding dress is the longest in Royal history. The dress was decorated with sequins, embroidery, and 10,000 pearls. Diana had several practice sessions walking in it. She chose to abandon the royal wedding vow tradition of saying she would "obey" Prince Charles. Three decades later, William and Kate followed Princess Di's lead . Her favorite dessert was bread and butter pudding. Her long-time personal chef, Darren McGrady, said the Princess would often enter the kitchen while he was making this dish and snack on the raisins off the top. You can find Diana's favorite recipes, including this one, in McGrady's book Eating Royally. She took her sons on outings not typical for royal children. They ranged from Disney World and McDonald's to AIDS clinics and homeless shelters . Here, the Princess rides a log flume with both boys at Thorpe Park in Chertsey, England. Her favorite color was pink. And she was often seen wearing outfits in all shades of the color . She bears a striking resemblance to her niece. Lady Kitty, the daughter of Princess Diana's younger brother Charles Spencer, was most recently spotted at Milan Fashion Week . She was also a devoted godmother. Her goddaughter, Domenica Lawson, now 20, recently responded to comments by a British television star who criticized people with Down's Syndrome . Here, Domenica attends the grand opening of The Princess of Wales Memorial Playground in Kensington Gardens in June 2000. She auctioned off 79 of her dresses, raising $5.76 million for AIDS and breast cancer charities. Prince William actually suggested to his mother that she sell some of her dresses to raise money for charity . Christie's New York held the auction just two months before Princess Diana's death. She's buried on an island. The island sits in the middle of Oval Lake on the grounds of Althorp Park, her family home . Originally, Diana was to be buried in the Spencer family vault of a church, but the plan was altered to find a more private location.
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lifestyle
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You'll never see the fruit the same way again. Besides being creamy and delicious, avocados are often hailed as a superfood for their healthy fats. Experts are now saying, though, that the most nutritious part of the fruit might just be in your trashcan. Whether you're preparing an avocado salad or guacamole, chances are you're prepping the fruit the same way. You slice it open, ditch the large seed, and then dive into the green goodness. While that routine never fails when it comes to delicious avocado recipes , the seed is actually a nutritional powerhouse, it turns out. According to One Green Planet , "the seed holds 70 percent of the avocado's antioxidants, including the well-respected polyphenols associated with green tea." It's also packed with soluble fiber and healthy oils. Those oils then do wonders for your skin's collagen, reducing wrinkles. Who knew?! Since the seed is rock solid (and biting into it is asking for a dental disaster), it's best to cut it up into quarters, and put the pieces in a food processor to grind it into a powder. From there, you can add the vitamin-filled powder to your next morning smoothie . Half of the resulting powder is just enough for one serving. Given the bitterness of the seed, it's also best to blend it with very flavorful fruits and veggies.
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health
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Celebrity news for Oct. 7, 2015 Gwyneth Paltrow sounds off on gender inequality Patricia Arquette's denouncement of Hollywood's gender wage gap at the Oscars may have been controversial but it's certainly kept the issue in the news this year. Case in point: Gwyneth Paltrow's cover story in the new issue of Variety. Asked for her take, Gwyneth -- who's starred opposite the highest paid actor in the world, Robert Downey Jr, in the "Iron Man" franchise -- minced zero words. "Look, nobody is worth the money that Robert Downey Jr. is worth. But if I told you the disparity, you would probably be surprised," she said (via Celebitchy ) of her co-star's rumored $80 million year. The actress recalled really noticing the wage inequality at a time when her father, Bruce Paltrow, became irate that a much less experienced actor his daughter was working with was earning the same salary she was. "It can be frustrating," she said. "It can be painful. Your salary is a way to quantify what you're worth. If men are being paid a lot more for doing the same thing, it feels s----y." Kanye West explains why he calls himself a 'genius' The folks at the fashion website SHOWStudio ran into Kanye West at Paris Fashion Week and deigned to inquire why Yeezus refers to himself as " a genius " (alas, no word on why he's also "a god") "Otherwise," he explained (via the New York Post ), "I'm called celebrity. I'm called n-----. I'm called rapper ... it's not in a positive way ... so I have to define who I am. All of my aspirations are things that currently only 60-year-old white people do, so I need to redefine and let people know exactly who I am." Here's that Britney Spears-Gina Rodriguez selfie you always wanted ... Britney Spears is headed to prime time -- and her co-star/host, Gina Rodriguez couldn't be more psyched! Gina shared an adorable display of Brit-meets-Jane duck faces on Instagram this week ahead of Britney's guest star appearance on Season 2 of " Jane the Virgin ." "Yup. It's Britney, Bitch. #janethevirgin," she captioned the pic. "Jane the Virgin" returns to the CW on Oct. 12. Kendall Jenner struts her stuff for Chanel Attention, all fashion plates in Terminal No. 5: Your couture is ready for take-off. Kendall Jenner rocked a sleek, multi-colored suit and matching purse as she sauntered down Chanel's runway at Paris Fashion Week on Oct. 6. The Lagerfeld-designed Spring/Summer 2016 show had an airport theme, with models rocking crisp tailoring and toting luggage behind them as they processed through faux security lines. Us Weekly reports guests included Cara Delevingne, who snagged a kiss on the cheek from her pal Kendall, Cara's girlfriend St. Vincent, Kris Jenner, Janelle Monae, Vanessa Paradis and Lily-Rose Depp. Miranda Lambert: 'I've never felt more inspired' They say when one door closes, another door opens. Maybe that's what's happening right now for Miranda Lambert, whose summertime split from Blake Shelton apparently helped her rediscover her love for Nashville, Tenn. -- and for long hours spent focusing on her music. "I feel like a bigger part of Nashville than I ever have. I've been spending a lot of time here the last three or four months. I moved back here. I've never felt more at home," she said at her Music City Walk of Fame Induction Ceremony on Oct. 6, according to Us Weekly . "I've never felt more inspired. I listen to live music or I've written music basically every single day for the whole summer and it was my first summer off the road and I've never felt more ready to make music and learn from music and learn from songwriters." Life after divorce has also had a silver lining for Shelton, who said in a recent interview with CMT, "I'm in a good place." Beyonce and Jay Z rent a new mansion in L.A. Queen Bey has a new castle. TMZ reports Beyonce and Jay Z recently leased a new pad in the Holmby Hills section of Los Angeles after the owner of their last pad sold the house, forcing them to move. The sprawling, $45 million mansion boasts, among other amenities, an indoor, Olympic-sized pool and an outdoor pool featuring a waterfall and garden area -- all for the bargain-bin price of $150,000 a month. Why Cate Blanchett 'can't handle' selfies or social media 'like' buttons Cate Blanchett may be the anti-Kardashian. While Kim, Kylie and their krewe spend hours each week posing for their own cameras and posting the results on social media, Cate can't reconcile the process. "People constantly are taking pictures of ourselves to send them to people to see if they like me, 'do they like me?' It's pathetic, the whole thing about people worrying about what other people are going to think ... I just can't handle it," she told Yahoo Beauty in a recent interview. "The like and the dislike is just totally primary schoolyard. I cannot for the life of me work out why adults are participating in that s---," she continued. "There is so much great stuff on social media, I don't want to be on a soapbox about it. I think it's a genuine way to build community and, we tell ourselves we live in democracies, but really the media runs a lot of the way opinions are formed. Look at the way the election cycle is dictated. It's like a circus run by the media. There's a subversive quality to the internet, and I do think there's a genuine ability to connect. But the downside with social media is it divides people really quickly and sets up rivalry and jealousy and a sense of the life over there is better than the life over here." Nicki Minaj talks body image with the New York Times When it comes to understanding who Nicki Minaj is as a person and as an artist, there's a lot to unpack. The New York Times Magazine does a valiant job of trying in a new feature, which takes a look at the many ways the rap and pop superstar wields her power in 2015. It also zeroes in on some of Nicki's inner insecurities. As a kid, for example, she says she wasn't comfortable with her looks. ''Now, I want to take steps to become more aware of who I am, what I like or dislike about my body why is that?'' she wonders. "People 'are posting pictures of working out, and then there's a change in their body," she says later, implying a plastic surgery-related change, "and they say it's because they were working out! Ah-hahahaha. … Back in the day, in hip-hop, the thick girl was glorified. Now the rappers are dating skinny white women. So it's almost like, 'Wait a minute, who's going to tell the thick black girls that they're sexy and fly, too?'" You, are, Nicki. Sara Bareilles: 'I sing because I was the fat kid' Nicki's not the only celeb who's still growing into her body confidence. In her new memoir, "Sounds Like Me: My Life (So Far) in Song," singer Sara Bareilles writes, "I sing because I was a fat kid," and recalls being tormented by the boys in her class as early as third grade. "Now, when I look at pictures of myself at that age, I know there was absolutely nothing 'wrong' with me at all," Bareilles writes in a passage excerpted by People , "but some thoughtless words carved carved out a story that I believed and my body obsession began." Stevie Wonder's divorce is finalized Stevie Wonder is officially single. On Oct. 5, a Los Angeles judge finalized his divorce from fashion designer Kai Millard Morris, according to the New York Post . The couple separated in 2009 after eight years of marriage. They will reportedly share custody of their 14 and 10-year-old sons.
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entertainment
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Indian Motorcycle revealed the "Black Hills Beast," built by Doug Siddens and Nick Jaquez of IndianMotorcycles.net to a strong reception. The Black Hills Beast, based on a new 2015 Indian Scout, was customized to emulate the purpose built nature of historic hill climb motorcycles. Transforming the look of the Scout started relatively easily with the addition of several new accessories including the 1920 Solo Saddle Seat (MSRP $379.99) and a set of the accessory laced wheels ($499.99 each). Custom details that set the bike apart include an elongated custom swingarm, custom handlebar, custom radiator shroud and front number plate with an LED headlight. The 100+ horsepower of muscle in the Scout powerplant chewed up the earth via a custom tire chain designed for maximum grip when charging up a hill. "Building a hill climber seemed easy enough, but it posed some unique challenges," Says Doug Siddens. "Enthusiasts know what a hill climber looks like - so some of the mods were logical - but scaling them to fit the new Scout was the key and took a lot of work and planning. We are very proud of the result and the reception that the bike got at such an important Sturgis milestone, the 75th anniversary." "We put the bike into our custom photo booth for the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally," Says Indian Motorcycle Marketing Director Scott Meek. "Loads of attendees climbed up and took photos on the bike. It was cool to see such a positive reaction and enable so many riders to experience a key piece of Indian Motorcycle's performance heritage.""We settled in on a design quickly," adds Nick Jaquez of IndianMotorcycles.net "But none of it would have worked without the assistance of our suppliers and partners in this build. We cranked on it for a month and tossed out a few bits along the way - I do feel like we delivered one hell of a machine - and it was a blast getting it dirty too!" Follow MSN Autos on Facebook Additional support for the Indian Scout Black Hills Beast came from Aeromach (Floorboards and heel shifter), Dobeck Performance (Engine tuning), Fox Shocks (Suspension), RPW USA (Exhaust), Starr Studios (Paint), Ricochet Customs (Powder coating), BTR Moto (Swingarm and tire chain), Zippers performance (Chain Drive Conversion) and Traxxion Dynamics (Front Suspension).Indian Motorcycle will continue to play with this gritty work of art through upcoming celebrations of custom Scout motorcycles, including the International Motorcycle Shows tour as part of the Scout Custom Series launched last year with the Wall of Death Scout, and now including the USO Scout and the Black Bullet Scout inspired by land speed racing. Related: Indian Chief Classic - BEST CRUISER of 2015
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autos
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Parents can earn extra cash without sacrificing time with the kids.
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finance
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Buyers' biggest real estate fears sometimes hold them back from buying - not just around Halloween, but throughout the year. The scary thing is, these fears are sometimes well-founded. Here are some of the issues that commonly keep home buyers awake at night, and what you can do about them. 1. "The house has a cracked foundation, dry rot, or a leaky roof" Renovating, fixing and repairing are on few buyers' wish lists. When faced with the home of their dreams, they fear the inspection. What if there is dry rot, or a roof or foundation issue? Most homes will need routine maintenance, and a good inspector will point this out. But it's important not to let your fears get the best of you. Much of what the inspector comes up with during the inspection is for informational purposes only. Every problem does not need to be repaired right away. The inspector's job is to point out every issue he sees in the house. Ask him to explain how bad the issue is, and how long it can go before needing replacement or repair. If an issue arises that needs immediate attention, go back to the seller and see if they will repair or credit you back to repair after you close. 2. "I'll lose my deposit" Buyers typically put in an earnest money deposit with a signed contract. Typically, this is 3 percent of the purchase price. The seller does not cash the check. Instead, the money sits in an escrow account and can't be released without both parties' signatures. It's nearly impossible for a buyer to lose their deposit. If you have an inspection, disclosure review or loan contingencies, work closely with your real estate agent to mark those timeframes. If you need to remove these contingencies in writing, plan to firm things up a day in advance. If you are in negotiations around a contingency date, be sure to extend the contingency date to keep yourself under contract. 3. "I'll lose the house" If you find the home of your dreams, you may have to move fast. Particularly in competitive markets, many homes sell before the first open house to quick acting and super-motivated buyers. If you see a new listing hit the market, be sure to let your agent know right away. Try to make an appointment to see the home as soon as possible. Also, find out immediately how the seller's agent plans to handle any offers received. Sometimes they will take the first offer, especially if it's a good one. More often than not, the seller and the agent will have an offer date to review offers or ask for best and final offers by a certain day. If you are travelling or busy with work, be sure not to miss out on your dream home. Be in constant contact with your agent, and flag potential homes that look like a great fit. 4. "My agent doesn't have my best interest in mind" Great agents are always on the prowl for new properties, checking out the market and protecting your best interest at all times. Some buyers fear that their agent might have different motivations, or that they aren't on the same page. If you have doubts, change agents. Never settle or take any random agent that comes along as your buyer's agent. You and your agent should be committed to each other. Sit down before you begin the process and speak to your agent, much like a job interview. And if you have any doubts about your agent's abilities or motivations, find another agent. 5. "We'll never find a house in time for…" A real estate purchase should never be rushed. If you have a firm deadline creeping up, make a plan B. For example, many buyers face an expiring lease or a school application deadline. If you are three months out from a deadline and you haven't found a house, take the pressure off by putting an alternate plan in place. Home buying is an expensive and complicated transaction. You don't want to rush into a purchase and make a mistake. It's much easier and safer to get another rental or find a temporary address or try some out-of-the-box idea. It may be a little inconvenient, but you can handle it. If something scares you about a home, the buying process, or a third-party involved in the sale, voice your concerns. Listen to your voice of reason, and stick with your gut. Many home buyers' initial fears will fall by the wayside as the buyer gets into the market. Take it slow, and don't be afraid to take a step back to allow time and space to think things through. It's better to take your time than to let buying your dream home become a nightmare. More from Zillow What Happens If a Home is Damaged During Escrow? 4 Ways to Keep Your Closing Process Moving 3 Extreme Home-Buying Tactics to Get the House You Want
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finance
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Most Americans are aware that Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders, Donald Trump, and Jeb Bush are running for president, but many may be surprised to learn that over 1,200 other people are in the race as well.
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Four people are arrested in Australia over the terror-linked murder of a police employee after coordinated raids by more than 200 officers on properties across Sydney.
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Call it the Jack Dorsey effect: Following this week's news that the co-founder would return to the helm at Twitter , billionaire Saudi Prince Alwaleed decided to up his stake in the social media company. Prince Alwaleed now owns 5.17% of Twitter, according to a regulatory document filed on Wednesday. This equates to a whopping 34.9 million shares worth nearly $1 billion. It also makes him the second-biggest investor in the company behind co-founder Evan Williams , who owns 6.9%. It puts him ahead of new CEO Dorsey, who owns 3.2%. Despite his high-profile investor status, Alwaleed is not an avid user of the platform. His Twitter account was set up in March 2013 and he has 3.82 million followers but he has tweeted just 171 times. When Alwaleed made his initial $300 million investment in 2011, before the company's 2013 IPO, he said in a statement that "our investment in Twitter reaffirms our ability in identifying suitable opportunities to invest in promising, high-growth businesses with a global impact." Alwaleed is known for his high-profile investments and has used his billions to invest in other public and private companies, including Citigroup and Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts. The Saudi prince is currently ranked by FORBES as the 34th richest person in the world, with a fortune of $23.8 billion More from Forbes:
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finance
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Israel lifted restrictions on prayers at the Al-Aqsa mosque on Wednesday, police spokeswoman Luba Samri announced. Security officials had placed a ban on the compound, revered by Jews as the Temple Mount, on Sunday during the Jewish harvest festival of Sukkot. Washington welcomed the reopening, with deputy spokesman Mark Toner calling it "a step in the right direction." Israeli officials also met with their Palestinian counterparts in the West Bank on Tuesday evening for discussions to restore peace in the area. The tense situation at the holy site also prompted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to cancel his trip to Germany. German government spokesman Georg Streiter said the meeting scheduled for Thursday would have involved several ministers from both nations and that Berlin "regrets this cancellation and hopes that these consultations can be held at a later date." The Al-Aqsa compound, Jerusalem's Old City and the West Bank have witnessed violent protests and killings in recent weeks. On Wednesday, a Palestinian woman stabbed an Israeli man, who then shot and wounded her. Israeli police spokeswoman said the "female terrorist" had attacked the man from behind, wounding him seriously. Both people were taken to the hospital. On Tuesday, Israeli forces razed down houses of two Palestinians, who had attacked Israelis last year. The demolition was followed by violent protests by Arab-Israelis in the Jaffa district of Tel Aviv. Palestinians fear that Israel is trying to change the rules of access to the mosque, which Israel annexed from Jordan in 1964. The Al-Aqsa compound is regarded as the Temple Mount by Jews, who are only allowed to visit, but not pray at the compound. mg/sms (AFP, Reuters)
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news
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INCHEON, South Korea Comparing the Presidents Cup to the Ryder Cup is like listening to a conversation between a Scot and an American. The words might be similar, but they sound nothing alike. The biggest difference with the Presidents Cup is an American team that is filled with smiles, not stress. And there's a reason for that. The Americans haven't lost in these matches since 1998, and the last four have not been particularly close. They walk taller. They worry less. Jordan Spieth has played in one of each in his short but already stellar career, and it was hard not to notice the contrast between the two cups. "It seems there is a bit of a difference in the two teams rooms in the Presidents Cup experience I've had and the Ryder Cup last year," Spieth said Wednesday. "Almost like we put too much emphasis on the Ryder Cup instead of just freeing up to play our own game." Ryder Cup practice rounds felt like dress rehearsals. Presidents Cup practice rounds feel like a Tuesday money game on tour. "We feel like the favorites," Spieth said. "We're walking around with cockiness in our step, and often that can bite you if you're not careful, but we're aware of that. But the point is, we're out there smiling because we believe whatever matchup we want to put together, we believe we can beat the other team." The Americans, who have won the Ryder Cup only one time in the last 16 years, go after their sixth straight victory in the Presidents Cup when the matches get started Thursday at the Jack Nicklaus Golf Club Korea. Adam Scott, who has yet to play on a winning Presidents Cup team in six previous tries, and Hideki Matsuyama lead off the foursomes session against J.B. Holmes and Bubba Watson, two of the longest hitters in golf. Spieth and Dustin Johnson are in the anchor match against Marc Leishman and Danny Lee. A lively opening ceremony Wednesday night, which featured South Korean President Park Geun-hye and former President George W. Bush, began with great suspense when a secret box was carried onto the stage. It was carefully opened to reveal the shiny gold Presidents Cup trophy. But there really hasn't been much suspense at all. The last time it was close was in 2003 at South Africa when it ended in a tie after Ernie Els and Tiger Woods matched pars in three sudden-death playoff holes before it was too dark to continue. Jack Nicklaus was the captain that year, and he mentioned that Presidents Cup in a speech Wednesday night. Nicklaus referred to it as the greatest sporting event in which he had ever taken part. "We have that opportunity again this week," Nicklaus said. The Presidents Cup has lacked the rancor of the Ryder Cup, which is inevitable when it's a competition between two tours (PGA and Europe) instead of the Americans against an International team in which all but one player Thongchai Jaidee of Thailand is or will be a PGA Tour member. "They're all Americans, they were just born in a different country," U.S. assistant captain Fred Couples said. This is the first Presidents Cup without Woods since 1996 when he was a 20-year-old playing on sponsor exemptions to avoid going to Q-school. Els didn't qualify and didn't feel worthy of a pick, so he is out for the first time since 2005. Price has an International team that is the youngest ever despite the 45-year-old Thongchai. The captain is worried that if the Presidents Cup is another blowout, even some of the players might start losing interest. What might give these matches a little edge is a debate over the number of matches, which were reduced from 34 to 30 this year in a decision that left neither team happy. The International team wanted it lowered to 28, like the Ryder Cup. The Americans wanted it to stay at 34. Price believes the fewer the matches, the more likely it is to come down to the last day. Whether that makes a difference depends largely on the one aspect that doesn't change no matter what kind of cup is involved. It's about making putts, winning holes and piling up points. "We don't have a crystal ball, and anything can happen in this game," Scott said. "But I believe we're moving closer to a great competition."
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sports
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When the New Jersey Devils drafted Marty Brodeur in 1990, the Montreal, Quebec, native admits that he wasn't precisely sure where the Garden State was located. That was fitting because it is Brodeur who has done the most to put the Devils on the NHL map. "For hockey purposes, New Jersey is home to me," Brodeur told USA TODAY Sports on Tuesday after the Devils announced his No. 30 will be retired. The number will be raised during a ceremony before the Devils' Feb. 9, 2016, game against the Edmonton Oilers. The Devils also plan to honor him with a statue that will be placed outside Prudential Center. STAFF PREDICTIONS: Who wins it all, plus individual award picks Considering Brodeur retired last season, he said he was a little surprised that the Devils have chosen to honor him so quickly. His long-time general manager Lou Lamoriello left the organization to join the Toronto Maple Leafs during the offseason. It's a new regime in charge, but none of that matters. Everyone in hockey understands that Brodeur is the most important player in Devils history. The Devils have boasted other important players, such as Scott Stevens and Scott Niedermayer. Both of them have their numbers retired. Ken Daneyko does as well. But those players, as significant as they were in Devils history, are just below Brodeur on the list of all-time great Devils. How many players are clear-cut choices as the greatest player of their franchises? Mario Lemieux in Pittsburgh to be sure. Wayne Gretzky in Edmonton and Los Angeles? Rocket Richard in Montreal? I would say Gordie Howe in Detroit. As soon as this is published, someone will send me a Twitter message making a case that Steve Yzerman was bigger because the sport had a higher profile when he was the face of the Red Wings. The point is simply that Brodeur is among the few players whose status as their team's best player is difficult to challenge. "I really never felt like I had the pressure of being the face of the franchise," Brodeur said. "When I was with Scott Stevens and Scott Niedermayer we were the players fans associated with the New Jersey Devils. But I can tell you that when you play with the same organization for two decades, you see a lot of people come and go." Brodeur has won more games (688) than any goalie in NHL history, and all but three of those wins came with the Devils. He holds the NHL record with 124 shutouts, and all but one has come with New Jersey. "When I came to New Jersey, it was a team that didn't have much winning in their history," Brodeur said. "So it was pretty cool to be part of the first wave of winning." He was instrumental in helping the Devils win their three Stanley Cup championships. NHL POWER RANKINGS: Ducks, Lightning lead the way The Devils have a long tradition of playing stingy team defense, but it was Brodeur's play in net that was at the heart of that. It is odd that the Devils had to plan Brodeur's celebration without Lamoriello being involved. Lamoriello was Brodeur's boss, but their relationship was much closer. "It's strange to walk in here to see all of the new faces," Brodeur said. "I think it shocked people that Lou went to Toronto but it doesn't change my relationship with him." Brodeur keeps in regular contact with Lamoriello by phone. Brodeur understands Lamoriello's willingness to go elsewhere to run a team because last season the former goalie joined the management team of the St. Louis Blues. He is their assistant general manager. "It's hard not to pay attention to (the Devils)," Brodeur said. "For old-time sake, I look to see how they are doing. If I do forget about them, I have friends and buddies calling me to tell me what they are doing." When his No. 30 ascends to the rafters, Brodeur has a checklist of fond memories to recall. "A lot of things will cross my mind, mostly the 20 years I've spent in New Jersey," Brodeur said. "I will think of my kids, and I will be missing my dad." Brodeur's dad was the a team photographer for the Canadiens. He died in 2013. Marty was very close with him. "He's going to have the best seat in the house," Brodeur said.
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Doctors Without Borders is calling for an independent fact-finding mission under the rules of the Geneva Conventions into a U.S. air strike on a hospital in Kunduz, Afghanistan that killed at least 22 people. (Oct. 7)
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Craft the perfect end to your Thanksgiving feast. Basic Pie Dough Craft the perfect end to your Thanksgiving feast. Looking to bake the perfect Thanksgiving pie? Start off by making your own dough. Recipe: Basic Pie Dough Banana Tart Tatin This skillet dessert will impress your guests with its hearty dose of banana flavor. Recipe: Banana Tart Tatin Pumpkin Pie with Oat-Pecan Crust Take this year's pumpkin pie to the next level by adding sweet candied pecans. Recipe: Pumpkin Pie with Oat-Pecan Crust Pear, Date, and Sesame Pie This unexpected flavor combo is so good, it will have your guests asking for seconds. Recipe: Pear, Date, and Sesame Pie Mocha Cream Pie After dinner coffee just got a whole lot sweeter. Recipe: Mocha Cream Pie Chocolate-Coconut-Pecan Pie Sure, pecan pie is great on it's own, but the addition of coconut and chocolate adds layers of delicious flavor. Recipe: Chocolate-Coconut-Pecan Pie Cranberry-Cherry Cobbler Pie This dessert is two in one: cobbler and pie at the same time! Recipe: Cranberry-Cherry Cobbler Pie Lemon-Buttermilk Tart This lemon tart is an excellent alternative to typical Thanksgiving desserts. Recipe: Lemon-Buttermilk Tart S'mores Galette S'mores in pie form? Sign us up! Recipe: S'mores Galette Choose Your Slice Satisfy all your guests by serving up a bounty of fall's best flavors all in one pie platter. Or, choose your favorite of these four delicious recipes. Recipe: Ginger Apple-Walnut Crumble Pie Recipe: Apple-Raspberry Pie Recipe: Caramelized Apple Cheesecake Recipe: Brown Butter Apple Pie with Cheddar Crust Cranberry Cheesecake Pie This beautiful marriage between cheesecake and pie combines a sweet, creamy filling with tangy bursts of flavor. Get the recipe at Bake or Break . Mini Pumpkin Pies Fall-themed cookie cutters fashion store-bought piecrust into adorable toppings. Get the recipe at Home Is Where the Boat Is . Chocolate Banana Cream Pie Take a break from Thanksgiving tradition and serve a pie layered with chocolate and banana filling instead. Get the recipe at Love & Olive Oil . Gingerbread Eggnog Pumpkin Pie This is the ultimate combination of holiday confections: The pie shell is made from gingerbread mix while the filling is a velvety concoction of eggnog and pumpkin puree. Get the recipe at Thumb in Plum . Salted Caramel Peanut Butter Fudge Pie The salted caramel and peanut butter topping on this pie makes this a dessert no one will forget! Recipe: Salted Caramel Peanut Butter Fudge Pie Maple Granola Pecan Pie Looking for a classic dessert with a twist? Try out this decadent pecan pie recipe. Recipe: Maple Granola Pecan Pie Old-Fashioned Pecan Pie Nothing says Thanksgiving like a pecan pie. Recipe: Old-Fashioned Pecan Pie Decadent Chocolate-Espresso Pie This pie is inspired by Anna Jones's winning pie at the 2013 state fair of Texas. Recipe: Decadent Chocolate-Espresso Pie Pear Crumb Pie Guests won't be able to resist gobbling up this fruity, crumbly pie. Recipe: Pear-Crumb Pie Pecan Pie Carrie Morey, the owner of Callie's Charleston Biscuits , improved on a good thing her family's pecan pie recipe by adding dark rum. Recipe: Pecan Pie Buttermilk Pie with Pecan Crust Plan ahead: This easy dough can be frozen for up to three months. Recipe: Buttermilk Pie with Pecan Crust Cheddar Apple Pie Lighten this recipe up by replacing the filling's granulated sugar with 1/4 cup brown sugar and 2 tablespoons honey, and sub in low-fat Cheddar. Total savings? 72 calories and 8 grams of fat per serving. Recipe: Cheddar Apple Pie All-American Apple Pie The tart taste and firm texture of Granny Smith apples make this a robust, flavorful pie that isn't overly sweet. Recipe: All-American Apple Pie Chocolate-Chunk Pecan Pie The earthiness of bittersweet chocolate and rich pecans melds with layers of sweet filling for a deep flavor everyone will linger around the table to savor. Recipe: Chocolate-Chunk Pecan Pie Pumpkin Pie with Walnut Crust Both the crust and pie in this recipe can be made up to two days ahead of the celebration, saving you from day-of holiday stress in the kitchen. Quick tip: Use ice-cold butter and water to yield a flaky piecrust and chill the dough before rolling. Recipe: Pumpkin Pie with Walnut Crust Cranberry Pie Six simple ingredients are all you need to create this holiday dessert. Recipe: Cranberry Pie Quince Mince Pie Mincemeat and Granny Smith apples make this pie as delightfully golden as the childhood memories we associate with it. To save time, use store-bought dough to speed preparation. Recipe: Quince Mince Pie Pumpkin Pie with Autumn Leaves Pastry oak leaves look pretty and hide crust imperfections. For quick color, dot with fresh cranberries that you've coated with corn syrup and rolled in sugar. Recipe: Pumpkin Pie RELATED: 10 Delicious Pumpkin Pie Recipes Rustic Apple Galette with Butterscotch Sauce An apple galette is a classic fall dessert. This rustic version is paired with a butterscotch sauce spiked with Grand Marnier. Recipe: Rustic Apple Galette with Butterscotch Sauce Chocolate-Pecan Tartlets Sweet Surrender Dessert Café in Louisville, Kentucky, bakes up these mini versions of the classic Southern dessert. For a little extra kick, soak the pecans in bourbon the night before you bake the tartlets, advises owner Jessica Haskell. Recipe: Chocolate-Pecan Tartlets RELATED: 12 Delicious Pecan Pie Recipes Sweet Potato Pie This ethereal adaptation of conventional sweet-potato pie relies on fresh lemon juice and buttermilk for its tangy, crowd-pleasing flavor. Recipes: Sweet-Potato Pie Buttermilk Ice Cream Sour Cream-Sweet Potato Pie and Apple Pie with Rosemary and Honey Far Left: "We use half lard, half butter for our sweet-potato pie dough," notes Josh Kilmer-Purcell of Beekman 1802 , "but straight-up butter works, too." Bottom: Thick slices of Granny Smith and Macintosh apples tossed with rosemary, honey, and cinnamon nestle beneath a rustic lattice crust. Recipes: Sour Cream-Sweet Potato Pie Apple Pie with Rosemary and Honey Classic Pecan Pie Country music artist Trisha Yearwood shares this family recipe from Georgia Cooking in an Oklahoma Kitchen: Recipes from My Family to Yours . Recipe: Pecan Pie RELATED: Trisha Yearwood's Family Thanksgiving Menu » Chocolate Bourbon Pecan Pie This is a mixture of two all-time pie favorites: It's got the rich, gooey texture of a pecan pie with the seductive sweetness of chocolate. Recipe: Chocolate Bourbon Pecan Pie
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From alternative fuel to advanced mechanics, CNN looks at the innovations influencing the future of travel.
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Living in your own house is the American dream. At least, that's what everyone is told by the government, by Hollywood, by our friends and family. It's an idea a lot of people buy into, and it's understandable. You get the wrong landlord and some lousy neighbors in an apartment building, and anyone might quickly want their own house. But buying a house isn't for everyone. So if you're looking for counterarguments, or you simply want to feel better about your current living situation, let's review some pitfalls of homeownership. Houses are time-consuming. If you feel time is money , you could wind up utterly broke once you factor in all the time it takes to keep up the maintenance. For instance, Samantha Boles, president of her own security company, Automated Security I.S., in Houston, says, "I hate living in a house." She admits that it wasn't always this way. "I feel like homes are for couples and families with children," says Boles, who has been divorced for seven years and has three children, one of whom is in college and another, in the Navy. "Four more years and counting," Boles says, referring to when she can dump her house, adding that her teen daughter is well aware of Boles' displeasure with homeownership. "She jokes that I will be in the auditorium at her high school graduation with my bags packed." Boles says she isn't a do-it-yourself type of person. "The sheer upkeep is exhausting and expensive," she says. "Every time an appliance breaks, I have to call a repairman." It gets expensive, especially the $400 a month for a yard service . "If I lived in an apartment, I would save money and be able to call the maintenance man for free if something broke," she says. It's being able to call maintenance that has kept Esfira Shakhmurova from becoming a homeowner. And she is a real estate agent. Shakhmurova, who also owns a salon specializing in hair removal and electrolysis, lives in New York City. She has lived in an apartment for over 20 years and says she will never buy a house. "I've seen endless tasks that come with the house," Shakhmurova says. "From outdoor problems of lawn, patio and structural defects to indoor problems of plumbing, electrical and possible mold and lead issues. Now, I'm not saying that you don't have these headaches in an apartment," Shakhmurova adds, "but the price you pay … provides someone to take care of this work for you. If the roof leaks, you don't worry about it because the superintendent will take care of it." Houses are expensive. Even if you don't feel time is money, or not in this case, and you love being DIYer, maintenance projects are expensive. Shakhmurova mentioned a leak in a roof. At some point, if you're a homeowner, and you live in your home long enough, your roof is going to wear out, and you're going to have to buy a new one. According to Angie's List, professionals charged between $5,000 and $12,000 to replace a standard 2,200- to 2,600-square-foot roof in 2014; and Angie's List members reported paying an average of $11,905 to remove and replace a roof last year. Even if you manage to get away with never replacing your roof or siding or your water heater, simply paying money to be handed that front door key is a reach. The national median price for a single-family home in the second quarter of 2015 was $229,400, according to the National Association of Realtors. But again, that's the median. If you live in the San Jose, California, the most expensive market in the country, the median for a single-family home is $980,000. (On the other side of the spectrum, Cumberland, Maryland, is the cheapest metro area; you can buy a single-family home for $82,400.) But the costs go far beyond the monthly mortgage payment , says Ron Throupe, associate professor at the Franklin R. Burns School of Real Estate and Construction Management at the University of Denver. "There are many additional fees," he says, including: "The principal interest, property taxes, property insurance, homeowners association fees and home-maintenance costs." He adds that you'll likely need to buy a lot of things for the house at the beginning of your move, too, from new furniture and appliances to a snow shovel or lawn mower. There may be too much freedom. One reason apartment dwellers consider moving is that they're tired of all the rules. They may not be able to have a family member crash on the couch for a month if that family member needs a place to stay. They may want to blast the stereo but know they can't without being reported. Someone living in an apartment may want to paint his or her walls but can't. And wanting freedom from those rules is a perfectly good reason to move out and buy your own place. But you may end up missing those rules, according to Sid Savara, a technical product manager and software engineer in Honolulu. Savara, who has lived in homes, says that for the past few years he has lived in apartment complexes and may well never go back. "The biggest benefit to me are the rules," Savara says. "I like that if someone is making noise at 10 p.m., I don't need to call the police. I just call our on-site manager and security, and they take care of it." Granted, some apartment complexes are small enough that calling a landlord or manager at 2 a.m. to deal with noisy neighbors isn't exactly easy, and plenty of neighbors have homeowners associations , or you can often report a neighbor to your local government if you don't like that he or she has a rusting automobile in an overgrown front yard. But Savara does have a point. An apartment complex generally has a lot of restrictions that you may find you like, and those rules often attract like-minded people. "I never have to call in to actually have the rules enforced," Savara says. "Having the rules written down means that folks self-select … They want to have a certain style of living. In this case, peace and quiet." And there simply may not be as much freedom as you think in a house. If your neighbors are unpleasant, you can sell your home, but selling a house is far more difficult than switching apartments. You may even find that you can't really sell your house without losing money if property values plummet and you owe the bank more than the home is worth. Living in a house could even cost you a better job. Two years ago, a study released by the Peterson Institute of International Economics suggested that as a state's homeownership goes up, its unemployment often does as well. The thinking: If you're anchored to a house, you can't as easily uproot and move to an area where there are a lot of jobs. None of this means you shouldn't buy a house. If owning a house were all that terrible, nobody would have one. But if your home-owning friends or family members ever look at you in wonder because you're singing the praises of apartment living, you may want to look back at them with equal curiosity. Do they really think you're crazy, or are they just jealous? Copyright 2015 U.S. News & World Report
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Here's to never standing in line or dealing with a moody showroom associate ever again. The Best Sites For Buying Furniture Made Goods We're always swooning over Made Goods shagreen dressers, side tables, mirrors and lighting that can give any space a fresh new feel. Interior HomeScapes Interior HomeScapes' offerings range from rustic pieces to modern designs all with a reasonable price tag. ABC Carpet & Home ABC Carpet & Home just about has it all from Tom Dixon trace dining tables to rusticated antique dressers. And, of course, tons of beautifully dyed rugs. Serena & Lily If you're hunting for your next beach house find, head to Serena & Lily. You'll find everything from rattan bar carts to bamboo trays on this site. Blu Dot Clean and minimal designs rule the roost at Blu Dot. The flash-sale site features everything from office-appropriate shelving systems to leather ottomans, like the one shown here, and many of the sales extend beyond a single day. 2Modern 2Modern has, well, all the modern pieces you could ask for. Lillian August Lillian August features furnishings, accessories, books and more, with just the right amount of glamour. Suite NY Suite NY is where to find some seriously stylish pieces for your home office. FLAIR Unique furnishings and special oddities are always in stock at FLAIR. High Fashion Home This enormous furniture house based in Houston has everything you can think of, from table linens to chaise lounges. AERIN Get AERIN's (as in Aerin Lauder's) super chic style in your home, including this gold bookcase. Jayson Home From custom furnishings to home essentials, Jayson Home covers it all. You'll also find case goods, petrified wooden furniture and curiosities to style your bookshelf. LuLu & Georgia LuLu & Georgia offers some of the most whimsical garden stools around, as well as ottomans, desks and a killer assortment of rugs. Bunny Williams Home Beautiful center tables are a staple at Bunny Williams. The leading designer's site also features desks, dressers and beautifully upholstered seatings. Bobby Berk Home Find everything from dining tables to kids room furniture, plus a healthy dose of nostalgia at Bobby Berk Home. Design Within Reach If your looking for functional yet stylish barstools, Design Within Reach is your answer. The well-known company is also the place to go for iconic designs from the mid-century to present. Sit Down NY From desk chairs to sofas to rocking chairs, Sit Down NY is all about finding a place to perch. H.D. Buttercup H.D. Buttercup's offerings range from glamorous to subtle and features something for every room in your home. The Future Perfect The Future Perfect's minimalist console systems, lighting, seating and more are a modern design lover's dream. Michael Dawkins Home Michael Dawkins shelving systems range from aged wood to lacquer to chrome, and their collection of upholstery seatings are just about as serene and cozy as it gets. Shop Society Social The Alex Rattan Chair from Shop Society Social is among the site's more traditional offerings. You'll also find poufs, bar carts and upholstered pieces in a rainbow of colors. Ballard Designs Find a desk, storage system or side table alongside traditional-style upholstery at Ballard Designs. Homenature Homenature is exactly what it sounds like a one-stop shop for bringing the outdoors in. Dwell Modern design items reign at Dwell.com, including low-lying beds and contemporary storage solutions. Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams This North Carolina-based company shines at classic-meets-glam furnishings, like the media console shown here. Kelly Wearstler Add edge to your home at designer Kelly Wearstler's online shop. Her new collection of furniture is a gold-lovers dream. Crate & Barrel This ubiquitous brand is the go-to for classic furniture pieces with a contemporary twist. The outlet section offers even lower prices on clean-lined staples. Candelabra Candelabra offers furniture of all kinds in styles that range from rustic to modern to shabby chic. Wholesale Living Check out Wholesale Living for everything from desks and counter stools to chaise lounges and dining tables all, as the name implies, at a reasonable price. DShop If you're in the market for a stylish ping pong table you'll find it at DShop, alongside lighting, seating and more. Viyet All of the high-end furniture pieces you'll find at Viyet are pre-owned and prices 50-80% off retail. Look here for antique items, as well as brands typically found only at to-the-trade showrooms. West Elm Of-the-moment furniture and an endless rotation of markdowns keep us coming back to West Elm. Bloomingdales Beyond its fashion offerings, Bloomingdales.com houses everything from chairs and bedding to tableware from big names like Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams and Ralph Lauren. CB2 Like its big brother, Crate & Barrel, CB2 is a reliable source for modern, colorful furnishings that go easy on the pockets. Schoolhouse Electric & Supply Co. Vintage-inspired upholstery and tables are brimming with charm at Schoolhouse Electric & Supply Co. One Kings Lane One Kings Lane's furniture offerings feel endless. And with the site's modified flash-sale model (items are sold in limited quantities) they pretty much are. Canvas Home Canvas Home's pared down approach to home furnishings puts a premium on comfort and functionality. The Citizenry The Citizenry carries a unique and high-quality selection of artisanal seating, hammocks, tables and accessories. Michele Varian Michele Varian carries a well-curated collection of desks, bookcases, side tables and pillows in addition to jewelry and wall art. Lamps Plus Yes, Lamps Plus has a large selection of lamps and other lighting, but they also carry cocktail tables, a variety of seating options, accent pieces and headboards. Bellacor Find furniture, including dining sets, accent pieces, sofas, and more, in a mix of modern and rustic styles at Bellacor. Joybird Well-made, customizable seating inspired by Mid-century styles rule the roost at Joybird furniture. Amara Amara specializes in bringing designer details to the everyday home, and the online shop is always stocked with the hottest tables, chairs and side tables. Barneys New York High style reigns supreme at Barneys New York, even when it comes to furniture. Turn to the tried and true department store for designer benches, tables and accessories. Houseology Tackling every room on a single site is a breeze thanks to Houseology's never ending collection of dining tables, sofas, bar stools, beds, and lighting. Hermes Tap into your luxury side with Hermes. The high-end brand carries some of the best in fine leather furnishings and accessories. Kathy Kuo Home If you're looking for indoor or outdoor furniture of any kind, Kathy Kuo Home's endless selection of items has you covered. InStyle Decor InStyle Decor carries luxurious pieces, including shagreen coffee tables, horn and brass table lamps, and gilded mirrors.
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These eight farmhouses showcase rustic American living at its finest. Perkasie, Pennsylvania Interior designers Penny Drue Baird and Irwin Weiner enlarged this 19th-century barn to 4,000 square feet, transforming it into a rustic guesthouse and entertaining space. Wood from the well-preserved interior was milk-painted and clads the lofty structure, which now includes massive French doors and windows that allow light to permeate the space. Perkasie, Pennsylvania To warm the interiors (including the dining room, above), the designers retained the existing building's timbers and added reclaimed wood, but they replaced the original floor also wood with limestone for contrast. Little Compton, Rhode Island Originally built in Ontario, this 200-plus-year-old barn was later relocated to an arcadian four-acre parcel in Rhode Island, where designer Ellen Denisevich-Grickis refurbished it as a summer home for her family. The renovation included cladding part of the structure in stone an homage to local farmhouses as well as the stone walls that line the property. Little Compton, Rhode Island Although most of the structural supports in the 3,000-square-foot residence were kept intact, some beams needed reconfiguring to accommodate the new fireplace. Concrete floors were embellished with shells, sea glass, and mother-of-pearl, while haylofts on the top level were turned into bedrooms and sitting areas, linked by an iron-framed bridge. Sagaponack, New York Designed by architect Tod Williams in the mid-1970s for his personal use, this rustic Hamptons compound was refreshed by New York firm Christoff: Finio Architecture after it was acquired by new owners in the '80s. Sagaponack, New York The firm made several augmentations to the property but restored the original barn , which now serves as the living room. It is furnished with midcentury armchairs from Dienst & Dotter Antikviteter, a sectional sofa by Zanotta, and vibrant Navajo rugs. Washington, Connecticut Interior designer S. Russell Groves renovated this Canadian barn, built in the 19th century and relocated to Connecticut by its previous owners. While he kept many original features of the property including wood beams, posts, and flooring he added luxe finishes and relandscaped the pool area. Washington, Connecticut The designer furnished the rustic living space with warm, modern pieces and added zinc and marble countertops to the kitchen. Roxbury, Connecticut Located on 69 bucolic acres, this palatial barn-style house is the result of a collaboration between builder Edwin Cady and interior designer Juan Montoya. To gather enough materials for the new 14,000-square-foot structure, two 18th-century barns had to be disassembled, and their parts including vintage pine, cypress, and hemlock trucked to Roxbury. Roxbury, Connecticut The master bedroom features an iron four-poster (designed by Montoya as his "take on a 17th-century iron canopy bed"), a fireplace flanked by Peruvian colonial paintings, and chandelier from Holly Hunt. Wilton, Connecticut Originally built as a horse stable in 1895, this two-story barn was renovated and enlarged by architect David Ling for artist Tom Grotta and his wife, Rhonda Brown, a lawyer. The two-acre site's original wood-beamed barn which now contains a living room, dining room, and den is connected via passageway to the new gambrel-roofed addition. Wilton, Connecticut The two areas are linked by a light-filled entrance hall, which is flanked by French doors and features a floating staircase, a tapestry by Mariette Rousseau-Vermette, and artworks by Deborah Sachs and Christine Joy. Litchfield, Connecticut Paris-based interior designer India Mahdavi oversaw the renovation of this rustic compound , comprising an old barn and several additions. Above is the restored games barn, one of the 150-acre property's outbuildings. Litchfield, Connecticut Mahdavi custom designed the table in the formal dining area, located within the main barn , and surrounded it with chairs by Hans J. Wegner for Carl Hansen & Son. New Paltz, New York Originally built in the 1970s from centuries-old reclaimed wood, this barn was refurbished for film director Shawn Levy and his family by New York firm Bonetti/Kozerski Studio. Birch, willow, and Norway maples trees tower over the stucco-clad residence. New Paltz, New York To restore the barn's loftlike quality in the living room, the architects stripped the original oak beams of their stucco and drywall, furnishing it with a sofa and tables from Restoration Hardware.
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Image courtesy of Pandora. Today, streaming music service Pandora has announced that it has acquired Ticketfly, a company focused not just on selling tickets, but on making the entire process of attending a live event much easier. Apparently valued at around $450 million, the transaction was revealed today, and will be completed at some point in the near future. It is clear that Pandora doesn't just want you listening to music on their website, it The acquisition is a sign that after ten years in the business, Pandora not only has no intentions of slowing down in its quest to one day own a piece of every aspect of the music industry, but that it wants to speed up its conquest. The service is already one of the world's most popular streaming options, despite the fact that it is only available in a handful of countries versus competitor Spotify, which is available in dozens, but which has fewer listeners. As of today, Pandora claims to have 80 million active users. Ticketfly is just the latest big-ticket purchase for Pandora, which hasn't been shy about spending its millions. Just a few months ago, it spent an untold sum to buy analytics firm Next Big Sound, which is known to be one of the smartest and most innovative companies in the music space today. The data-focused tech enterprise helps with everything from identifying what the next big hit will be (before it has a chance to become one) to working with brands on how they should incorporate music into their marketing messages and campaigns. Ticketfly did some buying of its own last year, when it acquired ticket technology app WillCall . In addition to purchases, Pandora has been launching several new initiatives of its own. Last year, the company started its own Artist Marketing Platform , which provides acts that have their music on the service with data on who is listening, liking, and their demographics. The idea behind the platform is that artists can use the information to better market their work, as well as more intelligently route tours, as playing live has become the primary source of income for most musicians. Ticketfly is one of the bigger players in the ticketing industry, and they are a great acquisition for the streaming service. Last year, the company sold 16 million tickets to over 90,000 different events. All of those purchases totaled up to $500 million, so that $450 million price tag is looking like a deal. The site receives millions of visitors a month, and it manages ticketing for over 1,000 venues, as well as music festivals and non-music events as well. Top 15 2015 Concert Tours At The Ticket Booth
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The death toll from a landslide that devastated a Guatemalan village has risen to 171 people, as emergency workers continue pulling bodies from the mud and debris.
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"Sad news." "Sellouts" "Everyone is for sale at the right price." "It's a sad day. Another Starbucks story in the making. Great for the owners but bad for the coffee quality." "what the effing hell. is nothing sacred?" "Scratch stumptown off my list of coffee places to go. It's been nice knowing ya'." "This is a travesty." This is a selection of comments on Facebook , Twitter , and news sites like OregonLive made in reaction to the revelation that Portland's Stumptown Coffee is being purchased by another West Coast coffee outfit, the much larger Peet's Coffee & Tea , which is based in Berkeley, Calif. "Stumptown will keep pushing towards the same goals we've always had sourcing and roasting fresh coffee of the highest quality and taking care of each other and our customers," a note on the Stumptown blog promised regarding its acquisition. "We've got something special going on here, and we don't intend to change that." Nonetheless, based on the reaction in social media, some are indeed worried that Stumptown will change and not in a good way now that it's been acquired by Peet's. Many assume quality will decrease. But the reason people are upset with Stumptown goes beyond that. When Stumptown or once-indie ventures like Caribou Coffee and Goose Island beer sell out to big corporations, the consumers who loved the business's products, values, and sense of mission can feel betrayed. "The people who feel most betrayed are the ones who were most attached to the brand in the first place," Debbie MacInnis a marketing professor at the USC Marshall School of Business who is researching brand betrayal , told me last fall . We're especially apt to feel betrayed when the business that sells out is one that we've supported partly because it was so small. "We love underdog stories," she said. "We see ourselves as underdogs. We love the little guy, so there's a natural brand connection." Hipsters in particular love underdog brands. "The underdog thing is important to this audience," the founder of the merchant-finder startup Locu.com (which itself was acquired by GoDaddy in 2013), explained to me a few years back in a story about what beer could be the next Pabst Blue Ribbon in terms of winning over hipsters. "If a beer is expensive, it doesn't fit the story. Hipsters are into adopting the underdog." When a small indie brand joins up with a big, seemingly soulless corporation, it's hard to think of it still as an underdog. This helps explain why some people are so upset with Stumptown that and they're worried that the new owners will mess with the quality of their favorite coffee. MORE: Why JetBlue and Whole Foods Can Break Your Heart But Not Comcast Who Really Owns Your Craft Beer?
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HP is introducing a number of new PCs today, but easily the most impressive on a physical level, at least is the Envy Curved All-in-One PC: a Windows 10 machine built into a curved and extremely wide 34-inch display. Just imagine how many windows you could have up at once. It's, like, a lot. I'm still thinking about all of the windows I could pull up at once The effect of the curved screen is actually pretty nice here. The display has a gentle curve to it that makes it always feel like you're looking straight on, even as you turn your head to see all the way to either side of the display. This is not something a normal human needs, but it's hard to look at this thing and not imagine how great it would be for work, especially as a replacement to a standard two-monitor setup. As much as the sheer size of this all-in-one can wow you, there may be some turnoffs. Its resolution is only 3440 by 1440, which is on the low side considering the display's size. In my limited time with the Envy Curved All-in-One, the display also appeared a few notches too dim HP pointed out that I was in a very well lit room beside an open window, which certainly exacerbated the issue, but at a minimum it's still going to be a problem for people with particularly bright rooms. The all-in-one is also just big. That's to be expected given its display size, but it's made bigger by thick bezels that run around all four sides. Basically, you're going to need a big desk. As with a number of the other machines HP is announcing today, the Envy Curved All-In-One is designed to fit in inside of a modern home. That mostly comes into play with its legs: holding up the display on either side are a pair of curved, shining pieces of metal that drop down in a V shape. They look nice, but it's hard for any subtle touches to really change the look of what's ultimately an enormous screen. A similar design also appears on smaller models without the curve The Envy Curved All-In-One will be available November 22nd starting at $1,799.99. It can be configured with an Intel Core i5 or i7 Skylake processor, integrated graphics or an Nvidia GTX 960A graphics card, 8GB or 16GB of memory, and either an SSD, an HDD, or both. All options include six speakers they're very loud and an Intel RealSense camera, so you can use Windows Hello for face detection logins. HP is also intruding a far less flashy all-in-one with the same design cues. It's just called the Envy All-in-One PC, and it includes 24-inch and 27-inch display options, neither of which are curved. They can be configured to include Ultra HD displays and a touchscreen. Both will be available starting November 1st, with prices beginning at $999.99 for the 24-inch model and $1,199.99 for the 27-inch model.
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If you're going to do a major remodel, you're going to be hiring help. But when it comes to contractors, it pays to know the tricks of the trade.
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A recall on Volkswagen's diesel vehicles with cheating software has been inevitable since the scandal first came to light, but there has been little official word on a timeframe for the fix. The automaker's new CEO Matthias Müller has finally put a tentative date on repairs, though. "If all goes according to plan, we can start the recall in January. All the cars should be fixed by the end of 2016," Müller said to the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung , Reuters reports . While this plan affects Europe, the timing for repairs in the US could be slightly different. The Environmental Protection Agency needs to test the fix first here to make sure that it brings the vehicles in line with emissions regulations. Before the scandal came to light publicly, VW already tried a software update, but the California Air Resources Board still found NOx levels to be too high. Some experts have speculated that whatever the automaker comes up with this time could affect performance and fuel economy. To make lemonade out of these very sour lemons, Müller is trying to position the scandal as a chance to change. "This crisis gives us an opportunity to overhaul Volkswagen's structures," the CEO said, according to Reuters . "We want to make the company slimmer, more decentralized and give the brands more responsibility." Still, the effects are definitely being felt inside the automaker. When addressing employees recently, Müller admitted the necessity of cutbacks and the likelihood of setting aside even more money to pay for international fines and settlements. "What isn't absolutely vital will be canceled or delayed," he said. Follow MSN Autos on Facebook
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All-new paperwork and disclosure rules for lenders went into effect this past Saturday, delaying the mortgage process and costing consumers cash.
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Members of the Islamic State militant group with links to Russian gangs have since early this year been attempting to get hold of nuclear material in order to build a radioactive dirty bomb before Moldovan police and FBI operatives stopped the deal, according to an investigation reported Wednesday by the Associated Press. The terror group, which is also known as ISIS and operates primarily in Syria and Iraq, had been approached by the gangs in Moldova that were specifically seeking a buyer from ISIS. The latest attempt to sell nuclear materials came in February when the FBI and local police snuffed out attempts by gangs to sell radioactive cesium, which is one of the radioactive ingredients that can be used to create dirty bombs. The radioactive bomb does not have the explosive or destructive power of a nuclear bomb, but can spread dangerous and powerful radioactive material across large areas and cause general mass hysteria. Moldovan police, using FBI intelligence, had been going undercover with the gangs using traditional police methods, such as concealed recording devices and radiation detectors, according to the report. However, Moldovan authorities said a breakdown in communication between Russia and the West -- which began to deteriorate after Russia annexed Crimea in March 2014, entered into the east Ukraine war and more recently began military action in Syria -- have made it far more difficult for U.S. authorities to track smugglers who are moving radioactive materials throughout Eastern Europe's porous borders. "In the age of the Islamic State, it's especially terrifying to have real smugglers of nuclear bomb material apparently making connections with real buyers," says Matthew Bunn, a Harvard professor who led a secret study for the Clinton administration on the security of Russia's nuclear arsenal, to the AP. Nuclear Arsenal by Country | FindTheData One of the main problems, the AP report claimed, is that authorities are catching suspects in the early negotiating stages of the deal meaning that opportunities to get hold of the nuclear material and the ringleaders of the gangs becomes more difficult. Aside from February's bust, authorities arrested six people in 2011 who were trying to sell bomb-grade uranium to a Sudanese terrorist. According to officials at the time, the uranium was brought in from Russia and had a value of about $25 million. Police officials had been attempting to trace former Russian KGB agent Alexandr Agheenco, who had gotten hold of the nuclear material through Russian military contacts. In August, Ukrainian police prevented ore-grade uranium from getting into the hands of a criminal group in the western region of Ukraine. It was not established where the radioactive material would have been used, although authorities speculated that pro-Russian rebel groups in the war-torn east of the country may have been trying to build a dirty bomb. "The DPR plans to use radioactive material to create a dirty bomb with which it can blackmail the international community and the government of Ukraine," said Yuriy Tandit, chief adviser to Ukraine Security Services.
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NEW YORK Streaming music company Pandora says it will buy Ticketfly for $450 million in a move that takes the company beyond music sharing and into ticket sales and marketing. Pandora runs a free music streaming service and says 80 million people use Pandora to listen to music every month. The Oakland, California-based company went public in 2011 and reported $921 million in revenue in 2014, mostly from selling ads, but it has yet to report an annual profit. The companies say Ticketfly sold 16 million tickets to 90,000 events last year, with the value of those tickets surpassing $500 million. They added that 14 million people visit Ticketfly's sites each month. Shares of Pandora Media Inc. fell $1.19, or 5.4 percent, to $20.78 in morning trading.
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A new trailer for Disney-Pixar's "The Good Dinosaur" has been released, offering glimpses of a tale where a young dinosaur develops an unlikely friendship with a boy. Rough cut (no reporter narration).
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England assistant coach Paul Farbrace vowed that England have laid to rest the memories of their rout at Pakistan's hands in 2012 ahead of a Test series starting later this month. The two sides will meet in a three-match series starting in Abu Dhabi from October 13, and Farbrace was confident his team has a "great chance" at victory. "We've got senior players who've been here and experienced it, and I think there was a feeling that although they lost the last Test series here 3-0, it was one they could quite easily have won," Farbrace said. "They didn't, that's history, it's gone now. But I think we've got a great chance with this group to play some really good cricket, and we're looking to be as positive as we possibly can be."
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AB InBev today went public with an offer to buy SABMiller that would value the London-based brewer at up to $104 billion. SABMiller has rejected the proposal, but the door remains open for a new offer. Saabira Chaudhuri explains. Photo: Bloomberg
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Welsh rugby players in the world cup appear to have more than next opponents the Australians to contend with.
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I don't know if this is seaweed or dried foreskin...
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According to the latest reports, Nick Gordon could face possible murder charges over the death of Bobbi Kristina Brown once a Georgia grand jury convenes and reviews the case.
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If you have the misfortune to follow Car Media Twitter, and you've got any sort of affection for short-wheelbase 4x4s, you may have had a mild heart attack when Ford Trucks Communications Manager Mike Levine tweeted two photos of a tough, Jeep Wrangler-size off-roader blasting through the sand. A rational mind sees such a thing, considers the source, and immediately thinks "new Ford Bronco!" Sadly, this isn't the case. You've just been trolled. Or more accurately, Trollered. Simply pointing out these photos were recently posted to http://t.co/0KkafVIX9G #troller pic.twitter.com/uWqOxpCDdJ - Mike Levine (@mrlevine) October 6, 2015 See, what we've got here is the Troller T4, a chunky little off-roader with a 3.2-liter diesel engine and a six-speed stick . It's a Ford, but only in the loosest sense-Troller is a Brazilian-market automaker that was acquired by Ford Motor Company not that long ago. @Tweetermeyer I think you're overanalyzing speculation. Here's another #troller pic pic.twitter.com/yDHPwq3VXW - Mike Levine (@mrlevine) October 6, 2015 Yes, the Troller T4 looks absolutely rad. No, there's probably not a chance in hell that Ford is bringing it to the U.S. market. As far as we can tell, Levine and the folks at Ford are just engaging in some friendly internet trolling to get Bronco aficionados all drooly at their desks. @Tweetermeyer And this will pull the plug entirely. #troller pic.twitter.com/6pTDtl6LoM - Mike Levine (@mrlevine) October 6, 2015 Our advice to Ford-aside from "BRING IT BRING IT BRING IT OH DEAR GOD I WILL PAWN MY SPLEEN IF YOU'LL BRING IT TO THE U.S."-is simple: don't troll a troller. Or, more specifically, don't troll us with a Troller. Our hearts can't take it. Follow MSN Autos on Facebook
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If you read news reports, National Geographic , or just about any other media covering the Middle East for the last quarter-century, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to see that one of the most ubiquitous vehicle brands in the region is Toyota. Whether the Land Cruiser fullsize SUV or the even more commonplace Hilux pickup , the region is literally crawling with them. So when we read a report on ABC News saying the U.S. State Department is launching an inquiry as to why there are so many Toyota vehicles in the hands of terrorists, we had to laugh a little. It's almost like saying, "Why is there so much sand in the desert?" Related Link: Research Toyota Models Specifically at issue is the perception of the high number of late-model Toyota vehicles in the hands of ISIS. Toyota has reportedly issued a statement saying it was not aware of any officially authorized dealership selling new Toyotas to known terrorist organizations and that it would cease business with such an entity if it was aware of such activities. Toyota's U.S. director of public policy and communications, Ed Lewis, said, "It is impossible for Toyota to completely control indirect or illegal channels through which our vehicles could be misappropriated." Mark Wallace, former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and now CEO of the Counter Extremism Project, said, "I don't think Toyota is trying to intentionally profit from it, but they are on notice now, and they should do more." Can any automaker control the ultimate destiny of their vehicles on the secondhand market, especially when criminal enterprises are involved? Is Toyota being unfairly targeted for the long-established popularity of its models in the region? Follow MSN Autos on Facebook
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Cosi (COSI) stock fell sharply Wednesday after a bad case of divine intervention. The fast casual chain earlier reported comparable-restaurant sales at company-owned locations dove 4.5 percent for the four weeks ended Sept. 28 compared to a year ago. "Business interruptions resulting from the pope's visit on Sept. 22 26, 2015, negatively impacted 30 percent of our company-owned restaurants," the company noted in a release detailing the sales downturn. Cosi, which currently has 79 company-owned and 30 franchise restaurants operating in 15 states, the District of Columbia, Costa Rica and the United Arab Emirates, has an outsize presence in New York City, Philadelphia and the D.C. area, three areas the pope visited in September. Disruptions from Pope Francis' visit shaved off an estimated 0.9 percent from the four-week period and 0.3 percent from 13-week period, it said. Shares were last 14 percent lower on a day when the larger market is generally positive. Year to date, the microcap stock has dropped 44 percent.
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Tesla's (TSLA) new model X SUV is the latest electric car hitting U.S. roads. You'd think that with a $130,000 price tag, everything about the car is tailor made for ease of use. But despite it's falcon wings and high tech dash, you've still got to charge it. While states like California may have the highest concentration of charging stations, juicing up in other parts of the country isn't as easy. Take New York for example, charging-up is still a challenge. Financier Charles Stonehill has owned a Tesla Model S in Manhattan for the last 2 years but has no charging access in his local garage. 'I'd like to see the city put some roadside charging in so that we have dedicated spots for charging by the road, just like you can in San Francisco and in some cities in Europe,' he told TheStreet. As we found out, most journeys in and around New York State still need to be planned around charging, despite the Model S's 265 mile range. 'I think if you get range anxiety you probably shouldn't be driving an electric car at this stage,' said Stonehill as we commenced the 40 minute drive to the nearest supercharger out on the Merritt Parkway - one of only three in New York state.
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Jimmy Fallon needed some help during Tuesday night's "Tonight Show," so none other than Jay Leno stepped in to give him a hand.
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The financial markets will get another look at the Federal Reserve's minutes of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) on Thursday. While the minutes are reported three weeks after the meeting, and while some of us feel these are just an after-the-fact opportunity for clarification, the markets are still eager to learn when that eventual rate hike is finally going to land. There is almost no doubt that Fed Chair Janet Yellen and the FOMC members had to feel lousy that the financial markets tanked after the Fed announced no rate hike and no rate hike on the immediate horizon. Imagine that the markets say "we now really hate the free money policy." Yellen quickly changed her tune after the FOMC voted to keep rates steady. There was only one vote to hike on the FOMC. But then came more hawkish commentary from the Fed presidents. What the market has to expect out of these minutes is at least some of the regional weakness to dominate the minutes. We just saw a dismal payrolls report. Regional manufacturing data has weakened handily, as has anything tied to commodities and energy. Inflation also remains under the Fed's 2.0% to 2.5% target. Again, the minutes are going to be from a meeting that was three weeks old (September 16 and 17). There was still more scare from China and Asia at that time, and it was even worse in the prior weeks and in August. We looked at the prior minutes , and there almost have to be some changes expected for the September minutes. All of that is likely to lead to, yet again, a view that the Federal Reserve is being more dovish. Just keep in mind that the last stance of Yellen was that conditions appear proper for a rate hike by the end of this year. That would imply a rate hike in December rather than October, and investment professionals need to understand that there is no FOMC meeting on the books for November. For whatever this is worth, fed funds futures currently do not have a 100% pricing in of a fed funds rate hike to 0.25% until February of 2016. That is due to the slew of weaker economic data that has been seen in recent weeks. ALSO READ: The Worst Cities for Black Americans
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According to state wildlife managers, a hunter tracking elk in the Montana mountains said he fended off an attacking grizzly bear by shoving his arm into its throat to induce a gag reflex that would frighten it away. 26-year-old Chase Dellwo was hunting with a crossbow for elk with his brother in the rugged foothills of the Rocky Mountains in northwestern Montana on Saturday morning when he surprised a 400-pound male grizzly lumbering along a creek. Dellwo later told wardens he crammed his arm crosswise into the back of the grizzly's jaws because he had read an article that said large animals have pronounced gag responses. Dellwo, of Bellgrade, Montana, was driven by his brother to a nearby clinic before being taken to a hospital in Great Falls where he remained on Monday for treatment of injuries.
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Our series of weekly NASCAR driver interviews continues with Ryan Blaney, who is splitting his season between the Sprint Cup Series, Xfinity Series and Camping World Truck Series. He has two Xfinity wins and a Truck win in 2015. Q: If NASCAR allowed you to listen to music while you were racing, would you want to? A: That's tough. There are a couple tracks where I wouldn't mind doing it, like at Talladega or Daytona. Sometimes we get some really long runs, and if we get single-file or something, you kind of get a little bored. There are laps sometimes when people don't say anything (on the team radio). But those would be the only two races, and only for periods of time. I'd like to switch it on and off. That'd be nice. Would you go with pump-up music or calming music? It would depend, to be honest with you. If we were single-file in a line, I'd go with some calm country music or something. If it was time to go at the end of a plate race, I'd put on some metal or something and get you pumped up and in the mood. Q: Where did your first paycheck come from? A: I was driving for my dad (Dave Blaney) in Late Models. That was my first one, when I was 13 or 14 and he'd give me a little bit of the purse that we made while racing. I've really never had any other job other than racing. By the time I could start working on cars, I was racing them I was 8 when I started racing. So I've never had the opportunity to get a paycheck from anywhere else. Q: Who is an autograph you got as a kid that seemed to be a big deal to you at the time? A: Tony Stewart has been a friend of our family's for a long time, and I remember him coming up to Sharon Speedway the dirt track my dad owns. He signed my shirt, and I thought that was the coolest thing ever. That was really the only one I vividly remember getting, because I never asked I was always in the garage and kind of focused on my dad. Q: Where's a place you've never been that you'd like to go visit? A: I'm not much of a beach guy, so I'd rather go somewhere like the Swiss Alps. I think that'd be really cool spend a week up there snowboarding or something. That'd be awesome to visit. I'd also love to go see Bathurst (in Australia) and watch that race. Q: Do people ever accuse you of being addicted to your phone? A: Yeah. All the time. I've gotten better than what I used to be, to be honest with you. Last year I was really bad about it. I'd get out of the car, and if it was a long change (during practice) or something, I'd get on my phone and look at Twitter and see what other people were saying. My dad actually got on me one time about that. Since then, I've kind of been off it during practice because you don't focus as much, I feel like. Q: If a genie promised you a Cup championship in exchange for never being able to do your favorite hobby again, would you accept that offer? A: Oh yeah, for sure. I see a lot of people choose the championship on your questions, and you can't blame them. That's kind of the obvious answer because if you're a passionate race car driver, that's your ultimate goal. You can find new hobbies. It's a lot harder to win a championship than to find something different to do. What hobby would you be giving up? Nothing really big. Probably video games or something like that. I can give up video games and not play them for the rest of my life if it means a Cup championship. I don't know, man. There are a lot of good games coming out. I know! I'm really looking forward to them, actually. In the offseason there are going to be a lot of video games being played, I'll tell you that. Q: What's your preferred method of dealing with an angry driver after a race? A: I'd like to try to reach out to them as quickly as possible, whether it's in person or a call or a text. You'd rather do it in person, but it's hard to wait until the next week if you don't see them (right after the race). A good example is Clint Bowyer at New Hampshire earlier this year. I got loose underneath him and we kind of got into it and got into the wall a little bit. And I wasn't racing Cup for the next two weeks, so I probably wasn't going to see him. I didn't want to call him, because the (cell) service was terrible in New Hampshire. I thought it would be worse to call him and drop the call in the middle of our talk than to send him a text. Texting somebody is kind of the last thing I want to do, but I had to do it in that situation. Q: Do you ever get mistaken for another driver or celebrity? A: All the time, yeah. It's unbelievable, to be honest with you. I get Trevor Bayne so much when I'm in my 21 (Wood Brothers) firesuit. It's at least five to eight times a weekend I get called "Trevor Bayne." Sometimes I'll sign a Trevor Bayne autograph. (Laughs) I also get mixed up with Chase (Elliott) sometimes I don't know how and also Ryan Truex. People always mix me up. I don't know why. Q: If you had a time machine and you could travel to any year and race, where would you go? A: I'd like to go back to the 70s and 80s, like when (David) Pearson and (Cale) Yarborough were in the 21 car. Those style cars were so cool and it was so much more relaxed and open back then. There weren't as many rules, and you kind of ran what you brought to the racetrack. That left teams and cars so much different than each other. Now there are so many commitments on the drivers' side like keeping sponsors happy, and the politics are so much different than they were back then. I just feel like that was a simpler time. It's fun now, but I feel like it was probably a lot more fun to go to the racetrack. Guys were just carefree about it back then. Q: Would you rather have the ability to fly or be invisible? A: That's tough. If I was maybe 10 or 11 years old, I'd want to be invisible. But now I'd want to fly. It'd just be so convenient to get to the racetracks, and after the race, you don't have to worry about traffic or anything like that. Q: I've been asking each person to give me a question for the next interview. The last interview was with Austin Dillon, and he wanted to know: "If you met a girl for the first time and you had the option to text her or call her, what are you going to do? And what would you say?" A: Wow, he got deep with that one. (Laughs) That depends if I think it's love at first sight or something, like if I think I'm going to marry this girl. Plus, it depends how we met and how much conversation we had. Like if we were hanging out all night or something, I'd probably call her in the morning. Calling is a lot more intimate and it means a lot more, I feel like. People nowadays, they always text each other and it doesn't mean as much. So I'd probably give her a call and see what she has to say. Q: And do you have a question I can ask the next driver? It's scheduled to be John Wes Townley. A: Ask him if we all get a free Zaxby's chicken card for him winning in Vegas. Q: Finally, how did this interview go on a scale of 1-10? A: I think it went good. I'm going to go with about a 9. I love reading these; I look forward to them all the time no matter who it is. It's pretty neat how it varies so much with different drivers.
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As any driver knows, it's easy to get overwhelmed by the abundance of car-related goods and services, from pricey detailing to third-party warranties to premium fluids. Car owners on a budget must decide when to invest and when to cut corners. Pinching pennies in the wrong places can cost more down the road and raise concerns about safety. Cheapism.com consulted auto manufacturers, technicians, and maintenance guides to determine what's worth the money when it comes to your car. Regular Tire Rotation If you've ever looked at the bottom of your shoe and noticed that one area is more worn than another, you already have an idea about the need to rotate tires regularly. Tire treads wear unevenly through normal driving, a process worsened by incorrect tire pressure and uneven alignment. When tires are rotated properly, they wear more uniformly, resulting in a smoother ride, more balanced handling, increased traction, and more effective braking. Plus, rotating tires makes them last much longer and improves gas mileage. Use the opportunity to make sure they are inflated to the appropriate pressure. Check the owner's manual to see how frequently tires should be rotated. Manufacturers generally recommend doing so every 6,000 to 8,000 miles. If tires make noise even on smooth roads -- typically a loud humming sound -- that can be a sign that they need to be rotated. The job takes less than an hour and the average cost ranges between $27 and $35, according to RepairPal. Car owners who purchased tires from Costco, Sam's Club, Walmart, and Sears really have no reason to shirk -- this service comes at no charge. Read More: How to Buy Long-Lasting Tires Certification Program When buying a used car it's worth spending the extra few hundred or thousand dollars on one that's "certified pre-owned." These vehicles often come with an extended manufacturer's warranty. Plus, if any problems crop up after the warranty expires, the manufacturer may be willing to help out -- good luck getting anyone to do that for a vehicle that was purchased without the certification. Buying a certified pre-owned car also provides assurance that the car is in working order and won't break down as soon as you drive it off the lot. American Honda, for example, requires a 150-point inspection for a vehicle to earn the certified pre-owned title. Among other things, the inspection looks for aftermarket parts on the car, which Honda (and some experts) contend can affect the vehicle's safety, reliability, and performance. Moreover, using aftermarket parts generally voids the manufacturer's warranty. Read More: Why Do We Keep Buying Vehicles at Dealerships? Oil Changes on Schedule An oil change is one of the least expensive maintenance services and also one of the most critical, so there's no excuse for neglecting it. Oil keeps a vehicle's engine clear of sludge and build-up and ensures that all components run together smoothly. Dodging regular oil changes can lead to a host of problems, from worn pistons to all-out engine failure, that require extremely expensive repairs. Even car owners on a tight budget should stick to the schedule. Having a trusted technician looking at the vehicle on a regular basis is a smart habit because it draws attention to small issues, such as fluid leaks or worn-out parts, before they become unsafe or costly disasters. Oil changes generally are recommended every 2,500 to 3,000 miles, but check the owner's manual for the manufacturer's specific recommendation. It will also indicate the recommended grade of motor oil, which is important because the wrong grade can reduce a car's gas mileage by 1 or 2 percent, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. The 90-second oil change: Castrol claims a breakthrough Frequent Washes It might seem frugal to forgo car washes in order to save money, but this is an outlay that pays off. Bird droppings, for example, can cause permanent damage: When the paint on a vehicle gets hot, it softens and molds itself around the hardened droppings. The result is uneven paintwork that appears scratched, pitted, and dull. Getting a fresh clear coat is costly, and blemished, unsightly paint reduces a car's resale value. The longer the droppings remain, the worse the damage, so remove them promptly and in general wash the car frequently. Read more stories to help you with your vehicles at MSN Autos P eriodic Waxing If a future sale is in the cards, occasional waxing is critical to maintaining the value of the car. Wax does more than just add extra shine -- it prevents paint from fading and dulling and preserves the clear coat. Wax protects the car's exterior from the elements, such as UV rays, salt, exhaust, acid rain, ice, bug splatter, scratches, dirt, and so on. When it comes time to sell the vehicle, the better the exterior looks, the higher the asking price can be. Prospective buyers always notice the exterior even if they have no idea what to look for under the hood. Most experts recommend hand waxing every three months or so, or at least every six months. To gauge the need, splash a little water on the car: If it doesn't bead up, it's time for fresh wax. A little practice makes this a cheap DIY job. Alternatively, go the professional route; CostHelper users report paying $40 to $90 for a simple wash-and-wax. Splurge for a hand wax. The wax add-on at automated car washes doesn't offer much real protection. Brake Pad Replacement When it comes to brake pads, a little prevention and maintenance go a long way. If worn brake pads are not replaced, the brake rotors will warp and need to be resurfaced or replaced, both of which are costly. It's easy to get brake pads checked during a standard oil change or tire rotation. Brake wear depends on several factors, so there's no hard-and-fast schedule for replacing brake pads -- consult a trusted professional technician. However, if you hear a squeaking, screeching, or grinding sound or feel pulsing or vibrating when braking, it may be time for new pads. Decreasing brake effectiveness -- it takes longer to stop or you must press the pedal harder than usual -- is another common sign of brake wear. Replacing brake pads is both a money saver and a crucial safety measure. New brake pads cost cost between $100 and $250 an expense that's worth every dime. Follow MSN Autos on Facebook
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Amos Newsome was arrested after the incident
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Four Russian warships in the Caspian Sea have launched 26 rockets at Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in Syria which hit their targets, Russia's President Vladimir Putin and Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said in a joint television appearance. Russian efforts "will be synchronised with the actions of the Syrian army on the ground and the actions of our air force will effectively support the offensive operation of the Syrian army," Putin said in the meeting with Shoigu on Wednesday. "In addition to the air force, four warships of the Caspian flotilla have been involved," Shoigu said, adding that the warships had carried out 26 cruise missile strikes against 11 targets. "The intensity of the strikes is increasing." Putin also stressed the need for cooperation with a US-led coalition fighting ISIL, saying that without cooperation from the US, Turkey and Saudi Arabia the intervention was unlikely to work. Also on Wednesday the Syrian army and pro-regime forces launched a major ground operation in Hama province backed by air support from Russian warplanes, a military source told AFP news agency. "The Syrian army and allied forces began a ground operation in the northern parts of Hama province (central Syria)... with fire cover from the Russian air force," the source said. Russian forces have struck 112 targets in war-torn Syria since last week launching a bombing campaign that Moscow says is targeting the ISIL, Shoigu told Putin in the televised briefing. "Strikes have hit 112 targets from September 30 until today," Shoigu said. "The intensity of the strikes is increasing." Russian forces carried out the air strikes on Wednesday morning , in addition to targeting anti-government armed groups with surface-to-surface missiles, said the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. In Aleppo, Russian strikes targeted the towns of al-Bab and Deir Hafer, about 20km east of a military airport currently besieged by ISIL fighters. 'Russia using ISIL to target opposition' Western countries, Arab states and Turkey, who are waging their own bombing campaign against ISIL but also want Assad to leave power, say Moscow is using ISIL as a pretext to target Assad's other foes. Russia says the Assad government should be the centrepiece of international efforts to combat extremism. Putin said it was too early to talk about the results of Russia's operations in Syria and ordered Shoigu to continue cooperation with the US, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Iran and Iraq on Syria. Putin also said that French President France Hollande had voiced the idea of uniting Assad's forces with the so-called Free Syrian Army to fight Islamic State. But a source close to Hollande denied he had said this. "The president spoke of the necessary presence of the Syrian opposition around the negotiating table." a source close to Hollande said. "The rest is not a French idea." Shoigu said that on Tuesday Russia had summoned foreign military attaches in Moscow and suggested they supply Russia with any intelligence on ISIL positions. "Today we are expecting a reply from our colleagues and we hope they will tell us about those targets which they have," he said. Shoigu also said Russia was ready to agree a document with the US to coordinate actions in Syria.
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Let's be honest: Getting a urinary tract infection is the worst . With symptoms that include a burning sensation when you go to the bathroom, not being able to pee a lot (even though you feel like you do), and foul-smelling or dark urine to name just a few UTIs can feel like straight-up torture. And considering the fact that one out of five women will get a UTI at some point in their lives, it's safe to say that it's the type of misery that loves company mostly female company, that is. Though dudes aren't totally off the hook, it's significantly harder for them to get UTIs. It all boils down to anatomy, explains Mary Jane Minkin, MD, a clinical professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the Yale School of Medicine. Bacteria that cause UTIs have to make their way from the back door to the front and then up the urethra in order to wreak havoc on the urinary system. Because guys are (hashtag) blessed with a longer urethra than women, the bacteria have a further way to travel, making it more difficult for them to cause a UTI in the male body. One thing that is true for both men and women? Once you've had one UTI, you're more likely to have another. While this all may sound pretty doom-and-gloom, that whole knowledge-is-power thing might help you figure out why your body seems like it's out to get you. Here, the sneaky stuff that ups your risk for getting a dreaded UTI. Read on for 11 sneaky causes of UTIs. 1. You can't quit your sugar habit. Bingeing on cookies doesn't only affect your waistline it can actually lead to a UTI. "If you eat tons of added sugars and get a real surge in your blood sugar, you may end up with some of that sugar in your urine," Minkin explains. And the bacteria that cause UTIs love feeding on sugar, so you run the risk of essentially providing a feast for them whenever your sweet tooth strikes. 2. You're diabetic. Sad but true: Diabetics are more likely to suffer from UTIs, research shows. Remember how UTI-causing bacteria are big fans of sugar? Well, when you're diabetic, your blood sugar can be off the charts potentially making your urine the perfect place for bacteria to multiply (and lead to an infection), Minkin says. 3. You wipe the wrong way. By "wrong," we mean back to front. Wiping this way can bring bacteria specifically, E. coli, the bacteria that lives in the bowel that happens to be the culprit behind most UTIs into the urethra. Moral of the story: Always wipe front to back. Always. 4. You have lots of sex. Ma-jor bummer alert! The more sex you have, the likelier it is you might get a UTI, Minkin says. That's because bacteria from the vagina and from the area between the vagina and your butt may move to the urethra every time you do the deed. We repeat: every time. 5. You don't pee after sex. The threat of getting a UTI shouldn't stop you from getting it on. (After all, there are at least 15 reasons having sex is awesome for you .) But that doesn't mean resigning yourself to the afterburn either. One simple way to cut your risk: Head to the ladies' room after you've hit the finish line you'll hopefully pee out the bacteria that may have made their way into your urethra. 6. You hold it too long. We're all busy, but not taking time to hit the loo (and not just post-romp) does more harm than good. Because the last thing you want is urine to sit in the bladder for too long, just growing bacteria. 7. You're using certain methods of birth control. When it comes to UTI prevention, not all birth control methods are created equal. Luckily there's only one method that's associated with UTIs: a diaphragm. Because of where the diaphragm sits, it puts pressure on the urethra, which might lead to an increased risk, says Minkin. The good news? There are plenty other great birth control options . 8. You're using condoms. Hold up! Hear us out before you throw out your love gloves. Although you should a lways practice safe sex , unlubricated condoms can increase risk of UTIs, possibly because of increased irritation to the vagina during sexual activity. And using spermicide with diaphragms and condoms can increase risk even further. Try lubricated condoms (without spermicide) instead, or use a nonspermicidal lubricant to help prevent UTIs. 9. You don't drink enough water. Guzzling H20 (or fluids in general, for that matter) will make you go pretty often and that's a good thing. "When you do this, the bacteria gets flushed out before they have a chance to grab hold," Minkin says. Consider that your cue to camp out at the water cooler. 10. You've got a cold. Before you curse your cold for making your life even more miserable, know this: The cold itself has nothing to do with a UTI. The meds you take to manage your cold? Those are a different story. Though they're the bomb at keeping your runny nose in check, antihistamines might also make you pee less, which (as we now know see #6) may lead to a UTI. 11. You're pregnant. "Pregnant women have a higher chance of getting an UTI because the hormonal changes cause the bladder muscle to relax, thus delaying emptying," says Iffath A. Hoskins, an OB/GYN at NYU Langone Medical Center in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology. What's more, pregnant women have decreased ability to fight off infections, so any UTI-causing bacteria are more likely to catch hold and cause an infection. The Bottom Line Although it's a cruel and not-so-unusual punishment, a UTI isn't cause for major concern as long as you seek treatment, which involves antibiotics that typically clear up the infection within a few days. So if you feel any of the aforementioned symptoms coming on, see your doc, stat. And if you're plagued by the problem (as in, you've gotten a UTI three to six times in a single year), you might want to see a urologist to make sure you don't have more serious bladder issues.
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Anthony Davis is already widely viewed as one of the NBA's top three players, and he's only 22 years old with just three years of league experience. Might this be the year Davis emerges as the league's best? PBT's Dan Feldman pondered the topic , and believes it's a question of when and not if Davis eventually takes the crown. This could be the moment. LeBron James is on the wrong side of 30. Kevin Durant is coming off major injury. Stephen Curry hasn't proven himself on this level over multiple seasons. Everything is coming together for Davis. Monty Williams helped Davis acclimate to the pros, but Alvin Gentry's scheming can unleash Davis' full arsenal of skills. Davis was built to run, and Gentry is installing an up-tempo scheme. LeBron James is currently the league's best player, even though James Harden and Stephen Curry are the ones who are coming off of MVP-type seasons. Davis is primed to take over, and may indeed do so one day. But he'll face plenty of competition among the game's young stars before he takes the crown. MORE NEWS: Want stories delivered to you? Sign up for our NBA newsletters.
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sports
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From the return of football on the weekends to the arrival of pumpkin coffee at the local donut shop, there are so many reasons why fall is a favorite time of year for much of the population. However, the change in season also indicates the need for small critters to find a safe haven from the looming cold weather and, all to often, homes are the perfect place for mice , squirrels , rats , raccoons , spiders , cockroaches and other pests to hunker down. Unfortunately, these pests can become more than just a nuisance if they find a way inside. Rodents, for example, can contaminate food, spread disease and damage electrical wires, which may lead to a fire. Cockroaches are known to trigger allergies and asthma, especially in children. And, some spiders may bite if they are disturbed.The National Pest Management Association (NPMA) encourages homeowners to schedule some time over the next couple of weeks to complete a few simple home maintenance projects in preparation for the fall and winter. Being proactive will go a long way in preventing these common fall invaders from becoming unwelcome houseguests when the air turns crisp Consider the following tips from the NPMA: • Inspect the outside of your home for easy access points. Seal any cracks and crevices with silicone caulk, paying special attention to areas where utility pipes enter the structure. • Fill larger gaps and holes inside your home with pieces of steel wool, as pests are deterred away from the roughness of the steel fibers, especially rodents who are unable to gnaw through the material. • Install door sweeps and repair damaged screens. Torn window screens and cracks under doors are an ideal entry point for household pests.• Screen attic vents, openings to chimneys, and any other areas where homes may be open to the outdoors mail slots, for instance, or pet doors. • Replace weatherstripping and repair loose mortar around basement foundation and windows. These are easy ways to keep pests (and cold air) out of the house.• Clean leaves and other debris from your gutters to prevent standing water, the perfect breeding ground for many pests. • Keep basements, attics and crawl spaces well ventilated and dry by using a dehumidifier. • Properly landscape to avoid providing pest harborage sites. Keep branches and shrubbery trimmed. • Store firewood at least 20 feet away from the perimeter of the home.Following these tips will reduce the likelihood of having to deal with pest problems in the later part of the year. However, there's always a chance that a mouse or cockroach could still sneak by unnoticed. If you suspect an infestation in the home, it's important to contact a licensed pest control professional to assess the situation and recommend treatment. Use the zip code locator on PestWorld.org to find a pest control company that services your area. This post has been brought to you by the National Pest Management Association. Its facts and opinions are those of BobVila.com.
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Flash-memory storage products Pure Storage opens at the NYSE on Wednesday. Pure Storage CEO Scott Dietzen, says he's encouraging his company to think long-term.
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Meteorologist Domenica Davis talks looks at a gang of otter pups Nurture for Nature program at Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom.
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It's a scary moment when you look down at your outfit only to realize, wait - wait a minute - you're dressed just like your mom. But if said mom happens to be Michelle Obama, FLOTUS and fashion icon to women everywhere, it's not such a raw deal. In fact, that's something her daughter Malia should truly take as a compliment, as comparisons between the two ladies begin to flood the Internet. And after browsing through pics of the 17-year-old ourselves, it's increasingly obvious: Michelle's chic and ladylike fashion sense has definitely rubbed off on the eldest Obama child. Take a look at how many times Malia proved she got it from her mama, and hope that these two start sharing clothes sometime in the near future. When They Both Wore Checkered Coats When They Looked Like Two Peas in a Pod, Rocking Florals When the Family Uniform Was Basically Khakis and a White Top When They Stood Out in the Crowd Wearing Winter White When They Knew a Blue Cotton Dress Was the Way to Go When They Went With This Jewel Tone For Their Outerwear When Malia Took Mom's Advice and Wore a Cardigan Over Her Dress When They Were Ladies in Red When They Stood Side by Side in These Ladylike Looks When They Stood Out in Colorful Sleeveless Shifts When They Both Opted For Embellished LBDs When They Both Looked Fierce in White Fit-and-Flares When They Were Seriously Twinning in White Dresses and Buns
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Callaway builds astounding Corvettes. This has been known for decades. And yet, when the company decides to build a super-Vette like this, it still takes us by surprise. Feast your eyes on the Callaway Corvette C7 GT3-R. It's what Darth Vader straps into when he wants to set a lap record. Designed over the past two years, and completed just a few weeks ago, the track-built beast packs a 600-horsepower, 6.2-liter V8 hooked to an X-Trac 6-speed paddle-shift sequential 'box. Then there's that bodywork. Penned by longtime Callaway designer Paul Deutschman, whose portfolio includes the delightfully bizarre T-Rex trike, it somehow makes the angry lines of the C7 Corvette even more aggressive. This track-only beast will hit the circuits in 2016, with Callaway Competition's in-house racing team running the first example. Imagine this thing looming in your rear view mirror as you try to remember your braking point and nail the apex. Follow MSN Autos on Facebook
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autos
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Mitsubishi will be releasing a limited number of their special Lancer Evolution Final Edition to commemorate the last year of the sports compact. Only 1600 of the 2015 itteration will be sold in the United States. The turbocharged, all-wheel-drive Lancer Evolution first hit the U.S. market in 2003 and has garnered a cult following in the more than decade since. Related Link: Research Mitsubishi's Latest Models The specs of the final edition will include five-speed manual transmission and 303-horsepower. The bodies, which start as GSR models, will also evolve with the addition of Bilstein shocks, Eibach springs, Brembo front brake rotors, dark chrome finished Enkei whieels, a black painted roof, a black headliner, red accent stiching on the seats, steering wheel and shift knob as well as, to top it off, a Final Edition badge on the trunk and numbered plaque on the center console. A base 2015 Lancer Evolution GSR costs $35,305 while the Final Edition will come in at $38,805. Whether there will be a next itteration of the Lancer Evo and what it will look like is unknown. "With its incredible combination of power, agility and Super All-Wheel Control, the Lancer Evolution is one of the most well-known sports sedans and is revered by 'gearheads' around the globe," said Mitubishi Motors North America executive vice president, Don Swearingen. "The Final Edition model pays homage to Evo's remarkable place in automotive history and takes it one step further as the most powerful mass-production Lancer Evolution ever built." Follow MSN Autos on Facebook
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autos
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Leave it to Callaway to take a badass Corvette and make it even more so. Case in point: the new Callaway Corvette C7 GT3-R you see here. It made its big debut this past weekend during the season finale for the ADAC GT Masters series at the legendary Hockenheimring the on-again, off-again home of the German Grand Prix. Why in Germany, you ask? Because that's where Callaway Competition is based. The racing division got its start in Heilbronn as Woeher & Ciccone back in 1985. It joined with US-based Callaway Cars in 1988 to distribute its modified Corvettes in Europe, and branched out into constructing racing cars in 1994. And this is its latest project. Designed in partnership between Callaway Competition in Germany and Canadian designer Paul Deutschman, the new GT3-R replaces the previous C6-based Z06.R GT3. It packs a 6.2-liter V8 pumping 600 horsepower through an X-Trac six-speed sequential gearbox. And as you can see, it sure looks the part. Callaway will be offering the new GT3-R to privateer teams for entry in a variety of racing series around the world. But it'll also be fielding the example you see here, sponsored by Whelen Engineering that like Callaway Cars is based in Connecticut. Follow MSN Autos on Facebook Callaway Corvette C7 GT3-R World Debut at Hockenheim October 3, 2015 Hockenheim, Germany October 3, 2015 This weekend's ADAC GT Masters Season Finale was the backdrop for the unveiling of Callaway Competition's new Callaway Corvette C7 GT3-R. Following a brief presentation to media and invited guests, the successor of the C6-based Callaway Z06.R GT3 was displayed to the public for the first time on October 3, 2015 at the Hockenheimring in Germany. Constructors of GT race cars since 1990 and based in Leingarten Germany, Callaway Competition possesses a wealth of experience, technical know-how and a broad network of specialized professional partners. These elements were crucial to conduct such a large undertaking. After nearly two years of comprehensive planning, intensive development and expert fabrication of vehicle components, Callaway Competition completed the first C7 GT3-R just a few weeks ago. Its striking design comes as a result of the collaboration between Canadian designer Paul Deutschman and team owners Giovanni Ciccone and Ernst Wöhr. Mike Gramke, Uwe Hoffmann, Florian Möhring and Andre Zanke were also heavily involved in the vehicle's development. Rüdiger Geckler coordinated the delivery of all components and the detailed assembly work was taken on by Herbert Schürg. All of these people played a key role and are acknowledged for their hard work and dedication. The result is a GT3 racer built to meet all FIA rules and regulations. Powering the Callaway Corvette C7 GT3-R is a Chevrolet-based 6.2L V8 engine producing 600 horsepower, mated to an X-Trac 6-speed sequential gearbox with paddle-shift technology. Having put the C7 GT3-R through its paces, the development team is proud to report that it surpasses its predicted performance. The new Callaway Corvette C7 GT3-R's will take to the track starting in 2016, competing with the world's fastest GT cars in a variety of racing series worldwide. The first C7 GT3-R to be campaigned by Callaway Competition's in-house race team is sponsored by Whelen Engineering of Chester, Connecticut, manufacturers of premium quality warning and signaling devices. Ernst Wöhr and Giovanni Ciccone, managing partners of Callaway Competition, stated: "We wanted to set another milestone in our company's history with our new design, developing and constructing a future-proof vehicle that will be produced from 2016 and used for many years to come. As a small, privately owned team lacking the finances and human resources of the big automotive groups, we knew from the outset that approaching a project of this magnitude would be very daring. Therefore, first and foremost, we have to thank our employees and partners who have made it possible to finally set the C7 GT3R on its wheels. Everyone has given more than 100% and we truly can't thank them enough. We can be proud of our performance to date and are confident we will be rewarded with good results in the many races ahead."
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Express Scripts (ESRX) , the largest pharmacy benefits manager in the U.S., says it's got a plan to fight drug price increases: Refuse to pay. "We actually have inflation protection, which is really important," Express Scripts Chief Medical Officer Dr. Steve Miller said in a telephone interview Tuesday. "What really frustrates employers and other plan sponsors is when you agree to a price and they just start jacking it up." The company, which negotiates drug prices on behalf of insurers, is implementing the measure on plans to cover two new cholesterol drugs, made by Amgen (AMGN) and Regeneron (REGN) , partnered with Sanofi (SAN-FR) . Miller said Tuesday Express Scripts is seeking to limit price increases on the other drugs it covers as well. "We have told the companies exactly how much they can inflate the price over the course of the contract," Miller said. "If they go up any higher, dollar for dollar it comes back to the plan sponsors." In other words, Express Scripts will only pay for drugs up to a certain limit. Miller declined to specify what that limit is. The strategy comes at a time when price increases on medicines are in the national spotlight, after private company Turing Pharmaceuticals raised the price of a 62-year-old drug by more than 5,000 percent, drawing protests from doctors and patient groups that said they could no longer access it. Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton called the move price gouging, and has vowed to introduce measures to limit other such price increases if she takes office. Her focus on the issue has sent the biotech industry spiraling lower over concerns of price limits even as most industry analysts say it's unlikely Congress would pass any such plans. In recent weeks, serial acquirer Valeant Pharmaceuticals (VRX-CA) has taken a beating over price increases it's imposed on medicines after obtaining their rights, leading some to question its business model. Valeant's stock is down 28 percent in the last month. The company has defended itself from such criticism . Miller called the practice of raising prices on old drugs "reprehensible," and said capping what it would reimburse for price increases aims to combat the strategy. Most companies don't take price increases of the magnitude of Turing's; regular rises of 5 to 10 percent several times a year, however, are common. Miller cited Biogen's multiple sclerosis drug Avonex as an example, and said Express Scripts' plan is to limit those kinds of increases as well. Avonex, approved in 1996, saw price rises of about 6 percent in August and March this year, to a list price of just under $70,000 annually, according to an August note from Cowen. Other makers of multiple sclerosis drugs take similar increases, Cowen analyst Eric Schmidt wrote. Biogen (BIIB) declined to comment. Express Scripts' Miller said the company is adding the price increase limits to both generic and branded products it covers, noting it's approaching the point where a "high percentage of our total spend is covered by inflation protection." "Pharma has shown that they feel very emboldened with their pricing power," Miller said. "We're using our clout in the marketplace to really tamp these down for our clients."
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Michigan police search for vehicle that caused accident
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Oct 7, 2015; 9:20 AM ET This animated video shows a close-up of Pluto and the atmosphere around it.
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Forget about counting calories or buying the newest fat burner (or at least forget about them for now). Top nutrition experts agree that the best and most effective steps you can take to lose fat and recover your abs are all things you can do today with little effort and at low cost. Here are three fat loss tips from Robert Yang, a strength and conditioning and nutrition coach to pro athletes. (robertyang.net)
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While the Tokyo auto show is often a venue for Japanese automakers to get extra-weird with their concept cars, Subaru's two show cars amount to a fairly straightforward preview of the next-generation Outback and Impreza hatchback. The star of the show for Subaru is the Viziv Future Concept "Viziv" is said to be derived from "Vision for Innovation," and "Future Concept" is pretty self-explanatory. Draped in some of the most stylish, well-proportioned sheetmetal we've seen from Subaru, the Viziv is a two-door, but its design is said to preview the next-generation Outback. See more news from the Tokyo Motor Show Subaru isn't detailing the Viziv Future Concept's powertrain, beyond saying it's powered by a downsized boxer turbo with a hybrid, which we are interpreting to mean it's the 1.6-liter turbo married to some version of the hybrid system from the gas-electric XV Crosstrek. A single electric motor mounted on the rear axle does away with the need for a prop shaft, and offers a new interpretation the company's signature all-wheel-drive platform, saving weight while maximizing fuel economy and minimizing emissions. The Viziv also gets the latest iteration of the company's EyeSight technology, which features revised stereo cameras and radar to deliver not only adaptive cruise control and automatic braking, but all-around crash avoidance that also detects bicycles and pedestrians. It also can park the car automatically. Upgraded telematics are said to allow the Viziv to predict traffic congestion and seek out viable detours. Inside, the Viziv gets a three-tone cream, orange, and black color scheme accented with aluminum trim. The cockpit also features a large central touch screen and digital instruments. Subaru's second world premiere at Tokyo will be the Impreza 5-door Concept, of which the company has released two sketches. Incorporating Subaru's new design language, the Impreza hatchback employs C-shaped headlamps, a sloping greenhouse, and interconnected front and rear fender flares. No powertrain details are forthcoming, but we'll learn more once the concept makes its in-the-flesh debut later this month. Follow MSN Autos on Facebook
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autos
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Our neighbors over at Import Tuner teased what Nissan will be displaying at the 2015 Tokyo Motor Show (TMS), which runs from October 30 to November 8 at the Tokyo International Exhibition Center. Days earlier Honda did the same, announcing its lineup of production and concept vehicles and motorcycles, as well as other highlights from its exhibit. To no one's surprise, leading the pack are two heavily anticipated models, both already for sale in different parts of the world but eventually making their way Stateside (if not already here). If you guessed NSX and Civic Type-R (CTR), you win a cookie! (Not really.) But seriously, both will be in Honda's booth, which we're hearing will cover the largest floor area of any single brand at the show. Specs on the new NSX should be common knowledge by now: direct-injected twin turbo VTEC V-6 engine mounted on a lightweight vehicle body in a mid-ship layout together with a Sport Hybrid SH-AWD (Super Handling-All Wheel Drive) hybrid system. As for the FWD CTR, again, you should have this committed to memory: 2.0-liter VTEC TURBO engine with direct-injection, makes in the neighborhood of 305 horsepower and 295 lb.-ft. of torque, more than for any previous Honda Type R model. There will be more in the booth, but c'mon, it'll be tough for any vehicle to step out from the considerable shadow of either performance car. Honda will be touting its new fuel cell conveyance, tentatively called the FCV, which features a cruising range of more than 435 miles. The exhibit will also include the Step WGN equipped with Waku Waku Gate, the all-new S660 open-top sports-type mini-vehicle, and others. Plus, Honda will have several concept models, including the Project 2&4 powered by RC213V, designed to fuse together the values of two- and four-wheel mobility, which made its global debut at the Frankfurt Motor Show this past September. Follow MSN Autos on Facebook
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autos
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New York Times New York Times journalist Vanessa Grigoriadis learned really quickly how to get an interview with Nicki Minaj shut down. The rapper didn't appreciate a line of questioning about some of the men from the label she belongs to, Cash Money Records. Grigoriadis asked questions about Minaj's boyfriend Meek Mill's beef Meek with rapper Drake , and rapper Lil' Wayne's $51 million lawsuit against label co-founder Birdman . ''They're men, grown-ass men,'' Minaj told Grigoriadis . ''It's between them.'' How does it make you feel, I ask? ''I hate it,'' she said. ''It doesn't make me feel good. You don't ever want to choose sides between people you love. It's ridiculous. I just want it to be over.'' If Grigoriadis would've stopped there, she probably could've asked a lot more questions of the rapper. But, she ended up asking a question that Minaj felt was "disrespectful," "stupid," and " premeditated." 'Is there a part of you that thrives on drama, or is it no, just pain and unpleasantness," Grigoriadis asked. ''That's disrespectful,'' Minaj answered. ''Why would a grown-ass woman thrive off drama?'' She later added, ''What do the four men you just named have to do with me thriving off drama? Why would you even say that? That's so peculiar. Four grown-ass men are having issues between themselves, and you're asking me do I thrive off drama?'' Grigoriadis said she wished she could take back the question, but it was too late. Minaj's temper was fast and she began to ask questions about the reporter's intentions. New York Times''That's the typical thing that women do. What did you putting me down right there do for you?'' Minaj asked. She then added, ''To put down a woman for something that men do, as if they're children and I'm responsible, has nothing to do with you asking stupid questions, because you know that's not just a stupid question. That's a premeditated thing you just did.'' It was here where she shut down the interview. "I don't care to speak to you anymore," Minaj concluded. In retrospect, the reporter said she understands why Minaj reacted that way. "Even though I had no intention of putting her down as a small-minded or silly woman, she was right to call me out," Grigoriadis wrote. NOW WATCH: Science explains why we're obsessed with zombies and shows like 'Fear the Walking Dead'
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Paul Henson is a 28-year-old dad from Virginia and he's currently trying to help his son Caiden find the perfect Halloween costume. But, Caiden only wanted to be one character this year: Elsa from Frozen. While they were shopping for the right Elsa costume, Henson snapped a photo and shared it on Facebook. The dad was surprised at how much attention he got from the one post. Especially that it was a majority of positive responses. The pic was also shared a couple thousand times. Henson responsed to the attention by saying, that his parents raised him to be himself and that's all he wants for Caiden.
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If you suffer from one of these common conditions, like insomnia, here's how to cope. Sleep is absolutely essential to good physical and mental health, and most adults need seven to nine hours every night. Sleep deprivation caused by insufficient sleep or poor quality of sleep impairs the body's immune system, physical reflexes, emotional stability and cognitive functions, such as memory, decision-making, the capacity to focus one's attention and the ability to complete complex creative activities or mathematical calculations. Severe sleep deprivation may lead to weight gain, an increase in muscle, joint and nerve pain, depression and even hallucinations. Sleep disorders can also be symptomatic of more serious illness, such as clinical depression and/or heart disease, meaning that it's essential to talk with your doctor if you are having problems falling, or staying, asleep. If you or your doctor think you might have a sleep disorder, a first step in further evaluation is to answer the eight questions on the Epworth Sleepiness Scale . If your score is equal to or higher than 10, the results should be discussed with your doctor. Depending upon your symptoms, your physician may determine that you are a candidate for a sleep study. Another step is to begin keeping a sleep diary that documents your daily activities, including your sleep activities (i.e. tossing and turning, waking in the middle of the night, sleep walking, grinding teeth, etc.). Take careful note of the times you actually get good sleep versus the times you don't. If you're attempting to heal from an acute injury or a chronic illness, your treatment program will be greatly enhanced by your commitment to proper sleep hygiene. Commonly-Diagnosed Sleep Problems There are a large variety of sleep disorders. Some are caused by physical problems, such as an airway obstruction that leads to sleep apnea, or chronic pain or indigestion/reflux sufficient enough to cause insomnia. Sleep problems can also occur as a side effect of taking certain medications or supplements, or because of emotional difficulties including depression, post-traumatic stress disorders and/or anxiety about life situations. In many cases, there can be several factors contributing to the sleep disturbance, including anxiety about the sleep deprivation itself. Some commonly-diagnosed sleep disorders include: Insomnia Inability to fall asleep within 15 to 20 minutes. Dyssomnia Frequent awakenings throughout the night and/or early-morning awakenings. Restless leg syndrome When lying in bed, unpleasant "crawling" sensations in the legs that create an irresistible and sleep-disruptive urge to move one's legs. Sleepwalking Walking during sleep or engaging in other activities, like eating, that are normally associated with wakefulness. Sleep apnea Obstruction of airway during sleep, causing breathing irregularities that interrupt and interfere with sleep. Sufferers are at higher risk of developing high blood pressure, heart disease and stroke. Snoring may be a sign or symptom of sleep apnea, so it's something you should mention to your doctor. (The National Institutes of Health offer more information about sleep apnea, including an animated illustration of the disorder.) Treatment of Sleep Disorders There are a wide range of over-the-counter and prescription medications advertised as sleep aids. All of them including nutritional supplements, Chinese herbs, non-prescription-medications and prescribed-medications may have side effects or cause drug interactions; for example, long-term use of Benadryl or Tylenol PM may increase your risk for developing Alzheimer's . Please talk with your doctor before taking any sleep aids. Alternative Treatments - Calcium (1,500 to 2,000 mg daily, taken after meals 500 mg per meal and 500 mg at bedtime). Calcium is a nutritional supplement that helps relax the body's muscles. - Magnesium (1,000 mg daily). A nutritional supplement that helps to calm the body's nervous system and relax the muscles. - Cortisol Manager (One tablet daily). Cortisol Manager reduces cortisol levels for all-day stress reduction and restful sleep. It's safe for use every night. - Valerian (1,000 mg daily). Valerian is an American herb that has been found effective in helping to induce the onset of sleep. - Phosphatidylserine (PS 100; take one to two at bedtime). Phosphatidylserine is a phospholipid nutritional supplement that stops hyperactive production of cortisol in the body, allowing unhealthy, elevated cortisol levels to decrease, and consequently, more restful sleep to occur. - Melatonin (1 to 3 mg daily, but consult with your doctor before using, especially if you're taking an antidepressant). Melatonin is a hormone that helps induce and maintain sleep. It can be useful in helping people recover from jet lag by reorganizing the sleep cycle (assisting the body in adjusting to time-zone changes). - L-Tryptophan (1,000 to 3,000 mg, 30 to 40 minutes before going to bed). L-Tryptophan is a serotonin-precursor, amino-acid nutritional supplement that can help initiate sleep and can be used to reduce chronic pain and depression. - Chinese herbs . These can be very helpful in treating and resolving sleep problems, but need to be prescribed by a physician or licensed acupuncturist trained in Chinese herbal medicine . - Acupuncture . Talk with your doctor about the frequency of treatments that might be helpful for you. - Meditation . Twenty minutes daily. - Aerobic exercise . Three to four times a week, completed at least three hours prior to bedtime. Immediate Steps You Can Take to Help Ensure You Get the Rest You Need -Plan your daily schedule to allow seven to nine hours for sleeping every night. -Keep a consistent sleep pattern, even on weekends. -Eliminate caffeine from your diet or reduce your consumption to one cup of coffee or tea, or one soda per day. Caffeine is a stimulant, and it takes six hours or more for your body to metabolize. -After 3 p.m., drink only non-caffeinated beverages. -Take B-vitamins and ginseng in the morning, not before bedtime. -Get regular physical exercise (three to four times a week). -Create a bedtime-relaxation routine, which might include: Getting ready for and going to bed at the same time each night. Taking a hot shower or bath before bed. Enjoying a cup of chamomile tea before sleep. Reading a book rather than watching TV once in bed. (Instead of having a relaxing effect, watching television before bed actually stimulates the mind.) Journaling as a way of getting problems "off your mind" and onto paper so they can be dealt with in an orderly way in the future. Also: -Avoid drinking alcohol near bedtime (although alcohol may cause drowsiness initially, alcohol inhibits sleep continuation). -Make sure sleeping conditions are comfortable (proper temperature and darkness). Overall, try to remain consistent with your sleep routine even on weekends and holidays. Good night! Dr. Gary Kaplan, D.O. , a pioneer of integrative medicine, is one of just 19 physicians board certified in both family medicine and pain medicine and practices in McLean, Virginia. A clinical associate professor at Georgetown University and director of the Kaplan Center for Integrative Medicine, he has also served as a consultant to the NIH and, in October 2013, was appointed to the Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Advisory Committee at Health and Human Services. He's the author of " Total Recovery: A Revolutionary New Approach to Breaking the Cycle of Pain and Depression." Dr. Kaplan has discussed his work on Good Morning America, BBC, NPR, NBC News and CBS News, as well as in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, TIME, Prevention, Everyday Health and US News & World Report. He resides in Falls Church, Virginia. Connect wit him o n YouTube , Facebook and Twitter . Copyright 2015 U.S. News & World Report More from MSN 5 Key Nutrients You're Probably Not Getting Enough Of 8 High-Protein Breakfasts That Don't Involve Eggs
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Midwestern farmland is about as far away from Silicon Valley as can be, but agricultural technology is addressing some big challenges that farmers will face in the coming years, such as climate change and feeding a growing global population. The technology industry has now discovered agriculture, and some big names are funding startup projects. This May, Google Ventures became a leading investor in a big data company called the Farmers Business Network. AgFunder matches institutional investors with agricultural startup companies, many of them on the technology side. While it's nearly impossible for the average investor to buy into a startup, there are several publicly traded agricultural companies that are embracing technology. Investors should realize that the sector is small, and as of now, many companies aren't pure-play agricultural technology investments. Additionally, agriculture is getting hit by the commodities bust because of reduced demand and bigger supply, so the stocks of many of these companies are down and could fall further. Farmers are plugged in. Despite the urban person's sometimes-pastoral view of farming, the agricultural sector has been quick to adopt new technology. Farmers have always been keen to try new ways to boost crop yields, especially if results come quickly. "This has always been going on, but what's accelerated it, particularly in the last five years, is the systems approach to agriculture," says Ned Schmidt, publisher of the Agri-Food Value View newsletter. In the past few years, cloud technology and computerized mapping technology in tractors and combines improved, allowing farmers to collect data on how much fertilizer was used, how many seeds were planted and where and how much was harvested. Additionally, Mike Zuzolo, president of Global Commodity Analytics & Consulting in Atchison, Kansas, says combines and tractors use GPS and guidance technology. Guidance technology is much like cruise control in a car, but can almost be self-guided. "The guidance technology has become so good it's allowed farmers to work at night and allowed the computer to follow paths they can't see with their eyes," he says. The mapping and the guidance technology is called precision agriculture because it allows farmers to be more precise in the fields. Justin G. Gardner, associate professor of agribusiness at Middle Tennessee State University, says one company that uses GPS guidance technology and offers several services under the umbrella of precision agriculture is Trimble Navigation Limited (ticker: TRMB). Drone technology. Many in the agriculture sector say the next step in precision agriculture is drone use. The Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International, an advocacy group in Arlington, Virginia, expects that precision agriculture will make up about 80 percent of the known potential commercial markets for drones. "Drones have the potential to replace agronomists by being able to go into the field, do the analysis and dump the data in a computer," says Shawn Hackett, president of Hackett Financial Advisors in Boynton Beach, Florida. Drones can help pinpoint problems in a field, such as insect infestations or fungal problems, Schmidt says. That way, a farmer can spray just a section of the field, rather than all the plants, reducing his expenses. But investors who want to buy drone companies will have to wait, Hackett says. "Right now, it's probably too early to figure out which drone companies will help ag," he says. One agricultural equipment company that is teaming up with a drone manufacturer is AGCO Corp. (AGCO), which Schmidt calls "an excellent company." AGCO is about one-third the size of rival Deere & Co. (DE), but Schmidt says that's a good thing. "They can innovate on a product and not cannibalize another part of their business. Farm equipment is all integrated, so you have the tractor, combine, etc. ACGO is bringing in the technology. It's also primarily outside the U.S., as 75 percent of its business is in South America, Africa, Europe, Middle East and China," Schmidt says. Hackett thinks Deere is a core agricultural stock to buy for anyone who wants exposure to the sector. Zuzolo says Deere's auto-steer technology is "probably the best in the business." Deere also has a big precision agricultural management center, including Web-based applications. The farm equipment "can collect a lot of data, even as much as what implements you use whether for corn or soybeans and how often," he says. Big data collection in general is becoming an issue for farmers, Zuzolo says, many of whom feel a bit unsettled by it all. "I've spoken to many who wonder, 'Is it doing me any good?'" he says. Zuzolo also says the low crop prices of the past few years may mean farmers aren't willing to shell out for all the bells and whistles on farm equipment like they once did during the commodity boom. Because technology can become obsolete, there's hesitancy to upgrade quickly, especially since the farming technology is costly. "It's not like switching out your smartphone," he says. "The question is, what will they do for 2016? Will they invest in tech or fertilizer? Technology is good and will pay off down the road, but will they make the upfront payment when prices are low?" Other technology. Another area of agricultural technology is in verifying where food has been, from farm to fork. One small company, Where Food Comes From (WFCF), traces food's path. The company produces radio frequency identification chips for cattle, and Schmidt says with the North American cattle herd expected to increase over the next few years, WFCF stock stands to benefit. The company also audits and verifies foods for organic producers to ensure they are free of genetically modified organisms . "Right now they're a very small company, so people need to understand that," Schmidt says. A Canadian company, Ag Growth International (AFN), helps farmers be more efficient after harvest. "They do grain handling and storage every part of the process from harvesting, storage, transporting grain. They do it cheaper, easier and are more efficient. They can monitor temperatures in storage bins to prevent spoilage. They're a wonderful company," Hackett says. Gardner says potential investors in agriculture can follow corn prices to get a sense of how crop agriculture is faring in the U.S. Corn is the most prevalent crop grown here, and when prices rise, farmers' profits improve. Currently, corn prices are at the low end of recent price trends. "Because of that, sales for some of these companies will be slow. But when corn prices start rising, farmers will have money, and then they like to buy toys," Gardner says. Copyright 2015 U.S. News & World Report
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While the race for NFL postseason awards has a long ways to go, some players have already emerged as early frontrunners. MVP: New England QB Tom Brady While the NFL and his defense lawyers continue to spar over the "Deflategate" scandal, Brady has shown that his quarterbacking skills remain in rare air for the undefeated Patriots (3-0). Brady tossed four touchdown passes in the season-opener against Pittsburgh, threw for more yards (466) vs. Buffalo than any other opposing quarterback in Bills history and then picked apart Jacksonville in a 51-17 rout. Brady hasn't thrown an interception in 133 pass attempts and, at his current pace, has a legitimate shot at 6,000 passing yards. Offensive Player of the Year: Green Bay QB Aaron Rodgers If not for the stellar play of New England quarterback Tom Brady, Rodgers would be considered the leading contender for his third NFL Most Valuable Player award in five seasons. Rodgers should still be regarded as a strong challenger for the honor based upon his outstanding start. Even with top targets like wide receivers Jordy Nelson and Davante Adams sidelined by injuries, Rodgers hasn't skipped a beat for the Packers (4-0). Rodgers leads the NFL in quarterback rating (125.9) and has thrown 11 touchdowns without an interception. Defensive Player of the Year: Carolina CB Josh Norman Entering the final year of his contract, Norman's decision to decline a Panthers extension offer in hopes of securing a larger deal down the road should pay big dividends. Norman's four interceptions are more than the total of 20 teams through Week 4. Norman returned two of those picks for touchdowns to help the Panthers (4-0) get off to their best start since 2003. Biggest surprise team: Atlanta With a 4-0 start under new head coach Dan Quinn, the Falcons are just two wins away from matching last season's win total. A more aggressive defense has shown vast improvement from the past two years while the offense ranks third in the NFL in scoring at 34.2 points a game. Wide receiver Julio Jones is a bona fide MVP candidate with a league-leading 38 catches for 478 yards and four touchdowns. Biggest surprise player: Green Bay WR James Jones Jones may not have shown enough to stick with the New York Giants during the preseason but he has flourished since returning to the Packers following his release in early September. Jones, who played with Green Bay from 2007 to 2013, has picked up the slack created by injuries to wide receivers Jordy Nelson and Davante Adams. Jones has 17 catches for 317 yards and four touchdowns in four starts. Not too shabby for someone who was a free agent for the entire offseason until being signed by New York right before training camp. Most disappointing team: Detroit No 2014 playoff team has slid more than the Lions, which are 0-4 after posting an 11-5 mark last season. With star defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh gone to Miami and weak-side linebacker DeAndre Levy (hip) sidelined, Detroit's defense is allowing an average of 82 more yards and six more points than last year. The offense also is struggling to find an identity under embattled coordinator Joe Lombardi. The running game ranks last in the NFL with a 47-yard average and poor pass protection has made it difficult for quarterback Matt Stafford to get on a roll with Calvin Johnson (81). Most disappointing player: Miami DT Ndamukong Suh This isn't what the Dolphins were expecting when signing Suh to the richest free-agent contract (six years, $114 million) for a defensive player in NFL history. Suh has 10 tackles and no sacks for the NFL's worst run defense. One of the biggest tasks for Dan Campbell, who was named interim head coach last Monday following the firing of Joe Philbin, is finding a way to help Suh regain the form that made him the NFL's most physically dominant interior force while with Detroit. Coach of the Year: Atlanta's Dan Quinn Quinn's upbeat demeanor and coaching style there was a live DJ playing tunes during offseason and preseason practices have struck a chord with Falcons players. His hands-on work with the defense has resulted in a more aggressive unit that has forced eight turnovers through four games. Quinn's hiring of offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan also has helped rejuvenate the running game and gotten quarterback Matt Ryan back on track after a sluggish 2014 campaign. Hottest seat: Philadelphia head coach Chip Kelly With the Dolphins firing Joe Philbin after a 1-3 start, there doesn't appear to be another head coach in imminent danger of being dismissed during the regular season. However, Eagles owner Jeff Lurie may face a tough offseason decision if Kelly can't get Philadelphia turned around following a 1-3 start. Kelly drastically overhauled Philadelphia's roster during the offseason when given control over personnel decisions and has yet to see positive results on offense. It's also fair to wonder whether Kelly becomes frustrated at a lack of NFL success and tries to return to the college ranks like Nick Saban did in 2007 following two seasons with the Miami Dolphins. Offensive Rookie of the Year: Oakland WR Amari Cooper The first wide receiver taken in this year's draft at No. 4 overall, Cooper has splashed onto the NFL scene with his combination of quickness, precise route-running and sure hands. Cooper leads all NFL rookies in receptions (24) and yards (339) by a wide margin while quickly building strong chemistry with second-year Raiders quarterback Derek Carr. Defensive Rookie of the Year: Atlanta OLB Vic Beasley Beasley and Kansas City cornerback Marcus Peters are the defensive rookies who have made the quickest impact. Beasley's sack total of two is modest so far but should increase as he gains experience. Just his presence alone has already helped bolster a Falcons defense sorely in need of a pass-rushing threat since John Abraham's release prior to the 2013 season.
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NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Following the worst quarter for U.S. markets in four years, most investors would do well to pause for a moment of silence in memory of their dearly departed dollars. The S&P, as decent a benchmark for U.S. investments as any, lost 8% in three months and is lower today than it was this time last year. Of course, these are just the averages. The individual results reflected in investors' account balances are probably far worse. Why? Even in the best of times, the fees charged by the financial intermediary complex make for stiff headwinds. In a bear market, however, under the terrible effect of reverse compounding, these fees can ravage portfolios. Still, according to the Hobbesian logic of the financial industry, an investor must always pay the fee, regardless of how expertly - or not -- the money manager navigates the storm. Combine that standard business practice with all the industry's forms of legal larceny -- revenue sharing, 12b-1 fees, hidden trading costs -- and their game plan appears straightforward: Heads they win, tails they win. This is why many of the world's richest people are money managers, and the investment business has produced a greater number of billionaires than any other industry in the U.S and worldwide. Though it's not always easy to mentally connect the dots between yourself and JP Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, make no mistake: his $27.7 million pay package for 2014 may have contained a few dollars from your retirement account. After decades of their firms taking fees for managing their investors' portfolios through mutual funds, 401(k) plans, and, more recently, ETFs, it's no wonder that Dimon and his colleagues have gotten richer as the U.S. has lumbered toward a momentous generational financial crisis. Large financial institutions are in the business of making money. Even the casual observer has a sense that the U.S. is on the cusp of a retirement cataclysm. Politicians love to talk about it. Serious and not-so-serious media outlets routinely explore the topic. Even the federal government has gotten involved. The numbers are certainly worthy of attention: The difference between what people have saved for retirement and what they should have is at least $7 trillion. That's about half our country's GDP -- not something the government is going to come up with by looking between the national couch cushions. So, how did we get here? Here's the CliffsNotes version: In 1875, the American Express Company created the first corporate pension plan. The general idea: Put a portion of workers' income in a collective account, invest the money, and use the proceeds to provide employees with guaranteed income after retirement. This became known as a defined benefit plan, with a retirement payment -- usually a percentage of the worker's final salary -- defined in advance and provided monthly for life. Driven by tax laws and corporate competition for skilled workers, the popularity of the defined benefit model flourished for decades, bolstered by an unprecedented period of American economic growth. Things got rocky in the 1960s, however, as increased longevity, growing health care costs, and mismanagement revealed the fragility of thousands of companies' defined benefit plans. Pension bankruptcies became a slow-motion crisis. In 1974, President Gerald Ford signed into law the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA). It dramatically changed the way Americans saved for retirement, codifying the rules for how companies managed retirement obligations, and also paved the way for a new type of savings plan: the individual retirement arrangement (IRA). Designed to supplement traditional defined benefit plans, IRAs offered tax advantages to encourage workers to put aside even more money for retirement. But in doing so, ERISA opened a can of worms. In fact, it created the beginnings of a lucrative, new market for financial firms: selling retirement products and services directly to middle-class Americans. Within just a few years, that market would metastasize through the 401(k) and lead to a new financial era. With a wonky moniker befitting its origin in the IRS code, the 401(k) provision was written into the books in 1978. In 1980, a retirement benefits consultant named Ted Benna used it to reduce a client's tax burden. Originally applicable to highly paid executives only, 401(k) eligibility eventually expanded to all employees. Thus, the defined contribution approach to retirement saving was born. The financial industry quickly rolled out new products and services targeting this nascent retirement-fund market. Playing on the insecurities of the growing population of Americans working without a defined benefit pension, financial firms marketed products, especially 401(k) plans, in ways that exploited both the fears and the hopes of a new generation of investors increasingly anxious about their capacity to provide for themselves and their families in retirement. And yet, there was something appealing and quintessentially American in empowering individuals to be the masters of their own financial destinies. The first few decades of the defined contribution era, from the early 1980s until the end of the twentieth century, seemed to validate this strategy of financial self-determination professionally stewarded by Wall Street. For two decades, it appeared that outsourcing our financial affairs to money managers and financial corporations, through 401(k) plans and mutual funds, was going to deliver on its promise in spectacular fashion. The economy was in overdrive, bolstered by a thriving technology sector and appreciating housing market. Picking mutual funds, playing the stock market-it was all pretty easy. Year after year, account balances went up and up. Until, of course, they went way, way down. Looking back now, we can see that the great returns were largely transient, an illusion enabled by one of the great bull markets of the twentieth century. But the transformation in the infrastructure of retirement saving is permanent: by the end of the 1990s, IRAs and 401(k)s had surpassed defined benefit pensions in number, participants, and total assets. Financial services corporations have built a colossal industry around defined contribution products, primarily mutual funds (and index funds and ETFs) purchased through 401(k)s and IRAs. Big box financial firms like Fidelity and Vanguard, along with tens of thousands of brokers marketing themselves as "financial advisors," have now wedged themselves firmly into the mainstream of American investing. Modern investors have handed over trillions of dollars to professional money managers and mutual funds that have delivered inconsistent -- if not downright dubious -- value while steadily harvesting billions of dollars annually in fees. Mutual funds, in particular, have become a central mechanism for retirement saving and investing for millions of Americans; as of mid-2014, roughly 43 percent of U.S. households owned them, representing more than 90 million individual mutual fund shareholders. Despite the mutual fund's superficial sheen of simplicity, it's hardly less complicated than the infamous credit default swap. Though less likely to explode spectacularly and bring down global finance, mutual funds have many of the same toxic hallmarks, including extreme complexity and embedded conflicts of interest, as derivatives -- the "financial weapons of mass destruction" at the heart of the 2008 financial crisis. In some ways, mutual funds are even more sinister, slowly bleeding investors over decades instead of finishing them off with a cataclysmic extinction event. Of course, it's not just mutual funds. Index funds and ETFs may not be the panacea they once were thought to be. And there are even cracks appearing in the integrity of some registered investment advisors. Today, roughly 20% of U.S. workers have a traditional, defined-benefit pension -- a percentage surely in decline -- and half of workers have no retirement plan, at all. About two-thirds of full-time U.S. workers have a defined contribution plan, and about two-thirds of their collective assets are held in 401(k) plans. Half of Americans have less than $10,000 in savings, and 85% report that they are worried about their prospects for retirement. And they should be. But there is a better way.
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Along South Carolina's coast, residents were preparing for a second round of flooding as rivers swollen from days of devastating rains make their way toward the Atlantic. And in the Columbia area, where some have started to return home to assess damage and clean up, the threat of more flooding still hadn't lifted. About 1,000 residents near the compromised Beaver Dam were told to evacuate Wednesday morning. Crews worked overnight after a sinkhole formed nearby, pumping water out of the pond to relieve pressure on the dam, but authorities said it could breach at any time.
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GOP presidential hopeful Ben Carson said Wednesday he would declare a six-month tax hiatus for corporations to bring the more than $2 trillion in profits held overseas back to the United States. "However, I would stipulate that 10 percent of it had to be used in enterprise zones [impoverished areas] that we'd set up in some of our major cities or to create jobs for people who are unemployed and on welfare," the retired neurosurgeon told CNBC's " Squawk Box ." "You want to talk about stimulus," he continued, "that would probably be the biggest stimulus since the New Deal and FDR. And it wouldn't cost the taxpayers a single penny." Carson said he'd like to see the newly signed Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) renegotiated "because right now we have a lot of special interest groups who benefit." "[But] I certainly believe in free trade," he said, adding "there are aspects [of TPP] that are reasonable." The next step for the trade agreement in the U.S. is ratification by Congress, where Democrats oppose it and many Republicans, who had pushed through President Barack Obama's request earlier this year for "fast track" negotiating authority, are wavering. In the latest RealClear Politics polling aggregator , Carson was second to Donald Trump with 17.2 percent support. Trump was at 23.2 percent. Former Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) CEO Carly Fiorina's was in third at 10.4 percent. Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida and ex-Florida Gov. Jeb Bush were fourth and fifth at 9.9 percent and 8.4 percent, respectively.
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Hundreds of South African trade unionists march through Cape Town to present their demands to government for a living wage and for better opportunities for the country's black majority population.
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U.S. equities moved higher again on Wednesday, but closed off of their intraday highs as the major averages contend with overhead technical resistance. In the end, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.7% after trading in a 200-point range, the S&P 500 went up 0.8%, the Nasdaq Composite felt a 0.9% boost and the Russell 2000 finished off 1.7% higher. But, aside from gold's 20 basis point gain, it wasn't all good: Treasury bonds weakened, the dollar lagged and oil reversed lower. Overall, it was a quiet session as traders look ahead to the start of the third-quarter earnings season after the close on Thursday when Alcoa (NYSE:AA) reports, as well as the upcoming Federal Reserve policy decision later in the month. Adding to the sense of quiet tension has been the closure of Chinese financial markets for a long holiday break. The 5 Worst Chinese Stocks of 2015 Healthcare stocks were the best performer for the day, rising 1.5% thanks to a 2.5% rise in the iShares Biotech (NASDAQ:IBB). Industrials and metals were also notable standouts, while defensive utility and telecom stocks were the laggards. Twitter (NYSE:TWTR) gained 8% after it was reported that Prince Alwaleed bin Talal and his investment company doubled their ownership of the stock to 5.2% in the past six weeks. Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) remains sluggish, losing 0.6% on iPhone sales concerns. GoPro (NASDAQ:GPRO) lost 4.3% on an estimates and price target cut by Morgan Stanley, who found GPRO sales disappointing and also disliked the negative feedback on the HERO4 Session camera and the company's decision to cut its price. J C Penney (NYSE:JCP) lost 4.2% after Citigroup analysts initiated the stock with a "sell" rating on competitive pressures and concerns that ill-fated experiment with non-promotional pricing in 2011 will be long lasting. Pandora (NYSE:P) lost 4.6% in response to an announced deal to buy Ticketfly for $450 million. While stocks have been ripping higher lately, a little context is welcome the Dow is still down 5.1% for the year to date. And the S&P 500 is now contending with serious overhead resistance from the psychologically important 2,000 level and its 50-day moving average. I'm looking for a turn lower here with China set to reopen, the IPO market in shambles [ Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG) lost 5.8% in the biggest venture capital backed offering of the year], and energy stocks vulnerable to renewed weakness in crude oil. With Q3 earnings set to be weak potentially featuring the first back-to-back earnings decline since 2009 I'm recommending Edge subscribers remain defensive and on the sidelines. Anthony Mirhaydari is founder of the Edge and Edge Pro investment advisory newsletters. A two-week and four-week free trial offer has been extended to MSN Money readers. More From InvestorPlace Why the GoPro Inc Downgrade Is Absolutely Idiotic (GPRO) Amazon Suffers New Hardware Embarrassment (AMZN) 7 Mega-Trends to Put Your Money Behind The post Stocks Hit Resistance as Meltup Continues appeared first on InvestorPlace .
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LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) Virginia Chumbley was asleep when she was shot to death in her home. The killer left the handgun in the bedroom and cried as he called 911. "I just shot my wife," Chris Chumbley told the Laurel County emergency operator. "Give me the police. I'm under arrest." He later told authorities the killing was an act of mercy: His wife of two decades, who everyone knew as Jenny, had asked to die because her cancer had spread. Her body was swollen and her pain was immense. She had to use a wheelchair when she wasn't bed-ridden and Chumbley has said he was honoring her wish. Chumbley, 50, was charged with murder, but last month, prosecutors reached a deal that would allow him to plead guilty to manslaughter. He faces 15 years in prison when he is sentenced by a judge Thursday. The August 2013 shooting renewed the debate over mercy killings and the right to die in a nation where five states Oregon, Vermont, Washington, Montana and most recently California have laws that allow doctors to prescribe life-ending drugs. In Jenny Chumbley's case, her husband and prosecutors disagreed over how long she had to live. He said she only had weeks, his lawyer said. Prosecutors believe it was longer than that. Chumbley's brother, Tony Chumbley, said Chris and Jenny had watched Chris' mother slowly die of lung cancer years before, and she told Chris she never wanted her suffering dragged out like that. "I think Chris done it out of love for her," said Tony Chumbley, who also lives in Laurel County, nestled in Kentucky's Appalachian hills. "I think he would not have done it if she didn't ask him to. If my wife got that sick and she asked me, I would hope I was man enough to do what Chris did." On the 911 call the night of the shooting, Chris Chumbley told the operator that his wife has cancer "all over" and had a doctor's appointment the next day. During the 16-minute call, he asked the operator if he could go see his wife's body one last time. The operator said no, and he complied. Jenny Chumbley's mother, Rita Smith, told media after a 2013 hearing that Jenny wanted chemotherapy and did not want to die. A phone number for Smith could not be located. Laurel County Commonwealth's Attorney Jackie Steele said he spoke to people on Jenny Chumbley's side of the family about the plea agreement and thinks they understand it. "I can't say they agree with it or like it," Steele said. There have been other recent cases of alleged mercy killings. Last year, 88-year-old William Dresser shot his wife of 68 years in her Nevada hospital bed after she had begged to die. Dresser was later cleared after prosecutors determined it wasn't malicious and Dresser was too old and sick to face prison. A California case that's still pending involves Jerry Canfield, who placed roses around his ailing wife of 37 years before shooting her in the head. The 72-year-old Canfield told police the two had agreed he would end her life if an illness left her in constant pain. He is charged with murder. Right-to-die advocates say families should have more options. "It is a very, very hard thing to watch somebody you love suffer," said Alexa Fraser, whose father fatally shot himself last year after battling Parkinson's disease. Fraser works with a Denver-based group called Compassion And Choices and is advocating for a right-to-die law in her home state of Maryland. Her father, Alex, didn't want to live in a nursing home, but he was falling frequently and was worried he would end up there. "He reached the point where he decided he had to end his life, and that went very badly," she said. First he tried overdosing on painkillers, and then slitting his wrists. Fraser and her husband found his body after he decided to use a gun. "I do not want anyone to go through what my father went through," she said.
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With restarts continuing to be a hot-button issue in NASCAR, Charlotte Motor Speedway became the second track in as many weeks to expand its restart zone. The speedway expanded the zone off Turn 4 to 180 feet, but took things one step further by painting lines across the racing surface to mark the beginning and end of the zone. The restart zone was initially indicated by lines on the wall, but CMS becomes the first track to extend those lines to the track to help drivers, officials and fans clearly see the area. No false starts here! Crews Paint the track today to mark the expanded 180-foot restart zone! #BofA500 #BCBSNC300 pic.twitter.com/5mIVxJecyi CharlotteMotorSpdwy (@CLTMotorSpdwy) October 7, 2015 The idea of painting the racing surface was somewhat of a concern to Chase contender Dale Earnhardt Jr., but he was in full support of the expanded zone and wants it even larger. "I think it will feel small," Earnhardt said, looking ahead to this weekend's race at Charlotte. "(The lines) are not for the drivers, but more for the fans to see where the box is and NASCAR to be able to officiate the box easier." The Hendrick Motorsports driver pointed out the lines painted on the wall create a bit of a "gray area" when it comes to officiating the restarts, and he hopes the lines on the track will make things much more cut and dried. "If the drivers had their way, the restart zone would've been four times bigger than it was this past weekend (at Dover)," he said during Tuesday's Chase Contender Round Media Day at the NASCAR Hall of Fame. "Drivers want it as big as they can get it. When I saw it this weekend, I could barely damn tell it was doubled. It didn't feel any bigger to me out there in the race, but I felt like the restarts were a lot smoother, a lot more predictable and a lot less weirdness going on." The concern for the drivers with the paint on the track is wheel spin once the cars try to launch off at the drop of the green flag. "I told (Marcus Smith, president and general manager of CMS) to make them no more than six inches wide, because we will have wheel spin over the paint," he said. "That's just another challenge; it isn't a problem with wheel spin. We're going to spin the tires anyway on the restarts." While drivers felt last weekend's restarts at Dover went better than previous events, Earnhardt pointed out that no matter what NASCAR does to make things clear, drivers will always try to get an advantage. "As long as there's double-file restarts, I don't care what you do with the box, I don't care what you do with the rules you put in there, guys are going to try and get an advantage," he said. "You've just got to officiate with a strict hand, a firm hand and make decisions, call guys out to keep us honest. If you allow us a foot, we're going to take two. Don't allow us that first foot. Rule it with an iron fist and keep us honest and we'll learn not to take advantage of the tolerance you give us. The only way to really get away from all this herky-jerky mess is to go to single-file restarts, and no one wants that. That's not an option." Despite the penalties and controversy about restarts over the past few weeks, Earnhardt said it is not necessarily a bad thing and provides something to talk about for fans, media and competitors alike. "I don't think you'll ever fix the situation or cure it," he said. "The larger the restart box, I feel, puts it in the leader's hand to be able to get the restart he deserves, because he's in a deserving position to control the restart and not be snookered by anyone around him."
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We bring you some best cocktail recipes using champagne that you could easily try out at home, and surprise your family and friends. No occasion is wrong for uncorking the bubbly and savoring its delicate taste. We bring you some best cocktail recipes using champagne that you could easily try out at home, and surprise your family and friends. Cheers! The Classic Champagne Cocktail Place a sugar cube at the bottom of a champagne flute and splash it with 3-4 dashes of Angostura bitter. Next, pour cognac into the flute to cover the cube, and then fill it up with chilled champagne. Garnish with a twist of orange. Love a Duck Pour 0.5 fl oz (15 ml) Chambord Raspberry and equal measure of Rouge Curacao into a ice-filled shaker and shake vigorously. Strain the mixture into an icy champagne flute and top it up with cold Canard Duchene Brut NV Champagne. Pomegranate White Tea Sparkler Let a pomegranate white tea bag sit in a mug of boiled water for five minutes. Discard the tea bag and let the tea liquor cool. Next, pour an amount of the liquor into a champagne flute and fill it up with icy champagne. Sprinkle pomegranate seeds on top of the drink for garnishing. St. Germain and Grapefruit Sparkler Take a champagne flute and pour 0.5 fl oz (15 ml) St. Germain liqueur and the juice of a half grapefruit. Top it up with 4 fl oz (120 ml) chilled champagne. Garnish the drink with a sprig of thyme and grapefruit slices. The Cardinale Blend 1.76 oz (50 grams) strawberries and 7 oz (200 grams) raspberries and push the puree through a sieve to get rid of the seeds. Add a few drops of lemon and some icing sugar to taste. Let it chill for an hour. Put 2-3 tablespoons of the mixture on the bottom of a flute or a coupe and pour cold champagne over it. Stir it well; garnish with raspberries. The French 75 Mix 1.35 fl oz (40 ml) Beefeater gin, 0.67 fl oz (20 ml )lemon juice and 0.5 fl oz (15 ml) sugar syrup in a cocktail shaker, and fill it with ice. Shake well and strain the mix into a champagne flute. Top it up with chilled champagne; garnish with a twist of lemon. The Life of Rye-ly Put a sugar cube at the bottom of a coupe and splash it with some bitters. Pour 0.67 fl oz (20 ml) rye whiskey, and top it up with cold champagne. Garnish it either with a maraschino cherry or a dash of maraschino cherry juice, if you like it dirty. Raspberry Bellini Place 0.84 fl oz (25 ml) raspberry puree, equal measure of sugar syrup and three drops of vanilla bitters in a shaker and shake well. Strain the mixture into a chilled glass and top up with champagne. Garnish with raspberries and iced mint leaves. The Champagne Julep Place a sugar cube and 6-8 mint leaves at the bottom of a chilled julep cup; now crush the ingredients just enough to release the mint oils. Next, pack the cup with ice, and pour 2 fl oz (60 ml) Woodford Reserve bourbon. Stir until the cup is frosted. Top up with icy champagne and garnish with extra mint leaves. Strawberry Ice Pour chilled Moet Ice Imperial into a champagne flute. Add ice cubes and three strawberries. Serve chilled. The Twinkle Mix 0.84 fl oz (25 ml) vodka and 0.5 fl oz (15 ml) elderflower cordial in an ice-filled shaker and shake well. Strain the concoction into a coupe and top up with chilled champagne. Add a twist of lemon for garnishing. The Champagne Flamingo Shake a mixture of equal parts (0.67 fl oz/20 ml) of vodka and Campari, and ice in a ice shaker. Strain it into a icy flute and top up with a flourish of chilled champagne. Use an orange twist to garnish. Raspberry Sorbet Champagne Float Place three scoops of raspberry sorbet at the bottom of a chilled glass and top up with icy champagne. Add flower petals and raspberries for garnishing. Champagne Cocktail with a Whiskey Twist Take a cube of sugar on a spoon and douse it with two dashes of Angostura bitters. Next, place the cube at the bottom of a chilled flute and pour 0.67 fl oz (20 ml) Monkey Shoulder whiskey over it. Top up with icy cold champagne. Impressionist Take 0.3 fl oz (10 ml) Grey Goose vodka, 0.67 fl oz (20 ml) cherry and violet liquor, and 0.5 fl oz (15 ml) raspberry syrup into an ice shaker and shake vigorously. Strain the mixture into a chilled flute and top up with Ruinart Rose Champagne. You could garnish the drink with rose fog. Death in the Afternoon Keep it simple with this drink. Pour 1.01 fl oz (30 ml) absinthe into a flute or coupe and then top it up with icy champagne. Spiced Strawberry and Pomegranate Fizz Pour two tablespoons of strawberry liquor into a glass and fill it up with chilled champagne. Place a star anise and few pomegranate seeds on top of the drink for garnishing. Lychee and Chilli Muddle a mixture of 0.67 fl oz (20 ml) Belvedere vodka, 0.33 fl oz (10 ml) Lychee liqueur, 4 fl oz (120 ml) Veuve Clicquot Rich Champagne, a twist of black pepper and fresh mint in a glass. Pour the mixture on the rocks in another glass, and garnish it with cucumber and fresh chili. Tea Time Place five ice cubes in a large glass and a handful of Earl Grey tea leaves on a strainer. Pour Veuve Clicquot Rich Champagne into the glass through the strainer. Serve chilled. Sequoia Wood Douse a sugar cube with a few dashes of Angostura bitters, and drop it at the bottom of chilled flute. Next, add 0.84 fl oz (25 ml) El Dorado 5 Year Old rum, and top it up with champagne. Dolve Vita Mash up strawberry and cucumber in a glass. Next, add 8.4 fl oz (250 ml) Campari, 4 fl oz (120 ml) Veuve Clicquot Rich Champagne and 0.33 fl oz (10 ml) vanilla sugar syrup to the mixture. Serve it on the rocks and garnish with fresh orange and cucumber twists.
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Matt Barnes supposedly drove 95 miles Saturday to the Los Angeles home of his ex Gloria Govan to confront Derek Fisher, who is said to be in a relationship with Govan. Barnes and Govan have been separated since about October last year after marrying in 2012. Fisher divorced his wife of 10 years, Candace, in March, and has reportedly been dating Govan for a few months. Barnes reportedly was in Santa Barbara, Calif., with the Memphis Grizzlies for training camp when he found out Fisher was at Govan's Los Angeles home for a bonfire Saturday and made the trip down to confront him . "Derek was in Gloria's back yard with about 10 people having a bonfire on Saturday," a source told the New York Post. "Derek's separated from his wife and there's a relationship with [Gloria]." Barnes supposedly went after Fisher and the two fought, though there were no serious injuries. Fisher is not going to press charges, the Post reports. Fisher, who was in LA also visiting his kids, did not make Knicks practice Monday, and his altercation with Barnes is said to be the reason why. Barnes is known as one of the more physical and hot-headed players in the NBA who gets into confrontations with opposing players and even their moms . He has been in trouble with the law multiple times and had a rocky relationship with Govan, which was on-and-off several times. He was recently in a tiff with Rihanna, whom he said he was dating . NBA security is said to be aware of the fight. As @NYPost reports, there was physical confrontation between NY coach Derek Fisher, Griz's Matt Barnes Saturday in LA. NBA security is aware Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) October 7, 2015
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The Pentagon said Wednesday that it had to reroute a U.S. aircraft over Syria on at least one occasion to maintain a safe distance from Russian aircraft, which are now conducting airstrikes in the war-torn country. "There has been at least one instance where we've had to modify the route of one of our planes in order to maintain adequate airspace separation with a Russian aircraft," Navy Capt. Jeff Davis, a Pentagon spokesman, said. The Pentagon and Russian officials have had at least one meeting to begin discussing procedures that could be implemented to avoid any mishaps between aircraft from the U.S.-led coalition and Russian warplanes. "We will keep the channel open because it's a matter of safety and security for our pilots," Davis said. The Pentagon has said the talks are limited to discussing procedures for avoiding mishaps and are not aimed at achieving broad coordination with the Russians on military goals. "We have not agreed to cooperate with Russia, so long as they continue to pursue their mistaken strategy and hit these non-ISIL targets," Davis said, using an acronym for the Islamic State. The Pentagon has not released details about rerouting the aircraft, but CBS News on Monday quoted Lt. Gen. Charles Brown, commander of the American air campaign, saying Russian aircraft had not gotten closer than 20 miles to American manned aircraft.
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Hauntingly Beautiful Abandoned Places Around the World Hauntingly Beautiful Abandoned Places Around the World What exactly is it about abandoned places that attracts our attention in such a mystifying way? Is it their storied pasts? Their eerie aesthetics? The way they allow us to effortlessly engage our imaginations as we wonder about what they might have been like in their prime? "Certainly, there's an aesthetic component to decaying buildings, an opportunity to enjoy these buildings outside of their original context and stumble upon unusual images that don't present themselves in intact structures," wrote i09 blogger Lauren Davis . But, as Davis goes on to point out, this isn't the only reason so many people are fascinated by parks, hospitals, castles and entire towns that have been utterly abandoned and long untouched. Some who seek to explore, photograph or even just observe abandoned places are interested in learning about and preserving history, while others are simply interested in the out-of-the-ordinary things you'd likely never find elsewhere. "[T]he real amusement comes from the ridiculous things I constantly stumble upon," 2e, a photographer who posts his photos of decaying New York on gotham ruins , told Davis. "A manmade space over time with very little manmade disruption brings about things you'd never expect; trees growing out of piles of documents, books being repurposed as beehives, newspapers from the 30's, that kind of stuff. Then you step out of this building and you're back in the real world a bustling block in Williamsburg or steps from City Hall, iPhones and all. Much of the appeal is the time machine I guess." Whether you're intrigued by the unusual or love a deserted building that has its own great ghost story, we're sure you'll feel enchanted and maybe even spooked by these hauntingly beautiful abandoned places from around the world. Lake Shawnee Amusement Park Mercer County, W. Va. According to the New York Daily News , the Lake Shawnee Amusement Park in southern West Virginia was abandoned in 1996 after two young guests died accidentally. Though many of the old, creaky rides still stand, what was once a lively play place is now a decrepit plot of land that many say is haunted. Those who've dared to explore the deserted site say they've seen the ghost of a little girl, and according to Visit Southern West Virginia , paranormal tours of the park are currently available and the Lake Shawnee community hosts a " Dark Carnival " here in October. Pripyat Ukraine The Ukraine city of Pripyat was home to 49,000 residents until it was evacuated and abandoned following the Chernobyl disaster in 1986. Although the area remains abandoned, it's been deemed safe to visit and some outfitters there offer guided tours of the site. Kings Park Psychiatric Center Kings Park, N.Y. This eerie, aging asylum dates back all the way to the late 1800s when it was created to serve as a treatment center for New York's mentally ill. Long Island locals simply refer to it as the "Psych Center," and while the large plot of land was declared a state park after the institution was shut down in 1996, the site more closely resembles the setting of a horror movie rather than a refuge for outdoor recreation. Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum Weston, W. Va. This long-abandoned Civil War-era mental institution was left to deteriorate when it was forced to close in 1994. The brave souls who have visited since report that the building is now haunted and the current owners offer ghost tours year round. Plus, in October guests are invited to the asylum for seasonal festivities such as the Asylum Ball and Zombie Paint Ball. Bannerman Castle Pollepel Island, N.Y. The tiny island that now houses this abandoned castle was rumored to be haunted even before it was inhabited. Frank Bannerman built the castle to use as a summer home and storage space in 1901, but it was destroyed in a fire in 1969. Now, ownership of the historic site belongs to the people of the State of New York and guests are invited to explore the island and abandoned castle through guided tours. Château Miranda Celles, Belgium Curbed reporter Spencer Peterson called the Château Miranda (or Château de Noisy) a "ghost hunter's paradise." Well, at least it looks that way. According to photographer David Baker , construction of this enormous Gothic-style structure began around 1866 and was finished in 1907. Now, Baker wrote, it's "in a heavy state of disrepair," but despite all of the destruction and decay it's endured, "the building still maintains [its] beauty." Kolmanskop Namibia Often referred to as Namibia's Ghost Town , Kolmanskop was once the site of a diamond rush and a bustling city that many German miners called home. Eventually, though, it peaked and saw its decline after World War I when its inhabitants left in search of new diamond deposits. Today, more than 100 years later, many of the buildings still stand, but much of the city has been claimed by sand and it gives off eerie vibes that attract curious souls including ghost hunters from all over the world. The Mill at Balaclava Renfrew County, Ontario According to videographer Steve Savage , the town of Balaclava isn't entirely deserted, but the old mill, which comprises a significant part of what he described as a "tiny hamlet," certainly is. "I don't recommend going into the mill," Savage wrote. "The boards are very soft and spongy and with a pretty big drop to the jagged rocks and rushing water below, one [misstep] could easily spell your death." Holy Land U.S.A. Waterbury, Conn. According to Atlas Obscura , this Christian-themed park was built in the late 1950s and initially thrived as a Connecticut attraction. In the mid-80s the park's owner closed it down to work on expanding the site, but he died in 1986 and it was never reopened. Now long abandoned, Holy Land U.S.A. has been widely vandalized and was even the site of a murder in 2010. Dadipark Dadizel Belgium According to the Daily Mail , Dadipark was closed and abandoned more than 10 years ago after a young patron lost his arm on one of the rides. Now the creepy park's structures are said to be rusted and covered with graffiti. Beelitz-Heilstätten Hospital Beelitz, Germany According to Finding Berlin , this 60-building hospital was constructed in the 20th century to accommodate a growing number of tuberculosis patients. During the First and Second World Wars it eventually became a military hospital, and it's reported that a young Hitler was actually treated for a thigh injury at Beelitz. Now entirely abandoned, according to the Daily Mail, the hospital first began to decline in 1995 and was closed down completely in 2000. Valle dei Mulini Sorrento, Italy This old Italian mill, which according to photographer Dennis Jarvis dates back to 900 A.D., was once a grain mill powered by spring waters. Reports say it was eventually abandoned in 1866 because the heat and humidity in the area was too intense for workers to endure.
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Sony Corp (6758.T) is proceeding with a plan to sell its half of Sony/ATV Music Publishing, the world's largest music publisher, the Wall Street Journal reported. Sony, which owns the unit with Michael Jackson's estate, recently triggered a clause in its contract that allows one partner to buy out the other, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter. People in the music industry estimate Sony/ATV's value around $2 billion, the Journal said, adding that Sony hasn't put a price tag on its share yet. (http://on.wsj.com/1MfjslA) The Journal reported in December that Sony was considering a sale of the unit, which owns the rights to most of the Beatles' songs. Sony/ATV also owns the rights to music artistes such as Taylor Swift, Lady Gaga, Queen and Kanye West. Michael Jackson and Sony formed their joint venture in 1995. Jackson had bought ATV a decade earlier from Australian businessman Robert Holmes a Court, outbidding Beatles singer Paul McCartney. A Sony spokesman declined to comment. (Reporting by Anya George Tharakan in Bengaluru)
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This is either the most trusting wild squirrel of all time, or this guy has a pet squirrel. It is a mutually beneficial relationship, though. The squirrel gets to have all the acorns he can fit in his mouth, and the guy gets to have an adorable pet squirrel!
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The Houthi rebels in Yemen have said they are willing to commit to a peace plan to end the country's conflict, and the UN has announced that its envoy is going to the region to see how Yemen's government will respond. UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said on Wednesday that the Houthis accepted a UN Security Council resolution that calls for an end to violence, withdrawal of their forces from all areas they have seized, and a halt to undermining the political transition in the country. The decision was confirmed by the General People's Congress, the party of ousted president Ali Abdullah Saleh, who is aligned with the Houthis. The party and Houthi representatives pledged to commit to the seven-point peace plan brokered by the UN in Oman, including ceasefire and the return of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi's government to the capital, Sanaa. Dujarric said the UN special envoy for Yemen, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, who has been trying to end the conflict, welcomed the Houthis' latest statements accepting the resolution. He said Cheikh Ahmed will be returning to the region on Thursday to try "to gel what is being said into something a little more concrete". He will also seek the support of the government, the Houthis and regional powers for peace talks, Dujarric said. Talks rejected A UN source, however, told Al Jazeera that he did not expect any breakthrough in Yemen's crisis in the near future and that the Houthi letter to the UN would not change the situation as long as President AHadi and the Saudi-led coalition backing him reject talks. The Yemeni government has repeatedly refused to participate in any peace talks with the rebels unless they accept the UN resolution. The General People's Congress Party on Wednesday called for the start of negotiations on devising an "implementation mechanism" for the UN resolution. Yemen's conflict pits Hadi, tribal fighters and southern secessionists against the Houthis - who seized Sanaa last year - and military units loyal to Saleh. Several previous attempts to end the conflict have failed, and it has proven nearly impossible to arrange a humanitarian pause to deliver desperately needed aid. The fighting has killed more than 4,000 people, leaving the Arab world's poorest country in the grip of a humanitarian crisis and on the brink of famine. A Saudi-led and US-backed coalition began launching air strikes against the Houthis and their allies on March 26, shortly after Hadi fled to Saudi Arabia during a rapid rebel advance on the south. Pro-government troops, backed by the coalition of Arab nations, have regained strategic ground from the rebels, including the southern port of Aden.
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Eric Hites hit rock bottom earlier this year. At age 40, after having worked as a D.J., roadie, telemarketer, pizza delivery man and bartender, he found himself unemployed, and collection agencies were on his tail. His wife, who had left him in July 2014, was living with another man. His weight reached 567 pounds. He told himself he had a choice: Rot away in Danville, Ind., where he had been living with his parents, or do something drastic to save his life and marriage. He considered a gastric bypass, but while listening to the Proclaimers ' hit "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)," he had another idea. The narrator of that rousing 1988 song vows to walk 500 miles (and 500 more) to prove his devotion to the one he loves. Mr. Hites figured he would not be able to walk such a distance, given that, in addition to carrying so much weight, he was a heavy smoker. Sign Up For NYT Now's Morning Briefing Newsletter But maybe he could make it that far on a bicycle. Maybe he could even pedal more than 3,000 miles, from the Atlantic to the Pacific. He could see the country, lose some pounds, get a book deal out of it and show the woman he loved that he could change. In March he created a blog called Fat Guy Across America . He started exercising. He called his estranged wife and told her he was about to do something that would blow her mind. She was skeptical. He bought a used Mongoose mountain bike from friends in Terre Haute, Ind., for $17. When he took it for a test drive, he was out of breath after 100 yards. On June 7 he set up a GoFundMe account to raise money for his epic plan; the balance now stands at $11,447 with donations from 383 people. The next week his father drove him east, to the coastal town of Falmouth, Mass., and he wept when he dropped his son off at the side of a road. Mr. Hites had $200. Hitched to the bike was a trailer stocked with a tent and 300 pounds of supplies. Four months later, having shed about 70 pounds during a zigzag journey that has moved along in fits and starts, Mr. Hites reached New York. At this point he had roughly 23,000 Facebook followers and numerous online detractors, who traced his slow progress and posted comments suggesting his trip was some kind of elaborate scam. They called him a digital panhandler and worse. During his New York stop, Mr. Hites faced reporters and photographers from WYNY-TV, The Daily News, The New York Post and the New Tang Dynasty Television network, as well as students from the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism. In Times Square he took selfies among furry mascots, gawking tourists and the Naked Cowboy, who composed a song in his honor on the spot. "I wasn't expecting it whatsoever," Mr. Hites said of the circus that has sprung up around him. "I was hoping for a book deal and then I'd get an advance and we'd be able to use that money to travel across the country. People think I was trying to get famous from it. This was an accident, really." At 6 p.m. on Sept. 20, Mr. Hites was in the Bronx, pedaling south toward Yankee Stadium. His wife, Angie, 37, was waiting for him, at the wheel of a red Pontiac Grand Prix parked near a fire hydrant on 176th Street. She was no longer estranged from him, having joined him in Rhode Island, where she said they rekindled their love. To give him extra motivation, she said she is going by her original last name, Atterbury, until he makes it to the Pacific. Only then will she go back to using Hites, she said. For a time after their reunion, his wife biked alongside him until she passed out one morning and was taken to an emergency room. The diagnosis was heatstroke and a panic attack. Since then she has been accompanying him in the Pontiac, riding her bike alongside him only occasionally. "We find out where his next resting site is going to be, and that's where I meet him," she said in the parked car. "Section by section, we will take America, you know?" She got out of the vehicle and looked north on the Grand Concourse. Mr. Hites was nowhere in sight. "His bones are super-duper dense," she said. "He's just an ox. He's a huge bear. Kids climb all over him." A man appeared and asked if she was O.K. "I'm waiting on my husband," she said. "Oh, I thought you might be looking for the hospital." After 20 minutes, she spotted him. "There he is. The Bronx, baby!" They both recorded his arrival, Mr. Hites with a GoPro camera mounted on his helmet, Ms. Atterbury with her cellphone. "I need a drink," he said, hitting the brakes. "I've been out awhile. I love you, though." "I love you, too," she said, handing him a plastic water bottle filled with Crystal Light. He took a long swig. "I had kids yelling at me, 'You can do it,' and I'm going, 'You don't even know who I am, but thank you.' People see that I'm a big guy riding a bicycle, and you're either going to get a laugh or support. Usually, I get the support." He caught his breath. "A lot of people don't understand the trip is not just a cycling trip," he said. "We're seeing the sights while we're doing it. That's why I'm not rushing straight across, in a straight line. I try to explain that every day, because everybody always says, 'I thought you're trying to get across the United States.' I am. But I didn't say I was racing." Connecticut took them a week and a half. They were impressed by what they saw along the roads in Greenwich. "In regular cities you see bottles of Colt 45 on the side the road," Ms. Atterbury said. "In Greenwich, it's like a fancy Champagne bottle. I'm like, what?" "People say it's a long vacation," Mr. Hites said in his Nick Nolte growl. "Well, but I'm getting healthy doing it." His wife said they had cut back to four or five cigarettes a day. "The doctor told us: 'Don't do both at once. Either lose weight or quit smoking,' " she said. "And we were like, 'Nope, we're going to do both.' " Mr. Hites confessed to having made a pit stop at a White Castle, where he was surprised to discover ketchup on the double cheeseburger. "White Castles don't have ketchup on them, ever," he said. Their online critics, who see Mr. Hites's penchant for fast food and Camels as signs of his lack of commitment, would not like hearing about the White Castle meal, and Ms. Atterbury scolded him for it. "I needed the protein, with some cheese and everything," Mr. Hites said. "I just got one and then I got a big ice water. Nobody will believe that." Ms. Atterbury said her husband no longer resembles the man he was before the trip began. For one thing, she said, "His head's not as fat." Mr. Hites has noticed the difference, too. "My body was really compressed before," he said. "Now it's all floppy and jiggly. I'm starting to look like the Michelin man, whereas I was all solid before." After jokingly referring to himself as the Fat Forrest Gump, he was asked about his use of the word "fat." "People need to get over it," he said. "I'm fat and I'm calling myself fat. People are too worried about offending everybody. That's what's wrong with this country." A convoy of motorcyclists roared by. "Is this what a city motorcycle gang is like, a bunch of yuppie guys?" Mr. Hites asked. His wife responded, "Don't say 'yuppie' that loud, you'll get shot. They want to be gangsters." It was getting dark. She told him it was time for him to get moving. Asked about the danger of riding in traffic, he said: "If they hit me, it'll be like hitting a cow. I'm not really afraid of them." "He's not afraid of anything," his wife said. "It's crazy. He's my hero." He pedaled away. She got behind the wheel. "This is the first time we've ridden in the big city like this, so for me it's scary," she said. Some friends back in Indiana have chided her for getting back together with him, she said. "I keep telling them: 'Who doesn't want their marriage to work? Name one person.' " She also has to deal with the barrage of online criticism left by commenters who say Mr. Hites is not riding as many miles as he reports in blog posts and Facebook updates. "Everyone tells me to ignore the haters, and that is probably the hardest thing about this trip," she said. Outside Yankee Stadium, Mr. Hites got off the bike, sat on a bench by Gate 6 and checked Facebook. He coughed a smoker's hack and said he tries not to let the negative online comments get to him. "All the people saying, 'Winter's coming, you'll never make it, this is all a scam, you've been riding in cars the whole way,' " he said. "Seriously? If I was going to cheat, I'd say I did 30 miles, not five miles or 10 miles. I'd already be across the United States, if I was cheating. I'm fat and I'm slow, and that should be proof enough that I'm doing it. And if winter comes, winter comes." He met Angie in 2006 at a bar in Terre Haute that he co-owned. He made her a blender drink, a Butterfinger, and they talked for six hours. "I knew I was going to marry her the day I met her," Mr. Hites said. "When we first started falling in love," his wife said, "he told me, 'I would drive all the way to Kentucky just to get you a chocolate chip cookie, if that's what you wanted.' " They wed in 2008. Problems arose, Ms. Atterbury said, when he put on so much weight that no one would hire him. Their parents helped them financially, they said. He went to work at Ol' Louie's Saloon , a bar in Montezuma, Ind., owned by his wife's parents, only to butt heads with his father-in-law. "I have to be my own boss and I'm horrible with money," Mr. Hites said, laughing. In those days they would stay awake into the wee hours and wake up "super-duper late," Ms. Atterbury said, and then do "absolutely nothing." "We were so depressed," she said. "Our marriage was failing, because intimacy was completely gone, because of our size. It's not even romantic anymore, to lie next to that person when you know you can't do anything with them like that." In describing what led to the breakup on his blog, Mr. Hites wrote, "I sat there and did nothing. I just let life slip by." Before starting his quest in earnest, Mr. Hites took a ferry from Falmouth, Mass., to Martha's Vineyard, where he tried to get himself in roadworthy shape. He also made a pilgrimage of sorts to a man he admires, Irish Mike Craughwell, a sword-maker and star of the Discovery Channel show " Big Giant Swords ," who lives on the island. He called his wife, who didn't know he had left Indiana, before heading back to the mainland, and told her of his plan. She sobbed and said it was the most romantic thing anyone had ever done. "I knew I would get her back," Mr. Hites said. "As soon as she got a call from me in Martha's Vineyard, she's going, 'Really?' So that's when I suckered her back in, and I've been conning her ever since." Early in his journey, Mr. Hites battled ticks and spiders. He zipped up his tent one summer night when a bushy-tailed creature that looked to be a fisher cat stalked him and screamed. Once a raven swooped down and absconded with a bag of beef jerky. On the road, while he was taking a break, a concerned passer-by assumed he was having a heart attack and called the police. Things began to look up when the owners of a pawnshop in Wareham, Mass., staked him to a pizza and a cold drink. When the Mongoose gave out, its tire rims bent beyond repair, the Bliss Four Corners Congregational Church in Tiverton, R.I., allowed him to camp on its grounds. While he was stuck there, he was interviewed by the local NBC affiliate for a news segment . Then an article in The Newport Daily News, headlined " 'Fat Guy' on a Mission" made The Associated Press. The Internet lit up. He was going viral. Newport Bicycle, a shop in Newport, R.I., gave him a replacement bike, a sturdy GT. The news media interest begat more of the same. He spent more than two weeks at a Ramada Inn in Middletown, R.I., giving interviews and sifting through potential offers. "I did a morning show in Australia," he said. "Time magazine reprinted the A.P. story. USA Today. People. I was number one on Reddit for three days and I was trending on Facebook." Eight television producers contacted him, he said. He met with two of them in Middletown and reached an agreement with Larry Landsman , a former director of nonfiction programming, East Coast, at the Syfy channel, where he developed shows like "The Roswell Crash: Startling New Evidence." Now a founder of a production company, AEP Media, Mr. Landsman hopes to put together a "Fat Guy Across America" reality show. It is not a problem, Mr. Landsman said, that Mr. Hites is already on the road. "Look, it's not hard to pick up the journey," he said in a phone interview. "He has a long way ahead of him, quite frankly." Some of those following Fat Guy Across America online were dismayed by the lack of narrative tidiness when Mr. Hites's updates showed he was taking a Greyhound bus back to Indiana, to honor a commitment he had made to D.J. an event at his church. An anonymous donor paid the bus fare, he said, and Mr. Hites and his wife went back east in the Pontiac. Back on the trail, they stopped at a Dunkin' Donuts in Connecticut, where Mr. Hites texted an online fan who had been trying to meet them. The supporter showed up within minutes, banging a cowbell. "She was going nuts with it," Ms. Atterbury said. "I jumped. She's like, 'Hi, I'm Holly!' " They showered, changed and slept two nights at the woman's big house. She also served them dinner: steak burgers, corn and a salad with vinaigrette. "I have not met a single bad person on this trip," Mr. Hites said. During the New York stop, they said they were not sure if they should pay for a hotel. "We don't have access to funds that we need right now," Mr. Hites said. "It's all locked up." Mr. Landsman told them they could pitch a tent in his backyard in New Jersey, but Mr. Hites seemed to be holding out for better accommodations. "I'm going, 'Larry, you need to start investing, man, if you want me to do these things for your TV show,' " Mr. Hites said. " 'You need to start spending some money.' " Follow our fashion and lifestyle coverage on any of these accounts: Styles on Facebook , Modern Love on Facebook , Styles , Fashion and Vows on Twitter and Fashion on Instagram . And sign up here to receive our NYT Living newsletter, a roundup of lifestyle news from the Style section and across the Times delivered to your inbox twice a week.
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No matter how soap-opera-like its politics, or exaggerated its inflation, Argentina's capital never loses its charm. The city's nonstop spawning of new restaurants and arts spaces is a testament to the endless creativity of Porteños, as its residents are called. Its century-old cafes and gorgeous tree-lined streets have always been a draw, but visit now for its culinary scene and gimmicky yet ineffably cool speakeasies. Buenos Aires loves to embrace reinvention, and it shows. Friday 1. Latin American Art | 3:30 p.m. It's not an exaggeration to say that the Museo de Arte Latinoamericano de Buenos Aires (Malba) is one of the best art museums on the continent. The modern, light-filled building (admission, 60 pesos or about $6.55 at 9 Argentine pesos to the dollar) is truly a necessary stop, with its vibrant permanent collection, where artworks are arranged chronologically and linked to their corresponding art movement. Highlights include works by the Argentine artist Antonio Berni and Frida Kahlo. The temporary exhibitions are almost always thought-provoking (and if you need a snack, the croissants in the cafe are excellent). 2. Perfumes in Palermo | 6 p.m. Casa Cavia is a complex restaurant, cafe, bar, garden, bookstore and florist in a two-story home that dates to 1927 and has been remodeled into a stunning indoor-outdoor space that's a harbinger of the new Buenos Aires design aesthetic: modern with a tip of the hat to retro. Pop in for a peek at the grand interior high ceilings, arched doorways and Art Deco-inspired furniture then walk through the garden to the perfumery, where more than 100 fragrances are on display, from passionfruit to the signature "Biblioteca de Babel" scent, a homage to Jorge Luis Borges and a nod to the publishing house on the second floor. Get More Travel Headlines From The New York Times 3. Coffee and Wine | 7:30 p.m. Argentines stay out late, so fortify yourself with a caffeine stop at LAB Tostadores de Cafe, a roastery and one of the best of Buenos Aires's new crop of modern coffee shops, where espresso is served in an industrial chic interior. Then stroll four blocks up Calle Gorriti, a popular shopping street, to Ser y Tiempo, a dimly lit wine bar that opened in 2014. A blind taste test of three excellent Argentine wines (200 pesos) is conducted on its own or over dinner, and will help you learn to distinguish a torrontés from a chardonnay. It's also a wine shop, so stock up here on lesser-known local vintages. If you're looking for something more casual, stop at the nearby Trova, which offers themed flights ("Argentine Malbecs," "Summer"), almost all Argentine (flights from 65 to 110 pesos). 4. Modern Argentina | 10:30 p.m. Head to the quietly trending Colegiales neighborhood for dinner (around 1,300 pesos with wine for two) at Astor Manduque Porteño (the name translates, roughly, to "where locals eat"). The chef Antonio Soriano is a leading light of the new school of Argentine cooking, and his oft-changing menu is packed with creative dishes, which recently included blood sausage tempura and a salad of beef tongue. There are just eight dishes on offer at any one time, and diners can opt to try three, five or all of the choices, with course size diminishing proportionately. Add the wine pairing, which doesn't skimp on quality or quantity. Saturday 5. Coffee at Cao | 10 a.m. Many of Buenos Aires's legendary bar-cum-cafes, or bares notables, with their career waiters and queues for tables, are packed with tourists. Make the journey to San Cristóbal, a residential neighborhood with its own landmark bar that dates back to 1915, Bar de Cao. Here you'll find glass-fronted cabinets stuffed with bottles, hanging legs of jamón and original wooden fixtures, with a minimum of tourists. Sit by the sunny windows, order café con leche (23 pesos) and a medialuna croissant (7 pesos). But save room for lunch. 6. Leisurely Lunch | 12:30 p.m. Build up an appetite with a walk down Avenida Independencia, a busy street lined with shops and cafes, humming with the hustle and bustle of everyday life in the capital. Stop at Aramburu Bis, the more informal second restaurant of the superstar chef Gonzalo Aramburu. His much fancier Aramburu is around the corner, but the Bis version, with its country store aesthetic, is one of the best restaurants in town (tasting menu lunch for two, with wine pairing, 1,100 pesos). Every dish is perfectly executed, like the starter of beef tartare adorned with the yolk of a quail's egg, mustard ice cream and a miniature fry basket of shoestring potatoes. The wine list includes selections from up-and-coming Mendoza wineries add the wine pairing to your tasting menu and plan on a three-hour lunch. 7. Afternoon Tango | 4:30 p.m. Tango is less popular than Argentina's tourism materials would have you believe, but no one has told the over-60 crowd. Check out the dedicated dancers at La Milonga de los Consagrados (55 pesos to enter, one-drink minimum), where the seniors keep the dance floor packed, working their moves to music, which, though played on a computer, sounds as if it's coming from a Victrola. Along one side of the dance hall, which exudes faded grandeur, men sit at tables trying to catch the eye of a potential partner on the other side. Taking photos is frowned upon (this is a local activity, not a tourist event), so sit back with a glass of champagne (26 pesos) and enjoy the show. 8. Live at the Power Plant | 8 p.m. Once an electric power plant, the Usina del Arte was reopened as the city's most impressive arts space in 2012 in La Boca, a portside postindustrial neighborhood, and it now hosts art exhibitions and an eclectic range of live music in two beautiful auditoriums. Performances range from the Buenos Aires Philharmonic to big band tunes to poetry/music combos, so check the website, usinadelarte.org , ahead of time. It's also worth visiting during the day for a tour (free, 45 minutes) of the building's striking Florentine Renaissance-style exterior and beautifully reformatted interior. 9. Steak and Sweetbreads | 10 p.m. Going to an Argentine parrillada (barbecue restaurant) is practically compulsory here, but eschew the huge, tourist-filled dining rooms and book-long menus of the old standbys like Don Julio's or Parrilla Peña and head instead to La Carniceria. This 24-seat modern parrillada opened in late 2014 and usually has just two (enormous) steaks on the menu, along with a roster of traditional starters brought into the 21st century (dinner for two, around 750 pesos). The beef comes from the owner's farm and is smoked in-house, and the chorizo is homemade. Try the sweetbreads, which are glazed with honey and surrounded by kernels of corn. 10. Party in Secret | 12 a.m. Nights out in Buenos Aires can last until 6 a.m. too long for just one bar. Hit up several, sampling the best of the city's speakeasy culture at bares secretos. Start at Frank's, making sure to grab the password from the bar's Facebook page ahead of time (it's hinted at in the daily post, your first guess is usually right). Give the password to the bouncer, who will direct you to a phone booth; dial the number he gives you; a door will open, and you're in a long bar full of people drinking some of the city's best cocktails (around 100 pesos). Ask the dapper bartenders for a Bison TT (vodka, green tea, ginger syrup), and people-watch from a red velvet sofa before moving on to Victoria Brown. Walk through the streetside cafe and open the door in the brick wall at the back. Inside is a steampunk fantasyland, with bartenders who mix drinks like the Desde Cuba Con Amor (120 pesos), a combination of aged rum, citrus and bitters that is literally smoking. Then get a modern take on Argentina's traditional love of bitters at 878, a popular speakeasy. The dimly lit main bar is usually packed, but if you push through a door in the far wall, you'll find another, somewhat quieter bar. Sunday 11. From Peru, With Love | Noon After a late night, do like the locals and have a leisurely Sunday lunch. Porteños were waiting with bated breath for La Mar to open, which it did in April 2015, thanks to the reputation of its celebrity chef Gastón Acurio. The Peruvian trendsetter's Palermo Hollywood cebichería is sleek, with a spacious patio. Tuck into the degustación de ceviches, three flavorful ceviches, some served in their own fishy marinade known as tigre de leche. Add a couple of causas dollops of mashed yellow potato topped with everything from olive cream to raw salmon (lunch for two, around 600 pesos). 12. The Sport of Kings | 2 p.m. At any given time, seven of the eight best polo players in the world hail from Argentina, and the sport is experiencing a revival of sorts, at least according to the ultra-charming Ezequiel Moreno of Polo Tour. He runs half-day polo lessons (1,400 pesos, includes transportation) at the sprawling Estancia La Martina belonging to polo's foremost dynasty, the Cambiaso family, where you'll learn how to ride a horse, whack the ball with a mallet and do both at the same time, all in lush green environs just 40 minutes from the city center. Lodging The Glu Hotel. Despite the slightly off-putting name, the Glu (Godoy Cruz 1733; thegluhotel.com ; doubles from $150) is a charmer: all the room are suites with comfy king-size beds, and the staff members are some of the friendliest and most helpful in the entire city. Fierro Hotel. With a great location in Palermo Hollywood, the Fierro (Soler 5862; fierrohotel.com ; doubles from $129) is great value, with the amenities (pillow menu, Nespresso machines) of a much more expensive hotel. The suites, some with balconies, are spacious, and the ground-floor restaurant, Uco, does one of the best brunches in town.
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Divers in Australia explore a massive sinkhole that opened up on Inskip Point near Fraser island in Queensland, Australia.
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Balloons fill the sky during the 2015 Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta. Balloons fill the sky during the 2015 Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta. Balloons fill the sky during the 2015 Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta The Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta is one of the world's most photographed special events. It runs until October 11. This year, the America's Challenge gas balloon race, one of only two distance races for gas balloons in the world, had to be cancelled due to bad weather. (Above) A woman and child take a photograph as hot air balloons lift off during the 2015 Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta in Albuquerque, New Mexico, October 7, 2015. An attendee touches the outside of an inflating hot air balloon, October 7, 2015. Attendees watch as hot air balloons lift off, October 7, 2015. Hot air balloons lift off over a herd of cattle, October 7, 2015. A pilot uses burners to inflate a hot air balloon, October 7, 2015. Police officers salute as the Star Spangled Banner is played to mark the beginning of a lift off, October 7, 2015. Hot air balloons lift off on the first day, October 3, 2015. A hot air balloon floats over a home, October 5, 2015. Attendees watch a hot air balloon gets lit by flames as it is being prepared for take off, October 4, 2015. Hot air balloons drift through the sky, October 4, 2015. A crew member prepares a hot air balloon for take off, October 4, 2015. Hot air balloons drift in the sky as one is lit by flame after taking off on the first day, October 3, 2015. Pilot Chris Sabia works to secure the Wonder Bread hot air balloon after landing, October 4, 2015. Hot air balloons lift off as the sun rises over the first day of the festival, October 3, 2015. Attendees look up as hundreds of hot air balloons are being prepared on a field before take off, October 4, 2015. Attendees watch as hundreds of hot air balloons lift off on the first day, October 3, 2015. Attendees watch and photograph as hundreds of hot air balloons lift off on the first day, October 3, 2015. A crew member looks up as he fires flames inside a hot air balloon to lift off on the first day, October 3, 2015. Attendees watch as hundreds of hot air balloons lift off on the first day, October 3, 2015. Hundreds of hot air balloons take off, October 4, 2015. Crew members work to secure a hot air balloon after landing, October 4, 2015. Hot air balloons lift off on the first day, October 3, 2015. A hot air balloon floats over a parking lot, October 4, 2015. A vendor sells souvenirs before the sun rises on the first day, October 3, 2015. Attendees watch as hundreds of hot air balloons lift off on the first day, October 3, 2015. An attendee smiles as she watches hundreds of hot air balloons lift off on the first day, October 3, 2015. A launch director signals attendees to get out of the way as a hot air balloon lands on the first day, October 3, 2015. Crew members work to secure a hot air balloon after landing, October 4, 2015.
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Justin Bieber tattoos the name of his new album, "Purpose," just above his navel.
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Hillary Clinton announced her opposition Wednesday to the Pacific Rim trade deal, breaking with President Obama in another move to the left for her presidential campaign. Clinton made her announcement just days after negotiators completed the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) talks with 12 countries. "What I know about it, as of today I'm not in favor of what I've learned about it," Clinton said in an interview with Judy Woodruff on PBS's "NewsHour." A White House official said Clinton gave Obama a heads up on her position on the TPP. But the official wouldn't get into specifics about the private conversations. Clinton didn't take a clear position earlier this year on the president's request for Congress to grant him fast-track trade authority, which eased negotiations on the deal and makes it easier to move through Congress. But Clinton has come under significant pressure in the Democratic presidential primary from Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who is ahead of her in New Hampshire, according to polls. Sanders criticized Clinton for not taking a stronger stance against globalization and fast-track, and has been a loud critic of the TPP. By opposing the deal, Clinton is taking a step toward Sanders. Unions strongly oppose the TPP, so Clinton's opposition is likely to earn praise from organized labor a key Democratic constituency. The former secretary of State also has an eye on Vice President Biden, who is mulling whether to enter the Democratic primary. Biden backs the TPP. Clinton's opposition raises new questions about whether the trade deal can be passed by Congress. Both parties are split on the issue, but the deal will need to win much more support from Republicans to be approved by the House and the Senate. Some Republican presidential candidates have also come out against the deal, raising pressure on GOP lawmakers to oppose it. With fast-track's passage, however, it will at least be easier for Obama to get legislation implementing the agreement through the Senate. Opponents will not be able to filibuster the deal. In her comments to Woodruff, Clinton said she wants a trade agreement that would create jobs, saying she believes "that's the high bar we have to meet." Clinton expressed concern that currency manipulation isn't part of the agreement and that pharmaceutical companies will get more benefits than consumers under the deal. "We've lost American jobs to the manipulations that countries particularly in Asia have engaged in," Clinton said. More broadly, she said there are still "a lot of unanswered questions" and that sometimes agreements "look great on paper" but are in fact not that great. Clinton cited the 2011 free-trade deal with South Korea. She said the agreement was improved, with her support, but still hasn't delivered the promised benefits. "I have said from the very beginning that we had to have a trade agreement that would create good American jobs, raise wages and advance our national security," Clinton said. Republicans were quick to pounce on the reversal by Clinton, saying the move was done to appeal to labor union support. "Hillary Clinton's ability to shift positions based on political survival is both astonishing and deeply disturbing," said Jeff Bechdel, communications director for America Rising, a Republican super-PAC. "After 45 separate occurrences in which Clinton pushed for the trade deal, even praising it in her book 'Hard Choices,' she now claims she opposes it. This is nothing more than a political calculation made by a politician desperate for a coalition." Earlier in the day, White House press secretary Josh Earnest alluded to the fact the politics behind TPP "are tough" for Democratic candidates like Clinton. "There is vigorous disagreement inside the Democratic Party about the wisdom of the approach that the President makes," Earnest said.
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Procrastination at its finest.
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(Bloomberg) -- Amazon.com Inc. is exploring the creation of an online pay-TV service to complement its existing video offerings and has reached out to major media companies including CBS Corp. and Comcast Corp.'s NBCUniversal about carrying their channels, according to people familiar with the matter. Amazon's deliberations are preliminary, said the individuals, who asked not to be identified discussing negotiations. Some of the talks date back several months, according to one of the people. A live service would expand the online retailer's role in video entertainment and bring it into direct competition with pay-TV providers like Comcast and AT&T Inc. Other companies are offering or experimenting with bundles of channels delivered over the Internet, including Sony Corp., Dish Network Corp. and Apple Inc. Amazon already offers an on-demand video service akin to the one offered by Netflix Inc. Frost & Sullivan analyst Dan Rayburn wrote Tuesday on his StreamingMediaBlog that content owners were approached by the company, without identifying any. Amazon's recent agreement to acquire Elemental Technologies provides a platform to deliver live TV over the Web, he wrote. "Those I have spoken with haven't disclosed how far along Amazon is with regards to a live OTT service," Rayburn wrote. "It's possible Amazon is simply looking at the economics of the business, which would involve them talking with content owners about costs." Craig Berman, a spokesman for Seattle-based Amazon, declined to comment. Amazon, the world's largest online retailer, has made entertainment a bigger part of its pitch to customers over the past few years, attracting viewers from conventional TV services. The company created Prime Instant Video to lure more subscribers to its delivery service, offering movies and TV shows from major Hollywood studios. It also funds its own TV shows and movies. Pay-TV providers like Verizon Communications Inc. and Dish Network Corp. are responding with "skinny bundles," cheaper services offering fewer channels than the typical pay-TV package. Apple is working on a similar project. Amazon has been considering offering live TV as far back as January 2014, when the Wall Street Journal reported an approach to media companies. --With assistance from Spencer Soper in Seattle. To contact the reporter on this story: Lucas Shaw in Los Angeles at [email protected] To contact the editors responsible for this story: Anthony Palazzo at [email protected] Rob Golum
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Anyone who's crossed over the threshold of 30 knows the existential angst of being that age, particularly when trying to navigate friendships, and frenemy-ships, and straight-up hatreds with peers who all seem to have life on lock more than you do. Sloane Crosley, author of two best-selling humor essay collections about her own floundering toward adulthood (2008's I Was Told There'd Be Cake and 2010's How Did You Get This Number ), is something of an expert when it comes to generational observation a Lena Dunham for people who experienced college without Facebook or cell phones. And now she's written her first novel, The Clasp , out today. The plot centers around three single college friends on the edge of 30 who aren't even sure they like each other anymore, yet embark on an adventure to find a valuable necklace that is somehow related to Guy de Maupassant's cautionary short story "The Necklace," about the dangers of trusting appearances. (It's really funny, and Amanda Seyfried even blurbed it ! Kind of.) The most fun part, though, might be Crosley's keen observations of certain people you meet at that time in your life, which sound very familiar to anyone who is or has been that age. They're also told in the very biting wit of three protagonists disgruntled singleton Kezia, failed screenwriter Nathaniel, and misanthropic kleptomaniac Victor who are all terrible people. So we pulled some choice descriptions from the book and called up Crosley to discuss her inspirations, and to talk some smack about fictional characters who all sound like someone we know. (Also, not sure if this applies to books, but spoilers ahead .) 1. The Happily Married Ex Co-Worker Who Treats You As Her Single Pet Kezia's ex co-worker, Meredith, has been twice promoted at a job Kezia left for a much worse one (see No. 3), and is married to Michael, an ER resident who merrily cooks and hand-churns ice cream for Meredith's girlfriends. They live in an apartment decorated with framed LPs, subversive needlepoint art, and a bathtub big enough to accommodate Valentine's Day photo shoots. They are genuinely happy together. "There's a couple that gets portrayed a lot on TV the obnoxious couple and Meredith and Michael aren't like that. They might occasionally slip up and say things like, 'I'm so boring! I have to live vicariously through you!' which I think is one of the top five worst things you can say to a single person, but they genuinely love their friend," says Crosley, who's in a relationship but remembers many a dinner as the lone single person in a sea of couples. Still, these blissful types can be hard to take. "I have been to apartments like Meredith and Michael's," Crosley goes on. "Someone lives in a reclaimed fill-in-the blank and they've made you organic fill-in-the-blank and later they lead you to sleep in a bed made from fill-in-the blank. You want to Talented Mr. Ripley their entire apartment. They're not brandishing their happiness in front of you to be cruel; they've just forgotten what it's like to be single." 2. The Self-Obsessed College Friend More Concerned With Documenting the Experience Than Living It The first part of the book is set in Miami, at the wedding of Caroline, a society girl from Boston who's marrying an exotic German-Cuban named Felix. Caroline is, as Crosley puts it, "a summarizer rather than a dweller," whose entire life is oriented around appearances. She has no time for depressive Victor and his inability to be Instagram-worthy. At college, she was that girl who partied as if she was checking all the boxes, as if thinking, Crosley writes, "Now is the time I am going to create wild memories with my friends. Then, in a few hours, I shall stop being wasted, step off this piece of furniture I shouldn't be standing on anyway, and pass out." Her parents sent her care packages of New York deli meat and French macarons. Crosley describes her look as "current Jenna Bush." "You know the person who always seems to be directing their own biopic?" says Crosley. "I definitely went to college with some people like that. I am so happy that I did not come of age when there was a combination of people like Caroline and Instagram. She's the sort who will accept somebody she doesn't like into the friend group because she doesn't want to be perceived as upsetting the friend group. She is all smiles, but if you scratch the surface you'll find a lot of nefarious motivations. She's incredibly conservative, very New England, oblivious and controlling. I also like that she's not a thin, perfect person. Part of it is that she can have whatever she wants, and she doesn't want anyone disturbing that." 3. The Sophisticated College Friend Who Always Seems to Have Emerged From a Spa (at Noon on a Thursday) Another girl from the protagonists' friendship circle is Olivia, a chain-bikini-wearing sophisticado with extreme cleavage who wears only black sweaters, not because she's recycling the same outfit but because she has 20 black sweaters. Even though Kezia has known Olivia since college, she has no idea exactly what job she does, and it's too late to ask. It could be visual merchandising, or maybe something to do with "events"? Olivia is the kind of person who comes from a world where people wake, as Crosley writes, "guiltlessly at eleven o'clock having slept in negligees." "She's one of those people who looks at you like you're a three-headed monster with no taste when you compliment something they have laying around their house because it's actually from the Venezuelan H&M," Crosley says. "I find there a lot of those types in New York, and in some ways you want their life. Olivia walks through the world without a care. The difference between her and Caroline is that Caroline is trying to control her life. She makes sure every Instagram picture is perfectly posed, and that there's an appropriate ratio of dogs [to] selfies. Olivia doesn't care about that because she just is cool." 4. The Boss Who Refers to Herself in the Third Person The most fun character to loathe in the book is probably Rachel Simone, Kezia's eccentric jewelry-designer boss. She's committed to a "general Annie Hall aesthetic," while her designs include reclaimed cement pipes, lace-covered resin, and petrified rat teeth. She works from a loft and has an arty photograph of her bulldog, Saul, whom she can never be without, in her bathroom. She once removed a dogwood branch from an urn, followed Kezia into an elevator, and repeatedly slapped her over the head with it, for no apparent reason. "I have a former friend who is like Rachel," Crosley says. "She's the sort of person who would come to your birthday and then tell you that they missed their flight to make it. Even if changing that flight had nothing to do with you or your party, they take it as an opportunity to build up credit somehow. And then would later ask you to make a real sacrifice. People would always describe her as completely loyal, and when I'd ask for an example, they'd say, 'Well, she's the sort of person you could call if you were stuck in a Mexican prison.' I think people want to come to the rescue like that, especially in a city like this. Most people, if only for the story, would get on the plane and go to the Mexican prison to bail you out. But real loyalty is asking how you are, calling someone because you know they had a job interview." 5. The Hot Dude Who's Baffled Why You're Not Grateful He's Deigning to Sleep With You After Caroline's wedding, Kezia ends up in bed with Judson, an attractive guy from Dallas who's usually a pig when it comes to women. He looks like a young James Spader, an evil lifeguard, or a waxed Burt Reynolds (take your pick), and he has a sexy tattoo of Superman's Fortress of Solitude between his thigh and his groin. Instead of sleeping with him, Kezia makes him stay up all night telling riddles. He GChats her asking what she's wearing as soon as he's back at work on Monday. "I don't know many guys who put that much pomade on their hair," says Crosley. "I mean, I know they are in New York. Maybe I'm just not exposed to them? Judson is used to feeling really hot and getting any girl he wants, and here he is confounded by this woman he's brought home from this wedding who is not as superficially attractive as he's used to, doesn't find him amusing, and is also kind of a know-it-all. You know that guy who goes into the evening thinking he's an Olympic figure skater and this is the Ice Capades? He thinks you are going to be so grateful, and then has a rude awakening when he realizes that particular girl just doesn't want to have anything to do with him. It probably also has something to do with wealth in New York. But I also feel for Judson, he's just sort of a dum-dum. When they go home together, Kezia and Judson are punching above their weight in different ways. I was trying to put myself in the brain of guys I may have gone home with in my 20s. I have definitely stayed up all night with a guy like Judson. When Judson asks himself, 'Is there going to be sex at the end of this nonsense paved road?' I was trying to be empathetic to that person." 6. The Actor With a Literary Tattoo One of the main characters, Nathaniel, is tortured by an actress named Bean, who failed to text him after a steamy hookup. She has a D.H. Lawrence quote tattooed on her bicep (she saw it on the menu at a farm-to-table restaurant in Marfa, because of course she did) and is currently dating a Jack Nicholson look-alike. She's performatively skinny, a bit of a bitch, and partial to dressing in wifebeaters and her boyfriend's fedora. "She's more of an L.A. person," says Crosley. "I see these profiles of people like Bean on these blogs that have these ridiculous names, like Panther or Shine Chicken. They will profile some girl who used to do burlesque and now has her own line of hand-painted lampshades. These people make me want to flick myself in the eye. You shouldn't be rewarded for simply having a hobby." Crosley didn't include this choice descriptor in the book, but, she says, "if you were to strip Bean, she probably has a tattoo against her ribs and it's in Latin. It's not quite as bad as putting a Japanese character on you that says, 'Go fuck a cow,' but it's an elevated version of that. Bean would be the queen of ghosting, and it would fall on deaf ears if you said you were upset about something." Crosley recalls how, in her pre-author life, as a publicist for Vintage Books, she had an assistant just like Bean. She was the kind of person "who makes a mistake and is oblivious," Crosley says. "I'd say, 'Hey, you sent this press release out to 300 people, and you spelled the author's name wrong.' And they'd look over my shoulder and go, 'Oh, yeah, look at that. Huh.' And I'm thinking, What surfboard hut did you crawl out of? Not everyone in New York is as tightly wound as you want them to be." 7. The Cowboy-Boot-Wearing Co-Worker Who Gets a Contact High From Being Around a Phone that Won't Stop Ringing Kezia, has a younger, overeager colleague named Sophie, who has bought into their boss's myth of herself (see No. 3). She's passive-aggressive, lacks the references to understand your best jokes, and magically materializes complete with hyperperky smile and a decidedly earnest attitude to tend to Rachel's every need. Oh, and she talks cutesy to inanimate objects as if they're people. "Stress is her drug," Crosley says. "She is generally younger, and not to be confused with someone who's ambitious. I have encountered very few people like this over the years, but that's more because I have avoided them and less because they don't exist. But what I love about Sophie is how physically fawnlike she is, how she loves to play with stickers and anthropomorphizes everything, how she feels a sense of superiority over Kezia. She offers to solve Kezia's problems for her or expressing pride in her, which you should never do to a person older than you they don't need it." 8. The Model Who Is Genuinely Cool and Smart Nathaniel, an L.A.-based screenwriter, is pleasantly surprised when he finds Meghan, an aspiring model from Philadelphia, asleep on his couch. Her likes include open men's shirts and Brazil-nut milk, and she smells like berries and sex. She renders men speechless with precoital phone-in-vagina antics (as in she literally sticks Nathaniel's phone up her vag when he's on a call with another chick) and plans to go to law school. "It would have been easy to make Meghan a faux -deep dingbat, but I already had Bean," Crosley says. "She is perhaps the most grounded person in the novel, including the main characters. She's a giant slice-of-life perspective on legs very long legs and I like that men are both taken aback by and envious of her intelligence. I like that she hails from Philly, too. I have a nice group of friends from there, and she reminds me of them cool, wise, very down-to-earth. She also reminds me of the person you meet at a party, if you're lucky, who surprises you in her willingness to talk some thoughtful but pointed smack about a person, television show, or neighborhood that everyone else loves. She's fearless without being rude, and the kind of woman I'd want to be friends with. But because it's Nathaniel who gets to know her and not me, he just wants to screw her. Which, okay, is understandable." 9. The Attention-Seeking Bridesmaid Before Kezia goes home with Judson, she watches Marlene, a spray-tanned bridesmaid, attempt to seduce him by doing cutesy things involving her tongue and maraschino-cherry stems. "Before I judge this person too hard, I should cop to the fact that I have done some pretty childlike things to grab an adult man's attention, which doesn't look good for either me or the adult man," Crosley says. "I like to think of mine as more sophisticated. I've made origami out of paper straw-wrappers, but is it really so different from Marlene, who holds her finger up and asks for a moment of patience as she ties a cherry stem with her tongue? I doubt it. I don't disdain any of my characters, but those who make the briefest appearances usually have it the worst. And Marlene covers about three pages total, so the odds are not in her favor. The experience of reading the novel and the experience of meeting a Marlene at a party in real life are identical: You have no idea where this person's attention-seeking behavior comes from. Daddy issues? Lack of self-esteem? A scoliosis brace as a child? You only know that it's irritating and she's eating all the cocktail cherries."
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Juan Martin Garcia was executed Tuesday for fatally shooting another man after robbing him of $8. Mr. Garcia was pronounced dead from lethal injection at 6:26 p.m. in Huntsville, Texas, for the September 1998 killing of 36-year-old Hugo Solano. Mr. Solano had recently moved to Houston, Texas, from Guadalajara, Mexico, so his children could be educated in the United States. Garcia apologized to Solano's wife, Ana, and his daughter who were present at the execution. "The harm that I did to your dad and husband I hope this brings you closure," he said in Spanish from the death chamber gurney, according to the Associated Press. "I never wanted to hurt any of you all." Solano's relatives sobbed from the death chamber witness room and told Garcia that they loved him. After the execution, Ana Solano said she wished the execution had not taken place because she accepted Garcia's apology. It came "from his heart," Solano told AP. "It's about God. It's about Jesus." Ms. Solano had testified at the penalty phase of Garcia's trial, saying she did not support a death sentence. The widow said Garcia deserved to live so he could share the lessons from his mistakes with others in similar situations. Garcia, who was 18 at the time of Solano's shooting, already had a history with law enforcement. He was linked to at least eight aggravated robberies and two attempted murders only in the few weeks before. In a jailhouse interview with AP last month, Garcia seemed to accept his fate. "If it's God's will, it's his will," said Garcia. Eleazar Mendoza testified that Garcia, a street gang member, approached Solano as he was getting in his van to go to work, asked for his money at gunpoint, and then shot him when he refused. Mr. Mendoza was sentenced to 55 years in prison for aggravated robbery. Garcia, Mendoza, and two other accomplices had already carried out a carjacking when they spotted Solano on Sept. 17, 1998. Garcia claims that Solano, who was shot four times in the head and neck, was killed accidentally while the two struggled over Garcia's gun. "He punches me," Garcia said from death row. "First thing that came through my mind is that the dude is going to try to kill me. He grabbed the gun with both of his hands and it discharged." Garcia denied the robbery of $8, an accompanying felony that made the murder a capital case. Garcia claimed jurors unfairly penalized him because he didn't take the witness stand in his own defense trial. The US Supreme Court refused to review Garcia's case in March and the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles rejected a clemency request in a 5 to 2 vote last Friday. Texas typically carries out the death penalty more than any other state. Garcia was the 11th person to be executed in Texas this year, meaning that the state has already carried more executions this year than any other single state within the past ten years. The Lone Star state has three more executions scheduled for 2015. This report contains material from the Associated Press. This article was written by Story Hinckley Staff from Christian Science Monitor and was legally licensed through the NewsCred publisher network.
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