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SAN ANTONIO - Mix veterans with championship experience with neophytes yet to learn the NBA way and what do you get? Chris Bosh simmering and smoldering in a corner of the Miami Heat locker room after a loss to the league-worst Minnesota Timberwolves. After yet the latest meltdown in a season that now has the Heat a season-worst seven games under .500 going into Friday's game against the defending-champion San Antonio Spurs at the AT&T Center, Bosh found himself as much at a loss as his team. "We're not learning anything, just not learning anything. I'm talking about executing very simple things. Out of ATOs, we're not executing that," he said of mix-ups that even are coming after timeouts, after explicit instructions from coach Erik Spoelstra. "We're not executing late-game situations. We're not making the shots that we can make. We're not trusting each other. We're not boxing out when it's time to box out." But the Heat are routinely going through mind-blowing droughts: Last Friday, enduring a 37-2 second-half surge by the Dallas Mavericks. Tuesday, being outscored 25-1 by the Detroit Pistons to close the first quarter. And then on Wednesday night, blowing a 10-point fourth-quarter lead at the Target Center against the lone NBA team still yet to win 10 games. "It was a missed opportunity," Bosh said of the latest fiasco. "And we're not going to get it back. Things are slipping away from us." For the Heat, it was yet another how-low-can-you-go moment, added to previous losses to bottom-feeders such as the Philadelphia 76ers, Orlando Magic and Utah Jazz. While these latest losses to the Pistons and Timberwolves have come with Dwyane Wade sidelined with a strained right hamstring, Bosh said this is no time for patience. "We're about to be out of the playoffs race, not the race, but as far as the seeds, we're about to be out," Bosh said. "We're not concentrating. I don't understand that. It's a game we could have got. And all we had to do was concentrate, locking in." At minimum, Bosh said there has to be greater focus on detail. "And that doesn't even promise us a win," he said. "It's like we're shooting ourselves in the foot just by not focusing on the game. I don't even know what we're focusing on. It's not the game." With the Eastern Conference limited beyond the top five or six teams, the Heat had played with a cushion for most of the season at the bottom of the playoff seedings. But they exited Wednesday's loss just a half-game ahead of Brooklyn for the conference's eighth and final ticket to the postseason, with Detroit and an Indiana team that may yet get Paul George back this season still lurking. "It's interesting, and we're making it more interesting than it has to be," Bosh said. "It's difficult enough trying to win games in this league, especially in our situation. So it really takes all the focus that we can, because we're not that good, just to show up." In recent seasons, uneven play, lack of focus, disinterest from others often was overshadowed by the play of LeBron James. With James now with the Cleveland Cavaliers, Bosh said every Heat component has to take stock of their potential contributions, has to be focused for the duration. "Guys have to know that they're important, whatever they bring to the table," he said. "Whether you're playing one or 40 minutes, it counts, it matters. The guys on the bench, in shootaround, in the walkthrough, in everything we do, I know it's tough to focus and concentrate, but we only do this for two, three hours a day. You've got the rest of your day after that." [email protected]. Follow him at twitter.com/iraheatbeat or facebook.com/ira.winderman.
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All Blacks centre Conrad Smith signed up for French second division leaders Pau on Thursday, becoming the third New Zealand player to switch to France after this year's World Cup. The 33-year-old, the most-capped All Blacks centre with 85 games, having scored 25 tries, and part of the 2011 World Cup winning squad, penned a two-year deal. The current Hurricanes captain will be playing alongside compatriot Simon Mannix at the ambitious south-western club who are well-placed for promotion to the Top 14 boasting a 14-point lead over their promotion rivals. "I have loved my time playing rugby in New Zealand and really looking forward to what will be my last season here, but it feels like the right time for me move on and try something different," Smith said in a statement released by the All Blacks. "Having a stint in France will allow me to spend more time as a husband and father, which was the main motivation for me when I made the decision." All Blacks star fly-half Dan Carter has already said he will quit New Zealand rugby after the September 18-October 31 World Cup. He has signed a three-year contract with Racing-Metro while fellow centre Ma'a Nonu will play two seasons at champions Toulon. "On behalf of the All Blacks, I want to publicly acknowledge the outstanding contribution Conrad has made -- and continues to make -- to the All Blacks," said New Zealand coach Steve Hansen. "He is a world-class player and leader in our team and we look forward to that continuing this season. We in the All Blacks wish both Conrad and his wife all the very best for their new adventures next season." Smith's decision to play in France means he will rule himself out of All Blacks contention. However, with Pau backed by the mighty Total oil company, the financial compensation for a player who scored his first international try with his first touch of the ball against Italy in November 2004 will cushion the blow. "We have realised our dreams," said Pau president, Bernard Pontneau who had also convinced former Munster back row Sean Dougall to join last year. "Conrad Smith isn't expensive, he cost less than some other players who are not so high profile."
| 1 | 9,401 |
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After stumbling as he came off a plane, Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe is now being put into everything from 'Harry Potter' to the Miley Cyrus 'Wrecking Ball' video by social media. Mike Janela (@mikejanela) looks at some of the best memes.
| 8 | 9,402 |
video
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The terrifying footage of a plane clipping a bridge in Taiwan and crashing into a river this week was a reminder that "dashcams" have become an increasingly standard piece of kit in cars around the world. The TransAsia crash, which killed at least 31 people on Wednesday, was filmed by at least two cars each carrying a dashboard camera. But it was not a complete coincidence, since dashcams have become increasingly popular in Taiwan to guard against disputes after an accident. It's not the first time a rare event has been captured in this way. In February 2013, a car-camera caught a meteorite crashing to Earth in Chelyabinsk, Russia, injuring more than 1,000 people. Last summer, a dashcam filmed a missile landing on a motorway just a few metres ahead of a speeding car in eastern Ukraine. Dashcams have become particularly popular in Russia to prevent scammers who throw themselves into the windscreens of slow-moving cars in a bid to claim insurance money. The trend has spawned several amusing videos of people jumping on to the bonnets of stationary vehicles and pretending to be hurt. The largest taxi firm in Singapore has installed cameras in all 16,600 of its vehicles to provide evidence after an accident, but also to encourage prudence from their drivers. Already, insurance policies have appeared that offer lower rates to people with dashcams. The habit has started to catch on in Europe. Sales were estimated to have reached 370,000 in France by early 2014 according to magazine UFC-Que Choisir. A typical camera costs around 200 euros ($230) and records 10 minutes at a time. Drivers can save a recording manually, or footage is stored automatically in the event of a violent shock. "We are seeing a major shift, with people equipping themselves more and more with cameras in their cars, first of all for use after accidents, but also in case of a hit-and-run," said a spokesman for France's Allianz and Amaguiz insurance firm, which has tied up with dashcam manufacturer Coyote. He added that the airplane crash in Taiwan would probably be filed under "additional and unexpected uses". Pierre Chasseray, head of a French drivers' association called 40 Millions d'Automobilistes, said dashcams should become standard. "It's an extremely positive development in terms of road safety and it's good in terms of ensuring drivers act responsibly," he said. "The camera never lies."
| 5 | 9,403 |
news
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HARARE, Zimbabwe Zimbabwe's government said President Robert Mugabe, 90, did not fall down the steps from a podium, saying that he "managed to break the fall." Zimbabwe Information Minister Jonathan Moyo Thursday cited examples of leaders who have stumbled, from Jesus to George W. Bush, in an attempt to deny Mugabe fell down the stairs at Harare airport Wednesday. "What happened is that the president tripped over a hump on the carpet on one of the steps of the dais as he was stepping down from the platform but he remarkably managed to break the fall on his own," Information Minister Jonathan Moyo told the state-owned Herald newspaper. "I repeat that the president managed to break the fall." There was also no evidence that Mugabe had actually fallen, Moyo said. Witnesses, who insisted on anonymity because of security concerns, said they saw Mugabe topple when he left the raised lectern at the airport on Wednesday. Press photographers said they were forced to delete images of Mugabe's fall, but photos and video footage obtained by The Associated Press show the president falling and landing on his hands and knees. His aides quickly helped him up and escorted him to his limousine which sped away. Even Jesus would have tripped over the mislaid red carpet, Moyo said, describing reports of the president's tumble as "morbid celebrations." The Herald newspaper also published a collage of other world leaders who have stumbled, and listed incidents in which Former U.S. Presidents George W. Bush and Gerald Ford, Australia's Former Prime Minister Julia Gillard and Queen Sofia of Spain all tripped. Mugabe, who turns 91 on Feb. 21, was addressing supporters after returning from Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa, where he was appointed chairman of the 54-nation African Union. The Zimbabwean leader has repeatedly insisted that he is "fit as two fiddles." Mugabe takes annual vacations every January to Asia, including Singapore where he has visited specialists for checkups on his eyes, according to Zimbabwean officials. Mugabe has been in power since Zimbabwe gained independence in 1980.
| 5 | 9,404 |
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Just when you thought the estate tax laws were permanent, President Barack Obama comes out with a comprehensive plan for changes that would take away many strategies that save wealthy families taxes. GRATs, annual exclusion gifts, generation-skipping trusts, you name it, it's on the list of tax-saving strategies under attack in the FY2016 budget. And the bigger picture: Obama wants to turn the clock back to 2009 when the estate tax exemption was $3.5 million per person, the lifetime gift/GST exemptions were just $1 million per person, and the top tax rate was 45%. "I feel like the boy who kept on crying wolf with these proposed changes, but I wouldn't say, 'Don't worry about it,'" says Domingo Such, an estate lawyer with Perkins Coie in Chicago. "The Administration is trying to get their hands around the whole thing, and some of these will stick," he adds. There's real money at stake. The estate and gift tax "modifications" proposed in the budget would bring in an estimated $214 billion over 10 years. Resetting the limits at 2009 levels would bring in $189 billion of that. But Republicans aren't on board. They're actually still trying to kill the federal estate tax as well as state death tax levies in the 19 states and District of Columbia that still impose them. That said, what are the rich doing in the meantime? Taking advantage of the "permanent" estate tax regime signed into law by President Barack Obama on Jan. 3, 2013, which set the estate/gift/GST exemptions at $5 million per person, indexed for inflation, and set the top estate tax rate at 40%. This year the exemption is $5.43 million, up from $5.34 million last year. Many rich folks haven't used the full indexed amount, or this year's "top off" amount of $90,000. Such is helping a couple in their 60s worth $12 million, with three new grandchildren born within the past two years, set up a $1 million grandchildren's trust for them and any future grandchildren. The couple had already set up trusts for their children. "They had a little bit extra," Such says. Even if a couple just used the $180,000 top off amount, it's a lot of money to do planning with, he notes, adding that a decade ago when the federal estate tax exemption was $600,000, if you had an extra $180,000, you would have likely planned to shelter it. Another strategy that's worth considering now is a grantor retained annuity trust. With these trusts, you put in an asset you expect to appreciate a lot, and any appreciation over a low Internal Revenue Service hurdle rate (just 2% for February) goes to heirs tax-free. One of the budget proposals that's been kicking around for a while would put restrictions on GRATs, limiting their usefulness. If it passes, people would just stop doing them, Such maintains. One proposal that would impact life insurance needs is a so-called "simplification" of the gift tax exclusion for annual gifts. Currently an individual can make as many $14,000 gifts to as many people as he wants without having to worry about estate or gift taxes. Under the proposal, there would be a new $50,000 overall limit for certain gifts such as transfers to trusts or family limited partnerships. If enacted, the change would basically limit insurance trust planning through irrevocable life insurance trusts to $50,000 premiums hitting big policies still needed to pay estate taxes. Another troubling proposal would eliminate stepped-up basis heirs would have to pay capital gains tax on any appreciated assets, instead of getting a new date of death value for the asset, say your dad leaves you Apple stock he bought years ago. (There would be a $100,000 exemption, so it doesn't hit smaller estates.) This one would have huge ramifications for the rich. One Such client, a 91-year-old patriarch has been holding onto a $10 million building as part of the family business holdings, hoping to pass it on to his heirs at a stepped-up value (his cost basis is basically zero) at his death. He's hoping that Obama's proposal to end stepped-up basis and impose capital gains tax on appreciated assets at death won't go anywhere. If it did, his heirs would owe capital gains tax on the full $10 million when they sell the building, which the patriarch has been putting off in an effort to save a bundle. Oh, and one of the other proposal would increase the top capital gains tax rate to 28%. Here's a laundry list of other budget proposals that are either pegged as "loophole closers" or revenue raisers "asking the wealthiest to pay their fair share." They're all spelled out in the Green Book . -- Limiting the duration of the GST tax exemption -- Limiting certain tax expenditures like home mortgage interest by capping their value at 28% -- Implementing the Buffet Rule by imposing a new "fair share tax" -- Eliminating a depreciation benefit for corporate jets -- Taxing carried interest profits as ordinary income -- Close the S corp payroll tax loophole -- Repealing Coverdell education savings accounts -- Repealing workplace child and dependent care spending accounts -- Requiring that cost basis of stock be determined using averaging instead of specific share identification -- Requiring non-spouse beneficiaries of IRAs and 401(k)s to take inherited distributions over no more than five years, eliminating "stretch-out" IRAs -- Limiting the total accrual of tax-favored retirement benefits to $3.4 million (enough to pay out $210,000 a year for life starting at 65) -- Eliminating the backdoor Roth IRA for the rich -- Repealing the NUA tax break the exclusion of net unrealized appreciation in employer stock -- Eliminating the deduction for charitable contributions that entitle donors to a right to purchase tickets to sporting events
| 3 | 9,405 |
finance
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A lot of people remember the cigar that was a Charlie Sifford trademark. I remember the cane. More specifically, I remember a sunny, breezy day in May in Charlotte, N.C. in 2011. Sifford was the guest of honor at a modest golf course in Charlotte, the city where he had grown up and learned to play golf. It was the first time I met him. He looked at me, raised his cane in his right hand and pointed to a creek running alongside the course. "If I wanted to make a living, I had to get some balls out of there," he said. This was when Sifford was 13 years old, during the height of the Depression in 1935. If Sifford dug a gleaming white ball out of that creek, one that was barely used and also a name brand, he could sometimes clean it and sell it to another golfer for a quarter. That was good money. Because when Sifford caddied 18 holes back then at Charlotte's whites-only golf courses, he only got paid 60 cents. "I'd give 50 cents to my mother, and then I'd go get me a cigar," Sifford cackled. On Tuesday, Sifford died in Cleveland at age 92. He had had a stroke about three weeks before that, his son Charlie Jr. said. That golf course with the creek is now named for Sifford. Once, it didn't allow African-Americans to play. Now it welcomes everyone and is officially called the Dr. Charles L. Sifford Golf Course at Revolution Park. Sifford would receive many other honors most notably when President Barack Obama awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom in November, the nation's highest civilian honor. Sifford was a great golfer who was the first black man to join the PGA tour, in 1961. At age 38, he was past his golfing prime then. But he still won two PGA tour events despite open hostility to his presence, including death threats and racial slurs. Occasionally, some racist fellow pros would kick Sifford's ball into the rough. Obama said at November's ceremony that Sifford was one of the country's "trailblazers who bent the arc of our nation toward justice." Sifford would become his sport's Jackie Robinson. He stayed involved with golf throughout his life. He had a close relationship with Tiger Woods, whom Sifford sometimes called "Junior." At a press conference before the 2013 U.S. Open, Woods said: "It was a tough time for Charlie to go through what he went through, but he paved the way for a lot of us to be where we're at. I know my dad probably wouldn't have picked up the game if it wasn't for what Charlie did. I've always called him my grandpa, the grandpa I never really had. I've gotten to know him through the years and it's been fantastic. We owe a lot to him and all the pioneers that have paved the way for us to be here." Sifford pointed the way for years first with that cigar (usually unlit and mostly a good-luck charm) and, later, with his cane. He was one of those people who made our city a better place a native Charlottean who really just wanted to play golf. But in his own way, one hole at a time, Charlie Sifford helped change our world.
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sports
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You can prepare for a job interview, you can prepare for a 5K, you can prepare for a speech. But parenthood? No amount of practice, research, or education will ever adequately get you in gear for this. The all-encompassing experience of becoming a mom will sweep you off your feet, but take solace - you're not alone. If you've ever brought home a newborn, we have a feeling you'll relate to these 14 moments of panic (some justified, some not!). That You Won't Be Able to Handle Childbirth Prepare to amaze yourself! That You'll Have Absolutely No Idea What You're Doing It's OK. Neither does anyone else. Driving With Baby on Board You've never really driven with "precious cargo" until you've been behind the wheel with one of these in the backseat. Clipping Their Nails Almost three years into motherhood and I'm still terrified of this. That Your Baby Will Remain a Conehead Forever Nope, it'll go away - think about the intensity of the journey they've just been through. That You'll Drop Them Doubtful! Those Noises They Make When They Sleep It's just a side effect of being brand-new. The breathing-control center of that little brain is still figuring it all out, so rattling, whistling, and gurgling noises are all totally normal. Those Damn Percentiles Some doctors don't even share them anymore, as it seems like all they do is stress new parents out. Focus on your baby's own healthy growth - not how the numbers stack up to others. All He Does Is Sleep Enjoy it while it lasts . . . He Never Sleeps Anymore They all go through phases. That You'll Never Get a Good Night's Sleep Again It may be a little while, but it'll happen again, and it will be absolutely glorious. That Umbilical Stump Eeeeeeek. Your Baby-Proofing Efforts Will Be Insufficient Nothing's foolproof, but keep a watchful eye, and everything will be fine. Those First Few Baths Trust us, buddy, Mom's feeling the same exact way.
| 7 | 9,407 |
health
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Paul George got Pacers fans excited when he tweeted the single word "March" on his Twitter. Brian Gelteiler lets us know if we will see George make a comeback in March.
| 1 | 9,408 |
sports
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My father, Andrew Jefferson Offutt V, grew up in a log cabin in Taylorsville, Ky. The house had 12-inch-thick walls with gun ports to defend against attackers: first Indians, then soldiers during the Civil War. At 12, Dad wrote a novel of the Old West. He taught himself to type with the Columbus method find it and land on it using one finger on his left hand and two fingers on his right. Dad typed swiftly and with great passion. In this fashion, he eventually wrote and published more than 400 books. Two were science fiction and 24 were fantasy, written under his own name; the rest were pornography, using 17 pseudonyms. In the mid-1960s, Dad purchased several porn novels through the mail. My mother recalls him reading them with disgust not because of the content, but because of how poorly they were written. He hurled a book across the room and told her he could do better. Mom suggested he do so. According to her, the tipping point for Dad's full commitment to porn, five years later, was my orthodontic needs. When I was a kid, my teeth were a terrible mess: overlapping, crooked and protruding like fangs. Mom wanted to work part time and pay for braces. Dad suggested that if he quit his job as a salesman and she typed all his final drafts, they could finance my dental care. Over cocktails in the woods of eastern Kentucky, they formed a partnership to mass-produce porn. Many of the early publishers used a "house name," a pseudonym shared by several writers. It concealed identity, which writers preferred, while allowing the publisher to give the illusion of a single prolific author. This was an early attempt at branding, with proven success in other genres: westerns, romance and mystery. Dad didn't mind. He had experimented with a literary mask at the University of Louisville, using different names for articles in the school paper, as well as in his own short fiction. A pseudonym for pornography provided literary freedom while also protecting the family's reputation in our conservative Appalachian community. My father's first published novel was "Bondage Babes," released by Greenleaf under the name Alan Marshall in 1968. His pay was $600. The plot was a clever conceit. Someone had murdered a model for a bondage shoot, and the model's sister was investigating the crime by posing as a model herself, which allowed for soft-core descriptions of restrained women. Greenleaf published his next novel, "Sex Toy," a book Dad referred to as "sensitive," under the name J. X. Williams, followed by three other books under three other names. His primary pseudonym, John Cleve, first appeared on "Slave of the Sudan," an imitation of Victorian pornography so precisely executed that the editor suspected my father of plagiarism. Dad found this extremely flattering. He concocted his pen name from John Cleland, author of "Fanny Hill," considered the first erotic novel published in English. Over time, John Cleve evolved into more than a mere pseudonym. Dad regarded John Cleve as his alter ego, a separate entity, the persona who wrote porn. Dad was adamant that he did not have 17 pen names. Dad had John Cleve, to whom he referred in the third person. It was John Cleve who had 16 pseudonyms, in addition to his own wardrobe, stationery and signature. Dad soon began publishing with Orpheus, which paid him $800 a book. He invented John Denis, based on his favorite Reds players, Johnny Bench and Denis Menke, and switched to Midwood for more money. After a falling out with an editor over a title change, he returned to Orpheus. Later, Orpheus became irritated with Dad and stopped buying his work. Curious about the changing market, he read a dozen recent Orpheus books. Dad believed he'd influenced the industry to the point where his style was consistently copied, the proof being that other authors had begun writing knowledgeably of the clitoris, which he believed he pioneered. This upset him to the point that he decided to trick the editor into buying his work. To get a different font, he bought a new ball for his Selectric typewriter. He changed his usual margins, used cheaper paper and churned out two books. He invented yet another pseudonym, Jeff Morehead, a variation of his middle name and the nearest town to our home. He asked a friend in another part of the country to submit the manuscripts to Orpheus. The editor bought both. Dad called the editor, told him that he was Jeff Morehead and suggested they get back in business. The editor concurred, and Dad stayed with Orpheus throughout the 1970s, using the name Jeff Morehead on books that he believed weren't up to the high standards of John Cleve. Grove Press published the Denis novel "The Palace of Venus" under its Zebra imprint in 1973. Dad sent them a new novel, "Vendetta," which was rejected. But, the strength of the manuscript resulted in a phone call. Barney Rosset, Grove's publisher, wanted a pornographic historical series about a single character during the Crusades. Dad was initially resistant, writing in a letter: "I do not know if this is or could be my thing or not. I have difficulty with series. Like, I get bored and want to go back to creating. It is most difficult for me to write as if cranking the arm of a copy machine." He continued: "Let us not bandy terms. I am an artist, whether these series books will be 'art' or not. " He was equally uncertain about visiting New York, a city he called Babylon-on-the-Hudson. Grove offered to cover all expenses, and Dad made the trip in 1973. He returned to Kentucky with a cash advance, a contract for an unwritten book and more autonomy than he'd ever had from a publisher. Dad had been buying Grove books for 15 years, and he revered Rosset's courage in fighting the U.S. government on obscenity charges and winning. The "Crusader" series sold well, and for the first time in his career he earned royalties. At the time, pornography was still a taboo business. Paperbacks were sold in the back rooms of adult theaters, on hidden racks at newsstands and at adult bookstores in cities. In less populated areas, people bought them through the mail. By 1986, the "Crusader" series was in danger of going out of print. Grove wanted to raise the price of Dad's paperbacks one dollar and asked him to cut his royalty percentage in half. If my father didn't agree, Grove couldn't afford to renew the printings. Dad got mad and refused, allowing his books to go out of print over the sum of roughly $130 per year, the only professional decision he ever regretted. The commercial popularity of American erotic novels peaked during the 1970s, coinciding with my father's most prolific and energetic period. Dad combined porn with all manner of genre fiction. He wrote pirate porn, ghost porn, science-fiction porn, vampire porn, historical porn, time-travel porn, secret-agent porn, thriller porn, zombie porn and Atlantis porn. An unpublished Old West novel opens with sex in a barn, featuring a gunslinger called Quiet Smith, without doubt Dad's greatest character name. By the end of the decade, Dad claimed to have single-handedly raised the quality of American pornography. He believed future scholars would refer to him as the "king of 20th-century written pornography." He considered himself the "class operator in the field." In the 1980s, John Cleve's career culminated with a 19-book series for Playboy Press, the magazine's foray into book publishing. The "Spaceways" series allowed him to blend porn with old-time "space opera," reminiscent of the 1930s pulps, his favorite kind of science fiction. Dad's modern twist included aliens who possessed the genitalia of both genders. Galactic crafts welcomed the species as part of their crews, because they were unencumbered with the sexual repression of humans and could service men and women alike. The books were popular, in part, because of their campiness, repeating characters and entwined stories narrative tropes that later became standard on television. The "Spaceways" series ended in 1985, coinciding with the widespread ownership of VCRs. Men no longer needed "left-handed books" for stimulation when they could watch videotapes in their own homes. The era of written pornography was over. John Cleve retired. Dad insisted that he himself hadn't quit, but that John Cleve had. It was more retreat than retirement, a slipping back into the shadows, fading away like an old soldier. Cleve had done his duty the house was paid off, the kids were grown and the bank held a little savings. Dad was 52. As Cleve, he published more than 130 books in 18 years. He turned to self-publishing and, using an early pseudonym, Turk Winter, published 260 more titles over the next 25 years. My father died in 2013, when I was 54. Dad was 17 when his own father died. Lacking an adult relationship with his father, he didn't know how to proceed as his children aged. In 1984, his mother died, triggering concerns for his own mortality. He made formal arrangements with a lawyer for disposal of his estate, and he sent me a secret will with the sender's name as Gen. Douglas MacArthur. The first paragraph began: "On you, Chris, I decided, this task and this onus must fall and I'm telling the others this without the reason. . . . The examination of the office and disposal of its contents is totally up to you, Christopher J. Offutt, and this is oh-fficial." I immediately wrote to my siblings, but they had no interest, long weary of our father's secrets and his porn. When we were young, Dad played board games with us, taught us poker, hearts, and spades. He had a vast capacity to make us laugh. We adored him and begged him to play games after supper. He made our evenings fun. But as we got older and more mature, Dad remained the same. The humor slipped away from his oft-repeated gags. His deliberate naughtiness when a dice roll came up six, he'd call it "sex" evolved to outright sexual comments that produced a strained silence instead of laughter. Dad missed his attentive audience, but the old ways no longer worked. One by one we did the worst thing possible: We ignored him. I believe this hurt him deeply, in a way he didn't fully comprehend and we certainly could not fathom. In turn, he ignored us. Now that he was dead, I could give him the attention he always craved by carefully examining his papers, including 30 unpublished novels. After his death I returned to my childhood home in the hills of Kentucky. I spent a summer clearing the house my parents lived in for 50 years. Because of ill health, he hadn't actually worked in his office in several years. Before that it was seldom cleaned beyond an occasional vacuuming and a light dusting as high as my mother could reach, which wasn't far. The two windows were sealed shut by paint and swollen wood. Dust pervaded the dim room. My parents added a central air-conditioning unit a few years before, but the office vent was buried between a wall of bookshelves and a large steel filing cabinet. A narrow path wound between precarious stacks of porn, an outmoded printer, the first Macintosh computer, a broken typewriter and a 20-year old copy machine that didn't work. My father was more hoarder than collector, and I began by discarding the obvious junk: rusted pocketknives, corroded flashlights, outdated office equipment, a hockey puck, broken swords and guns, empty bottles of expensive beer and dozens of tin boxes that once held bottles of fancy Scotch. The décor reminded me of a fraternity house, with its implied pride in drinking and manliness. His possessions consisted of gifts given by fans and all the professional mail he ever received. I learned to operate in a very specific way: examine each item, evaluate its importance, keep it or throw it away. The pressure of constant decision was relentless. I grew up banned from this room, and now I was in charge of it. I felt as if I were trespassing. After filling 50 garbage bags, I could not see any difference other than a haze of disturbed dust hanging in the air. The room seemed more cluttered, with no space for organizing and packing. My eyes stung, and I was developing a cough. Essentially I had redistributed the contents into new piles. Emptying the bookshelves would gain space for sorting the material. Based on approximately 300 feet of shelf, I anticipated two days to pack them. The allotted time period doubled, then tripled. Every shelf held another row of books directly behind it all pornography. I found several opened bottles of bourbon and dozens of manuscripts by Turk Winter. For the next several days I ate little. I guzzled water and sweated through my clothes until they were stiff with salt. I moved in a somnolent daze. Twice I noticed my mother staring at me from the hall. She said she'd been startled; I looked so much like Dad, she thought I was him. I hugged her silently and went back to work. Later she began referring to me as John Cleve Jr. At night we laughed, drank bourbon and watched her favorite TV shows. Mom was 78 and had just retired from full-time work as a receptionist for a lawyer. With the proceeds from porn, she'd gone to college for a philosophy degree and a master's in English. Clearing Dad's office felt like prospecting within his brain. The top layer was disorganized and heavy with porn. As I sorted, like an archaeologist backward through time, I saw a remarkable mind at work, a life lived on its own terms, the gradual shifting from phenomenal intellectual interest in literature, history and psychology to an obsession with the darker elements of sex. For decades he subscribed to magazines and kept them in stacks: Ramparts. Intellectual Digest. Psychology Today. New Times. Galaxy. If. Playboy. Omni. Geo. National Geographic. Smithsonian. Mixed throughout was pornography in every form: magazines, photographs, drawings, pamphlets, a deck of cards, cartoons, books of erotic art from antiquity to the 21st century, calendars, pinups, postcards, collections of naughty jokes and hundreds of novels. A collection of dusty catalogs from Frederick's of Hollywood ran back 50 years. His desk held dozens of file folders filled with porn. After a week I no longer considered the undertaking in terms of my father and me, or even as a writer going through another writer's papers. My thinking shifted to a more formal role, a librarian faced with an enormous holding of raw material. I organized and collated and distributed. I stopped looking at pictures or reading, and simply made decisions in my head: This goes here, that goes over there, here's a new one for a fresh pile. I could have been sorting marbles or Tupperware. Running short on time because of the movers' strict schedule, I decided to deal with it all back at my home in Mississippi. I packed everything and taped the boxes shut. The stacked cartons made a double-rowed wall that blocked four windows in the hall outside his office. The movers charged by weight, and their estimate of Dad's archive was 1,800 pounds my inheritance, along with his rifle, desk and chair. In Mississippi, I began with the simple goal of assembling a full bibliography of his work. He had never done it himself, and I was curious as to the extent of his output. Opening the boxes released the scent of decaying mouse dung, dust and cigarette smoke. It was familiar, the smell of Dad's office, my childhood, the house itself. I worked 14 hours a day organizing thousands of letters and tens of thousands of novel pages. Months passed in which I continued to work all day and into the evening, seven days a week. When guests visited, I draped bedsheets over the tables. It occurred to me that I'd transformed into a version of my father obsessed not with porn but with his preferences for porn. My efforts were a way of interacting with his mind, and I found a horrible sadness, a deep loneliness and self-righteous anger. Although he lived in the Daniel Boone National Forest, I never saw my father in the woods. He didn't walk them and remained oddly incurious about the landscape he'd chosen. It was enough for him to be surrounded by the heavy forest. The seclusion of the house matched the solitude within himself, the immense isolation of his mind and its constant, rapid machinations. His brain was a continent, an iceberg stuffed into a matchbox. I admired the psychic strength necessary to occupy this private world, maintain the structures to allow it and grant himself the freedom to flourish. A year before he died, Dad told me he was the happiest man in the world. The only complaint he had was the weekends, because Mom was in the house. They got along fine, that wasn't the problem. He just preferred to be alone. Her presence distracted him from his solitude. To complete my father's bibliography I read scholarly books on pornography and tracked down sources. I emailed collectors and cold-called former publishers and writers, surprised to learn how many prominent authors had written porn in the old days. Everyone I communicated with knew of my father, although few had met him. For decades American literary circles ignored science fiction, placing it at the very bottom of the popular genres. This gave the writers a great deal of freedom, which they used to explore sexual themes in a more overt fashion than other books could. The science-fiction market dried up as porn's ignited, and many writers moved to pornography, most temporarily but not Dad. I came to understand that my father had passed as a science-fiction writer while actually pursuing a 50-year career as a pornographer. Dad's writing process was simple he'd get an idea, brainstorm a few notes, then write the first chapter. Next he'd develop an outline from one to 10 pages. He followed the outline carefully, relying on it to dictate the narrative. He composed his first drafts longhand, wearing rubber thimbles on finger and thumb. Writing with a felt-tip pen, he produced 20 to 40 pages in a sitting. Upon completion of a full draft, he transcribed the material to his typewriter, revising as he went. Most writers get more words per page as they go from longhand to a typed manuscript, but not Dad. His handwriting was small, and he used ampersands and abbreviations. His first drafts were often the same length as the final ones. Manuscripts of science fiction and fantasy received multiple revisions, but he had to work much faster on porn. After a longhand first chapter, he typed the rest swiftly, made editorial changes and passed that draft to my mother. She retyped it for final submission. At times, Mom would be typing the beginning of the book while Dad was still writing the end. His goal was a minimum of a book a month. To achieve that, he refined his methods further, inventing a way that enabled him to maintain a supply of raw material with a minimum of effort. He created batches in advance phrases, sentences, descriptions and entire scenes on hundreds of pages organized in three-ring binders. Tabbed index dividers separated the sections into topics. Eighty percent of the notebooks described sexual aspects of women. The longest section focused on their bosoms. Another binder listed descriptions of individual actions, separated by labeling tabs that included: Mouth. Tongue. Face. Legs. Kiss. The heading of Orgasm had subdivisions of Before, During and After. The thickest notebook was designed strictly for B.D.S.M. novels with a list of 150 synonyms for "pain." Sections included Spanking, Whipping, Degradation, Predegradation, Distress, Screams, Restraints and Tortures. These were further subdivided into specific categories followed by brief descriptions of each. Dad was like Henry Ford applying principles of assembly-line production with pre-made parts. The methodical technique proved highly efficient. Surrounded by his tabulated notebooks, he could quickly find the appropriate section and transcribe lines directly into his manuscript. Afterward, he blacked them out to prevent plagiarizing himself. Ford hired a team of workers to manufacture a Model-T in hours. Working alone, Dad could write a book in three days. After Dad's death, I filled a box with 80 folders of art. In Mississippi I opened that box and made my final significant discovery. Behind my father's public identity as a science-fiction writer and his covert life as a pornographer was yet another private enterprise. For more than 50 years, he secretly made comic books of a sexual nature. The first item in each file was something innocuous a Reds schedule or an old bill as if concealing the true contents of his pornographic comics. No one entered his office except by invitation, and even then, nobody dared go behind his desk. His children had been out of the house for more than 25 years. Concealment was part of the creative process, born of shame and guilt, that he maintained long after there was anyone to hide it from. He needed the fetishized process of secrecy to draw. He called his method of drawing "the Steal technique." He traced images from other works, transferred the tracings to a second page via carbon paper and modified them to suit his needs all the sexual characteristics greatly enhanced. He believed that he improved every picture he stole with an innate ability to boost everyone else's work. A dozen thick notebooks held thousands of pages of source material, images torn from magazines and catalogs, divided by category: standing, sitting, sex, breasts, legs and so forth. He dismantled hundreds of porn magazines to accumulate a reservoir of pictures to steal. His process was time-consuming, the product of inexperience and lack of access to supplies and equipment. First he wrote a script that described the action, then made loose pencil layouts of panels. He fed the layouts into his typewriter and carefully typed segments of narrative into the allotted areas. He used the typed sections as guides for what to draw. A result was a lack of harmony between art and text. In every panel, the narrative tells the reader what the imagery already shows. In 1957, just before marrying, he packed a decade's worth of his comics in a sack with a big rock and threw it off a bridge into the Cumberland River. He swore never to make such material again. Less than two years later, he began "The Saga of Valkyria Barbosa." The protagonist, Valkyria, is a barbarian princess secretly raised by a commoner as a boy and later trained as a warrior. At 19, she becomes Queen of Veltria. It eventually ran 120 separate books, totaling 4,000 pages, depicting the torture of women. He invented a barbarian culture crossed with the highly advanced science of Atlantis. Aging was quickened to bypass childhood, as Dad would certainly have preferred. Breasts were enlarged with special serums, and they could grow and lactate upon command. Permanent skin dye replaced clothing. The healing process was hastened, with no infection or scars. The dead could be resurrected. Hymens were restored. The only permanent disfigurement came from branding and amputation. Every character was female, with the exception of an occasional hermaphrodite. According to Dad's notes, the pictorial domination of women by women was a practical decision he simply preferred to draw them. Along with the comics was a personal document dated 1963, with the caveat that it be read after his death. He was 29 when he wrote it. I was 5. He didn't believe in diaries and it is his only long personal writing. He refers to the comics as his great secret and reveals a deep shame about his zeal for the material. He worried that he hated women. He wondered if there were other people like him, and if so, how they dealt with their urges. He began drawing comics portraying women in torment at 14, before any exposure to fetish material or knowledge of sadism. The impulse was simply inside him; he'd always been that way. He referred to the comics as an atrocity. The locked box in which he kept them was "full of my shame and my wickedness and my weakness." My father often told me that if not for pornography, he'd have become a serial killer. On two occasions he described the same story: One night in college he resolved to kill a woman, any woman. He carried a butcher knife beneath his coat and stalked the campus, seeking a target. It rained all night, and the only person walking around was him. He went home, soaked, miserable and alone, regretting the action. He began drawing a comic about stalking a woman. Many years later he read a biography of a serial killer who owned bondage magazines at the time of his capture. According to Dad, the details of the killer's childhood were "eerily, extremely similar" to his own, including three warning signs: bed-wetting, cruelty to animals and setting fires. This is known as the MacDonald Triad, named for the psychiatrist who studied a mere hundred patients at a mental hospital. Subsequent research has refuted these behaviors as causes of future violence. The traits have no predictive capacity. They are regarded as indicators of a distressed child with poor coping skills one who might develop a personality disorder like narcissism or antisocial behavior not as a recipe for a killer. If my father was correct in thinking that porn prevented him from killing women, then I should be grateful for its continuing presence in his life. Far better to be the son of a pornographer than of a serial killer. But I don't believe my father's theory. The sight of blood, even his own, made him lightheaded enough to faint. He was not athletic or even strong and therefore incapable of overpowering most people. He was also a physical coward, having never been in a fistfight. His weapons were cruel words, the infliction of guilt and intimidation through rage. The idea that porn prevented him from killing women was a self-serving delusion that justified his impulse to write and draw portrayals of torture. He needed to believe in a greater purpose to continue his lifelong project. Admitting that he liked it was too much for him to bear. After finishing the project, my feelings for Dad didn't change as much as I anticipated. The more I delved, the more I discovered similarities between my father and me, a surprising result that at times left me dismayed. I didn't like him more or love him less. I gained a greater respect for what he managed to do despite his limitations. His prodigious output is proof of commitment, discipline and endurance. Dad was among the last of the old-school American pulp writers, a journeyman for hire. In his office hung a hand-lettered sign that read "Writing Factory: Beware of Flying Participles." Stacked beside his chair at his death were notes for a new book. My father was a workhorse in the field of written pornography. After five decades, he died in harness.
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Rome, Italy - The hijacking of United Nations aid deliveries by Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) fighters in Syria sparked outrage this week, reviving a debate about how humanitarian groups should work effectively to ensure crucial supplies reach victims in conflict zones. Photos of fighters handing out what appear to be boxes of aid from the UN World Food Programme (WFP) with "Islamic State in Syria" labels pasted over the WFP logo have been circulating on the internet. From al-Shabab in Somalia to illegal armed groups in Colombia, the problem of these groups commandeering food assistance is not new, but it is a sensitive topic for charities behind aid deliveries. The WFP condemned the "manipulation of desperately needed food aid". The group is trying to confirm the authenticity of the images but acknowledged that food from a warehouse near Aleppo, Syria, was stolen last September. "We believe this is an isolated incident," WFP spokeswoman Abeer Etefa said. Security analysts and academics studying the problem say charities need to be more open when discussing where aid is going, how much disappears, and who benefits. Aid groups should stop suppressing information about theft for fear of alienating donors, observers said. Funding for relief is a constant problem with the WFP suspending food aid for more than 1.7 million Syrian refugees in December after facing a shortfall of $64 million, which donors eventually raised. "What goes on in the field is not transparent ... but if we just recognise a lot of aid is being misappropriated, then maybe aid agencies will be more likely to share data," said Yale University economist Nancy Qian, who studies aid flows. "Sometimes aid workers are forced to give food to fighters to be able to work in an area, sometimes armed groups expropriate and sell it, and sometimes armed factions take the aid directly to the intended recipients." In some cases agencies might not have data about lost or stolen supplies because of logistical constraints of operating in conflict zones, Qian said. Humanitarian groups tend to focus on how much aid they give out rather than its effectiveness, and transparency could lead to better targeting of aid, she said. Undisclosed losses Several large charities, including Oxfam and Save the Children, refused interview requests on how armed groups can co-opt or steal aid, underlining the sensitivity of the subject for brand-conscious organisations constantly seeking funding. "We do know about this issue," a spokesman for Oxfam said in an email, but "given the sensitivities" of the situation in Syria and Iraq "we have to decline your interview". Save the Children did not respond to emails and a representative of the group reached by telephone said they would not be commenting. Information about the theft of WFP food rations last September was shared with the group's major donors, Etefa said, which are mostly governments. The information was not released publicly. The food, enough to feed up to 8,000 people for a month, was to be distributed by WFP partner groups, including the Syrian Arab Red Crescent and other local organisations, Etefa said. "There are challenges, risks involved in doing humanitarian work in conflict areas, but that doesn't mean we give up," she said. "Nothing justifies pulling out [of Syria or Iraq]." At least 200,000 people have died and half the Syrian population of 22 million has been displaced by the conflict that began with anti-government protests in 2011. Richard Barrett, a veteran British diplomat now with the Soufan Group, an intelligence firm, said the reluctance of aid groups to speak about the long-running problem isn't surprising. "This is a bad thing for aid agencies in all respects," Barrett said, adding donors were less likely to contribute if they believed aid was going to ISIL. Barrett said the crude attempts to rebrand the WFP aid boxes were unlikely to fool anyone but the action could embolden ISIS, that controls swathes of territory in Syria and Iraq, in its efforts to portray its "caliphate" as a genuine state. As part of its quest for the legitimacy of a functioning government, ISIL has tried to manage the entire food supply in regions under its control, including aid, by seizing grain silos and even regulating prices for street food in some areas. An exodus of farmers and a lack of seeds and other farm input means the food situation in ISIL-held regions is expected to worsen after the next harvest, Barrett said, potentially increasing pressure on militants to pilfer aid. But cutting off assistance wouldn't be a smart strategy, from a military or humanitarian perspective, he said. "Islamic State soldiers will be the last people to suffer from food shortages. The population will suffer first," Barrett said. A version of this story first appeared on the Thompson Reuters Foundation news service
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With Valentine's Day quickly approaching, there's no better time than the present to kick it up a notch in the romance department. Although plans to celebrate often stir indulgences in extravagant lingerie, exotic fragrances and creating the perfect candlelit setting, taking a closer look at the food you eat on February 14 may have the biggest impact on your sex life. A wide variety of aphrodisiac foods are readily available, all claiming to have some type of "love power" due to their aroma, shape (hello, banana!), color or the chemicals they produce in the body. So, if your love life has been a little vanilla lately (a top claimed aphrodisiac, by the way), use this special day to get creative with the following five foods: 1. Chili peppers. Chili peppers are one of the rare treats of the aphrodisiac food list. The spice is not only invigorating and stimulating, but its bright red color is considered a symbol of love by many. The shape is, well, self-explanatory. Most importantly, the chili pepper's effect on the body has actual scientific backing. The spice is known to increase pulse rate and induce sweating, mirroring sexual arousal. In addition, it stimulates the release of certain endorphins that play a role in sexual pleasure. This Valentine's, why not combine this aphrodisiac with number two on our list to create an incredible chili pepper chocolate treat (see recipe below). 2. C hocolate. Originally found in the rainforests of Central and South America, chocolate has a long-standing association with love and romance. It was also nicknamed the "food of the gods" by Mayan civilizations. Scientific research on this delicious treat shows it contains phenylethylamine, a feel-good chemical which occurs naturally in the body when someone is happy or feeling passionate. It also contains tryptophan, a brain chemical that yields serotonin, which is known to produce feelings of elation. Armed with that information, which type of chocolate should you eat? While dark cacao nibs are one of the rawest forms of chocolate, they can prove too intense for some palates. Dark chocolate or high-quality cacao mixes are great alternatives. 3. Oysters. The most celebrated of aphrodisiac foods, oysters have a reputation for fertility . Research shows they are high in zinc, which science has linked to increased sperm production. Oysters also contain two unusual amino acids D-aspartic acid and N-methyl-D-aspartate, both known to trigger the production of sex hormones. Eating this libido-lifting treat raw ensures you get the greatest benefits of these amino acids, as cooking significantly reduces the amount. 4. Licorice. Licorice has been touted by some as enhancing lust, and its aroma is hailed for its stimulating effects. Alan Hirsch, neurological director of the Smell and Taste Treatment and Research Foundation in Chicago, led a study that tested the link of certain smells and their effect on sexual arousal. Licorice was a top contender, and Hirsch found the smell alone increased blood flow to the penis by 13 percent. Now, where's that box of Good & Plenty? 5. Coffee. While many of us reach for this stimulant to help with energy, did you know it also increases blood flow by raising the heart rate? In addition, according to a study entitled "Coffee, Tea and Me," published in the journal Pharmacology, Biochemistry and Behavior, this aphrodisiac may help put females in the mood for sex. Energy and an increased desire for sex? Honey, turn on the Keurig! Although Dr. Ruth likes to say that "the most important sex organ lies between the ears," it never hurts to go the extra mile when it comes to love. Get creative, and sample some of the above-mentioned aphrodisiacs this Valentine's Day to see if science really nailed it. Copyright 2015 U.S. News & World Report
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Chipotle is, by any measure, already a huge success. It has impressive sales and stock price growth, a unique management culture , a thriving sustainable-food brand, and industry-leading service speed . But despite having grown to 1,700 locations, the casual Mexican food chain hasn't achieved anything close to the omnipresence of, say, its former owner . It's working on that, though. Chipotle sees room for more than 4,000 of its prototype locations and believes it can penetrate the market even further with a new, scaled-down format that puts some of the best aspects of its offering in a much smaller package. Inspired by extremely expensive occupancy costs in Europe and a growing preference for takeout among its American customers, Chipotle is gearing up to bring comparatively tiny, takeout-focused Chipotles to America's small towns and strip malls. Co-CEO Montgomery Moran described the plan during Chipotle's July 2014 earnings call: "We're looking at some sites right now in the United States as well where these stores will be really, really, really small and where we would have very, very little ceiling… There are a number of reasons why we think that that is a good idea, one of which is that where as we used to be a mostly a dining restaurant 14 years ago, and I'd say about eight years ago, we were 50/50 dining and take-out. Now we're about two-thirds takeout." Smaller-format locations would require less investment upfront than the $800,000 that its regular stores require. Sales would be lower, too an expected $1.4 million per location, versus a company-wide average of $2.5 million but that doesn't mean they would be any less successful than its standard-size locations. "This 'new A model' will be much cheaper and more efficient and presumably could not handle the same volumes of bigger stores, but would allow development in many smaller footprints/markets to generate returns not feasible on the higher investment levels," restaurant industry analysts at J.P. Morgan wrote in a December note to clients. The company, which already has put a handful of smaller-format locations in Europe, will try this in the US as a "separate, parallel path" as it continues to open full-size locations, according to the analyst report. Until now, Chipotle mostly has stuck to high-traffic locations that are used to accommodating big crowds at lunch and dinner hours. But it takes a lot of real estate to house all those customers, not to mention all the staff needed to cook the food and keep the lines moving and not every town can support a location with the kind of traffic Chipotle has grown used to at its full-size restaurants. Developing a smaller, cheaper format will let Chipotle go after markets it previously left alone, and give it a sense of just how far its thriving brand can expand.
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I have spent quite a bit of time lately thinking about autonomous cars, and I wanted to summarise my current thoughts and predictions. Most people experts included seem to think that the transition to driverless vehicles will come slowly over the coming few decades and that large hurdles exist for widespread adoption. I believe that this is significant underestimation. Autonomous cars will be common by 2025 and have a near monopoly by 2030, and the sweeping change they bring will eclipse every other innovation our society has experienced. They will cause unprecedented job loss and a fundamental restructuring of our economy, solve large portions of our environmental problems, prevent tens of thousands of deaths per year, save millions of hours with increased productivity, and create entire new industries that we cannot even imagine from our current vantage point. The transition is already beginning to happen. Elon Musk, Tesla Motor's CEO, says that their 2015 models will be able to self-drive 90 percent of the time. And the major automakers aren't far behind according to Bloomberg News, GM's 2017 models will feature "technology that takes control of steering, acceleration and braking at highway speeds of 70 miles per hour or in stop-and-go congested traffic." Both Google and Tesla predict that fully-autonomous cars what Musk describes as "true autonomous driving where you could literally get in the car, go to sleep and wake up at your destination" will be available to the public by 2020. How it will unfold Industry experts think that consumers will be slow to purchase autonomous cars while this may be true, it is a mistake to assume that this will impede the transition. Morgan Stanley's research shows that cars are driven just 4% of the time, which is an astonishing waste considering that the average cost of car ownership is nearly $9,000 per year. Next to a house, an automobile is the second most expensive asset that most people will ever buy it is no surprise that ride sharing services like Uber and car sharing services like Zipcar are quickly gaining popularity as an alternative to car ownership. It is now more economical to use a ride sharing service if you live in a city and drive less than 10,000 miles per year. The impact on private car ownership is enormous: a UC-Berkeley study showed that vehicle ownership among car sharing users was cut in half. The car purchasers of the future will not be you and me cars will be purchased and operated by ride sharing and car sharing companies. And current research confirms that we would be eager to use autonomous cars if they were available. A full 60% of US adults surveyed stated that they would ride in an autonomous car, and nearly 32% said they would not continue to drive once an autonomous car was available instead. But no one is more excited than Uber drivers take home at least 75% of every fare. It came as no surprise when CEO Travis Kalanick recently stated that Uber will eventually replace all of its drivers with self-driving cars. A Columbia University study suggested that with a fleet of just 9,000 autonomous cars, Uber could replace every taxi cab in New York City passengers would wait an average of 36 seconds for a ride that costs about $0.50 per mile. Such convenience and low cost will make car ownership inconceivable, and autonomous, on-demand taxis the 'transportation cloud' will quickly become dominant form of transportation displacing far more than just car ownership, it will take the majority of users away from public transportation as well. With their $41 billion valuation, replacing all 171,000 taxis in the United States is well within the realm of feasibility at a cost of $25,000 per car, the rollout would cost a mere $4.3 billion. Fallout The effects of the autonomous car movement will be staggering. PricewaterhouseCoopers predicts that the number of vehicles on the road will be reduced by 99%, estimating that the fleet will fall from 245 million to just 2.4 million vehicles. Disruptive innovation does not take kindly to entrenched competitors like Blockbuster, Barnes and Noble, Polaroid, and dozens more like them, it is unlikely that major automakers like General Motors, Ford, and Toyota will survive the leap. They are geared to produce millions of cars in dozens of different varieties to cater to individual taste and have far too much overhead to sustain such a dramatic decrease in sales. I think that most will be bankrupt by 2030, while startup automakers like Tesla will thrive on a smaller number of fleet sales to operators like Uber by offering standardised models with fewer options. Ancillary industries such as the $198 billion automobile insurance market, $98 billion automotive finance market, $100 billion parking industry, and the $300 billion automotive aftermarket will collapse as demand for their services evaporates. We will see the obsolescence of rental car companies, public transportation systems, and, good riddance, parking and speeding tickets. But we will see the transformation of far more than just consumer transportation: self-driving semis , buses, earth movers , and delivery trucks will obviate the need for professional drivers and the support industries that surround them. The Bureau of Labor Statistics lists that 884,000 people are employed in motor vehicles and parts manufacturing, and an additional 3.02 million in the dealer and maintenance network. Truck, bus, delivery, and taxi drivers account for nearly 6 million professional driving jobs. Virtually all of these 10 million jobs will be eliminated within 10-15 years, and this list is by no means exhaustive. But despite the job loss and wholesale destruction of industries, eliminating the needs for car ownership will yield over $1 trillion in additional disposable income and that is going to usher in an era of unprecedented efficiency, innovation, and job creation. A view of the future Morgan Stanley estimates that a 90% reduction in crashes would save nearly 30,000 lives and prevent 2.12 million injuries annually. Driverless cars do not need to park vehicles cruising the street looking for parking spots account for an astounding 30% of city traffic, not to mention that eliminating curbside parking adds two extra lanes of capacity to many city streets. Traffic will become nonexistent, saving each US commuter 38 hours every year nearly a full work week. As parking lots and garages, car dealerships, and bus stations become obsolete, tens of millions of square feet of available prime real estate will spur explosive metropolitan development. The environmental impact of autonomous cars has the potential to reverse the trend of global warming and drastically reduce our dependence on fossil fuels. Passenger cars, SUVs, pickup trucks, and minivans account for 17.6% of greenhouse gas emissions a 90% reduction of vehicles in operation would reduce our overall emissions by 15.9%. As most autonomous cars are likely to be electric, we would virtually eliminate the 134 billion of gasoline used each year in the US alone. And while recycling 242 million vehicles will certainly require substantial resources, the surplus of raw materials will decrease the need for mining. But perhaps most exciting for me are the coming inventions, discoveries, and creation of entire new industries that we cannot yet imagine. I dream of the transportation cloud: near-instantly available, point-to-point travel. Ambulances that arrive to the scene within seconds. A vehicle-to-grid distributed power system . A merging of city and suburb as commuting becomes fast and painless. Dramatically improved mobility for the disabled. On-demand rental of nearly anything you can imagine. The end of the DMV! It is exciting to be alive, isn't it? Zack Kanter is an entrepreneur and futurist. This post originally appeared on his personal blog, www.ZackKanter.com
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A college student started a fundraiser for a man who walks 21 miles every day just to get to and from work.
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Heroic act to rescue Bailey
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Chinese New Year: food traditions With Chinese New Year coming up on February 19, here are some of the foods traditionally eaten during the celebrations. Pomelo Pomelo (Citrus maxima) is a popular fruit eaten during Chinese New Year. It is believed to bring wealth and luck. Chicken Sounding like "family" in the southern dialect, chicken is usually eaten in southern China and Taiwan. Chicken thus represents family as a whole. Radish cake Radish cake is a must-have for Cantonese people and is considered to bring good luck. Fish Fish is widely eaten during the Chinese New Year as the Chinese believe that the fish brings prosperity and abundance. Yusheng, also known as Lo Hei is popular in southeast China and is believed to get more good luck. Sweets Sweets such as chocolate peanuts and fruit jelly are traditionally popular desserts served during the New Year. They're s ymbolic of bringing a sweet life. Sweet rice balls These sweet rice balls are usually eaten during the 15th day of the Lunar New Year, also known as the Yuanxiao Festival. The roundness of the dish implies peace and unity within the family. Pen Cai A popular dish in Hong Kong as it is a New Year dish for the Cantonese, Pen Cai includes abalone, shark fin and dried oysters as these ingredients are very valuable but now affordable. Dumplings Meat dumplings are made in thousands across China to celebrate the New Year. The saying associated with it is that the more you eat, the more money you can make in the new year. Dried meat Dried meat is actually cured meat and also called "la rou". Meat is turned into sausages and cured for storage when it can't be finished. Meat is precious in the past and the Chinese bring out the cured meat during New Year as something to indulge in. Duck Usually together with chicken. Eating both duck and chicken is plain sumptuous and luxurious to the Chinese. Dried fruits Dried fruits such as red dates, melon seeds, nuts and cookies are exchanged as gifts. They symbolise wealth and happiness. Mustard green Representing longevity, Murstard Green (also called Chang Shou Cai) are usually eaten without cutting or chopping as it brings you a long life. Tangerine Pronounced the same way as "auspicious" in Chinese, besides eating them, it is also presented as gifts to people who are visited to for New Year celebrations. Steamboat/Hotpot A New Year Eve recipe which symbolises "reunion" as family members from all parts of the country come to one place and eat together. Pineapple tarts/ Pineapple Meaning "good fortune", Pineapple tarts or Pineapple are consumed by a lot of people during Chinese New Year. Fat Choy Associated with good luck and wealth as "Fa" or "Fat" (in Cantonese) means striking rich, Fat Choy symbolizes good luck and wealth.
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Warning: There are spoilers ahead. Last summer, Warner Bros. abruptly pushed "Jupiter Ascending" back 10 months only weeks before it was due in theaters. The latest sci-fi movie from the Wachowski siblings ("The Matrix" trilogy) supposedly needed to complete visual effects . It was expected to be the studio's big summer movie after Johnny Depp's $100 million budget "Transcendence" flopped . I think we know the real reason the reported $175 million Channing Tatum and Mila Kunis movie was moved. "Jupiter Ascending" is terrible. Don't take my word for it. In addition to press, there was a number of general audience members in attendance who received free advance tickets to the media screening. (This is normal. You can usually get these through websites like GoFobo .) Here are some of the things viewers were saying as they headed out of the screening: "It wasn't bad ... it was horrible." "It was embarrassing." "That's what they spent $150 million to $200 million on?" "I can't even explain the plot. You kill humans … so you can use their genes?" (more on this in a bit) The movie follows Kunis as Jupiter Jones, your not-so-average looking maid who cleans houses for a living with her obnoxious Russian family. One day, she finds out there's a bunch of other species living outside of Earth and that she's actually the ruler of our planet. Two groups of different people, one led by Titus (Douglas Booth) and another by Balem (Eddie Redmayne), are out to capture and murder her so they can have control of the planet. Why do they want control of the planet? To harvest humans. The aliens have apparently been using human cells to create a regeneration serum for some time. Yep. That's it. The whole movie is about aliens wanting to preserve their youth by killing humans. In a point that's sort of glossed over quickly, but better explained in the film's production notes, Jupiter is what is known as a "recurrence." She's born with the exact genetic DNA as a royal that just passed away and for some reason this now makes her the reincarnation of that person. But, unless I missed something, it's not clear how anyone knows Jupiter even exists. It's not like her father or mother were royalty. Jupiter has no clue she's royalty, and once she learns she is, she doesn't find out that she has any secret, magical powers. So the basic premise of the film, where aliens are worried about Jupiter, a lowly, humble, toilet scrubber overthrowing all of them, is pretty thin. I don't remember the last time I've said "What is going on right now?" (not in those actual words) so many times during a film screening to myself. This isn't because I couldn't follow the movie's plot, it was just because what was occurring on screen: the dialogue, the acting, the strange-looking characters were all so bizarre at points that there was no other way to react. Here are a few of the things I'm talking about: 1. There's a ridiculous bee scene Early on, when Jupiter is learning she's royal, there's a scene where a group of bees start to follow her. (Why are there bees hanging around? Why not?) The group slowly builds until there's a giant swarm surrounding her, but not stinging. When she moves her arms, they move with her. When she asks why they do that, you're sitting there waiting for a good response. Instead, the answer we receive is that the bees sense royalty. The audience cracked up at this in disbelief. To add insult to injury, this was followed up with the line, "Bees don't lie." I've never wanted to relive the Nicolas Cage bee scene from the 2006 "Wicker Man" remake, but this was all I could think of: 2. Random egg selling There's a crazy subplot early in the film where Jupiter considers selling her own eggs at the behest of her sleazy cousin (you can't make this stuff up) to make some easy cash. He wants to buy a big flat screen TV and Jupiter has her sights on a $4,000 telescope on eBay. What? 3. Mila Kunis slaps a sanitary pad onto Channing Tatum to patch up a wound. I guess this was supposed to be humorous. It's not. It's kind of just gross, especially when Sean Bean, who plays a secondary character, later tears it off on screen, waving it at Kunis. 4. Channing Tatum is a half-human, half-wolf You read that right. He doesn't have a tail, but he does have a keen sense of smell, some pointed ears, and, yes, he does growl a few times in film. Honestly, he looks ridiculous, and because of that, and some added eyeliner, it's difficult to take Tatum, seriously. Even his name is Caine, an obvious reference to canine. 5. Kunis' character continually hits on half-wolf Tatum, and it makes for the most awkward screen time and dialogue ever The two actors have chemistry; however, the romance between the two feels so overtly forced, even the audience could tell. There's a scene in the movie where Jupiter says she's into Caine. Here's how that conversation goes down. Caine: "I have more in common with dogs than I do with you." Jupiter: "I love dogs." The audience burst out laughing at this. Later in the film, there's even an overt reference to "Beauty and the Beast," to describe their relationship. 6. The creatures are terrifying. An early scene in the film shows a group of short aliens trying to abduct a woman. These are some of the creepiest things I've ever seen on screen, and it's probably why you haven't seen a trace of them in marketing. The film's production notes say they're supposed to "resemble classic grey ETs." The same goes for a bizarre lizard/dragon mashup with wings. Some of the characters just look like knockoffs of other sci-fi animals. There's an elephant-looking creature that pops up a few times that looks like a mix between Ten Numb and Max Webo from "Star Wars." You can sort of see him here in the background. 7. And then there's Eddie Redmayne's character, Balem Abrasax, who is on a completely different level of crazy in this film. After a masterful Oscar-nominated performance in 2014's "The Theory of Everything," Redmayne gives a pitifully poor performance as a spoiled brat. He comes across as a fragile, strange creature, who speaks in eerily calm, creepy whispers. Then there would be these disjointed moments when he would scream out loud at people. Audiences laughed every time this occurred. It was as if Redmayne was actually channelling the awkwardness of Michael Sheen's vampire character Aro in the "Twilight" movies. It was essentially the same role. The Wachowski's said they wanted to put together a bunch of genres -- a sci-fi film mixed with a thriller, an "action epic," and a "love story," but in doing so, it's hard to figure out what this film wants to be. There's no question that it's a sci-fi flick, but other than the ridiculous premise, the entire film doesn't feel original. It has the feel of "The Fifth Element," for its elaborate and outlandish space creatures and ship designs, and "Ender's Game" (for same space visuals). However, unlike "The Fifth Element," I doubt we'll be seeing re-runs of this on cable television anytime soon. There were three good things about this film: 1. There's a point near the end where Kunis (sort of) beats the crap out of Redmayne's character. I was waiting for Kunis to be this break-out strong female character, and other than a few small parts in the film, she's not. She's whiny (she complains about how she hates her life in the beginning of the film), she's insanely gullible (she's convinced to marry a guy she just met in practically seconds even though he plans to kill her), and, except for a brief part in one of the film's climactic moments, she plays the D.I.D. (damsel in distress) to Tatum's character for most of the film. Sigh. 2. Channing Tatum's gravity boots Caine soars through the streets and skies of Chicago and other worlds with these special anti-gravity shoes. Imagine using a hoverboard turns your shoes into flat roller skates and you have the idea. It was probably the most entertaining part of the film. 3. The visuals. There's no question that there was an incredible amount of time devoted to making sure the film was visually beautiful. The film's production notes mention that to get the right shades of purple, indigo, and gold into the film's background at one point, they shot the film at a specific point of the year in Chicago between 5:15 and 5:45 a.m. That's dedication, but it's something viewers won't appreciate because most moviegoers aren't going to know that going in to the film. 18 months were spent visualizing costumes and hundreds of alien looks and hybrid human/animals for the movie before filming began. However, this is the downfall of "Jupiter Ascending." There's too much attention to detail and too little focus on the big picture. If the Wachowski siblings spent as much time on the story as they obviously did on the film's aesthetics, the movie may have had some potential. However, the visuals alone are not going to sell me on a movie. There needs to be some meat and potatoes with my gravy. Right now, BoxOffice.com is tracking the film to make $19 million opening weekend . The duo's last film, 2012's "Cloud Atlas," starring Tom Hanks and Halle Berry, debuted to $9.6 million . Instead, Paramount's "Spongebob Squarepants" sequel, which has been over a decade in the making, is expected to dominate the weekend making $35 million . One thing's clear. There's one must-see Channing Tatum movie this year from Warner Bros. , and it's not going to be "Jupiter Ascending." "Jupiter Ascending" is in theaters Fri. Feb. 6. Watch a trailer below.
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Casey Stegall reports from Dallas, Texas
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Jennifer Griffin reports
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All men must die, but only some will dine this Valentine's Day weekend at the "Game of Thrones" pop-up restaurant in London. HBO is sponsoring this short-lived, GoT-themed dinner from February 13th to the 15th at the Andaz hotel on Liverpool Street. Menu items have mostly been kept hush-hush, but according to The Telegraph , a poached veal tongue dish named "The Lies of Tyrion Lannister and his Proclaimed Innocence" will be served. Sadly, if this is the first time you're hearing about the event, you probably won't be able to attend. To win tickets, you would have had to enter HBO's competition, which asked participants to answer the question, "Who is your favorite 'Game of Thrones' character, and what would you cook to win their heart?" The competition ended last night , February 4 a minute before midnight. (Tears.) We can still answer the question just for fun, can't we? Tell us who you'd wine and dine in the comments section below. H/t: GrubStreet Want to read more from HuffPost Taste? Follow us on Twitter , Facebook , Pinterest and Tumblr .
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King Abdullah II has visited the hometown of a Jordanian pilot murdered by IS militants to show solidarity with his family.
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In spite of the courage and optimism that Coke showed during its Super Bowl ad last weekend , it appears that the internet is, in fact, too mean for it to fix. According to Adweek , Coke has now had to pull an online campaign that it launched alongside the commercial because it resulted in the company's main Twitter account spitting out images that included the text of Hitler's Mein Kampf. As part of Coke's ad campaign, it allowed people to reply to tweets with the hashtag #MakeItHappy, which would prompt the @CocaCola account to automatically take that tweet and spit it back out as fun ASCII art. The idea was that Coke would turn negative tweets into positive images, but naturally, things got way out of hand. Mainly, that's because Gawker built a script that prompted Coke to tweet out the manifesto's text . After about a dozen tweets containing ASCII art versions of Mein Kampf , Coke put a stop to its automated image maker. "It's unfortunate that Gawker is trying to turn this campaign into something that it isn't," Coke tells Adweek . "Building a bot that attempts to spread hate through #MakeItHappy is a perfect example of the pervasive online negativity Coca-Cola wanted to address with this campaign." While Gawker very much took advantage of Coke's campaign, Coke really should have known what it was getting into when it set up an automated bot to process hateful tweets a filter list or a reviewer would have gone a long way toward preventing an incident like this. Lesson is: there's a lot of negativity on the internet and plenty of people willing to mess with you. Coke knew that clearly . It's admirable that Coke wants to change that and bring the issue more attention, but it looks like it'll have to find a new approach to Twitter. That's not really a big surprise: even Twitter doesn't know what to do about abuse .
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Kevin Grosskreutz has been ruled out for six weeks with a torn thigh muscle suffered in Borussia Dortmund's 1-0 defeat to Augsburg on Wednesday. The versatile Germany international was withdrawn in the 60th minute of the clash at Signal Iduna Park, which saw the visitors hold on to claim all three points through Raul Bobadilla's goal despite Christoph Janker's red card. And that loss has proven doubly costly with Grosskreutz, who can operate on the wing as well as in central midfield and at fullback, reduced to the role of spectator until March. "Borussia Dortmund will be without Kevin Grosskreutz for the next six weeks," a statement on Dortmund's official website read. "The all-rounder, who was used as a fullback in the game against Augsburg, went off on Wednesday night with a small tear to the thigh muscle. The medical department expects that Grosskreutz will be out for about six weeks, so he could perhaps be ready for the Champions League second leg against Juventus on March 18." However there is better news for the Bundesliga's bottom club surrounding fullback Lukasz Piszczek. Piszczek was kept out of the game against Augsburg after struggling with a problem in training but, ahead of Saturday's trip to Freiburg, coach Jurgen Klopp said: "He [Piszczek] seems much better to go."
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You might be of the belief or perhaps suspicion would be a better word that the most dishonest act committed within the Syracuse athletic department was the one reported to the NCAA at some point in the not-too-distant past and which led the Orange to withdraw themselves from eligibility for the 2015 college basketball postseason. "I am very disappointed that our basketball team will miss the opportunity to play in the postseason," coach Jim Boeheim said in the release that brought us this news. "However, I supported this decision and I believe the university is going the right thing by acknowledging that past mistakes occurred." MORE: Syracuse self-imposes postseason ban | NCAA's investigation | Field of 68 Is it right to acknowledge "past mistakes" occurred? Of course. Is what Syracuse has done here anywhere in the neighborhood of "the right thing"? Oh, please. What Syracuse has done here is a disgrace that rises to the highest level of all that is untoward in college athletics. And the worst part: It is done under the guise of what is right and just. Once again in NCAA justice, we have a punishment that does not so much fit the crime as compound it. The punishment itself is one more egregious abuse of the system. When the season began, the mission for the Syracuse players was obvious: win enough games, as the past six Orange teams have done, and you will be rewarded with a berth in the NCAA Tournament. You will get the opportunity celebrate on Selection Sunday, to have your say at which team wins the 2015 national championship. Syracuse has changed the rules here. That's completely antithetical to how sports work. One does not begin the game under one set of rules only to be informed when the game nearly is complete that the rules are entirely different. This is a reprehensible act coming from an institution of higher learning. It would not be countenanced in any other area of the university. Can you imagine? You're in the final semester of classes, enrolled in the final four that will get you to your degree only to be informed the number of credits necessary to graduate has been increased? You're stuck for another six months and another $20 grand. And you've got no recourse because you're already four years into this. Well, no, you probably can't imagine this scenario because it would not happen. In college sports, though, barbaric punishments are routine. The most heinous is the scholarship reduction, the NCAA hiding behind a tax exemption as an educational concern and destroying thousands of dollars' worth of free higher education. This happens all the time. I've written about it for years, brought to the attention of NCAA president Mark Emmert how disingenuous it is. It's still happening. This one isn't as destructive, but it's no less dishonest. Why did Syracuse wait until February to withdraw from postseason eligibility? The school can claim it took this long to arrive at the conclusion it did, but it seems no accident Southern Mississippi self-imposed a postseason ban in January, or that Ohio State basketball for matters that occurred prior to Thad Matta's hiring, remember did so in December 2004. If these actions are taken during the offseason, the affected players can decide to transfer. If it's handled the right way and any self-imposed ban affects future seasons, it's possible current players will leave and recruits will not come as planned. Doing it after the season has begun maroons the players in a program headed nowhere and avoids competitive disaster. This practice should be against NCAA rules. Syracuse is 15-7, certainly not the basketball team it has been in prior years, and so many cynically believe the self-imposed ban is empty, that the Orange weren't getting to the NCAA Tournament, anyway. Given what Syracuse has done here, that sort of cynicism is not out of line. But it does miss the point a bit. The players who committed to be a part of this season's team deserved to finish the season with whatever result their collective talents produced and whatever reward that performance merited. Rakeem Christmas had been one of the loveliest stories of the current college season. He had started 109 games entering this his senior year. He was an important defensive presence on three NCAA Tournament teams. He started in the 2013 Final Four. However, he could not score if you left him alone in a Carrier Dome filled to the brim with basketballs. Christmas kept working on his low-post offense and got better. Much better. If you add up the scoring averages from each of his three prior seasons, they don't come close to what he's producing just this year. In another five or six games, he will enter Syracuse's 1,000-point club and will have scored more than half the points in his final season. He is a classic example of what college basketball can do to help a player grow his game, a process that has been all but completely abandoned by players and their "advisers." So what did Syracuse do, in the end, to the young man everyone knows as "Rock"? Kicked him aside on the road to "redemption." That's how Syracuse plays the game.
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Here's what you need to know about measles.
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A video showing the culture, nature, architecture and everyday life that exists in Southeast Asia. This video attempts also to capture the feeling of adventure that comes with backpacking in a foreign place. Locations featured: Vietnam-- Hanoi, Ha Long Bay, Phong Nha Ke Bang, Hoi An, Saigon Cambodia-- Phnom Penh, Siem Reap Thailand-- Pai, Chiang Mai, Bangkok
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CNN's Living Golf travels to Qatar to find out how technology could help elite sport stars.
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I am a member of Congress. I'm not going to tell you from where, or from which party. But I serve, and I am honored to serve. I serve with good people (and some less good ones), and we try to do our best. It's a frustrating, even disillusioning job. The public pretty much hates us. Congress polls lower than Richard Nixon during Watergate, traffic jams, or the Canadian alt-rock band Nickelback. So the public knows something is wrong . But they often don't know exactly what is wrong. And sometimes, the things they think will fix Congress like making us come home every weekend actually break it further. So here are some things I wish the voters knew about the people elected to represent them. 1) Congress is not out of touch with folks back home Congress is only a part-time job in Washington, DC. An hour after the last vote, almost everyone is on the airplane home. Congress votes fewer than 100 days a year, spending the rest of the time back home where we pander to their constituents' short-term interests, not the long-term good of the nation. Anyone who is closer to your district than you are will replace you. Incumbents stick to their districts like Velcro. 2) Congress listens best to money More from First Person I spent 7 years working in retail. I'll never complain about a long Starbucks line again. I used to lead tours at a plantation. You won't believe the questions I got about slavery. It is more lucrative to pander to big donors than to regular citizens. Campaigns are so expensive that the average member needs a million-dollar war chest every two years and spends 50 percent to 75 percent of their term in office raising money. Think about that. You're paying us to do a job, and we're spending that time you're paying us asking rich people and corporations to give us money so we can run ads convincing you to keep paying us to do this job. Now that the Supreme Court has ruled that money is speech and corporations are people, the mega-rich have been handed free loudspeakers. Their voices, even out-of-state voices, are drowning out the desperate whispers of ordinary Americans. 3) Almost everyone in Congress loves gerrymandering Without crooked districts , most members of Congress probably would not have been elected. According to the Cook Political Report , only about 90 of the 435 seats in Congress are "swing" seats that can be won by either political party. In other words, 345 seats are safe Republican or Democratic seats. Both parties like it that way. So that's what elections are like today: rather than the voters choosing us, we choose the voters. The only threat a lot of us incumbents face is in the primaries, where someone even more extreme than we are can turn out the vote among an even smaller, more self-selected group of partisans. 4) You have no secret ballot anymore The only way political parties can successfully gerrymander is by knowing how you vote. Both parties have destroyed your privacy at the polling booth. Thanks to election rolls, we don't know exactly whom you voted for, but we get pretty damn close. We know exactly which primaries and general elections you have voted in, and since there are so few realistic candidates in most elections, down or up ballot, we might as well know exactly who you voted for. Marry that data with magazine subscriptions, the kind of car you drive, and all sorts of other easily available consumer information that we've figured out how to use to map your political preferences, and we can gerrymander and target subdivisions, houses even double beds. Republicans want the male vote; Democrats the female vote. 5) We don't have a Congress but a parliament Over the last several decades, party loyalty has increased to near-unanimity. If a member of Congress doesn't vote with his or her party 99 percent of the time, he's considered unreliable and excluded from party decision-making. Gone are the days when you were expected to vote your conscience and your district, the true job of a congressperson. Parliaments only work because they have a prime minister who can get things done. We have a parliament without any ability to take executive action. We should not be surprised we are gridlocked . 6) Congressional committees are a waste of time With parliamentary voting, control is centralized in each party's leadership. Almost every major decision is made by the Speaker or Minority Leader, not by committees. They feel it is vital to party success to have a national "message" that is usually poll-driven, not substantive. So why develop any expertise as a committee member if your decisions will only be overridden by party leadership? Why try to get on a good committee if you have already ceded authority to your unelected, unaccountable party leaders? The result is members routinely don't show up at committee hearings, or if they do show up, it's only to ask a few questions and leave. A lot of members fight for committees that will help them raise money or get a sweet lobbying job later (more on that in a minute). The result is that the engine for informed lawmaking is broken. 7) Congress is a stepping-stone to lobbying Congress is no longer a destination but a journey. Committee assignments are mainly valuable as part of the interview process for a far more lucrative job as a K Street lobbyist. You are considered naïve if you are not currying favor with wealthy corporations under your jurisdiction. It's become routine to see members of Congress drop their seat in Congress like a hot rock when a particularly lush vacancy opens up. The revolving door is spinning every day. Special interests deplete Congress of its best talent. 8)The best people don't run for Congress Smart people figured this out years ago and decided to pursue careers other than running for Congress. The thought of living in a fishbowl with 30-second attack ads has made Congress repulsive to spouses and families. The idea of spending half your life begging rich people you don't know for money turns off all reasonable, self-respecting people. That, plus lower pay than a first-year graduate of a top law school, means that Congress, like most federal agencies, is not attracting the best and the brightest in America. 9) Congress is still necessary to save America, and cynics aren't helping Discouragement is for wimps. We aren't going to change the Constitution, so we need to make the system we have work. We are still, despite our shortcomings, the most successful experiment in self-government in history. Our greatest strength is our ability to bounce back from mistakes like we are making today. Get over your nostalgia: Congress has never been more than a sausage factory. The point here isn't to make us something we're not. The point is to get us to make sausage again. But for that to happen, the people have to rise up and demand better. First Person is Vox's home for compelling, provocative narrative essays. Do you have a story to share? Read our submission guidelines , and pitch us at [email protected] . More from First Person I used to lead tours at a plantation. You won't believe the questions I got about slavery. I spent 7 years working in retail. I'll never complain about a long Starbucks line again. I'm a marriage counselor. Here's how I can tell a couple is heading for divorce.
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The 2015 National Signing Day is in the books and Alabama came out on top yet again. Keith Niebuhr lets us know how this class is different than previous years.
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Hopes of rescuing the failed Caterham Formula One team looked to be over on Thursday after auctioneers said they would sell off the assets, including 2014 cars and pit lane equipment, next month. Auctioneers Wyles Hardy & Co said in a statement that they had been instructed by administrators Smith & Williamson "to realize the assets of the Caterham F1 race team". They said a series of on-line timed auction sales, starting on March 11 and running through to May 14, will be held to sell off everything from race equipment to memorabilia and office furniture. The race and hospitality trailers, race simulator, autoclaves and Dell HPC super computer would be offered as negotiated sales separate from the auctions. Caterham, who never scored a point, went into administration in October and missed the U.S. and Brazilian Grands Prix before raising money through a crowd-funding initiative to compete at the finale in Abu Dhabi last November. As late as last month, administrator Finbarr O'Connell had held out hope of finding a buyer although he recognized time was running out with the season starting in Australia on March 15. The first pre-season test ended on Wednesday without Caterham's involvement. "As long as there are people (out) there who have got a real possibility of doing something, I'm not going to close it (the team) down," he had told Reuters on Jan. 22. "Because if I do, then I will just be organizing an auction as regards the assets -- which I can do at any stage anyway." Caterham were founded by Malaysian aviation entrepreneur Tony Fernandes, who also runs struggling Queens Park Rangers Premier League soccer club and retains the Caterham sportscar company, in 2010 as Lotus Racing. Fernandes lost interest and exited in July, handing over to a mystery group of Swiss and Middle Eastern investors with Colin Kolles serving as consultant. (Reporting by Alan Baldwin, editing by Toby Davis) 2015 Formula One testing in pictures
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Anthem customers might be feeling a bit ill this morning. The nation's second-largest health insurance company just announced that hackers have stolen members' Social Security numbers, names, birthdays, medical IDs, and more sensitive personal information in a massive data breach. The breach affects an estimated 80 million customers and employees . At this point, Anthem does not believe the hackers accessed credit card or medical information. "Safeguarding your personal, financial and medical information is one of our top priorities, and because of that, we have state-of-the-art information security systems to protect your data," Anthem President and CEO Joseph R. Swedish said in a statement . "However, despite our efforts, Anthem was the target of a very sophisticated external cyber attack." Anthem does not yet know who was responsible. Anthem says members of multiple health plans were affected , including Anthem Blue Cross, Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Georgia, Empire Blue Cross and Blue Shield, Amerigroup, Caremore, Unicare, Healthlink, and DeCare. The company has promised to individually notify every person who was affected and provide free credit monitoring. You can visit www.AnthemFacts.com or call 877-263-7995 to learn more from Anthem. Unfortunately, this hack is much worse than the average data breach. If your debit card number is compromised think of Target's data breach the worst thing that happens is, after some headache, you get your money refunded and a new card . But if your Social Security number is compromised, identity thieves can wreak havoc on your life. With a Social Security number, fraudsters can apply for credit cards, mortgages, and other lines of credit in your name, racking up debt on your tab. That can ruin your credit, making it difficult for you to get a new credit card, mortgage, or even a job. Identity thieves can also file fraudulent tax returns in your name , robbing you of your refund and causing chaos at the IRS. Scared yet? If your Social Security number could have been compromised, here's what you should know about your options. You probably can't get a replacement Social Security number You might wish you could just get a new Social Security number. Don't bother, says Paul Stephens, director of policy and advocacy at the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse . First, it wouldn't be effective: Government agencies, credit bureaus and businesses will still associate you with your old, compromised number. Meanwhile, you'll need to rebuild your credit history from scratch, which will make it harder to get your finances in order. Plus, the Social Security Administration rarely issues replacement numbers after data breaches, Stephens says. If it did, half the country might be eligible. "I'm not aware of any situation where someone has gotten a new Social Security number because of identity theft," Stephens says. "That is very difficult to do, and consumer advocates advise against doing so. It further complicates things for you, and the act of getting a new Social Security number is not really going to impact the ability of a criminal to use your old Social Security number." If you want to try anyway, gather documentation to prove your citizenship (with a birth certificate or passport), your age (with a birth certificate, religious record, hospital record or passport) and your identity (with a drivers' license, state-issued ID, or passport). The SSA says you need to "provide evidence you are having ongoing problems because of the misuse" to be considered for a new number. So if your Social Security number has been exposed but you're not yet a victim of fraud, don't waste your time. "You cannot get a new SSN to avoid the consequences of filing for bankruptcy, to avoid the law or your legal responsibility, or if there is no evidence that someone is using your number," SSA spokesman William "BJ" Jarrett said in an email. Jarrett advises that if you believe someone is fraudulently using your Social Security number, you should first file a police report and contact the Federal Trade Commission (877-438-4338). "If you have done all you can to fix the problems resulting from misuse of an SSN and someone is still using it, Social Security may be able to assign a new number." The Federal Trade Commission also warns that there are companies that offer to help you apply for a fee, naturally. But you don't need their help and you shouldn't have to pay any money; the application for a replacement Social Security number is free. You can put a security freeze on your credit report This is the most foolproof thing you can do , but there are downsides. A freeze means no one can pull your credit report so no one can apply for new lines of credit in your name, not even you. Actual identity theft victims can get a freeze for free, but others have to pay. Prices vary by state. It can cost up to $30 to institute a freeze and $12 to lift. You have to "lift" the freeze every time you apply for credit, so that the creditor can check your report. In other words, there could be a $12 surcharge every time you apply for a credit card, mortgage, or even a job or apartment. For that reason, credit freezes aren't always a practical solution, especially not for young people who move around a lot. Contact Experian , TransUnion , or Equifax to institute a freeze. You can put a fraud alert on your credit report This one is easy and you can do it even if your information hasn't already been exposed. A fraud alert tells creditors to double-check whenever someone applies for credit in your name. For example, when a credit card issuer receives an application for a new card, a fraud alert tells the company to contact you and make sure you're really the one who submitted the application. Again, contact Experian , TransUnion , or Equifax to place a 90-day alert. It's free. If you're a confirmed identity theft victim, the alert lasts seven years. You can monitor your credit reports However, you shouldn't stop there. Under the law, you're entitled to a free credit report from each of the three credit bureaus every year. Check it. "If you opt for just the fraud alert, you need to be aware that fraud alerts are not infallible," Stephens says. "We would recommend that you continually regularly examine your credit reports. Get them every few months and make sure that there's nothing on there that's fraudulent." You can also sign up for credit monitoring just don't pay for it. After a data breach, it's become the norm for companies to offer free credit monitoring to victims, Stephens says. He also recommends free monitoring from Credit Karma and Credit Sesame . This article was adapted from an earlier story, What to Do If Your Social Security Number Was Leaked like Sylvester Stallone's . Related: What should I do if I have been a victim of a data breach? What should I do if I have been the victim of identity theft? How can I protect myself from ID theft?
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Seattle Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll isn't sleeping well these days. Carroll made the infamous decision to throw the ball from New England's 1-yard line in the final seconds of Super Bowl XLIX, resulting in a game-ending interception by Russell Wilson. Since the historic contest, Carroll has been asked constantly about the play call. Carroll told Matt Lauer of the Today Show that he believes in the decision both he and offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell made, but that hasn't given Carroll peace. The 63-year-old may never get over it completely, but for now he would settle for a good night of sleep: While Carroll calls himself an optimist, he admitted to some sleepless nights in the aftermath of the Super Bowl. "I wake up and can't stop thinking about it,'' he said. "The sleep part works because you're so worn out after the six months of the season that you can't help but fall asleep. But it's the waking up…and getting back to sleep [that] is the challenge." Wilson was intercepted by Patriots corner Malcolm Butler on the play, when many were expecting Seattle to hand off to star running back Marshawn Lynch . Carroll is one of three coaches to win both an NCAA championship and a Super Bowl, accomplishing the feat with the USC Trojans in 2003 and 2004, and the Seahawks in 2013. However, Carroll has also been on the short end of a few all-time games, including the 2006 Rose Bowl and Sunday's Super Bowl. The latter might sting worse, considering his play call is the source of controversy. Still, Carroll defends the decision despite the finish: "It's the worst result of a call ever,'' Carroll said. "The call would have been a great one if we'd caught it. It would have been just fine and nobody would have thought twice about it. We knew we were going to throw the ball one time in the sequence somewhere, and so we did, and it just didn't turn out right." For Seattle, it will attempt to rebound from the setback with a third straight trip to the Super Bowl in the 2015-16 campaign. For Carroll, he is trying to move on. After the game, he found himself crying in the aftermath of the brutal loss. "Just, lying in bed with [my wife] Glena,'' he said. "Like, in the middle of the night, you know? 4:05 in the a.m. That's what happened. That was my opportunity to go ahead and visit it."
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Police department to test 'The Alternative'
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Making life-changing decisions is hard enough, but for 4-star recruit Chris Warren, it was as easy as a coin toss. Warren reportedly made his college decision on the chance of a coin flip.
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Ever dream of piloting the most famous spacecraft in science fiction? You can, but it will require some engineering savvy. Yesterday, Reddit user Olivier-FR shared his Millennium Falcon quadcopter with the DIY subreddit . Its maiden voyage went swimmingly: But then, in another flight, the spaceship crashed multiple times into a snowy field. It's unknown what condition Han Solo and Chewbacca are in: Quartz has been closely following all things Millennium Falcon-related, but this may be the coolest. Olivier-FR engineered both the quadcopter itself and its foam casing. Here's how he built the casing and installed the LED lights, which really do make it look a lot like the real thing . He said on Reddit that the quadcopter can normally fly up to 90 km per hour (60 miles per hour), but with the bulky foam shell, it can only go about 30 kph (19 mph). At that speed, it would take quite a long time to pull off the Kessel Run, an 18-parsec smuggling route that Han Solo could somehow cut short to less than 12 . All in all, it's been a bounteous harvest for Star Wars DIY projects. In December, a Star Wars -themed Christmas light show captivated the internet. And just this week, a team of Japanese soldiers assembled an enormous snow sculpture of Darth Vader and a few Stormtroopers. Olivier isn't stopping with the Millennium Falcon. His said his next project is The Tie Fighter .
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When California based Gilead Sciences announced a breakthrough treatment in late 2013 that cures most kinds of Hepatitis C, people were outraged at the cost: $84,000 in total, or nearly $1,000 a pill. There are more expensive drugs, but Gilead Science's hepatitis drugs' Sovaldi and Harvoni eye-popping price, sales, and patient population (10o million plus worldwide) is unprecedented (paywall). But yesterday, Gilead announced in its quarterly earnings call that it expects to cut the price of its Hepatitis C drugs an average of 46% this year in the US. That's double last year's discount. Some government plans will pay less than half the list price for Harvoni (a Gilead follow up treatment that combines Sovaldi's active ingredient with another drug). And the reason why can be summed up in one word: Competition. Illinois based AbbVie launched a competing drug, known as Viekira Pak, late last year sparking a heated price war as the two companies fight to sign exclusive deals with the middlemen that buy the drugs. Few people pay sticker price for expensive prescription drugs. They're usually bought through a contract by their insurer, or a government health plan. Drug companies give discounts to convince these plans to prefer their drug over another, exclude a competitor, or to offer it to more of their patients. As shocking as list prices are, they're usually only a starting point. The sheer size of the market and price of the drugs mean negotiations are extremely intense. Sovaldi and Harvoni combined nearly outsold the best-selling drug in the world last year which was AbbVie's anti-arthritis drug, Humira. One analyst called the size of the price cuts a "shock" (paywall). Gilead's stock is down more than 7%, AbbVie's only slightly less, and the entire biotechnology sector took a hit. This is a big deal, for more than just investors. Cheaper prices mean more patients will get these drugs. Many plans restricted access to only very sick patients because it was so expensive. Now more people will get a cheaper cure, an earlier one, and will suffer fewer side effects, which is one of the prime benefits of the drug. That's a very good thing, though it might not feel that way to shareholders.
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Caterham's assets, ranging from last year's car to the office chair, are up for sale, ending any outside hopes of the struggling Formula One team returning to the grid this season. The fire-sale was announced on Thursday by Wyles Hardy, the firm instructed by the British-based backmarkers' administrators to hold a series of online auctions to realise the team's assets. "The first auction will focus on the race support and pit lane equipment including the 2014 chassis' and show cars and is scheduled for early March," Wyles Hardy announced. In December, Caterham were given special dispensation by F1's governing body to compete in the 2015 world championship with their 2014 car should a buyer be found. That would have enabled any new owner of Caterham to remain in F1 without incurring the huge costs of developing a new car. Caterham were forced to skip the United States and Brazil rounds of last season's world championship after going into administration, with their return for the finale in Abu Dhabi largely made possible by public donations. Fellow cash-strapped F1 minnows Marussia went into administration like Caterham in October, missing the closing three races. Various reports this week suggest it is still not completely out of the question that Marussia could exit administration and line-up for the season-opening Australian Grand Prix on March 15, using last year's car.
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Anthem says hackers stole data including social security numbers on up to 80 million people. It could rank as one of the biggest corporate cyberattacks. Fred Katayama reports.
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David Rothblatt and Fia Hargil are lifelong New Yorkers, but they don't remember much about Sept. 11. That's because they were just preschoolers then. Still, what happened that horrible day changed their lives and the lives of many their age. Today, the two believe that it's important for those their age and younger to appreciate the gravity of what happened. "Kids need to know, even if it is hard," Fia said. David agreed. The two attend high school just a few blocks from the site. "It's hard for kids to understand ... but 9-11 affects all of us and it is important to know what happened," David said, "to honor those who risked and gave their lives for strangers ... and all of those whose lives were taken for no reason." He adds that his dad's best friend was badly injured that day. The two are among the six members of the inaugural class of teen ambassadors trained to work with children who visit the National September 11 Memorial Museum , which opened at the new World Trade Center this past May. Since then, nearly 2 million people from 140 nations have visited. (TIP: Purchase tickets online several weeks in advance to get the time slot you want.) Every Saturday, and more often over the summer and during school break weeks, there are free programs for children as young as six, often led by the teen ambassadors. They may talk about the first responders and make first responder badges or make a painting of the blue sky. There is a massive artwork "Trying to Remember the Color of the Sky that September Morning" that is composed of 2,983 squares, each painted a unique shade of blue, to commemorate those killed in the attacks. "You can't understand the world today without understanding what happened on 9-11," says Noah Rauch, the museum's director of education, who oversees the Junior Ambassador Program, which encourages students to help their peers to understand what happened. "For many young people, 9-11 is primarily another historical event," said Annalee Tai, 16, and another of the teen ambassadors. Thus, it is hard to understand the repercussions of 9-11, how it changed the nature of global interaction and the protocols of national security ... a tragedy that, by launching movements in anti-terrorism and religious tolerance alike, has truly defined our times. There is also guidance on teaching children about 9-11 and a special "Museum Guide for Visitors with Children." Museum officials suggest encouraging kids to closely look at an artifact and then ask them: "What do you notice?" Answer their questions with basic facts and be specific. The story of 9-11, museum officials stress, is really thousands of individual stories. Avoid stereotypes and share your own feelings honestly. Most important, if you can't answer a child's question, be honest and say so -- explore the subject together. Docents are assigned at major sites to help interpret their meaning -- like the Survivors' Stairs, one of two outdoor flights that served as an escape route for hundreds, or the mangled Ladder Company 3 truck, which sustained some of the heaviest casualties of any fire company that day, losing most of its men. Three hundred and 43 firefighters died on Sept. 11. This is not an easy museum to visit. "The museum not only houses artifacts, but is itself an artifact. Its location is authentic because it is the final resting place for thousands of victims," said Annalee. Museum officials suggest kids be 11 or older to visit the main historical exhibition, which presents the events of Sept.11, 2001, including what prompted the attack and what happened in its aftermath. There are media installations with personal reflections from survivors and family members of those who died along with heartbreaking artifacts -- shoes worn by survivors, a purse with change that Patricia Mary Fagan always kept on hand for the less fortunate, ID cards and pieces of paper that fluttered down to the pavement, a fireman's hat. There are more than 10,000 artifacts in the museum's collection. One of the survivors recalled, her voice breaking, telling one young fireman not to go inside, that there was nothing he could do. "It's my job, lady," he replied. More than 1,970 oral histories have been recorded. (There is also a booth at the museum to record your memories) Just outside, the National September 11 Memorial honors the nearly 3,000 people killed at the World Trade Center site, in the hijacked plane that crashed near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, at the Pentagon, as well as the six people killed in the World Trade Center bombing in February 1993. The memorial's twin reflecting pools feature the largest manmade waterfalls in North America and sit within the footprints of the original Twin Towers. The names of every person who died in the 2001 and 1993 attacks are inscribed into bronze panels edging the pools. In the In Memoriam exhibition inside the museum, there are portraits, spoken remembrances and mementoes contributed by family members of the 2,983 victims. It's a powerful reminder, David said, that "Each person's life had a story." On a recent rainy Saturday, Fia and David were tasked with showing the museum to a group of inner-city boys, who attend our suburban high school under the auspices of a national program called A Better Chance . They didn't remember that day at all. The group agreed their visit was that much more meaningful because two of their peers interpreted the exhibits. "You can't come to this museum and not leave a different person," said Christopher Morales, who is from Los Angeles. They check out the massive mangled elevator motor and learn that the World Trade Center was famous for its express elevators -- the most advanced in the world yet they couldn't save those who were trapped on high floors after the planes hit. "No one thought those buildings would collapse," David said soberly. That's why so many firefighters and police officers -- 441 total -- died. The Foundation Hall contains remnants from the Original World Trade Center, including the famous 36-foot-high "Last Column," which became an ad hoc memorial of sorts, displaying poignant inscriptions and pictures. When the column was finally removed, it was given a hero's funeral, complete with bagpipes. "It had become a symbol of strength," David explained. So has this entire area of Lower Manhattan. We chose to anchor ourselves nearby, staying at the all-suites Conrad New York Hotel a block away that bustled with families. (Check out the family package.) We went for lunch across the street at Brookfield Place , which offers the best food court I've ever seen. It has everything from Dos Toros Taqueria to barbecue and Wagyu beef burgers. There's also an ice-skating rink outside. We can't stop talking -- and thinking -- about what we've seen; like the desperate notes and photos posted by families looking to see if their loved ones had survived. The majority had not. "If you don't remember what happened, these people all died in vain," David and Fia said. "The story hasn't ended," David added "It's hard to say if it will ever end." (Read more Taking the Kids at www.takingthekids.com and follow @TakingtheKids on Twitter and Facebook. If you are visiting New York, check out Eileen's Kid's Guide to NYC, one of her series of nine kids' city guides.)
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Award season has brought us a wonderful crop of new red carpet nail trends, but one in particular caught our eye: Katie Holmes's metallic ombré manicure from the 2015 Golden Globes! With the help of the experts at NYC's Paintbox nail studio, we've figured out how to DIY Katie's chic look in a handful of easy steps.
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BOCA RATON, Fla. (AP) -- Colin Montgomerie knows how to knock Bernhard Langer off the Champions Tour's top spot. ''The goal is to redirect Langer to other sites, so we all have a chance of beating him,'' Montgomerie said, smiling. Not much chance of that happening this week. The Allianz Championship, the tour's first full-field event, starts Friday on The Old Course at Broken Sound Golf Club. Langer lives 15 minutes from the course, and he has used the home cooking to finish in the top three in five of the last six years, including a victory in 2010 when he holed out of a bunker for an eagle in a playoff. Playing his first full season on the Champions Tour, Montgomerie won two major championships last year for his first two stroke-play titles in America. The victories at the Senior PGA Championship and the U.S. Senior Open enabled Montgomerie to finish second to Langer, his former Ryder Cup teammate, in the Charles Schwab Cup and the tour's money list with more than $2 million. ''Those trophies are in a prominent spot in my trophy case,'' said Montgomerie, who had five runner-up finishes in majors on the PGA Tour and also lost in a three-way playoff at the 1994 U.S. Open. ''I had been trying to win a PGA and a USGA event for 24 years. It was a classic case of you wait for a bus for 20 years, and then two come around the corner at the same time.'' Langer was more dominant. He also won two majors - including the British Senior Open by 13 shots - among his five victories to earn his fourth Player of the Year award. Langer finished out of the top 10 just three times in 21 starts - that didn't include an eighth-place tie at the Masters - and set an all-tour record by hitting 78.3 percent of his greens. ''I'm most proud of the two major wins and the consistency throughout the year,'' Langer said. ''To be in contention literally almost every week is really hard to do out here. If you have one bad round, you're not going to finish in the top 10.'' Langer serves as the unofficial host of the Allianz Championship. He hosts a dinner at his house every year for the players and then tries to beat them in the 54-hole event that pays $255,000 to the winner. ''It's one of my favorite tournaments of the year just because I get to stay home,'' Langer said. ''As great as I played last year, I believe I can still get better.'' Michael Allen is the defending champion, beating Duffy Waldorf in a playoff with a birdie on the second hole after opening with a 12-under 60 in the first round.
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If you felt something shake last night, it wasn't an earthquake, it was Oklahoma State's Le'Bryan Nash making a posterizing dunk as the Cowboys beat the Longhorns on the road in overtime.
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Even the 43-year-old Australian professional golfer was surprised by how he managed to find this insane shot
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The men of fun. are not having fun together right now, so they're on hiatus. In a Facebook note signed by Nate Ruess, Andrew Dost and Jack Antonoff, the group wrote that they are "not breaking up," despite not recording a new album since 2012's platinum "Some Nights." Instead, the trio say they're taking time to work on individual projects until they're inspired to record a follow-up. "'Some Nights' was a successful album and it would have been very easy for us to jump back in the studio and capitalize on our momentum," the note reads. "But making records and touring when its 'good for business' means nothing to us." Billboard reports that there's more going on than the band's missive implies . Specifically, that the band is going weeks and months without speaking to one another while Ruess works on a solo album, Dost creates scores for films and Antonoff tours with Bleachers. Multiple sources have reportedly told Billboard there's a "clash of egos" at play that has left the band on the fritz. Ruess, Dost and Antonoff are reportedly on "shaky terms." HuffPost Entertainment reached out to fun.'s representative at Atlantic Records but did not receive an immediate response. Read more of the Facebook note below: Post by Fun.
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Finding different ways to have fun on the coastal waters and wetlands of Georgia, USA.
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Kris Jenner only found out Bruce Jenner was transitioning into a woman at a recent family meeting. The showbiz matriarch reportedly "flipped out" when her ex-husband - who she split from in 2013 after 22 years of marriage - told her and the rest of their family he wanted to change gender because she was stunned by the revelation, even though she had heard speculation about his plans. Insiders say Kris never asked Bruce about the rumors and he never told her, highlighting the "serious lack of communication in the marriage." And TMZ report that during the family meeting, the 59-year-old reality star confronted her former spouse as she disbelieved the speculation, prompting a furious row as the Olympian insisted he is both "comfortable and determined" to see through his decision. It was previously claimed Kris "cried a lot" after the meeting but now supports him "100 per cent". A source close to the Keeping Up with the Kardashians star said: "Kris had the most difficult time of anyone in the family. She has had a lot to process. She has cried a lot about this, because it's an emotional thing for her. "She's come back around. She has gotten used to the idea. She was most upset because it was the great unknown, but she has really been reading up on things now, so she'll know what to expect. It's really a hard adjustment and a shock, but Kris 100 percent supports [Bruce]. The whole family does." Bruce - who is said to be the happiest he's ever been - will discuss his life-changing decision with ABC news reporter Diane Sawyer in an interview set to air in May. However, his family will not be opening up about Bruce any time soon as it has been claimed they have decided not to do any publicity interviews ahead of the forthcoming new series of Keeping Up with the Kardashians .
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Apple Inc. reinvented the home computer, music player, mobile phone, tablet and, soon, wristwatch. Although television has eluded it for years, the Cupertino, California-based company appears to be making headway in talks with programmers to offer a bundle of channels that would be sold directly by the firm and streamed over the Web, according to Re/code . It's an approach similar to the one taken by the Dish Network Corp. with its Sling TV , launched last month, and the Sony Corp. with its PlayStation Vue , promised for later this year. Apple's efforts to get into the TV business have been drawn out for years. In 2009, the company pitched industry executives a $30-per-month TV subscription service through iTunes, as AllThingsD reported at the time. More recently, it conducted talks with the cable providers such as the Comcast Corp. and Time Warner Cable Inc. to develop a set-top box that interfaced with their own networks and services. But disagreements during the negotiations reportedly slowed efforts to bring a new Apple TV offering to market. With Dish now in the online pay-TV market and Sony working to get in it as well, Apple may stand a better chance of making it happen for itself. But it remains to be seen whether the company can create a value proposition that truly stands out when compared with the rest of the TV services on the market. Apple hasn't disclosed specific details of its plans for Apple TV, aside from saying it is looking closely at that area. Meanwhile, Apple CEO Timothy D. Cook has expressed his displeasure with the current TV experience. "TV is one of those things that is stuck back in the '70s," Cook said in an interview with Charlie Rose . "Think about all the things that have changed, and TV almost feels like you're rewinding the clock, the interface is terrible. It's awful."
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An officer with Missouri's Smithville Police Department decided to have some fun while testing out his squad car's dashcam recorder.
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TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) From the start of the flight in Taiwan's capital, survivor Huang Jin-sun suspected trouble. "There was some sound next to me. It did not feel right shortly after takeoff. The engine did not feel right," the 72-year-old man told ETTV television Thursday from his hospital bed. Huang was one of 15 people who survived when the TransAsia Airways turbojet carrying 58 people crashed Wednesday into a river minutes after taking off in Taipei. At least 32 people died and 11 are still missing. Moments before the plane banked sharply and crashed, one of its pilots told the control tower, "Mayday, mayday, engine flameout," according to an aviation official who asked not to be identified. "Engine flameout" refers to flames being extinguished in the combustion chamber of the engine, so that it shuts down and no longer drives the propeller. Causes could include a lack of fuel or being struck by volcanic ash, a bird or some other object. "Mayday" is an international distress call. The airline and the Taiwan Civil Aeronautical Administration have declined to speculate on the cause of the crash, the latest in a series of disasters befalling Asian airlines. The ATR 72-600 plane, less than a year old, had one of its engines replaced by Pratt & Whitney Canada last April before it went into service because of a glitch with the original engine, the airline said. The plane's black boxes were recovered overnight and are likely to provide more clues. Video images of Flight 235's final moments in the air captured on car dashboard cameras appear to show the left engine's propeller at standstill as the aircraft turned sharply, its wings becoming vertical and clipping a highway bridge before plunging into the Keelung River in Taipei. Huang said he helped four other passengers unbuckle their seatbelts after the plane crashed and began sinking in the water. "I saw others were drowning," he said. "If I did not move quickly enough to help them, soon they would be dead." Also among the survivors was a family of three, including a 2-year-old boy whose heart stopped beating after three minutes under water. He recovered after receiving CPR, his uncle Lin Ming-yi told reporters. The pilots' actions in the flight's final moments have led to speculation that they attempted to avoid high-rise buildings by following the line of the river and then banked sharply in an attempt to bring it down in the water rather than crash on land. Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je praised pilot Liao Chien-tsung as a hero for having avoided crashing into buildings or major infrastructure. "We really have to thank that pilot," Ko said. "He really tried his hardest." Divers searched the river Thursday for the remaining 11 people on board, including the two pilots. A crane was used to bring the rear section of the plane to the shore Wednesday night. Police diver Cheng Ying-chih said search was hampered by low visibility in the turbid river and cold water temperatures that forced divers to work in one-hour shifts. By midday Thursday, about a dozen relatives of Taiwanese victims arrived at the riverbank to perform traditional mourning rituals. Accompanied by Buddhist monks ringing brass bells, they bowed toward the river and held aloft cloth inscriptions tied to pieces of bamboo meant to guide the spirits of the dead to rest. Relatives of some of the 31 passengers from mainland China reached Taipei on a charter flight Thursday afternoon. Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou visited two Taipei hospitals Thursday to check on the condition of people injured in the crash and stopped by a morgue to comfort relatives of the victims, his office said. "This kind of air safety incident not only wrecks countless happy families but also affects trust in our tourism climate among tourists from outside Taiwan," it said in a statement. "We must undergo this bitter experience and make all-out improvements." The ATR 72-600 is the most modern version of the plane manufactured by ATR, a joint venture between European aircraft giant Airbus and Italian aerospace company Alenia Aermacchi. About 1,200 of the planes are currently in use worldwide. TransAsia Airways is Taiwan's third biggest airline by fleet size after China Airlines and Eva Air. The pilot had 4,900 hours of flying experience, said Lin Chih-ming of the Civil Aeronautics Administration. A team from ATR was being sent to Taiwan to help in the investigation. ___ Associated Press writers Christopher Bodeen and Ian Mader in Beijing, and Greg Keller in Paris contributed to this report.
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Arsenal forward Alexis Sanchez has been ruled out of this weekend's north London derby away to Tottenham Hotspur, Gunners manager Arsene Wenger said Thursday. The 26-year-old Chile forward is still sidelined with the hamstring problem that saw him miss last weekend's 5-0 rout of Premier league rivals Aston Villa, even though he is now back in training. "The latest is that Alexis is not ready," said Wenger as he confirmed Sanchez, who has scored 18 goals in 32 appearances in all competitions for Arsenal so far this season, would miss Saturday's match at White Hart Lane. "He is not far away, the Leicester game is a possibility. He is of course very difficult to keep quiet," added the veteran French boss. "He is training but it's light training." But Wenger had better news for the Arsenal faithful regarding Danny Welbeck, with the England forward back in the squad to face Spurs having not yet played in 2015 because of a thigh injury. Arsenal are currently fifth in the Premier League table, level on points with fourth-placed Southampton, having lost just one of their last 11 matches in all competitions and won five in a row.
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ELLSWORTH, Maine Workers at a Maine Goodwill store got quite a shock when they opened a donated book: They found a gun inside. An employee at the Ellsworth store was going through a pile of books received from a central warehouse last week and noticed that one didn't quite feel right. The book was actually a small safe and inside was a .31-caliber black powder pistol. Employees called police. There was no identifying information with the book "Den of Lions" by former Associated Press reporter Terry Anderson chronicling his seven years as a hostage in Lebanon. Police ran the gun's serial number through a national database but did not get a match. Detective Dorothy Small says the department is turning to social media to try and find the gun's owner.
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Billionaire hedge fund manager Paul Singer the CEO of $25 billion Elliott Management defended the hedge fund compensation structure suggesting that the bankers are the ones investors should be upset about. Since the financial crisis, hedge funds for the most part have struggled to produce strong returns relative to passive strategies making it difficult to justify the fees they're paid. Typically, fund managers are paid through a compensation structure commonly known as the "2 and 20," which stands for a 2% management fee and a 20% performance fee charge. More specifically, "2 and 20″ means a hedge fund manager would charge investors 2% of total assets under management and 20% of any profits. The fees can also vary from fund to fund with some charging less and others charging more such as "3 and 30." In Singer's latest investor letter dated Jan. 30, he writes that investment banks "are effectively big, highly-leveraged hedge funds." He said that his team conducted some analysis to see how banks compared with hedge funds in terms of compensation and costs. Singer writes that banker compensation "as a percentage of value produced at major banks is significantly higher than at hedge funds." "At the very least, it calls into question the rationale of investors who comfortably own significant positions in major financial institutions but confine their criticisms of complexity and compensation to hedge funds." Here's the excerpt from Singer's letter: In our last quarterly report, we took a swipe at CALPERS' decision to exit hedge funds. After sending out the report, we had a minor epiphany. We have been (correctly) saying that the world's major financial institutions are effectively the largest hedge funds on the planet, with their fortunes dominated by trading results, however packaged. At the same time, some institutional investors are cranky that the returns of hedge funds during the six years (and counting) since the introduction of QE have been less than unhedged stock and bond returns during that period, and that hedge funds are too complicated and their fees and costs too high. These investors may have forgotten that before the financial crisis, many carefully selected hedge funds performed admirably in controlling risk and generating a true diversity of returns. This combination got us thinking: Since the financial institutions are effectively big, highly-leveraged hedge funds, we wondered how they compared with hedge funds in terms of compensation and costs. The results of our team's study of this comparison (don't worry, it didn't take much time) were quite enlightening. Using reported market and financial performance for 2014, we found the bottom line is clear: By every measure, employee compensation at major financial institutions is significantly higher than that at hedge funds. We surveyed the five major U.S.-based investment banks and found that employee compensation accounted for 59% of the "gross adjusted change in market capitalization" the increase in market capitalization in addition to buybacks and dividends, and after adding back compensation expense. It was 64% of "gross adjusted pretax income" GAAP pretax income after adding back compensation expense. At hedge funds, employee compensation accounted for 23% of "gross adjusted returns" net returns with compensation expense added back. Similar results were obtained when examining employee expenses as a percentage of capital. Bank compensation was 19% and 22% of beginning market capitalization and tangible book value, respectively, compared with 3.1% of total capital for hedge funds. Although undoubtedly there are certain nuances and distinctions, we believe our analytical approach, if anything, is likely to be more, not less, generous to large financial institutions. For instance, the adjusted change in market value benefits from a year in which bank multiples generally expanded. Nor did we subtract from bank earnings the value of the considerable subsidy these institutions enjoy from their "too big to fail" status. Nevertheless, and keeping these considerations in mind, we think these analyses are meaningful in demonstrating that employee compensation as a percentage of value produced at major banks is significantly higher than at hedge funds. At the very least, it calls into question the rationale of investors who comfortably own significant positions in major financial institutions but confine their criticisms of complexity and compensation to hedge funds. Singer, who has an estimated networth of $1.86 billion, is also currently ranked No. 9 for the all-time performing hedge fund managers, according to fund-of-funds LCH Investments. In 2014, Elliott returned 8.2% compared to the S&P 500's 13% rise. Hedge funds, on average, returned only 3.78% last year, according to research firm Preqin . NOW WATCH: What Happened When A Bunch Of Young Boys Were Told To Hit A Girl
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Satya Nadella's appointment as Microsoft CEO a year ago was surprising. A protracted search for Steve Ballmer's successor had many expecting the nod to go to an outsider to steer Microsoft into the future, not the then-unknown 22-year Microsoft veteran. Microsoft even attempted to massage any concerns by strategically announcing Bill Gates was " substantially increasing " his time at the company. It's still not clear whether Gates is really dedicating up to 30 percent of his time at Microsoft. Nevertheless, Nadella created a mission statement to drive Microsoft forward with a mobile and cloud focus, and so far he seems to be steering the software giant in the right direction. It's a year later, and Microsoft feels fresh, new, and less concerned with the legacy of Windows. While some argue Satya Nadella is just running Steve Ballmer's Microsoft , he deserves much more credit for his 12 months in the top role. Under Ballmer, Microsoft was focused on protecting Windows at all costs. Ballmer's biggest regret at Microsoft was Windows Vista, an operating system that was overly ambitious and one that took far too long to hit the market. Windows Vista distracted Microsoft from a growing mobile threat, and the company was ill-prepared for the iPhone and the dominance of Google on the web and Android on mobile. Perhaps most tellingly, Ballmer laughed at the iPhone initially. Apple just sold 75 million iPhones in three months, seven times more than all Lumia Windows Phones sold during the same quarter. Nadella has indeed executed on some of Ballmer's product plans, but he appears to be taking a slightly different path than Ballmer would have likely taken. Take Office for iPad as a good example. While it had been rumored for years, behind the scenes, engineers had been working closely to create a truly great app. Microsoft had planned to launch an iPhone version with free document viewing, but ditched those plans in favor of requiring an Office 365 subscription. Office for iPhone eventually debuted in June 2013 and frustrated many with the Office 365 requirement. Nearly two months after Nadella's appointment as CEO, Office for iPad launched with free reading and a requirement of Office 365 for editing purposes, and then just months later Nadella took the bold step to make the apps free across iOS and Android. That wasn't a Ballmer decision, that was clearly a Nadella decision. After stumbling with its Xbox One launch, Nadella was also quick to appoint a new Xbox leader . Phil Spencer took over less than two months after Nadella's appointment as CEO and quickly killed the Kinect bundling while promising an increased focus on gamers . A few months later, Microsoft surprised many by acquiring Minecraft for $2.5 billion , Nadella's first major acquisition as the new CEO. Microsoft buying Minecraft looks unusual, but it's actually a genius move for the company. Minecraft already generates strong revenue, and Microsoft expects to break even from its purchase by June. That's already looking like a much better acquisition than Ballmer's $6.2 billion write-off of Microsoft's 2007 acquisition of aQuantive. Financials aside, in the longterm it will likely play into Microsoft's cloud services plan, and the company has already used it to help demonstrate its new HoloLens headset . Elsewhere, Nadella is making some daring bets on mobility and ways to make consumers love Microsoft again . A surprise Acompli acquisition has resulted in an Outlook mail app for iOS and Android that people are praising far and wide, and a rumored Sunrise acquisition could have similar results. Nadella also teamed up with Dropbox to integrate its cloud service with Office versions for iOS, Android, and Windows. It's a new approach that is clearly designed to get consumers to respect and like Microsoft apps and services, while having the long-term benefit of convincing them to use a Microsoft Account instead of a Google or Apple ID. Some question Microsoft's efforts as warning signs for Office and Exchange, but the reality is that Microsoft is betting on far bigger targets than its enterprise communications platform. These recent acquisitions are key to where Microsoft is heading in the next five years and why Nadella is moving quickly to try and reposition the company. Nadella has made some changes to Windows that most consumers won't even notice, like making it free for device makers who are creating devices with screens under 9 inches . That allows companies like HTC or Samsung to create Windows-based small tablets and phones without paying money for a license. It's a big change that has resulted in a number of low-cost Windows-based machines launching over the holiday season. It's also a strategic move to increase Windows Phone market share, shake off any potential Chrome OS threats, and once again get people using Microsoft apps and services. "We want to move from people needing Windows, to choosing Windows, to loving Windows," said Nadella at a recent press event for Windows 10. "That is our bold goal." That love is lacking, and as Microsoft moves to what Nadella calls "Windows as a service," then the idea of operating systems becomes less relevant. The future will be a battleground over services and apps that work across multiple devices and different form factors, and Nadella's background in cloud seems to be influencing Microsoft's moves here. There are plenty of parts left at Microsoft for Nadella to transform, and he hasn't always been perfect. Nadella faltered when he said women should have " faith in the system " so that those who didn't ask for raises would receive "good karma." The reaction was outrage, and Nadella was quick to apologize . It was a testing time for the new CEO, but 2015 looks to be an even bigger challenge. Nadella now faces the prospect of a Windows 10 launch that is promising big things and returning Microsoft back to its focus on the familiarity of Windows and a company that's great at software. Microsoft is still struggling with Windows Phone, and Lumia hardware could be a distraction. Lumia sales are heading in the right direction, but too slowly, and new universal apps across Windows 10 are designed to boost developer attention to the platform and generate more consumer interest. Perhaps the biggest challenge of all is proving where Microsoft will make money from its free versions of Windows and free apps / services on iOS and Android to offset any dips in Windows licensing. Microsoft's recent quarterly results showed significant decreases in revenue for both Windows and Windows Phone, something investors and analysts will be watching closely as the year progresses. The answer could be a more Google-like approach , with revenue coming from advertising and subscription services. If Microsoft can continue to surprise everyone with bold new visions of the future of Windows like HoloLens and a continued focus on cross-platform software and services, then Nadella's second year as CEO could be even more exciting. For now, he's shaken up Microsoft and presented a vision for how the company will thrive against strong competition, and he's made a big impression in just a year.
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K.L shows you how to create a sweet, flirty and pink look for a Valentine's Day date, using simple colors and easy, fool-proof techniques.
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lifestyle
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When a business traveler received a text message from her hotel in Texas inviting her to make any special requests, the cheeky guest texted back asking for a framed picture of Nicolas Cage in the movie "Con Air." It had to be an auto-generated message, she assumed, and thought nothing more of it. But when she got to her room at the Hotel Indigo San Antonio Riverwalk, there on her freshly made bed, was a framed photo of the long-haired "majestic hunk in all his glory," circa 1997, with a handwritten Post-It note that read, "Sweet Dreams! Enjoy." In an age when customer service is characterized by spam and automatic, computer-generated messages, the level of service provided at the Texas hotel serves as a good reminder that sometimes only the human touch will do. Amused, Sarah, who goes by the pseudo 'FreePsychicReadings' on Imgur, continued to test out the hotel's level of customer service with subsequent requests of Nicolas Cage in varying stages of his filmography: Nicolas Cage in "Moonstruck" and Cage in "8 MM." When one of her requests went unfulfilled by her 6 pm deadline, later a contrite Cage from "Moonstruck" appeared on her bed with a message that read, "Sorry I'm late, Nick." And before she checked out, staff continued to play along by taping a 'bonus' photo of Cage in "The Vampire's Kiss" on the back of her hotel door, with a message that thanked her for her stay. "I highly recommend this hotel," she wrote on Imgur."You rule, Ramon." Check out the photos on http://bit.ly/1KuQZmW .
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travel
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Kentucky Fried Chicken is bringing back a popular retired item. The company is introducing popcorn chicken nuggets. KFC previously had an item on the menu called popcorn chicken, but that was discontinued in 2011. Those who enjoy fried food will love this poppable, snackable take on chicken nuggets. KFC advertised the nuggets as "100% white meat. The way nuggets should be." The company also wrote: "KFC Popcorn Nuggets are 100% white meat, extra crispy, and made from the world's best chicken. Grab them on the go or add them as a side to your next meal. Either way, you won't look at nuggets the same ever again." KFC is even offering a promotion of a $5 fill-up. KFC is promoting the product with the hashtag #MyFirstPopcornNugget. This fried product comes right on the heels of the launch of the Double Down Dog in the Philippines. Popcorn nuggets certainly have more of a mass appeal than a hot dog with bacon wrapped in fried chicken, but they still should be consumed with restraint, as a large serving of popcorn nuggets contains 570 calories . NOW WATCH: Watch Out Lululemon Women Are Going Crazy Over These No-Underwear Yoga Pants
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finance
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Good news for all of you sticking to vegan or Paleo diets: Starbucks will soon begin offering a non-soy dairy alternative. Beginning Feb. 17, the coffee chain will serve coconut milk, according to a Starbucks news release . And it's not just any coconut milk, it's "Starbucks Single Origin Sumatra Coconut Milk, a creamy, delicious alternative to dairy and soy for handcrafted beverages." It's certified vegan and, if you were wondering, made from coconuts from the Indonesian island of Sumatra. The new option will cost you an extra 60 cents, which is the same as soy milk, USA Today reports . Thousands of customers have been requesting an alternative to dairy and soy on MyStarbucksIdea.com, the company explained, so they are finally giving the people what they want.
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health
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What was a slow rebound in gas prices at stations around the U.S. has picked up the pace significantly over the past few days. Last week, the national average bottomed out at $2.03 per gallon, before inching up to $2.05 on Monday, according to AAA . It then spiked up to $2.11 on Wednesday and $2.15 today. Drivers in certain parts of the country have seen gas prices increase in alarmingly quick fashion, far outpacing the rise in the national average. In central Ohio , for instance, the average price for a gallon of regular was $2.26 on Wednesday, up from $2.04 the day before. As of Thursday, AAA reports that the statewide per-gallon average in Ohio is up to $2.27. The gas-price tracking service GasBuddy reported that 26 metropolitan areas in the U.S. saw spikes of 15¢ or more per gallon from Tuesday to Wednesday of this week. Michigan has been hit especially hard: Eight out of the nation's top 15 highest price increases in occurred in the state, including the three largest spikes. Up until last week, Michigan had enjoyed five straight weeks of sub-$2 gas ; at last check, the statewide average was $2.28. Meanwhile, drivers in states where the average has been under $2 for weeks should reacclimate themselves with having to pay more at the pump: The averages in Alabama, Arizona, Colorado, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas, and Wyoming have all inched up back to within two or three pennies of the $2 threshold. Even if prices continue to creep higher in the short term, however, drivers won't necessarily be subjected to ever-higher prices at the pump in the months ahead. On Wednesday, the Wall Street Journal noted, U.S. oil stockpiles rose unexpectedly to 6.3 million barrels which is the highest it's been at this time of year in at least eight decades. When there's a surplus of oil, wholesale prices drop, and that generally translates to a subsequent drop in retail prices at gas stations. No one knows for sure where gas prices are heading, but even after the recent spike, drivers in many parts of the country are still paying less than $2 per gallon an absolute bargain compared to 2011 , 2012 , and 2013 , when the year-long national averages were $3.49 or higher. And most signs indicate that prices won't be heading back to those kinds of levels anytime soon.
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finance
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This has been a great week for Twitter. The company announced new features, new advertising partnerships and reportedly struck a deal to get users' tweets back on Google search, leading the company's stock price to increase more than 11 percent since last Thursday. But that could all come to a screeching halt after the stock markets close this afternoon if Twitter's latest earnings show that once again the micro-blogging service is struggling to gain new users and continuing to lose the interest of the ones it has. "This has been the outstanding question almost since their IPO … how is Twitter doing in terms of its new user growth?" said Brian Blau, research director for Gartner. "That is a thing that investors really worry about because if the service isn't resonating with users that is more long-term trouble. That means that there's something fundamentally wrong with Twitter." Since it's latest earnings results, Twitter has tried to communicate to investors that its reach goes beyond the number of users who actually log into the service, but that argument isn't resonating due in large part to the success of Facebook, the company's main rival in the social space. Still all about user growth While Twitter has struggled to gain new users for years now, Facebook has had no trouble continuing to grow despite already having more than a billion users on its service. Add to that the fact that Facebook-owned Instagram reached the 300 million-user mark ahead of Twitter , which is four years older, and you can understand investors' frustrations. "Not only are they very slowly collecting new users compared to their competitors, but the users they have actually became slightly less active on the site last quarter," said Forrester Research Analyst Nate Elliott, pointing out Twitter in October reported a 7 percent decrease in its global timeline views per user. "That's a pretty terrible sign. They should be growing not shrinking." Time and again, Twitter has tried to fix its growth problem, but thus far, it hasn't found much success. It's latest strategy is to generate an " Instant Timeline " for new users based on other Twitter users in their contact books, a strategy designed to make the service more enjoyable from the get-go. Last month, the company also introduced new private group messaging features along with the ability to upload videos directly onto Twitter, tools that may get users to stay on the service longer than they already do. And if indeed an agreement has been reached with Google to show tweets on its search results as they're posted in real time, as reported by Bloomberg , then Twitter may be able to give its active users number a boost. CEO under pressure The problem is that none of these additions will have an impact on the quarter Twitter is about to report, and if the company is unable to show any signs that its user base and user engagement are headed in the right direction, the calls for CEO Dick Costolo's ouster will only grow louder. Twitter's co-founders have strongly voiced support for their CEO in recent weeks, but Wall Street may not be so supportive. If Costolo disappoints once again, the pressure will be on him to either drastically change the service, change his top people or change his own responsibilities within the company, Gartner's Blau said. "Twitter is definitely on a campaign to figure out how to get more users onto the site, but I haven't seen any big changes from them," Blau said. "They certainly have some new tactics, and I hope the situation improves for them, but until they make more fundamental changes, we may not see a large amount of change in growth." The problem with Twitter is the company doesn't innovate, Forrester's Elliott said. The company needs to add more features and broader functionality to attract new users and give existing users reasons to keep coming back. "If you used Twitter the first day it existed and then slipped into a coma for eight years and woke up today, you'd recognize the platform. It looks very much the same," Elliott said. "While Facebook innovates every day and constantly offers users new ways to engage on the site, Twitter's basically the same exact thing it's always been."
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finance
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With its bundles of tubes, scrappy welding, and old-fashioned dials, Henry the computer looks like something from the backroom of a steampunk convention. Its creator, however, says the prototype represents the future of home computing a custom server rack that could provide processing power for internet users up and down the country while collecting excess heat to warm the house it's installed in. "40 to 60% of the energy that goes into data centers is used to cool down the servers," says engineer Lawrence Orsini, Henry's inventor. "What if instead of using all that energy to keep the servers cool we instead focused on capturing, thermally storing, and reusing the heat from the servers?" Orsini's prototype computer-slash-space-heater, Henry. ( Project Exergy ) To develop this idea, Orsini has launched Project Exergy on Kickstarter a crowdfunding campaign that unfortunately offers little in the way of rewards (just t-shirts and trophies no computers) but that is still hoping to attract more than $100,000 in donations. "So far, we've proven that the concept works and now we need your help to develop a next generation," writes Orsini on the Kickstarter page . "We need help to create a second super energy-productive prototype that is capable of running faster and getting even hotter and capturing far more heat." Future designs would not only supply houses with heat but also computing power Orsini's current prototype consists of six graphic cards running at 199 F (93 °C) with a heat exchange to transfer the excess warmth to water pipes. He says it does a fine job of heating his New York home but is running "at the very extremes of what he can reliably do on a daily basis with his off the shelf parts." Orsini hopes that future models will use electronics submerged completely in a non-conductive, electrically insulating fluid, and will plug directly into existing heating systems. He also imagines that they could be used as the brains for a house full of gadgets, or as part of a distributed data center. (Bonus: they look a little like cylindrical versions of the monolith from 2001: A Space Odyssey .) Project Exergy is nothing if not ambitious, but the underlying concept is sound. Data centers create masses of undesirable heat while the average American household uses 60 percent of its energy warming up rooms and water. Orsini isn't the first to look at these facts and put two and two together either. Amazon is currently planning to use excess heat from its Seattle data centers to keep its futuristic campus warm , while German startup Cloud&Heat wants to install servers in customers homes in exchange for free heating and internet. For Facebook, the problem of keeping its servers cool is such an issue that it's currently building a data center just south of the Arctic Circle . With the global need for raw processing power still rising , it makes sense for companies to take advantage of the waste heat data centers create. However, creating a solution that works on a home-by-home basis just seems too far-fetched right now, offering all sorts of difficulties from creating a heat transfer system that works in any house to trusting homeowners with strangers' data that are less of an issue at scale.
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news
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Starbucks has announced its U.S. locations will begin offering coconut milk nationwide on Feb. 17. The non-dairy, non-soy alternative to add to beverages has apparently been in high demand at the coffee chain. Spokeswoman Sanja Gould told USA Today that adding coconut milk as an option is the second most requested idea from customers that the company has received online. According to a press release by the company, this idea has generated more than 84,000 votes from customers who agree. "Starbucks will deliver this additional customization with the introduction of Starbucks Single Origin Sumatra Coconut Milk, a creamy, delicious alternative to dairy and soy for handcrafted beverages," the press release states. It also adds that this coconut milk is certified vegan and is made from coconuts from the Indonesian island of Sumatra. CNN notes that this news has already delighted many customers who have taken to social media to express their happiness. ( PETA is also pretty excited.) Starbucks began offering soy milk in 1997. Since then, consumer tastes have evolved and there has been strong demand for other non-dairy alternatives. As a result, other coffee chains have also introduced coconut milk to their menus. Watch the video above to learn more about the new coconut milk alternative being offered at Starbucks locations nationwide. Image Credit: Starbucks
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foodanddrink
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The Spurs had an unexpectedly-hard time beating a Magic team that was coming off a nine-game losing streak on Wednesday at home. After a good second quarter, the Spurs stopped executing and let Orlando hung around until a Tony Parker corner three sealed a 110-103 win in the last minute of the game. Inconsistency has been a problem for the Spurs all year, as seemingly everyone on the roster goes through hot and cold stretches that prevent the team from achieving a semblance of regularity. That is, everyone except Tim Duncan . Duncan scored 26 points against the Magic on just 17 shots. His points by quarter: six, seven, seven, six. When everything else is in flux for the Spurs, they can always rely on Duncan to be their anchor. Even at his age, Duncan is one of the best big men in the league. His coach believes that means he will stick around past this season. "No matter how (the season) ends, I think Timmy is going to look at (retirement) again. And if you ask me, my guess is that he'll go for another one because he has been so consistent this season," Gregg Popovich told USA Today's Sam Amick . Duncan is averaging 14.8 points and 10 rebounds and could be the first 38-year-old to finish the year with a double-double if those numbers hold. He's not the dominant force he used to be in the block but has find ways to remain a threat on offense by scoring off the pick and roll. It's on defense where Duncan is still an impact player, ranking at the top in defensive real plus minus and willing the injury-riddled Spurs to a top five unit despite Leonard and Splitter missing a combined 42 games. "Manu (Ginobili) is not having a great year. Tony [Parker] has had a really spotty year - he has been injured a lot. Kawhi Leonard has been out most of the time, with his eye in the beginning and then with his hand. He is just basically starting his season. (Reserve point guard) Patty Mills came back in January after the shoulder (injury), and he's not back in it. (Center) Tiago Splitter is not having a great year so far. (Reserve guard Marco) Belinelli has been out," Popovich said. "So it leaves one guy: Duncan. He is the guy who has carried us." Few players have the drive to keep going after so many years and so many accomplishments, but Duncan seems to be one of them. This season has been so packed with great moments that it's easy to overlook Duncan and the underachieving Spurs. Yet The Big Fundamental is not only having a great year coaches considered worthy of an All-Star selection, but also arguably the best season ever for a player his age. Spurs fans should hope Popovich is right and he will be back next season schooling youngsters at age 39. Just in case he doesn't, though, make sure to tune in once in a while to watch one of the best players of his generation still do his thing in his 18th year in the league.
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BERLIN The Berlin International Film Festival kicked off Thursday with the first of 19 contenders for the event's top Golden Bear honor, a new movie starring Juliette Binoche as the wife of an Arctic explorer. The premiere of "Nobody Wants the Night," directed by Isabel Coixet, set in 1908 and starring Binoche as Josephine Peary, kicks off a typically varied competition at this year's first major European film festival. Rivals include Terrence Mallick's new "Knight of Cups," starring Christian Bale, Cate Blanchett and Natalie Portman; Werner Herzog's "Queen of the Desert," with Nicole Kidman and James Franco; and films from Vietnam, Guatemala and Romania. Set in Greenland, the opening film gets the festival off to a chilly start though all isn't what it seems. ___ NOT SO COLD Binoche plays the wife of Arctic explorer Robert Peary, heading off in pursuit of her husband as he seeks a route to the North Pole and ignoring warnings about the onset of winter. The French actress said the film team had only 10 days in genuinely cold Norway. "The rest of it was all studio in Tenerife in June, with fur," she told reporters. But, she insisted, "I felt the cold as well ... we have the capacity with our imagination to create chills. The magic, I found out while we were shooting, is that the imagination makes you believe that it's true." ___ POWERFUL WOMEN Spanish director Coixet, whose previous films include "Elegy" and "Map of the Sounds of Tokyo," sighed at questions about the opening movie's combination of strong women the director herself, Binoche and Rinko Kikuchi, who plays a young Inuit woman. "We talk about gender? We have to? It's so boring," she said. Still, she offered her thoughts on how to get ahead in a male-dominated industry: "I'm very stubborn. I'm able to sacrifice lots of things," she said. Making movies is "a road paved with stones," she said. "As a woman, as a director, what I want is not a road with no stones. The only thing I want is the same stones a male director has." ___ WHO WILL BE THE JUDGE? The seven-member festival jury is headed by American director Darren Aronofsky ("Noah," ''Black Swan," ''The Wrestler"). Winners of the Golden Bear are notoriously difficult to predict, though they are often less-heralded productions: last year's prize, in a field that included Oscar contenders "Boyhood" and "The Grand Budapest Hotel," went to Chinese director Diao Yinan's "Black Coal, Thin Ice." Aronofsky said "festival competitions are such a strange thing, because they are so subjective." They "bring attention to films that sometimes have a hard time creating a space in today's insane world," he said. ___ NO WOUNDED EGOS Fellow juror Audrey Tautou ("Amelie") said she isn't worried about anyone feeling hurt by the jury's choices, even if not everyone follows her own example. "I didn't stop smoking, but I stopped reading critics, so I don't know how it feels any more to have bad reviews," she said. Seriously, though, she said the jury will only be voting for and not against productions. "There is nothing which could be painful," she said.
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entertainment
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Rank 'em: The top 10 drivers who threaten Harvick's quest for repeat 10. Kyle Larson Sure, he's just in his second Sprint Cup season, but Larson proved last year that he's the real deal. Don't forget: Dale Earnhardt won his first title in his second season, and Jeff Gordon captured his first crown in Year Three. In a sport where almost anything is possible, Larson's talent and potential for greatness are undeniable. 9. Ryan Newman While it will no doubt be a tall order for Newman to match or surpass last season's runner-up points finish to Harvick, the Richard Childress Racing driver reminded everyone in 2014 that he should not be overlooked or taken lightly when it comes to the championship discussion. 8. Carl Edwards Paired with a new team, new manufacturer and new crew chief, Edwards is in many ways starting all over again with his move to Joe Gibbs Racing. But as new teammate Matt Kenseth proved in 2013, first-year JGR drivers are capable of putting up big numbers and making a title run. 7. Dale Earnhardt Jr. While Earnhardt Jr. is all but certain to face some growing pains with first-year crew chief Greg Ives, the Hendrick Motorsports driver is persuaded he can actually improve on his success from the past four seasons with Steve Letarte. Without question, Junior Nation hopes he's right. 6. Denny Hamlin Despite winning just once, Hamlin finished 2014 on an extremely impressive note by making the Championship 4 and battling hard for the win at Homestead-Miami Speedway. With new crew chief Dave Rogers calling the shots in 2015, another run at the title seems like a distinct possibility. 5. Matt Kenseth Even though he didn't win a race in 2014, Kenseth was his usual quiet, consistent self. If the Joe Gibbs Racing driver can find a way to get back to Victory Lane this year, he has a good chance of being a player in the championship fight. 4. Joey Logano One of the biggest and most pleasant surprises of 2014, Logano for the first time enters a season widely considered a threat to take the Sprint Cup title. If his pit crew can avoid the kind of meltdown that happened last year at Homestead, there's a strong possibility Logano will contend until the bitter end. 3. Jimmie Johnson Coming off of a down season by his lofty standards, Jimmie Johnson certainly cannot be written off in his quest for a record-tying seventh Sprint Cup title. If he and longtime crew chief Chad Knaus can stay on the same page and keep the bickering at bay, Johnson is quite possibly the single biggest threat to Harvick's quest for repeat championships. 2. Brad Keselowski No one made more enemies in 2014 than Keselowski, but virtually no one enjoyed more success, either. With no major offseason changes to his No. 2 Team Penske bunch, Keselowski appears poised to mount a serious challenge for his second Sprint Cup title. 1. Jeff Gordon Making his final run at an elusive fifth championship, Gordon knows it's now or never. This much is also certain: Nothing would be more fitting than for the Hendrick Motorsports driver to conclude his last full season by climbing NASCAR's mountain one more time.
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sports
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Ever try to explain to your doctors exactly what that weird symptom you are experiencing feels like, and sense they aren't quite catching your drift? Those little misunderstandings might have some unintended side effects, according to a new study published in the American Journal of Medicine . Researchers from the University of Southampton and University of Exeter Medical School monitored five women's doctor-patient consultations at a pain-management clinic. Each was there to discuss her chronic, widespread pain. The healthcare providers often used, what they deemed comforting, phrases like, "There's no physiological reason that you're experiencing pain." However, these reassurances were not taken so kindly; during the follow-up interviews, patients thought their docs were actually dismissing their symptoms, or patronizing them. On the flip side, docs reported pushback from patients, who didn't seem to believe their diagnosis. Basically, everyone felt upset in the end, and this negative feedback could be extremely problematic. "Our work indicates that the effects of patients feeling that their doctor doesn't believe or understand them can be damaging both emotionally and physiologically. This could lead to worsening of illness," says lead study author Maddy Greville-Harris, a psychology professor at the University of Southampton, in a press release . The worsening of symptoms caused by negative feedback is something researchers call the "nocebo response." Whereas the placebo effect is a kind of positive reinforcement, where people think their conditions will improve with treatment even if they haven't actually been given said treatment the "nocebo" does the opposite. It's a perception that they are not being believed, leading to anger and worsening symptoms. Although the current study is small, the scientists say the results of negative-feedback need to be examined closer. RELATED: Most People Don't Recognize Common Cancer Symptoms A Hug A Day Can Keep the Doctor Away Doctors Now Writing Prescriptions for Your Workout
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health
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Charles Haley won five Super Bowl rings, three in Dallas and a pair with Joe Montana and the San Francisco 49ers. So it's no surprise that Haley would take Montana over New England Patriots four-time winner Tom Brady. The explanation of that decision could be a bit surprising. "Joe didn't have to cheat," Haley told the Talk of Fame Network. "I've lost all respect (for Brady). When your integrity is challenged in the game of football, to me, all his Super Bowls are tainted. You have to say this just didn't happen overnight. Who wants that shadow over them? I could be wrong. But I realize there were 12 balls deflated and 12 ain't. Then you've got (Patriots coach Bill) Belichick coming on three different times trying to explain it ... You know something is wrong." Haley will be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in August. He said Brady deserves to keep his Super Bowl rings, but the ongoing Deflategate controversy is hovering over Brady's legacy. The three-time Super Bowl MVP owns multiple postseason records and eclipsed Montana's mark for touchdown passes in the Super Bowl in the Patriots' 28-24 win over the Seattle Seahawks in Arizona. "It's going to come back to haunt him one day," Haley said. "If the league doesn't come down on this guy ... everybody is talking about it. Nobody believes it was by accident. It is what it is. I'm not going to take any of his Super Bowl rings away from him. But it's sad that it has to be tainted like it is right now. Hopefully they'll come out and let us know what really happened. Then all the mystery is gone." Commissioner Roger Goodell said in Phoenix last week that the league is not close to completing the investigation into whether the deflated footballs used in the first half of the AFC Championship game were flattened intentionally.
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sports
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WASHINGTON, Feb 5 (Reuters) - U.S. House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner on Thursday accused the State Department of stonewalling its review of the long-pending Keystone XL pipeline, saying Secretary of State John Kerry must address the issue to make the department's actions more transparent. "The Democrats are dragging their feet," Boehner, the top House Republican, told reporters, referring to the TransCanada Corp's project to bring 830,000 barrels per day of mostly Canadian oil sands petroleum to refineries and ports on the Gulf Coast. "Now the State Department is stonewalling and is refusing to answer basic questions about its review. I'm calling on Secretary Kerry to address this issue," Boehner said. The State Department, which is assessing the project because it crosses the national border, received comments from eight federal agencies this week on whether the pipeline is in the country's interest. The project has been pending for more than six years. One of the bureaus, the Environmental Protection Agency, separately urged the State Department to consider whether low crude prices mean the pipeline would play a bigger role in developing Canada's oil sands and, as a consequence, raise emissions linked to climate change. President Barack Obama has said the project should not be approved if it significantly raises the emissions. (Reporting by Richard Cowan, Susan Heavey and Timothy Gardner; Editing by Mohammad Zargham)
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LeBron James has made it a point this season to teach his young teammates how to win. At the beginning of the year, he refused to shoot to make a point about unselfishness, and now he has taken that approach to a new level by volunteering to come off the bench if that's the best thing for the team: "For me being the leader of the team, it doesn't matter," James told reporters after practice Wednesday . "Whatever this team needs in order for this team to win -- I'll come off the bench and I'm serious. I'll come off the bench. If it helps our team, that's what it's about, man." The Cavaliers don't have a traditional sixth man after trading Dion Waiters and inserting J.R. Smith into the starting lineup. According to HoopStats , their bench is the least productive in the league in terms of points per game. Against the 76ers Monday, they were outscored 37 to 28 in bench points. They definitely need more production from their subs. Still, having LeBron come off the bench to solve that problem would be preposterous. Coach David Blatt agrees. "No. No. He's doing fine where he is. He's doing quite fine." That's an understatement. James is having a down year by his standards, but he is still averaging 26.2 points, 5.5 rebounds and 7.4 assists. The Cavaliers are a whopping 17.2 points better when he's on the court as opposed to sitting. He has led the team in scoring, rebounding and assists during their 11-game win streak. Needless to say, they need him on the court as much as possible. Spirits are high in Cleveland right now and it's easier to get young players to buy in when the wins keep piling up. With his comments, James is simply trying to send a message about sacrificing for the good of the team, which is something his teammates might need to do in the future. It would definitely be entertaining to see James come off the bench and destroy team's second units but don't expect that to happen anytime soon.
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Once you've figured out your kids' classroom valentines, they'll need something to stash them in! Because an ordinary cardboard box simply won't do, we've searched the web for 19 adorable ways to DIY a one-of-a-kind valentine mailbox (and found one you can order online - no glue gun required). Shark Attack! Source: Instagram user taylortran Hello Kitty! Source: Instagram user ang_waters It's a Jungle in Here! One Charming Party's adorable animal printables can be used as cards or turned into miniboxes. iLove Source: Instagram user kyleighdyan Monkey Love Source: Instagram user krystlemichelle Five-Alarm Valentine Fun Source: Instagram user xxsturmin8rxx Princess Palace Source: Instagram user amanda6022 March of the Penguin Source: Instagram user madi_spencerr Monster Mash Source: Instagram user kr33pg SWAK We love blogger Mer Mag's easy tutorial for a duct tape mailbox! Mini Minion Source: Instagram user justbeccaz Pottery Barn Kids Envelope Chair Backer For those who don't do DIY, Pottery Barn Kids to the rescue! Owl Love You Source: Instagram user satansflowerchild A Box o' Batman Source: Sweet Paper Trail Love Song Source: Instagram user bricsgirl A Yellow Submarine Source: Plaid A Giant Lego Brick Source: Instagram user ckurek89 An Olaf Box Source: Instagram user jennycoplin Pretty Little Piggy Source: Giggles Galore Valentine Cruisers Source: Instagram user jazzbutcher
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Fair or not, the burden of leadership falls on Boogie's shoulders now. DeMarcus Cousins has received plenty of criticism since he entered the league in 2010. Much of the criticism stemmed from attitude issues, real or perceived. But now, as Boogie makes his first All-Star appearance as the dominant center of the terrible Sacramento Kings , Cousins is being faced with a new type of criticism. Cousins is facing the burden of being a star, and the burden of being a leader. Fair or unfair, DeMarcus will now absorb blame for the Kings' shortcomings, despite those shortcomings being clearly unrelated to Cousins' play. Cousins' play will be nitpicked. Take, for example, a convenient Vine of a completely blown defensive assignment: On the Kings' broadcast, Grant Napear exclaimed it was the worst inbound defense he'd seen all year. He openly wondered if Cousins was confused and thought the Kings had the ball. But Wednesday morning, the Vine was simply an opportunity to rip into Cousins. Seriously, this is why coaches don't give you All-Star votes when you're averaging 24 &12. https://t.co/wTP5QOOyzs John Schuhmann (@johnschuhmann) February 4, 2015 And while it may be easy to see this as another example of the media taking unfair shots at Boogie, it's not accurate. These moments stick with people. It doesn't matter that Cousins had 26 points, 11 rebounds, four assists, and three steals. It doesn't matter because the Kings lost and a six-second Vine makes for easy commentary and judgement. And I say it's not unique to Cousins because it's happened to plenty of other stars. Most recently, recall the backlash against James Harden. Harden had a Vine like this every couple of games for a stretch. Harden doesn't exert himself on defense, and is now notorious for that. Yet eventually people accept stars for their faults and their strengths. And it doesn't matter how many defensive lapses Harden has, he was a no-brainer All-Star selection. In the coming years, it will be the same with Cousins. And Cousins plays pretty solid defense most of the time. In the meantime, the NBA collective will pick at the rough edges of Cousins' game while they adjust to just how incredible he has become. Cousins will be tasked with taking the criticism, something we know he's accustomed to. Cousins will be called out for leadership issues, real or imagined, as the Kings struggle along through no fault of Boogie's. Fair has nothing to do with it. This is just how the NBA works. DeMarcus Cousins is a bona fide superstar, and he'll have to handle the new burdens that go along with that status.
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Celebrity chef Wolfgang Puck is all set to cater at the Governors Ball, the Oscars after-party on February 22, for the 21st time. His menu for the event is ready and here's what he will be serving... Smoked salmon Oscar matzo Lobster BLT Salmon and caviar appetizers Gold dusted chocolate Oscar statuettes Marshmallow pops Peanut butter and raspberry jelly cake lollipops Piper-Heidsieck prestige cuvee rare champagne Chicken pot pie Coffee Oscar lollipops Chocolates Appetizers Appetizers
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By NESN Staff It really is a fairy-tale life for Tom Brady and Gisele Bundchen. The supermodel recently opened up to Vogue UK for its March 2015 issue about how her relationship with the New England Patriots quarterback began, and it appears these two lovebirds knew from Day 1 they were going to be together . "I knew Tom was the one straightaway," she told Vogue UK. "I could see it in his eyes that he was a man with integrity who believes in the same things I do." The two were set up on a blind date by a mutual friend back in 2006. The pair tied the knot in 2009, and now have two children together, 5-year-old son Benjamin and 2-year-old daughter Vivian. Brady also has a 7-year-old son John from his previous relationship with actress Bridget Moynihan. Bundchen went on to explain how she separates her work and her home life. "I'm a model as a job, I'm Gisele, the daughter of Valdir and Vania, I'm a woman, I am a model. When I go home and shut the door, that's it. If I want to expose something, it should be my choice," she told the magazine. Things are clearly going alright for these two, who were happier than ever after Brady captured his fourth Super Bowl title with a win over the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday.
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GoPro gets one step closer to becoming a media company with new Roku channel
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The undead in "Dying Light" (Warner Bros., for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC, $59.99) are a relatively laid-back bunch. During the daytime, they're mostly content to idly stumble about the city of Harran, catching some rays while they search for their next helping of human flesh. But when the sun goes down, they become "volatile" and will relentlessly chase down any warm-blooded human who crosses their path. Sure, you can stay indoors until dawn breaks but you haven't experienced "Dying Light" until you're desperately fleeing through pitch-black alleys with a pack of tireless man-eaters on your tail. "Dying Light" is the latest adventure from the Polish studio Techland, best known for the 2011 thriller "Dead Island." The new game shares much of its predecessor's DNA: Once again, you're stuck in a hellhole teeming with infected former humans, with little to defend yourself other than flimsy sticks and broken pipes. Still, there has been some evolution. The new protagonist, one Kyle Crane, has some radical parkour-inspired skills, which make running and jumping across the rooftops of Harran a smooth, at times exhilarating, experience. And when you get a chance to slow down, you can appreciate all the well-drawn details Techland has used to create a convincing, once-lived-in city. The developers have also cleaned up their chaotic inventory and crafting systems, making it easier to build more effective weapons from the objects scattered around the slums. On the other hand, weapons still wear down awfully quickly; having your carefully assembled electrified cricket bat collapse in the middle of a melee remains frustrating. The close-up fighting in "Dying Light" is still pretty rough. You can aim your makeshift machete at a zombie's head for maximum impact, but they don't go down easily, and you'll often find yourself simply flailing until your opponent drops. And for some reason, Kyle who can run halfway across Harran with no problem gets winded after a few swings, so you're in big trouble if you try to take on more than one zombie at a time. That particular problem is exacerbated by some tedious boss battles against behemoths that can absorb a lot more damage than your average mutant. The story is a stew of genre cliches. There's the cocky American dropped into a third-world country to show the locals how it's done. There's the snarling villain to remind us that the worst monster of all is mankind. The writing falls somewhere between the campiness of Capcom's "Dead Rising" and the somberness of Telltale's "The Walking Dead" games, with welcome flashes of black comedy to relieve the anxiety. If you haven't yet gotten worn down by pop culture's recent zombie explosion, "Dying Light" serves up a decent helping of fresh, scrambled brains. And it's such an improvement over "Dead Island" that it makes me hungry for whatever Techland comes up with once it's finished with the undead apocalypse. Two-and-a-half stars out of four.
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From free agent singing, to ECHL standout, and now Hamilton's starting goalie. Mike Condon's journey has been impressive. Marc Bergevin announced this morning that goalie Mike Condon had signed a two-year contract extension, running through to the 2016-17 season. Condon found his game in the ECHL last season with the Wheeling Nailers. He posted a 23-12-4 record, along with a .931 save percentage. That was enough to earn him the backup spot with the Hamilton Bulldogs this season. In 26 games with the Bulldogs this year Condon has 14 wins, 9 losses and 3 overtime losses. He's produced a sparkling .931 save percentage, as well as two shutouts, which has led him to take over the starting job over veteran Joey MacDonald , who has 7-7-3 record and a significantly lower .902 save percentage. Canadiens sign goaltender Mike Condon to a two-year contract extension. DETAILS -> http://t.co/5R68qTtCNC pic.twitter.com/WqcLxyiD8N Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) February 5, 2015 Condon was originally signed as a free agent in 2013, although no one expected him to evolve into anything more than extra insurance in Montreal's goalie depth department. His ascension to the starter role in Hamilton has been fast and very impressive. Follow @HabsEOTP
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How much would it cost to have mandatory, paid family leave in the U.S.? The United States is the only developed country that doesn't guarantee paid leave for workers who are new parents. The federal Family and Medical Leave Act gives workers the right to 12 weeks of unpaid leave. Last month President Obama reignited the debate over paid leave when he pledged to make paid family leave a top priority and used his executive power to gave six weeks of sick leave to federal employees after the birth or adoption of a child. Currently, only 11 percent of American workers get paid family leave through their employers or state programs, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics . Three states-- California, New Jersey, and Rhode Island --offer guaranteed paid leave; the programs are funded by employees' payroll deductions. Because California's Paid Family Leave program is 10 years old and New Jersey's program was instituted in 2009, there is a body of research about the financial impact of paid family leave. (Rhode Island's program is just one year old.) Here are three things to know about the cost of paid leave programs in these states. 1. Paid leave programs financed by payroll deductions cost individual employees less than $1 a week. In New Jersey, family leave is financed 100 percent by worker payroll deductions. Each worker contributes 0.09 percent of the taxable wage base, which is the first $32,000 in covered wages earned. The maximum yearly deduction per employee is $29 in 2015, according to New Jersey's Department of Labor and Workforce Development. Eligible employees can take up to six weeks paid leave and receive weekly benefit rates that are two-thirds of their average weekly wages, up to $595. More than 160,000 leave claims have been filed since the program started in 2009. Eligible California workers receive up to six weeks of leave with wage replacement at approximately 55 percent of their average weekly earnings, up to $1,067 per week in 2013 and an average weekly benefit of $526. The program has paid 1.8 million claims and authorized $4.6 billion in benefit payments, according to the California Employment Development Department. Each employee pays an average $30 a year into the paid leave fund. 2. Having state-mandated, paid family leave hasn't hurt most employers' bottom lines. The fear that giving employees paid leave would create turmoil hasn't materialized in California. In a survey of California business owners that was conducted by the Center for Economic and Policy Research senior economist Eileen Appelbaum and Ruth Milkman, a City University of New York sociologist , the vast majority said the program has had a positive or no negative effect on profitability and performance (91 percent), productivity (89 percent), turnover (93 percent) and employee morale (99 percent). In New Jersey, a 2012 Rutgers University survey of 260 businesses found that most employers hadn't had any employees who had taken advantage of the leave. But of those that did, 69 percent reported that paid leave had no effect or a positive effect on their businesses. In fact, political and business opposition to paid leave has quieted in California and New Jersey since the programs have been up and running. CALIFORNIA CHAMBER QUOTE TK 3. Lots of workers eligible for paid leave do not take it. California's program allows workers to take paid leave for all kinds of family care, including seriously ill relatives. But approximately 90 percent of the total claims filed have been by new parents, according to a 10-year anniversary report by California's Employment Development Department. A poll of registered voters in California three years ago found that only 45 percent knew about the paid leave program , and low-wage workers were the least aware. To help other states enact similar paid leave programs, President Obama has proposed a $50 million State Paid Leave Fund to offer competitive grants to help states cover start-up costs for more employee-funded leave programs. Interesting side note: Paid family leave claims filed by men are growing and have increased more than 400 percent since the California program began. That suggests paid leave may not be just a "mom's" issue - but is of interest to fathers, too. Dory Devlin is a freelance writer and editor who covers workplace, work-life, tech, and entrepreneurship issues.
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It's been a few months since Evander Kane trade rumors popped up, so frankly we were pretty due for this. The Winnipeg Jets forward was a healthy scratch Tuesday night after apparently breaking a team rule by wearing a track suit to a meeting instead of an actual suit. Ink was spilled, feelings were hurt, rumors have spun. The sh*t storm surrounding Kane since he arrived in Winnipeg from Atlanta in 2011 has been pretty unparalleled in hockey, even as other players like Tyler Seguin , Jeff Carter and P.K. Subban have faced similar criticisms. He's been vilified in Winnipeg for such egregious errors as holding up a giant stack of money and pretending it was a phone on a Vegas balcony and shaving something into his hair , which is somehow newsworthy. Add the uncomfortable, obvious tinge of racism to all of this and well, it's really pretty terrible. Meanwhile, he's been a phenomenal hockey player -- mostly on a bad team, unfortunately -- and is a bonafide top-6 winger in the NHL. I won't waste time making the case because it's already been done so well elsewhere , but trust me. The Flyers are weak at left wing and Kane would quickly fill that gap. I mean, you think Jake Voracek and Claude Giroux are dominant now? Imagine adding 20 goals and the skills that Kane has on that line with them. Or imagine Kane as the key guy on a second line. It's drool-worthy. Kane might be interested in Philadelphia. Back in June, the last time trade rumors cropped up around him and the Jets, he actually favorited a tweet that asked Ron Hextall to acquire Kane . Not really a big deal, but could be a window into his thinking. Or maybe it was an accidental fat-finger move on his phone. But there was real, actual interest from Ron Hextall -- to the point where a deal was "very close," according to TSN's Bob McKenzie . That was in September, and the Flyers overall focus has not shifted much since then despite the poor season they are having. So if there's interest, what would stop a deal? Well, money for one. The Flyers are -- as always -- right at the salary cap, and there's no guarantee that it's going to move much in time for next season with the Canadian dollar in flux. Kane is dude $5.25 million against the cap until the summer of 2018, and that deal brings him to unrestricted free agency that year. Unless the Flyers can get some of these huge, ugly contracts off of their books -- nobody is taking Andrew MacDonald or Vincent Lecavalier right now -- adding another $5.25 million against the cap is going to be hard. The Flyers might have some pieces to trade away, and Winnipeg likely wants two good NHL pieces and some mix of picks and prospects, and if there's enough interest they just might get it. Maybe Nick Cousins is an option on the prospect front -- I'm not sure how the Flyers think of him as an NHL prospect or future Flyer, but I doubt he's "untouchable" and he's clearly showing his worth in the AHL right now. Hextall does have a first round pick up his sleeve this year, but trading it seems frankly insane given that it will likely be a top-10 pick. As for the NHL players, we're probably talking about Brayden Schenn and/or Sean Couturier , as we always are when it comes to trade rumors and the Flyers. Then again, the Jets are in a rough position in terms of leverage, and maybe Hextall could talk him down. It all depends on the market, but Winnipeg is kind of shooting themselves in the foot by the way they've handled Kane all along. In any event, this is all to say that it would be an expensive and difficult deal for the Flyers to make, and they'd have to shed some salary in the process, only complicating things. The idea of Evander Kane on the Flyers is certainly enough to make one glaze over in a dreamy stupor, but I don't know if it would be worth it to a team that has other things to worry about right now.
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LAKE CITY, Fla. No charges will be filed against an 11-year-old north Florida girl held in connection to her brother's fatal shooting, but charges are still being considered for her 15-year-old sister, prosecutors said Thursday. The elder sister, who police say fatally shot her 16-year-old brother Jan. 5 while their truck-driver parents were away for work, could still be charged, said Third Circuit State Attorney Jeff Siegmeister. She is due back in court in March. Both girls were released from juvenile detention and have been placed in new homes under state supervision. Their parents, who face felony child neglect charges, are out of jail on bond. "The judge won't let their parents anywhere near them," said Blair Payne, the public defender representing the elder girl. The Associated Press is not naming members of the family because of the girls' ages and because of abuse allegations. Documents show that the elder girl suffered years of abuse, including being locked in her bedroom for days with only a blanket and a bucket to use the bathroom. Police documents also indicate she was sexually abused by her uncle, who was convicted and sentenced to life in prison for it. On Jan. 5, investigators say, the elder girl was held in a locked bedroom by her older brother while their parents were away. The girl persuaded the younger sister to unlock the door so she could shower, police reports state. The elder sister asked the younger one to keep watch while she cut away foam from around an air conditioner so she could get through the window of her parents' locked bedroom, where she retrieved a pistol, police said. With gun in hand, the girl asked her younger sister to take their 3-year-old sister and hide in a closet before she shot her brother in the neck as he slept, police said. The two older girls fled the house, leaving the toddler behind. They were later found by police outside a Dollar General store after the younger girl called a friend saying she needed a ride. Officials found the 3-year-old with the dead boy's body, according to police documents. Payne said his office has received money, gift cards, clothes and food from the community and people elsewhere who want to help the girls. "When they were arrested, they had nothing but the clothes on their back," Payne said. "There were a lot of wet eyes in this office when those girls left."
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A barber shop in suburban Atlanta is creating buzz with the "Benjamin Button haircut." It's a free service for parents who want to straighten out misbehaving kids. Gayle King reports.
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lifestyle
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The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday put on hold the execution by Texas of convicted murderer Lester Bower as it considers whether to hear his full appeal including the assertion that his three decades on death row amount to cruel and unusual punishment. Bower, 67, is one of the longest-serving prisoners on death row in Texas. He was sentenced to death for murdering four men in 1983 in an aircraft hangar near Sherman, Texas. Bower was scheduled to be executed on Feb. 10. He asked for a delay so the Supreme Court could consider his appeal, which is pending at the court. The next time the nine justices are scheduled to meet to discuss new cases to take up is Feb. 20. Among the legal questions that Bower has raised is whether the U.S. Constitution's ban on cruel and unusual punishment has been violated by his more than 30-year stay on death row. According to Bower's court filings, he has faced imminent execution on six different occasions during his time in prison. Lawyers for Bower have tried for more than two decades to have his conviction thrown out, saying he was found guilty due to faulty witness testimony. Bower has denied ever being at the hangar where the murders took place but authorities said aircraft parts found in his home and other evidence implicated him in the crimes. Bower killed Bob Tate to steal an ultralight plane Tate was trying to sell and then killed the other three men when they unexpectedly showed up at the hangar, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice said. Bower's case raises different issues than a case the Supreme Court agreed to hear last month on Oklahoma's execution protocol. The court agreed to block three executions in Oklahoma while it considers whether midazolam, the sedative used by Oklahoma as part of its lethal injection procedures, constitutes cruel and unusual punishment. (Reporting by Lawrence Hurley; Additional reporting by Jon Herskovitz; Editing by Will Dunham)
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Dr Pam Spurr gives you the low-down on the secret signs and signals their present gives. The secret signs and signals their present gives So you've received a Valentine's gift and either you're pleased with it or, quite frankly, you expected something else. Your personal delight - or disappointment - may not be the only thing at stake here. Because is a box of chocolates just a box of something delicious or a piece of jewellery merely something shiny and gold? Or does the choice of gift convey a deeper meaning about your other half's feelings towards you? Whether or not you like the gift, their choice contains a hidden meaning. Your new boyfriend, girlfriend or long-term lover is actually saying something about the state of your relationship. Or at least their view of it! Because when we buy a present for a lover we don't just give a present, we also give a subconscious message about our feelings and intentions along with it. Here is relationship expert Dr Pam Spurr's guide to the most popular gifts that both men and women give and what they reveal about the gift-giver. Jewelery What does the gift of a piece of jewelery mean? Your lover wants to make a big statement and get your attention. Giving jewelery is a real gesture of commitment and signals they look at the relationship as a long-term thing. No one gives jewelery if they're not serious about their partner (or seriously loaded!). Often it signals a turning point in a relationship - moving to the next level at least in their eyes. Key romantic-relationship signal: They take relationships seriously, will be open about this, and also consider things carefully. The exception: On the other hand, if it's too flashy (and expensive) or trashy (and cheap) the underlying message can mean something else. The flashy gift signals he/she might feel insecure in the relationship and wants to hang on to you. By giving you expensive jewelery they hope you'll see how serious they are because they're worried you may care less about them than they do about you. Alternatively, they might want to make you feel indebted to them so you don't leave them even if you've been thinking about it. If it's cheap jewelery then it signals they're not really bothered about you and not prepared to put in much effort with you. It may also mean they're not a genuine sort of person. Chocolate What does the gift of chocolates say about your lover? Your lover is an old-fashioned type who longs for a traditional relationship. What they lack in the imagination department they may well make up for by being reliable, considerate of your feelings and kind-hearted. Giving chocolates signals that your relationship will go smoothly and be satisfying unless you crave more of a roller-coaster. The chocolate-giver might be a bit boring for you in that case.Key romantic-relationship signal: A reliable, caring lover who probably won't come up with interesting surprises. If you like a smooth ride and want to be able to count on someone, this is your person.The exception: By giving chocolates there's the possibility of another message - a sexy one! They might want to hand feed them to you or melt them so they can smear them all over your body for some oral pleasure. This signals that they're not only traditional but creative too - a brilliant combination! Lingerie What does the gift of lingerie say about your other half? A daring, fun, and sensuous partner - or one who'd like to be…This doesn't mean they won't take a relationship seriously - they will do if it's proven to have staying power over the long run. But in short-term relationships they're after a "good time". The message they're giving you is loud and clear - they want to spice things up. Or if you're already enjoying a sensational sex life together they simply want more! No one gives sexy underwear unless they're interested in the sexual side of things. Don't take this as a negative message if your sex life has been a bit dull or "on hold" recently. Instead, take the message in the positive spirit it's probably intended. Key romantic-relationship signal: The fun lover who rates physical connection highly and likes sex with you, and/or they want more! They might be better at expressing themselves with actions than words. The exception: Another consideration, though, is if this is a brand new relationship. In this case beware of the message this gift signals as they think they can rush you into bed - or believe you're giving them the message that you want to. Don't be rushed. Music or DVDs What does the gift of lingerie say about your other half? This lover likes to connect at an emotional level. They will be sensitive and perhaps insecure as well. They may even be quite demanding of you emotionally. By giving you this choice of gift their underlying message is one of emotional connection and enjoyment in the relationship. They believe that you two share common interests and they've signalled that they feel relaxed in your company. But they also signal that they might find it easier to tell you things through creative gestures rather than with words. Key romantic-relationship signal: Good long-term bet if you're on the same wavelength. They don't like to mess around with relationships. Very committed and they want to show you this.The exception: Watch out if they've chosen a CD or DVD that you really don't like and you surprised they've made this choice. This signals they're self-absorbed on top of their emotional and sensitive side - a tricky combination. Fragrance What does the gift of fragrance say about them? This person has a sophisticated view of relationships but is not very creative. They believe relationships should be serious but also pleasurable. They'd like to smooth things over quickly, though, if your relationship hits troubled waters. This choice signals that they might be a bit reserved when it comes to romance but they have confidence in your love. Key romantic-relationship signal: They have a fair amount of relationship wisdom and although they might enjoy the finer things in life they may be quite conservative when it comes to relationships. They signal that they want you to be a full part of their life. The Exception: If they've given you an inappropriate fragrance (e.g. you're 20 and it's aimed at mature women) this signals they may not be too bothered about your relationship and have lost sight of what you mean to them.
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lifestyle
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Rory McIlroy has agreed a settlement in his dispute with former management company Horizon, with the fee believed to be the equivalent of more than 25 millions dollars.
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sports
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Sony has begun to disclose the financial toll of the crippling cyber attack on Sony Pictures Entertainment. The disruptions caused by the November hack on the U.S.-based film and TV group forced the Tokyo corporation to delay reporting of its December quarter results, because Sony Pictures was unable to close its financial books within the required timeframe. Sony provided a forecast of its results Wednesday, which, for the first time, began to provide a financial accounting of the damage caused by the cyber assault. The film group reported it has incurred about $15 million in investigative and remediation costs related to the attack on its corporate networks, which pilfered private emails and confidential business documents, and destroyed computers. Numerous press reports recount how the studio was taken back to the digital Stone Age, with its payroll department cutting checks manually and executives resorting to a form of mobile communication that had fallen out of vogue in Hollywood: BlackBerrys. Sony told investors the cyber attack will likely not materially impact its results for the fiscal year that ends March 31. However, it warns that it might not be able to anticipate and manage the cyber security risk, "including the risk of potential business disruptions or financial losses." Other corporations that have been subject to breaches faced steep bills. Target reported the price tag for its 2013 breach would reach $148 million (with $38 million offset by insurance), while TJX's 2007 hack will cost about $250 million . Former employees of Sony Pictures Entertainment have filed four lawsuits against the company following the massive security breach. The suits allege the film group failed to adequately safeguard its networks against cyber intrusions.
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finance
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One of the details buried in the New York Daily News' look at David Axelrod's upcoming book is that Obama was given the chance to see the iPhone before it was publicly available. "If it were legal," Obama reportedly said, "I would buy a boatload of Apple stock. This thing is going to be really big." "Buy Apple stock" has been pretty sound advice for the past 15 years or so. But just how much would Obama have made if he'd invested, say, a president's salary on AAPL? (Not that he was the president then, but you get the point.) To answer that, we need to know the answer to a key question: When did this meeting allegedly take place? The book isn't out yet, but we can make some estimates. The Daily News says the meeting happened in 2007. The iPhone was announced on Jan. 9 of that year, so it's safe to assume that Obama didn't see it until after that point. It was released on June 29. So that gives us about a six-month window. On Jan. 9, AAPL closed at $92.57, according to Yahoo Finance . That's $12.52 at the current stock price, taking into account stock splits and other changes since. By June 29, it was at $122.04 -- $16.51. On average, the price over that period was at $99.02, the price it closed at on April 27. So let's just say that this is the day Obama bought his stock. Obama goes out and invests $400,000 in Apple stock on April 27, 2007, at the buy price of $99.02, $13.40 at current valuation. Here's what the stock price has done since then. As a result, Obama's $400,000 would now be worth $3.6 million. But that's not all. Obama would also have received 10 dividend payments on the nearly 30,000 shares of stock he currently owns over that time period. (The number of shares he has has increased due to a stock split. He only bought about 4,000 shares.) Those dividends paid him just over $40,000 since late 2012. It's frosting on his cake, but it counts. So Obama was right about buying the stock -- but, then, the stock price went up 10-fold between January 2001 and January 2007. It wasn't that tough a call. Was he right, though, about the iPhone being "really big" (assuming he said any of this, which, who even knows)? In 2011, four years into the iPhone's run, Business Insider graphed the amount of revenue Apple was making per product. Apple expanded massively, thanks to massive sales of a profitable product. So, yeah. But Obama couldn't buy that stock, out of insider-trading concerns. And he's apparently never even owned an iPhone , due to the security restrictions that come with his current job. So his prediction was largely accurate -- and it did him absolutely no good.
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General Philip Breedlove tells Christiane Amanpour that U.S. and NATO leaders are deliberating options for providing Ukraine with lethal defensive weapons.
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The NFL has suspended Browns receiver Josh Gordon for another year after failing a drug test for alcohol. Have the Browns done enough to help Josh Gordon refrain from using drugs?
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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. lawmakers will write legislation requiring the United States to send arms to Ukraine if President Barack Obama does not move to send weapons, Republican Senator John McCain said on Thursday. McCain led about a dozen Republican and Democratic senators at a news conference in pressing Obama to send arms to help Kiev defend itself against a Russian-backed separatist movement. "We'll be looking at marking up legislation that calls for it," McCain said. The Senate and House of Representatives unanimously passed legislation in December that authorized sending arms to Kiev. Obama signed the measure into law but it gave him leeway over whether or when to send arms. Lawmakers have intensified their calls for a strong response from Washington to boost Ukraine. "This is a fight between a struggling democracy and an autocratic dictatorship and we should take sides," Republican Senator Lindsey Graham said. In Kiev on Thursday, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said Obama would decide soon whether to provide Ukraine with lethal weapons to fight separatists. (Reporting by Patricia Zengerle; Editing by Bill Trott)
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Seattle Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman and his girlfriend welcomed their highly anticipated son to the world on Thursday morning. Sherman had publicly stated he hoped the baby would wait to be born until after Super Bowl XLIX, which his Seahawks lost to Tom Brady and the New England Patriots , 28-24. Despite the loss, Sherman can at least celebrate the new addition to his family. Even better, his son's birthday falls on 2/5, a number that has become synonymous with Seattle's dominate corner: My son sure does know how to make an entrance! 2/5/15... Is it a coincidence or is he just that clever?! Either way I'm ecstatic Richard Sherman (@RSherman_25) February 5, 2015 Sherman had never stated his intentions in a scenario where his girlfriend, Ashley Moss, went into labor on Sunday. The doctors had told Sherman the baby was not likely to arrive before the big game, and they were proven right as baby Rayden was born early on Thursday.
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Bayern Munich defender Jerome Boateng has been suspended for three matches following his red card in a 1-1 draw with Schalke on Tuesday. The Germany international was sent off in the 17th minute of the Bundesliga meeting at the Allianz Arena for bringing down Schalke forward Sidney Sam. Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting saw his resulting tame penalty saved by Manuel Neuer. Bayern then took the lead through an Arjen Robben header in the 67th minute, only for Benedikt Howedes to equalize five minutes later. That result followed a 4-1 loss at Wolfsburg, and Bayern will now aim to get back to winning ways without Boateng, who will miss Saturday's trip to Stuttgart as well as league games against Hamburg and Paderborn. A statement on the German Football Association's (DFB) official website read: "The DFB Disciplinary Board have been advised by the DFB's Supervisory Committee to hand FC Bayern Munich's Jerome Boateng a ban of three Bundesliga games for unsportsmanlike conduct. "Boateng was sent off in the 17th minute by referee Bastian Dankert [Rostock] of Bayern's Bundesliga game against FC Schalke 04 on 3rd February 2015. The club has 24 hours to request a hearing before the DFB disciplinary board."
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By Jason Rowan Indianapolis Colts linebacker D'Qwell Jackson, the player whose interception in the AFC Championship Game likely spawned Deflategate, was arrested and charged with simple assault after an alleged incident in Washington D.C. Jackson is accused of punching a pizza delivery driver during a violent confrontation. To make matters even worse, the victim has alleged that Jackson threatened to kill him. Initial reports indicated that Jackson punched the victim twice, once in the face as well as in the back of the head after the linebacker made threats over the use of a parking spot. The alleged victim has been identified as Jose Bonilla-Fuentes, 41, and he provided additional details regarding the incident during an interview with Indianapolis radio station CBS Sports 1430AM on Wednesday. Bonilla-Fuentes says the confrontation was prompted by his use of a reserved spot in an area with assigned parking spaces. "What happened is that a crazy guy tried to choke me," Bonilla-Fuentes explained during the interview, via Eye on Football . He added that Jackson allegedly threatened his life, claiming the Colts player said he was "going to kill me." Bonilla-Fuentes, who was treated at the scene but declined a trip to the hospital, stated that Jackson attempted to smooth things over once police arrived. "He come to me and say 'Please, please I'll give you whatever money you need, but don't do nothing, don't let the police take me,'" Bonilla-Fuentes said during the radio interview. The Colts released a statement Wednesday acknowledging the team is aware of Jackson's arrest. "The Indianapolis Colts have been made aware that D'Qwell Jackson was charged yesterday in DC with a count of simple assault," the statement read. "When the Club learns more of the surrounding facts, it will make an appropriate statement." Jackson not only will have to deal with the potential legal repercussions of the assault charge, his alleged conduct could be in violation of the NFL's new personal conduct policy, with potential consequences ranging from paid leave to being barred from participating in Colts team activities. While Jackson's interception of a Tom Brady pass during the AFC title game is credited with launching Deflategate by providing the Colts the ability to make officials aware of the possibility that the Patriots were deflating footballs, the linebacker conceded later that he doesn't handle footballs enough to be able to ascertain if the ball was underinflated or not.
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The Yellow Jackets' Brian Gregory talks with Digger Phelps about his path to becoming Georgia Tech's head coach and how he prides himself on putting an emphasis on academics.
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Republican Governor Rick Scott, off to a rocky start in his second term in office, faced an extraordinary meeting on Thursday with Florida's Cabinet in which he admitted botching the ouster of the state's top police administrator. Since his narrow victory over former Governor Charlie Crist in November, Scott has run into a series of controversies. In the past month, Scott was rebuked by the state Republican Party, which rejected his choice to lead the party and instead elected state Representative Blaise Ingoglia in an unheard-of snub for a newly re-elected governor. Last week, former state prisons director Michael Crews, who had been ousted by Scott, accused the governor of neglecting staff shortages and crumbling facilities in the Department of Corrections. Scott, a wealthy former hospital executive with no prior political experience, previously experienced fairly placid relations with the three independently elected Cabinet officers, all fellow Republicans. But his decision to oust Gerald Bailey, the head of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE), has dogged him since his Jan. 6 inauguration. Bailey said he had been led to believe that the three Cabinet members, Attorney General Pam Bondi, Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater and Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam, concurred in his ouster, but all three said afterward they were told that Bailey had wanted to retire. The FDLE is overseen by the governor and Cabinet together, not by Scott alone. In the furor over Bailey's firing, Scott and the Cabinet agreed on Thursday to better manage executive performance review. "While I wanted to bring in new leadership at FDLE as we transitioned to a second term in office, it is clear, in hindsight, that I could have handled it better," Scott said at the start of the Cabinet's annual opening-day visit to the Florida State Fair in Tampa. After his firing, Bailey said he had spurned attempts by the Scott campaign last year to misuse FDLE employees in the governor's re-election. Scott's office declined comment on that allegation. This week, a consortium of news media organizations and a Florida lawyer filed suit in state Circuit Court, claiming Scott violated the state's "Government in the Sunshine" public transparency law by working through aides to get rid of Bailey. (Editing by David Adams and Will Dunham)
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SEOUL, South Korea Asian stock markets were muted Friday as investors awaited monthly U.S. employment figures and the risk of a Greek default increased. KEEPING SCORE: Japan's Nikkei 225 gained 0.7 percent to 17,629.65 while Hong Kong's Hang Seng was down 0.2 percent to 24,707.28. South Korea's Kospi fell 0.2 percent to 1,949.62 while Australia's S&P/ASX 200 added 0.3 percent to 5,828.70. Markets in Southeast Asia rose while benchmarks in China and Taiwan dropped. GREECE RISK: In Europe, Greek stocks closed down 3 percent as tensions between the country's new left-wing government and the European Central Bank heightened. Greece's new left-wing government is insisting it will stick to its anti-austerity agenda after the ECB tightened the screws on Athens by withdrawing a key borrowing option for the country's banks. Jane Foley, an analyst at Rabobank International, said the ECB decision raised the risk that Greece could be forced into a default. THE QUOTE: "Traders are also dusting off the 'Greek crisis' skills they acquired in 2010 and 2011," said Ric Spooner, chief market analyst at CMC Markets in Sydney, Australia. "The key attribute here is the ability to capitalize on the volatility caused by a rapid fire series of conflicting announcements and foreshadowed actions." US JOBS: The Labor Department reports January jobs data later in the day. Economists estimate that non-farm employers in the U.S. added 230,000 jobs last month, down from 252,000 in December. While some analysts say that the non-farm payrolls data will not be a game changer, the Federal Reserve has emphasized the job market recovery as an important factor when it considers a rate hike. WALL STREET: The U.S. stock market surged again on Thursday, putting the Dow Jones industrial average on track for its best week since 2011. Investors plowed money energy and health care stocks. The Dow Jones industrial average jumped1.2 percent to 17,884.88. The Standard & Poor's 500 added 1 percent to 2,062.52. The Nasdaq composite rose 1 percent to 4,765.10. ENERGY: Benchmark U.S. crude was up 70 cents to at $51.18 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose $2.03 to settle at $50.48 a barrel on Thursday extending its gain from the previous day. Brent crude, a benchmark for international oils, rose 52 cents to $57.09 a barrel in London. CURRENCIES: The dollar fell to 117.40 yen from 117.48 yen. The euro slipped to $1.1463 from $1.1467.
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Johnny Depp, the star of the "Pirates of the Caribbean" film series, married his fiancee, Amber Heard, at their home in Los Angeles earlier this week, according to People magazine. The 51-year-old actor, who met Heard, 28, when they appeared together in the 2011 film "The Rum Diary," tied the knot on Tuesday in a small ceremony. People magazine said a bigger wedding is planned for this weekend on Depp's private island, Little Hall's Pond Cay, in the Bahamas. The couple, who have been engaged since late 2012, began dating after Depp split from his longtime partner, French actress Vanessa Paradis. Depp and Paradis are the parents of two children, a boy and a girl. Depp gained fame in the late 1980s after appearing in the popular TV series "21 Jump Street" and later starred in "Edward Scissorhands" and "Alice in Wonderland."
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LEITCHFIELD, Ky. A teen who ran away from his Kentucky home with a 13-year-old girl and was later captured in Florida has been indicted on charges related to what police call a two-week crime spree. A grand jury indicted 18-year-old Dalton Hayes on a dozen charges this week. He faces up to 10 years in prison on a charge of second-degree rape, with no force. In Kentucky, a second-degree rape occurs when an adult has sex with a minor under 14, even if it's consensual. The grand jury indicted Hayes on two thefts that occurred in early December, before the two went missing. He also faces custodial interference, criminal trespassing and criminal mischief charges. Police say the teen girl will face charges in juvenile court. Hayes and the girl were arrested in Panama City Beach, Florida, last month, two weeks after they disappeared. Their flight from home attracted national attention as the two worked their way to the Gulf of Mexico. Authorities believe their travels took them to South Carolina and Georgia before they ended up in Florida. Police say Hayes was running away from trouble back home. Some of the charges against him issued this week by the grand jury were related to thefts that occurred in his hometown in early December.
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Several programs are allowing potential home buyers to try out a property in advance before they commit to buying the home. Photo: William Pitt Sotheby's International Realty
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At a hearing on the Guantanamo Bay Detention facility outlook, Brian McKeon drew parallels between the orange jumpsuits seen in the recent ISIS murders and Guantanamo Bay.
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It was zero degrees in Denver on a late December morning, and the ice-covered streets were mostly empty. Mark Mason, wearing a full-length black coat, green wool hat and sunglasses, sat in a white Buick LaCrosse, eyeing the squat building across the street. It was the local branch of the Federal Reserve Bank. "Behind that gate, that's where the armored cars come in," he said, pointing to a parking lot. "They've got a bunch of money in the basement a bunch." For some months, Mr. Mason, 54, has been thinking about the bank and how, he said, "to break in." Not to take money, but to leave it. Mr. Mason and a group of other entrepreneurs in Colorado want to start the first-ever financial institution established specifically to serve the pot industry. To do that, they need to make deposits in a Federal Reserve account, and the agency hasn't let them. Such humdrum administrative decisions are made all the time by federal banking officials, but this one raises big political and legal issues between the federal government and the state of Colorado over the legalization of marijuana. Mr. Mason and his business partners have already received a license from the state of Colorado for their Fourth Corner Credit Union. They have leased a building in downtown Denver, put up a Facebook page and generated predictable jokes on late-night TV. Jimmy Fallon: "If you think the line is slow at your bank ..." Medical marijuana has been legal in Colorado since 2009 and recreational marijuana use became legal a year ago. But marijuana businesses have had limited, if any, access to banking services. The federal government considers marijuana illegal and so traditional banks, fearing prosecution for aiding and abetting illegal drug dealers, have shut down pot-business accounts and declined to give loans. Some banks have ferreted out pot entrepreneurs by sniffing their bills, leading to a countermove: bills sprayed with air freshener. Without a bank account, pot businesses deal in cash, lots of it, held in safes, handed out in clipped bundles on payday, carried in brown paper bags and cardboard boxes to the tax office and the utility company, ferried around the state by armored vehicles and armed guards. And without access to essential banking services from credit cards to electronic transfers to loans those businesses pay a huge premium. The reality in Colorado is that it is legal to grow pot but extremely hard to grow a pot business. The Fourth Corner partners saw a need and a business opportunity. State accreditation in hand, the partners took a step this November that typically goes off without a hitch: they applied to the Federal Reserve Bank for a "master account." This is the account they would use to deposit funds and transfer them electronically with other banks the lifeblood of commerce. Mr. Mason could not find a case of a state accredited financial institution being denied a master account. Usually, approval comes in days, he noted. But it has been nearly three months since the application was filed and there has been no answer, just a letter in early January saying the request was under review. Mr. Mason said the application was on the desk of a specialist in bank risk, a guy named Ryan Harwell in Kansas City, the Fed's Midwest regional office that oversees the Denver branch. While the Federal Reserve declined to comment as a matter of policy, its officials don't comment on pending applications Mr. Mason suggested a reason the Fed may be wary of granting the account. "This legitimizes the marijuana industry to the extent it's never been legitimized before," he said. If Fourth Corner gets approval, businesses would have a place to deposit and to borrow. Other institutions might well follow, and the federal government "would become complicit, and the walls start tumbling down." At the same time, Mr. Mason argued that the Federal Reserve Bank was not only within its rights to approve the credit union but was obliged to do so. Peter Conti-Brown, a banking expert at the Stanford Law School, agreed that the credit union application set up a quandary, one that, as policy questions go, is "delicious" and "awesome." Yes, in theory, he said, the Fed could approve this credit union. But the implications are unclear, and potentially staggering, he said, given that this pen stroke by Mr. Harwell could let the cannabis industry blossom. And then what happens to the federal government's power over pot? "I can almost see his green shaded visor and glasses," said Mr. Conti-Brown, imagining Mr. Harwell in Kansas City. "All of a sudden on the desk of this midlevel bureaucrat comes an extraordinary question of federal policy and constitutional law." A Crack in the Door? The possible future home of the Fourth Corner Credit Union is seven blocks from the Federal Reserve's Denver branch in a ranch style, 2,100-square-foot building that once housed an office of the Colorado Business Bank. It has four teller windows, one of them drive-through, a convenient side alley for armored cars to pick up the cash to take it to the Fed, and a collection of neighbors that, as Mr. Mason likes to say, represents "the whole universe" the United States Mint, the state courthouse and the Diamond Cabaret strip club. Mr. Mason only recently moved to Denver. He rents a condo with his wife downtown, but his permanent home is in Charleston, S.C., where he practices law. He grew interested the whole bank-for-pot idea after getting a call from his son, Alex. A recent college graduate with a degree in criminal justice, the younger Mr. Mason was living in Denver and told his father that friends in the marijuana industry were struggling to find banks to take their money. Mr. Mason stayed up all night, inspired, writing a 20-page position paper on banking law, and then started making local contacts, first with high-powered Denver lawyers. He said he was captivated by the "opportunity to work on one of the great political, social and constitutional issues of the day," one that made his day job "pale by comparison." On the same freezing day that he cased the Fed, Mr. Mason gave a tour of the credit union to one of the credit union's founding board members, Kristi Kelly, owner of Good Meds, which grows and sells medical marijuana. Since 2009, when the state started regulating medical marijuana, Ms. Kelly has had 23 bank accounts canceled. Now Ms. Kelly relies on what she calls the "Bank of Kristi" the proceeds of Good Meds are kept in a safe and delivered to the tax man, employees, lenders, trade associations and utilities in whatever is discreet and handy, paper bags included. Touring the credit union, she seemed gleeful. "This is great!" she gushed. "I can't believe how perfect this is." She paused, looking over at an imposing safe with two dial locks on the front. "Is that a bulletproof lock safe? I've written about that in state applications, but I've never seen it!" Mr. Mason and a lawyer named Martin Kenney, who specializes in fraud law, have put $600,000 into the management company that organized the credit union, Mr. Mason said. They have recruited nine credit union board members including a local urology surgeon and a Denver city councilman. A local lawyer, Douglas Friednash, who provided the group legal counsel, on Feb. 2 took the post of chief of staff to Gov. John Hickenlooper. There are 1,200 licensed marijuana businesses in the state, and the credit union expects to get a "significant share," but it cannot sign anyone up until it opens its doors. Its chief obstacle is not financial, but legal. The Controlled Substances Act defines marijuana as a Schedule 1 drug, along with the likes of heroin. It says that these drugs, so easily carried across state lines, can only be controlled through federal oversight. But in 2012, Colorado voters legalized the sale of recreational marijuana by state-licensed businesses, and the state Constitution was amended at the beginning of 2014. Twenty-two other states and the District of Columbia allow some form of legal marijuana. So does federal or state law prevail? In a 2005 California case, the Supreme Court sided with the federal government. Makers and users of medical marijuana had sought an injunction to prevent federal law enforcement from interfering with their California trade. But the court ruled that federal law prevailed because the business of marijuana in one state could impact supply and demand across state lines. To banks, the pre-eminence of federal law has been a powerful deterrent to allowing pot businesses to set up accounts. In fact, Don Childears, chief executive of the Colorado Bankers Association, said his reading of the federal law was that "the very receipt of a deposit is the definition of money laundering." His train of logic: Marijuana is illegal at the federal level; banks that take money from illegal drug operations are guilty of money laundering; therefore, the banks that take pot money face serious criminal and civil liability. On Feb. 14, 2014, the Departments of Justice and the Treasury introduced a wrinkle. They each sent out guidelines that seemed to crack open the door for banks to engage with marijuana businesses. The Justice guidelines, known as the "Cole Memo," didn't foreclose the possibility that banks taking marijuana money could be prosecuted for financial crimes, but directed prosecutors to go after significant cases, which it defined using eight priorities. For example, a bank that provided services to a marijuana business that distributed to minors or sold in states where the drug was illegal or used gun violence might be subject to prosecution, but when such aggravating factors were absent, prosecution "may not be appropriate," the guidelines said. Under the Treasury guidelines, banks are urged to file "suspicious activity reports" when a new pot business opens or closes an account or when such businesses exhibit activities that violate the Cole guidelines. Treasury characterized the efforts in part as a way to get money into the banking system, where it and its actors could be more easily tracked. In sum, the guidance was advertised by many as a "green light" to banks. Mr. Childears of the Colorado Bankers Association doesn't see it that way. "They were a yellow light at best," he said of the guidelines. In fact, he argued, "They raised the liability for the banks." The costs of filing suspicious activity reports, he said, are considerable and raise all kinds of questions. For example, he asked, what if such a report actually becomes an admission that the bank is participating in an illegal enterprise? Plus, Mr. Childears said, the guidelines are not law. In other words, they don't preclude a federal prosecutor or state attorney general from going after a bank. In fact, two state attorneys general, from Nebraska and Oklahoma, sued the state of Colorado in December, asking that the Colorado law that legalized pot be struck down because it violates federal law and "creates a dangerous gap in the federal drug control program." Most banks are wary of stepping into this mire, Mr. Childears said, estimating that perhaps 5 percent of Colorado's marijuana businesses use a financial institution (other estimates have put the figure higher, but still below half the pot business in the state). Enter the credit union, which state officials see as critical, partly to solve crime and safety risks they see created by all-cash businesses. "It is the first very public marker that this is a place to be banked," said Andrew Freedman, director of marijuana coordination for Colorado. The credit union, he predicted, will see a surge of business "in a quick amount of time." What happens with its application goes to the very fate of the new marijuana industry, argued Chris Myklebust, commissioner of Colorado's division of financial services. If the feds don't grant the application and really open up banking, Mr. Myklebust said, they create a life-threatening chokehold on the businesses, cutting off their ability to profit and survive. "Without banking," he said, "the industry is not sustainable in the long run." The Cost of Not Banking Dylan Donaldson, 30, knows the hidden costs of a bank-challenged business. He has nine 1,000-pound safes bolted to the floor in the back of Karing Kind, the dispensary he owns in North Boulder. At any given time, they hold $80,000 to $100,000 in cash. The safes didn't help, though, when audacious thieves busted through the wall of an adjoining business in the middle of the night in June and took $250,000 in marijuana plants. Now he pays $100,000 a year for armed guards provided by Iron Protection Group, a business owned and operated by vets from Iraq and Afghanistan, who watch the place at night. They also deliver money to the tax office and vendors, from makers of THC concentrate to suppliers of computer paper. At present, the business has no bank account, having lost more than a dozen, Mr. Donaldson said. Another big cost for Mr. Donaldson: loans. He wanted to buy the land beneath his dispensary, but couldn't get a bank loan. The best he could do was a 17 percent interest-only loan from four local businessmen. And then there's his father, who owns the building, and leases it to his son for above-market rates. The younger Mr. Donaldson said this was frustrating but fair, given that the nature of the enterprise requires his dad to take on risk. These are not the only ways that the clash between the federal government and the state costs marijuana businesses. For instance, federal tax rules prevent cannabis businesses from writing off expenses under a law meant to keep illegal drug cartels from exploiting tax advantages. Mr. Donaldson estimates that the taxes and other expenses mean he pays 30 percent to 35 percent more in costs than a non-pot business of the same size. Between the taxes, security costs and above-market debt service, there is nothing left from his revenues to expand the business, he said. On Dec. 31, Mr. Donaldson watched a steady stream of customers pour in to stock up for New Year's Eve bud for smoking, THC baked into candy bars, stirred into drinks, frozen into ice cream. But rising competition and the extra costs mean profits don't come easily. "December was our worst month all year," he said. At the same time, he is skeptical a credit union is the solution. Maybe he'd put a little money into it, he said, but what if the credit union fails or gets hit by the feds, its own doors kicked down? He would be worse off. Besides, he said: "I think it'll be challenging for them to get approved." A week later, on Jan. 7, the credit union organizers got a letter from Esther George, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City. The letter stated that issuance of a master account was "within the Reserve Bank's discretion" and required the Fed to identify the risks "posed by such a financial institution." The potential risks she referred to might explain how the application wound up on the desk of Mr. Harwell, who is a risk specialist. Earlier, Mr. Mason had sat in on several conference calls with Mr. Harwell and said he was told by the risk specialist that the decision was "above my pay grade," but declined to specify in whose pay grade it was. (Mr. Harwell did not return emails but forwarded them to a spokesman, who declined to comment about the application.) There is also the issue of deposit insurance, which a financial institution needs in order to operate. The Fourth Corner Credit Union has applied to the National Credit Union Administration, a federal regulator that provides insurance for the vast majority of the nation's 2,500 or so state-chartered credit unions. If it isn't approved, the fledgling credit union plans to apply for private insurance with Lloyd's of London. As for the Federal Reserve, Mr. Conti-Brown of Stanford said the granting of a master account by the Federal Reserve had usually been routine. "It's been so prosaic," he said. On one level, this application is no less routine. But there is another level on which the granting of a master account to the credit union can fairly be seen as undercutting the authority of the federal government to easily regulate marijuana through the traditional banking system. Right now, traditional banks would rather not risk prosecution or regulatory trouble to get a few million dollars from marijuana businesses. And so to keep the industry on a low throttle, the federal government need only threaten tighter enforcement, and already skittish banks might get out entirely. In this way, restricting banking limits the size of the industry without directly challenging the states that have legalized it. With the credit union, Mr. Conti-Brown of Stanford said, "The dam breaks." The credit union is not looking to marijuana businesses for "small deposits," he said. "It's their raison d'être." If the federal government goes after such an institution, Mr. Mason argued further, it will no longer be just a banking issue. "If they come after me, it represents an attack on the industry itself," he said, and, by extension, the voters who approved it. "They're attacking the will of the people," he said.
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In 1912, an unnamed Washington Post reporter asked Pauline Wayne, President Taft's cow, if she was milked by a stranger without her consent, as had been reported. "It is true, Miss Wayne?" the reporter asked the 1,500-pound bovine. Unaffected by her soft eyes, the reporter asked the question again. (A bit cruel, if you ask me, if she really were a victim.) "I wasn't milked on the White House lawn by a strange man," the Washington Post that venerable institution that would later come to break the Watergate scandal and win 48 Pulitzers quoted her, a farm animal, as saying. The exclusive interview might have been a low point for the Washington Post . Either Pauline could speak English or the Post's reporters inauspiciously discovered LSD. Or perhaps the paper committed a huge journalistic sin: fabricating quotes. Between 1910 and 1912, The Post had something of an obsession with Pauline, covering her like U.S. Weekly would a Kardashian. A search of its archives reveal more than 20 stories mentioning Pauline between 1910 and 1912. In at least one instance, Pauline was referred to as the "provider-in-chief [of] the finest milk and butter." + The Washington Post covered the White House cow with the same intensity as US Weekly covering the Kardashians. (Washington Post Archives 1910-1912) Two years earlier, in 1910, Taft's previous cow, Mooly Wooly, died after eating too many oats. "She had never been instructed by experts that oats are for horses," the Washington Evening Star explained to grief-stricken readers. In White House history, it had been fairly common for first families to keep cows on the White House grounds for fresh dairy production. Pauline, a gift from a Wisconsin senator, arrived in the fall of 1910 as Mooly Wooly's replacement. She reportedly could produce 25 pounds of butter a week, and nine gallons of milk a day plenty of dairy for the famously girthy president. A Nov. 4, 1910 article appears to be the first in which the Post spoke to Pauline. The paper asked her for her take on America's obsession with celebrities like herself. "I have been much amused, and I confess, rather bored by the omnipresent photographers," she said (again, really doubting the Post's reporting here). "Civilization has developed so many irritating conditions." Miss Wayne, as she was often called, had complicated politics. While calling herself a "progressive," she also said "I do not believe in muckraking." On the record, she said she did not support the suffrage moo vement. As the nation's most important cow, Pauline often hit the road to connect with her fans at livestock shows across the country. Ordinary citizens could get a taste of presidential milk in souvenir bottles for 50 cents, according to the Presidential Pet Museum . On one such trip to Milwaukee, tragedy almost stuck. Pauline was accidentally put on a standard cattle car instead of her usual private coach. "The president's cow was lost en route to the Milwaukee Dairy Show and narrowly escaped death in the Chicago stock yards," the New York Times reported in October 1911. Pauline must have been outraged traveling like a common cow. After all, this was a cow who was once offered a part in a stage production of " Way Down East ." The Chicago incident wasn't the first time Pauline had gone missing. On her initial trip from Wisconsin to Washington, Pauline's railcar had a missed connection in Pittsburgh, disappointing the throngs of reporters and onlookers who came to the D.C. railway station to greet her. A parade from the railway to the White House had been planned. Seriously, the Pauline Wayne years were a weird episode for Washington. After Taft's defeat in the November 1912 elections, the Post again interviewed Pauline. The reporter asked her whether she could stand to live at the White House under Woodrow Wilson, a Democrat. She wouldn't rule it out completely. "You see, I have had a rather trying time," said Pauline, again somehow crossing the interspecies language barrier. "Some of the animals here were on hand when President Roosevelt [a Democrat] was in office, and when he started a party all his own I had many lengthy debates." At the very least, Pauline conferred to the Post , she would not let president-elect Wilson taste her milk or butter. The Post analyzed her predicament. "She realizes that she is the personal property of President Taft, and not of the nation, and that if he orders [her to stay or leave], she must obey," the paper explained. Taft was not the last president to bring livestock to the White House. His successor, Wilson, purchased some sheep to graze on the lawn. They suffered through many troubles, including disease and being struck by newfangled automobiles. After Wilson took over the White House, Pauline returned to Wisconsin. Away from the lights, camera, and reporters, she lived in peace.
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