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Meet the FrankenFerrari, a 1963 250 GTE with a small-block Chevy, a Viper gearbox, a nine-inch Ford rear, Mitsubishi-sourced paint, and Pininfarina styling. I remember reading a story around the time Fast and Furious: Tokyo Drift came out. It focused on one of the star cars of that film, a 1967 Ford Mustang fastback that started the film as a shell, and in a pinch, was transformed into a modified masterpiece, complete with the RB26DETT engine from a Nissan Skyline GT-R (which started the film under the hood of an S15 Silvia). There was a genuine (and in our minds, absurd) fear in the article that taking a piece of classic American iron and fitting a twin-turbocharged JDM engine would result in some awful trend in the classic car community. If you thought a GT-R-powered classic Mustang was sacrilege, though, this car will probably make you vomit. For the rest of us, it's a neat piece of engineering. Shown above is a 1963 Ferrari 250 GTE, and yes, that's a 302-cubic-inch, small-block Chevrolet V8 under the hood. On top of that, it uses the six-speed manual transmission from a Viper, a nine-inch Ford rear end, and Mitsubishi-sourced paint. So yeah, it's a FrankenFerrari. Follow MSN Autos on Facebook
| 9 | 91,900 |
autos
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The Republican frontrunner to be the new speaker of the US House of Representatives, Kevin McCarthy, abruptly dropped out of the race, amid a revolt by the party's hard-line conservatives.
| 3 | 91,901 |
finance
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We know changing your name can be an arduous process. But these three ladies had a particularly difficult time switching names. Here are their stories, and hopefully you can avoid these obstacles! "I was so excited to type my new, married name into the 'last name' box of our airline reservations that I didn't stop to consider that while my name would have legally changed by the time we took off, my married name wouldn't be on my passport," says one woman. "We were stopped at the check-in counter and told I couldn't board. Luckily with a lot of back-and-forth! we were able to convince the representative to reissue a ticket with a my maiden name. But because that's against airline policy, it looked like I wouldn't be able to go on my honeymoon for a while!" "It took a total of nine months to change over every card, document, and ID from my maiden name to my married name," describes another. "That's three trips to the social security office, two trips to the DMV, and countless calls and mailings to credit card companies. It was so difficult that it felt as if everyone wants you to keep your name and by the end of the process, I was ready to!" "I'm an only child, and both my parents were very upset I chose to take my husband's name ," says another woman. "It was very important to me personally to take my husband's name and to be honest, his is so much easier to pronounce than my maiden name was but dealing with their disappointment was tough. They still address mail to me under my maiden name."
| 4 | 91,902 |
lifestyle
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You said "yes" to marriage and children. But while you can agree on your wedding date , you can't see eye-to-eye on when you'd welcome a baby into your lives . Left up to your fiancé, you'd get pregnant on your honeymoon and you'd prefer a five-year-plan when it comes to having kids. What can you do? "It's important to be on the same page," says Jane Greer , Ph.D., relationship expert and author of What About Me? Stop Selfishness From Ruining Your Relationship . "Otherwise, very often one person will feel resentful and angry at being controlled by the other's preferences. They may feel like they're missing out on having a family if they aren't able to start it when they want to." And we know you don't want that. So start by having a calm conversation with your fiancé about children. "Find out how important it is for him to start your family at that time, and share with him your concerns and reasons behind wanting to wait," Greer says. Then, be prepared with a compromise . "For example, if he wants to have children right away and you want to wait three years, perhaps you both wait a year and a half. You won't feel as pressured to start on his timing, but he won't have to wait the full three years. Find a balance that works for both of you." If you can't come to a compromise you can both live with, table the talk for now. "Agree to revisit it a year later," suggests Greer. "Feelings change all the time and you might decide you're ready to go for it at that point. You can't really know for certain how you'll feel years in the future. As long as you're both willing and open to discussing it a year later, then the issue isn't grounds to reconsider the marriage."
| 4 | 91,903 |
lifestyle
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Daniel Radcliffe's NYC Apartment: See the Home Where Harry Parked His Broomstick Well this is a lot more spacious than the cupboard under the stairs: Daniel Radcliffe is looking to rent his two-bedroom, two-and-a-half-bathroom apartment in a high-rise New York City's SoHo neighborhood for a cool $19K a month. Have a look around: The apartment offers 1,843 feet of living space as well as hardwood floors, high ceilings, loads of natural light, and a gym and pool in the building. The super-size master bath has a walk-in shower, dual sinks, and a massive tub. Daniel paid $4.29 million for the space in 2007, according to Zillow , but he quickly rented it out, The New York Times reports.
| 4 | 91,904 |
lifestyle
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10 absolutely insane beauty practices from the past Portuguese Urine Mouthwash The ancient Romans believed they had the key to dental upkeep the urine of Portuguese people. Believed to be an effective disinfectant because it contained ammonia, Portuguese pee was imported in jars. And the story didn't end there: Ammonia remained an ingredient in mouthwash until the 18th century. Radioactive Cosmetics A French cosmetics line of the 1930s contained radioactive ingredients like thorium chloride and radium bromide, promising that the product "stimulates cellular vitality, activates circulation, firms skin, eliminates fats, stops enlarged pores forming, stops and cures boils, pimples, redness, pigmentation, protects from the elements, stops aging and gets rid of wrinkles, conserves the freshness and brightness of the complexion." Lead Facial Powder The 1700s could be rough on a lady's complexion: Pox diseases often left permanent scars. Some women would use lead power as a facial coverup, which created a pale and silky look. Of course, there were downsides to this, including paralysis and swelling of the brain. Black Lacquered Teeth This was all the rage for married women throughout Japan's Meiji era, which began in 1868. To give their teeth the fashionable black lacquered look, these women would first rub the rind of a pomegranate to prime the enamel and then apply the dye, a mix of iron filings and gallnuts of the Japanese sumac tree. Deadly Nightshade Women used to squeeze drops of highly toxic Deadly Nightshade into their eyes to make their pupils dilate. A frequent side effect of this practice was blindness. The Tapeworm Diet Although it first caught on in the 1920s, the Tapeworm Diet had a brief resurgence in the '50s. Swallowing a tapeworm egg meant that you'd soon be sharing your calories with a new dinner guest. Arsenic Consumption In the 19th century, arsenic was believed to enhance a woman's beauty. Consumed only when the moon was waxing rather than waning, it promised to "produce a blooming complexion, a brilliant eye and an appearance of embonpoint [voluptuousness]." Foot Binding Once considered a sign of wealth as well as beauty in China, foot binding dates back to the 10th century. The practice was extremely painful: Young girls' feet were soaked and massaged before being bound to prevent further growth. All but the big toes were broken, folded downward and then tightly tied up. Side effects included septicemia (potentially life-threatening bacteria in the blood), poor circulation and gangrene. The Corset Victorian fashion prized the hourglass figure, which called for a tiny, cinched-in waist. The look was typically achieved with extremely tightly laced corsets. Some women even had their lower ribs removed for optimum cinching. The Dimple Machine In 1936, Isabella Gilbert invented the Dimple Machine so that dimples could be "made to order!" The device consisted of "a face-fitting spring carrying two tiny knobs which press into cheeks."
| 7 | 91,905 |
health
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From Hollywood to New York and everywhere in between, see what your favorite stars are up to! THE BIG REVEAL Rihanna plays coy with photographers at the unveiling of her new album's artwork and title, ANTI, at MAMA Gallery in Los Angeles on Wednesday. CROSS HIS HEART David Beckham flashes a sweet smile at the Haig Club pop-up in Madrid, Spain, on Wednesday. CLOWNING AROUND May we speak to Baby Spice, please? Emma Bunton mans the phones during Global's Make Some Noise Charity Day on Thursday at the Global Radio station in London. SKIRT THE ISSUE In a high-waisted skirt and fitted black top, Jane the Virgin's Gina Rodriguez cuts a fine figure outside The Late Show with Stephen Colbert in N.Y.C. on Wednesday. PHOTO FINISH Cate Blanchett and Dennis Quaid flank news anchor Dan Rather for a headline-grabbing selfie at the Giorgio Armani and Cinema Society screening of their film Truth at the Museum of Modern Art in N.Y.C. on Wednesday. SILVER SCREEN SIREN Blake Lively takes a minute to relax between takes as she films Woody Allen's latest project on Wednesday in N.Y.C. ON THE BALL Former Dancing with the Stars contestants Rumer Willis and Chris Soules keep it light on Wednesday night for a New York Knicks basketball game versus Bauru Bauru, a team from Brazil. DON'T 'CHA KNOW? Kirsten Dunst, with co-star Patrick Wilson, keeps it simple but edgy in a leather dress at the premiere of the second season of FX's Fargo in Hollywood on Wednesday. TECH TALK Dad-to-be Mark Zuckerberg makes plenty of new friends during his appearance at the Vanity Fair New Establishment Summit in San Francisco on Wednesday. FREE AGENT Ellen Page minus girlfriend Samantha Thomas gets all suited up for the San Francisco premiere of Freeheld on Wednesday. SHAQ ATTACK Shaquille O'Neal scores a slam dunk with fans as he signs copies of his new children's book, Little Shaq, at a Barnes & Noble in Las Vegas on Wednesday. PRESENTING MS. MIRREN John Goodman knows how to behave around a lady! He shows off his lovely costar Helen Mirren at an event for their film Trumbo at the London Film Festival on Thursday. DEAL MAKER Penélope Cruz is all business as she presents her new cinema project in Madrid, Spain, on Thursday. COMEDY TONIGHT The Walking Dead's Norman Reedus comes in peace on Wednesday to a taping of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon in N.Y.C. CINCH IT UP Glowing in green, Amal Clooney is seen out and about in London on Wednesday. COUCH TIME Vin Diesel gets pumped for an appearance on Univision's Despierta América on Wednesday in Miami, where he promoted his film The Last Witch Hunter. A ROYAL ENCOUNTER On Wednesday, Prince Harry stops by Paignton Rugby Club in support of the Rugby Football Union's World Cup legacy programs in the U.K. TRÈ CHIC Michelle Williams arrives at Wednesday's Louis Vuitton fashion show in Paris in style. TAKE A DIP Dancing with the Stars pro Val Chmerkovskiy exits the dance floor for some fun in the waves in L.A. on Wednesday. MORNING PERSON Who's blue? Not a smiley Cate Blanchett, who heads to a Wednesday visit at Good Morning America in New York City. SCHOOL TIES Jennifer Hudson waves to fans at Wednesday's Families for Excellent Schools rally in Brooklyn, New York. FIT & FAB A smiley Paula Patton steps out in her exercise gear in Los Angeles on Wednesday. LUCKY IN LOVE James McAvoy and wife Anne-Marie Duff share a sweet moment on the red carpet before attending a screening of Suffragette in London on Wednesday. QUEEN OF THE CARPET Despite being interrupted by protesters, Meryl Streep rules the red carpet at the London premiere of Suffragette on Wednesday.
| 6 | 91,906 |
entertainment
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It turns out skipping animal protein doesn't just add years to your life: New research suggests vegetarians can save at least $750 more than meat-eaters per year. The study, recently published in the Journal of Hunger & Environmental Nutrition , calculated those savings by comparing government-recommended weekly meal plans (which include meat) with comparable seven-day plant-based meal plans. For example, while the government plan suggests Hawaiian pizza for dinner on Day 6, the vegetarian diet recommends a recipe for Southwest lasagna. Prices for all recipe ingredients were based on the cheapest brands available at grocery chain Stop & Shop, and both plans totaled 2,000 calories per day. Specifically, the U.S. Department of Agriculture-recommended plans cost an extra $14.36 per week, while the vegetarian diet had about 25 more servings of vegetables, 14 more servings of whole grains, and eight more servings of fruit per week. The vegetarian meals didn't just cost less and include more nutrition they also maintained that $750 discount even while including splurges like olive oil in lieu of the cheaper canola oil used in the government recipes. Now, if you're trying to build muscle, you might see downsides to the vegetarian diet. Both meal plans had more than 50 grams of protein daily (the recommended intake for someone weighing 165 pounds), but the meatless diet had less: 60 grams versus 96 in the government plan. Read More: This Grocery Store Will Give You a Free Uber Ride Home if You Spend $50
| 3 | 91,907 |
finance
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Bjørn Kjos, the chief executive of Norwegian Air Shuttle ASA said Tuesday that, as early as 2017, he hopes to sell $69 one-way tickets from certain cities in the U.S. to Europe. Here are some details. Photo: Norwegian Airlines ASA.
| 2 | 91,908 |
travel
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Show off your Halloween spirit with these unique and one-of-a-kind ideas for designing and displaying your pumpkin throughout the home this season. The spooky, starry sky is the limit as far as creativity goes! And good news to produce a creation that's wow-worthy, your pumpkin doesn't always have to go under the knife. To get started, just raid your craft drawer. Whether you have puffy paint and glitter or kidney beans and thumb tacks, you'd be surprised how much you can do. Click through for 25 festive and fun ideas for decorating this year's pumpkin. Type Face Show off your Halloween spirit with these unique and one-of-a-kind ideas for designing and displaying your pumpkin throughout the home this season. The spooky, starry sky is the limit as far as creativity goes! And good news to produce a creation that's wow-worthy, your pumpkin doesn't always have to go under the knife. To get started, just raid your craft drawer. Whether you have puffy paint and glitter or kidney beans and thumb tacks, you'd be surprised how much you can do. Click through for 25 festive and fun ideas for decorating this year's pumpkin. Make a statement with some signage on your front porch. This no-carve creation requires nothing more than spray paint, chalk or a silver Sharpie marker , and your favorite font. (Don't worry, you get to trace it! No hand-lettering skills required.) After you color your pumpkin and let it dry, lay a print-out of your choice phrase over the rind; then trace around each letter, pressing hard enough so that there's a clear indent to outline wherever you need to fill in. Pin-terest Worthy Who said Halloween had to be all orange and black? Stray from the norm with a festive centerpiece made from a white pumpkin and colorful confetti brads. Tough enough to pierce the pumpkin's skin, these brads can be pressed into a pattern of your choosing for a no-carve, one-of-a-kind design . Go Ombré Well isn't this a treat: A candy corn inspired paint job ! The key to the ombre is working quickly. Paint the lightest color on the upper third of your pumpkin, and progressively go darker with each of the other sections. Then, before it all dries, use a fresh paintbrush to blend the colors together. Script your sentiment by hand or, as this clever designer did, cut your words out of adhesive vinyl to stick on when the paint dries for an even, matte black finish. Draw Your Own Pumpkin Design Feel inspired? Get your creative juices flowing and sketch out your own design for this Halloween. Thumbs Up This ritzy no-carve idea requires little more than brass thumbtacks but you'll need a lot of them. At your local craft or office supply store, pick up at least 500 (depending on the size of your pumpkin), then cover it completely so you don't see any orange peeking out. To save on office supplies for the month, consider first spray painting the pumpkin in a matching metallic and then only applying the tacks in stripes. Tribal-Inspired Keep your entryway table decor on trend with a small patch of these no-carve pumpkins. All you need for the tribal-inspired patterns is white craft paint. (Tip: A paint marker can make for even easier drawing!) The designs are easy enough to freehand, but you can also employ the help of a ruler to sketch out the arrows and triangles. Starry Night Nothing beats looking up at a star-filled sky on an October night! Bring that view down to earth by carving it into your pumpkin. Remove the seeds, coat your pumpkin in black spray paint, then use a drill recreate your favorite constellations on the front of your gourd. Once a candle is in place, the flickering dots of light will mimic the skies above. Nice in Neon Colorful and easy? That's music to the ears of most DIYers. For your own set of brightly decorated pumpkins, first spray paint them in a solid black or white base. Then dip and flip: Brush on an excessive amount of neon craft paint, and turn the gourd upside down so it drips down the side toward the stem. Once you're happy with where the paint lands, let your pumpkin dry. All-a-Glitter You can't be afraid to get your hands glittery to partake in this dazzling DIY. Paint your pumpkin in your favorite color, coat its stem in tacky glue, then sprinkle on all of the sparkles. When dry, you can brush off the excess glitter and move to whichever room or space could use a punch of color. Happy Henna This of-the-earth pumpkin project adds a real rustic quality to the home when placed near your front door. To achieve the faux wood-burned effect, sketch your desired design in pencil and trace carefully over the pattern in henna paint. The finished look appears best on a natural, unpainted pumpkins, especially the ones like the blue or white. Creature Comfort Inspired by majestic snow owls, this fresh idea turns white pumpkin with a bent stem into the beaked face of a woodland creature. To make your own, flip a gourd on its side, carve out two holes for eyes and fill each with a large Sempervivum rosette . Extra pumpkin cut-out pieces can create the owl's horns; dress them with evergreen clippings to add a winter camouflage to your finished look. Preppy Pumpkin What's fall without an argyle sweater? Just because you don't have one in your closet doesn't mean you can't have one on your porch . You'll want to factor in extra dry time between layers of paint: first the base color, then your large diamonds, and finally dashed diamond lines with a detail brush. Sweet Treat Calling all donut lovers: We've found a design rivals the real deal. To turn your gourds into real treats, paint the bottom halves the color of your donut and cover the tops with white paint (or the creamy pastel color of your choice). Once the first layer dries, a tiny paint brush can detail the multi-colored sprinkles. Yum! Wrap Job You'll need plenty of patience and baker's twine to recreate this clever craft. Brush on a layer of Mod Podge, then carefully wrap a spool of multi-color twine around and around your pumpkin. The key to the perfect wrap is to go slowly, making sure the twine wraps tightly and without any gaps. Lined and Defined This decorative pumpkin idea takes no more than five minutes of your time perfect when your short on time for centerpieces at the holidays . Using a copper paint pen or metallic permanent marker, trace the vertical lines along your white mini-pumpkins. Then, draw diagonal ones in each panel to create a herringbone pattern. Got one more minute to spare? Color the stem with the paint pen, too, for a finishing touch. Splatter Effect Prepared to make a mess this Halloween? No, we don't mean with a pile of trashed candy wrappers we're talking splatter paint. To start, you'll need to spray paint your orange pumpkin (stem included) with white paint. Let it dry, carefully cover the stem in gold leaf, and save the best saved for last: splattering a pop of color with the flick of the brush. Bean Baby Embrace the colors of fall's harvest with a design that includes green lentils and red and white kidney beans. You can create any geometric pattern by drawing it out first with a pencil and then filling in with beans hot-glued into place. If you're worried about any patches of orange or white pumpkin peeking through, paint the over the area you plant to fill before sticking on any beans. Paint by Numbers Trick-or-treaters won't miss your door when you label your porch pumpkins with house numbers . Using a black Sharpie marker, simply trace your house number onto your orange pumpkin. Fill in the lines carefully using a paintbrush and black paint and let dry. Picture Perfect Turn your favorite Halloween throwback photograph into a spooky luminary. Remove the guts of your pumpkin and carve a rectangle the size of a 5x7 photograph out of the front. Then attach a flat wooden frame filled with a Halloween pic from your past, printed on either tracing paper or scrapbooking vellum. When you set a flameless candle inside at night, the photo will light up with an eerie glow. Darling Design For a delicate touch reminiscent of the intricate spiderwebs, adhere thin white doilies to your otherwise all-natural pumpkin picks . (Orange pumpkins work best for the contrast, but you can reverse the scheme this with black lace doilies on white pumpkins, too!) Spread a light layer of the tacky glue onto the back side of the crochet work, then press onto the gourd's skin, holding it in place for a minute until it sets. Drill Down Your deck will be all a-glow with this easy carving technique. After you scrape out all the seeds for roasting, use an electric drill and variety of bits to create holes of all sizes throughout your pumpkin. Try to space them a few inches a part if you can so that the rind still maintains its structure. Put a candle inside, and the polka-dotted design will be seen flickering from all the way down the street. Golden Glow For festive decorations at all hours, mix in the magic of glow-in-the-dark paint. First black out your pumpkins with spray paint, then use stencils to trace a letter on each. (This DIYer spelled out, "boo," but you can get lengthier like "spooky" or "ghoulish" if you have access to an entire pumpkin patch!) Alternate polka dots in metallic and a glowing white around the outlined letter for a message that reads well both day and night. Easy Emojis You don't need to be tech savvy to recreate this pop culture reference with your pumpkins. To successfully fashion your favorite (or your kids' favorite) emoticons, first cover your round pumpkin with yellow spray paint. Then, refer to your phone to paint on an emoji expression. Worried about freehanding it? Try these templates instead and don't forget to add a hashtag when you share the final result online. Back to Biology Nothing says Halloween like a skull cut-out flickering in the moonlight. Print these anatomy-inspired templates from Brit+Co (there's everything from a heart to rib-cage) on sturdy cardstock and use them to trace your design onto a gourd of your choice. Then carve out the guts , make careful cuts along the stenciled lines with an X-Acto knife, and pop an LED light inside. Laser Focus To up your pumpkin game , go big or go home with the special effects. Just a handheld laser can recreate this techno-ish glow at home. Layer in an extra attachment, a diffraction grating, so that the light splits. The more lasers you have shooting out through your jack-o'-lantern's eyes and mouth, the better your chance at winning the decorating contest. Draw Your Own Pumpkin Design Feel inspired? Get your creative juices flowing and sketch out your own design for this Halloween.
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lifestyle
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Getting finances on track for the future means starting early. TC Newman (@PurpleTCNewman) has some tips to plan for retirement now.
| 8 | 91,910 |
video
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Daniel Craig seems to be on the fence about appearing in more James Bond films. For now, he's not keen on suiting up again.
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video
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Alcoa shares dipped Thursday after the company posted quarterly earnings well below Wall Street's expectations. The aluminum maker posted adjusted quarterly earnings of 7 cents per share on $5.57 billion in revenue. Analysts expected Alcoa (AA) to post earnings of 13 cents per share on $5.65 billion in revenue, according to a consensus estimate from Thomson Reuters. The stock dropped more than 4 percent in extended trading. How are Alcoa shares doing now? Click here to track the stock . The metals maker announced late last month that it would separate into two publicly-traded companies. The change is expected to happen by the second half of next year. Alcoa will split into "upstream" and "value-add" businesses, with one housing its legacy aluminum production and the other materials manufacturing for industries like automaking and aerospace. The transition comes amid a divergence of the two industries and a big dip in the price of aluminum amid a commodities crunch. After the results, Alcoa CEO Klaus Kleinfeld stressed the importance of the split, saying the company needs to focus on creating value amid a tougher commodities environment. "All in all, we have made the company more competitive, more resilient and in this light I think we need to focus on those things we have in our own control and that's what we are doing," he said on CNBC's "Closing Bell." Alcoa shares have taken a nosedive this year, down more than 30 percent. However, they have climbed about 15 percent since the split announcement.
| 3 | 91,912 |
finance
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Kylie Jenner and I lead very different lives. Unlike Kylie, I rarely take selfies, just learned how to use Snapchat, have never colored my hair or worn fake nails before, and generally don't wear makeup . Oh, I'm also not a celebrity, nor do I have my own website/app. But I am fascinated by Kylie's beauty routine, style, and enormous presence on social media (Kylie is the eighth most-followed person on Instagram and she's only 18). It might seem like Kylie's days are full of relaxing by the pool and playing with her pups, but don't be fooled by her luxurious Instagram photos. Homegirl is busy . I know this because I tried Kylie's beauty routine, outfits, and lifestyle for a week and I was pretty drained by the end. Day 1: Beauty Prep Before I really began the week, I needed to devise my beauty plan. I knew it was going to be intense since half of Kylie's allure comes from her ever-changing hair and makeup looks. So I recruited my own glam team and went through an elaborate process to become like Kylie. 1. Nails: I took a trip down to Valley in New York City's Chelsea neighborhood to get some Kylie-esque nail extensions. I showed the nail artist a picture of one of Kylie's most recent styles - very long and squared off in a grayish color (I used Smith and Cult in "Stockholm Syndrome" ) - and voilà! Kylie nails. Because they were extensions and not acrylic, the nail artist didn't have to file down my natural nails, and the process was pretty pain-free. The whole thing took about an hour, which is a tad longer than it takes me to paint my nails on my couch (my normal nail routine). 2. Tan: I invited Kristyn Pradas , who spray-tans the Angels for the Victoria's Secret fashion show, over to my humble apartment for an application of faux glow. I went full Kylie with the home visit because Kylie would probably never leave the comfort of her own home for a spray tan - she's not a regular person, after all. Nails by Valley ; spray tan by Kristyn Pradas 3. Makeup: I researched Kylie's favorite products and incorporated them into my Kylie glam process. She's known to be good at applying makeup and often does her own, so I took on the challenge of doing the same. I embarked on a weeklong makeup journey: Each day, I incorporated actual products Kylie uses or recommends (listed below) into my routine and took tips from the makeup tutorials Kylie posted on her new site. It would take me almost an hour each day to complete my makeup - a big change for someone who doesn't even wear concealer most days. Although Kylie has credited lip injections for making her lips look so full, I decided this week would be one where "Kylie" did not have a lip filler appointment scheduled. I instead stuck to her lip liner tricks and the magic of makeup to make my pout appear slightly plumper. MAC Lip Pencil in "Soar" or "Spice" ; Anastasia Beverly Hills contour and brow products; Cover FX Custom Cover Drops ; NARS Blush in "Orgasm" ; and Lily Lashes in "Miami" 4. Hair: Kylie loves wigs, and that is an understatement. I decided I needed more than one wig to pass as Kylie, who is arguably the hardest of the Kardashian/Jenner clan to keep up with due to how often she switches up her look. To start, I chose a short, black, layered wig that is very O.G. Kylie and still a regular style for her. With all that settled, I was ready for my first photo op. I slipped into Kylie's private jet travel outfit - crop top and drawstring pants, complete with lace-up heels. Even though my entire midriff was in the breeze, this look was probably the most comfortable of the week. Sweatpants disguised as real pants for the win. Black Crop Top , FREE PEOPLE (Available at Revolve), $20; Drawstring Pants , JAMES PERSE (Available at Revolve), $245; Lace-Up Pumps , GIUSEPPE ZANOTTI; Sunglasses , SEAFOLLY (Available at Revolve), $80 Day 2: Athleisure + Popeyes I whipped out the blonde wig and scared everyone in the office because no one could recognize me. After that experience, I now understand why Kylie switches up her hair so often. It's kind of fun to see people's reactions to your new look, good or bad (but more on that to come). I also noticed that people treated me a little differently as a blonde. I don't think that blondes have more fun necessarily, but they do have more doors opened for them. Like, literally, more people offered to open the door for me, which was strange. Go follow @kyliekworld A video posted by Kylie Jenner Snapchats (@kylizzlesnapchats) on Sep 10, 2015 at 1:47pm PDT Since Kylie can pull off sports bras, leggings, and tracksuits better than actual athletes can, I decided my next look would be Kylie's signature athleisure style. I also got the waist trainer that both Kylie and Khloé promote on Instagram to finish off the first look of the day. Sports Bra , ADIDAS, $25; Cropped Leggings , ADIDAS, $60; Waist Trainer , THE WAIST GANG, $130 Pictured: Me wearing Kylie's waist trainer. Not pictured: The two people it took to help me get the thing on, because my waist is not trained. I darkened the photo and added a million filters so it would look dark and mysterious like Kylie's Insta photos tend to look. Some notes about the waist trainer: It gave me all kinds of feelings. I've never had a tiny waist or shapely hips before, so that part was fun to see. However, I was holding my breath for the 15 minutes I had it on, and that part was not so fun. I will say, though, that if you thought Kylie Photoshopped her waist trainer photos to make her body more hourglass-like, you were wrong. Waist trainers - no joke - give you a cartoonish Jessica Rabbit figure. I then changed into a tracksuit with some matching sneakers and headed to Starbucks. I have no idea if Kylie likes Starbucks or drinks coffee, but Brooke does and she was tired. I personally would never walk down the street in a sports bra even if I were on my way to the gym, so this look was pretty bold for me. My outfit was jarringly different than the suits and pencil skirts everyone else was wearing for their morning coffee run. I was glad to have the jacket to cover myself when I felt like people were staring, which they did, a lot. I couldn't tell if they were looking at me because I was wearing a bra or because they were trying to figure out who I was. Either way, it was a little uncomfortable, and I thought about how strange it must feel to be famous, and have people stare at you all the time and take pictures without asking. Track Jacket , ADIDAS, $70; Tracks Pants , ADIDAS, $60; Superstar Shoes , ADIDAS, $80 Then, I took a trip to Popeyes for lunch. Kylie has posted many a photo of herself eating Popeyes fried chicken on a private jet, so I jumped on the opportunity to copy her (I'm a huge fan of those biscuits). I brought my lunch back to the office and lounged on the couch to eat (with the waist trainer on, mind you) because nothing is more glamorous or more Kylie than lounging on a white sofa in a waist trainer eating Popeyes. Day 3: The Sold-Out Dress Things I've learned about Kylie's lifestyle from wearing nails like hers: She does not button her own clothing or type on a keyboard because it's actually impossible to do either. She probably has great social skills, though, because she's forced to talk to people instead of texting them (it takes three minutes to write "hi"). The nails are great, however, for scratching your back and massaging your head while shampooing. But getting back to day three ... When Kylie Jenner wears a dress, it sells out fast . Luckily, the brand Houghton, which designed a dress Kylie wore on Instagram once, was able to send me a very similar version of it for my third outfit. I paired it with some thigh-high suede boots and sunglasses (like Kylie's, of course) and took some #OOTD mirror selfies as well as some "paparazzi" ones. Ms.SoFly A photo posted by King Kylie (@kyliejenner) on Aug 6, 2015 at 6:57pm PDT Blue and Black Checkered Dress , HOUGHTON, $450; Black Suede Over-the-Knee Boots , STUART WEITZMAN, $798; Sunglasses , DIOR I loved this outfit because it was comfortable yet very "Kylie," and my coworkers seemed to really love this one too. I got a lot of feedback like, "OMG, Brooke," and, "Did you send a selfie to your boyfriend?" I did. He said he didn't recognize me, but he liked the boots. Day 4: Mint Green Hair Posting pictures of myself as Kylie on my personal social media accounts was tricky. Since I rarely take selfies, I knew my friends and followers would suspect something was up. But in order for me to have the complete Kylie experience, I would need to get into 100 percent selfie mode. The number of pictures of my face that I have on my phone right now is borderline shameful - except #NoShame because this is what I would imagine any young celeb's camera roll looks like. Besides, taking your photo when you have new hair and makeup on and feeling good is addictive! You should try it. Fair warning that it will be time-consuming though. A good chunk of my day was devoted to taking selfies and editing them with a few apps, one of those being Perfect 365, Kylie's fave photo editing tool. Normally I try to spend as little time as possible obsessing over the way I look in person and in photos. I enjoy living rather than taking pictures of my life. But when you're trying to get in the head of a celebrity like Kylie whose career relies so heavily on making her Instagram feed look amazing, it's easy to get caught up and spend more time getting the perfect photo. For my fourth day of being Kylie, I decided to go green. Except that I couldn't actually find a wig that was the right shade of mint green, so I had the Cosmopolitan.com design team tint my hair with Photoshop instead. I then posted one of them on Twitter and asked my followers for feedback. Miss it 😍 pic.twitter.com/SMamcjNpMT - Kylie Jenner (@KylieJenner) September 22, 2015 Guys, I went green. What do you think? pic.twitter.com/uqeNjGgh1m - Brooke Shunatona (@brookeshunatona) September 28, 2015 One follower commented, "channelin kylie," and another said, "Kylie Jenner experiment?" For the most part, they were fully aware of the look I was aiming for, which I consider a win. I also tried recreating her outfit entirely. Fun fact: It took 67 tries to get this shot just right. All in a day's work. White Jeans , COTTON ON, $30; White Tank , H&M, $6; Boots , TIMBERLAND, $160 Day 5: Giuseppe + Sushi By this point, I was exhausted. It might sound like an easy job, but devoting a huge chunk of time and thought every day to your makeup, hair, and outfit, plus to taking the perfect photo, all while maintaining a full-time job, is not easy. Many times in my life, I've watched a celebrity on reality TV and said to myself, It seriously can't be that hard. Get over yourself. But there is something very emotionally draining about investing so much energy in the way you look and deliberately putting yourself out there for people to judge. I'm not even remotely a celebrity and the experience was really weighing on my self-esteem. Because I'd put so much thought into my appearance, I cared that much more about what others would think of the way I looked, and that is something I never usually do. I wondered if this is how Kylie feels on a regular basis, except times a million because there's so much pressure for women in entertainment to look good. I am no quitter though, and neither is Kylie, so I laced up my Giuseppe heels (it took seven minutes to put the shoes on due the combination of my nails and the long shoelaces), took a picture (I later posted it on Instagram), and walked outside for my daily photo shoot. My recreation of the image was pretty spot-on, I thought, but my Instagram followers were not fans of the photo. I usually get at least twice as many likes on a single post, but not this time. I understand why though. It is a picture of feet on office carpet, after all. I was beginning to realize that although being a celebrity means you have unlimited access to the most amazing shoes, the life of a famous person is not always diamonds and rosé. Here I was, wearing heels that cost more than most people's rent, and I was feeling like I couldn't really enjoy the moment because of the sad social media response. It reminded me of that movie Richie Rich , where the main character doesn't have friends to join in on the fun of being really ridiculously wealthy (pretty sure Kylie was born after this movie came out and would have no idea what I'm talking about). OOTD/OOTN A photo posted by King Kylie (@kyliejenner) on Feb 25, 2015 at 9:42am PST Black Midi Dress , COTTON ON, $25; Lace-Up Heels , GIUSEPPE ZANOTTI; Watch , CARAVELLE I put down my phone for a bit and had lunch. I grabbed sushi, a staple for Kylie, and ate outside with a friend. I'm convinced Kylie and I would be good food buddies in real life between our love for both sushi and fried chicken. Day 6: Glam Team + Filming KUWTK I decided on day six to have a makeup artist from beGlammed come in and put my face on for me. I was thrilled to pass the makeup brush baton and was also glad to not have another close call between my long fingernails and my cornea while gluing on false lashes. Kylie does her makeup often, yes, but she also keeps many different makeup artists on speed dial to come in and do tutorial videos with her for her website, so calling for backup felt true to Kylie. My makeup artist Anthony Green gave me the more natural glam look (I realize that's an oxymoron, just go with it) that Kylie is also known for, rather than the full-out look I'd been doing myself all week. Watch @styledbyhrush and @tokyostylez make me over on my app/website right now A video posted by King Kylie (@kyliejenner) on Sep 23, 2015 at 3:33pm PDT Next on my schedule was to film some Keeping Up With the Kardashians -style confessionals, so I switched into a crop top, bodycon skirt, and blonde wig (as Kylie, I needed to always keep people on their toes). Took months of not dying my hair and wearing wigs to get my hair back to health so I can do this!! Thank you @priscillavalles @maishaoliver for putting up with me all day. I'm going for an ashy dirty blonde for the fall. But this shits a process! I'm coming for u khloé! A photo posted by King Kylie (@kyliejenner) on Sep 1, 2015 at 10:04pm PDT White Crop Top , BOSSA, $59; Gray Suede Skirt , BOSSA, $119 Then I jumped in a car and took a few Snapchats while listening to "$timulated" by Tyga, Kylie's man friend. Kylie isn't going to share a selfie on Snapchat that doesn't feel 100 percent Kylizzlemynizzl (her Snapchat handle), so I had to really get into character for this one. [youtube ]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iMwrdDXJ_24&feature=youtu.be[/youtube] I finished the day with an Instagram selfie of my blonde hair. The response from my friends was not a positive one. I can deduct two things from this: People don't like me with blonde hair, and they don't like selfies of me. I got a couple texts from friends that said, "YOUR HAIR," and, "ARE YOU BLONDE NOW." One of those friends also told me she was "perplexed" because of the combination of the hair, the pose, and the glasses. Very few people told me they liked it, which made me feel embarrassed for ever posting it. These people have no idea what I'm working on and I look stupid , I thought. Honestly, it's a relatively tame photo compared to what I could've put up, but it's clear that my followers and friends don't expect and don't approve of selfies and drastic hair changes from me. And as I sat there watching the likes and comments, I wondered if Kylie ever did the same. 🙈🙉🙊 A photo posted by Brooke Shunatona (@brookebighorse) on Sep 27, 2015 at 4:27pm PDT Day 7: Fro-yo I did not know that Kylie likes fro-yo, but the resident Kardashian/Jenner expert at Cosmopolitan.com, Mariah Smith, informed me that she in fact does. So on my last day as Kylie, I took a stroll to a nearby frozen yogurt shop. The employees showered me with coupons for free fro-yo, which could be something they do to every customer, but I took it to mean they thought I was someone important. Either way, it was a pretty good day. 💃🏻💃🏻💃🏻 A photo posted by King Kylie (@kyliejenner) on May 30, 2015 at 5:14pm PDT White Bodysuit , AMERICAN APPAREL, $32; Denim Shorts , J BRAND (Available at Revolve), $125; Long Sleeveless Blazer , ZARA, $90; Lace-up Knee-High Heels , NASTY GAL, $120; Sunglasses , DIOR At the end of the week, I decided living like Kylie was not really what I expected. I didn't become more popular on social media, and life wasn't easier just because I was living the life of a famous person. Being a female celebrity in 2015 - at least the way I lived it - is hard . I've always liked Kylie, but I gained much more respect for her after witnessing (on a much smaller scale) how much emotional energy goes into leading a very public life and how vulnerable a single selfie can make you feel to the world. I was happy to take off the itchy wigs and makeup, and have full access to my fingers again without the extra long nails, but I was also kind of sad to see them go. Dressing like Kylie for a week made me realize that I never take big chances with my style solely because I'm afraid of what others will say. When I took on this challenge, a part of me inside was excited to finally get to experiment with my hair and outfits while having work as an excuse to rely on if anyone confronted me about my new style choices. I have to hand it to Kylie - she totally commits to being noncommittal with her look, and she pulls it off, so much so that she can sell out dresses and have people (besides just me) want to copy everything about her look. While I don't think I necessarily want to adopt all of Kylie's style choices, I felt inspired by the confidence she exudes to try new things more often, whether the response from others is good or bad. After all, life's too short to have the same hairstyle since ninth grade (true story). Get non-boring fashion and beauty news directly in your feed. Follow Facebook.com/CosmoBeauty . Follow Brooke on Instagram and Twitter .
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lifestyle
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On a visit to Turkmenistan, Douglas Vautour filmed this video of the Darvaza Crater, otherwise known on the internet as the "Doorway to Hell". Why has this pit burned hot and bright for so many years?
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video
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The English FA maintain their support for Michel Platini to become the next president of FIFA with chairman Greg Dyke saying they would only withdraw it if he was found guilty of corruption.
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sports
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Men in China smoke a lot of cigarettes, and it's killing them at astonishing rates. One in every three young men in the country will eventually die from the health impacts of the habit, a new study has found. The paper, published Thursday in the Lancet , is the product of two large studies of smoking consequences in China conducted 15 years apart. During the first study, in the 1990s, the researchers found that of all men who died between the ages of 40 and 79, about 10 percent died of issues related to tobacco use. Now, an ongoing second study of a half million men and women found the percent of male deaths attributable to tobacco has risen to fully 20 percent, and threatens to rise even higher. Male smoking deaths hit 1 million in 2010, they write, and if current trends continue, it will hit 2 million by 2030. "Without rapid, committed, and widespread action to reduce smoking levels, China will face enormous numbers of premature deaths," Liming Li, a professor at the Academy of Medical Sciences in Beijing and a co-author on the paper, said in a statement . Fully two-thirds of all men in China now begin smoking while they're young, the researchers found. Of these, half will be killed from tobacco. The story is different with Chinese women. While about 10 percent of women born in the 1930s were smokers, only roughly 1 percent of women born in the 1960s are. And the rates of death-by-cigarette has fallen as well. But, the researchers note, smoking has again become fashionable among women; a recent increase in new female smokers threatens to erase the progress of the last half of the century. In the U.S., meanwhile, about 17.8 percent of the adult population smokes, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control. That's down from 25.5 percent of the population that smoked in 1990 . The gender differences among current smokers are slight compared to China; a little more than 20 of every 100 adult men smoke (versus 28 in 100 in 1990), while 15 in every 100 adult women do (down from 23 in 100 in 1990). Though the situation has steadily improved, smoking remains the leading cause of preventable early death in the U.S., killing 1 in every 5 people in the country. But in China, the rate of tobacco users keeps climbing higher. Sir Richard Peto, a professor at the University of Oxford and a co-author of the recent paper, attributes this in part to a lack of price increases on cigarettes in China of the sort that became ubiquitous in the U.S. over the past 20 years, largely by way of excise taxes. "For China, a substantial increase in cigarette prices could save tens of millions of lives," he said in a statement .
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On Day 4 of the Dan Campbell Era, the inevitable became official. Kevin Coyle is out. The Miami Dolphins on Thursday fired Coyle, the team's embattled defensive coordinator; the organization named longtime assistant Lou Anarumo as his replacement. Coyle is the second Dolphins coaching casualty this week, following head coach Joe Philbin out the door. The Dolphins didn't go far to find his replacement; Anarumo spent the past four years working on Coyle's staff as Miami's defensive backs coach. "I know [Anarumo] is the right man on this job," Campbell said. "We see eye to eye on what we need to do defensively going forward." Additionally, Jeff Burris has been promoted to assistant defensive backs coach and will work alongside Blue Adams in the secondary room. Coyle's termination comes as little surprise. In addition to overseeing one of the worst statistical defenses in the NFL this season, he is unpopular with many of his players. Most were surprised he lasted as long as he did. But in the end, Campbell - named interim coach Monday - decided a change was in order. Coyle had presided over a defense that, through four weeks, ranks last against the run (160.5 yards per game), last in sacks (1), 30th in total defense (399.5) and 25th in yards per play allowed (5.9). Anarumo had worked under Coyle in Miami since 2012. Before that, he spent eight years as the defensive backs coach at Purdue, and also has coached at Marshall, Harvard, Syracuse and elsewhere. The last time Anarumo was a defensive coordinator was 1994, and that was at the United States Merchant Marine Academy. He is a native of Staten Island, New York, and earned his bachelor's degree from Wagner. "We have a committed defensive staff that is going to get this thing turned around," Anarumo pledged. Coyle's firing was bittersweet for some Dolphins players. Although there were some who disliked him, others were fond of him personally, but disagreed with his philosophy. While most believed the change had to be made, some wonder what schematically will be different. Anarumo, speaking with South Florida reporters Thursday, took a minute to clear up a misconception: The Dolphins have run and will continue to run a one-gap defense, contrary to widespread media reports. Some had speculated that Dolphins players were upset with that aspect of the team's scheme, which would require the defense to react more than attack. "This is an aggressive, attacking front," Anarumo insisted. "... Every one of those guys up front has demonstrated that they can be productive players." Still, it hasn't attacked enough. Despite spending tens of millions on their defensive line, the Dolphins have just one sack this season - fewest in the league. Anarumo's top job will be to get the most out of Ndamukong Suh, the Dolphins' high-priced defensive tackle who has yet to make the impact most expected. The Dolphins in recent days reached out to a number of former NFL coaches, including Jim Schwartz, about joining their staff. But it is not clear if they had been offered the coordinator job or an assistant role, not unlike the one Al Saunders accepted on the offensive side Wednesday. "I was surprised, but it's a great opportunity," said Anarumo, who made a point to thank Coyle. "It's a little bittersweet for me, but I'm looking forward to making the most of it."
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Forget the piddly flows of water on Mars today, billions of years ago, a new study shows the red planet probably played host to streams, lakes and deltas of fresh water which likely could have supported microbial life. NASA's Mars Curiosity rover has found evidence that the Gale Crater its home for the past three years had a complicated system of lakes and deltas that intermittently froze and unfroze depending on the season. According to the study, which was published Thursday in the journal Science, these transient lakes were likely stable for 100 to 10,000 years, a long enough period of time for microbial life to possibly develop.
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It led doctors to discover a tumor in the man's body.
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In the words of Louis C.K., "Divorce is always good news . . . because no good marriage has ever ended in divorce." True as that may be, it doesn't make divorce any easier to deal with, no matter how short your marriage was. It's a fact of being in your 20s and 30s: a surprising number of your newly married friends start to get divorced. Despite going into it with the best intentions, many young couples split up after just a few years. You could argue that the end of a short marriage is on par with a bad breakup, but having been through both, I'd argue that divorce is more difficult, even if you've got no kids, no house, not even a dog. After all, getting married results from a major decision to set your life on a certain course. It's high profile, it's public, you get gifts and congratulations, and you're left with all sorts of physical mementos: a carefully chosen dress, extra invitations, photo albums. When the marriage comes to a screeching halt a few years later, you not only have to come to terms with your life not turning out the way you expected, but you also have to explain it to everyone watching. Here are my tips on how to cope with a divorce after a short marriage ends: 1. You shouldn't take it lightly. Don't take it lightly. Even if you don't have child custody issues to resolve, divorce is never easy. The legal process still takes far longer than getting hitched, so acknowledge that divorce is a big deal. It will make it easier to get through later. 2. You need to sweat the small stuff first. You'll have plenty of to-dos to cross off the list right away: one of you will have to find a new place to live, you'll have to inform your families, and there's the not-minor task of grieving the relationship's end. So unless you have a real reason to start the legal paperwork right away, wait a few months before hashing out the nitty-gritty. 3. Put away the mementos, but don't destroy them forever! For a long while, it's going to be very difficult to look at your wedding photos, your engagement ring, and other remnants of your wedding. But don't do anything rash. In 20 years, the pain will have lessened, and you might look back on that wedding album and that beautiful ring fondly. 4. You'll probably need to change the scene. Change up your surroundings. This doesn't mean you have to drop everything and join the Peace Corps. You may even want to stay put in the very same house where you made your married life. But make it your own. Move around some furniture, hang some new photos, and decorate in ways your partner might have objected to - even if that means simply having the whole couch to yourself. Surround yourself with photos and objects that make you feel good. 5. Break the news gradually. There is no rule about announcing your divorce, so do it when you're ready. If you can, talk to your partner about who will break the news to your mutual friends, and make sure those closest to you know as soon as you can bring yourself to tell them. For acquaintances, co-workers, and other far-off friends, it's OK to let the news spread slowly rather than start every conversation with it. 6. It's OK to give yourself a break. It's natural to feel a lot of guilt, even if the divorce wasn't your idea. You might feel guilty that your friends spent money to come to the wedding. You'll feel sad that your spouse's family welcomed you into their lives. You'll feel bad about yourself when you do stupid things like drink too much - and you will do stupid things - but give yourself a break. Recognize that you are going through a hard time and you will make some mistakes and it's OK, at least for a little while. It's OK to play the divorce card every so often. Don't be afraid to ask for help, favors, or small allowances from friends and co-workers. Obviously, you don't want to overplay this card so much that you become annoying, but taking a few personal days here and there or reminding friends why you don't seem like yourself is perfectly OK. 7. Reconnect with loved ones. Rather than taking a vacation by yourself or moping around your apartment, plan a trip to visit a good friend or your family. Not only will it be comforting to talk to people who really understand you, but spending time with people who knew you before your marriage will help you reconnect with the things you value about yourself, as an individual. 8. You'll want to stay busy but not too busy. Time alone after any breakup can get pretty lonely, especially if you're used to sharing a bed, and many people find their attention spans are even shorter than usual after a life upheaval. Make sure you have plenty of healthy activities to keep you from wallowing in your sorrows. But don't distract yourself so much with vices - be they drinking, drugs, or promiscuous sex - that you can't let yourself be sad sometimes. Sadness is inevitably part of the process. 9. Now's the time to reconnect with yourself. One perk of being single? You are your own boss. You can make decisions without consulting anyone else and do what you want to do. Immerse yourself in favorite activities and friends from your "before" life and remember that you are a valuable person in your own right, even if you are divorced. In addition, don't stress too much about the future; instead, reset your priorities to where they were before you fell in love. Having your marriage fall apart can leave you asking all kinds of questions about your future, but just as when you were single, trying to fit your life into a timeline of dating, marriage, and kids will only make you feel worse. Remind yourself that for a little while, all you can do is what you're ready to do.
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CLEVELAND (AP) -- Indians owner Paul Dolan could soon have a financial partner. An investment banker hired by Dolan last year to search for a minority owner said Thursday that a "small group" of investors has been identified and a deal could be completed soon. Steve Greenberg, managing director of Allen & Company, a New York-based financial boutique that has brokered sports acquisitions in the past, said the pursuit of an investor has narrowed and Dolan's goal to bring in someone to ease his financial burden and add capital could be finalized by the end of the year. "Being a baseball guy let me describe it this way," said Greenberg, whose father, Hank, was the Indians' general manager from 1950-59. "We're in the bottom of the seventh inning. It's not over yet, but we can see the outcome if we just get two innings of relief ball." Greenberg did not identify the group or what percentage of the team it would purchase from Dolan. The Indians owner, whose family bought the team from Richard Jacobs in 1999, has no intention of selling the majority share of the Indians, who went 81-80 this season and missed the playoffs for the seventh time in eight years. Greenberg has had major success in completing business deals. He created regional sports TV channels in Chicago and New York, helped the Wilpon family land a $400 million naming rights deal for Citi Field and worked with Cleveland owner Dan Gilbert on the purchase of the NBA's Cavaliers. Because Major League Baseball does not have a salary cap, mid-market teams such as the Indians are at a distinct disadvantage when it comes to signing free agents. Cleveland has to be selective and one or two bad signings, as was the case with outfielders Michael Bourn and Nick Swisher in 2013 to deals totaling $104 million, can have a debilitating effect. Greenberg doesn't think a minority investor in Cleveland will necessarily change Dolan's spending habits radically, but it can provide a stronger economic foothold. "I don't think it's going to be that kind of a game changer," Greenberg said when asked if an infusion of capital will alter the Indians' philosophy in building their roster. "I wouldn't expect that, but what I do think it does, however, is broaden the base of ownership. If there are years where you lose a little bit of money, it's not as stressful and you don't feel the need to trim payroll in August and September or July if you're out of the pennant race because you're not writing the whole check." In recent years, Dolan's spending or lack thereof has angered some Indians fans, who complain that he doesn't do enough to make his team more competitive. Cleveland's attendance has been dropped over the past decade and the team drew just 1.38 million fans -- second lowest in the majors -- and the lowest in 22 seasons at Progressive Field. Greenberg believes the addition of a minority owner in Cleveland can help change any perception about Dolan. "If we bring in the right partner, separate and apart from any capital he may bring, we're also hoping that the partner becomes a true partner in terms of running the business in terms of ideas and contributes beyond any check he writes, so I think it will be perceived as, and will hopefully also be, a positive factor," he said.
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As more details have come out about the altercation between Memphis Grizzlies wing Matt Barnes and New York Knicks head coach Derek Fisher, more and more questions have been raised. On Thursday, Barnes addressed some of those questions at Grizzlies practice, telling reporters that he and Fisher had a good relationship -- but using the past tense in doing so: Asked about relationship with Derek Fisher, Matt Barnes says, "we were friends. We were good friend at one point." pic.twitter.com/bvXXf6mEMg Rob Fischer (@thefishnation) October 8, 2015 Matt Barnes- "It's a personal matter. My focus is on basketball. Being here early, I don't wanna start it off by having anything negative." Rob Fischer (@thefishnation) October 8, 2015 Matt Barnes- "It's a personal matter. My focus is on basketball. Being here early, I don't wanna start it off by having anything negative." Rob Fischer (@thefishnation) October 8, 2015 Barnes told reporters that the NBA has not contacted him about the incident. Grizzlies coach Dave Joerger said that he supports Barnes "1,000 percent" and that he knows the team is in Barnes' corner as well. "I love him to death," Joerger told reporters. MORE NEWS: Want stories delivered to you? Sign up for our NBA newsletters.
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Urban Outfitters is asking employees to work for free. A Gawker post last night detailed an email in which Urban's parent company actually asks "salaried employees" to work for free at a fulfillment center. There, they are expected to "pick, pack and ship orders" on a volunteer basis, in the interest of "team building" and "servicing the needs of our customers." Perhaps even weirder than a request for employees to volunteer for a not-at-all charitable cause is that Urban told Gawker it received a "tremendous response" from its email. But it is only allowing those who are are not paid by the hour to participate, because it wanted to "ensure full compliance with all applicable labor laws and regulations."
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finance
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MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) -- The NBA is investigating the incident between Grizzlies forward Matt Barnes and Knicks coach and former teammate Derek Fisher, a situation Barnes said is "personal matter" involving someone who was a good friend at one point. "Life happens, and being a professional athlete, you have to be able to maneuver and separate your personal life from your professional life," Barnes said Thursday after the Grizzlies' morning shootaround, noting the league's investigation of the incident in California. "And I'm here to play basketball, so there won't be any distractions." The veteran said in video posted by The Commercial Appeal that he has not spoken with the NBA yet. "All the real details will come out at some time," Barnes said. A person with knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press on Wednesday that the incident occurred Saturday while Fisher was attending a gathering at the home of Barnes' estranged wife, Gloria Govan. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because no details were publicly released. Fisher and Barnes were teammates with the Los Angeles Lakers from 2010-12. The Grizzlies wrapped training camp in Santa Barbara earlier Saturday. At Knicks' practice Thursday in Greenburgh, New York, Fisher wouldn't comment when asked if he might press charges. He said he has talked directly with both management and his players. "It's still something I can't comment on until the situation or the process plays completely out," Fisher said. "If I decide to or have the opportunity to address it later, I guess I will. At this point, that's probably not the right thing to do." Redondo Beach Lt. Joe Hoffman said police responded to an incident Saturday night, but would not confirm that it was a fight involving Barnes and Fisher. "There's no basis for criminal charges, we are not providing any additional information about the location or who was involved," Hoffman said. "Because no arrest was made, there is no criminal charge being filed, so at this point it's not a law enforcement matter." Memphis acquired Barnes in a draft-day trade in June. Coach Dave Joerger told reporters Thursday that the Grizzlies support Barnes, and the veteran said the support of his new team feels good. "I explained to them what happened, and they completely understand and had my back," Barnes said. Fisher is in his second season with the Knicks after spending most of his playing career in Los Angeles, where his children remain. Fisher missed practice Monday -- the team announced at the time it was for personal reasons -- and the coach said Thursday plane issues delayed his return. Fisher led the Knicks in their exhibition opener Wednesday night against a Brazilian club team. ------ AP Basketball Writer Brian Mahoney in New York and AP writer Amanda Myers in Los Angeles contributed to this report.
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Home sweet home Happy as a Clam "On our way home from the adoption shelter." Follow us on Twitter. Feel That Wind "Allistair's freedom ride: just sprung from the pound and on his way to his new home!" Follow us on Twitter. It's Never Too Late "First ride home from the shelter with Ned finally a home at 11 years old!" Follow us on Twitter. Pure Joy "Rescued this boy from the shelter and this was his face the whole ride home." Follow us on Twitter. Eyes on the Prize "Taking her home for the first time, she looked at me like this the entire ride." Follow us on Twitter. Adventures Await "Baloo's ride home from the shelter." Follow us on Twitter. Two of a Kind "My two new pups on the ride home from the shelter. Cuteness overwhelming." Follow us on Twitter. Puppy Dog Eyes "First car ride on the way to his new home. :) Getting him was the best decision ever." Follow us on Twitter. Are We There Yet? "Gunnar's car ride home from the Humane Society!" Follow us on Twitter. Settling In "Roadtripped with my uncle to rescue this Mastiff mix from a kill shelter. She immediately ran into our car and I snapped this shot. Meet Dixie." Follow us on Twitter. Hold Me Close "On our way home from the animal shelter. :)" Follow us on Twitter. Best Day Ever "On his way to his forever home! Meet Finnley!" Follow us on Twitter. A New Beginning "My boss found this guy abandoned in the woods behind his house. Here is Pancho Villa on the ride home." Follow us on Twitter.
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lifestyle
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Unlike the American League, where the Toronto Blue Jays seem to be this year's team of destiny, the National League is wide open as the playoff are set to begin. A strong case can be made for each of the five teams that have made it to the postseason in the NL. So with that in mind, let's make a case for each NL playoff team, and give three reasons each one of them could win it all. Los Angeles Dodgers Reason one: The Kershaw-Greinke combo The Los Angeles Dodgers have the best 1-2 starting pitcher combination in the MLB since Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling were pitching for the Arizona Diamondbacks. Clayton Kershaw and Zack Greinke have been utterly dominant this season. Kershaw became the first pitcher in over a decade to strike out over 300 batters, and Greinke may win the NL Cy Young, as he went 19-3 and led the MLB in ERA and WHIP (1.66 and 0.84, respectively). Just as Johnson and Schilling did for the D-backs back in 2001, the Dodgers could feasibly ride Kershaw and Greinke to the World Series. Throw in the fact that the Dodgers' NLDS opponent is the red-hot New York Mets, and they will truly need Kershaw and Greinke to be at their best. Reason two: The emergence of Corey Seager Since calling up top prospect Corey Seager in early September, the young shortstop has had his way in the majors. Seager hit .337 with four home runs and 17 RBI in 27 games for the Dodgers to end the season. More important, however, unlike teammate Joc Pedersen, major league pitchers haven't seen enough of Seager yet to figure out the best way to approach him at the plate. Expect the 21-year-old Seager to play a major role in the Dodgers' postseason run, as he could be the spark at the plate this team needs. Reason three: Defense The Dodgers were the best defensive team in the NL this season. They committed the fewest errors, and had the highest fielding percentage out of every NL team. Adrian Gonzalez is a Gold Glove player at first base, Joc Pedersen (despite his struggles at the plate) is an excellent defensive center fielder, and both A.J. Ellis And Yasmani Grandal are high-quality catchers. For that matter, even Kershaw and Greinke are great fielders for their position. If the Dodgers fail to make a deep postseason run this October, it won't be because of their defense. St. Louis Cardinals Reason One: The Cardinals are the best team in baseball With a record of 100-62, the St. Louis Cardinals were by far the best team in the majors this season. That consistency goes a long way towards playoff success. If winning is a habit, the Cardinals have become masters at it over the past few years, and are all the more dangerous for it. Reason Two: Experience The St. Louis Cardinals are becoming baseball's version of the San Antonio Spurs; they always seem to make the playoffs. The Cardinals have appeared in the World Series four times since 2003, winning twice. Now led by manager Mike Matheny, catcher Yadier Molina, and an always superb pitching staff, the Cards are a threat to win the World Series every year. Unlike their NLDS opponents, the Cubs, playoff baseball isn't new territory for the Cardinals; rather, it's home for them. Reason three: The return of Adam Wainwright Although pitcher Carlos Martinez has been shut down for the year, the Cards should be receiving ample reinforcement in the form of star pitcher Adam Wainwright. Wainwright was believed to be lost for the season in April after he tore his Achilles tendon, but miraculously, he has rehabbed his way back onto the Cardinals' pitching staff. A three-time All-Star, Wainwright has 82 2/3 innings in the postseason for his career, and coming out of the bullpen should back up a Cardinals rotation that already boasts Michael Wacha, Lance Lynn and John Lackey. The return of Wainwright could tip the scales in the Cardinals' favor. New York Mets Reason one: Starting Pitching Out of every team contending in the NL, the New York Mets have the most reliable and trustworthy four-man rotation. Jacob deGrom established himself as a legitimate number one this season, going 14-8 with an ERA of 2.54 and WHIP of 0.98. Behind deGrom, the Mets have Matt Harvey and Noah Syndergaard. Although both pitchers have struggled at times this season, both of them are capable of throwing a shutout on any given night. The Dodgers, New York's NLDS opponent, have struggled tremendously to score runs against quality pitchers this season. Additionally, Mets manager Terry Collins will have the choice of starting either Bartolo Colon or Steven Matz in Game 4, allowing deGrom to get as much rest as possible for a potential and decisive Game 5. Reason two: David Wright is back and healthy The heartbeat of this Mets ballclub is seven-time All-Star third baseman David Wright. After missing the majority of the regular season due to a back injury, Wright is now back in the Mets lineup and looking like his old self again. Wright batted .299 for the month of September with an OPS of .879, and has been solid defensively along the third-base line since his return. The Mets were able to win the NL East largely without the services of one of their best players. Now Wright is back, and is playing best baseball of the season at just the right time. Reason three: Momentum Since acquiring outfielder Yoenis Cespedes from the Detroit Tigers at the trade deadline, the Mets have gone 37-22. While the Blue Jays' move to nab David Price will likely go down as best trade of the year, the Mets' acquisition of Cespedes, and the winning ways that followed, would have to be considered a close second. Simply put, since the start of August the Mets have been playing great baseball, and this team, along with the city behind them, has the look of a team that believes it can make a deep postseason run. Chicago Cubs Reason one: Starting pitching As great as Kershaw and Greinke have been for the Dodgers, Jake Arrieta has actually been even better for the Chicago Cubs. Arrieta won 22 games for the Cubs and has had an ERA below 0.50 since the start of August. He even threw a no-hitter against the Dodgers earlier in the season. The point is, Arrieta is the best pitcher in baseball right now, and when you throw in the fact that Cubs boast a two-time World Series champ in Jon Lester as their number two starter, you can see begin to see how this might be the Cubs' year. Reason two: Joe Maddon The Cubs forked over $25 million (plus incentives) to bring in the ethereal Joe Maddon as their manager this season, and the move is already paying off. There isn't a manager in all of baseball who gets his players to believe in themselves quite like Maddon, and his off-beat personality seems to be a perfect fit with the Cubs franchise. Now getting ready to face the St. Louis Cardinals in the NLDS, no other manager is better at getting his players mentally prepared for the postseason than Maddon. Reason three: The Cubs are due The Cubs have not won a World Series since 1908. You would think at some point the team might just be able to luck into one. They nearly did it in 2003, but then Steve Bartman happened. Luckily for Cubs fans, Bartman won't be attending any Cubs playoff games, and a team can only have so much bad luck for so long. If the Red Sox can break the curse of the Bambino, then the Cubs can break the curse of the Billy Goat. In reality, any one of these four teams could win the NL pennant. They all posted similar records, have similar strengths and weaknesses, have great managers, and have comparable levels of talent on their roster. Much will change between now and the end of October, but for now, there is a strong case to be made for each of these teams to make it to the World Series.
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Canadian hockey fans draw battle lines during the NHL season between their seven NHL teams, but it is all One Canada as far as baseball is concerned -- or, it's One Canada until someone tries to bring hockey into the baseball equation. The Canucks' social media team fell victim to the perceived Canadian camraderie on Thursday when the team tried to send well wishes to the Toronto Blue Jays, Canada's lone MLB team, ahead of the Jays' first playoff game in over two decades. Vancouver's staff decided to send out a tweet warning the Blue Jays against "#RangerDanger", as the Jays will face the Texas Rangers in the ALDS and Vancouver had a bad experience with a different Rangers team -- the New York Rangers -- when the Canucks lost to the Rangers in the 1994 Stanley Cup Finals. Beware of #RangerDanger , we know it too well.Good luck @BlueJays ! #ComeTogether 🍁 pic.twitter.com/aaJjDKJn0g Vancouver Canucks (@VanCanucks) October 8, 2015 Vancouver has not won a Stanley Cup since, so the bad taste from that playoff series still lingers in many Canucks' fans memories. That much was evident from the responses to Vancouver's tweet, as angry fans called out the Canucks on the social media platform. @VanCanucks "hey everyone, remember when we didnt win the Stanley Cup? Us too! Good Luck Jays!" Nick Herrera (@RealNickHerrera) October 8, 2015 @VanCanucks too soon Rob Williams (@RobTheHockeyGuy) October 8, 2015 @VanCanucks @BlueJays why...would you do that? pic.twitter.com/axsqT8T8j6 Cody Dame (@cdame94) October 8, 2015 @VanCanucks @BlueJays You literally ruined my day with that picture... Joey Pitt. (@HBKPITT) October 8, 2015 @VanCanucks @BlueJays You can't seriously tell me that Trevor Linden ok'd this tweet! #HeartAmputation Rococo Crisp (@Tim_B_C) October 8, 2015 At least Vancouver fans can take solace in their current hockey team's 5-1 win over the Calgary Flames on Wednesday night. Oops. MORE NEWS: Want stories delivered to you? Sign up for our NHL newsletters.
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For coffee enthusiasts on the move, this list of 13 beloved coffee shops across the country is an essential travel companion. During the month of September, coffee lovers everywhere voted for their favorite... For coffee enthusiasts on the move, this list of 13 beloved coffee shops across the country is an essential travel companion. During the month of September, coffee lovers everywhere voted for their favorite local coffee shops as part of the fifth annual KRUPS Best Brew Awards . Keep scrolling to see the top cafés in coffee towns like Portland, Seattle, New York, and more. SEATTLE: Cherry Street Coffee House Seattle is full of competition when it comes to coffee houses, but Cherry Street has won the KRUPS title for two straight years. Its 10 locations serve specialty coffees alongside breakfast bagels, quiche, pastries, and homemade sandwiches, soups, and salads. To learn more about Cherry Street Coffee House, click here » BOSTON: Blue State Coffee This family business donates a percentage of sales to local non-profit organizations, which makes that cup of coffee you just purchased taste even better. To learn more about Blue State Coffee, click here » CHICAGO: The Wormhole This Wicker Park favorite is full of old school paraphernalia, including "Star Wars" figures, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and a replica of the DeLorean from "Back to the Future." A single Teddy Graham is served with each latte. To learn more about The Wormhole, click here » DENVER: Black Eye Coffee With a garage-style door and a bar made from distressed wood, Black Eye brews premium coffees from craft roasters across the country. Pastries, teas, and homemade sodas are also on offer. To learn more about Black Eye Coffee, click here » LOS ANGELES: De Café Baristas Named LA's best coffee shop for two years running, De Café Baristas uses beans from Seattle's Herkimer Coffee and San Francisco's Four Barrel Coffee Roasters. Try pairing a mocha with a decadent chocolate waffle. To learn more about De Café Baristas, click here » MIAMI: Café Demetrio During the 1920s, the building that Demetrio calls home housed Coral Gables' first newspaper. Now owned by couple Demetrio and Vilma Pina, the shop recalls an 18th Century European coffee house. The menu includes hot and iced coffee drinks, frappes, pastries, and 14 sandwich options. To learn more about Café Demetrio, click here » NEW YORK CITY: Culture Espresso This Garment District standby makes a mean flat white, according to Zagat. But make sure to also grab one of their famous chocolate chip cookies, which many claim are the best in New York. To learn more about Culture Espresso, click here » DALLAS: White Rock Coffee Named Dallas' best coffee shop for four years straight, White Rock Coffee specializes in small batch, micro-roasted coffee. Order the signature White Rocker latte and check the events schedule for an evening of live music. To learn more about White Rock Coffee, click here » ATLANTA: Joe's East Located in the heart of East Atlanta Village, Joe's has a casual, cozy atmosphere that invites you to pull up a chair, grab a steamy drink, and stay a while. To learn more about Joe's East, click here » PHILADELPHIA: Old City Café Old City Coffee has been going strong for over 25 years. The European-style café roasts Arabica high-grown coffee in small batches to ensure every cup is fresh. Traditional urn-brewed coffee is the specialty here. To learn more about Old City Coffee, click here » PORTLAND: Water Avenue Coffee Company Water Avenue Company has won Portland's best coffee shop in the KRUPS Best Brew Awards for two years running. Drinks here are made with micro-roasted beans from a 1974-built Samiac roaster that the owners picked up in Switzerland. To learn more about Water Avenue Coffee Company, click here » SAN FRANCISCO: Jane Chef Amanda Michael opened Jane to create a "third space" within the Fillmore neighborhood. Named for Michael's daughter, the café serves Stumptown Coffee and Song Tea in addition to house-made pastries, organic salads and soups, and sandwiches. To learn more about Jane, click here » DC: Ebenezers Coffeehouse Serving "coffee with a cause" on Capitol Hill, Ebenezers donates all profits to community outreach projects. Owned and run by National Community Church, Ebenezers is known for its fair trade coffee and robust events calendar. To learn more about Ebenezers Coffeehouse, click here »
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Check out the first big expansion, A Game of Winter, for Dungeons 2. Add us on YouTube Gaming! http://gaming.youtube.com/gamespot Visit all of our channels: Features & Reviews - http://www.youtube.com/GameSpot Gameplay & Guides - http://www.youtube.com/GameSpotGameplay Trailers - http://www.youtube.com/GameSpotTrailers Mobile Gaming - http://www.youtube.com/GameSpotMobile Like - http://www.facebook.com/GameSpot Follow - http://www.twitter.com/GameSpot http://www.gamespot.com
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Keira Knightley's Broadway career has been put to a halt, with the cancellation of a show due to injury.
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There are some very weird laws that exist around the world, Patrick Jones (@Patrick_E_Jones) explains some of them.
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California Representative Kevin McCarthy, considered the favorite to succeed House Speaker John Boehner, surprisingly drops out of the race, saying it's time for a "fresh face". Rough Cut (no reporter narration).
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video
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A suspect chased by Perth police drives his car into the Indian Ocean as he tries to escape.
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If the Chicago Cubs got to the postseason a year earlier than ultimately expected, they looked especially precocious during Wednesday's 3-0 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates in the NL Wild Card Game. A young team that developed quickly accelerated the plans in Wrigleyville, helped largely by Jake Arrieta pitching like the ace he's been all season. But winning a one-game playoff and entering a best-of-five series against the rival Cardinals, with all of the postseason experience and tradition they boast, is a formidable task to overcome. As impressive as the Cubs looked on Wednesday, one game doesn't answer several questions that still linger going into Friday's NLDS Game 1. Is Jake Arrieta this year's Madison Bumgarner? This seemed to come up quite a bit on Twitter during Wednesday night's victory. Just like the San Francisco Giants' left-hander did last season, Arrieta shut out the Pirates to win the Wild Card playoff and put the Cubs into the Division Series. The question now is whether or not Arrieta can carry the Cubs as far as Bumgarner did during last year's postseason. Bumgarner set quite a bar for anyone else to reach with his performance, allowing a total of six earned runs in 52.2 innings during the Giants' run to a championship. He started two games in the NLCS versus the Cardinals and made three appearances against the Royals in the World Series, including a Game 7 relief stint in which he pitched five scoreless innings. Arrieta will likely only get to pitch one game in the NLDS since he had to start the Wild Card game and probably won't be available until Monday's Game 3. So to put together a dominant postseason, his team will have to give him an opportunity to pitch twice in the NLCS by advancing past the Cardinals. Obviously, Arrieta's performance in Game 3 could be pivotal in how the series plays out. Can someone step up as the No. 3 starter? One of the biggest questions the Cubs faced late in the regular season isn't going away during the playoffs. Who is the Cubs' third-best starting pitcher behind Arrieta and Jon Lester. Obviously, Arrieta proved his postseason merit (as if his spectacular, Cy Young Award-caliber regular season wasn't enough) with his impressive performance versus the Pirates. And Lester is an experienced playoff pitcher with a track record of success. Giving up six runs in last year's AL Wild Card game with the A's is obviously a stain on that résumé, but the left-hander has pitched well in his three other previous postseasons, most recently compiling a 1.56 ERA in the Red Sox's 2013 World Series run. But who takes the ball for the Cubs besides Arrieta and Lester? That pitcher will almost certainly get the Game 2 nod in the NLDS, presuming that Lester starts Game 1. Jason Hammel put up solid numbers as the team's No. 3 starter during the regular season, compiling a 10-7 record, 3.74 ERA and 172 strikeouts in 170.2 innings. But he was terrible in the second half, especially in September, logging a 5.10 ERA with 78 hits allowed in 67 innings. That makes Kyle Hendricks the likelier candidate to get the call. The 25-year-old went 8-7 with a 3.95 ERA and 167 strikeouts in 180 innings. But he was the more reliable starter after the All-Star break. In September, Hendricks notched a 3.03 ERA, striking out 39 batters in 32.2 innings. He was also on the Cubs' roster for the Wild Card game, while Hammel wasn't. Perhaps that's not worth reading too much into for a one-game playoff, but it would seem to indicate manager Joe Maddon considered Hendricks a better option out of the bullpen if needed. Is the Cubs' bullpen good enough? Arrieta pitching a complete game made the bullpen a moot point Wednesday night. But had the Pirates been able to chase him from the game, especially early, the Cubs' relief corps may have made a win a more questionable proposition. Chicago's bullpen pitched well during the regular season, finishing with a 3.38 ERA that ranked four in the NL. Hector Rondon, Pedro Strop and Justin Grimm appear to be a strong back end of the bullpen that can close out games for the Cubs, with Travis Wood giving Maddon a good option against left-handed batters. But what if Lester or Hendricks (or Arrieta) can't make it past five innings and the Cubs have to go to middle relief? Fernando Rodney would seem to be a reliable option, but also has the potential to blow up if he starts walking batters. If Clayton Richard or Trevor Cahill have to appear, that might not be a good sign. Can either of them, or perhaps Wood, be the bridge to the late-inning bullpen trio? The Royals and Giants had answers in those situations last year, while the Dodgers and Orioles did not. And that may have been the difference. With the Cardinals boasting a strong bullpen on the other side, the Cubs will need to match up well during high-leverage situations in late innings. We know the Cards can do it. It's a question mark for the Cubs. Will the middle of the order come through? Though the Cubs roughed up Gerrit Cole in the Wild Card game, giving Arrieta all the offense he needed, the middle of the lineup didn't really come through from a run production standpoint. Kris Bryant, Anthony Rizzo, Tommy La Stella (who was later replaced by Austin Jackson) and Starlin Castro went a combined 0-for-15 on Wednesday. It's surely unfair to point to a one-game performance, and all of those hitters will have an opportunity to supply some offense perhaps even key hits during the NLDS. Bryant and Castro also made some excellent defensive plays in the later innings versus the Pirates. But a primary concern about the Cubs regarded their postseason inexperience. That could manifest itself most obviously in the middle of the lineup if their young hitters don't perform when scoring opportunities arise. With the Wild Card game out of the way, perhaps questions about being dazzled or overwhelmed by the postseason have already been addressed, if they ever applied to begin with. (Kyle Schwarber probably has no use for such talk.) For what it's worth, Bryant batted .222 (2-for-9) against John Lackey, the Cardinals' Game 1 starter. Rizzo hit .083 (1-for-12), while Castro batted .250 (3-for-12). St. Louis hasn't announced its Game 2 starter yet, but Rizzo and Castro have hit Adam Wainwright and Lance Lynn rather well. And the Cubs' young hitters could feast on Michael Wacha if he starts Game 4, with Bryant hitting .300, and Rizzo and Castro each batting .455 against him.
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Former Louisville recruit JaQuan Lyle confirmed the escort allegation being levied against the Cardinals, CBS Sports reported Thursday . Lyle, who decommitted from Louisville and now plays for Ohio State, was interviewed by the NCAA on Wednesday and, according to the report, "told the truth" to investigators. Katina Powell has alleged in a book released online last weekend that former Cardinals director of basketball operation Andre McGee paid her $10,000 for dancers to perform 22 shows from 2010-14 at the players' Billy Minardi Hall dormitory. Earlier this week, Louisville's campus police said it's reviewing the allegations. Ohio State believes that Lyle's potential involvement in the incident won't affect his eligibility. "It does not affect us or JaQuan at all," Ohio State associate director of communications Dan Wallenberg told Yahoo! Sports. "We've been told, and are pretty confident, this is not something we need to worry about." Cardinals coach Rick Pitino has said that McGee denied Powell's allegations. In an interview Tuesday with a Louisville radio station, the Hall of Famer also denied knowledge of what took place. "Until you investigate everything that's said, you don't have the answers to these (questions)," Pitino told FM 93.9 The Ville, "and I certainly don't have any answers right now to any of this. I have no idea what went on, what didn't go on, if anything went on." McGee left in 2014 and is currently an assistant at Missouri-Kansas City, which has put him on paid leave. Pitino said Saturday that he hasn't read Powell's book titled "Breaking Cardinal Rules: Basketball and the Escort Queen" and doesn't plan to. The 104-page book was published by an affiliate of the Indianapolis Business Journal and is scheduled for hardcover release Oct. 12. "I'm going through 15 people who worked here, and not one person even had a premonition of something wrong," Pitino said Friday. "Not one person living in the dorm had even the slightest premonition. It just doesn't make sense to me." The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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NEW YORK (AP) -- Atlanta Hawks player Thabo Sefolosha was acquitted Friday of charges stemming from a struggle with police outside a trendy New York City nightclub that left him with a broken leg and ended his NBA season. A Manhattan jury deliberated less than an hour before finding Sefolosha not guilty of misdemeanor obstructing government administration, disorderly conduct and resisting arrest. He appeared to tear up when he heard the verdict and was later seen shaking hands with some of the jurors as he left court. "They were on the side of truth and justice today. ... I'm just happy all this is over now and I can put this behind me, knowing my name has been cleared," the 31-year-old Sefolosha told reporters. Prosecutors had accused the guard-forward, a nine-year veteran from Switzerland, of repeatedly disobeying the orders of officers telling him to leave the area around the club where another NBA player, Chris Copeland, had been stabbed. He testified that he moved off the block at the behest of a vulgar and confrontational officer and was trying to give a beggar a $20 bill when he was grabbed by police and taken to the ground. "They arrested him," Sefolosha's attorney, Alex Spiro, said in his closing argument. "They broke his leg out of eyeshot or earshot of an unrelated crime scene." Before the confrontation turned physical, the 6-foot-6 Sefolosha said he challenged the tone of a particularly aggressive officer who was ushering him, former teammate Pero Antic and others. He said he called the 5-foot-7 officer "a midget." Charges against Antic later were dropped. But prosecutors presented a different theory, arguing Sefolosha acted entitled as he slowly departed the 1Oak nightclub. They said he eventually locked his arms in front of him to make it more difficult for arresting officers to put on handcuffs. "The police don't get to tell the defendant how to play basketball," an assistant district attorney, Francesca Bartolomey, said in her summation. "The defendant doesn't get to say where the crime scene ends." Prosecutors had offered Sefolosha a plea deal that would have seen the charges dismissed in exchange for doing one day of community service. But he rejected the offer, saying he wanted to set the record straight. The decision to testify at trial "wasn't difficult at all," he said. "All I had to do was tell the truth." The case is the second one involving high-profile athletes accusing New York Police Department officers of wrongdoing this year. On Wednesday, the city agency charged with investigating police misconduct substantiated claims by former tennis pro James Blake that an officer used excessive force in taking him to the ground and wrongly arresting him last month after mistaking him for a fraud suspect. Spiro, the defense lawyer, has suggested Sefolosha, who is black, was targeted because of his race. He pointed to surveillance video showing the white officer passing Antic, who is white, and others as he demanded Sefolosha to move up the block. Sefolosha had surgery on his leg and isn't fully healed. He said he continues to undergo rehab and isn't sure he'll be ready to play when the NBA season starts Oct. 27.
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For men, new research suggests that clues to sexual orientation may lie not just in the genes, but in the spaces between the DNA, where molecular marks instruct genes when to turn on and off and how strongly to express themselves. On Thursday, University of California, Los Angeles, molecular biologist Tuck C. Ngun reported that in studying the genetic material of 47 pairs of identical male twins, he has identified "epigenetic marks" in nine areas of the human genome that are strongly linked to male homosexuality. In individuals, said Ngun, the presence of these distinct molecular marks can predict homosexuality with an accuracy of close to 70 percent. That news, presented at the 2015 meeting of the American Society of Human Genetics on Thursday, may leave the genetically uninitiated scratching their heads. But experts said the results as yet unpublished in a peer-reviewed journal offer preliminary new evidence that a man's genetic inheritance is only one influence on his sexual orientation. Through the epigenome, the results suggest, some facet of life experience likely also primes a man for same-sex attraction. Over a person's lifetime, myriad environmental factors nutrition, poverty, a mother's love, education, exposure to toxic chemicals all help shape the person he will become. Researchers working in the young science of epigenetics acknowledge they are unsure just how an individual's epigenome is formed. But they increasingly suspect it is forged, in part, by the stresses and demands of external influences. A set of chemical marks that lies between the genes, the epigenome changes the function of genetic material, turning the human body's roughly 20,000 protein-coding genes on or off in response to the needs of the moment. While genes rarely change over a lifetime, the epigenome is constantly changing. Geneticists suggest that together, the human genome and its epigenome reflect the interaction of nature and nurture both our fixed inheritance and our bodies' flexible responses to the world in making us who we are. Ngun's study of twins doesn't reveal how or when a male takes on the epigenomic marks that distinguish him as homosexual. Many researchers believe that a person's eventual sexual preferences are shaped in the uterus, by hormonal shifts during key stages of fetal brain development. By imprinting themselves on the epigenome, though, environmental influences may powerfully affect how an individual's genes express themselves over the course of his life. Ngun's findings suggest they may interact with genes to nudge sexual orientation in one direction or the other. "The relative contributions of biology versus culture and experience in shaping sexual orientation in humans continues to be debated," said University of Maryland pharmacology professor Margaret M. McCarthy, who was not involved in the current study. "But regardless of when, or even how, these epigenetic changes occur," she added, the new research "demonstrates a biological basis to partner preference." To find the epigenomic markers of male homosexuality, Ngun, a postdoctoral researcher at UCLA's Geffen School of Medicine, combed through the genetic material of 47 sets of identical male twins. Thirty-seven of those twin sets were pairs in which one was homosexual and the other was heterosexual. In 10 of the pairs studied, both twins identified as homosexual. In identical twins, DNA is shared and overlaps perfectly. But the existence of twin pairs in which one is homosexual and the other is not offers strong evidence that something other than DNA alone influences sexual orientation. Ngun and his colleagues looked for patterns of DNA methylation the chemical process by which the epigenome is encoded to identify the missing factor in partner preference. Their analysis generated a dataset far too large for a team of humans to make sense of. So they unleashed a machine learning algorithm on the data to search for regularities that distinguished the epigenomes of homosexual twin-pairs from twins in which only one was homosexual. In nine compact regions scattered across the genome, they found patterns of epigenomic differences that would allow a prediction far more accurate than a random guess of an individual's sexual orientation, Ngun reported Thursday. McCarthy and other experts cautioned that the discovery of epigenomic marks suggestive of homosexuality is a far cry from finding the causes of sexual preference. The distinctive epigenomic marks observed by Ngun and his colleagues could result from some other biological or lifestyle factor common to homosexual men but unrelated to their sexuality, said University of Utah geneticist Christopher Gregg. They could correlate with homosexuality but have nothing to do with it. "Epigenetic marks are the consequence of complex interactions between the genetics, development and environment of an individual," said University of Cambridge geneticist Eric Miska. "Simple correlations if significant of epigenetic marks of an individual with anything from favorite football player to disease risk does not imply a causal relationship or understanding." One longtime researcher in the field of sexual orientation praised Ngun's use of identical twins as a means of teasing apart the various biological factors that influence the trait. "Our best guess is that there are genes" that affect a man's sexual orientation "because that's what twin studies suggest," said Northwestern University psychologist J. Michael Bailey, who has explored a range of physiological markers that point to homosexuality's origins in the womb. But the existence of identical twin pairs in which only one is homosexual "conclusively suggest that genes don't explain everything," Bailey added. While Ngun's research needs to be replicated in larger studies of twins, it advances the fitful process of better understanding how and when a boy's sexual orientation develops, Bailey said.
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The United Nations on Thursday launched an audit to shed light on the relationship between a Chinese real estate developer and a foundation run by his associate who are accused of paying bribes to UN diplomats. Former General Assembly president John Ashe was arrested on Tuesday for taking $1.3 million in bribes from developer Ng Lap Seng to promote his plan to build a UN conference center in Macau. Ashe, a former UN ambassador from Antigua and Barbuda, also sought to advance the Chinese businessman's interests in his Caribbean home country. Declaring that there will be "no tolerance for corruption at the United Nations", Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon asked the UN internal oversight office to carry out the audit. The review will look at "the interaction between the United Nations and the Global Sustainability Foundation and the Sun Kian Ip Group" owned by Ng, spokesman Stephane Dujarric said. It will examine "the use of any funds received from these entities," he said. The Global Sustainability Foundation headed by Sheri Yan, one of six people charged in the scandal along with Ashe, gave at least $1.5 million to the UN office for South-South Cooperation. But Dujarric said the funds were used to organize conferences in Bangladesh and in Macau earlier this year and that this was "in full compliance with UN standards and guidelines." Ashe is the co-founder and honorary chairman of the foundation. The foundation's website names Edith Kutesa, wife of another former General Assembly president, Sam Kutesa of Uganda, as a member of its board of directors. Kutesa has not been cited for any wrongdoing. The criminal complaint filed against Ashe and five others does not mention the foundation by name, but the description matches that of the Global Sustainablity Foundation which allegedly was used to funnel bribes. Dujarric said the decision to launch an audit was "an important step" that underscored Ban's concern about the corruption allegations. Also arrested on Tuesday was Francis Lorenzo, a UN deputy ambassador from the Dominican Republic, who heads South-South News, a UN-accredited media outfit that reports on development issues.
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It was the summer of women and boy, did they roar. Serena Williams, Ronda Rousey and the U.S. women's national soccer team, led by Carli Lloyd, all turned heads and headlines. Now 72 women are looking to continue the girl power into autumn as the National Women's Hockey League drops the puck on its inaugural season Sunday, Oct. 11. "It's been such a great thing for women in general and women in sports," NWHL founder and commissioner Dani Rylan said in an interview with Sporting News. "It's the right time and women have a stage and a platform to shine." Rylan, 28, played college hockey at Northeastern from 2010 to 2012 but after her eligibility ran out there was no where to go. Her career was done when many men's are beginning to really take off. So the Tampa, Fla., native, whose father worked for the Tampa Bay Lightning, took the steps to change that for others. The league consists of four teams based in northeast cities: Boston Pride, Buffalo Beauts, New York Riveters and Connecticut Whale. They'll play an 18-game schedule with one game a week stretching into late February. And, they will get paid for their work, putting their hockey league in the history books as the first to do so. 'The second-best time' The NWHL is hitting at an opportune time with the summer success of women's sports even though it wasn't planned that way. Rylan said going through with the idea initially began between a year and a year and a half ago. She said her original idea was to put a New York expansion team in the Canadian Women's Hockey League (CWHL) but decided to "take a different path and explore a different philosophy in paying the women and growing the game in the United States." She reached out to others in the hockey community and things "started snowballing" into a four-team league ready to drop the puck. "I've been telling people after the 2014 Olympics would have been the best time to do it, so 2015 is the second best," Rylan said. "The women's game has evolved so much over the last even 10 years so that it's really elevated to the point where the women have deserved the opportunity to play on a professional stage." In February 2014, the women's national team lost a thrilling overtime gold medal game 3-2 against Canada in Sochi, Russia. The game drew 4.9 million viewers in primetime, according to Nielsen ratings, up 96 percent from the same matchup four years prior, though the 2014 game was broadcast on MSNBC instead of NBC. As with any Olympic sport in an Olympic year, hockey membership increased because of the increased exposure. Girls' membership was up 2.33 percent from the 2012-13 season to '13-14 with 67,230 participants, according to USA Hockey's June report. It increased 3.74 percent from that report to the 2014-15 one. "Having the game in the U.S. at a professional level every year we expect that number to continue to jump significantly," Rylan said. The NWHL's choice of founding cities was also based primarily on those membership numbers. Per the 2015 report, 36.3 percent of female hockey players were on ice in the Northeast, especially in Massachusetts where there are 10,310 players. Only Minnesota has more. "We realized it was a pretty obvious hockey hotbed here," she said. She said she chose the most viable cities and one is already showing the ceiling for fandom is mighty high. The Connecticut Whale sold out their opener against the Riveters a week before play. The team is playing at Chelsea Piers Connecticut, a facility in Stamford. All about awareness The first and most important step in seeing those sellouts continue will be keeping eyes on the league past the initial "this is happening" impact. The NWHL and teams have Facebook pages, Twitter handles and Instagram accounts as with any business to reach fans. The NWHL uses hashtags such as #FutureDraftPickFriday and #SisterhoodSunday to not only promote itself, but interact with a growing fan base and shine a light on young girls' love of the game. Posts are sometimes a mash-up of the past, with fans sharing their own photos of girls playing; and the future, with parents expressing gratitude for giving their daughters more reason to dream. TWITTER! #tbt to when playing professional hockey was just a dream! #HistoryBegins October 11 @CTWhale_NWHL pic.twitter.com/cwrv1W7IIy Molly Engstrom (@engstrom09) October 8, 2015 In many ways, Rylan and her employees have immediate opportunities the women's leagues before them would never have imagined. "There's more ways to get awareness, there's more ways to be seen and there's more ways for these women to prove themselves on a stage," Rylan said. "I think there's been such a negative stigma with women in sports not being up to par. The quality of the game on the field or in the ring or on the ice hasn't been able to shine and the women haven't been able to prove how great the women really are at their sport. Until now of course." The league does not have a TV contract but every game will be streamed on the NWHL Cross Ice Pass. Detailed information was to be released by the league. The program was mentioned in a press release and the NWHL has mentioned it a few times in Facebook comments when fans ask if they can watch games online. Historic dough The league's tagline is "History begins," but it might as well be "Forecheck, backcheck, paycheck," as dubbed by Alyssa Gagliardi. The Boston Pride defenseman tweeted the caption with a photo of her and teammates showing off their first paychecks, which is what sets the NWHL apart from the CWHL. The NWHL teams have a salary cap of $270,000 with a minimum salary of $10,000 per player. It released "CapPro" on its website in September with a spreadsheet of every player's salary. On top of salaries, the players will receive 15 percent of their sweater's sales. Rylan wouldn't go into detail about where that money is coming from, only saying part of it will stream in from the NWHL Foundation. The foundation is a "charitable and educational" 501-(c)(3) nonprofit that aims to provide long-range financial support while promoting the growth of the game. "It was part of our business plan and philosophy at the beginning, paying women for being the best at what they do," Rylan said. "And believe it or not, we're not the only people that think that. We have people supporting us." The first draft took place in June with each team picking five juniors from the college ranks. Free agency ran from mid-April to mid-August. The league will run partially on corporate sponsors, though none has been released yet. The NWHL has the "fundamental support" of the NHL, Rylan said. No money will be exchanged between the leagues, but the goal is to make the new league an entity everyone wants to jump on board with. There's been such a negative stigma with women in sports not being up to par. The quality of the game on the field or in the ring or on the ice hasn't been able to shine and the women haven't been able to prove how great the women really are at their sport. Until now of course. Dani Rylan "The biggest thing our first year is for the awareness to grow and we want to be the best choice for sponsors to knock on our door and want to jump on the brand and the league that we develop this year," Rylan said. "We're setting out to make year one as successful as possible so there aren't any barriers come year two." What we play for The Pride, Beauts, Whale and Riveters will be battling for the Isobel Cup. The championship trophy is named for Lord Stanley's daughter, Lady Isobel Stanley. Lady Isobel was one of the first women to play hockey and her "love and passion were instrumental in fueling her father's inspiration," the NWHL wrote in its media release. Rylan's plan is for the Isobel Cup to fuel more girls' inspiration. Her plan is already unfolding as hoped for. "At the end of the day, it's bigger than what any of us even picture it as right now. It's that next generation," Rylan said. "Someone asked me maybe a month or so ago, where do you see the league in 15 to 20 years from now? And I thought about it for a second and I was like, 'Oh wow, in 15 or 20 years some little girl may have started playing hockey because of the NWHL and she's going to be draft eligible in 15 to 20 years.' " As Olympians signed with teams in the past month, the heart of the quotes they provided for media releases read the same: This is for the girls. Some of the players grew up playing with only boys. All of them grew up without many prominent female role models in their sport. If this league grows and finds its place in the sports lexicon, that won't be the case for their future daughters. "That's pretty special the impact that will have on" the next generation, Rylan said. "Obviously the immediate impact is giving these players the opportunity to get paid to be the best at what they do. That's what is the short term impact, but then the long term really does effect that next generation and give those girls the opportunity to dream bigger than ever before possible." Cassandra Negley is a contributor at Sporting News. She is sports editor at the Thomasville Times-Enterprise in Georgia and writes for the Mets blog, Rising Apple . You can follow her on Twitter, @casnegley .
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Ethan Miller/Getty Images Just when it felt like any hopes for a Floyd Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao rematch were dead, Pacquiao himself threw the boxing world for a loop by saying he is in negotiations with Mayweather for a rematch, according to an AFP report. Pacquiao announced that he wants to fight one more time before hanging up his gloves for good and pursuing a full-time career early next year as a politician in his native Philippines, a timetable that seemed to make a rematch unlikely. However, Pacquiao told AFP that not only is the rematch possible, but confirmed talks are ongoing with Mayweather and one other fighter. Pacquiao confirmed he is in negotiations with American Mayweather and Briton [Amir] Khan but said he had no preference over who to fight ... "I will fight anybody, anywhere," he said. "I am going to fight probably before the election ... The election is coming next year, May, and before that I will probably have one fight." With any potential fight needing to happen before the elections in May and Mayweather in retirement and seemingly in no hurry to return to the ring, it seemed unlikely that a rematch could happen. However, if there was one thing that made the rematch still seem possible it was the money and how much each fighter would be leaving on the table if they couldn't reach a deal on a rematch. Their highly-anticipated bout earlier this year shattered all the records for a boxing match, generating nearly $600 million in revenue and making the fighters the two highest-paid athletes in the world . Even if a rematch generated only half of that interest, that is still a lot of money for both fighters, money they won't make anywhere else. Adding to the intrigue and potential riches is the idea that neither fighter is contractually tied to a venue in Las Vegas. According to the AFP report, Pacquiao told Al Jazeera his last fight could happen in one of the wealthy Persian Gulf states. Earlier this week, Pacquiao talked about his political ambitions , a career that would likely make returning to the ring impossible past May of next year. "I think I'm ready (to retire). I've been in boxing for more than 20 years," Pacquiao said in an interview with the ABS-CBN television network. "I will have to give up the other things that require my attention. If you are a senator, your focus should only be your job and your family." According to the AFP report, polls have Pacquiao winning one of the 12 senate seats up for grabs, and he has vowed to be a "serious" senator despite recent reports that he missed 66 of 70 legislative sessions this year while serving as a local congressman. We have reached out to Mayweather for comment. NOW WATCH: The CEO who raised the price of a life-saving pill 5,000% is doubling down
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Politics is a game of inches.
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14 famous men with genuine hearts of gold The Real Deal In movies, he's best known as the clawed mutant Wolverine, but in real life Hugh Jackman is the nicest guy you'd ever want to meet. And he's not the only one. Here, to celebrate the Australian actor's 49th birthday, are 14 truly kind celebrities including some who may surprise you. Hugh Jackman "He's one of the nicest people I've ever met in my entire life," says the straight-shooting Rooney Mara, his co-star in the widely panned "Pan." Hugh Jackman is unfailingly considerate, remembers the names of every crew member and has been known to blush when he talks about Deborra Lee Furness, his wife of 20 years. "That nice guy stuff is boring," he once complained. Boring or not, it's by all accounts true. Martin Short "The funniest guy I know … and I've never heard a bad word said about him," Larry David told Vanity Fair. Nora Ephron, who asked that he speak first at her memorial service, called Martin Short simply "the best person." One small example: Short's kindness in trying not to embarrass Kathie Lee Gifford in 2012 when she asked him about his 36-year marriage unaware that his wife Nancy had died two years earlier. Tom Hanks Not so long ago, Tom Hanks gave a New York cab driver free tickets to his Broadway show, stopped to buy cookies from a trio of Girl Scouts (and agreed to be photographed with a passing fan, but "only if you buy cookies from these young ladies") and launched a Twitter campaign to return a lost ID card to a student he'd never met. Just the kind of guy he is. Steve Buscemi The brilliant actor who played Nucky Thompson, the gangster/politician on HBO's "Boardwalk Empire," is a regular guy from Brooklyn who remains unassuming and down to earth. A former firefighter, Steve Buscemi rejoined his old engine company as a volunteer after the attacks of 9/11 and worked 12-hour shifts, digging through the rubble of the collapsed World Trade Center in search of missing firefighters. Enough said. Dave Grohl The Foo Fighters frontman invited a girl with cerebral palsy to attend a video shoot, did a tour performing in fans' garages, and once left a $1,000 tip. In 2006, when he heard two miners trapped in a collapsed mine in Australia had requested the Foos' music, Dave Grohl sent them a message offering cold beers and free concert tickets when they got out and delivered on that promise. That's why he's known as the Nicest Dude in Rock. George Takei George Takei once appeared a couple of hours early at a press event just to sign a doll belonging to a sick fan who couldn't be there at the scheduled time. His family was among the Japanese-Americans sent to internment camps during World War II, and for years he felt pressure to hide his sexuality. Yet the former "Star Trek" actor has emerged as a gay rights advocate and social media star without a trace of bitterness. Tyler Perry "Good Deeds" isn't just the name of one of his films. Entertainment industry multitasker Tyler Perry is also known for his random acts of kindness like sending 65 Philadelphia kids to Disney World and buying a specially equipped van for a Georgia woman with cerebral palsy after he saw a news report that her vehicle had been stolen. He can be thin-skinned as when he went off on Spike Lee but Perry's generosity is undeniable. Graham Nash When Graham Nash published his 2013 memoir, Critics at Large warned readers not to expect a juicy tell-all: "Nash is too nice a guy, too gentle, too caring to hang his friends out to dry." The British singer-songwriter is the quintessential friend in need he even stood by former bandmate David Crosby in very dark times, staying in touch with him in 1983 when Crosby was in prison. In recent years they've fallen out, but don't blame Nash for that. Tim Gunn "If you have spinach in your teeth, I will tell you," Tim Gunn told Us magazine but he'll do it so nicely. That's not just the role he plays on "Project Runway." Before venturing into reality TV, he spent 25 years giving patience, understanding and kind but firm direction to students at New York's Parsons School of Design. "Deep down inside," says Gunn, the son of an FBI agent, "I'm a Jewish mother." Steve Carell Steve Carell is just plain likable, on screen and off. Mindy Kaling, who co-starred with him on "The Office," explained it this way: "His niceness manifests itself mostly in the fact that he never complains. You could screw up a handful of takes outside in 104-degree, smog-choked ... heat, and Steve Carell's final words before collapsing of heat stroke would be a friendly and hopeful 'Hey, you think you have that shot yet?'" Howard Stern It's not such a secret anymore, but the self-proclaimed King of All Media, famous for fart jokes and feuds with celebrities ranging from Jay Leno to Oprah Winfrey, is actually a warm and approachable family man a mensch. If you still have doubts, check out this video compilation of his unexpected kindness as a judge on "America's Got Talent." Johnny Depp OK, so his divorce got ugly. Consider this: A while back, Johnny Depp showed up, in full Captain Jack Sparrow regalia, at an Australian children's hospital where he stayed for two hours, hamming it up and posing for selfies. (Click here to watch a video of the event produced by Juiced TV, which makes shows for kids in hospitals.) A one-off publicity stunt? To the contrary: Depp routinely packs his pirate costume so he can make similar impromptu hospital visits. Stephen Colbert Let's forget politics for a second. When Stephen Colbert was 10 years old, his father and two of his brothers were killed in a plane crash. How did the youngest of 11 children cope? By following the example of his mother, who was "Broken, yes. Bitter, no," Colbert told GQ around the time he took over "The Late Show." Now that perspective and fundamental decency is evident on CBS every weeknight. Keith Richards "He's a good egg," says Patti Hansen, his wife of 32 years. True, Keith Richards is wildly outspoken, a former junkie and the personification of rock and roll. But ask any roadie or reporter and they'll tell you he's also a genuinely nice guy. You might assume his skull ring is just a badass trademark. In fact, Richards says he wears it to remind himself "that we're all the same under the skin."
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An ancient African genome has been sequenced for the first time. Researchers extracted DNA from a 4,500-year-old skull that was discovered in the highlands of Ethiopia. A comparison with genetic material from today's Africans reveals how our ancient ancestors mixed and moved around the continents. The findings, published in the journal Science, suggests that about 3,000 years ago there was a huge wave of migration from Eurasia into Africa. This has left a genetic legacy, and the scientists believe up to 25% of the DNA of modern Africans can be traced back to this event. "Every single population for which we have data in Africa has a sizeable component of Eurasian ancestry," said Dr Andrea Manica, from the University of Cambridge, who carried out the research. Petrous bone Ancient genomes have been sequenced from around the world, but Africa has proved difficult because hot and humid conditions can destroy fragile DNA. However, the 4,500-year-old remains of this hunter gatherer, known as Mota man, were found in a cave and were well preserved. Importantly, a bone that is situated just below the ear, called the petrous, was intact. Dr Manica, speaking to Science in Action on the BBC World Service, said: "The petrous bone is really hard and does a really good job of preventing bacteria getting in and degrading this DNA. "What we were able to get is some very high quality undamaged DNA from which we could reconstruct the whole genome of the individual. "We have the complete blueprint, every single gene, every single bit of information that made this individual that lived 4,500 years ago in Ethiopia." Mass moves The genome revealed that Mota man had purely African DNA, his ancestors had never moved from Africa. But the comparison of this with modern African genomes highlighted that about 1,500 years after his death, the make-up of the continent had changed. Genetic studies have shown that after the great migration out of Africa, which happened about 60,000 years ago, some people later returned to the continent. But this study shows that about 3,000 years ago there was a much larger migration than had been thought. The Neolithic farmers from western Eurasia who, about 8,000 years ago, brought agriculture to Europe then began to return to Africa. "We know now that they probably corresponded to a quarter of the people that already lived in East Africa (at that time). It was a major backflow, a very sizeable movement of people," said Dr Manica. It is unclear what caused this move - potentially changes happening in the Egyptian empire - but it has left a genetic legacy. "Quite remarkably, we see in Ethiopia about 20% - so a fifth - of the genome of people living there right now is actually of Eurasian origin, it actually comes from these farmers," explained Dr Manica. "But it goes further than that, because if you go to the corners of Africa, all the way to West Africa or South Africa, even populations that we really thought were purely African have 5-6% of their genome that dates back to these western Eurasian farmers." Neanderthal genes The Eurasians' return also introduced some extra genetic material to Africa. The genes their ancestors had picked up from interbreeding with Neanderthals were then passed to Africans, and can still be seen today. Commenting on the research, Dr Carles Lalueza-Fox, from the Institute of Evolutionary Biology in Barcelona, Spain, said: "What is nice is that it places in time the origin of the Eurasian backflow into Africa already detected some years ago from modern genome data, and it turns out to be the farming. "Once again, like in the case of Europe where we see dramatic genomic turnover, the spread of agriculture has had a huge impact even in a continent where large groups continued to be hunter gatherers. "And it is also interesting to discover now that even sub-Saharan Africans have a bit (0.3-0.7%) of Neanderthal ancestry." Prof David Reich, from Harvard Medical School in the US, added: "The claim that all sub-Saharan Africans today have a substantial amount of ancestry due to back-to-Africa migrations is quite interesting, and while I won't be 100% convinced until I look at the data myself, I think the analyses seem careful and thoughtful. "While previous studies have documented substantial West Eurasian ancestry in some sub-Saharan African populations, including Nigerians and KhoeSan from southern Africa, if the findings of this paper are right, they are important because they extend these claims to populations that were previously thought to have little or no West Eurasian ancestry, for example Mbuti hunter gatherers from central/east Africa."
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The UN envoy for Libya has announced a national unity government for Libya after months of talks between the North African country's two rival governments. Bernardino Leon told reporters late on Thursday that the names of candidates for the national unity government have been decided. Leon said the prime minister for the new government is Fayez Sarraj, a member of the Tripoli-based administration. "We believe this list can work," Leon said of the names, which include three deputies for the prime minister - representing the country's east, west and south - and two ministers to complete a presidential council. "All of them will work as a team," Leon said. He added, "This was not an easy task." The deal must pass a vote in the rival parliaments to succeed. Libya has had rival administrations since August last year, when an alliance of militias from the city of Misrata known as Libya Dawn took over the capital, Tripoli. The group drove out the internationally-recognised government, which now operates in the eastern city of Tobruk. The UN-brokered deal creates a unified government made up of people agreed by both sides. Under the agreement, parties recognise the parliament in Tobruk as Libya's legitimate legislative authority. In return the Tripoli-based General National Council will lead a newly created state council. The foreign policy chief of the European Union, Federica Mogherini, welcomed the deal. Stumbling blocks in the process have been the disbanding of militias as well as the removal of former general Khalifa Haftar - the military commander for the Tobruk parliament, which is recognised by the UN and the Arab League.
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It's one of the coolest jobs in science. Volcanologist Tim Orr collects lava at Hawaii's Kilauea - one of the most active volcanoes in the world. Matt Sampson has the red hot details.
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She was on the show 'Running Wild with Bear Grylls'
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One of Philip Rivers' coaches thinks the QB is one of the smartest players in the NFL and has one simple reason why.
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The ill-fated U.S.-flagged El Faro cargo ship sunk by Hurricane Joaquin was sailing at near full speed into the center of the storm before it lost propulsion amid mountainous waves and brutal winds, according to ship tracking data. The data on Thomson Reuters Eikon raises questions about the ship owner's assertion that the vessel's captain had chosen a "sound plan" to pass around Joaquin "with a margin of comfort" but was then thwarted by engineering problems. It shows that even before the ship lost power it was in stormy waters that many mariners interviewed said they would never have entered. After reviewing the data, Klaus Luhta, a former ship's officer and chief of staff at the International Organization of Masters, Mates, and Pilots, went silent for a moment as he contemplated what has been called the worst cargo shipping disaster involving a U.S.-flagged vessel in more than 30 years. "I don't know what he was thinking - I can't even speculate," said Luhta in a telephone interview. "He headed right into the track." While the decision-making may appear inexplicable from a distance, Captain Michael Davidson was an experienced mariner and it is not clear what factors he would have been weighing as he sought to save his ship from calamity. El Faro stopped communicating after reporting early on Oct. 1 that it had lost propulsion, was taking on water and listing. No reason was given for the loss of power. A spokesman for ship owner Tote Inc, Michael Hanson, declined comment, saying the National Transportation Safety Board, which is investigating the sinking, had asked the company to refer all questions related to the investigation to them. The ship tracking data, which may provide the most complete track yet of the El Faro in the 24 hours before disaster struck, also shows that contrary to some reports the ship did not follow its normal course. At 6.16 a.m. Eastern Time on Sept. 30, 10 hours after heading out of Jacksonville, Florida, the ship began deviating from its usual straight-line route to San Juan, Puerto Rico, hugging nearer to the Bahamas but still on course to meet the storm's path, according to the data, which uses a ship's satellite transmissions to track its location and speed. By that night, squeezed against the chain of islands to the west, El Faro was trapped as the storm track shifted further southwest, putting the hurricane on a collision course with the 790-foot (241 m) cargo ship with 28 U.S. citizens and five Polish nationals aboard. At that point the ship was still sailing at near full speed. ESCAPE ROUTE Ship captains who reviewed the data said that on the morning of Sept. 30, still north of the Bahamas and hundreds of miles from the storm, Davidson still had three good options: slow down to assess the weather; turn around; or change course, heading west and hugging the Florida coast. He would have had access to weather forecasts every few hours from the National Hurricane Center (NHC) giving the likely speed, strength and direction of the storm. The El Faro took the Florida coast route on Aug. 25, when tropical storm Erika was heading toward the Caribbean. The decision not to use that route on Sept. 30 is unclear. The captain could have been worried about skirting the Florida coast and then threading between Cuba and the Bahamas in nasty weather, maritime experts said. As El Faro plowed on, its options dwindled. At about 5 p.m. ET on Sept. 30 - nine hours after Joaquin was first declared a hurricane - the ship sailed on past "Hole in the Wall," a gap in the Bahamas archipelago used by seafarers for centuries to slip westwards through the islands toward Cuba. Escaping via that route would have lengthened the ship's voyage and consumed more fuel, possible factors in the captain's decision not to take it. At that point, with the NHC forecasting the hurricane would sweep close to the Bahamas, before heading back north, Davidson ran out of feasible options, maritime experts said. The ship was committed to a southern route, straight into the storm. "You should always have an emergency escape route," said Captain Scott Futcher, a master mariner with 20 years of experience at sea. "He should have gone further south. We are taught that you have to have an out, even if you have to make a huge loop around." The tracking data shows that the ship did in fact go further south, deviating nearly 100 miles off its usual course, but it was not enough to escape Joaquin. There wasn't "much room for maneuvering," said John Konrad, master mariner and founder of GCaptain, a maritime news website. "He has the whole ocean to his left in the hurricane. Once you go west there are islands there and you are boxed in on all sides. "The only option" he had was to turn back. At 9.09 p.m. ET on Sept. 30, about 200 miles northwest of the storm, the ship was sailing at 20 knots (23 mph), very close to its full speed. El Faro was heading straight into the NHC'S projected track of the hurricane, which was then packing 105 MPH winds and whipping up 50-foot waves. At 2:09 a.m. ET, Oct. 1, El Faro was only 50 miles from the eye of Joaquin. At that point the ship was still moving at nearly 17 knots, according to the ship tracking data. Facing fierce winds and high seas, the ship had made little progress by 3:56 a.m. ET. In its last logged location, the ship was less than 50 miles from the eye and had slowed down to 10.7 knots. WIDE BERTH The company has said there are a number of different navigational trade routes used for the voyage to Puerto Rico that vary according to conditions. The course was charted by Davidson without head office involvement, it said. In contrast to El Faro, at least one other ship in the area of Joaquin gave it a wide berth. The Azure Bay, a tanker owned by Singapore-based Pioneer Marine, was heading north past Cuba toward the Bahamas in the early hours of Sept. 30, when its captain warned that its intended course could bring it within 150 nautical miles of Joaquin. The captain, liaising with Pioneer, decided to circle back south of Cuba, to "ride out the storm" according to Charan Singh, a senior vice president at Pioneer. "We try to avoid large storms," Singh told Reuters. What happened in the early hours of Oct. 1 after contact was lost with the El Faro is not known. NTSB investigators will now likely sift through the debris and try to locate the ship's black box, or voyage data recorder, to try to put together at least some pieces of the puzzle. (Additional reporting by Barbara Liston, editing by Ross Colvin)
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A simple blood test can accurately identify patients at very low risk for heart attack, say researchers. Almost two-thirds of people who arrive in an emergency room complaining of chest pain and fearing cardiac arrest might be safely discharged, the results of the new study suggest. "Implementation of this approach would reduce avoidable hospital admission and have major benefits for both patients and health-care providers," wrote the authors sponsored by University of Edinburgh and funded in part by the British Heart Foundation. When patients complain of chest pain, doctors make a diagnosis of myocardial infarction (heart attack) based on evidence of heart muscle damage. Specifically, they use a blood test that measures a protein (or chemical) known as troponin, which is released into the blood by damaged heart muscles. A high troponin level or even slight elevation can indicate injury to the heart, according to the American Association for Clinical Chemistry . When levels of troponin are unusually high or if a series of tests performed over several hours show elevated levels, doctors take this as proof that a patient has had a heart attack or some other cardiac event. Commonly, emergency room doctors perform the test on someone complaining of chest pain when they are first admitted and then again 12 hours later. Recently, a more sensitive troponin test, which is capable of measuring finer levels of troponin, was introduced. Importantly, the new test needs to be performed only once. The new study, then, investigated whether the more sensitive test might more accurately diagnose and predict heart attack. Conducting the research at hospitals in Scotland and the United States, the science team measured blood troponin concentrations using the high-sensitivity test for 6,304 patients with suspected heart attacks. "Low plasma troponin concentrations identify two-thirds of patients at very low risk of cardiac events who could be discharged from hospital," wrote the researchers, who say the high sensitivity test was 99.6 percent accurate. Symptoms of a heart attack include chest discomfort or pain (that often feels like squeezing), upper body pain, stomach pain, shortness of breath, anxiety, lightheadedness, sweating, and nausea and vomiting. According to the American Heart Association , women most commonly experience chest pain or discomfort just like men, but they are more likely than men to experience other symptoms, particularly shortness of breath, nausea/vomiting, and back or jaw pain. Source: Shah ASV, Anand A, Sandoval Y, et al. High-sensitivity cardiac troponin I at presentation in patients with suspected acute coronary syndrome: a cohort study. The Lancet. 2015.
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You've got your water and towel ready, but TC Newman (@PurpleTCNewman) has a few things to avoid before you hit the gym.
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Here are 7 of the spookiest things seen on the red planet.
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NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) A city in South Carolina approved a $6.5 million settlement Thursday with the family of an unarmed black man shot to death earlier this year by a white police officer. The North Charleston City Council approved the settlement by a 10-0 vote, and members of Walter Scott's family were on hand when it was announced. The council had met several times in the past few months to receive advice from city attorney Brady Hair on a potential lawsuit from Scott's family. Scott, 50, was shot April 4 by North Charleston officer Michael Slager while trying to run from a traffic stop. A bystander recorded the shooting with a cellphone. Slager was indicted on a murder charge in June and a judge refused to set bond last month, saying his release would "constitute an unreasonable danger to the community." Slager was fired following his arrest on the murder charges and has been detained in solitary confinement. The bystander's cellphone video showed Slager firing eight times as Scott ran. The shooting inflamed the national debate about how blacks are treated by law officers. Before the video was brought to the attention of authorities, Slager had told investigators that Scott tried to grab his gun and Taser. But prosecutor Scarlett Wilson said Scott was running away and the only time Slager could be seen running was to go back, pick up the Taser and then drop it by Scott's body. In the immediate aftermath of the shooting, Scott's family called for peace. Some have credited the family's action along with the officer's speedy arrest with staving off the protests and violence that have erupted in other cities where unarmed black men have died during encounters with police. Slager faces from 30 years to life in prison without parole if he is convicted of murder. There were no aggravating circumstances such as robbery or kidnapping, so the death penalty doesn't apply in the case, the prosecutor has said. __ This story has been corrected to show that the settlement is in South Carolina, not North Carolina.
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On the second Thursday of October, the Boston Celtics play Real Madrid as part of the NBA's Global Games Tour. This has naturally, inevitably, raised the topic of NBA expansion to Europe. It's natural and inevitable, yes… and also quite tiring. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver had to shoot down notions of expansion to Europe on Wednesday, as he spoke to reporters before the Celtics-Real Madrid contest. We need to get a few things straight on this matter. The broader topic of expansion by any of America's four major professional sports leagues to nations other than Canada has become so worn, so talked-out and exhausted, that any new or subsequent reference to the issue contains all the nutritional value of a twinkie covered in chocolate sauce, washed down with a cold Mountain Dew. We have to cool it with expansion talk, if only because it's pointless to address an issue if there's no serious chance of movement ever occurring. A given cause is hurt, not helped, in such circumstances. It's very much a situation in which the people trying to start or perpetuate the discussion are putting the cart before the horse. * NBA fans have had to put up with a fake Adrian Wojnarowski account for years, a source of unending frustration on draft night and during the weeks preceding the trade deadline. NFL fans have to deal with fake accounts for Adam Schefter and other reporters such as Ian Rapoport of NFL Network and NFL.com. In early September, a stir was caused when a tweet seemingly from Rapoport's account said that talks were in progress between the Jacksonville Jaguars and Mexico City. However, the third letter in Rapoport's actual Twitter account was changed it was a fake, so the notion of expansion outside the United States and Canada was shot down in a heartbeat. Nevertheless, as useless as fake accounts are when they engage solely in the practice of misleading the public (as opposed to providing humor any purposefully misleading fake account needs to be obliterated by Twitter), the whole episode was revealing and instructive. It's true that Mexico City shares North American terrain with the United States and Canada. The idea of traveling to Mexico City isn't exactly convenient, but in a reworked "South" or "Southwest Division" in a pro sports league, it might strike some fans as being realistic. However, when one considers the notion of a team's players and families living in Mexico City, the concept falls apart. The air quality in and near Mexico City is (and has been) a longstanding point of concern on the "liveable city" scale. More recently, the instability and drug cartel-related violence which have defined life in many parts of Mexico have come closer to Mexico City. Even though Mexico City is more geographically proximate to the United States than any other non-Canadian location which has been mentioned as an expansion candidate, it would be extremely difficult, if not impossible, to pull off the feat. If Australia occupied the part of the globe Mexico currently covers, the idea of expansion would be so much more realistic. Australia's English-language centrality and diverse ethnic makeup situated within a sports-friendly culture and an embrace of American sports would be perfect for expansion into the NBA and Major League Baseball. Alas, geography so obviously works against that idea. Mexico City has the geography, but not a lot of the other factors which also have to be part of the equation. Even if you stay in the North American continent (and exclude Canada from this discussion), you can see that expansion to other nations is extremely difficult, bordering on impossible. The idea that half or more of the league's teams can and will jet between Europe and the States multiple times per season is, on its face, ridiculous. It's not even worthy of discussion. The "cart before the horse" dynamic has already been hinted at in the discussion above, but its most central representation can be found in the absence of laying out a convincing logistical arrangement for the entire season and the playoffs. If such a plan isn't formulated and vetted, no subsequent discussion about expansion beyond (non-Canadian) North America should ever be allowed to get off the ground. Let's stop the talk about expansion to new nations, in the NBA and other American pro sports leagues. If this is something that's desirable for the NBA and other leagues, let's talk logistics first… and let's stick with discussions of logistics until a workable plan exists. For now, let's shelve the tired questions about a topic which shouldn't be taken very seriously at all.
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Iconic Cajun and Creole chef Paul Prudhomme has died at the age of 75. Per WWL in New Orleans , a rep from Prudhomme's restaurant, K-Paul's Louisiana Kitchen, says Prudhomme's death comes in the wake of "a brief illness." Prudhomme first rose to fame as the executive chef of the legendary New Orleans restaurant Commander's Palace, where he's largely credited with helping to revolutionize Creole cuisine; he opened K-Paul's in the French Quarter in 1979, where it's still a major draw for tourists today. In addition to his restaurant, Prudhomme wrote numerous cookbooks and had several cooking shows on PBS that helped him become the iconic face of Creole and Cajun cooking. WWL notes that "Prudhomme and his wife Kay introduced the blackened redfish craze, which made the fish so popular that commercial fishing of the species became restricted in order to prevent it from going extinct." He has a popular line of spices called Chef Paul Prudhomme's Magic Seasoning Blends that are sold in practically every grocery store in America, and is even credited with inventing the bird-within-a-bird-within-a-bird creation the turducken.
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At least four Russian cruise missiles, headed for Syria, have reportedly crash-landed in Iran, Pentagon sources tell CNN and other outlets. So far neither Russian nor Iranian sources have confirmed the incident, though Iran's semi-official Fars News Agency is carrying the story (but crediting CNN). It is not known whether the missiles detonated or whether there are any casualties. Iran has enough empty space that it's possible the missiles crashed harmlessly. Russia has been launching cruise missiles from its fleet in the Caspian Sea, firing them over Iran and Iraq toward Syria, so northwest Iran is on their normal flight path. This state media video shows earlier launches and their path: Russia's high-tech military gear is just not that great For all Russia's military might its force, one of the largest in the world, has been modernizing in recent years its higher-tech equipment such as cruise missiles has long lagged behind Western standards. Cruise missiles are particularly difficult technology, flying many hundreds of miles at high speed, often automated. Early American cruise missiles also crashed often, requiring many years of testing and refining before they worked as well as they do now, and the Russian land-attack cruise missiles here are recently developed. This is a helpful reminder of a fact that is often forgotten in Washington but is remembered all too well in Moscow: The Russian military is formidable, but it is a generation or more behind American forces. After a week of hyperventilating American coverage of Russia's Syria intervention, this should be a reality check. It is also a worrying indication that inaccurate Russian launches risk increasing already sky-high civilian casualties in Syria. A big question: Will this have political ramifications in Iran? Iran and Russia are on the same side in Syria, both supporting Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad, but there have been growing reports of tension and competition between them over Syria's future. And there is a long history of bitterness between Russia and Iran, the latter of which has not forgotten Russia's imperialist history in its country, nor Russia's support of crippling UN sanctions. One thing that will be worth watching, then, is whether this incident uncovers or provokes any Iranian backlash against Russia. Will this be brushed off as an innocent mistake, or will it prompt public criticism from Iran's often-noisy political system? So far, there's no noise out of Tehran one way or the other, but the possibility of Iran-Russia tension over Syria is worth looking out for.
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Israeli police say four Israelis, including a soldier, have been stabbed in Tel Aviv, as a wave of violence over access to the al-Aqsa mosque complex spreads. Diane Hodges reports.
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WASHINGTON The Senate will take up a bill the week of Oct. 19 to bar "sanctuary cities" from receiving law enforcement grants if they refuse to cooperate with federal immigration officials, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., announced Thursday. The House passed similar legislation in July, sparking a veto threat from President Obama. Democratic senators are expected to try to block the bill. Republicans have pushed for the action in response to the murder of a 31-year-old woman who was allegedly shot to death by an undocumented immigrant and convicted felon on July 1 in San Francisco. Democrats said Republicans are using the tragedy to pander to right-wing voters and bolster the divisive rhetoric of GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump, who has referred to undocumented Mexican immigrants as rapists and murderers. Kate Steinle was killed while walking with her father on a pier. The man charged in the killing, Juan Francisco Lopez-Sanchez, had been deported back to Mexico five times and was a convicted felon. A San Francisco city-county law dating back to 1989 bars local officials from helping federal agents with immigration investigations or arrests unless required by federal or state law or by a warrant. The policy makes San Francisco a "sanctuary city." Cities with similar policies include Los Angeles, New York, Knoxville, Tenn., and Manchester, N.H. The Senate bill would withhold certain federal law enforcement grants from cities that fail to comply with requests by the Department of Homeland Security to detain an individual in jail for up to 48 hours so that they can be taken into custody by Immigration and Customs Enforcement to face deportation. Funds stripped from sanctuary cities would be given to cities that cooperate with federal authorities under the legislation, which was introduced in July by Sens. David Vitter, R-La., and Jeff Flake, R-Ariz. "In a time of limited federal resources and tough choices, is it fair to treat localities that cooperate with federal law enforcement or work hard to follow federal law no better than localities that refuse to help or actively flout the law?" McConnell said. "It isn't fair." McConnell said senators will vote on whether to advance the bill when they return the week of Oct. 19 from a weeklong recess tied to Monday's Columbus Day holiday. A spokesman for the AFL-CIO said Thursday that union leaders will work to defeat the bill. "Senator Vitter's bill does nothing to address our broken immigration system, and instead would undermine public safety, cut off funding for local policing, swell the coffers of for-profit detention facilities, and make it easier for abusive bosses to retaliate against hard-working people," said Bill Samuel, the group's director of government affairs. "The AFL-CIO will work with allies to defeat this bill and any similar legislation that scapegoats and criminalizes our immigrant communities."
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Your patients will remember you for years after you treat them. 1. You form unique bonds with your patients. Nurses have a much different relationship with our patients than physicians do. We spend all day with patients taking care of their every need, as opposed to doctors who spend less time directly with patients. So when you go into work for an eight- or 12-hour shift and you're working with the same group of patients - many of whom are very sick - you form a special bond with them. They're depending on you to make sure you assess them correctly, to make sure they're stable, to watch their lab work, to give them the right medications. But above and beyond that, you're there for them and you get to know them. I usually start off meetings with patients asking about their personal life. I know about most of my patients' families, how many kids they have, how many grandkids. Being able to get to know somebody and support them when they're at their most vulnerable and sick is a really wonderful, gratifying feeling. 2. You're not just taking care of patients - you're taking care of their families too. Fathers, wives, partners, kids - everybody is scared and everybody at the bedside wants information. Sometimes the patient is too sick to even absorb what you're saying, so family members are the ones who need updates on how their loved one is doing. And they don't always understand everything the doctor has told them. Sometimes the doctor is using all these big words and medical terminology, and they're nodding their heads, but when the doctor leaves, they still have questions. So you help clarify and explain things in terms that families can understand. 3. Your patients will inspire you every day. I worked for years in the emergency room, and I saw so many tragedies. Now I work with cancer patients. While you'd think that'd be a depressing place to work, I've found it to be the opposite. I've seen a group of women cancer survivors, some of who have been pretty sick and have incurable breast cancer, decide to band together and complete a triathlon as a team. I've seen patients diagnosed with cancer go through treatment and come out on the other side cancer-free and get their life back. On the other side of it, there are lots of people who know from the beginning that they're not going to make it. But to see them fight the disease anyway so they can spend more time watching their kids grow up, watching their grandkids grow up, or just doing whatever it is they need to do to close out their life, that's just as inspiring. 4. You don't have to worry about losing your job. You'll never have to worry about finding a job to begin with. There will always be a need for nurses. Other people graduate and struggle for months to find jobs, but nurses have a job lined up before they even walk out the door. And it's a pretty good-paying job with solid benefits; you get health and dental insurance, and paid vacation. 5. You have many opportunities to advance in your career. Sometimes I think people think that nurses are just wiping butts and emptying bedpans, but it's not at all like that. It's a very, very technical, high-level job. A lot of nurses go back to school and complete additional training to become nurse practitioners. You'll make slightly more money and you'll have more autonomy, so you can see and treat patients for a lot of the same things that doctors do. You can write prescriptions, and you could even open your own practice where you manage your patients' health like a primary care doctor. Other nurses become nurse educators. They're sort of the leaders in a hospital or health care organization, and they're in charge of educating nurses who are going to a different floor on the hospital, training new nurses, and providing continuing patient education to current nurses. 6. You have the ability to figure out a schedule that works for you. While you don't have a lot of flexibility in the length of your shift, you have some flexibility whether you work a day shift, a p.m. shift, or a night shift, and what days. There are part-time nursing positions where someone only wants to hire for X amount of hours. There are weekend-only programs, where during the week you have off and you just work longer shifts during the weekend. When I was doing in-patient nursing in a hospital when I was younger, I liked to do third shift. I would work all night long and then sleep during the day when everyone else was working. But once I got married and had kids, I worked longer shifts fewer days a week so I could spend more time with them. When they got a little older, I switched to shifts during the day so I could be with them when they got home from school. Throughout my career, I've been able to adjust my schedule based on the kind of life I was leading so I was still able to raise my family. 7. Your coworkers can turn into your best friends. When you're working long, challenging hours with people in any field, you tend to form a bond. Nursing in particular is great opportunity to meet people who think like you. When you work in a challenging environment with someone and you have the same values, it adds an extra dimension to the friendship. Some of my best friends now are my past and present nursing colleagues. 8. You can change your career path without changing careers. All you have to do is find a different area that you like to work in and then complete the training required of that area, which the company you work with usually pays for. So many nurses do go from one type of medicine to another until they find the place they like the best. I've worked on many different floors during my time as a nurse. I was an orthopedic nurse for a couple of years, then decided I wanted to switch and go to a cardiac floor. And then I worked in the ICU for a little bit before getting into oncology, which I'll do now for the rest of my career. Working in the cardiac unit and the emergency room were great experiences along the way, but it's nice to have the flexibility to change if you get tired of something. 9. The skills you learn in nursing translate to your personal life. Whenever my kids or my family members have gotten sick, I don't overreact because I usually know what to do and where to go. Same with emergency situations. If you see someone who's sick or in an accident, you can stop and help. When you're a nurse, you're going to be very patient and not get easily rattled by things. I think that makes you a better spouse, a better parent, and a better family member. Being a nurse also changes how you view the world. I've helped patients at their very worst, and because of that, I've learned not to be as judgmental of other people, and more tolerant. I have empathy for others' situations even if I can't really relate to it in my own life. 10. Your patients will remember you years after you take care of them. I run into patients and their family members all the time, at the grocery store, at a movie theater, a restaurant, wherever. And it's always such a gratifying feeling to see patients out and about doing well and for them to recognize you. I don't know too many professions where that happens; where you run into people two years later and they come up to you and say, "Oh my gosh, it's so good to see you. Thank you so much for what you've done for me and my family." Jamie Cairo is a registered nurse and nurse practitioner in Kenosha, Wisconsin. More from MSN 7 Dangerous Misconceptions About Depression 7 Myths About Medication and the Facts Behind Them
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Russian President Vladimir Putin celebrated his 63rd birthday this past Wednesday in "Putinesque" style: By or organizing an exhibition hockey game in Sochi with former NHL and KHL players. Not surprisingly, Putin's team won 15-10, as the President lead the team with seven, (yes) seven goals. Putin also took it upon himself to be team captain as well. The match, which included former NHL stars Pavel Bure, Slava Fetisov, Alexander Mogilny and Valeri Kamensky, was essentially a hockey fantasy camp for Putin. Putin even allowed his Defense Minister, Sergei Shoigu, to get in on the game as well. The exhibition was held at the Shayba Arena in the Black Sea resort of Sochi, best known for hosting the 2014 Winter Olympics. After Putin's team won the game, the Russian President was even awarded a trophy for his triumph. Your move Obama!
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His Carly Fiorina impression could use some work.
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The Nobel Prize, named after Swedish innovator Alfred Nobel, is one of the most prestigious awards in the world. This award is given in categories like Physics, Chemistry, Literature and Peace. The list of Nobel Laureates has some great names including Albert Einstein, Martin Luther King Jr. and Mother Teresa. Click through to take a look at other big names who have won the award and why the academies in Sweden and Norway think they deserved it. The Nobel Prize, named after Swedish innovator Alfred Nobel, is one of the most prestigious awards in the world. This award is given in categories like Physics, Chemistry, Literature and Peace. The list of Nobel Laureates has some great names including Albert Einstein, Martin Luther King Jr. and Mother Teresa. Click through to take a look at other big names who have won the award and why the academies in Sweden and Norway think they deserved it. Martin Luther King Jr. (1929-1968) Country: USA Awarded the Nobel Peace Prize 1964 for his contribution to civil rights and to the justice system in the United States. John F. Nash Jr. (1928-2015) Country: USA Awarded the joint Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences 1994 for co-developing "an equilibrium concept for non-cooperative games that now is called Nash equilibrium." Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961) Country: USA Awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature 1954 for the impact he made in the field of writing and storytelling including one of his most popular works, "The Old Man and the Sea." Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941) Country: India Awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature 1913 "because of his profoundly sensitive, fresh and beautiful verse, by which, with consummate skill, he has made his poetic thought, expressed in his own English words, a part of the literature of the West." Mother Teresa (1910-1997) Country: Macedonia Awarded the Nobel Peace Prize 1979 for her work for the homeless and people suffering from AIDS, tuberculosis and leprosy. Marie Curie (1867-1934) Country: Poland (Naturalized French citizen) Awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1911 "in recognition of her services to the advancement of chemistry by the discovery of the elements radium and polonium, by the isolation of radium and the study of the nature and compounds of this remarkable element." Nelson Mandela (1918-2013) Country: South Africa Joint winner of the Nobel Peace Prize 1993 along with Frederik Willem de Klerk "for their work for the peaceful termination of the apartheid regime, and for laying the foundations for a new democratic South Africa." Sir Alexander Fleming (1881-1955) Country: Scotland Awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1945 along with Ernst Boris Chain and Sir Howard Walter "for the discovery of penicillin and its curative effect in various infectious diseases." Albert Einstein (1879-1955) Country: Germany Awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics 1921 "for his services to Theoretical Physics, and especially for his discovery of the law of the photoelectric effect." Niels Bohr (1885-1962) Country: Denmark Awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics 1922 "for his services in the investigation of the structure of atoms and of the radiation emanating from them." Pablo Neruda (1904-1973) Country: Chile Awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature 1971 "for a poetry that with the action of an elemental force brings alive a continent's destiny and dreams." The 14th Dalai Lama (Tenzin Gyatso) (1935-Present) Country: Tibet ( People's Republic of China) Awarded the Nobel Peace Prize 1989 for his work in fields like physics, cognitive neurosciences, women's rights, interfaith dialogue and environment. Wangari Maathai (1940-2011) Country: Kenya Awarded the Nobel Peace Prize 2004 for "her contribution to sustainable development, democracy and peace." Harold Pinter (1938-2008) Country: England Awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature 2005 for being a playwright "who in his plays uncovers the precipice under everyday prattle and forces entry into oppression's closed rooms." Doris Lessing (1919-2013) Country: Great Britain Awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature 2007 for being "that epicist of the female experience, who with skepticism, fire and visionary power has subjected a divided civilization to scrutiny." Desmond Tutu (1931-Present) Country: South Africa Awarded the Nobel Peace Prize 1984 for his work in the field of human rights and campaigns against sexism, racism, tuberculosis and poverty. Aung San Suu Kyi (1945-Present) Country: Myanmar Awarded the Nobel Peace Prize 1991 "for her non-violent struggle for democracy and human rights." Mikhail Gorbachev (1931-Present) Country: Russia Awarded the Nobel Peace Prize 1990 for "his leading role in the peace process which today characterizes important parts of the international community." Nadine Gordimer (1923-2014) Country: South Africa Awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature 1991 for being a contributor through "magnificent epic writing" and "being of great benefit to humanity." Toni Morrison (1931-Present) Country: USA Awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature 1993 for writing "novels characterized by visionary force and poetic import, giving life to an essential aspect of American reality." Alice Munro (1931-Present) Country: Canada Awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature 2013 for her contribution to the field of short story writing. Menachem Begin (1913-1992) Country: Israeli Awarded The Nobel Peace Prize 1978 along with Mohamed Anwar al-Sadat, former President of Egypt, for overseeing and facilitating the signing of the Egypt Israel Peace Treaty. Mohamed ElBaradei (1942-Present) Country: Egypt Awarded the Nobel Peace Prize 2005 along with International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) "for their efforts to prevent nuclear energy from being used for military purposes and to ensure that nuclear energy for peaceful purposes is used in the safest possible way." Pearl S. Buck (1892-1973) Country: USA Awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature 1938 "for her rich and truly epic descriptions of peasant life in China and for her biographical masterpieces." George Bernard Shaw Country: Republic of Ireland Awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature 1925 for "his work which is marked by both idealism and humanity, its stimulating satire often being infused with a singular poetic beauty."
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LAS VEGAS (AP) Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump said Thursday that Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl should have been executed for leaving his post in Afghanistan. "We're tired of Sgt. Bergdahl, who's a traitor, a no-good traitor, who should have been executed," Trump said to cheers at a rowdy rally inside a packed Las Vegas theater at the casino-hotel Treasure Island. "Thirty years ago," Trump added, "he would have been shot." It was practically an aside in a litany of complaints at the end of a more than hour-long, free-wheeling speech that included a large dose of media bashing and a claim that he was behind Rep. Kevin McCarthy's decision to drop out of the race for House speaker. Bergdahl was charged in March with desertion and misbehavior before the enemy. The Army conducted a hearing on his case earlier this month. His attorney, Eugene Fidell, said in a statement that Trump "has become a broken record on this subject." "If he took the time to study what actually emerged at the preliminary hearing he would be singing a different tune," Fidell said. Trump has, in the past, pantomimed a firing squad, Fidell said. Bergdahl has been accused of leaving his post in southeastern Afghanistan in June 2009. He was held prisoner by the Taliban for five years, then exchanged for five Taliban commanders being held by the U.S. Trump has long railed against the deal. The speech was punctuated by shouts of support from the crowd that filled about 1,620 seats in the Las Vegas Strip casino theater normally reserved for acrobatic Cirque du Soleil productions. At one point, in a moment that appeared to be impromptu, Trump brought a supporter in the audience to the stage who declared she is Hispanic and voting for Trump. Myriam Witcher, 35, of Las Vegas, waved an issue of People magazine with Trump and his family on the cover, asking Trump to sign it. Afterward, the Columbian immigrant, who noted she came to the United States legally, called Trump her "No. 1 person in the United States." His speech spanned a spider-web of topics that included his disdain for media coverage, many of his fellow Republican presidential candidates and current political leadership as well as Thursday's news that McCarthy had dropped out of a race for House speaker. "You know, Kevin McCarthy is out. You know that, right?" he asked the crowd. "And they're giving me a lot of credit for that because I said you really need somebody very, very tough and very smart. ... We need smart, we need tough, we need the whole package." Trump didn't identify who had given him credit for McCarthy dropping out. ___ Colvin reported from Newark, New Jersey.
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Holding a cardboard box in his mouth, this silly bulldog blocks its views and keeps knocking its head against a brick wall. Sometimes you might consider to change the way you do things if what you're doing is currently not working. Be flexible doggy, figure out where your going the then you can grab the box.
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This Sunday, Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton will go to church near Atlanta, then come back to a full house of friends, family, pescetarian-friendly dishes and sweet Kool-Aid with a hint of pineapple juice. He'll have the TV tuned to NFL games, but he probably won't watch - it'll be more for background noise. But it's conceivable that, at some point, Newton will hear his name brought up as an MVP candidate. A quarter of the way through the season, the Panthers are 4-0 and Newton is playing arguably the best football of his career. He's accounted for nine touchdowns, turned the ball over three times - all three of which could be explained away - and, most importantly, gone unbeaten in the first month of the season for the first time in his career. But he doesn't care about the attention. "It's not important right now. It's irrelevant," Newton said Wednesday. "No disrespect to anybody. We're just four games into hopefully a 19-week season." The chatter about being the league's most valuable player comes from pundits keying on the word "valuable." League commentators are looking at what Newton means to the Panthers, placing less emphasis on the usual statistics that help players win the award. It's not important right now. It's irrelevant. No disrespect to anybody. We're just four games into hopefully a 19-week season. Cam Newton, on his name being mentioned in MVP conversation ESPN NFL columnist Jason Reid wrote before Carolina's victory at Tampa in Week 4 that it's time to focus on Newton as an "under-the-radar" MVP candidate. "No signal-caller has accomplished more with less than Newton, whose signature Superman celebration seems particularly appropriate these days," Reid wrote. The reference is to Carolina's mediocre receiving corps. Without Kelvin Benjamin, the Panthers have Ted Ginn Jr., a still-learning Devin Funchess and two undrafted players in Corey Brown and Brenton Bersin as their top receiving targets. Pro Bowler Greg Olsen and running back Jonathan Stewart are there, too, but it's widely understood that Newton is making things work with fewer weapons than most top quarterbacks. With a 55.4 completion percentage, Newton is on pace for his least accurate season. But he's also on pace for the most passing touchdowns (28), fewest interceptions (eight) and most wins in a season. Is Newton as good a passer as, say, Aaron Rodgers? No. But I think he's as good a runner as any quarterback in the NFL. When you combine that skill with Newton's improvements as a passer, he's going to be tough to stop. Former Cowboys executive and current NFL analyst Gil Brandt "Is Newton as good a passer as, say, Aaron Rodgers? No," wrote NFL Network analyst Gil Brandt, a former Cowboys executive and one of the most respected commentators on the game. "But I think he's as good a runner as any quarterback in the NFL. When you combine that skill with Newton's improvements as a passer, he's going to be tough to stop. "I think the Panthers are going to make the playoffs, and if Newton plays well throughout the season, I could see him building a legitimate case to be the NFL MVP." Panthers coach Ron Rivera isn't surprised by how well his quarterback has been playing. In Newton's fifth-year, things have started to coalesce. He's had the same offensive coordinator for three years - the longest span for Newton since before college. His footwork and arm mechanics - developed for only one year in college, in Auburn's shotgun system - are fully adapted to NFL play. The coaching staff is giving him more leeway at the line of scrimmage, allowing him to change plays on the fly more than ever. "You see the effectiveness in the things that he's doing and that's a plus," Rivera said. "It's been great for him as our quarterback just because he understands and he's getting it. This is where you want to see him at this point and time in his career. I think he's reached that point. Now everything he does is almost gravy." We've been able to handle those situations before and keep our focus because, again, the thing that's really more important than anything else is just winning games. Ron Rivera, on the increased recognition the Carolina Panthers have earned The attention will naturally come. For years Rivera preached to his team that they needed to earn this kind of attention. The franchise had only four winning seasons before he became the coach in 2011. The Panthers had never posted consecutive seasons with winning records. His tagline became "be relevant," and the team believed in it so much that it embroidered the phrase onto hats last year. Now the Panthers are back-to-back division champions - and trying to shut out all the acclaim. "It's one of those things where we're trying to not listen to the noise," Rivera said. "It's part of the game where it's nice to know that you're getting the type of recognition and people are beginning to see the positive qualities that you have in a football player. It's always nice to be one of those focal points of interviews. I think our guys get it. "We've been able to handle those situations before and keep our focus because, again, the thing that's really more important than anything else is just winning games." Jonathan Jones: 704-358-5323, @jjones9
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When the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series heads to Talladega Superspeedway for the Oct. 23-25 race weekend, the outside and inside walls will be completely covered by Steel and Foam Energy Reduction (SAFER) barriers. The track issued a statement from chairman Grant Lynch indicating the move came "after an extensive review" of the facility conducted by NASCAR and International Speedway Corp. The speedway has already installed 8,000 linear feet of SAFER barriers in 2015, working with Cheaha Construction. "Safety of our competitors and fans is our top priority, and we will continue to review the facility and provide updates as circumstances warrant," Lynch said in the statement. "We look forward to a tremendous NASCAR weekend featuring the third and final race of the Contender Round in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup." SAFER barriers -- or the lack thereof -- came into focus early in the 2015 season when Kyle Busch suffered injuries to his right leg and left foot during the season-opening NASCAR XFINITY Series race at Daytona International Speedway. One week later, Jeff Gordon hit an unprotected concrete wall at Atlanta Motor Speedway. NASCAR, ISC and Speedway Motorsports Inc. have committed to increasing the use of SAFER barriers at each racing facility. While a push was made earlier in the season, last weekend's Camping World Truck Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway renewed calls for increased coverage. Brad Keselowski Racing's Austin Theriault hit an unprotected concrete wall nearly head-on in that event, suffering a 10 percent compression fracture in his back. After the incident, Sprint Cup Series regulars Brad Keselowski and Kyle Busch took to social media to call for more SAFER barriers. "My thing about it is that they do need to work faster," Busch said earlier this week. "I know there's a plan, but there's no reason why some of these racetracks, like Bristol for instance, had the walls on the straightaway before they showed up in the spring and a place like Vegas, it's been eight months and nobody's been there and they don't have walls. It's frustrating sometimes. You don't know all the schematics and everything that happen at these places and who pays for what, but NASCAR, ISC, SMI, they're billion-dollar corporations and they should be able to move a little bit quicker, I feel."
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Singapore's national postal service said its test drone made a successful delivery. Meanwhile, the U.S. is twiddling its thumbs over regulations.
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WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) Turmoil in the stock market and concerns about China were pivotal in the Federal Reserve's decision to keep interest rates near zero, minutes from the last meeting released Thursday show. "Many [officials] acknowledged that recent global economic and financial developments may have increased the downside risks to economic activity somewhat," the minutes from the Federal Open Market Committee said. In light of this, officials decided it would be "prudent" to wait for more data to confirm the economy was growing at a moderate rate and labor market conditions had improved further. "Many expected those conditions to be met later this year, although several members were concerned about downside risks to the outlook for real activity and inflation," the minutes said. U.S. stocks initially surged, and then leveled off, after the release of the Fed's minutes. At the Sept. 16-17 meeting, many Fed voting members thought the impact from the financial market turmoil would be small. Thirteen of 17 Fed officials indicated they were prepared to raise rates either at the Fed's meeting in October or in December. Most thought that their goal of healthy labor market had been met or would be met by the end of the year. That view may be different now that the September jobs report, released after the Fed meeting, showed slowing growth. In the end, the Fed voted 9 to 1 to hold rates steady in September. Richmond Fed President Jeffrey Lacker was the sole dissent in favor of a rate hike. The minutes show both hawks and doves were putting pressure on the moderate center of the Fed policy committee at the meeting. The doves warned that hiking rates too soon would only push inflation lower. The more hawkish members were concerns that delaying hiking rates "much longer" would lead to an unwanted buildup of inflation pressures. They thought the announcement of a rate hike might provide a signal of confidence in the strength of the U.S. economy. Officials took pains to stress that the drop in stock prices before the meeting was only important as far as it impacted the U.S. central bank's forecast for jobs and inflation. The minutes reveal that Fed officials discussed when to stop reinvestment of securities that mature from its large balance sheet. No decisions were taken. The Fed staff said studies made it seem like it didn't matter if the central bank took this step soon after the first rate hike or decided to wait. But continuing to reinvest securities until rates were well above zero could help if there was an unexpected adverse shock.
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The Contender Round of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup kicks off Saturday night with the running of the Bank of America 500 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano, Team Penske's two drivers, both are among the 12 drivers still in the title discussion. Keselowski narrowly missed advancing to the Championship Round of the Chase last year and now is in a position to improve upon last year and win a second NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship. Here are five reasons Keselowski will become a two-time champion. 5. Great tracks. The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season has seven races left. Six of those seven are places where the series raced earlier this year. At those six tracks, Keselowski posted five finishes of seventh or better. And the one track where he had a bad finish in the spring was Talladega, where he won the fall race last year. The schedule sets up well for Keselowski. 4. Raw speed. Really, only three teams have shown consistent, championship-level speed over the course of the season: Joe Gibbs Racing, Stewart-Haas Racing and Team Penske, the squad Keselowski drives for.This year, Keselowski's average finish of 11.4 is second only to 2012, when he won the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship. And teammate Joey Logano has three victories so far in 2015, making them far and away the best Ford team. 3. Consistency. Keselowski is peaking at the right time. In the last 12 races -- nearly half a season -- he's posted three runner-up finishes and 10 top 10s. More importantly, his worst finish during that period was 16 th . And that's critical with the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup divided into three-race rounds. Running well -- and running mistake-free -- will determine who makes it Homestead-Miami Speedway to fight for a championship. 2. Gambling men. More than any other duo in NASCAR in recent memory, Keselowski and crew chief Paul Wolfe consistently have gone against the tide when it comes to conventional wisdom. When other teams take four tires, sometimes the No. 2 team will take just two. When other teams have to pit for fuel later in a race, Wolfe will throw the dice and have his driver stay out. And these guys don't just gamble; they have an uncanny knack for making their gambles work. 1. Proven record. Keselowski already has championships in the NASCAR XFINITY and Sprint Cup Series. In 2012, he prevailed in a tight battle with then five-time champion Jimmie Johnson to take his first Cup title. Keselowski is used to racing for championships, and he and Wolfe have absolutely no fear of anyone. Having done it already, there's no reason he can't repeat.
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Nick Faldo says players should need any extra motivation from their captains to perform in the Ryder Cup
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Yes, we know, Christmas seems to start earlier and earlier every year, but don't blame us blame retailers like Neiman Marcus, which just put out its annual Christmas Book that's brimming with high-end gift ideas. We're not here to regale you with tales of fur coats, eel-skin wallets, or whatever else the upscale department store stuffed into the 2015 Christmas Book. Instead, we're here because Neiman Marcus' catalog has long featured special cars, and the $95,000, 700-hp custom Ford Mustang GT convertible in this year's issue is the latest. Last year's automotive saliva-generator was a $300,000 slot-car track, while previous vehicular gift ideas have included a Maserati, a Ferrari, a Camaro, and others. The custom Mustang is assembled by Downforce Motorsports, a company that going by its seemingly one-month-old website has produced only one other product, a Warhawk-inspired Dodge Challenger (the Warhawk being a World War II era Curtiss P-40 fighter plane). Starting life as a Mustang GT convertible, the Neiman Marcus Mustang is given a supercharger and long-tube exhaust headers to produce a claimed 700 horsepower and 600-plus lb-ft of torque jumps of 265 horsepower and 200 lb-ft over stock figures. It also runs Brembo brakes, Hawk Performance brake pads, Nitto NT05 tires, and a "performance racing suspension and sway bars." Those should come in handy when probing the claimed 195-mph top speed. Somewhat bizarrely, the windshield and side-window glass has been swapped for Lexan, too. Related Link: Research the Ford Mustang Most suspicious, the Neiman Marcus catalog even lists "all-wheel drive (AWD) technology" among the Mustang's features, but there's no evidence to support this claim; no mention is made in a video of the car included on the retailer's website, and Downforce Motorsports didn't answer their phone or respond to our e-mailed inquiries. We're guessing the copywriter was just confused perhaps it's a reference to the fact that the Neiman Marcus Mustang comes with all four wheels. As you'd expect from the Dallas-based retailer, this pony has plenty of show as well as go. The convertible also features a carbon-fiber tonneau cover with speedster-style humps that extend all the way to the front seats' headrests. And there's a wild, blue-and-silver two-tone paint treatment. And now for the positives well, besides that engine: Only 100 will be made, a six-speed manual is standard, the exhaust exits from the rockers, and a two-day Ford Racing School class is included. Also, the Neiman Marcus Mustang badges are pretty darn cool, from the classic tri-bar red, white, and blue emblem in the grille to the round, GT-style badge on the trunklid. Still, $95,000 for this apparently misrepresented modified pony car seems fishy to us. After all, when the Mustang Shelby GT350 exists, why bother with half-truths and fuzzy details? Follow MSN Autos on Facebook
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Guess the celeb doing yoga! Many fad diets and workouts have come and gone in Hollywood, but there's one practice that celebs have consistently loved throughout the years: yoga. Think you can identify these famous yogis showing off their moves on social media? Let's try -- starting with this flexible mama. Can you guess who made this Extended Hand-to-Toe pose look easy? Yes, the one and only Gisele Bundchen definitely works hard to keep her supermodel figure. Which reality-TV star can do an impressive Headstand Leg Split? It's Bethenny Frankel! The star of " The Real Housewives of New York City " definitely knows how to do that stress-relieving pose. This singer mastered the Tripod Headstand while floating in water -- as she called it, #crowboard. It was Lady Gaga -- who has to have quite the core strength to maintain that balance! She can sing, act and complete a beautiful Dancer's Pose! It's Lea Michele, who, according to her Instagram account , seems as though she's always doing some sort of workout. Which gorgeous lady makes Crow pose look easy? Jessica Alba does! The 34-year-old has always been honest about her health routines. Three-Legged Down Dog in Bali? Yes, please! It's Nina Dobrev, whose yoga practice makes it easy to show off her incredible bod! Which singer stands strong in Warrior III? Ellie Goulding! The 28-year-old is quite the fitness fanatic. This 51-year-old actress showed off her insane abs in Side Plank in this summer 2015 shot. It was " Full House " actress Lori Loughlin who looked hotter than ever in that snapshot. Who stood in a beautiful Tree Pose while admiring the sunset? Rosie Huntington-Whiteley! The model didn't become a Victoria's Secret Angel without hard work! Who impressively showed off a Scorpion Handstand Variation in a hotel room? Oops she did it again! Britney Spears impressed us with the way she moves her body. Which model showed off her beautiful Dancer's Pose along the coastline? It's no wonder Alessandra Ambrosio has killer legs. This celeb took the risk of possibly drowning while partaking in a headstand in the bathtub... It was Hilaria Baldwin -- the wife of actor Alec Baldwin. The former yoga instructor's Instagram page is filled with dozens of wacky yoga positions!
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After the surprise postponement of the Republicans' nomination vote for speaker, John A. Boehner reaffirmed he would stay in the job until a new speaker is elected. Boehner had previously announced he would resign from the House at the end of October and had set the House floor vote to replace him as speaker for Oct. 29. But at the GOP conference meeting Thursday, Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., delivered his stunning decision to take himself out of the running. "As I have said previously, I will serve as Speaker until the House votes to elect a new Speaker," Boehner said in a written statement early Thursday afternoon. " We will announce the date for this election at a later date, and I'm confident we will elect a new Speaker in the coming weeks." The postponement of the vote opened some parliamentary questions. Boehner's exit before a replacement was chosen would leave a hole in the line of succession to the presidency.
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Residents in parts of the United States and Europe were treated to an unexpected light show when the aurora borealis created a bright display of lights on Wednesday.
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Opposition lawmakers release clouds of tear gas in Kosovo's parliament, causing two MPs to faint, in protest at a recent EU-brokered deal reached by the government with Serbia.
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Netanyahu said he saw no "magic solution" to current tensions. Israel's prime minister spoke at a news conference following riots in east Jerusalem and the West Bank and a spate of stabbing attacks targeting Israelis. "We will prove that terror does not pay and we will defeat it," Netanyahu said. Stabbings in Jerusalem, the West Bank and Israel's economic hub of Tel Aviv have left four Israelis dead and several wounded in recent days. Seven Palestinians were killed, at least three of whom had no role in the attacks - one was just 13. Israel has also demolished the homes of a pair of deceased men accused of being militants, though their families still lived in them. The unrest has sparked fears of a third Palestinian intifada, or uprising. On Thursday, Israeli soldiers shot at least three people with live ammunition at the Shufat refugee camp and injured many others injured with rubber bullets and tear gas, the Palestinian Red Crescent reported. Medics treated more than 150 Palestinians for injuries sustained in clashes with authorities around the West Bank. On Thursday, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said he supported "peaceful popular resistance" and backed "those who are protecting Al-Aqsa mosque." In a statement from Geneva on Thursday, the UN human rights chief appealed for calm, warning that "more bloodshed will only lead to more hatred on both sides." Zeid Raad al-Hussein called himself "deeply concerned at the increasing number of reported attacks" by both Israeli settlers and Palestinians. "The high number of casualties, in particular those resulting from the use of live ammunition by Israeli security forces, raise concerns of excessive use of force," he said. Third intifada? Israeli officials were told to refrain from entering the Al-Aqsa compound, known to Jews as the Temple Mount. Extremist groups slammed Netanyahu's instruction and called on far-right lawmakers to ignore it. Netanyahu also told police enforcing security at the holy site to bar both Jewish and Muslim members of the Knesset. Visits to the site had increased during the three-week Jewish holiday season, which began on September 13 and ended on October 5. The period saw intense clashes between protesters and Israeli police and the killings of a handful of Israelis by terror attackers, and the deaths of several Palestinians at the hands of Israeli authorities. The disputed site houses the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock Shrine, both sacred to Muslims, as well as the ruins of the biblical Jewish Temple. Pilgrimages to the mount ramp up during the three-week Jewish holiday season, which started with the New Year on September 13 and ended with the Tabernacles festival on Monday.
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The Tide finally found their man. It wasn't how they originally drew it up and they had to go through a defeat before finally realizing it, but Alabama's offense hit a groove Saturday against one of the best defenses in the SEC behind the efficient performance of Jacob Coker. "He just rises to the competition," senior center Ryan Kelly said following the Georgia game. "Whenever we're in big games, that's what we prepare for to play our best in the most critical situations and Jake has done a great job of that." After battling it out with Cooper Bateman for much of the first four games, it's fair to say the offense is Coker's to run following his big game performance. "I think we're all getting more and more on the same page," Coker said. "We're getting more comfortable with each other, and I think it's showing." Now with the threat of the downfield pass, defenses will no longer be able to consistently stack the box on every play if Coker can continue to make them pay for doing so. Credit is also due to Lane Kiffin for picking the right opportunity to hit defenses with an over the top pass. "I think we need to continue to do that, but also think we need to expand what we do and be able to execute more things so that we can be more effective in other situations in the game as well," Nick Saban said this week. Now that Coker has the confidence from his teammates and coaches, expect his strong play to continue as Bama moves into the heart of SEC play. "We've been getting better and better the whole time," Coker said. "We still have a long way to go. And right now, I'm focused on Arkansas, and just have to get ready for that game." MORE NEWS: Want stories delivered to you? Sign up for our College Football newsletters.
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Minutes from the Fed's most recent meeting showed most members felt the U.S. economy was strong enough for a rate increase, but decided to wait on concerns about a slowing global economy. Bobbi Rebell reports.
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finance
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An Ohio teacher struck her husband with her car and was suspended from work, but a recording of her daughter's 911 call changed the school's decision.
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By nearly any financial reckoning, Missouri football coach Gary Pinkel had a pretty fabulous 2014 season. His basic compensation was $3.4 million, and when the Tigers advanced to their second consecutive Southeastern Conference title game, it set the stage for a contract extension that included raises to more than $3.75 million for this season and more than $4.1 million for 2016. Then there were the bonuses. Seven of them. Totaling $900,000. It was the greatest bonus haul for a football head coach in the NCAA's Bowl Subdivision last season, according to USA TODAY Sports' first comprehensive analysis of the incentives actually paid to public-school coaches over the course of a year. USA TODAY Sports has been tracking coaches' compensation, including the maximum amounts of bonus money coaches can get in their current contract years, since 2006. Now, even as the average basic pay for FBS head coaches exceeds $2 million, schools sometimes are paying significantly more money in bonuses. This season, there are 94 head coaches who are at the same public school that employed them as the head coach last season. Of that group, 75 received at least one bonus for meeting benchmarks related to team on-field performance, team academic performance and/or an array of other goals. Those 75 coaches stacked up 214 bonuses worth nearly $12.4 million. The median payout to a coach receiving a bonus was $95,000. "Candidly, it is a lot money," said Missouri athletics director Mack Rhoades, who inherited Pinkel's contract when he succeeded Mike Alden in April. "But that's the market. … Yes, I understand that there can be a large base guaranteed already. But in terms of rewarding success, in terms of wanting your coaches to feel appreciated, wanting them to stay, that's all part of our business." Last year, there were payments for championships, bowl appearances and coach-of-the-year awards. There were payments for coaches whose teams simply exceeded the minimum NCAA Academic Progress Rate figure the association requires for teams to avoid sanctions that can include the loss of postseason eligibility. Utah State's Matt Wells got $5,000 for his team's win over in-state rival BYU. Western Michigan's P.J. Fleck totaled $21,750 from his players' individual all-Mid-American Conference team and academic honors. In addition to the bonuses called for in his contract which totaled $95,000 and covered the Broncos' appearance in the Fiesta Bowl Boise State's Bryan Harsin received an additional $87,875 "for his success last season," according to a statement provided by athletics department spokesman Max Corbet. Pinkel was eligible to receive as much as $1.825 million in bonuses last season, when, according to Rhoades, "we were not paying our head coach a guarantee probably at the rate he deserved in terms of his success compared to other SEC coaches." He received a combined $500,000 for being named SEC coach of the year and the team's 11 wins, final position in the College Football Playoff rankings, appearances in the SEC title game and the Citrus Bowl. His bonuses also included a $250,000 payment for meeting a goal or goals "within the areas of academic accomplishment and the social responsibility and conduct of the student athletes" in the programs. The goal or goals were to be established in writing by the athletics director, in consultation with the chancellor and the faculty athletics representative. USA TODAY Sports last year attempted to acquire this document from the university, which declared it closed under an exception to the state's open-records laws that covers individually identifiable personnel records and performance ratings. In addition, Pinkel received $150,000 because ticket receipts from home football games exceeded $15 million but not $15.5 million, a benchmark that would have triggered a slightly larger payment. That bonus was removed as part of the revisions to Pinkel's contract, which includes more guaranteed money than it did last season but also a drastically reduced maximum bonus total of $725,000. "Now, we've made that transition," Rhoades said. Nationally, though, the bonus ledger shows few signs of shrinking this season. Hawaii's Norm Chow picked up $25,000 in Week 1 for winning a nationally televised home game. Bowling Green's Dino Babers has claimed a pair of $12,500 payments for wins over teams from a Power Five conference. Utah's Kyle Whittingham will get at least $15,000 because the Utes have moved into the national rankings. And on Saturday, several teams could get their sixth win of the season, making them bowl eligible and many of their coaches bonus eligible.
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Netflix said Thursday it will be increasing its standard monthly price to $9.99 a month, starting Nov. 11. The price hike will only immediately affect new customers and existing customers will continue paying $8.99 a month until October 2016. Netflix took to its Twitter account to address customer concerns on the matter. The company's basic plan, which does not provide for high-definition video playback and can only be used on one screen at a time, will remain at $7.99 a month. Netflix's premium plan will also remain steady at $11.99 per month. The streaming giant's stock popped on the news and rose more than 2 percent in afternoon trading.
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WOBURN, England (AP) -- England's Matthew Fitzpatrick birdied his final two holes to card a seven-under par round of 64 and lead by one stroke after the first day of the British Masters at Woburn on Thursday. Fitzpatrick made six birdies and an eagle in his opening round to edge ahead of Marc Warren, Lee Slattery, Soren Kjeldsen and Robert Karlsson, who all shot a 65. "It doesn't get better than that," Fitzpatrick. "I think tee to green, it is pretty tough. If you don't hit it in the fairway, the rough isn't deep but it is quite wet, so it clings. It is difficult to get it to the full, normal distance of your irons." The 21-year-old Fitzpatrick won the 2013 U.S Amateur Championship as well as taking the silver medal in the British Open at Muirfield later that year for finishing tied 44th, the highest placed rookie. His first professional appearance was at last year's Irish Open but he had to rely on invites to compete in the remainder of the European Tour's events. He secured his card at Qualifying School in Spain in November for his first full campaign. This season, Fitzpatrick has already recorded five top-five finishes, including second at the European Masters in Switzerland in July, and his prize money for the year stands at 681,640 euros ($770,882). But he is still seeking his first victory. "I missed quite a few cuts in a row at the start of the year even though I felt like I was playing all right," Fitzpatrick said. "Now, I've played decent and I'm getting the results I have been looking for. I have been getting so much experience, week-to-week learning more about myself and about tournaments and that has been the biggest thing." Bridgestone Invitational winner Shane Lowry is two shots behind Fitzpatrick following a five-under 66, alongside Irish compatriot Padraig Harrington. Ian Poulter, who is hosting the tournament at his home course, had to overcome some tension caused by his extra responsibilities before his three-under 68. "I felt nervous on the first tee today, on the 10th, and that is a feeling I haven't had for a little while," Poulter said. "But it was nice feeling. I was pretty pumped last night, I was excited and I could not drop off to sleep. Coming out today and seeing everyone on the course, it was a great day."
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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. The sky over Pluto may not be sunny but it's undoubtedly blue. NASA's New Horizons spacecraft discovered Pluto's blue sky during the historic flyby of the icy dwarf planet in July. The images of Pluto's atmospheric haze were beamed down last week and released by NASA on Thursday. The particles in the atmospheric haze are actually red and gray, according to scientists. But the way the particles scatter blue light is what has everyone excited about the dwarf planet orbiting on the far fringes of our solar system, a twilight zone known more formally as the Kuiper Belt. "Who would have expected a blue sky in the Kuiper Belt? It's gorgeous," Alan Stern, the principal scientist for New Horizons, said in a NASA release about the latest images. The blue tint can help scientists understand the size and makeup of the haze particles surrounding Pluto, where twilight constantly reigns given the 3.6 billion-mile distance between it and the sun. Pluto's high-altitude haze seems to be comparable to that of Saturn's moon, Titan, according to NASA, and the result of interaction between molecules. In another finding Thursday, scientists have uncovered numerous ice patches on Pluto's surface. The exposed water ice appears to be, mysteriously, red. Scientists said they are uncertain why the ice appears in certain places at Pluto and not others. Launched in 2006, New Horizons is now 63 million miles beyond Pluto. Johns Hopkins University in Maryland is operating the spacecraft for NASA. ___ Online: Johns Hopkins: http://pluto.jhuapl.edu/ NASA: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/newhorizons/main/
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Sepp Blatter leaves FIFA headquarters in Zurich on the day the governing body's ethics committee suspended the Swiss for 90 days.
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Just when it looks like a QB's attempt to score with no time left might come up short a teammate comes out of nowhere and absolutely levels a defender.
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Imagine a dietary supplement that could slow down age-related diseases and possibly lengthen the life humans live. Well, polyamines, compounds found abundantly in nearly every living cell, may have the power to do this. They play an intrinsic role in the body's internal clock and regulate cell growth and death. Researchers discovered that as mice aged, their levels of polyamines began to drop, slowing down the body clock's natural cycle (roughly 24 hours), and increasing their susceptibility to disease. The findings, published in the journal Cell Metabolism , explain that by eating polyamines , we may be able to stave off disease and even increase longevity. "This discovery demonstrates the tight intertwining between circadian clocks and metabolism, and opens new possibilities for nutritional interventions that modulate the clock's function," said the study's senior author Gad Asher, a researcher from the Weizmann Institute of Science, in a press release . "Impaired circadian rhythmicity has been linked to a wide variety of age-related diseases, including cancer, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and inflammation." For the study, researchers treated a group of young mice with a drug that stops the body from processing polyamines. This caused their circadian rhythms to slow down by roughly 11 minutes with each passing day when compared to young mice that were left to process polyamines as they normally would, without drugs. In order to see if the opposite was true, a separate set of adult mice was then given drinking water that contained spermidine, the edible form of polyamines typically found in foods, like soybeans, corn, green peas, and blue cheese. Their circadian rhythms subsequently sped up to about eight minutes faster than untreated adult mice, ultimately reversing it back to normal. An effect, researchers believe, could help curb age-related diseases. "If they hold true in humans, they will have broad clinical implications," Asher said of the findings. "The ability to repair the clock simply through nutritional intervention, namely polyamine supplementation, is exciting and obviously of great clinical potential." Internal clocks can be traced down to a neurological level inside the hypothalamus , a region in the brain that controls sleep and wakefulness on a roughly 24-hour cycle. The hypothalamus is also where the optic nerve connects and communicates with the brain about light levels, or lack thereof, depending on whether it's day or night. Located directly above the optic nerve is the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN), a group of 20,000 neurons that are stimulated by the light passing through the eye. The message that there's light travels along the optic nerve, ultimately regulating neural and hormonal activity, and thus creating our circadian rhythms . Each individual, regardless of age, is born with a specific chronotype, or internal timer, that is designed to determine whether they're a morning person or a night owl. As people age, their ticker starts slowing down, and diseases become more likely to develop. These rhythms are complex; they affect numerous activities in the brain, which is why researchers are only now discovering these processes. According to the researchers, even tiny changes in a person's circadian rhythm can be linked to metabolic and age-related diseases. They said future research would allow them to determine whether the same results ring true in humans. "I would not recommend that old people rush out for anything, especially not to buy polyamines, until this is tested and proven in humans," Asher said. "But I do envision testing polyamines in clinical trials as a tool against a wide variety of age-related diseases in humans. There is evidence in flies and mice that polyamines extend lifespan, and future studies might also support the use of polyamines in humans." Source: Asher G and Zwighaft et al. Circadian Clock Control by Polyamine Levels through a Mechanism that Declines with Age. Cell Metabolism. 2015.
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health
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It was the soundbite heard 'round Capitol Hill: House Majority Leader and presumptive House speaker nominee Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., has dropped out of the race for speaker. The Washington Post's Elise Viebeck explains the sudden news and what happens next.
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Donald Trump is taking credit for getting House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) to drop out of the race for Speaker. "They're giving me a lot of credit for that, because I said you really need somebody very, very tough and very smart you know smart goes with tough, not just tough," Trump said at an event in Las Vegas. "I know tough people, they're not smart, that's the worst, OK? That's the worst. You've gotta be smart. "But we need smart, we need tough, we need the whole package you know like me," he added. McCarthy abruptly dropped out of the race for the Speakership on Thursday, just as he seemed poised to win a closed-door GOP vote. The decision came as conservatives threatened to withhold votes for him on the floor, depriving McCarthy of the ability to win 218 votes. Trump, the frontrunner for the GOP presidential nomination, said who ever is the next Speaker should drive a hard bargain with the White House in talks to raise the debt ceiling. "But Kevin is a nice guy, and I just hope now that they find somebody that's going to be you know, have those qualities where we can negotiate, where we can use that debt ceiling that's coming up very rapidly and do something really, really significant," Trump said. "Because if we don't, we're gonna be really we're gonna be in very big trouble, we're going to be in very, very big trouble." Trump said Washington is in total disarray and threatens to make America look like "Greece on steroids." He also panned the media repeatedly in his remarks. "The level of honesty in the media they're so dishonest," he said. "You know, I do a crowd, and I'll like have a crowd like this, and the cameras, they never pan the room, they never ever pan the room, look, they never pan the room. No, it's true. They don't do it. They don't do it." Trump repeatedly implored the cameramen in the room to broaden their lenses to show the size of the crowd in attendance. "Pan the room. Go ahead, pan it," Trump said, looking at and gesturing the cameras.
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McGraw-Hill Education, the publishing company behind the Texas board-approved textbook that called African slaves "workers," will offer schools new, corrected copies of the textbook for free. Schools will also have the option of getting correction stickers to place over the offending caption, McGraw-Hill spokesperson Catherine Mathis tells Newsweek . The new textbooks and stickers will be available in November, she says. Mathis also says that while the "vast majority" of the books were sold to Texas schools, some were sold to schools in other states, though she would not say which, "for competitive reasons." Related: The Texas Textbook Case of Bad Textbooking The textbook in question is a 955-page high school-level book called World Geography , first printed this year. In a caption on a map titled "Patterns of Migration," the book refers to African slaves who were forcibly brought to the Americas as "workers." "The Atlantic Slave Trade between the 1500s and 1800s brought millions of workers from Africa to the southern United States to work on agricultural plantations," the textbook caption reads. According to the Texas Education Agency, a total of 394 districts in the state bought a combined 138,930 copies of that textbook this school year. About half of them are web-only versions of the textbook, according to Debbie Ratcliffe, the director of media relations at Texas Education Agency. Mathis, of McGraw-Hill, says the corrected caption will be available for the online edition by the end of the business day on Friday. Related: Revised AP U.S. History Standards Will Emphasize American Exceptionalism For districts that opt to receive completely new textbooks, Mathis says, McGraw-Hill will be sure to recycle the old ones, because "955 pages long; that's a lot of paper." But she says she predicts many schools will opt for the sticker option, because "logistically, that's easier" than collecting the books from students and redistributing them. If a school needs help with physically stickering all the books, Mathis says, the company will send personnel to assist them. The company apologized for the caption earlier this week. "In life and business mistakes are made. The first step in correcting them is acknowledging them," McGraw-Hill CEO Levin wrote in a letter to his employees Monday. "We made a mistake." The caption first came to light when Roni Dean-Burren, a resident of Texas, posted a photo of the textbook to Facebook. Dean-Burren's son had texted her the photo, along with a note that read, "We was real hard workers wasn't we," and a disappointed-looking emoji. The Atlantic slave trade brought millions of workers...notice the nuanced language there. Workers implies... Posted by Roni Dean-Burren on Wednesday, September 30, 2015
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Meteorologist Bonnie Schneider discusses where and when you'll be able to experience this amazing celestial event.
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A rocket carrying a secret payload for the US government has successfully launched from the central California coast. The Atlas V rocket lit up the sky at 5.49am Thursday, lifting off from Vandenberg Air Force Base toward low-Earth orbit. The rocket carried a payload for the National Reconnaissance Office, which operates the nation's system of intelligence-gathering satellites. Thursday's launch was the 58th Atlas V mission since the rocket's inaugural takeoff in 2002.
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Nauru has rowed back on a pledge to process within a week all 600 outstanding refugee claims from asylum seekers at an Australia-funded centre. A Nauru official told the Australia Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) that 400 claims would be processed by Sunday. Claims from people who had left Nauru for medical treatment, and from their relatives, would be delayed, she said. Australia's top court is reviewing the legality of the offshore camps housing Australia-bound asylum seekers. Under the policy, anyone who tries to reach Australia by boat to claim asylum is held in the centres on Nauru and Manus Island, Papua New Guinea. Australia says its measures - supported by both main parties - have deterred human traffickers. But activists have reported harsh conditions and abuses at the camps. At a High Court hearing this week, they argued that the government had violated the constitution by funding the offshore centres. The court has yet to announce its decision, in what is being seen as a test of the government's tough immigration policy. In an interview with ABC, Nauru's deputy director at the Department of Justice and Border Control, Shyla Vohra, said a pledge to process all outstanding refugee claims within a week did not apply to those who were currently outside Nauru, or their families. "There are some people who are overseas for medical transfers," she said, adding that their claims would be processed later. Nauru said it would process all the outstanding refugee claims, just days before the Australian court hearing. It also said it would relax detention conditions, allowing residents full freedom of movement on the island. While rights groups welcomed the move, they also questioned whether its timing was intended to pre-empt criticism at the court hearing - a suggestion rejected by the Australian government. The High Court case was brought on behalf of detainees from the offshore camps who were moved to Australia for medical treatment, including a pregnant Bangladeshi woman who now has a 10-month-old child. Activists say the government does not have the right to send the detainees back to the camps. Last month, an Australian senate report found conditions on Nauru were not "appropriate or safe" for detainees and urged the government to remove children from the centre. It said allegations of rape and abuse should be investigated and access given to journalists and rights workers. Last week, ABC aired allegations by a Somali woman who said she had been raped in Nauru. Australia's new Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has defended the offshore migrant detention centres- a central policy of his predecessor Tony Abbott - by saying they save lives. Australia and asylum Many asylum seekers - mainly from Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Iraq and Iran - travelled to Australia's Christmas Island by boat from Indonesia. The number of boats rose sharply in 2012 and early 2013. Scores of people died making the journey. To stop the influx, the government adopted hard-line measures intended as a deterrent. Everyone who arrives by boat is now detained and processed in Nauru and Papua New Guinea. Those found to be refugees will be resettled in PNG, Nauru or Cambodia. Is Australia's Cambodia solution 'an expensive joke'? Australia's controversial asylum policy
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Unconfirmed reports resurfaced that escaped Mexican drug lord Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán allegedly put a $100 million bounty on Donald Trump's head and this isn't the first the drug kingpin and the GOP frontrunner have traded barbs. El Chapo reportedly told inmates before he escaped from prison that he was offended by Trump's racist remarks about Mexican immigrants, according to Telesur. "He was mad.
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Tyra Banks Tyra Banks has put her Beverly Hills mansion on the market for $7.75 million. The 'America's Next Top Model' star's Spanish-style Los Angeles home - which was built in 1926 - has four bedrooms and measures 6,000 square feet, according to Sotheby's International Realty. Tyra bought the home in 2004 for $3.085 million, and spent approximately $2 million renovating it. The supermodel revealed she decided to sell after finding another property she loved in Malibu. She told the Wall Street Journal: "I was not looking for another home until I discovered a property in the Malibu hills through a friend. The decision to move was a difficult one." Earlier this year Tyra put her two-bedroom apartment in Nolita, New York, on the market for $3.8 million. A spokesman for the star said: "Tyra believes Nolita is one of the most fun, immersive, electric, trendy areas and loved living amongst the best new restaurants and shops." The TV presenter was said to have sold up because she hadn't been spending as much time as she would like in the abode due to her work commitments.
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Life inside the capital Pyongyang ahead of the 70th anniversary of the ruling Workers' Party. Life inside the capital Pyongyang ahead of the 70th anniversary of the ruling Workers' Party. A woman wearing tradition clothes has a pin showing North Korea's founder Kim Il-sung and former leader Kim Jong-il attached to her dress as she welcomes foreign reporters to a temple during a government organised tour just outside Pyongyang A woman in traditional clothes wears a pin, showing North Korea's founder Kim Il-sung (L) and former leader Kim Jong-il, on her dress as she welcomes foreign reporters to a temple during a government-organized tour just outside Pyongyang October 8, 2015. North Korea is getting ready to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the founding of its ruling Workers' Party of Korea on October 10. People take a public bus in Pyongyang People take a public bus in Pyongyang late October 7, 2015. A policeman directs traffic at Kim Il Sung Stadium before North Korea's preliminary 2018 World Cup and 2019 AFC Asian Cup qualifying soccer match against Philippines in Pyongyang A policeman directs traffic at the Kim Il Sung Stadium before North Korea's preliminary 2018 World Cup and 2019 AFC Asian Cup qualifying soccer match against Philippines in Pyongyang October 8, 2015. North Korean fans in national colours cheer during their team's preliminary 2018 World Cup and 2019 AFC Asian Cup qualifying soccer match against Philippines in Pyongyang North Korean fans in national colors cheer during their team's soccer match against Philippines at the Kim Il Sung Stadium in Pyongyang October 8, 2015. Manuel Ott of Philippines and Jon Kwang-ik of North Korea jump for ball during team's preliminary 2018 World Cup and 2019 AFC Asian Cup qualifying soccer match at the Kim Il Sung Stadium in Pyongyang Manuel Ott (R) of Philippines and Jon Kwang-ik of North Korea jump for the ball during their soccer match at the Kim Il Sung Stadium in Pyongyang October 8, 2015. Taxis are parked outside a train station in downtown Pyongyang Taxis are parked outside a train station in downtown Pyongyang late October 7, 2015. People work in a field just outside Pyongyang, North Korea People work in a field just outside Pyongyang, North Korea October 8, 2015. A man fishes as North Korean military personnel paddle a small boat amid morning fog over Taedong River in Pyongyang A man fishes as North Korean military personnel paddle a small boat amid morning fog over Taedong River in Pyongyang October 8, 2015. Fisherman's catch is kept in a bucket with water at banks of Taedong River in Pyongyang A fisherman's catch is kept in a bucket with water at the banks of the Taedong River in Pyongyang, North Korea October 8, 2015. People arrive for the preliminary 2018 World Cup and 2019 AFC Asian Cup qualifying soccer match between North Korea and Philippines at the Kim Il Sung Stadium in Pyongyang People arrive for the soccer match between North Korea and Philippines at the Kim Il Sung Stadium in Pyongyang October 8, 2015. People carry flowers to decorate the lobby of a hotel in Pyongyang People carry flowers to decorate the lobby of a hotel in Pyongyang late October 7, 2015. A man rides bicycle past women wearing traditional clothes in downtown Pyongyang A man rides a bicycle past women wearing traditional clothes in downtown Pyongyang, North Korea October 8, 2015. A man smokes a cigarette in downtown Pyongyang A man smokes a cigarette in downtown Pyongyang, North Korea October 8, 2015. A woman films with her phone from behind a curtain at the Kim Il Sung Stadium as North Korean national anthem is played before their team's preliminary 2018 World Cup and 2019 AFC Asian Cup qualifying soccer match against Philippines in Pyongyang A woman films with her phone from behind a curtain at the Kim Il Sung Stadium as North Korean national anthem is played before their team's soccer match against Philippines in Pyongyang October 8, 2015. A man pushes a bicycle just outside Pyongyang A man pushes a bicycle just outside Pyongyang October 8, 2015. A woman prepares to serve during a game of volleyball in downtown Pyongyang A woman prepares to serve during a game of volleyball in downtown Pyongyang October 8, 2015. North Korean flags decorate a street in downtown Pyongyang North Korean flags decorate a street in downtown Pyongyang October 8, 2015. North Korean fans watch their team's preliminary 2018 World Cup and 2019 AFC Asian Cup qualifying soccer match against Philippines at the Kim Il Sung Stadium in Pyongyang North Korean fans watch their team's soccer match against Philippines at the Kim Il Sung Stadium in Pyongyang October 8, 2015. A policeman looks toward crowd as North Korea plays against Philippines in their preliminary 2018 World Cup and 2019 AFC Asian Cup qualifying soccer match in Pyongyang A policeman looks toward the crowd as North Korea plays against Philippines in their soccer match at Kim Il Sung Stadium in Pyongyang October 8, 2015. North Korean fans in national colours cheer during their team's preliminary 2018 World Cup and 2019 AFC Asian Cup qualifying soccer match against Philippines in Pyongyang North Korean fans in national colors cheer during their team's soccer match against Philippines at the Kim Il Sung Stadium in Pyongyang October 8, 2015. A plane of North Korean airliner Air Koryo is reflected at Pyongyang's airport A plane of North Korean airliner Air Koryo is reflected at Pyongyang's airport October 7, 2015. North Korean fans hold flags and sing national anthem before their team's soccer match against Philippines at the Kim Il Sung Stadium in Pyongyang North Korean fans hold flags and sing the national anthem before their team's soccer match against Philippines at the Kim Il Sung Stadium in Pyongyang October 8, 2015. A woman carries flowers to decorate the lobby of a hotel in Pyongyang A woman carries flowers to decorate the lobby of a hotel in Pyongyang late October 7, 2015. A woman pushes a cart between vehicles in downtown Pyongyang A woman pushes a cart between vehicles in downtown Pyongyang, North Korea October 8, 2015. A man fishes in a pond in downtown Pyongyang A man fishes in a pond in downtown Pyongyang, North Korea October 8, 2015.
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This weather show will be right back! After its adorable little weathergirl gets back from going potty that is. The young tot is dedicated to her craft, keeping her viewers informed during all situations!
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Nonstop, 100% relaxation gets boring after awhile. To truly broaden your horizons, you need a little more stimulation challenges, learning curves, maybe a language barrier or two. Well, look no further: We've rounded up a few awe-inspiring trips that are way off the beaten path. Click through for some bucket-list-worthy adventures that will show you what you're made of. Get Into Car Trouble At The Mongol Rally Normally, car trouble would derail a vacation. At the Mongol Rally, it is the vacation. This freewheeling road adventure spans 10,000 miles, starting in London, passing through Mongolia, and ending in Ulan Ude, Russia. The only real rules of the road: 1) You have to drive a small, crappy car, 2) teams can't have outside support, and 3) teams must raise at least £1000 for charity. You'll also need at least three weeks of summer vacation to complete the trip. Swim With The Jellyfish In Palau Now don't freak out. The golden jellyfish of Jellyfish Lake, on the tiny Pacific island of Palau, have a faint sting that humans don't even register. So you can swim through millions of them without feeling a thing, except for complete and utter joy and the satisfaction that you've become a Jacques Cousteau-level bad--s. You are so ready for this jelly. Go On A Serengeti Balloon Safari Holy bucket list, Batman. The only thing more incredible than watching wild elephants, giraffes, and lions as they frolic in the splendor of the Serengeti? Doing it from a hot air balloon. Your flight of fancy and at $500 per person, it's pretty fancy may only last an hour or so, but you'll be talking about it for the rest of your life. Take The World's Scariest Hike There are vacations, and then there are CRAY-cations. Climbing the Heavenly Stairs and rickety cliffside planks of China's Mount Hua definitely falls into the latter category. (And if you're scared of heights, file this one under NO WAY-cations.) The view from hundreds of feet in the air would make any thrillseeker shiver, so visitors traditionally hike at night. But when you make it to one of the temples on top yes, people do survive the trek you'll come back down a completely different person. We're pretty sure nothing else will ever be as scary. Cruise With The Penguins In Antarctica When you think of cruises, you probably picture all-you-can-eat buffets, cheesy live shows, and a bunch of elderly people bogarting the hot tub. Cruising to the South Pole is a little different. For starters, the wildlife are not on board, nor are they celebrating Spring Break. They're outside, living that polar ice cap life and basically serving as a real-time reminder that global warming is bad and nature is amazing. Looking for a warmer destination? Boat trips to the North Pole are also available.
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travel
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Of the four major North American sports, Major League Baseball offers us the most unpredictable postseason. Any team can win it all, and with the recent invention of the Wild Card Playoff, the MLB postseason has never been more fickle. So with that in mind, let's take at each of the four American League contenders, and give three reasons why each could win the AL pennant and make a World Series run. Toronto Blue Jays Reason one: Power The Toronto Blue Jays like to hit home runs. Not only do they like to hit home runs, but they also like hit a lot of them, and hit them really far. Lead by Jose Bautista, Edwin Encarnacion, Troy Tulowitzki, and AL MVP candidate Josh Donaldson, the Jays lead all the majors in home runs this year, hitting a grand total of 232. And it's not just that the Blue Jays hit a lot of home runs; they hit them FAR. Simply put, these guys hit absolute bombs. And there is nothing that kills the momentum of an opposing team, and injects your own team full of life than 450 foot postseason home run. Expect the Rogers Centre to be rocking this postseason. Reason two: David Price The baseball world knew from the get-go that Blue Jays would not be lacking for offense. Pitching has been the question for this ball club. Fortunately, Toronto addressed that need at the trade deadline by acquiring former Cy Young winner David Price from the Detroit Tigers. Since becoming a Blue Jay, Price has gone 9-1 with a 2.30 ERA and WHIP of 1.01. He could be in the line to win another Cy Young award this season, and with Price as their number one pitcher, the Blue Jays could ride his left arm deep into the postseason. Reason three: Momentum Since August 1st the Toronto Blue Jays have been the best team in the AL. The Jays went 40-18 to close the season, and have established themselves as the best team in the AL and perhaps all of baseball. Oddly enough, the Jays ALDS opponent, the Texas Rangers, have been the second hottest team in AL over the past two months. It's possible the momentum of the two teams will serve to cancel each other out, or perhaps, and what seems more likely, is that the Jays will continue their run of dominance. Kansas City Royals Reason one: Bullpen Although the Kansas City Royals have lost closer Greg Holland for the season, they still boast one of the best bullpens in baseball. Wade Davis, Kelvim Herrera, and Ryan Madson are all proven relievers who manager Ned Yost can be confident to call upon when the time is right. Their ALDS opponent, the Houston Astros, don't have that same luxury. The Royals rode their bullpen to the World Series last year, and they could easily do it once again this year. Reason two: Home field Advantage The Royals posted the best record in the AL with their 95-67 mark, meaning they will have home-field advantage for the duration of the postseason. The Royals went 51-30 at home this season, and have a team batting average of .279 at Kauffman Stadium. That's a full .20 points higher than their road average. Granted home field doesn't mean as much in baseball as does in other sports, but for a team like the Royals it very well could. Reason three: Identity After making it the all the way to Game 7 of the World Series last year, the Kansas City Royals know who they are as a baseball team. They get on base then steal bases, manufacture runs, play defense, and get a lead for their elite bullpen to hold. Of the four teams competing for the AL Pennant, only the Kansas City Royals truly know what their identity is as a baseball team. Texas Rangers Reason one: They've been there before. Unlike their ALDS opponents the Toronto Blue Jays, who will be playing playoff baseball for the first time in over 20 years, the pressure of postseason baseball is nothing new for the players on this Texas Rangers team. Stars Adrian Beltre, Prince Fielder, Josh Hamilton, and Cole Hamels all have tremendous postseason experience, and aren't afraid of the a big moment. Although this is a different team than the one that went to the 2011 World Series, the residue of that team is still a midst in the Rangers clubhouse. Reason two: The Rangers can hit This Rangers team has no shortage of great hitters. The aforementioned Beltre and Fielder both had excellent seasons at the plate, but Rangers lineup doesn't stop there. Mitch Moreland, Shin-Soo Choo, Rougned Odor, Elvis Andrus, and Delino DeShields Jr. all finished with an offensive WAR above 2.0. The Rangers finished third in the MLB in runs scored with 751, and the spark that can lead to huge inning can come from any spot in their lineup. Reason three: Momentum Since acquiring pitcher Cole Hamels on July 30th, the Rangers have posted a record of 39-22; a record which lead them to a division title. When star pitcher Yu Darvish was declared out for the season due to Tommy John surgery, the Rangers were largely written off. Now they're headed into the postseason as one of the hottest teams in baseball. Another World Series run is a distinct possibility. Houston Astros Reason one: Dallas Keuchel is unbeatable at home Houston Astros ace Dallas Keuchel is the ultimate case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Keuchel is unbeatable at home, as he went 15-0 at Minute Maid Park with a 1.46 ERA, and held opponents to a .186 batting average. On the road, Keuchel is 5-8 with a 3.77 ERA, and opposing teams hit .253 off of him. If Astros manager A.J. Hinch is wise, he'll make sure Keuchel starts Game 3 of their ALDS match-up against the Royals at home where he is simply invincible. Reason two: The middle infield The Houston Astros boast the best all-around middle infield in all of baseball with shortstop Carlos Correa and second basemen Jose Altuve. The 21-year-old Correa already a star, and an MVP in the making, while Altuve finished third in the AL batting title race, hitting .313 on the year. The pair are also superb defenders, and of five AL teams in the postseason, the Astros committed the fewest errors on the season. Reason three: Health Of the four teams in the AL that made the postseason, the Astros are healthiest. Starting right fielder George Springer is back in the lineup, and injury prone pitcher Scott Kazmir has been at 100% all year for the Astros. With health, also comes depth, and the Astros have plenty of that in the form of power-hitters Evan Gattis and Chris Carter who can both DH for the team. With a group of young, healthy, and talented players, the Astros could make a lot of noise this October. As noted earlier, the MLB postseason has become as unpredictable as a game of roulette. Luck, random error, or just one bad pitch can make or break a team in the MLB playoffs. But if you're looking for few reasons to believe in either the Blue Jays, Royals, Astros, or Rangers, then hopefully these will suffice.
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These kids dreamed big and got the wish of a lifetime Holy Batkid! San Francisco turned into Gotham City on November 15 when the Make-a-Wish foundation made 5-year-old Mile's fantasy to become Batkid come true. 12,000 people signed up to take part in the magical day for the young Leukemia patient, including the San Francisco Giants, the city's mayor, and even the police department. With inventor and acrobat Eric Johnston playing Batman and his wife, Sue Graham Johnston (pictured) as the damsel in distress, the day started with the Hyatt signaling the Bat Symbol for help. "Riddler and Penguin are watching right now. We can't tip our hand to them," said Johnston, who is helping Miles stop crime throughout the day in a custom Bat Mobile. The day of amazing events will end with San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee giving Miles, whose cancer is in remission, a special honor. "There's going to be mayhem and it's going to be wonderful mayhem and love," said Make-A-Wish Executive Director Patricia Wilson. "I've been at Make-A-Wish for 15 years and never did I think something like this would be possible." Follow us on Facebook. A True Maverick A big fan of the film Top Gun, 5-year-old cancer patient Evan Moriarty wanted to attend Top Gun school as a first step toward a career as a fast-flying Navy pilot. After a VIP tour of a naval flight center in 2005, Evan was suited up in a flight suit, boots and mask and spent two days living, eating and learning with fellow Top Gun candidates. After receiving an honorary certificate, Evan asked the major to show him to his office. Look out, Maverick! Follow us on Facebook. Virtual Reality Hating the side effects of the chemo used to treat his leukemia, 9-year-old Ben Duskin devised a way to get back at cancer in 2003: He wanted to make a video game starring himself that was all about clobbering malignant cells. Six months later, Ben and a LucasArts game designer released Ben's Game, in which a skateboarding Ben destroys cancer cells and battles chemo inside a human body. Since Ben wanted to help not just him but all kids with cancer, the game was made free for download and installed in hospitals across the country. In 2005 he was one of 48 people honored by the Dalai-Lama in San Francisco at the "Unsung Heroes of Compassion" ceremony. Follow us on Facebook. A Safer Seattle In 2010, 13-year-old Eric Martin received a called from Spiderman begging him to capture criminals terrorizing the Seattle streets. Suffering from liver cancer, he was elated that his wish to be a superhero for a day was going to be realized. Eric, AKA Electron Boy, was given a costume and set off on an adventure during which he freed a pro soccer team from its locker room, rescued a hostage at Puget Sound Electric and had a climactic showdown at The Space Needle with evil Dr. Dark and Blackout Boy. Sadly, the world lost a superhero when Eric passed away last year. Follow us on Facebook. A Three-Hour Tour Fearing that Gilligan was still stuck on that darn island (the show was canceled without a real answer), a group of Make-A-Wish kids joined forces to request a voyage to rescue the first mate. In 1992, a cruise ship dubbed "The S.S. Minnow" set sail for a deserted island off the coast of West Virginia, where the kids "rescued" Gilligan actor Bob Denver who boarded the boat and spent the rest of the day signing autographs, playing games and telling stories about life as a castaway. Follow us on Facebook. Calling the Shots 12-year-old Charlie Pena didn't want to just meet a pro sports team (a wish many kids make), he wanted to coach his favorite squad. Though weakened by sickle cell anemia, he joined Andy Reid, the head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles, in leading a day of spring mini camp in 2006. Wearing official coach's gear, Charlie called plays, discussed strategy, lead the whole squad in a cheer and even held a press conference. His favorite part of the day? Playing catch with then quarterback and his favorite player, Donovan McNabb. Follow us on Facebook. Party Like a Rock Star At 9 years old, Gavin Mohney idolized rock stars like Ozzy Osbourne and knew that like "The Prince of Darkness," he was destined for stardom despite the rare cranial disease he'd had since birth. In 2005 he asked Make-A-Wish for a taste of the rock star lifestyle he aspired to reach. Arriving to Alice Cooper's restaurant in a white limo, Gavin was greeted by flashing cameras, screaming girls and fans with signs. Looking the part in a silk suit with tassels, a cape, sunglasses and high black boots, he signed autographs and enjoyed the cookies he had demanded be available backstage. Follow us on Facebook. Kodiak Moment In 1996 Erik Ness, who was suffering from brain cancer, told Make-A-Wish that he wanted to kill a wild Kodiak Brown Bear. To grant the 17-year-old's wish, the organization found a location where the bears were in season, prepared all the paperwork and requested the necessary permits. But when animal rights organizations got wind of the story, controversy ensued, and Erik's wish received national attention. Despite protests, angry letters and a even a bribe from Pierce Brosnan, Erik went on the trip anyway. While he wasn't successful the first time around, the Minnesota Safari Club and Make-A-Wish coordinated a second hunt that was. Erik sadly passed away at the age of 21, and Make-A-Wish is no longer granting children wishes that involve firearms, bows, or other hunting equipment. Follow us on Facebook. Field of Dreams When a neuroblastoma made 11-year-old Sam Farris too sick to play baseball, he decided that the next best thing to being out on the diamond was watching and cheering on his pals. So he got in touch with Make-A-Wish in 2007 and asked the foundation to build a field … in his backyard. With the help of the Ole Miss athletics department, Sam's field became a reality. He tossed out the first pitch in an inaugural game featuring 18 of his friends on a team managed by none other than himself. Follow us on Facebook.
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This season was supposed to be different for Johnathan Gray. The senior was finally supposed to be the lead horse on a team that wanted to play physical and lean on him. Well, Texas is still struggling to carve out such an identity. And sometimes the Longhorns make it seem as if that's not the identity they crave at all. Saturday's game at TCU seemed the ideal time to test the Horned Frogs' injury-depleted defense that features converted safeties playing linebacker. But Texas came out throwing. Before the first half could come to a close, Texas trailed 30-0. Of course the Longhorns' mediocre offensive line, and one that was without 6-foot-5, 325-pound right tackle Kent Perkins at TCU, factors into the overall low rushing output on the season. Through five games, Gray has been a virtual non-factor, failing to crack the top 10 in the Big 12 while pass-happy Baylor places three. Gray is just third in rushing on his own team with 204 yards while averaging fewer than 11 carries a game. Against TCU, he got 15 carries and totaled 55 yards for 3.7 yards a carry, right around his season average. "Look at Saturday with J. Gray. The thing about him is he just works so hard. He's such a positive impact and a positive player," Texas coach Charlie Strong said Monday during his weekly press conference. "He helps D'Onta (Foreman) a lot. So you look at those two guys and they're back and forth. So it's not so -- I know D'Onta had a big game there on Saturday. He carried a bunch of it. But those guys are back and forth, and J. Gray's good for him, and he's good for J. Gray." Jay Norvell on whether Foreman deserves more playing time than Gray: "We're loyal to kids who are playing the best." Brian Davis (@BDavisAAS) October 6, 2015 The sophomore Foreman is coming on strong. He showed determination in racking up 112 yards on 18 carries against TCU, which could mean the 241-pound Foreman will see even more action as Gray's time at Texas slowly comes to a close. Jay Norvell, the Texas wide receivers coach who took over play-calling duties in Week 2 was asked if Foreman had earned more playing time. Norvell answered cryptically. "We're loyal to kids who are playing the best," Norvell said. MORE NEWS: Want stories delivered to you? Sign up for our College Football newsletters.
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